The C1 may be an AC10 in name only, but it undeniably looks and sounds like a Vox. On balance, reverb will probably be more useful than tremolo in a plug and play amp such as the C1, and it sounds pretty decent. The VX10 was voiced somewhere between the two and the C1’s cabinet provides more thump and bass extension than the open-back design. The C1 in combination with the Gold delivered all the old-school Vox jangle you could want and the G10M was smoother in the highs and fuller in the mids. We compared the VX10 speaker with a Celestion Alnico Gold and a G10M. The C1 also cleans up really well when you back off your guitar volume, and the master volume does a fantastic job of reining back this surprisingly loud little combo to bedroom levels. The C1 can get very overdriven, but the bass end holds together extremely well, and even with single coils the treble remains devoid of harshness. In sheer gain terms, the C1 matches the old AC10 – then pushes things a lot further still. So we can say that the C1 does sound a lot like an original – but only up to a point. The point is it’s something you can dial in to taste rather than something you’re obliged to live with. If you prefer a bit more vintage looseness in the lows, the C1 can oblige when you ramp up the bass control. The most impressive thing is the way the C1 captures the harmonically loaded and slightly blurry chime that characterises the classic Vox sound. Compared to the old one, the treble isn’t quite as sweet, but the C1’s bass response is considerably tighter and better defined. With the reverb turned off, the C1 can sound very much like a vintage AC10’s normal channel. Despite all the construction changes between the C1 and the vintage AC10, the tonal similarities were more apparent than the differences. Better still, the vintage example was retrofitted with a top boost module and the input resistors had been changed to AC15 spec to make it louder and brighter. It was fortunate to have an original ’63 AC10 on hand to compare with the C1. It also means there is a greater range of tones than you might normally get from a regular two-band equaliser. So some familiarisation is required before you can start to get the hang of the tone controls, which means dialling in a sound can take a bit longer than you’d usually expect. There also appears to be some degree of crossover between the controls, which changes the timbre of the midrange. Turning up the treble control increases high-frequency response much as you might expect, but beyond the halfway point the bass begins to roll off as treble is increased. Bass response seems to be fairly neutral about halfway up, so you can roll it off or boost it. The C1’s tone controls respond and interact in a peculiar and slightly unpredictable way that’s not dissimilar to the old Vox top boost arrangement. So there’s plenty of air moving around inside the cabinet to keep things cool. Standing over the amp and playing a powerchord, I felt a blast of air from the top vent hit me full in the face. Video used with permission from Vox Amplification.Cathode biased Vox amps are known to run hot, but fear not. Video for the Vox "White Bronco" Series Amps - January 2017. The AC10C1-VB cabinet was covered in black basket weave vinyl and featured black plastic vents, a black Vox strap handle and a VX10 Celestion 10" speaker. January 2020 - The AC10C1 makes a second appearance sporting vintage black Vox grill cloth in this limited edition model introduced in January 2020. It also featured brown Vox grill cloth and a 10" VX10 Celestion speaker. The front and rear of the cabinet body were covered in black "basketweave" vinyl. The front, center and rear were covered in maroon vinyl with a "tolex" texture. July 2019 - Vox introduced the AC10C1-TTMB Limited Edition amplifier with an unusual two-tone vinyl scheme. The amp had a single black plastic vent, black Vox strap handle and a single Celestion Junior V-Type 10" speaker. It featured the same chassis as the standard AC10C1. The AC10VS was covered in black bronco vinyl and featured traditional black Vox grill. September 2018 - Vox also announced the AC10VS limited edition amp.
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