IvanP
Joined: Feb 27, 2006
Posts: 10331
southern Michigan
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Posted on Apr 20 2014 04:52 PM
Playing with my Shadows-tribute band the Troubadours a week from today (at Patrick's wedding) and listening to a lot of the Lunatics and El Supernaut this past week made me truly fall back in love with the Strat, echo and Vox AC-30 combination. May I wholeheartedly recommend to any SG101ers that you try this combination at least once in your lifetimes? I guarantee you will fall in love! We don't need no stinkin' reverb!!

— Ivan
Lords of Atlantis on Facebook
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Last edited: Apr 20, 2014 17:26:38
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JONPAUL
Joined: Apr 29, 2010
Posts: 2472
Venice, CA
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Posted on Apr 20 2014 05:08 PM
OK, let's get super geeky...what year AC30? Any mods? What speakers? What Echo? Sound samples?
— Insect Surfers
The Tikiyaki Orchestra
The Scimitars
Lords Of Atlantis
Fiberglass Jungle - Surf Radio
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DannySnyder
Joined: Mar 02, 2006
Posts: 11075
Berkeley, CA
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Posted on Apr 20 2014 05:22 PM
I'd love to have a Vox amp, someone buy me one please?
— Danny Snyder
"With great reverb comes great responsibility" - Uncle Leo
I am now playing trumpet with Prince Buster tribute band 'Balzac'
Playing keys and guitar with Combo Tezeta
Formerly a guitarist in The TomorrowMen and Meshugga Beach Party
Latest surf project - Now That's What I Call SURF
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IvanP
Joined: Feb 27, 2006
Posts: 10331
southern Michigan
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Posted on Apr 20 2014 05:22 PM
JONPAUL wrote:
OK, let's get super geeky...what year AC30?
2001, Made in the UK, Korg-era.
Any mods?
Nope.
What speakers?
Celestion Blues - the ONLY speakers fit for an AC-30! Seriously, no others will do. Those speakers and that amp are a match made in heaven.
What Echo?
Yamaha MagicStomp loaded with Echoes from the Past - but I've been playing it a lot lately with my old Korg Dynamic Echo, too, and it also sounds great.
Sound samples?
Well, that was basically my recording set up for Twilight on Tribal Fires (though I used my Shoreline Gold '62 reissue Strat, and my Zoom RFX-2000 echo unit loaded with Echoes from the Past). There are also some live videos of the Troubadours on YouTube. Here's one, from Oxford Battle of Surfing Bands in '11 (bunch of others on YouTube, too, just look up 'The Troubadours Oxford'):
— Ivan
Lords of Atlantis on Facebook
The Madeira Official Website
The Madeira on Facebook
The Blair-Pongracic Band on Facebook
The Space Cossacks on Facebook
The Madeira Channel on YouTube
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JONPAUL
Joined: Apr 29, 2010
Posts: 2472
Venice, CA
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Posted on Apr 20 2014 05:28 PM
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wfoguy
Joined: Dec 11, 2011
Posts: 2136
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Posted on Apr 20 2014 05:34 PM
Hey Hank, where's your glasses?
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IvanP
Joined: Feb 27, 2006
Posts: 10331
southern Michigan
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Posted on Apr 20 2014 05:39 PM
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IvanP
Joined: Feb 27, 2006
Posts: 10331
southern Michigan
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Posted on Apr 20 2014 05:41 PM
DannySnyder wrote:
I'd love to have a Vox amp, someone buy me one please?
What, you think someone's just gonna GIVE you $2K worth of guitar gear FOR FREE?? You nuts??? When have you ever heard of THAT happening?? Oh wait... Nevermind.
— Ivan
Lords of Atlantis on Facebook
The Madeira Official Website
The Madeira on Facebook
The Blair-Pongracic Band on Facebook
The Space Cossacks on Facebook
The Madeira Channel on YouTube
Last edited: Apr 20, 2014 17:42:25
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DannySnyder
Joined: Mar 02, 2006
Posts: 11075
Berkeley, CA
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Posted on Apr 20 2014 06:13 PM
One can dream, can't one?
