Valve Reactor AC30s-- what are they and do they suck?

One of my guitarists is looking to sell his rather awful Marshall stereo chorus amp and pick up a new one. He's looking at a bunch of different AC30VRs, and I don't know how to advise him. Is it good? Bad? Does it sound different than an AC30? Am I an idiot? I've never seen this distinction in an AC30 before.

I've actually scoped this amp out before! call it morbid curiosity... the ac30vr doesn't sound BAD, nor does it sound good. The cab is made like shit from particle board! The regular channel soudsn vaguelly like an ac30 top boost if you're drunk when you lsiten to it. The dirty channel is a total WTF sound. There is no dirty channel on an ac30. You don't need it. On an old one you're lucky to have stageworthy clean headroom! A real ac30 has a great clean, but at band levels its the epitome of 'rock and roll' cleans! The VR dirt channel is not bad per se, but not good either. Bland and unvoxy. Gets the dirt from teh wrong place. The clean channel is closer to the mark turned way up. I would not pay mroe than $200 for a hybrid amp like that. Its a good idea, basically a 2 channel 1 watt tube amp based on the well known moonlight DIY amp circuit (which sues a preamp tube as a 1 watt push pull power section, zvex's little amp uses the same approach) tweaked to be ac30ish that is then amplified by an SS power amp up to 30+ watts so it'll have tube and transformer feel but with all small cheap parts with that little amp acting like a complex preamp for the neutral pweor amp. It coudla been really fantastic if they ahd thought it through a little better and given it elgit speakers in a legit cab. As the circuit turned out I castly prefer the fully solid state Roland/Boss tube-emualting amps and the Quilter stuff (as I have mentioned many times on this and other forums).

Does it sound like an ac30? kinda sorta... it doesn't sound like a fender, that's for sure! none of my ac30s sound the same LOL, there's overlap but they're all different. What does an AC30 sound like? its more about what it DOESN'T really sound like, which is anything else that's not copying an ac30 pretty carefully!

Also, I venerate the ac30. I love my voxes, each and every one. Its MY sound. Its not for everyone. Not everyone's guitars and playing are suited by them unless they adapt to the amp. Even the pale imitation that is the VR may present that issue. I think everyone should try an ac30, but I don't pretend its for everyone. Its a good all arounder for a lot of musical styles and it suits a certain kind of player. When I got my '62 I plugged in and went "OH SHNAPP! when I imagine my guitar sound, that's it! that's me, right there. DONE!" Not everyone will have that experience. But for me it was the sound Iw as always trying to goose out of my various marshalls and fenders. FOr me I could lose my other, different voiced amps and just have ac30s and rarely miss the selmer, tryanor, fender etc.

all that said, for $200 (maybe 250) or less he should do it.... more than that? think twice? When you can get 45 very tasty watts of quilter that fits on a pedalboard for about $150 and find a used no-name plywood cab at an average local store or pawn shop for 200 or less? Any sold state type combo needs to contend with that pricetag and clock in under 300 as far as I'm concerned. I say 200 because he's going to have the speakers and the cab might fall apart if its bumped on tour! I admit though, a vox 2x12 in your backline DOES have serious visual impact... like a marshalls tack it justs creams rock n roll.... but anyone who knows will spot that its a cheapie in a heartbeat so its not going to gain you much cred with other bands, just the audience.

If I were getting backline on a budget these days I would hook one guitarist up with a Boss Kitana and one guy up with a Quilter microblock and give them each a 2x12 or 2x10, one with celestions and the other with jensens or maybe JBLs... or equivalents. Boom, marshally sound one side, fender hiwatty on the other, close enough for the audience, both will take pedals real well. Good enough until you can afford some serious kit.

Thanks Jim. I'll send this to him :P

that response is really long and incoherent... just tell him to try a real ac30 first, at elast an ac30hw2... and then tell him $250 limit on the VR

Made perfect sense to me, but I will. Reverb listings pricing them at $440 o.o

whoa! that amp is not $440 good! you can get a beater old tube amp for that

I'm thinking a Peavey Bandit 65?

EDIT: That's solid state. What would you recommend? Preferably over 50 watts unless it's a loud bastard like an AC30.

a bandit is a tube amp? nah,s eriously... within the last 5 year or so I aquired the following tube amps fully WORKING for $600 or less:

50s Gibson Ga14 Titan (tweed deluxe 1x10 type of amp, KILLER, flea market, 15w) $400

50s Gibson GA9 Lancer (Titan in a 1x12. instant neil young machine, craigslist, 15w) $500

50s GA20T Ranger (close to a les paul model amp, 18w) $600

60s Airline Model 24 (rebranded supro 1624T, zep1 amp, ebay 12w) 450

60s Fender Bandmaser head w/o tubes and empty 2x12 (from a friend, but still 40w) $500

80s Marshall Studio 15 (at sam ash, traded for an FZ1a, marked at 600ish 20w) $600

Traynor YVM1 (tube PA head, orange-style circuit 50w+) $350

Selmer Treble N Bass 50 Mk2 (most affordable 50 watt brit tube head left 50w+) $600

why pay 400+ for a peice of junk?

look around, deals are out there for the wise... even the tweed deluxe style amps are loud bastards. loudest 15 watts ever! solid state wattage is just quieter. It dissipates in an unloud way. Think of solid state as being half as loud as tubes.

Selmer's a good shout. I'll keep shopping for him

more modern tube amps that are a steal and sound great for rock:

any laney AOR series head, there's also a 30 watt combo, ugly amps, but real sleepers... cheap but amazing, like hot-rodded marshalls... I prefer the ones with elss knobs. YMMV though

some laney GH series amps, I like the GH50L, its 99% a jcm800, don't pay mroe than $600 for a head...

trace elliott tube amps, the 30 watt one is a real sleeper, ac30 style amp, should cost $500 or less... I would try for less... haggle

this dude on here recommends the Crate club series amps, there's a thread we were talking about them on. Apparently you want the first one, not the later one that rbeaks down, but this odler version that's more marshalls than voxy. I'm just apssing this along, I've enver had any luck with Crate amps. They sound okay but they all break! Except for this one apparently... not sure how easy the good club amp is to find though

Gibson goldtone amps from the 90s, trace elliott amps in gibson clothing... I like the trace amps ebtter, but the gibsons are okay too... the 50 watt head is rpetty sweet actually but its not worth anything on the used amrket. Try tog et it for $300

jet city amps, shockingly good sounds and build quality for a chinese PCB amp. Reasonable prices new, trade used for peanuts. No brainer. They amde a 50 watt combo for a while that's really unknown. its amazing, based on soldano's awesome lucky 13 amp. $400 limit on the heads, a combo is worth considerably more, they have nicely made cabs and high quality speakers stock

I hate to say it but the peavey classic 30 and classic 50 are a steal, real workhorse tube amps. THey lack character but can do a little of everything. They're often very cheap. I would enver pay more than $400 for anything amde by peavey.

you run into this shit all the time if you keep your eyes open. There are cheap, quality tube amps all around you if you open your eyes. If this dude is thinking of spending $400+ on a hybrid amp? he should raise the money bar a few hundred and get a full tube amp.

That's what I thought. He thinks 400 is a max, maybe I'll show him some Jet City. I came across 20 right before reading this post! I heard a Laney GH once and liked it, so I'll look...