NGD - 2013 Gibson LP Studio + Vox AC30C2

Ankhanu · Post by **Ankhanu** » Sat Apr 18, 2015 5:13 pm

I've been after an AC30 for a while, and haven't had the cash, and every time I've saved, I've had to put the cash on something else that's come up... but, I'm getting a good tax return, and this is the first time in many years that the return doesn't have to just go straight on to debts, so I'm playing a bit.

I found a listing on Kijiji for an AC30 and Les Paul Studio for $2000; the amp apparently still has some extended warranty on it. I want an AC30 with Celestian Blues, and this has Greenbacks, but I can always upgrade later. I'm not really a Gibson guy, and it's not the greatest finish option, but, if I don't like it, I'm sure I can flip it and maybe get something like a vintage Mustang. After a bit of thinking, I offered him $1800 for the pair, and picked them up this morning.

The Vox has a small tear in the grille cloth, but otherwise seems fine. It sounds like it should.
The Les Paul also sounds decent, and feels good. There's a bit of weight to it (being a Les Paul

), the neck is kind of chunky. The pickups are slightly muddy, but, I'm also used to single coils. The volume pots have push/pull to split the coils. I'm going to have to spend some time with it to see if I can fit it into my sound and make a final judgement on it.

speedfish · Post by **speedfish** » Sun Apr 19, 2015 9:37 am

Congrats!

singlepup · Post by **singlepup** » Sun Apr 19, 2015 2:50 pm

Not a bad deal! I'm sure the AC30 is a keeper. I understand why you're on the fence about the LP studio. A heavy guitar is no fun, especially as we enter the second half of our 30s

Ankhanu · Post by **Ankhanu** » Sun Apr 19, 2015 4:06 pm

Yeah, I'm 36 and fucked my back while working when I was 24 or 25

I still have to play around with EQ more with the AC30 with the LP, I'm not particularly happy with that combo. I may just not like it in the end, c'est la vie. I did kind of like the sound my friend got from it, playing some blues licks, but, I'm not a blues player.
This morning I played the LP through the Twin and was quite enjoying the sound; it's a much better combination. I got a pretty good vintage style sound out of the neck pickup, playing some 2112 - Discovery.

More experimenting. I'm not in a rush to change up, I may end up loving the sound and feel... we'll see. Gotta give it a chance and all that

dezb1 · Post by **dezb1** » Sun Apr 19, 2015 4:10 pm

Nice! The LP needs a pickguard...

Ankhanu · Post by **Ankhanu** » Sun Apr 19, 2015 7:54 pm

Yeah, it's in the case. It's kinda ugly, though, it's like a single ply weird cream-ish thing. Kinda looks cheap.

71Smallbox · Post by **71Smallbox** » Wed Apr 22, 2015 1:56 pm

If the pickups sounds muddy, try changing the pots to 500K. The stock Gibson ones are IRC 250K with terrible tolerance ratings so they could be anywhere 20% under or over that. That should help out alot.

honeyiscool · Post by **honeyiscool** » Wed Apr 29, 2015 1:22 am

I think 300k is standard, but yeah, 500k or even brighter, like 1M, isn't a bad idea.

Also, Avatar Speakers always seems to have the best prices on Alnico Blues. I got them for $219 new, which, you know, isn't what anyone would call cheap, but it's a lot better than the standard $279, especially when you need two of them. You can also use one Blue and one G12H if you don't want to spend the money for two Blues, or if you just want two speakers that sound different but still match very well. Greenback is not as efficient as a Blue so a Greenback + Blue combo will probably have the Greenback not contributing much. Another great choice would be the Scumback Alnico (Scumnico), which is quite a bit cheaper at $199. They're not as loud as the Celestion and a bit more mellow, said to sound more like a vintage Vox Alnico and would be a pretty good volume match with the stock G12M as well if you just wanna replace one. Scumnico and Alnico Blue and also Alnico Gold are all great speakers. I have them in my amps and I don't hesitate to recommend any of them. If I were fitting an AC30 with speakers, though, I'd probably pick a single Gold and a single Blue so as to have the same basic character in both speakers but to have more options when I'm micing.

Lastly, congrats!

Ankhanu · Post by **Ankhanu** » Mon May 04, 2015 2:01 am

Pot upgrades would definitely help, I'll have to consider it.
But, at the same time, that's a bit of effort towards a design I'm not super stoked about... I suppose it will depend on how much I might be able to sell it for if I really don't dig it. I do like the idea of getting a good Mustang or something, ya know? A design that gets me excited

I do kind of like the power this has versus my single-coil guitars

I hadn't considered mix/matching drivers, honeyiscool... that's not a bad idea at all.

speedfish · Post by **speedfish** » Mon May 04, 2015 12:29 pm

Good advice from Honey regarding a pot upgrade. Also consider changing the tone capacitors. Will really bring out the potential of your pickups and get rid of that muddy sound. If you still sound muddy after that, then consider a pickup swap.

Here's a link regarding tone caps:

http://proguitarshop.com/andyscorner/ez ... -tone-caps

Ankhanu · Post by **Ankhanu** » Mon May 04, 2015 9:50 pm

Awesome

honeyiscool · Post by **honeyiscool** » Tue May 05, 2015 1:01 pm

I definitely wouldn't change the pickups in a Gibson, to me, that's the best part about them. You just have to get used to them.

Ankhanu · Post by **Ankhanu** » Sun May 17, 2015 1:11 am

I've had time to mess around with it more, and I think part of the problem was playing the amp too low. Vox seems to need to be opened up a bit for the highs to appear and sparkle away; even my Jag sounded muddy at low volume. With more volume on tap, the LP tone chimed a bit more, and I kinda liked it.

Just gotta play it loud!