— Danny Snyder
"With great reverb comes great responsibility" - Uncle Leo
I am now playing trumpet with Prince Buster tribute band 'Balzac'
Playing keys and guitar with Combo Tezeta
Formerly a guitarist in The TomorrowMen and Meshugga Beach Party
Latest surf project - Now That's What I Call SURF
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Surfabilly
Joined: Apr 21, 2006
Posts: 852
Connersville, Indiana, USA
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Posted on Apr 20 2014 06:29 PM
If you set the Presence, Reverb and Tremolo just right on a Vox AC30, you can nail Link Wray's tone; short of using a vintage Imperial with the Tremolo cranked.
— Fast Cars & Loud Guitars!
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Badger
Joined: Nov 16, 2013
Posts: 4537
Wisconsin
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Posted on Apr 20 2014 07:00 PM
Ivan, that was awesome, thanks!
Yummm.
— Wes
SoCal ex-pat with a snow shovel
DISCLAIMER: The above is opinion/suggestion only & should not be used for mission planning/navigation, tweaking of instruments, beverage selection, or wardrobe choices.
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imafunkyman
Joined: Sep 16, 2007
Posts: 548
Utah
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Posted on Apr 20 2014 08:25 PM
Damn you Ivan! I now have Vox envy! Great job my friend.
— Either you surf, or you fight.
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Surfersaurus
Joined: Feb 10, 2010
Posts: 352
Australia
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Posted on Apr 20 2014 10:51 PM
IvanP wrote:
JONPAUL wrote:
OK, let's get super geeky...what year AC30?
2001, Made in the UK, Korg-era.
Any mods?
Nope.
What speakers?
Celestion Blues - the ONLY speakers fit for an AC-30! Seriously, no others will do. Those speakers and that amp are a match made in heaven.
What Echo?
Yamaha MagicStomp loaded with Echoes from the Past - but I've been playing it a lot lately with my old Korg Dynamic Echo, too, and it also sounds great.
Sound samples?
Well, that was basically my recording set up for Twilight on Tribal Fires (though I used my Shoreline Gold '62 reissue Strat, and my Zoom RFX-2000 echo unit loaded with Echoes from the Past). There are also some live videos of the Troubadours on YouTube. Here's one, from Oxford Battle of Surfing Bands in '11 (bunch of others on YouTube, too, just look up 'The Troubadours Oxford'):
Great sound! Reminds me of early Jim Skiathitis.
Black is the new red..
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IvanP
Joined: Feb 27, 2006
Posts: 10331
southern Michigan
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Posted on Apr 20 2014 11:00 PM
Many surf guitarists the world over have discovered that AC-30 magic already: Martin Cilia & Jim Skiathitis of the Atlantics, Mikko Lankinen of Laika & the Cosmonauts (I think on everything starting with Instruments of Terror), Dalibor of the Bambi Molesters (though he also uses Fenders quite a bit, too), Dave Wronski (always has an AC-30 in the mix when recording), Sami Paananen of the Lunatics & El Supernaut, and the lead guitarist of the great Swedish band Langhorns (I'm attaching a few of their videos, really beautiful AC-30 tones). I'm sure I've left out quite a few. I really love the heavily reverbed AC-30 tone, too, love that midrange interacting with a Fender Reverb Unit! So good....
— Ivan
Lords of Atlantis on Facebook
The Madeira Official Website
The Madeira on Facebook
The Blair-Pongracic Band on Facebook
The Space Cossacks on Facebook
The Madeira Channel on YouTube
Last edited: Apr 20, 2014 23:00:52
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ElBirkerio
Joined: Dec 17, 2012
Posts: 519
Vienna
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Posted on Apr 21 2014 03:17 AM
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eltwang
Joined: Feb 26, 2008
Posts: 543
Copenhagen, Denmark
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Posted on Apr 21 2014 05:23 AM
The glorious AC30 mids and an echo'yyyy Ivan. Love it!
— El Bluesky
El Ray
El Ray on Bandcamp
El Twang on YouTube
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IvanP
Joined: Feb 27, 2006
Posts: 10331
southern Michigan
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Posted on Apr 21 2014 11:28 AM
guitar wrote:*
Great sound! Reminds me of early Jim Skiathitis.
