AC30 normal channel pedal

[Karl Houseknecht]

What I'm looking for here is a pedal that can do the normal channel, just on edge of or right before breakup kind of tone. Amp is a Fender DeVille ML.

 

[feet]

It's been a while since I checked, but I remember thinking at the time that the wampler thirty something/ace thirty was the pedal that sounded the most like my vox amps. That's where I would start.

 

[Godspeed64]

It's been a while since I checked, but I remember thinking at the time that the wampler thirty something/ace thirty was the pedal that sounded the most like my vox amps. That's where I would start.

I had a less than stellar experience with this unfortunately.

To the OP, I love the normal channel of a Vox too, but the few emulations out there are obsessed with the Top Boost tone. I make do with the AMT V1, which to date is unsurpassed for my use.

 

[transmission]

Lumpy's Tone Shop Brilliance boost, the latest version has a switch to select between Normal, Lead and Brilliant channels. It models the EF86 AC30.

Unfortunately, it seems like he's not building anymore. Website look ok, but not responding to emails.

 

[Karl Houseknecht]

I love the normal channel of a Vox too, but the few emulations out there are obsessed with the Top Boost tone.

Yeah, that was my impression of the few demos I've heard of that pedal. I don't want the Top Boost circuit, just the normal channel. I know, maybe that sounds like a strange request, but when you push that normal channel high enough it sounds very cool.

 

[WhoJamFan]

Try a Boss BC-2 Combo pedal. I was seriously impressed with it's totally clean to super saturated gain range, and the 2 knob eq lets you get normal and top boost tones.
For $50 used shipped to my door, it's worth looking into.

I too, was unimpressed with about every other Vox in a box offerings including the Wampler, Rocket High Top, and many others.

I seriously want to try the AMT.

 

[Bucksears]

I used to love my Wampler CrankedAC, with the gain dialed way back and one (or both) of the low-pass filter caps clipped. In the process of building another.

One you might want to check out is the Carl Martin AC-Tone. They sound pretty good, much better than the Boss BC-2, IMO. If board real-estate is an issue, check out the single-channel/3-knob version.

 

[shaky town]

some like that Tech 21 Liverpool pedal

 

[Artie Fisk]

Catlinbread's now-discontinued CB30 did it pretty well.

 

[lesscold]

Try the Crowther Hotcake. I, personally, use it as an always-on drive at the beginning of the chain with the Level at 2:00, Presence at 12:00, Drive set to 12:15 and use my volume knob to get everything from clean to light breakup to thick chime all the way up to sustainy fuzzy distortion. All levels sound very Voxy- loose bottom end, slightly scooped midrange, lots of upper mid harmonic complexity and breakup.

 

[amdowell]

The Bearfoot Emerald Green Distortion Machine was the closest I've ever heard to the normal channel on my AC30. The lower gain iterations may be up your alley also. But, seriously consider this one as I've tried just about 100+ pedals with that AC30 and the only reason I ever got rid of the Bearfoot was that it sounded TOO SIMILAR to my amp and, at the time, needed more variety. But the EGDM is definitely what you're looking for.

 

[Karl Houseknecht]

Just to be clear, as I stated in the original post, I am not using an AC30 as my amp. I'm using a Fender Deville ML. That has a very warm, round clean channel. I'm looking for a pedal that gives me something sounding like the normal channel of an AC30, just at or below the edge of breakup. Again, I'm not looking for a pedal to run INTO an AC30.

 

[mcdyas]

I love that normal channel.

1) JHS Morning Glory
2) Bondi Sick-as

 

[amdowell]

Just to be clear, as I stated in the original post, I am not using an AC30 as my amp. I'm using a Fender Deville ML. That has a very warm, round clean channel. I'm looking for a pedal that gives me something sounding like the normal channel of an AC30, just at or below the edge of breakup. Again, I'm not looking for a pedal to run INTO an AC30.

Yup, I understood, brother. The EGDM is basically a Vox in a Box, but IMO, THE MOST accurate one around. I just used my AC30 as a reference so you understood how I was able to actually compare it to the normal channel of an AC30.

 

[strangesounds]

I agree with amdowell. Into fenders, my dumblish clones, and ac15 or ac30, the EGDM has a truly voxish tone. Your amp will influence it, but it has great tone controls. It can go light-medium gain to really distorted to fuzzy settings. Don't try to set its knobs like a normal pedal, though, tweak by ear as there's lots of variation possible.

 

[feet]

i'm with you here. i'm very much a normal channel guy. but my trusty little ac4hw is (lame) top boost all the way. i fixed it with an eqd tone job, pulling out the mids and adding some bass until it was more to my liking. i then tried one on my fenderesque el84 channel and got a sort of reasonable vox sound by adding mids and highs. the tone job can also add volume to push my amps to make it break up a little. that may be another route to take.

i have a morning glory and nothing about it into my non vox amps made me think of a vox. i didn't even like it in front of my ac15, but it worked with the ac4.