Thoughts on effect pedals for Vox AC15C1 AMP

[Kbrad72]

Hey all, first post! Last week, I was on the hunt for an amp and I ended up getting a good deal on a Vox AC15C1 from guitar center. I couldn't be happier with the sounds its capable of by itself. I own a fender strat with the 3 single coils, and it sounds amazing on the amp. I was a little worried it would be too much amp for playing around the living room, but its perfect! My next step is to add some effect pedals.
Im sort of a amature intermediate player. I don't play for an audience, just for my own ears pretty much, but sound quality is still a big deal for me. My playing style is pretty much all over the place, but I'm trending to more of a bluesy sound.
My next purchase will be a distortion pedal....At least what I considered "distortion". I recently found out that what I considered distortion was a little more complicated. There's distortion, overdrive, fuzz, gain etc....all of which Ive always thought as"distortion" so all of this sort of makes looking for a good "distortion" pedal a little more complicated. All in all, Im looking for something that will go great with the vox ac15c1 amp, and will cover a wide range of sounds. Ive read a little about the mosfet full drive 2 and it sounds like it could be Ideal for covering a lot of different types of "distortions". I talked a little to a guy who mentioned one of the rat pedals, he called out a specific one which I cant remember, but said it was incredibly awesome for what I was looking for. He also said that if I just got pretty much any metal distortion pedal, that it would cover pretty much all distorted sounds depending how you dial it in.
Thoughts?

Also, any advice on other types of pedals and "must haves"to add or check out for this amp would be great!

Lastly, (its probably something I should have asked before I bought the amp) How long will this amp last? how often to change tubes?

I think that wraps up pretty much all of my questions. Any input would be appreciated! Thanks in advance!

[ghostnote]

You're really going down the rabbit hole now - the world of pedals is crazy. Or rather, the pedal fanatics are - just check out the pedal section of most any music forum and you'll see what I mean. But first let me say that I have about a billion pedals, and an AC15C1; and that amp takes pedals very well. The Fulldrive 2 you mentioned is a nice versatile pedal - but there are lots of those.
There is so much that could be said on this subject - I'd recommend that you go to one of those other sites and start reading. See you in a few weeks...

[Steve DeRosa]

Originally Posted by Kbrad72

...I couldn't be happier with the sounds it's capable of by itself. I own a Fender Strat with the 3 single coils, and it sounds amazing on the amp. I was a little worried it would be too much amp for playing around the living room, but it's perfect...sound quality is still a big deal for me...I'm trending to more of a bluesy sound...

Also, any advice on other types of pedals and "must haves"to add or check out for this amp would be great!

Lastly, (its probably something I should have asked before I bought the amp) How long will this amp last? How often to change tubes?

I think that wraps up pretty much all of my questions. Any input would be appreciated! Thanks in advance!

Welcome to the forum - in order:

I'll respectfully disagree with Ghostnote here - as the old saying goes, if it ain't broke don't fix it. You've got one of the most iconic tone machines in rock history - and another one to go with it in that Strat - and before I go the stompbox route I'd take at least a few months to explore the intrinsic tone capabilities, just guitar-cable-amp; given your preferred style, learn to work the interaction between guitar volume/pickup selection and amp controls (especially pre/post-gain) - the way it was done back in the day - and with a little practice you'll find more tone in your hands than you thought possible...

Must-haves - a fitted amp cover; you're not playing 24/7 and crap happens, home or not - a few bucks' investment has saved me a lot of grief over the years, and I'd never own an amp without one...

While your tastes/needs may change over time and you'll want to experiment with different sounds (a '65 Deluxe Reverb would be a great complement to your AC15 - British/American executions of the same design concept), if your amp was correctly assembled and you keep it in good shape your great-grandchildren should get as much enjoyment as you do right now; it's not uncommon to see amps from the '50s used in a studio setting, '60s/70s Fenders and Marshalls still on tour, and R&B/jazz bassists pumping out the low-end through a fifty-year-old Ampeg B-15 - some of the latter still boasting their original tubes. Basically, tube life depends on how often/how hard you use your amp, and the intrinsic build quality of the tubes themselves - with rare exceptions, you're not going to find the same level of durability in current production as the '50s/60s stuff - so as long as you're not hearing any strange noises coming from your amp (that are not a consequence of insufficient practice time) or losing volume, your tubes should be OK; there's a whole science, as well as black art, to tube tone BTW - one that can take years to even begin to understand and goes far beyond the limitations of this forum; here's a link to one of my favorite (and most reliable IME) sources of both information and product:

www.thetubestore.com

Good luck with your new amp - use it well, often, and LOUD..,

[ghostnote]

Well, I'm not sure what there is to disagree about: he asked about pedals, I told him where to find the info. I didn't suggest that he buy any.
Having said that, it's a fact that we're all different, and hear things differently. I actually do play guitar>cord>amp much of the time. It depends on the amp, the music, and the guitar I'm using. But as I suggested before, I love pedals and the things that they can add to your sound. They can be as subtle as a breeze, or hit you right on the head like a hammer. They are tools that happen to be fun, and the only way to decide if they are for you is to research them thoroughly and give 'em try.

