Guitar reviews for you: Vox AC4 C1 BL Limited edition Blue Covering

Guitar reviews for you: Vox AC4 C1 Bl Limited edition Blue Covering

The Vox AC4 C1 in Blue

Small is beautiful they say and the Vox AC4 C1 BL is in that bracket. Having owned an original early 1960's Vox AC4 I was intrigued to see how this new reissue of sorts would compare.

This example featured had been little used and came through an Ebay seller.

If you are looking for a small amplifier for studio recording that you can crank up, or a small amplifier with a distinctive tone for jazz, instrumental or just general playing this one should suit. Add a few pedals and a great sound can be obtained.

Many bands now mic up their whole equipment so you could still use this miked up through the band PA system and still be heard. So this small amplifier offers you great versatility and it is also light to carry about. There is plenty of volume for bedroom or practice room use too.

The Gain does start to crank things up, with zero Gain and volume about 1 o'clock, start to bring the gain up to hear the amplifier start to really work, it doesn't need much to start to hear the difference between clean and 'agitated' as I would say, I didn't really go mad with the Gain as I don't play with that sound. I like a nice working sound, just a bit of presence. A bit like Hank Marvin's early sound with the Shadows.

Simple Gain, Bass, Treble and Master Volume controls

Back to back against the original 1960's version, the differences between the two amplifiers are the original has a classic Vox chassis mounting the valves and electronic circuitry as opposed to the new AC4 that uses a printed circuit board to do much the same job.

Compact and retro even down to the white handle and vent!

Size against the 1960's one is around the same for this version, although the special edition C1 with the 12" speaker is slightly taller to accommodate that bigger unit.

The original has a partially open back and this one is a closed back which I think makes it run hotter and the sound will be different with an opened back.

Closed back with socket output option to an external speaker

The vinyl covering on my original was in a smooth Rexine vinyl type fabric in a blue grey colour, this new AC4 is a darker blue and with a textured Tolex weave type textured finish as found on the modern AC15 and 30's although their cases have the textured finish in Black Tolex. The speaker cabinet front covering is the classic brown diamond on the early 60's one I owned and grey 'Tygon' weave on this new one which was used c. 1963 on some amplifiers.

The simple PCB Control panel of the AC4 C1

Control wise, both are very simple layouts with minimal controls. The original has 2 inputs normal and a vib term channel, the new one has no vib trem and just a single input. Both AC4s share some same controls, the new AC4 has a Gain circuit to allow you to ramp up the amplifier at low volume.

Played clean the amplifier sounds very nice, even on the original valves, some owners change these out for JJ, Mullard or others to suit. 12AX7 x 2 and an EL84 x 1 provide the real valve sound.

Played through with a Stratocaster on Kinman pickups at a bedroom level of volume the amplifier sounded clear and raising the Gain did start a bit of break up sound, as though you were at a higher level of volume on one of the bigger Voxes like an AC15 or AC30.

With a Gretsch 6120 plugged in it gave me the instantly obvious George Harrison sound, more so when I used the Behringer time machine pedals well. The Brian Setzer sound was obvious making this a nice Rockabilly amplifier with added Reverb to enhance the tone.

I'm not a great fan of overdriven sounds, mostly preferring the cleaner sound for instrumental playing work and in small jazz bands - which this amplifier would suit. Both picked notes and strummed chords sounded full, clear and had the right tone. I will try some effects such as the old Watkins tape echo and a Zoom reverb unit to see how that changes the sound on this AC4.

The Behringer Vintage Time Machine age the AC4 a lift

I connected up my Behringer Vintage Time Machine to the Vox and this gave it quite a lift, the level control on the time machine helps you to increase the input volume and the box gave the AC4 an enhanced and fuller sound. 

I found that the Behringer really improved the sound, making it more 'studio' like - think Abbey Road. The Stratocaster sounded great too, I tried a Mex 50's fitted with Custom Shop Fat 50's and a 1960 replica I made with a Mex 50's red body and rosewood neck, the obvious Hank Marvin and Shadows sounds were there on both.

