Tubesteader delivers the ultimate Vox-in-a-box with its superb Tube-Driven ROY Twin Channel Vox AC30 Top Boost style Preamp
This one has been a long time coming - where you can blame the delinquency of UPS and the UK Customs Division for its one week overdue arrival! Fortunately it’s so well worth the wait!
Readers will know that I’m a big fan of the Vox AC30 sound - and how that is deployed by Brian May and U2’s The Edge in particular, but also for some of those wonderful Beatles tracks. Admittedly the earlier Beatles tracks utilised the Vox UL730 amp in the main, while later Beatles and solo output from John Lennon and George Harrison made good use of the AC30.
It’s known for its chimey jangly top end, and wonderful crunch and searing lead lines at high saturation - and with the Top Boost applied.
The genius of this ROY is manifold, but in part for its use of a MOSFET Input Stage which further juices up the Tube for those wonderful saturated sounds. It’s an LND150 high-voltage transistor that’s well-known for its tube-like characteristics - that in combination with the 17AX7 Tube just sounds immense. And the rest is all about that classic Vox magic.
The ROY doesn’t just sound like a properly authentic AC30, it feels like one too - with that slightly spongy sag, and those superb cleanup dynamics.
I’m a hard taskmaster when it comes to choosing a Brian May style pedal in particular - and this ROY is absolute perfection for how I want to use it.
Controls - CHANNEL 1 } Gain, Volume; CHANNEL 2 } Gain, Volume; UNIVERSAL } Tone Cut (hi-cut on top), Bass, Treble, Channel 1/2 Footswitch, On/Bypass Footswitch, Channel 1/2 Remote port on side (1/8").
The ROY is so easy to dial in - I have the Tone Cut fully wound out, all the mini knobs @ 3 o'c, and the 2 x Gains set to taste - which is mostly at Noon on one of them and Max on the other.
Normally you would expect the lit Channel to be the gainier Channel 2 one, and I don't know if it's simply some kind of placebo, but the gain maxed out somehow sounds better to on the unlit vs the lit Channel - which is kind of back-to-front at least visually and symbolically. For some reason the unlit Channel on Max seems to sound a little better to me than the lit one on the same setting!
In any case - the ROY sounds amazing whichever way you deploy it - it has all that jangle and chime - and that slightly dry crispy crunch when you raise the gain. And you can entirely control your level of gain / saturation from you guitar's volume knob.
Olly continues a recent trend - where if you find the two footswitches are too close to each other for comfort - then you can use the Channel Remote port - to control the 2-channel from a more appropriate distance / separation. Several brands are doing that nowadays - including Tubesteader of course, and Cornerstone.
This ROY is now my all-time Champion Vox! It sounds and feels better to me than all the others. While I still have a really soft spot for the also superb sounding Tanabe May Queen - which has a little more sear to it.
The joy of the ROY is being able to switch things up easily on the fly - it's all just so effortless - and it's so authentic in both sound, touch and feel.
This has triggered me to re-do my celebrated 16 Iconic Amps / Respective Compact Pedals, which now looks like the following! Full article coming up next week!
I've loved Olly's previous compact Tube Preamps - the Eggnog Tweed one, and Light Keeper V2 Dumble Drive - but this latest ROY is incredibly a further step above even those two gems - which of course are still well worthy getting too!.
While you're looking for the ultimate AC30 Top Boost Vox-in-a-box Preamp - then look no further! as Olly has delivered a masterpiece!
I sincerely love everything about the execution - the design, colour choice, name and overall format and feature set - it's as perfect a pedal as can be for this very task! Highly recommended obviously!
The ROY is available for order now from the Tubesteader Webstore - please form an orderly queue - as every Vox fan is going to want to have one of these - it really is head and shoulders above everything else currently to there. It's priced well at $299 - and I would imagine it's going to fly out. Albeit it's made to order! But you know what I mean!
Demos
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