[muscmp]

welcome to the AGF!

i have the ac15c1 in the blue/creme and it is a fantastic amp. since that amp has real tube reverb and tremolo, those are basically all you need. i run an aby pedal into both the normal and top boost channels, then tweak the controls until it is perfect for me. note that the tone cut does exactly what it indicates.

i've tried all of my pedals with my amp and have found that i really only use it straight up. the only pedal that i like with it is my fulltone fulldrive 3 in the boost mode. it emphasizes the frequencies rather than the level. of course, you can make it louder too. i set the amp how i like it and then adjust the pedal.

i would agree with steve that you first need to acclimate yourself for a month or three to the amp and know what it does prior to altering it. that being said, i would agree with steve also that the el84 tubes from the tube store are really great. so after a while i would recommend changing the two el84s and the three 12ax7s. the 12ax7s could be NOS, ANOS, or new by JJ, Sovtek, EH. but i think you'll eventually like the change of tubes.

note that to change the tubes, you'll need to take out about 18 screws but, that is the appointments that vox provides.

i did swap out the reverb pan for one with a shorter decay and i like it better. cost is $20 and takes about 15 minutes. you should check out the tele forum http://www.tdpri.com/forums/ as well as others.

The amp should last you forever.

as with everything on the AGF, it is all subjective.

play music!

[KevWind]

Actually I see both ghostnote and Steve's posts as being valuable advice.

There is myriad possibilities with pedals and there is actually a fair amount variation with just picup selection and hand technique also .

But it does not have to be " One or the other", I think it is a very good idea and sound advice to play a good bit with no effects (sort of a learn the basics philosophy ) but that does not exclude experimenting with FX also .

I was new to electrics last fall and Steve gave me the same advice (and I do have a
few pedals)..... BUT my practice regime is to play dry (No effects ) for about 15 to 30 mins...Then I will bring in the effects on my Supro amp, reverb and occasionally tremolo. and play around with them, for 10 to 15 mins. Then start messing around with my FX pedals.

I got what I think are pretty good basic started pedals, a mild overdrive ( Soul Driven by Exotic) and an analog delay (Carbon copy by MXR)
Then I also have a Boss looper so I can practice leads of looped chord progressions and of course an older Boss tuner which I have had forever .

Then I also have a footswitch for the trem and verb on the amp

So my pedal board looks like this

[Kbrad72]

Thanks guys! As kevwind mentioned, all of this is good good stuff. Before the Vox, I had a peavey vyper which I hated, mostly because it was so cumbersome to find the sounds I was trying to dial in. It had a lot of pretty descent effects, and it also had distortion to where I just didn't think about pedals. I just found that amp more frustrating than anything. This vox...WOW!! while 5 or six times the price, its like 500 times more awesome sounding. This was definitely a great investment. With that, the amp cover Steve mentioned is a must get that I didn't even think of!

One thing I'm kind of stumped on....In the store, they Guy selling it to me was able to dial in some distortion. Almost to like an AC/DC kinda sound...at least I thought. At home I adjusted the 2 volume knobs like he did (turn one down, then crank the other) and It gave what sounds like a little distortion, but it seems much more subtle than it did in the store. He used a single coil strat, like mine and it was on the exact same amp. I started to think I just heard it wrong, or something happened to the amp on the way home, or Im just over looking something. Ive turned the sound up more and it did kind of get better but not like what I thought I've heard. Ive tried all the knobs up and down and I just couldn't find it. I settled on the conclusion that I just heard it wrong, and that this amp just does not have distortion. Thats how I came to looking at pedals. Now that some have mentioned dialing in the sound, Im back to thinking maybe something is wrong, that or Im seriously overlooking something. It just sounds too good to think there's anything wrong with it. Any ideas?

Now for the tubes...If this Amp doesn't have distortion (like I think you all are going to tell me), is that something that changing the tubes out might fix?

Lastly, Ghostnote was right...there's like millions of distortion pedals out there. Ive read a few amazon reviews on some, and Im picking up that some distortion pedals do not mix well with single coil guitars. I'm kind of wondering if I can eliminate some of the so many options if I could just find a way to narrow them down to what works best for single coils....I feel like that's a reach, but hopefully Im wrong!

