Vox has given its AC custom series guitar amps a fresh new look with a bold and bright Classic Vintage Red finish.
The new colorways can be found wrapped around special-edition versions of its AC10C1, AC15C1, and AC30C2 amps and are further complemented by a black and gold diamond fret cloth.
A classic, rectangular Vox badge logo replaces the standard logo, completing the vintage feel.
The British gear firm, which was founded in 1957, loves to drape its AC custom series amps in new limited-edition colorways year-on-year, and so 2024 is the year for a rather bright and warm red. It’s a far cry from 2022’s Rich Blue finish.
Guitar World is perplexed that these lookers weren’t showcased at NAMM 2024. Our NAMM 2022 predictions suggested that the world will implode if we don't see at least one limited-edition AC30 colorway. Thankfully, with this news dropping, we may have just been spared planetary detonation.
Launched over 60 years ago, the 15-watt Vox AC15 is an amp we've frequently heralded as one of the best amps of all time. Its combination of EL84 tubes, 12AX7 preamp tubes and a 12” Celestion G12M Greenback speaker helps it effortlessly nail that classic midrange crunch.
It's been the amp of choice for some fairly successful bands, including the Beatles and Queen's Brian May, who recently spoke to Total Guitar about how Bohemian Rhapsody's heavy riff is one of the most unnatural riffs to play you could possibly imagine.
The AC10C1, the amp's 10-watt edition, packs two EL84 and two 12AX7 tubes and a slightly smaller 10" Celestion VX10 speaker. Atop the amp sit controls for volume, reverb, treble, bass, and gain, alongside its top-mounted jack input.
The AC30C2, meanwhile, is the biggest of the trio, packing 30 watts and offering a double whammy of 12" 8-ohm Celestion G12M Greenback speakers. Its array of controls includes master volume and tone cut alongside a regular volume knob.
There are also Top Boost controls for volume, treble and bass, while its in-built reverb and tremolo effects can be customized via tone and level and speed and depth controls respectively.
Perhaps Vox was too busy with its other AC ventures to reveal its latest limited colorway run in time for January. It called its newly launched hand-wired AC series an “homage to our legendary '60s legacy”. The AC15 and AC30 amps in the series are said to deliver a sound that’s as faithful to the original as possible and were created off the back of a detailed study of those vintage '60s amps.
Away from amps, Vox has declared that “1967 is back” with its faithful recreations of the Hendrix-approved first two Vox wah pedals. It has also unveiled the next generation of its amPlug3 travel amp, which it boldly called “not just an upgrade but a complete reinvention”.
The company also raised eyebrows with the quirky 'live rig in a gigbag' APC-1 guitar. The warped teardrop-shaped guitar packs an in-built amp, effects unit, and drum machine, taking one-man-bands to a whole new level.
The limited-edition Classic Vintage Red Vox AC10C1 (£599/approx $756), AC15C1 (£829/approx $1,046), and AC30C2 (£1,299/approx $1,640) amps are available from April 2024.
For more information, head to Vox Amps.
