archer avenue studio

Well if you've been following us at all on Facebook or Twitter you may have noticed that we recently added a couple guitar amplifiers to our arsenal.  We are very excited about these additions and I wanted to take a minute to properly introduce them.  

The first of the new amps is a Vox AC-30.  If this type of amp doesn't ring a bell, think of the famous guitar sounds of The Beatles, U2, Radiohead, and Tom Petty.  These people/bands have relied on Vox amps for the majority of their signature sound. 

This is The Edge's (U2) original 1964 Vox AC-30.  It has suppossedly been used on EVERY U2 album.

Brian May of Queen. Nine AC-30's!

It was 1958 when Vox first introduced the AC-30 to be a big brother to the popular AC-15.  By the early 1960's the AC-30 had taken on the look and sound that we all know and love today.  In fact, I first totally fell in love with the AC-30 in a studio in New York.  I recorded most of the electric guitar parts for that record through the studio's 1964 Vox AC-30.  Of course I already loved the guitar tone of the aforementioned bands,  but playing/recording through that amp sealed the deal.  I quickly sold some gear and bought my first Vox AC-30.  

Those early 1960's AC-30's have become some of the most sought after vintage amps out there, which of course means the price to get one is VERY high.  Thankfully for us in 2007 Vox introduced what they are calling "The Holy Grail of Vox tone", and "Perhaps the finest Vox amplifier in the company's 50 year history".  This limited addition (only 500 made) version of the AC-30 is completely hand-wired and absolutely beautiful.  The normal channel in this amp is an exact copy of the 1958 EF86 preamp channel, and the other channel is an exact copy of the 1963 Top Boost channel.  To top it all off it's made out of stunning African Mahogany and (of course) includes two of the famous Celestion Blue speakers.

This amp immediately blew Eric and I away when we first plugged it in.  As I played through it and adjusted the tone, I could hear the famous sounds of Johnny Greenwood, The Edge, and Brian May spilling out of the speakers.  This amp is truly a joy and inspiration to play and we are excited to put it to great use!

The second new amplifier that deserves a fine introduction is an amazing 1969 Marshall 50 watt head.  The guts of this thing are seriously from 1969 and of course, are hand-wired and all original.  Once again if this type of amplifier isn't ringing a bell think early Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Pete Townshend, early Eddie Van Halen, and Angus Young.  The list could go on and on. 

Jimi Hendrix's Marshall stack.

Eric Clapton shown here while playing with Cream.

Needless to say, Marshall amps have greatly helped shape the voice of electric guitar over the past several decades.  It was actually in 1969 that Marshall first introduced a 50 watt version of their 100 watt Superlead.  These new lower wattage amplifiers were called the 1987 model (no relation to the year) or also referred to as 50 watt Plexi's.  

Honestly I haven't had a very extensive history with Marshall amps.  I am proud to say that the first "real" guitar amplifier I bought (when I was in highschool) was a Marshall JCM 900 half stack.    This was a pretty impressive amp for a 17 year old and I played this amp exclusively until I fell in love with Vox (refer to the story above).  So even though I've heard amazing Marshall sounds on recordings most of my perception of these amps came from my JCM 900.  While there is nothing at all wrong with that amp, my memories weren't all that  impressive.  So when Eric started talking about wanting a Marshall head I just kinda went along with it.  I assumed I'd use it here and there but really it'd be Eric's tool.  Well let me be the first to admit I was gravely wrong about true vintage Marshall tone!!  As soon as I began playing through this beautiful red amp I knew I was falling in love all over again.  Yes, Vox is my first love, and will always be, but now there was a new contender.  

This Marshall sounds HUGE!!!  It is the perfect "rock n roll" amplifier.  It does everything from very "dirty" or distorted to "crunchy" mild breakup.  If these words and terms mean nothing to you then just take my word for it, this thing is amazing and very versatile.  


By adding these amps to our "tools of the trade" we believe that we'll be able to give our clients an even more enjoyable and inspiring studio experience.  We take what we do very seriously and want to be able to offer the best.  Actually, very soon we'll have another exciting addition to our amplifier collection to tell you about!  But until then we'll be perfectly content with these two new (to us) pieces of guitar history.