Thanks again for a ll of the responses!

[redir]

I view distortion pedals as distinctly different then overdrive pedals. You won't need an overdrive pedal for that amp since the amp itself is one of the most classic overdrive sounds ever. So if you want distortion then imho thing more in the fuzz direction like the Rat or a Big Muff and so on.

My 2 cents.

[Kbrad72]

Originally Posted by redir

I view distortion pedals as distinctly different then overdrive pedals. You won't need an overdrive pedal for that amp since the amp itself is one of the most classic overdrive sounds ever. So if you want distortion then imho thing more in the fuzz direction like the Rat or a Big Muff and so on.

My 2 cents.

Somebody mentioned Rat to me as well. Im holding down a full time plus a part time job. I cant wait to get a night off to check some of these pedals out.

I was looking online and ran across some of these multi effect pedals. Vox makes one:

Vox StompLab IIG Modeling Guitar Effect Processor

It has like 100 different sounds and distortions for like $90.00 bucks. Makes me wonder why people do not buy multi effect peddles like this instead of pedals with just one sound?

[redir]

Originally Posted by Kbrad72

Somebody mentioned Rat to me as well. Im holding down a full time plus a part time job. I cant wait to get a night off to check some of these pedals out.

I was looking online and ran across some of these multi effect pedals. Vox makes one:

Vox StompLab IIG Modeling Guitar Effect Processor

It has like 100 different sounds and distortions for like $90.00 bucks. Makes me wonder why people do not buy multi effect peddles like this instead of pedals with just one sound?

For me personally, and I probably speak for a lot of people, it's mostly about the interface. While playing live I can reach down real quick and tweak a pedal, not so easy to do with more complicated digital devices.

Also modeling has come a long way but if you are old school like I am and thought modeling was a great idea in the 90's and went out and bought a modeling pedal it sounded like canned garbage.

Finally there is something nice about the simplicity of a simple device. One of my favorite pedals has two knobs on it, boom done. IT does one thing and it does one thing very well.

In fact I have some classic pedals that are now loaded into countless moddlers, I like having the real deal

[Rumblefish]

Welcome to the forum! Strat and a Vox. Good times for sure. I'm a "bluesy" kind of player as well and I agree with Steve there, that guitar>chord>amp can be all that's needed for a lifetime.

I do however enjoy dimming the lights, getting relaxed and experimenting with some effects. you can lose yourself for hours in a good delay pedal. Most effects are based on recreating studio techniques, where the engineers would manipulate the tape to achieve delay, pitch vibrato and such. As opposed to drive/distortion pedals which are meant to be an extension of the amp circuit.

I'd just keep my eyes open for a good deals on used pedals and give a few things a try. $30 or $40 here or there. If you find yourself enjoying an effect you go down the rabbit hole finding the your perfect version of it, but for experimenting most things will work. Phaser, delay, fuzz, vibe. Fun stuff. Easy to overdo in a live situation, but fun

Things that might not be a part of your core sound can be fun to bust out once a night at a gig. Once again, welcome aboard!

[Kbrad72]

Thanks again guys. A little embarrassed here,... Ya know I was going on and on about how my amp did not have distortion, and that I had tried all I could to dial it in....well, I found it. I think I must have been messing with the wrong volume knobs or something. Not sure how I overlooked it, because it seems so simple....yet I did LOL!. My amp is more complete than I thought, and its awesome!!

On the bright side of my blunder, I have been introduced to the world foot pedals!...Not sure if this is a good thing, or a money pit waiting to happen! LOL.

[sandspike15]

Like most have already said here- your Vox will "break up" really nicely by itself if you dial in enough gain and crank the volume.

My 2 cents- since you can get that fuzz going sans pedal, I'd look at grabbing either a Tube Screamer or an EP Boost to really drive that front end. Either that or a simple EQ pedal that'll let you shape the sound you want.

Have fun, play loud and protect your hearing- you picked a real winner!

[ghostnote]

Kbrad, here's something I do with my AC15C1 that you might want to try at some point: using both channels simultaneously. There's more than one way to do it, but I use a volume pedal with 2 outputs. One of the outputs is always on - probably meant to be for a tuner - and the other output is controlled by the pedal itself. I run the always on output into the normal channel. So it's exactly like running a cord straight from your guitar into the amp. The output that's controlled by the pedal goes into the Top Boost channel on the amp. So now I can add as much or as little - or none - top boost into the mix as I want, using the foot pedal. It sounds great. If I'm using my pedal board, I put that into the normal channel, but you could put it in either one.
Have fun with that Vox! I've got 4 Vox amps, so I'm kind of partial to 'em...

[redir]

^ nice use for a volume pedal, I like it.