A Treble control set at about 1 o'clock and a Bass at around 10 o'clock seemed to give a nice Hank Marvin sound, with some delay added and a bit of input boost from the Time Machine, it was sounding nice.

The AC4 sounds great with this old Watkins Copycat tape echo plugged into it

I did try the old Watkins Copycat tape echo machine on the AC4 and it sounds really great, some very nice Hank Marvin sounds can be had with a bit of work adjusting the controls. The really nice glassy tone of the AC4 can be brought out even at a low volume and adjusting the treble on the AC4 does vary the tone. 

I had the Gain set quite low, as the Watkins has channel volume gain controls which help drive the AC4. Most delay pedals don't have an input gain level which is a shame as this helps drive the signal - all too often I try a delay pedal and as soon as you engage it the volume is sucked out of your signal. These are worse than useless unless you put a booster of some sort in front of it - a Compressor with volume gain or an overdrive to get the sound 'alive' with a slight edge.

Overall I think this is a great Vox valve amplifier for the price I paid, my original was £59 in 1985 and this one was £200 so I suppose they ratio out about the same cost in real terms in comparison. 

Roqsolid make great amplifier covers and I have ordered one for this amplifier, I use their covers on all my equipment, reasonably priced and great quality, so I highly recommend them.

Try one of these AC4's and I think you will find it a nice small amplifier, if you need a bit more volume before distortion sets in then the AC10 C1 may be more to your requirement. These are slightly smaller and a bit lighter than the AC15 C1. 

My only points I would like to see added are reverb and a Vib trem but I might be able to add this later on. 

The amplifier seems to get hot and I wonder whether I should make a new back panel with vents and maybe fit a couple of small CPU fans inside to help with cooling. The old AC4 has an open back which helps with that and the sound is not forced out only through the front as on this AC4.

A great amplifier for Studio use I would say, you can get the real Vox sound, the Top Boost alluded to in the Vox writing is not as controllable as on the AC30 which allows dedicated controls for that, for Drive and Volume level. But the sound is quite clear and glassy so you can probably fine tune the volume and treble to suit. I like it and you might too.

Hank Marvin and my 40 years of stratocasting

Hank B Marvin - guitar genius

My earliest recollection of seeing and hearing Hank Marvin and the Shadows was in 1976, on a Saturday morning television screening of Summer Holiday. I knew this was the sound I wanted to achieve.

About that time I had a creaky ribbed old Spanish guitar with nylon strings, on which I was learning a few chords. At a party of some people we knew, a group were playing electric guitars and one of their tunes stuck in my head - I would later recognise it as Shindig, by the Shadows. Even at that young age and lack of musical ability, this music stood out.

Fast forward a year and I was taking guitar lessons, I tried a steel strung jumbo an American kid in the class owned and this was totally for me. Immediately, I realised that nylon strings were the wrong sound, I must get a better guitar. This was reinforced when my guitar had to have a new tuning peg and I get to borrow a Levin parlour size guitar, again, this was it!

I hadn't the means to get this back in the 70's

Playing along to music on the radio and trying to work out the songs by ear was a good start. In 1978 to 1980 the Shadows appeared on Top of Pops playing their chart hits, Hank Marvin was playing 'Don't cry for me Argentina' in 1978 and the sound was what I wanted to get. And of course that red Stratocaster. 

Hank's original Stratocaster of the same vintage as the one he often used in the 80's

I wanted one for Christmas but was fobbed off with the line 'when you can play properly,' that 'properly' was never defined and I would have a few years to wait until I could buy one myself. Maybe that perseverance was for a reason? If I'd got one easy, would I have stuck with it?

This album opened my ears to the style I wanted to achieve - the Shadows sound

In 1980, I managed to borrow an electric guitar from a schoolteacher and plugged it into a Sound City 50R PA with reverb, I was getting nearer to the sound I was after but alas no trem arm! The guitar was a Starway 'stratocasterish' type of copy, probably from the late 60's or early 70's. From this I worked out how electric guitars operated.

Again the limitations became obvious, but I carried on. I did get to play a real Stratocaster in 1980, a schoolfriend's brother owned one, but again no trem! My friend Dave purchased a Musima Stratocaster copy from the 1960's in April 1982 when he was 16, This had a trem arm! It was an East German cod copy of a Fender in some ways. 

