I think herby's right.  However, the DC-30 is a little more pristine. to get a vox sound our of your Matchless (or badcat), switch the impedance to half of what it should be.  So, in other words, plug into a 16 ohm cab, and set your impedance selector to 8 ohms.  That makes it sound and feel just like a VOX.  it won't be quite as loud, but it'll nail that vox sound.

DISCLAIMER: your output tranny isn't meant to do this.  Periodically check if it's getting hot (and by hot I mean too hot to completely grab it for more than 4 seconds).  That's the best way to make sure you don't fry anything.  I do it all the time on my creme brulee, and I can cop the vox sound to a T.

same here, i'd snatch one up.  I had a 2-tone once, and now I really miss it.

I'd get one too.  That's one of the finest amps I've heard.

My buddy has one of the reissues, and it absolutely kills!  Anyway, I give a vote for that amp.  IT'll be impossible to find a schematic, but if you could clone it, I'd buy it in a heartbeat.

I had the same question about playing bass.  I imagine you could, but I can't imagine it having any amount of power.

I'd love an EF86 version of the 20 LB, that way you'd get plenty of crunch.  Or, if you could get a plexi sound out of those 20 watts, that'd be even better.

Here's my JTM45 I built from Nik's kit.  I love it.

I want to hear some sound clips of that bad boy.  That's the next amp I've been thinking about, but I"m not sure if I can handle a solid state rectifier.  Maybe I'll mod it for a tube rectifier (but then I'd need a different PT).

I go after Mike Einziger's sound as well.  On the latest album, he mainly used an AC-30 with a way huge swollen pickle fuzz pedal.  I'd also recommend the DC-30.  Now Mike's playing SG's through a JCM-800, so he's got a heavier sound now as well.  I had a DC-30 and I was getting very close to his sound.  If you want that tight, gainy sound, I recommend an MIAudio Crunchbox.  I used that with my DC-30 (and I now use it with my vox ac15) and it sounds just like a cranked plexi to me.  Good luck.

hmm... sounds nice.  If Nik had an AC15 of AC30 kit, I would buy it in a heartbeat.

how is it different from the DC-30?

Yes, It's very spanky.  The recordings are pretty dry, but i kinda like that sound sometimes.  It's a lot like a DC-30, but at a much more manageable volume.  I was surprised how much gain it had as well.  I love that strat, I think it sounds great.  I read somewhere that if you have a matchless amp, and you set the impedance for half of what you should (so, set it at 8 ohms with a 16 ohm cab) that it'll sound more like a vox.  I asked Nik if that's okay, and he said the transformers could handle it no problem.  I've got to say, it sounds more voxy.  I guess it's just a deeper, darker sound that seems more lo-fi.  I still can't quite get it to sound like my AC15H1TV, but it gets pretty dang close.

Here are some clips I made on Youtube:





Nik sent me a replacement switch, and I am thrilled with the tone!

that's one of the greatest recordings I've heard of any amp to date!  That recording alone convinced me to pull the trigger on a vibrochamp kit.  Great, great playing!

Ok, so I had a DC-30 kit from Nik, and I absolutely loved it, but I was running it at half power all the time, and it was still way too loud for the soundman.  So I emailed Nik about a million times with a million questions, and he assured me that he could make me an amp that sounds just as good at half power.

Here's what I wanted:

the EF86 side of the DC-30
2 el84's (I burn them up too fast, and I'd rather replace 2 than 4)
a half power switch, or pentode/triode mode (so I could run it at 15 watts and 7 watts, then run the preamp in pentode and triode)
6-way rotary tone switch
selectable impedance
2 inputs
a cut knob
bypassable master volume

Here's what I got:
the ef86 side of the DC-30
2 el84's
a half power switch
a boost switch (I assume this is the pentode/triode switch, but I don't even care what it is because it sounds so good)
6-way rotary tone controls
selectable impedance
2 inputs
a cut knob
bypassable master volume

and...
a 3- position bright switch
an effects loop


It may not seem like much, but Nik went above and beyond.  I have no clue how many prototypes he had to go through, but the end result is amazing.  It's all I imagined and more.  I love it just as much as my DC-30.  The master volume is far more usable and quiet than the DC-30.  The Creme Brulee can get 95% as loud as the DC-30 (which is still too loud for my sound guy).  It's just the perfect amp for me, where I needed a biting, voxy, spanky, punchy, in-you-face amp.  I'm thrilled.


Currently I"m having trouble with one of the pots.  As soon as I get that figured out, I'll post videos for everyone to see.  I have a feeling Nik will be building quite a few of these once the word gets out.


Now I'm wondering if I can justify building Nik's vibro-champ kit.