From brians treble booster to his threeamp vox ac30 setup to his. The vox ac30 was originally introduced in 1959 at hank marvins request as the big brother of the fifteen watt 15 w ac15 model, vox s original flagship amplifier, because the ac15 was not loud enough with the screaming fans at cliff richards concerts. Vox brian may ac30 2006 conversion procedure to the. Stone cold crazy tone from a strippeddown, maycustomized ac30. Vox brian may ac30 2006 conversion procedure to the dave peterson ac30 specification danger this document is for use by qualified and experienced amplifier technicians. Brian mays lead sound on we will rock you is about as extreme as you can get from an ac30. Jmi era vox ac306 normal rev7 jmi era vox ac306 bass rev7. Page 3 although the vox brand has been owned by numerous companies, and even though each of them has made some changes to the ac30, the amp itself has remained basically unchanged since 1965. Ola lehnert is a well respected amp builder and repairer in sweden. They appear to have also removed the cut control, dunno if its removed from the circuit or just internally hardwired to a fixed setting. I spoke to stefan moeller about his fascination with the brian may guitar sound. A guide to the vox ac30 valve amplifier, originally intended for service engineers but also popuplar with vox enthusiasts, the guide contains a wealth of technical information, schematics,new component layouts, photographs and historical information. Hes got something going on with vox, as they also released a brian may ac30 a few years back, although i. Both mike and peter are very experienced with the brian may guitars pedals and.
Vox ac30 vs vox mv50ac in brian may mode part 1 duration. Most brian may fans will know that brians sound relies heavily on his homemade guitar and custombuilt treble booster. For those who dont know, brian may is the lead guitarist of queen. If you want to know what vox is up to nowadays, check out the vox amps site. The vox tradition of innovation carries on today with products designed to achieve unprecedented tonal flexibility. Line driver system that was attached to his guitar strap and powered from the. But do not start with an ac30 from scratch as your first project. Despite the large number of vox ac30s then in use my system successfully eliminated all ground loop hum and noise. All preamp valves except the two 12ax7ecc83 stress that the normal channel use are taken out.
Designed in conjunction with brian may, the vox brian may custom limited edition ac30 was a limited edition with production limited to 500 amps. This in itself is a glowing tribute to the original product designed by dick denny when vox was part of jennings musical industries. Vox ac30c2 guitar combo amplifier for those who crave more power, the ac30 expands on the captivating sound of its little brother by doubling the wattage. Aside from the treble boost the ac30bm is hand wired, albiet in china, probably by 4 year olds jk. Primarily i use a cbs arbiter centredry, a greg fryer modified tbx for left wet and a dave peteresen modifed tbx for the right wet this is the same configuration brian used on the al murray show performance in 2008. The result is a faithful reproduction in sound and style of those pioneering vox amps of the early 60s. Below are some of my vox ac30s used for my gigging rig and in the studio. The amplitube custom shop is a free software package for your mac or pc that. Ik multimedias brian may collection for amplitube tested by.
He used 2 non top boost fawn ac30 s running them through their normal channels cranked. The vox ac30 was originally introduced in 1959 at hank marvins request as the big brother of the fifteen watt 15 w ac15 model, voxs original flagship amplifier, because the ac15 was not loud enough with the screaming fans at cliff richards concerts. Whats left is the brian may model normal channel straight to the phase splitter. Vox, in collaboration with brian may, recreated a 10 watt, 1 x 6. He is currently touring with his old ac30 s and a marshall head with a 4x12. The mainstay of his tone is the ac30s normal channel combined with a small treblemid boost pedal, with both usually turned all the way up. This 30watt design was one of the first to define the british sound and continues to be used on stages and in studios around the world. Vox ac30c2 custom 2channel 30watt 2x12 guitar combo.
