Death Crystal Mountain clip with NAD; AC30HW

[cardinal]

I think this is how it goes? Shamefully haven't listened to that song in a while.

This AC30HW is much more my thing compared to the Matchless DC30.

Clip is the AC30 boosted with an SD-1. Plugged into a Marshall 1960a with G12-65s. I didn't realize it sounded so dark. I had the high cut back to 1:00 or so. Probably should have lowered it.

Had the amp for a week or so. Really enjoying it. Similar idea to a 2204 when dialed in right. Under the radar rock/metal amp IMHO

 

[Racerxrated]

Sounds cool! Definitely in the Marshall camp with that boost.

 

[MetalHeadMike]

Sounds killer! Much more organic/open than Chuck's 8100 and Randall tones.

 

[braintheory]

Sounds good! I’ve got 2 AC30’s myself from the early ‘60’s. Vox’s take boosts great. I still personally would choose a boosted Marshall or Naylor every time for that kinda thing, but Vox’s can still pull it off. Boosted Hiwatt’s are also killer, but super loud

I also agree about liking them much more than Matchless’s. Matchless are way overrrated imo. The old Copperpanel AC30’s are the king of EL84 amps imo, although still never tried a Trainwreck, so maybe that’s the real king of them

 

[cardinal]

Sounds good! I’ve got 2 AC30’s myself from the early ‘60’s. Vox’s take boosts great. I still personally would choose a boosted Marshall or Naylor every time for that kinda thing, but Vox’s can still pull it off. Boosted Hiwatt’s are also killer, but super loud

I also agree about liking them much more than Matchless’s. Matchless are way overrrated imo. The old Copperpanel AC30’s are the king of EL84 amps imo, although still never tried a Trainwreck, so maybe that’s the real king of them

There was just something unpleasant about the DC30 once it started to overdrive. Not sure what it was.

My 2204 is still my fav amp, but since it's over 40 years old, I'm always kinda looking for something similar that I don't mind flipping on for 5 or 10 minutes here and there. Hate doing that to the ol' 2204. I know I probably should just buy a Ceriatone clone, but this Vox thing is pretty sweet. Sounds great through its combo cab with Celestion Blues too, but not as much thump etc.

 

[Rex Rocker]

Wow... is that what Vox amps can sound like? Or is the HW more high-gain than the standard stuff? Didn't realize you could use Vox amps to play Death Metal. That is killer.

 

[braintheory]

There was just something unpleasant about the DC30 once it started to overdrive. Not sure what it was.

My 2204 is still my fav amp, but since it's over 40 years old, I'm always kinda looking for something similar that I don't mind flipping on for 5 or 10 minutes here and there. Hate doing that to the ol' 2204. I know I probably should just buy a Ceriatone clone, but this Vox thing is pretty sweet. Sounds great through its combo cab with Celestion Blues too, but not as much thump etc.

Yeah the Matchless’s can get this glassy, somewhat brittle quality that I didn’t like

 

[braintheory]

Wow... is that what Vox amps can sound like? Or is the HW more high-gain than the standard stuff? Didn't realize you could use Vox amps to play Death Metal. That is killer.

My Vox’s from the early ‘60’s can get the same type of sound if boosted, but imo a Marshall or Hiwatt boosted still does it better

 

[cardinal]

Wow... is that what Vox amps can sound like? Or is the HW more high-gain than the standard stuff? Didn't realize you could use Vox amps to play Death Metal. That is killer.

This was the top boost channel with the switch set "cool" (so the more vintage style).

I've had several AC30-type amps over the last few months, and they all pretty much sound like this. The Morgan Dual 40 was the most metal. It could do early thrash tones without a boost pedal at all. Haha. My AC30HW60 is darker and looser, but is similar. The Matchless DC30 could sorta do it but wasn't happy about it and seemed grainy or something.

There seems to be a lot of gain available in the top boost circuit. Easily in the territory of a Marshall 2204.

Trick is that without a mid control, IMHO you have to keep the bass and treble knobs below noon to avoid it sounding scooped.