Vox AC1. 5CC Mod Guide Guitar News Daily. The Vox AC1. 5CC, or AC1. Custom Classic is a nice amplifier despite being manufactured in China, it has plenty of character and tone. Still, there are plenty of people on the internet willing to invest time into performing modifications on this amp to take it a step further. Having done quite a few modifications myself, I thought I would write an article to try and consolidate those that I have performed, both to document my journey and also to produce an easy access guide, so that you dont have to scour the net looking for resources. Disclaimer Operating voltages of valve amps are lethal and can remain lethal, even after the amp has been turned off. There is a serious risk of electrocution and possible death when working on valve amps. Acoustic Guitar Contact Pickup Installation Diagram' title='Acoustic Guitar Contact Pickup Installation Diagram' />The official source of information for Collings custom handmade acoustic guitars, electric guitars, mandolins, ukuleles and archtop guitars. Setting the standard for. For those of you that dont know what a guitar kill switch is, its basically a momentary switch, that when pressed, stops signal from going out of the guitar and. The author of this article and Guitar. Pug. com will not be held responsible for any damage to gear, or injury to persons, as a result of reading this guide. If you are uncertain in anyway, have the work done by an amp tech. Additionally, please note that performing any any of these modifications will, in all likeliness, invalidate the manufacturers warranty. Primer. If this is the first modification project youve embarked on, or you havent already read our guide on Must Have Tools For Modding and B. Y. O Kits, I suggest stopping by there as a first port of call. Before you start any work on any valve amp, you MUST first check the voltages across the filter caps and discharge them if necessary. These filter caps are capable of storing up to 4. Another point, DO NOT power your amp up without a speaker load connected, you risk damaging your amplifier. It is also wise to print out a schematic of the amp you are working on and document any changes you have made. That way, if you do need to take the amp to an amp tech, you can give them a schematic that correctly reflects the circuit. The schematic for the AC1. CC is provided below. AC1. 5CC Schematic. Chassis Removal. The first step before working on your amp, is getting the chassis out. This is not hard and is worth attempting, even if you arent planning on modding your amp, as it gives easy access to the tubes for changes and other projects. First, remove the back panel. Remove the six screws on the back panel, the panel should then slide off. These screws are phillips head 2 size. While you are at the back, disconnect the speaker from the chassis. If you are planning on fully removing the chassis to work on it, remove the reverb tank from the black pouch at the bottom of the cabinet. Remove the two crews on the left hand side, and the reverb tank will slip out. If you are just changing tubes, then removing the reverb tank is not required, as there is plenty of slack in the cable to place the chassis on the floor. Next, on each side of the cabinet is two screws phillips head 3. Remove the 4 screws in total. These are the screws that hold the chassis to the cabinet. Dont worry about the chassis falling when you remove the screws, as it sits on wooden rails. The chassis will then slide out. It is normal if you have to use a bit of force to slide it out. The chassis also has a bit of weight in it, so be prepared as you are sliding it out. Replacing Valves. This is extremely easy, straightforward to do and well worth the effort of learning to do it yourself. Knowing how to change your valves will save you money, instead of having to take it to an amp tech unless of course, you suspect something else is wrong with the amp. The AC1. 5CC has four valves 2 x 1. AX7 preamp tubes and 2 x EL8. The valves are labeled V1, V2, V3 and V4. When looking at the back of the amp V1 is the Top Boost channel valve Furthest valve on the left, next to the output transformer. V2 is the phase inverter Valve sitting to the immediate right of V1. V3 and V4 are the two power valves The two valves sitting next to the power transformer, on the right hand side of the chassis. V1 and V2 can be changed easily without removing the chassis, as you can reach around and access them. The tube protectors on V1 and V2 are spring loaded, just push down slightly and theyll twist off. V3 and V4 are protected by a heat shield, which needs to be removed first. It is easiest to remove the chassis when replacing these valves, as the heat shield is screwed into the chassis. As the AC1. 5CC is a cathode biased amp, it does not require the bias to be set every time you change valves. As long as you purchase a matched pair of EL8. The 1. 2AX7s dont have to be matched or anything, although some people like using a 1. AX7 with balanced halves for V2, the phase inverter. Feel free to experiment with different valves to find your tone. Speakers. The speaker in your amp has a massive influence on your tone. So if you are tone hunting, its worth considering a speaker upgrade. The AC1. 5CC comes with two speaker choices the Wharfedale or the Celestion Alnico Blue. The Celestion Alnico Blue is the better sounding speaker of the two. Not that the Wharfedale sounds bad, it just doesnt sound like how a Vox should. Of course, that is a very subjective statement, but most people are chasing that vintage Vox tone that the Alnico Blue produces. A good idea is trying to pick up an AC1. CC with a Wharfedale speaker second hand, which will then enable you to experiment with different speakers. Apart from the Celestion Alnico Blue, the Webber Blue Dog is also a good choice. Remember that new speakers need time to break in. So if your amp is new, give the speaker time to break in before you make any decisions about upgrading. Accessing the PCB Board. With the amp lying face down on the floor, or the chassis removed, look inside. If you have removed the chassis, have the chassis sitting on its transformers with the control knobs facing towards you. When you look inside youll see two long PCB boards. One board sits along the bottom of the chassis, this is the main PCB board. The other PCB board is mounted vertically, behind all the control knobs and is called the pots board as all the potentiometers are mounted to it. To access the main PCB board do the following Each procedure will relate to the picture below it, with components that need to be removed circled in white. Click on the pictures to enlarge themRemove all the screws, the red and white plug reverb sendreturn and the input jack PCB board. Remove the input jack PCB board by removing the plastic nut that holds the input jack in the chassis. The board will slide out. Remove all the screws and disconnect the two connector plugs circled. Leave the small connector that goes to the input jack PCB board, this does not need to be removed. Remove all the screws and the connector plug circled. Youll notice a white arrow pointing to a green wire, follow the wire to the chassis and remove the screw and nut that holds the wire to the chassis. Remove the foot switch PCB board which is circled at the bottom of the picture, using the same method as the input jack PCB board. Honda Odyssey Rb1 Manual there. Tuck the foot switch PCB board down, vertically, along the chassis. De solder the wires from the standby switch. Remove all the screws. This picture shows the power transformer. Along the wires are cable ties that neatly bundle the wires together, cut these cable ties to free the wires. Note Yours will not look the same as the picture, as I have fitted an after market power transformer, however it should be similar. Your cable ties will most likely be white in colour.