Thanks, Martin, HIGH praise, indeed!!!
Black is the new red..
eltwang wrote:
The glorious AC30 mids and an echo'yyyy Ivan. Love it!
Thanks, Lars! I suspect you get quite a bit of this sort of thing in your parts (though maybe not quite as much anymore)....
— Ivan
Lords of Atlantis on Facebook
The Madeira Official Website
The Madeira on Facebook
The Blair-Pongracic Band on Facebook
The Space Cossacks on Facebook
The Madeira Channel on YouTube
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caddady
Joined: Feb 14, 2010
Posts: 802
N.E. Ohio
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Posted on Apr 21 2014 11:49 AM
Can an AC15 get "the tone" only with less volume?
I did see all the patches to make a regular Magic Stomp into a Hank Marvin special edition. And they were free. Be damned if I can find the link now, but it's out there.
— http://www.reverbnation.com/thegreasemonkeyz
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ElBirkerio
Joined: Dec 17, 2012
Posts: 519
Vienna
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Posted on Apr 21 2014 12:12 PM
hi!
the ac 15 has, in my opinion, not enough headroom. my small egnater tweaker 15 outperforms the ac15.
surprised to see that ivan has an unmodified 1. generation korg. they were reported to have some issues (heat transfer to board from the valves, fixed connection to speakers ...). my 2 nd generation one has none of these problems and a quite good mod ... the replacement of the frail rectifier valve with a semiconductor. i also replaced the chinese preamp tubes (12AX7A-c equivalent) with something softer ...
yours wolfi
— http://www.surfgrammeln-san.org
https://www.facebook.com/BaluUndSurfgrammeln
http://greencookierecords.bandcamp.com/album/coming-out-soon-los-chicharrones-del-surf-10
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IvanP
Joined: Feb 27, 2006
Posts: 10331
southern Michigan
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Posted on Apr 21 2014 12:23 PM
caddady wrote:
Can an AC15 get "the tone" only with less volume?
Yes. Will the volume/headroom be enough to play with a band? It depends how loud you play, but probably not. I'd say it's comparable to a Deluxe Reverb in terms of volume and headroom. But for studio use or home use, it's a great choice!
I did see all the patches to make a regular Magic Stomp into a Hank Marvin special edition. And they were free. Be damned if I can find the link now, but it's out there.
I heard about this. I bought my patches, and they were designed by the main guys, the ones that designed the patches for Hank. I like them a lot.
ElBirkerio wrote:
the ac 15 has, in my opinion, not enough headroom. my small egnater tweaker 15 outperforms the ac15.
It depends on which model AC-15, and in particular, whether it comes with a Celestion Blue speaker, which are VERY loud speakers. If it doesn't have a Celestion Blue, it's not going to be nearly as loud (or sound nearly as good).
surprised to see that ivan has an unmodified 1. generation korg. they were reported to have some issues (heat transfer to board from the valves, fixed connection to speakers ...).
I believe you are wrong about this. These were the problems that existed with the Rose-Morris AC-30TB reissues from '90 to '92. I had one of those, and it was a nightmare. Once Korg bought Vox from Rose-Morris and started producing them in the Marshall factory, they immediately redesigned the PC board and fixed all those issues. The Korg-era AC-30TB reissues were made in the UK from '93 until '03/'04, and I NEVER heard about any of those problems with them. Anyway, mine is an '01, so a fairly late model, and though I've used it quite a lot over the past 10-11 years, I've never had any serious problems with it.
my 2 nd generation one has none of these problems and a quite good mod ... the replacement of the frail rectifier valve with a semiconductor.
It's a horrible idea to do this - AC-30s HAVE to have a tube rectifier!
i also replaced the chinese preamp tubes (12AX7A-c equivalent) with something softer ...
Yeah, you gotta put some good tubes in there.
— Ivan
Lords of Atlantis on Facebook
The Madeira Official Website
The Madeira on Facebook
The Blair-Pongracic Band on Facebook
The Space Cossacks on Facebook
The Madeira Channel on YouTube
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