bobo Posted September 16, 2008 Share Posted September 16, 2008 thinking of getting new, china made in terms of reliability. have read some issues in breaking down. anyone have any experiences? i've read fender has less character. i have an epi. elite casino and a gibson johnny a. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoki Posted September 16, 2008 Share Posted September 16, 2008 hey bobo, you know i had a big itch for that heritage reissue earlier this year myself, but a funny thing happened. some old pals from school called me in on a project they had going and i had a chance several months back to go head to head using my voxy marshall mod along side an ac15 in a recording session. i haven't posted here in a while and the follow up on that work is the primary reason why, but i had to jump in when i saw this post. the short of it is that my evjr through the stock cab held it's own with the heritage ac15 reissue that cost a thousand bucks more - if not in fact a little more versatile with the vox/marshall mallories on a switch and that bitmo tone knob that got me hooked into this in the first place : ) i've been itching to get some of the stuff posted somewhere for folks to hear how close the tones actually were, but it seems to be taking forever to wrap up loose ends. now, if you're really looking for a cranking stage amp that is the one place the vox had me with far more head room, but unless you're itching to go throw that grand down i recommend having a go at the vox or marshall mod - or waiting for the EVSr. - or heck, do both and you'd still save a bunch of dough, but for sure try to get out and play one before you commit - though I do have to admit it is awfully darn pretty.... cheers z Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klast Posted September 18, 2008 Share Posted September 18, 2008 I have an AC15CC that I bought used 6 months ago. Haven't gigged with it but dragged it to rehearsal a couple of times. Sounds good with LP, Tele and Strat. The only thing I have done is to replace the original reverb tank, which was way too splashy, with an Accutronics unit. Klas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoki Posted December 4, 2008 Share Posted December 4, 2008 Hey Guys, Well, let's see, it's only been 8 months, but things are finally wrapping up on that project I used my voxy brown marshall mod on. This was some old friends from college that called and wanted to get the old band together to spend a long weekend recording and try to pull a record together. I had my VJr. shipped out because, as many of you who helped along the way and rescued me from a few misteps may remember, I was totally obsessed with the little amp at the time and saw the project as a great opportunity to really give the thing a workout. When I arrived out at the drummers place in Sun Valley where we recorded I was surprised to find that the other guitarist and singer had rented one of the Heritage Vox AC15's that I'd been drooling about - and while it is a certainly a fine sounding amplifier, even my old pal's were shocked that the VJr. sounded every bit as good and even better at times than the Vox, lacking only that extra volume when we turned off the hard drive and just got to jamming. But I'll let ya'll have a listen yourselves - the link for the myspace site is below. I'll preface this by asking you to remember that though the results far surpassed my expectations going in, you are still listening to some guys who played together when they where 19 and mostly haven't seen each other for 20 some years.... A set up here on the recording is that the stuff was recorded using sonor and no external compression or fancy stuff going in - just a 57 straight on the cones, not an ideal set up for the audiophile, but we were working with what we had and needed minimal bleed and to work quickly. Against my desire to thin out the herd we took on an insane 14 songs in 3 days(!) - and of course a few didn't make the cut in the end, but I always hate a record that over stays it's welcome anyway. The stuff was later taken up to Sheldon Zaharko to mix in Vancouver at The Factory and he was doing these mixes in 3 to 5 hours a pop as we were on a budget. So on one hand it ain't Nashville, (or Chicago or wherever else you mix Alt Country or American or whatever it is we ended up doing ; ), but he really did a stellar job for us on tight schedule. Anyway, here are the tunes to listen for the VJr. on.... Gravity - I love the way this one turned out because it is literally the first thing we played together in over 20 years and we ended up using all the live tracks including vocals on that, with no editing except recutting the acoustic and the addition of the left trem rhythm (tele, mesa F-30, CAD condenser, low volume later at home), lap steel and buried virtual B3. So the Vjr. is my Jagmaster on the neck pup on the right channel there (panned closer to the center for the solo), live take, no punches. I had just had the Vjr. cab I been wanting shipped out from Musicians Friend and wanted the other guitarist to break it in before I got there, but that didn't happen and though I'm pretty happy with the take, I can hear that the new Eminence speaker is much tighter and breaks up later than the same setting through the Celestion V-30 I was playing through at home. So the tone is a bit cleaner than I would've