The Shadows 1960 single Apache - Dave and I would marvel at the sound!

I started work in 1982 and purchased a Hondo 2 guitar that was based on a Gibson Les Paul, I hadn't intended to buy it, it was actually foisted on me by a friend I was at school with who knew I wanted a guitar and thought it was what I was looking for. Sadly it wasn't the guitar I really needed, for a start the pickups sounded wrong, humbuckers when I needed a single coil sound. Time to move on.

The Shadows first album - what a sound

When I got a copy of the Shadows first album it was becoming more obvious that the sound I sought was not what I could obtain with the Hondo, on the first album's cover was the clue - a Stratocaster and preferably in Fiesta red, like Hank's, which Cliff Richard had bought him.

Well, this was much closer - in fact even closer than Fender's then current guitars

In November 1983, I became the proud owner of a Tokai TST50 Springy Sound Stratocaster guitar, in Fiesta red. Plugging into the Sound City, I was now much closer to that sound. These Tokai guitars were a revelation, better made than the Fender guitars that they stole the sales from. Fender had been bought in 1965 and the guitars weren't the same by 1980. 

A somewhat tongue in cheek Tokai advert!

The Japanese with their eye to quality, copied original Fender 50's and early 60's guitars, the result was a shock for Fender, who admitted the copies were better than the guitars they were making.

The Watkins Tape echo - a later solid state one but the same principle as the originals

Echo was the next step for my sound. Hank Marvin originally used a Meazzi and then bought a Vox badged version of it. I managed to get a Watkins Copicat tape echo, a staple of the 1960's guitarists who wanted Hank Marvin type sounds. This was now the way forward.

At the Hope Pub, Richmond in the 1980's

It was in late 1983 that I got back in touch with Dave about starting a band, we had played together since 1980 but after we left school, I started work and he went to college so we were both busy. 

I had started to tentatively write music and starting a band seemed the next logical step. We met up and decided to give it a go. With his brother Will on bass, James a school friend on drums and Mark the singer, we went round to Mark's house to practice.

Us in 1985 with Alan 3rd right, standing a school friend of ours

still using the Sound City (lower right)

It was a bit of a disaster, Mark dried up and couldn't sing, so I had to take over the vocals. At least we got going now. We put together a list of around 20 or 30 songs, some of our own compositions and a load of 50's and 60's songs, early rock n roll, Cliff and the Shadows, Cream, Rolling Stones and similar music that we thought would give us a good spread of material.

Sadly there was a lack of suitable local venues, music was going away from guitar bands to synth bands and we were looking out of step even though we were competent performers. We had hoped to get noticed and perhaps get signed by a record company but we couldn't get any interest from venue owners, which meant we couldn't really be seen. 

I had for a few years been playing jazz, it had been an interest for a while and I first performed live in 1980 and I'm still doing it. Since we had left school, our musical tastes had diversified and although we had some common ground, we seemed to want different things musically. The band lasted about 3 years until I left to do other things. I hoped to get into composing which I saw as a future possibility, in which we might then get me into the industry into which I could involve the band. 

At work I'd frequently I'd often get things come into my head as ideas for songs or instrumental music and I'd write them down on scraps of paper for later and hurriedly when I got in from work, start composing with a guitar in hand. Happy days. For about three years I was having the time of my life doing this. It helped to erase previous disappointments and setbacks, here I was now able to make my own way, on my own terms. Exciting stuff.

20 years on we reunited for Dave's 40th - it was like we never were apart

During the band years I was avidly writing, also learning and seeking out new and old material. It was really quite bizarre, here I was in the early 1980's about the same age as Hank Marvin was in the 60's starting on pretty much the same musical journey as he did back then. I was fortunate that Hank was a sort of template whereas he made his own style. 

The musicians I was learning to play from - the Shadows and Cliff Richard, were back in the charts again amazingly, so I was able to play both their new and old material. A great musical education. Whilst I learned, I played other styles too so I was not limited. This paid off.