A diehard vox fan since the late 1960s, brian may has relied on ac30s to provide his signature sound throughout. If you dont, you could save a little more with vox s night train. I know youve already stated your goals for these mods, but as people use ac30s for quite a wide spectrum of distinctly different tones from complex singlecoil chime and jangle to roaring brian may humbucker saturation what are you dialing in with yours. By january 1976 brian may was using 9 x ac30 amps on stage and the. Vox brian may ac30 2006 conversion procedure to the dave. Nov 15, 2007 the iconic top boost ac30 and most other standard ac30s offered either two or three independent channels. My duties included the maintenance and repair of amplifiers and guitars and also. However, this ac30 mimics customisations may has carried out on his own amps for years. He is currently touring with his old ac30s and a marshall head with a 4x12. I would like to bring to your kind attention that the ac30 chassis and faceplates are available at uk uk based retailer. The official home of brian may guitars an exciting range of fretted instruments. Save for its singular singleknob control panel in bright red finish, a quick glance at the new vox ac30 brian may custom limited edition amplifier reveals little if anything that separates it. Employing a quartet of el84 power tubes, the ac30 custom pumps 30 watts of remarkable tone through a.
Jul 28, 2010 before buying, consider whether you need the extra volume and channel switching. Im not sure why voxkorg doesnt just get the schematic from him for whatever that little box he made was, and make that. You can still buy a new vox ac30 today so the same amp has been in production for 55 years. Tc thirty, is a software emulation of voxs timehonoured ac30 amplifier, and was. Vox ac30 brian may custom limited edition vintage guitar. Bm 30 based on the classic triple vox ac30 setup, this model offers 3 amps. The modifications will allow the amp to be very similar in sound and circuit to the. Vox amplug 2 ac30 guitar headphone amp guitar center.
Brian may of queen is also a well known heavy user. Vox ac30c2 custom 2channel 30watt 2x12 guitar combo reverb. The vox ac30 brian may is a limited edition version of the classic ac30 electric guitar amplifier. Vox brian may special vbm1 owners manual pdf download. The ac30bm was primarily hand wired, except for the rear panel mounted treble booster, which was on a printed circuit. And so is the edge of u2 who got famous for using his korg sdd3000 delay in combination with vox ac30 amps for getting that wide and spacious sound. Quite a diverse set of music styles which reinforces this amps versatility and enduring qualities. Amplitube brian may 2 amp 3 cab 5 stomp for amplitube created to mirror the. Despite the large number of vox ac30s then in use my system successfully eliminated all. Bm dk originally created by john deacon, after modifying an old radio. Vox custom classic ac30bm brian may signature 30w 2x12. Like the original, this amp delivers 30 watts of power and has standard 14 inch connections for plugging your instrument in. Ive read conflicting accounts of what speakers hes used.
The vox brian may special vbm1 is a small guitar combo amp for the early 2000s. Mar 08, 2012 jmi era vox ac306 normal rev7 jmi era vox ac306 bass rev7. The brian may guitar amp is certainly something to behold. The last vox i drew a schematic to had an extra gain stage and circuitry that wasnt on the schematics. Getting that vox sound with softube amp melodiefabriek. The shadows, the beatles, the rolling stones, the kinks, the yardbird, they all useduse vox. Below are my schematics of the peter michalowski version of the ac30 bm amp mod. Brian may discusses vox ac30s and shows the effect of various red special pickup settings on them. Oct 21, 2016 hi mitch, thanks for reading, and glad youre getting some useful information from the column. Vox custom classic ac30bm brian may signature 30w 2x12 tube.
If only a 2x12 vox will do and you cant swing an ac30 custom, you could own one of these without feeling second best. The ac30 brian may amplifier 2006 model the vox showroom. Welcome to vox many thanks for adding the vox ac30vrac15vr amplifier to your sonic arsenal. Valve reactor technology hasnt slain the allvalve amp, but we are impressed. May functions within amplitube custom shop a free software package for. After first hearing via the excellent brian may news web site that a production version of brians old deacy amp would be available, i immediately decided without even seeing one that it had to be part of my collection. Hes boosted his signal with a cornish tb83 extra, g2 or a tube screamer, boss ce2 for chorus. The vox ac30 has a tone that resonates with people, from the jangly tones of early beatles recordings to brian mays epic wallofvox lead and riff work to the vocal, funky jazz fusion of john scofield.
Check out the vox showroom for more historic information on the vox amps. As long as brian has been playing guitar there has been a wall of ac30s standing behind him. The mainstay of his tone is the ac30 s normal channel combined with a small treblemid boost pedal, with both usually turned all the way up. As soon as said wall is spotted on a stage, the audience immediately knows who is. The vox tradition of innovation carries on today in our. In contrast with tubifex, this model is very specific in modelling the sound of the vox ac30 as used by brian may and includes a trebleboost emulation based on brian may s own setup.
