NGD Vox AC15HW1

[Nelson89]

So i put in an order for this, and the music store said the supplier was out of stock, so it was going to take about 2 weeks for the supplier to get it, then another week for the music store to get it....5 days later, it arrived:




This has got to be the most dynamic amp i've played, and best amp i've ever owned...i mean to be honest the only amps i own other than this one are a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe and an Orange Tiny Terror with matching cab, so there's not a huge bar to raise there, but i've played through a JCM800, JCM900, H&K Trilogy, H&K Duotone, Laboga Aligator etc etc, and yet this one seems to react the most to picking style. Definitely worth every penny so far, now its just a matter of gigging with it in a week...

Any other lovers of the new Vox Hand Wired series out there? I know this one is made it Vietnam, but it's definitely a well built special amp, seeing as Vox really dropped the ball there for a few years...

[coldwaternights]

Great amps. I have the one with the celestion blue. Sound/tone-wise, these amps easily hold their own with the boutique vox style amps out there. Easily.
I prefer this over the Morgan's i've tried as well as the Matchless Spitfire i auditioned when trying to decide which amp to get. No joke. I prefer it over the Bad Cat Cub II i owned for 3 years as well.
I'm gonna start a thread within a couple weeks or so that will go into more detail about my findings of this amp.

[the_Chris]

They're the real deal. I've got an AC15H1TV that is my most used amp. You can't beat the picking dynamics and it's great to be able to push the amp at reasonable volumes. For me, once I got some NOS tubes in there the amp really filled a sound in my head. With the right pedal you can get even more versatility. The pedal I like the most with it is the Kingsley Jester. I set the AC15 to a light overdrive and I setup the pedal to get it more distorted crunch tones and the boost does singing leads. That amp never fails to continue to make me smile.

[coldwaternights]

Originally Posted by the_Chris

They're the real deal. I've got an AC15H1TV that is my most used amp. You can't beat the picking dynamics and it's great to be able to push the amp at reasonable volumes. For me, once I got some NOS tubes in there the amp really filled a sound in my head. With the right pedal you can get even more versatility. The pedal I like the most with it is the Kingsley Jester. I set the AC15 to a light overdrive and I setup the pedal to get it more distorted crunch tones and the boost does singing leads. That amp never fails to continue to make me smile.

Well, i can't attest to the AC15H1TV.
I only have experience with the 2010 Vox AC15HW1X.
These are hand wired on turret boards.
Made in vietnam.
I think they are the best built and best sounding amps Vox has put out since the JMI era.
Vox has put out so many versions of the AC15 & AC30 over the last 15 years alone that i think people get confused about which version is what.
Especially with the previous "handwired" versions..........which were PCB.
Anyway, I'm not saying your amps isn't nice, i just wanted to be specific.

[Nelson89]

Originally Posted by coldwaternights

Great amps. I have the one with the celestion blue. Sound/tone-wise, these amps easily hold their own with the boutique vox style amps out there. Easily.
I prefer this over the Morgan's i've tried as well as the Matchless Spitfire i auditioned when trying to decide which amp to get. No joke. I prefer it over the Bad Cat Cub II i owned for 3 years as well.
I'm gonna start a thread within a couple weeks or so that will go into more detail about my findings of this amp.

I look forward to reading your upcoming thread!

[Echo Are]

Congrats, nice amp. I recently got a two-year-old AC15C1 myself(which I guess is the next AC15 version down from the handwired AC15), used but in mint condition, and it's a sweet-sounding amp in its own right.

[deadbeat son]

HNAD! I just got an AC30HW2 last week. They're great amps. I'm looking forward to my speakers breaking in. The tone is even better then.

[JamminJoe]

I had the heritage AC15 and still have the heritage AC30H2, both great amps. The AC15HW1 is even better! If you're strictly a clean player the heritages might be better, smoother and fatter sounds with the EF86. But the overdriven sounds on the HW1 are so fun to play with, this amp is a blast. I might try a blue with it, but nothing wrong with the stock GB. The AC15HW1 through the 2 blues of my AC30H2 is heaven.

[LancerMongoose]

This has got to be the most dynamic amp i've played, and best amp i've ever owned...i mean to be honest the only amps i own other than this one are a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe and an Orange Tiny Terror with matching cab, so there's not a huge bar to raise there, but i've played through a JCM800, JCM900, H&K Trilogy, H&K Duotone, Laboga Aligator etc etc, and yet this one seems to react the most to picking style. Definitely worth every penny so far, now its just a matter.

Happy NAD! It was NAD for me with an AC15HW1 on monday. My previous amp ownership is a Peavey Classic 50, so quite a massive upgrade. Your opinions above perfectly echo mine. My jaw dropped at the tone when I first plugged in. The edge of breakup tones are to die for. Now the question is... How would an alnico blue sound vs. the greenback? I can't imagine anything much better. Maybe ignorance is bliss for my wallet

[Nelson89]

Originally Posted by LancerMongoose

Happy NAD! It was NAD for me with an AC15HW1 on monday. My previous amp ownership is a Peavey Classic 50, so quite a massive upgrade. Your opinions above perfectly echo mine. My jaw dropped at the tone when I first plugged in. The edge of breakup tones are to die for. Now the question is... How would an alnico blue sound vs. the greenback? I can't imagine anything much better. Maybe ignorance is bliss for my wallet

You know what, i thought exactly the same thing with the GB...i think if i REALLY wanted the blue in there, i'd have to try it out first and probably just buy a second with the blue...nothing wrong with the tone of the GB in there to my ears...i'd just imagine the blue to be different...

[trpullen]

Happy New Amp Day to both of us. I grabbed an AC15HW1 with GB last week. Used it at practice and Easter Service this weekend. WOW...what tones. Very much fun to play and the pro sound guy on the board (who actually will tell me if I sound like crap) loved it. It's a keeper.


K-Line, Suhr and Duesenberg by thomas.pullen, on Flickr


Pedalboard by thomas.pullen, on Flickr


VoxAC15HW1 and Orange Rockerverb 50 by thomas.pullen, on Flickr

[Nelson89]

Originally Posted by trpullen

Happy New Amp Day to both of us. I grabbed an AC15HW1 with GB last week. Used it at practice and Easter Service this weekend. WOW...what tones. Very much fun to play and the pro sound guy on the board (who actually will tell me if I sound like crap) loved it. It's a keeper.



VoxAC15HW1 and Orange Rockerverb 50 by thomas.pullen, on Flickr

Haha, i like your Orange Rockerverb there, i plan on using the Vox next to my Orange Tiny Terror with the orange 112 cab, well either that or the hot rod deluxe...gotta mess around with all that first haha. I'll probably try out the multi-amp setup once i get the hang of just the Vox by itself.

[trpullen]

I just had some Delay/Octo Reverb effects routed that way. It made everything SO 3D.

[trpullen]

The sweet pairing was the AC15 and my Rivera Venus 3. Both 15 Watt amps. Both have 7 watt modes. Both using small bottle tubes (EL84 vs 6V6). The sweet reverb in the Rivera teamed with nice Delay smacking the AC15 was heaven.

[Catoogie]

How would an alnico blue sound vs. the greenback? I can't imagine anything much better. Maybe ignorance is bliss for my wallet

Celestion Blue could be the greatest speaker ever. It most certainly THEE Vox sound. I've had AC30s with greenbacks, they do not compare to a Vox Blue. It's as simple as that.