Vox Ac30 cc2 vs. Orange Rocker 30

Yakult

So Im on the market for a new amp over the summer, these are the 2 amps that have caught my eye on my e800 budget.

I will be playing alot of Ambient rock so I really wont need alot of gain, more so a slight break up on the clean and then and a really light-medium od.

The only thing about the vox Im not too fond of is no channel select. But at the same time the no eq on the Orange for the clean is a little let down!

Question about the vox: Could I run a a/b pedal into the two channels and basicly use it as a channel select?
and how does it hold up on head room at giggin volumes?

(Also, whats your opinion on both amps?)

judas101

Vox sounds superb but are super-unreliable.

If you were buying one, I'd recommend go to a guitar shop near you as the guitarist in my old band went through 3 in 10 months or so.

I'd be a lot of hassle sending that thing back to thomann or wherever.

Yakult

buying them local is miles too expensive Im afraid. To me its not worth it at the price they would charge here.

Patricide

Dave, you know what the answer is here, AC30. Its good for anything and everything too. And if you decide to sell it like every other piece of gear you ever get (:p) youl have a buyer with me .

John

Both!

Yakult

Patricide wrote: »

Dave, you know what the answer is here, AC30. Its good for anything and everything too. And if you decide to sell it like every other piece of gear you ever get (:p) youl have a buyer with me .

I dont plan on selling. Not atleast till xmas anyway! haha! :pac:

BarryCreed

Is the Vox AC30 cc HEAD as unreliable as the amp? Maybe the head would be a good option, as I have heard the chinese made CC are a nightmare....??

Karl Hungus

If it were me, I'd go for the Orange, no question. They're excellent amps, extremely well built.

Voodu Child

Aye, I wouldn't be too gone on those Chinese AC30s. Not 'because they're Chinese' but because there genuinely was a lot of reliablity problems I remember reading about when they were released.

I don't know if these have been addressed...(maybe they have?), i'd definitely want to read up a lot before taking the plunge.

Karl Hungus

Here's a nice little video running through the features of the Rocker 30:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2znEBy3ghps

Yakult

Actually, thanks for reminding me about the vox's reliability. Tho in reviews Im getting a mix of good and bad. And afaik they were adressed to. But the reviews are still coming up pretty bad.. Faulty tubes, over heating, reverb going (Thats a common one it seems) faulty valves..

eh.. Thats really really put me away from the vox.

^Does the combo differ alot from the head tho?

Karl Hungus

R_H_C_P wrote: »

Actually, thanks for reminding me about the vox's reliability. Tho in reviews Im getting a mix of good and bad. And afaik they were adressed to. But the reviews are still coming up pretty bad.. Faulty tubes, over heating, reverb going (Thats a common one it seems) faulty valves..

eh.. Thats really really put me away from the vox.

You should have no such problems with Orange, they're seriously well built, I know a lot of people who absolutely rave about their cabs because of how solid they are.

If the clean channel is putting you off the Rocker 30, then perhaps you might consider stretching to (or finding a used) Rockerverb 50, which has seperate bass and treble for it's clean channel, and also has built in reverb. I know it's considerably over budget, but it's worth looking into.

Voodu Child

R_H_C_P wrote: »

^Does the combo differ alot from the head tho?

Nah, they never (or very rarely) do. Its the same chassis just in a different box.

Yakult

^Well I basicly have a Mxr eq pedal. Guess it wouldnt be much hassle using that!

the fnj

Orange AD30, if you can afford it

Voodu Child

I probably sound like i've a shedload of Cornford shares at this stage :pac: , but have a peek at the Roadhouse 30 combo also. Its EL34 and more britty than previous Cornfords, so would definitely be an alternative to the Vox/Orange style amps:

http://www.cornfordamps.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=23

Karl Hungus

voodoo_child wrote: »

I probably sound like i've a shedload of Cornford shares at this stage :pac:

But not as much as the Doc's Bacchus shares!

Eoin Madsen

R_H_C_P wrote: »

Question about the vox: Could I run a a/b pedal into the two channels and basicly use it as a channel select?

Kinda. The two channels sound very different.

johnboy8

i have the ac 30 cc1 and i love it,have not had any problems with it so far(i am probably putting a hex on it now by posting this thread)but over all i cant say enough good things about it,i am still finding new sounds out of it every day,especially when you blend both channels(foot switch for it would top it off,but what are you going to do)i played the orange once but did not spend enough time on it to rate it(seemed very solid and well built,guy who owned it was very happy with it)

Yakult

voodoo_child wrote: »

I probably sound like i've a shedload of Cornford shares at this stage :pac: , but have a peek at the Roadhouse 30 combo also. Its EL34 and more britty than previous Cornfords, so would definitely be an alternative to the Vox/Orange style amps:

http://www.cornfordamps.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=23

hot sounding amp alright. But I have a feeling the name cornford and that sound aint coming without a steep little price tag..

