Splash of Color: Vox’s New Look

Since the releases of the AC15 and AC30 in late 1950’s, amplifier manufacturing company Vox has developed a distinctive look for themselves. The simple touches of gold and the iconic diamond grill cloth produced an amp that looked as uniquely spectacular as it sounded. Those familiar with guitar history know that these two amps not only went on to define the sounds of a number of important guitarists, but also the looks of these stars. After all, Brian May would not have built a wall of amps out of just any amp; there’s a reason he picked the AC30.

However, it’s been more than 50 years since these original designs were first produced. Vox has experimented with developing a new look quite a bit since then, and as of this week will producing their AC models in two new colors. These colors are currently only available in the US in apparently a very limited quantity.

Vox AC15 Amp

So what are these two new colors? The first is a royal purple with a silver grate. I could see this being useful for someone trying to pull of a sexy purple look, but in my opinion it is the least attractive of the two. The other color is a much classier cream base with the same silver grating and gold hardware. Let me say, the cream version looks great.

Some of the hardware in these amps are a little different than the stock AC15C2’s and AC30C2’s. For instance, the cream version comes with a newer version of Celestion Company’s speakers, which claims to offer the same classic vintage tone Vox has become famous for but with a boost to the low end. The traditional array of tremolo’s, reverb’s, and EQing are also available. Both amps have two inputs; Normal and Top Boost. The EQ controls on the Top Boost setting are said to be much more precise and offer a higher degree of control.

Whether these amps will be successful or not depends on whether or not Vox can get a big name player to regularly use them, but something tells me this won’t be a problem.

About Dave Abrams

Dave has been eating, living, and breathing music since before he could talk. This makes Dave perfect for his role here at Guitar News Daily.