This beautiful AC15 came to us in a pretty poor state but is now fully restored to its original best. One of finest circuits Vox ever produced, this little gem has everything good about vintage Vox amps packed into a versatile and compact package.
This 1963 example was built for Vox by Westrex and features a fawn case with no protective corners and an early two-line serial plate with s/n 4997N (N for ‘normal’ voicing). It is a two-channel amp with the classic ‘vibrovox’ tremolo on Channel I, while Channel II uses an EF86 (as the early AC30/4 circuit did). The amp has - almost inevitably - had a little work done over the years but it is now fully restored to its original specification and sounds fantastic through the alnico blue speaker and its original pulsonic cone, both of which are in great shape.
The case was structurally sound and is original to the amp but the fawn rexine covering - where present - had been overpainted in red and then black (at least twice) and the case hardware was also badly corroded. The case was therefore re-covered to a high standard in replica fawn rexine to match the original finish, which is still in place on the inside of the rear panels, and the hardware carefully renewed to exact original specification. Original elements (tadpole piping and gold trim) were retained where feasible and, while the amp currently has new grill cloth, the original cloth - which has some fairly large tears - has been kept and could be patched up and refitted if required.
The chassis has also had a thorough restoration. Because the amp had been stored in a shed, it required significant and painstaking work before it could be carefully brought back into service. This included re-plating the rusted steel chassis and extensive cleaning of the chassis, sockets etc. The power and output transformers were in great shape, but the choke was open-circuit and so has been professionally rewound. Those aside, the vast majority of the amp proved to be serviceable and within specification once cleaned up. A few failed or missing capacitors and resistors in the preamp have been replaced by top quality modern ones (vishay and silver mica caps, NOS carbon resistors) and the power and bias supplies overhauled with new filter caps, cathode and grid resistors (all NOS). One of the three pots and the brilliance switch had been badly replaced in the past, so these are now a CTS pot and a much more solid, vintage switch. One of the pre-amp sockets was cracked, and so has been replaced, and the EF86 socket had been re-wired to use an ECC83. This has now been restored to original 1963 specification.
Although this has been a significant restoration in terms of time this one has definitely been worth it - the result is a largely original 1963 thin-edge AC15 which is one of the best sounding amps I’ve ever worked on. Surprisingly loud, despite being ‘only’ 15 watts, the tremolo channel is the same great sounding phase-shifting ‘vibrovox’ tremolo that was used on the AC30 and is a great sounding channel. The icing on the cake, however, is the Ch II (EF86) channel which is rich, bell-like and breaks up beautifully when cranked (or pushed with a booster). This would make an excellent gigging amp if you find an AC30 a bit too big and heavy, but would also grace any home or recording studio.
The amp currently has a vintage ‘egg’ footswitch from slightly later, but can also be supplied with a replica round (period correct) footswitch if required.
The price includes a new set of JJ valves, but a complete complement (preamp, rectifier and power valves) of selected, strong vintage Mullard valves can be substituted for an additional £150.
The price reflects the rarity of these amps (which come up for sale very rarely) and also the considerable time and ‘cost no object’ nature of the restoration. This amp weighs around 22kg, so will come in at 23 or 24kg once packed up, and so can be shipped within the UK or internationally.
This beautiful AC15 came to us in a pretty poor state but is now fully restored to its original best. One of finest circuits Vox ever produced, this little gem has everything good about vintage Vox amps packed into a versatile and compact package.
This 1963 example was built for Vox by Westrex and features a fawn case with no protective corners and an early two-line serial plate with s/n 4997N (N for ‘normal’ voicing). It is a two-channel amp with the classic ‘vibrovox’ tremolo on Channel I, while Channel II uses an EF86 (as the early AC30/4 circuit did). The amp has - almost inevitably - had a little work done over the years but it is now fully restored to its original specification and sounds fantastic through the alnico blue speaker and its original pulsonic cone, both of which are in great shape.
The case was structurally sound and is original to the amp but the fawn rexine covering - where present - had been overpainted in red and then black (at least twice) and the case hardware was also badly corroded. The case was therefore re-covered to a high standard in replica fawn rexine to match the original finish, which is still in place on the inside of the rear panels, and the hardware carefully renewed to exact original specification. Original elements (tadpole piping and gold trim) were retained where feasible and, while the amp currently has new grill cloth, the original cloth - which has some fairly large tears - has been kept and could be patched up and refitted if required.
The chassis has also had a thorough restoration. Because the amp had been stored in a shed, it required significant and painstaking work before it could be carefully brought back into service. This included re-plating the rusted steel chassis and extensive cleaning of the chassis, sockets etc. The power and output transformers were in great shape, but the choke was open-circuit and so has been professionally rewound. Those aside, the vast majority of the amp proved to be serviceable and within specification once cleaned up. A few failed or missing capacitors and resistors in the preamp have been replaced by top quality modern ones (vishay and silver mica caps, NOS carbon resistors) and the power and bias supplies overhauled with new filter caps, cathode and grid resistors (all NOS). One of the three pots and the brilliance switch had been badly replaced in the past, so these are now a CTS pot and a much more solid, vintage switch. One of the pre-amp sockets was cracked, and so has been replaced, and the EF86 socket had been re-wired to use an ECC83. This has now been restored to original 1963 specification.
Although this has been a significant restoration in terms of time this one has definitely been worth it - the result is a largely original 1963 thin-edge AC15 which is one of the best sounding amps I’ve ever worked on. Surprisingly loud, despite being ‘only’ 15 watts, the tremolo channel is the same great sounding phase-shifting ‘vibrovox’ tremolo that was used on the AC30 and is a great sounding channel. The icing on the cake, however, is the Ch II (EF86) channel which is rich, bell-like and breaks up beautifully when cranked (or pushed with a booster). This would make an excellent gigging amp if you find an AC30 a bit too big and heavy, but would also grace any home or recording studio.
The amp currently has a vintage ‘egg’ footswitch from slightly later, but can also be supplied with a replica round (period correct) footswitch if required.
The price includes a new set of JJ valves, but a complete complement (preamp, rectifier and power valves) of selected, strong vintage Mullard valves can be substituted for an additional £150.
The price reflects the rarity of these amps (which come up for sale very rarely) and also the considerable time and ‘cost no object’ nature of the restoration. This amp weighs around 22kg, so will come in at 23 or 24kg once packed up, and so can be shipped within the UK or internationally.
