I’m always looking for ways to play a little more guitar each day. Plus I live in an apartment so practicing electric with an amplifier is pretty much out of the question.  I needed something that was quick and easy to setup and allowed me to practice electric without noise complaints.

So for this Christmas I asked my brother Bob for a Vox amPlug AC30 Headphone Amp.  Normally I use a GuitarPort for practicing electric guitar but I wanted something even easy to setup and didn’t tether me to my computer.  After a day of playing with the little headphone amp here’s what I think.

Overall I’m pretty happy with my Vox amPlug AC30 Headphone Amp.  I tested it out with a Fender Nashville B-Bender Telecaster and Gibson Les Paul Standard.  I noticed a few issues and some potential improvements but it’s a great little practice tool for the price.

The Vox amPlug AC30 has three knobs – Gain, Tone and Volume.  Dial back the Gain and add volume for a clean sound and increase the Gain to add distortion – pretty standard stuff.  Tone is tone.  The Vox amPlug  has a 1/4″ input that is raised allowing it to plug into recessed input jacks like on a Telecaster.  Finally the Vox amPlug has two 1/8″ input jacks, one for headphones and the other to input another device like an iPod allowing you to play along with music.

The Good:

• Quick and easy to get going.  Just plug it into your guitar jack and plug in a set of headphones and you’re rocking.
• It’s definitely an AC30 amp model.  It’s a re-creation of the classic AC30 with that top boost sound and tone.
• You’re very mobile.  I really like being able to walk around while playing.  It’s almost like having a wireless system.  Haven’t tried any flying leg kicks yet though…
• Knob positioning is actually handy.  At first it seemed odd to not be able to see the gain, tone and volume knobs but your hand easily reaches over the device and you can adjust by feel.
• Good pick attack response. Harder picking will increase the distortion and volume, it has a surprising amount of pick attack response.

The Bad:

• No reverb.  This might be a more personal choice but when playing through headphones I think a little reverb would help to fill out the sound more.
• One amp model. As I mentioned above it’s definitely an AC30 but that’s it.  It would be nice to have a few amp models in one device, something to make it more versatile.
• Included AAA batteries don’t last long.  You might want to grab a set when you buy it.
• No output. I might be asking a bit much for $40 bucks, but you can’t output the guitar sound to a recording device.

Tips for Use:

• Get a decent set of headphones.  I tried mine with a set of iPod headphones and a set of Audio-Technica ATH-22 and it made a big difference.  The ATH-22s aren’t even top-of-the-line, but it’s better than iPod headphones.
• Know your AC30. Make sure you want that AC30 sound.  Vox offers other versions including Metal and Classic Rock.

Overall I’m really happy with the Vox amPlug AC30 Headphone Amp.  It should do the trick for what I need to help me keep practicing more frequently.  Some of the concerns aside, I would definitely recommend the Vox amPlug AC30.

Put any questions you have in the comments and I’ll be sure to respond.