AC30S1 ONETWELVE 30-watt 1x12" Tube Combo Amp Review

What a great amp should sound like

Since we are based out of Music City Nashville TN, we have a TON of great guitar players come through our studio. So many different Genres of music is recorded through this AMP. Seems that it is a work horse. Also, So many guitar player have never played through a VOX and once they plug into this one they get hooked. We are able to place this in our Custom Isolated Combo Amp box,… read more Mic it up, CRANK IT UP, find that sweet spot and push record. The results are insanely good. So if your looking for that VOX tone and a great amp, look no further, this one is up there with some of the greats.

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Pretty Sweet. But with a few tweaks it can become really sweet!

I am extremely picky and I have been playing vintage and newer vox amps my whole life. I have played in many bands and have a lot of experience playing many different genres. My go to amp is a 2000s English AC30TBX. It has the Vox Blues in it. It has been my battle amp forever now. It's quirky, but IMHO there are few amps out there that sound better. I came across the AC30S1 at… read more a local music store. I was looking for something in between my ac15 and ac30. I went ahead and bit the bullet. I gotta be honest, my initial impression was that the amp was pretty good, but lacked the tone of my ac30TBX. It was kinda stale. If definitely had more headroom than the ac15 which was my goal. So I got to thinking... I knew I didn't like the speaker and tubes at all. I have only ever really used blues and vox silvers. So it had to be an Alnico replacement. I swamped out the stock speaker for a Celestion Ruby. Immediately it sprang to life and had that awesome air moving sound of my ac30tbx but without driving sound guys nuts. But, I wasn't done yet. The cabinet still lacked the tight bass and crisp response of the vintage birch cabs. I do not like mdf in guitar amps. So I busted out saws and studied youtube. I set off to build a head and cab. I used birch ply and some new and old parts I had laying around. Now this thing is amazing!!! Mind you I am an amateur carpenter, but it came out pretty sweet.

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Very nice amp for home

I bought this combo amp for home. I am not carrying it anywhere, so I don't care about its weight. Order was processed fantastically quick and delivery was relatively fast. I would buy it again. Thank you Sweetwater!

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Awesome

Had this amp a few weeks now and I have to same that it has exceeded my expectations. It may only be a single 12" speaker but it still has the output of an AC30! And it really stays true to the Top Boost channel that it's modeled after. Only wish I had bought this amp sooner.

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Vox AC30S1

OK first off I play 85 to 90% country. I have tried several 1-12 combo amps from PRS 20watt to Fender 68 Custom Deluxe Reverb which I really liked just not enough clean headroom for un-miked situations. I have never owned or played through a Vox amp of any kind. I researched this one by listening to videos on line. Then I bit the bullet and bought it. I've had it for about 6 months… read more now and I love it. Now that's not to say I didn't change some things, such as the speaker, the tubes, and most of all the cabinet. I'm 70 years old and even though this is a 1-12 combo it is still a little heavy at 54lbs. So you young bucks shouldn't have any problem! HA! I built a slightly smaller and lighter cabinet out of Paulownia wood which is not cheap. The original cabinet is made of 3/4" MDF which weighs 28lbs. EMPTY! I also changed the speaker to a Jensen C12N which to ME is the best sounding speaker out there. I do not like Celestion speakers. I tried several WGS but they just weren't what I like. I swapped the original tubes to some Groove Tubes I already had. I going to get new JJ tubes this week. The amp takes pedals great and I go through the front of the amp. Haven't tried the effects loop yet but I'm going to do so. The reverb is good but I don't use it because I use an MXR Carbon Copy for slap back delay. I also use an overdrive pedal for any rock/ blues tones. You can get it from the amp if you want. But I use the volume and gain knobs just to get a little grit. Hope this helps.

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