Upgrading The Vox Ac-30

26 UPGRADING THE VOX AC-30 by F.P. Zantis To many players of the electric guitar, the Type AC-30 valved combo ampli- fier from VOX has a very special attraction, which is mostly due to its typical sound. This article describes how the now legendary AC-30 can be upgraded with features found on more up-to-date valve amplifiers. The guitar amplifier, like the body of an acoustic guitar, boosts and modifies the other- wise very flat and weak sound of the strings. There are good grounds for the continued use, in a guitar amplifier, of valves instead of semiconductors. One of the reasons for this is that valves afford a dynamic range that is not so easily matched by a transistor circuit. To this comes the fact that the player has more difficulty controlling the final sound when there is a good deal of electronics in the signal path between the pick- up element on the guitar and the loud- speaker, as is the case with many solid- state amplifiers. Many players therefore prefer the relativ...