Vox AC10C1 Combo Guitar Amp

Product Information

Our sole complaint: the controls are a bit peaky. Turn up the reverb, and at a certain point, it’s on, really on. Ditto for the Treble and Bass knobs. This isn’t a problem, but you’ll need to learn to finesse those controls and find their sweet spot.

For 2015 the AC10 has been resurrected in the form of the very affordable AC10C1 – AC10 Custom. This is essentially a smaller, more portable and lower powered version of the AC15, sitting between this and the low powered AC4 amplifiers. The design is simple with a single channel set-up powered by a pair of 12AX7 (ECC83) preamp tubes and a pair of EL84 power tubes providing 10W RMS of output through the custom 1x10 Celestion speaker. 10 Watts may not sound like a lot, but this is a very loud little amplifier, so Vox has very wisely included a Master Volume for this new model allowing you to crank the pre-amp stage while setting the power to a manageable level for whatever musical scenario you find yourself in. There is no Normal channel from the larger AC15, but the Top Boost circuit provides a wide range of clean and dirty tones so is all you really need here. More portable than the AC15 and more powerful than the AC4, the AC10C1 features the classic Top Boost tone circuit that provides an array of classic and modern tones. Now equipped with reverb and a master volume, the AC10C1 is the perfect companion for the home, studio or stage.This is a sweet and simple amp with fantastic tone. Once broken in, the speaker sounds great. It plays well with pedals as well. The reverb sounds nice for digital even if you turn it up it doesn't get washed out. Working the gain and volume knobs this amp can get loud...plus using your volume knob on your guitar helps a lot also.

Oh yeh, did I mention "loud"??? This amp has got volume to spare--totally beyond expectations--mind boggling volume. I get some great output coupled then with mic'ing up and running through the house PA. Yet this little beast can be tamed down for the home and still give that great clean to grit tone of the VOX. It's got "top boost" voicing, meaning the highs are very defined. It's not at all shrill. It had a nice sparkle in the top end and has the nicest clean sound I have heard. In addition, the new AC10 adds a digital reverb circuit, and it’s lush and wide-ranging. Plus, it’s certainly simple and portable. This is a single channel amp. The amp distortion sounds good, but I usually dial it clean and get my overdrive/distortion tones from pedals. It takes most pedals well. The only one that didn't work well for me was the JHS Morning Glory. It just made it louder for some reason.

Share Your Thoughts

I cant be satisfy with all those amps. Always something in the sound that i dont like. JCM 800 was probably the best but was supposed to be a good pedal platform but i had to tweak it everytime i open it. Easy to hit the sweet spot at a variety of volume levels (playing light is clean and punchy, playing harder has that drive sound) The amp is fairly light, maybe 35 pounds. It's very loud. Will easily cut through the mix even with a loud drummer. This is totally giggable for small to medium venues. I would mic this for a really loud venue. The low end is great at low volumes, but the amp loses low to low/mid range in the mix the higher up in volume you go; It can keep up with a loud drummer (with no PA), but the low end gets lost due to the 10" speaker; an extension cab resolves this issue