Vox AC-15 Tube Amplifier (1960)
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Vox AC-15 Model Tube Amplifier (1960), made in Dartford, Kent, England, serial # 4177, Two-Tone Rexine covering finish.
This is a wonderfully rare early Vox AC15 from 1960, especially here in the US a crazy rare, never seen amplifier. One of the most revered of all combo amps generally, the Vox AC-15 and its larger sibling the AC-30 were literally THE sound of the UK Pre-Beat Era and both remain among the most popular amps in the world among those who prize tone above all. While the AC-30 became the popular standard of the day, the earlier (and eventually rarer) AC-15 has become ever more sought after in recent decades as stage and recording volumes have come down.
The AC-15 was VOX's initial flagship amp, when 15 watts was all anyone could imagine needing! The design saw a number of changes during 1960, a year of great growth and experimentation for the company. By this time earlier AC-15's had been subjected to extensive professional use and this roadwork exposed many frailties in the design. A major overhaul resulted in a completely redesigned "Contempo" chassis, abandoning the old top-and-bottom format. That had been proven fairy detrimental as touring musicians blithely threw cables and such into the back of the amp where the fragile tubes were mounted upright! The new version was of part-aluminum, part-steel construction containing everything at the top of the cabinet including the tubes, much like Fender amps of the day. Unlike Leo's creations, these are mounted frontwards in the chassis with a vent cutout located at the top of the baffle.
This amp represents a unique and short-lived version of the design only in production from February 1960 into that fall. It features a two-tone grey design, with the top third a dark grey and the lower two thirds a lighter grey printed-on speckled finish, ornamented with a thin gold piping inset into the joining groove. The black and gold escutcheon panel originally featured black round knobs, although examples from this brief period can also be found with the classic Vox pointer knobs as well. During this era Dick Denney had finished concocting the third AC-15 circuit, forgoing the earlier ECF82 tube. In its place were two 12AX7s, and most significantly, the EF86 was moved from the second vibrato channel to the first channel, where it fed directly into the phase inverter.
This AC-15 uses two EL84 power tubes, an EZ81 rectifier tube and single 12" speaker yielding roughly 15 watts of output, true to its name. Dick Denny's brainchild 4-input/2-channel design featured independent volumes for both channels, vib/trem and speed controls for channel 1, as well as a tone control and a top cut control for channel 2.
Many AC-15s from the early-mid 1960s have generations of heavy use behind them, and the wear to prove it. This one is no exception, but overall remains in admirably good shape overall offering the early glimmering Shadows sounds at lower volume, shading into superbly and inspiringly touch sensitive overdrive if you have opportunity to crank it up, especially with the two channels jumpered! This is truly an inspiring amplifier few modern players will ever even encounter!
Height is 21 in. (53.3 cm.), 20 1/2 in. (52.1 cm.) width, and 10 1/2 in. (26.7 cm.) deep.
Overall this particular AC-15 is a generally nicely preserved example, with visible but fairly minimal wear and some careful restoration work done. Aside from typical scuffing and edge wear, the upper darker third of the cabinet shows some additional darker paint added long ago that is since partially worn off. The somewhat fragile Bakelite handle had at one point suffered a crack that has been very neatly repaired (that being said, we would discourage from excessive use of it!). The black escutcheon top panel is comparatively clean with minimal disturbance.
It retains four of the six original rounded knobs; two old Bakelite pointer knobs have been supplanted on the rotary controls in the tremolo "section". The rear panels show some additional screwholes around an area where the mounting lip on the side of the cabinet cracked off. The grille cloth shows some overall wear and some light staining but no notable tearing. The original hardwired round JMI footswitch is still present.
Internally, this AC-15 is nicely original; the Celestion G12 speaker is original to the amp, dating to April of 1960 and appears to still bear its original cone, sounding and testing fantastic. The power, choke and output transformers are all original to the amp as well. All pots appear original except the Channel II volume control. The amp has received our typical service consistent with continued usability including replacement of electrolytic caps, cleaning of all jacks, pots and sockets, a new grounded 3-prong power cord installed and power tubes biased to spec.
This is simply one of the rarest and flat-out coolest Vox amplifiers of any style we have ever had, a fantastically rare piece on these shores. As used by the pre-beat boom musicians pioneering amplified music in England, This is far and away the finest European amp of its era, a masterpiece of the time and still a spectacular sounding amp by any standard. Very Good + Condition.