Voodu Child

R_H_C_P wrote: »

hot sounding amp alright. But I have a feeling the name cornford and that sound aint coming without a steep little price tag..

Well, it's their first PCB amp, and is a lot more affordable than their bigger PTP amps. The 30 watt combo is under €950, and the head is around €800.

Yakult

^where do they sell them?

I will look into them definally!

ball ox

R_H_C_P wrote: »

Question about the vox: Could I run a a/b pedal into the two channels and basicly use it as a channel select?

Has anybody here tried this/ seen it done? It's something I've been considering but don't really want to go buying a line selector if its gonna ruin the amp/ somehow sound cack

Eoin Madsen

It will work, technically. The channels are voiced completely differently though so it's not going to sound like a simple volume jump at all. TBh, I find the normal channel unusably dull on its own, so I can't see how that would work in anyway useful way. But that's just my opinion.

ball ox

Eoin Madsen wrote: »

It will work, technically. The channels are voiced completely differently though so it's not going to sound like a simple volume jump at all. TBh, I find the normal channel unusably dull on its own, so I can't see how that would work in anyway useful way. But that's just my opinion.

True, but the reason I want to A/B it is so that I can run my pedal board through the clean input and then just my tele straight into the decent one. Effectively my line selector pedal would become a kick ass tube-overdrive pedal

Yakult

Looks like Im gonna get the Cornford Roadhouse 30 watt head for £650. I wanted to get the 50 watt but its way over budget.

Voodu Child

The 30 watt and 50 watt both are loaded with 2xEL34 so there shouldn't be a huge difference in sound. There wouldn't even be a massive difference in volume, 2xEL34 is going to be plenty loud no matter what.

Yakult

I read somewhere that the 50watt is more brutal than the 30 watt. Not that big a thing. I just hope it has decent headroom lol!

Quattroste

Nice one R_H_C_P. Get the Cornford, take plenty of pics, plenty of sound samples, post for us all to hear and enjoy!

PS. The pics and sound samples are required BEFORE you spend hours on end playing! I don't make the Laws around here

Yakult

^
haha! yes sir! :P

sei046

Will be nice to hear about a new company aswell! (Well one of us owning a new company! not that we own it.... you know what i mean)

Yakult

^dave confused lol!

Ravelleman

I've arrived slightly late into this thread but I'll offer my penny's worth.

I went testing the Ac30 with my friend recently and I was pleasantly surprised. I played it with a Strat loaded with Fralins and it sounded excellent. The reverb and trem added lots of character to the sound. I also tried out the Ac15 and was somewhat less impressed, although I was playing a Tele and I don't particularly like the sound of my playing through Teles... My friend ended up buying the AC30. I couldn't object. It sounds great. The reliability issue does worry me though. We'll see when it arrives.

Yakult

Cornford shalt be here Tuesday or wednesday fingers crossed.

Expect porn

Voodu Child

R_H_C_P wrote: »

Cornford shalt be here Tuesday or wednesday fingers crossed.

Awesome!:D What did you get, the head or the combo?

Yakult

^settled with the head.

can mix and match cabs to change the sound, so that sold me, plus its cheaper haha xD

kranog

I feel I MUST reply to this thread, being the proud owner of a chinese AC30 (Blue Bulldog speaker version).
This is THE BEST amp I've ever owned....it's got so much character!
My arsenal so far is Vox AC30CC2X, Fender Hot Rod Deville 2x12, Madison Divinity 100 Head & Marshall 1960B 4x12 Cab loaded with Celestion G12's.
I've had Marshall's, I've used Mesa's...I honestly think this amp is both sweet and brutal (depending what pedals you use of course!)
The only problem I've ever had with it was when the Top Boost channel suddenly died on me....I suspect foul play to be honest....but can't prove anything!
I've had mine about a year and a half now and I couldn't be happier with it.
I'd love to get my hands on and Orange AD30 aswell mind you...but that'll have to wait...I don't have any experience with the Rocker, but it's Orange and therefore gonna be deadly!

To answer your original question though....I'm sure you could use an AB switch to change the channel on the amp, though I wouldn't recommend it, I like to use the two channels together by using the Input Link switch which combines teh Normal & Top Boost channels together...just awesome!

Yakult

I love the vox's sound. still one of my fav. Just not sure could I take the risk of something happening. You have a nice set up tho, seems damn versitile.

You know you prolly jinxed yourself on the vox since you replied to this haha!