The Shadows in 1984 - presented with Fender 57 reissue guitars - 

Fiesta red Stratocasters may not have been so prevalent without the Shadows

Even then in the early 80's I realised that this was a remarkable thing, almost a destiny to follow. The sounds Hank was making were often out of reach in some case and it was some years before I learned how he attained them. I found some of the new Shadows material too long, at over 4 minutes. By contrast I found some of the old ones too short, a fact Hank also commented on.

Cliff Richard in a Summer Holiday publicity still at Aldenham bus works - 

I was also a massive fan of London Buses and vowed to own one - 

I did get to do this in 2009 and to also drive various Routemaster buses!

The Shadows in this 1980's incarnation had developed their style musically, from beyond their early sound. So they continued in this way until 1990, when Hank Marvin was offered a solo tour, by which time he had moved to live in Australia. This made touring more difficult for the group. 

Hank did some good work musically on his solo tours and recordings, but I felt they lacked something - Brian Bennet and Bruce Welch at a minimum. This combination just worked so well, with Cliff it was truly special even in the 80's and beyond. 

Hank on tour around 2000

The factors of the solo tour and Hank's residence abroad really ended the Shadows as a unit for the time, which was sad. Since their 1968 breakup they had gone onto other things, Bruce produced records and published music, Brian composed, Hank did sessions and television with Cliff Richard. A new dawn was to come.

The reunion tours of 2004 and 2005 - 

fans though that they would never see this band play again live

The 1975 Eurovision appearance got the Shadows back into almost the 'unit'. From 1990, it looked like the Shadows would be just another band gone from recording and performing. Sadly, things had been said around that time that created a bad atmosphere between the group members and there was always the question 'are you getting together again?' For most of us, we were resigned to the fact that it was all over.

The final tour - 2009 - Cliff and the Shadows

They may get together again, who knows?

When the 2004 Shadows reunion was announced, I knew I just had to see them, perhaps this would be my only chance? Luckily the concert I attended was filmed and came out on DVD. Then they did a few dates in 2005 and I saw them again that year. I missed their 2009 tour, but as I had met Cliff a few times in the 1990s and very nice chap he is, I was content with the DVD as a consolation prize!

The Fender Custom shop 1959 Stratocaster - 

not far removed from Hank's original - not cheap but nice! I bought one.

I have continued my playing of the Shadows music since 1980, trying to emulate the sound. I've got close, I use the Vox Valvetronix Studio and their AD60 and 120 amplifiers which look like the AC15 and AC30 used by the Shadows. 

I have been playing through VOX amplifiers since 1985

It has been a long journey about 150 guitars in fact - I now have 2 Tokai springy sounds, I managed to find a 1959 Stratocaster like Hank's which I restored and have a 1959 Custom Shop Stratocaster like Hank's original. So I've achieved my aim in that respect. I play other styles of music but Hank's style is something I come back to time and again.

Cliff driving the London Transport RT Double Decker

In 1983 I bought the Shadows book and found out that I was distantly related to Shadows founder Jet Harris, in that we were both related to music hall star Vester Tilley. Destiny again? 

Mind you, when I was young I lived in London near a Bus garage in Teddington! So the red double decker addiction is part of that journey too, the coincidences and paralells are quite spooky.

In 1983 I was working in London and used to read the Shadows book going to work on the train. It seemed a lot of paths were colliding! Round the corner from where I worked was a Bus stand, so Routemasters aplenty, the same when I worked in the Kings road and also in the City of London. I am glad to have seen these buses in their prime and ridden on them.

Signed pic of Cliff and the RT from Summer Holiday

Thankfully youtube has plenty of videos of how to play their tunes and also original performances from the 1960's onwards. I'd never have predicted that in 1980!

Nearly 40 years on from picking up that first red electric guitar, I am glad that I did. I may have dipped in and out of musical styles over the years but I always come back to the Hank Marvin and the Shadows music.

Thanks to Cliff Richard for buying Hank that first guitar and for pushing Norrie Paramor to give them their own recording slot for Apache! 

And Hank, you've given me a great hobby! I can't thank you enough. And you Cliff!