This is a wonderfully rare early Vox AC15 from 1960, especially here in the US a crazy rare, never seen amplifier. One of the most revered of all combo amps generally, the Vox AC-15 and its larger sibling the AC-30 were literally THE sound of the UK Pre-Beat Era and both remain among the most popular amps in the world among those who prize tone above all. While the AC-30 became the popular standard of the day, the earlier (and eventually rarer) AC-15 has become ever more sought after in recent decades as stage and recording volumes have come down.
The AC-15 was VOX's initial flagship amp, when 15 watts was all anyone could imagine needing! The design saw a number of changes during 1960, a year of great growth and experimentation for the company. By this time earlier AC-15's had been subjected to extensive professional use and this roadwork exposed many frailties in the design. A major overhaul resulted in a completely redesigned "Contempo" chassis, abandoning the old top-and-bottom format. That had been proven fairy detrimental as touring musicians blithely threw cables and such into the back of the amp where the fragile tubes were mounted upright! The new version was of part-aluminum, part-steel construction containing everything at the top of the cabinet including the tubes, much like Fender amps of the day. Unlike Leo's creations, these are mounted frontwards in the chassis with a vent cutout located at the top of the baffle.
This amp represents a unique and short-lived version of the design only in production from February 1960 into that fall. It features a two-tone grey design, with the top third a dark grey and the lower two thirds a lighter grey printed-on speckled finish, ornamented with a thin gold piping inset into the joining groove. The black and gold escutcheon panel originally featured black round knobs, although examples from this brief period can also be found with the classic Vox pointer knobs as well. During this era Dick Denney had finished concocting the third AC-15 circuit, forgoing the earlier ECF82 tube. In its place were two 12AX7s, and most significantly, the EF86 was moved from the second vibrato channel to the first channel, where it fed directly into the phase inverter.
This AC-15 uses two EL84 power tubes, an EZ81 rectifier tube and single 12" speaker yielding roughly 15 watts of output, true to its name. Dick Denny's brainchild 4-input/2-channel design featured independent volumes for both channels, vib/trem and speed controls for channel 1, as well as a tone control and a top cut control for channel 2.
Many AC-15s from the early-mid 1960s have generations of heavy use behind them, and the wear to prove it. This one is no exception, but overall remains in admirably good shape overall offering the early glimmering Shadows sounds at lower volume, shading into superbly and inspiringly touch sensitive overdrive if you have opportunity to crank it up, especially with the two channels jumpered! This is truly an inspiring amplifier few modern players will ever even encounter!
Height is 21 in. (53.3 cm.), 20 1/2 in. (52.1 cm.) width, and 10 1/2 in. (26.7 cm.) deep.
Overall this particular AC-15 is a generally nicely preserved example, with visible but fairly minimal wear and some careful restoration work done. Aside from typical scuffing and edge wear, the upper darker third of the cabinet shows some additional darker paint added long ago that is since partially worn off. The somewhat fragile Bakelite handle had at one point suffered a crack that has been very neatly repaired (that being said, we would discourage from excessive use of it!). The black escutcheon top panel is comparatively clean with minimal disturbance.
It retains four of the six original rounded knobs; two old Bakelite pointer knobs have been supplanted on the rotary controls in the tremolo "section". The rear panels show some additional screwholes around an area where the mounting lip on the side of the cabinet cracked off. The grille cloth shows some overall wear and some light staining but no notable tearing. The original hardwired round JMI footswitch is still present.
Internally, this AC-15 is nicely original; the Celestion G12 speaker is original to the amp, dating to April of 1960 and appears to still bear its original cone, sounding and testing fantastic. The power, choke and output transformers are all original to the amp as well. All pots appear original except the Channel II volume control. The amp has received our typical service consistent with continued usability including replacement of electrolytic caps, cleaning of all jacks, pots and sockets, a new grounded 3-prong power cord installed and power tubes biased to spec.
This is simply one of the rarest and flat-out coolest Vox amplifiers of any style we have ever had, a fantastically rare piece on these shores. As used by the pre-beat boom musicians pioneering amplified music in England, This is far and away the finest European amp of its era, a masterpiece of the time and still a spectacular sounding amp by any standard. Very Good + Condition.