New rig: VOX AC15C1x (Celestion Alnico Blue)

  • https://www.kemper-amps.com/ri…load/LlIMzNBZz2aUJG0YMOX3


    I just put JJ EL844's in, which are EL84's with less headroom, more crunchitude.


    This is the first profile I've uploaded to Rig Exchange - lemme know what you think!


    VOX AC15C1x

    Celestion Alnico Blue 1x12”

    open back

    new matched pair JJ EL844 (84’s with less headroom) & ECC833


    Master Volume: full

    Normal Channel @ 12:00


    mic1: sm57:

    preamp: Neve 1073, Gain: -25db, EQ: out (none)

    position:

    x: 3.5” from right side of speaker

    y: center

    z: 0.5” from grill


    mic2: U87 clone, -10db pad

    preamp: Neve 1073 Gain: -20db

    EQ: out (none)

    postion:

    x: 3.5” from left side of speaker

    y: center

    z: 0.5” from grill

  • Thank you, jdm. 8)


    You may have sacrificed some authenticity with the MV fully-cranked and the normal channel at 12 o'clock 'cause IIRC, with the channel's level at noon or higher, you'd probably have to set the master at around 4/10 or less due to the Kemper's difficulty in separating the two distortion behaviours over the full dynamic range. It's mentioned in the manual.


    That said, if it sounds good, it is good. Thanks again man.

  • Yeah, choices, choices. I was going for power-amp distortion, which IMHO is what a Class A amp like the VOX is all about. And with the JJ EL844 tubes (EL84 with 25% *less* headroom) in the power section, that's what I wanted to hear. And I think I got it - please tell me what you think.


    My frustrations with the process:

    - "Refining" reliably turned my profiles into wadded up garbage; I skipped all Refining after that.

    - Proper gain-staging is difficult, as the Kemper gives no metering or other feedback wrt Return Volume. I'm feeding it from my UAD audio interface, so I can use two mics. OK, so given that, what's the optimum setting for Return?


    I've got one more to post tonight - I think it turned out even better: a highly-modified Marshall Class 5 driving a 1x12 GB25 closed-back. It's like a super-expressive Plexi: very expressive, from clean to crunch just from your playing...

  • Can't audition mate; sorry.


    All I can think of is that if you've got the power-amp gain maxed-out, you could try running the regular drive as low as you can get away with sound-wise. IOW, below 3.


    I think the issue with Profiling the combination-gain thing lies more with the power-amp side of things, so if you've got that cranked you may be disappointed.

  • That said, if it sounds good, it is good. Thanks again man.

    Tone is intensely personal, of course (thank dog!), but to me, this profile is what a VOX should sound like. To me. I may make others, e.g, with Normal Volume lower, or the TB channel, but this is what I wanted / needed for now.


    The big key is the Alnico Blue speaker - I retrofitted mine, which came with a GB12 (which I use on my Marshall - see the other profile I posted yesterday) but IMHO it doesn't sound like a VOX without the Blue. I can't believe that VOX doesn't even offer that as an option anymore! When they did, it was a $200 premium on top of $600 for the amp, so probably too few takers. But IMHO a greenback in a VOX is like putting off-road tires on a Ferrari. Or something like that. Maybe it's snow tires. Or a VW Bug. But you get the idea. No bueno!