cut with knowing that and the added compression in the mix levels out a bit of the dynamics, but again, we were on a tight schedule all things considered I was shocked that 20 years hadn't seemed to get in the way of band chemistry too much. Your Time Has Come and Gone - Here is a great AC15 vs EVJr. listen....AC15 on the left and Vjr. on the right - who'da guessed they'd sound so close! This one is also more or less a live take too, minus the vocals - 12 stringish melody (cheap behringer pedal) is a dub with the Vjr. and the tele b bender solo was recorded at home later through the F-30 and my 60 dollar CAD condenser at low volume - I gotta say though it not something I'd ideally cut a lead vocal with I've really come to like that CAD for guitar work btw.... Now there is more stuff with the Vjr/AC15 thing on the album, and I think you can sample more on iTunes, but the guys want to just give a taste on the myspace site. A couple of my other favorites, One Horse Town and Windmills are also up on mysace - an interesting note is that OHT was done literally the morning we were packing to catch our flights and the bass player rolled in and said "hey guys, i just finished this great tune...." And begrudginly we did have to admit that it was a pretty good tune, so that was one was tracked in about 45 minutes with acoustic, drums and bass and then a quick take or two through the bass players buddy's Tube Works amp with a strat that wasn't mine up center and the other panned trem stuff is the F-30 at home with the CAD again. Anyway, I'll stop the rambling and give ya's the link: http://www.myspace.com/ryebender So there it is - a humble effort among old friends that was a ton of fun and turned out much better than I'da thought for guys that hadn't played together (or played much at all for the drummer and bass player) in over 20 years.... I'd love to hear your feedback if ya'll are so inclined : ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcrracer Posted December 4, 2008 Share Posted December 4, 2008 Real nice! Not my kind of music, but very well done. Love to finally hear a VJr in a band setting. I am a bass player who likes to plink around on guitar. But I am a retired electronic engineer who loves modding Vjrs and building tube amps. Keep up the good work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoki Posted December 4, 2008 Share Posted December 4, 2008 hey mcrracer, thanks - i gotta say it's been a while since i put much twang on the guitar myself - i was more into that kinda thing for a while a while back, but the rock got a hold of me again and in fact i've spent much of the last 15 years on bass. it was great to bring the vjr in and show it off to my pals for sure and i've since got the tele back out and have even been geeking on some of the new brad paisley pickin record - oops - did i say too much!? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ssgfowler Posted December 4, 2008 Share Posted December 4, 2008 Very nice job with the CD! I definately don't hear $1,000.00 worth of difference between the Vox and the Vjr. Sounds much like Steve Earle & the Dukes (circa Guitartown era) influenced. (and thats' a good thing) it was great to bring the vjr in and show it off to my pals for sure and i've since got the tele back out and have even been geeking on some of the new brad paisley pickin record - oops - did i say too much!? Brad Paisley is one cool guitar player and amp fanatic...and he loves small Class A amps with EL84 tubes in 'em Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoki Posted December 4, 2008 Share Posted December 4, 2008 Wow Sg - Love that Steve Earle stuff and hadn't thought of it in a while though we've been trying to pin down exactly what it is we ended up with stylistically - we might need to use that reference if you don't mind. And by the way, those tobacco sunburst gibsons in my pic seem to find me too - along with an old LG-1 that isn't there - like garage sale cheap for some reason... Anyway yeah - I was surprised how close the voxy brown marshall mod (marshall mods with the gil caps on a switch thing, a bitmo tone, bright and C3 switches and an Edcor Tranny) to the real Vox myself. Now it was such a blast doing the mods I wouldn't have cared much if it didn't, because I was so happy with it anyway, but you know - that Vox cost about 1200 more...:- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ssgfowler Posted December 5, 2008 Share Posted December 5, 2008 Modding the Vjr. is half the fun. The other half is the look on everyone's face the first time they hear it or try it out, and then telling them how much money I have invested in it. ($250 for amp & cab, about $50 for Hammond O/T, JJ EL84 tube, misc caps, resistors, pots, and jacks.) There are plenty of stompboxes that cost more than that, and don't do nearly as much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoki Posted December 5, 2008 Share Posted December 5, 2008 Yeah - totally agree - you know the guy that rented the AC15 for the recording actually asked me if I would do a similar voxish mod on a head for him, but the shipping cost to Alaska from Chicago pretty much ruled that out for him - and then he ended up getting a great deal on an AC30 a a pawn shop anyway..... lucky him...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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