Spark wishlist - Vox AC10 SRT clone
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Vox AC10 SRT (Super Reverb Twin) 10W, 1x ECC83, 3x ECC82, 2x EL-84, 1x EZ81 rectifier tubes. One volume control and one tone control only.
This is an extraordinary point to point wired vintage 1965 amplifier with a tonally rich clean sound. But especially the way the sound breaks up when overdriven makes soloing or playing lead guitar a dream come true. It cuts through the air like a knife with a hefty bite and yet a clear tone. It is rare to preserve so many overtones with a distorted sound.According to tests done by Doug and Pat on their Youtube channel this amp sounds incredible no matter which 12” speaker or which tubes you throw at it. So I guess a big part of the magic lies within the transformers that are used.
Schematic can be found on the internet on various sites such as https://www.thegearpage.net/board/index.php?threads/anyone-build-a-vox-ac10-srt.1851471/Personally I don’t need the reverb and tremolo sections but the circuit stages might be needed to get the special sound.
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Some quotes from the comments section on the Doug and Pat YT video:
‘Not including the reverb driver, there are 3 gain stages in the signal path,. It does its gain in layers, that’s just part of the magic with this amp. The other part is the 12au7 cathodyne phase inverter. That gives it that greasy smear the overdrive has.’
‘The secret to the tone of these amps is the un bypassed second stage cathode resistor and the fact that its a 12Au7, along with pushing the last gain stage (another 12au7) before the cathodyne phase inverter. I'm not 100% sure, but I think the phase inverter has less to do with the tone on this amp, than the 12au7 gain stages.’
‘50’s amps have a ton of midrange and more voltage. That’s why they distort so much,