The real secret to the vox ac30 tone is concealed in the phase inverter. It was designed by our uk based vox engineering team and built by our state of the art, vertically integrated manufacturing fac ility and were sure itll give you countless hours of great guitar tones that will feel as good as they sound. Service manual vox vt50 schematic heaven, tube books. But the thing sounds amazing, better than any of the boutique stuff in that price range. Emulating brian mays guitar amp sound sound on sound. Vox ac30s have been a part of my life and work for 40 years now, and they always give me exactly what i need in terms of sound. Bm 30 based on the classic triple vox ac30 setup, this model offers 3 amps with the effects chain in a wetdrywet configuration to match brian may s classic setup bm dk originally fashioned by queen bassist, john deacon, after modifying an old radio, the diminutive deacy amp is the trademark sound behind many of brian may s classic recordings. Like the original, this amp delivers 30 watts of power and has standard. Employing a quartet of el84 power tubes, the ac30 custom pumps 30 watts of remarkable tone through a pair of 12inch celestion greenback speakers.
The iconic top boost ac30 and most other standard ac30s offered either two or three independent channels. I know youve already stated your goals for these mods, but as people use ac30s for quite a wide spectrum of distinctly different tones from complex singlecoil chime and jangle to roaring brian mayhumbucker saturation what are you dialing in with yours. Shop for the vox amplug 2 ac30 guitar headphone amp and receive free shipping on your order and the guaranteed lowest price. Weber sells an ac30 like kit called the 6v30 which is moderately close to a 60s 3channel ac30, but you get only parts and a layout and schematic, and youd want to upgrade some of. Amplitube brian may features precise software models of the exact live and studio. If you know how an ac30 works, then take that and remove the brilliant and vibrato channels. Vox released a limited edition brian may ac30 back in 2006 called the. It was an interesting amp as it combined both a treble booster circuit. How to get classic vox ac30 tones using guitar modelling. Vox ac30 amplifier the specifications of the vox ac306 tb are the result of painstaking research by our guitarists and engineers, who were not happy until they re created the amp that started it all. Vox diagrams, schematics and service manuals download for free. As you know, throughout his lengthy and highly successful career brian has always been associated with vox amps and his celebrated wall of nine ac30 combos is a brian may trademark that is instantly recognized in all four corners of the globe. The other ampmodelling plugin, tc thirty, is a software emulation of vox s timehonoured ac30 amplifier, and was developed in conjunction with stefan moeller.
The most authentic brian may tone yet, but be warned, its very loud. He used 2 non top boost fawn ac30s running them through their normal channels cranked. Treble version, redrawed schematic and more text to be fallow. Part of stefans test rig, featuring a vintage vox ac30 amp with his analogue. If you dont, you could save a little more with voxs night train. Conversion procedure for vox brian may ac30 2006 to dave peterson ac30. Hes got something going on with vox, as they also released a brian may ac30 a few years back, although i do not know his level of involvement here. Below is just the phase inverter tube, and the associated circuitry.
Stone cold crazy tone from a strippeddown, may customized ac30. Jan 11, 2012 brian may discusses vox ac30s and shows the effect of various red special pickup settings on them. The vox ac30ch delivers the classic chime and complex grind that has made the brand famous. The circuits are not the same at all, even though it may appear so on the schematics. The brian may ac30 limited edition the vox showroom. Regarding the amp, brian may said, you, like me, are unimpressed by dozens of controls on a guitar amplifier. Hi mitch, thanks for reading, and glad youre getting some useful information from the column.
The real ac30 is one of the most sought after amps in the world. There have been so many iterations and reissues of the vox ac30 over the years, so thanks for being very specific as to which model you have and even supplying the schematic. Free vox diagrams, schematics, service manuals schematics. The voltages in a vox ac30 can kill even after the power has been switched off. Before buying, consider whether you need the extra volume and channel switching. The vox ac30 is one of the most successful british amplifiers ever made. Based on the classic triple vox ac30 setup, this model offers 3 amps with the effects chain in a wetdrywet configuration to match brian may s iconic setup. Save for its singular singleknob control panel in bright red finish, a quick glance at the new vox ac30 brian may custom limited edition amplifier reveals little if anything that separates it from the typical ac30. If you study the schematic closely, you may note the following. Dim reproduces the behavior of every component in the circuit all the way.
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