Vox Cambridge 15

Price Paid: US $110 used

Features: 8
15W tube pre-amp hybrid; 1 x 8" Celestion Bulldog speaker; 12AX7 tube preamp (I don't know what brand of tube, but I think they came from the factory equipped with Sovteks); 1 channel; gain boost; treble; bass; mid-range boost; tremelo; headphone out; cab out; line out. You need the optional foot switch (which I do not have) to turn the tremelo on. This amp weighs about 18 pounds. No reverb but I have a Boss RV-2 .....

Sound Quality: 9
Love it, love it, love it!!!! I had played a Pathfinder 15 in a store, which I liked quite a bit, but the tube in the Cambridge 15 does give you some useful grit. I play mostly rock, but I am not a "shredder" ... will make some attempts at funk, country, and soul once in a while. The main thing I like is I can hear what my guitar sounds like - I hate amps that mask the sound of your guitar (although that could be good if you are playing a crap guitar ...). Fairly loud for a 15 watt amp with 8 inch speaker. I suppose you could use it onstage with a restrained drummer, but most folks will probably want to mike it or use the line out to drive a cabinet or go into the PA. The amp is best at clean and mild to medium distorted sounds. Using the gain boost sounds nice; using both boosts does not spin my top. I have a Tech 21 GT2 for harder distortion. The speaker will surprise you for it's size. Have not heard the tremelo, will have to get the footswitch eventually.

Reliability: 7
I would use it without a back-up, since I have a GT2 .... but really, it seems pretty solid for an import amp. It has nice soft rubber feet to sit on. Unfortunately, you have to take off the back panel and two top screws and disconnect the speaker to change either 1) The tube, or 2) The fuse. Not the greateast design ......

Customer Support: N/A
Purchased used, so no dealings with Vox ....

Overall Rating: 8
I've been playing since I was 13 - now I am 41, and have been through a lot of gear and a couple of bands. Just bought a house, and have a baby on the way, so my equipment acquisition days are over, at least for the next 18 to 22 years!! Would definitely look for another one if something awful happened to this one. I think it is the best amp out there in the $100 - $150 price range. Very light compared to the tube amp I am used to humping around. I considered the Orange Crush 15, but I like the tube hybrid sound (I had a MusicMan 110RD about a million years ago) and the Orange was so .... Orange. If you have been playing as long as I have and appreciate good sound, it is hard to get very excited about any amp in the $100 - $150 price range these days. I was not interested in a modeling amp - if you get a voltage spike in one of those things, you have lost the main reason you bought the amp in the first place. I think Vox made a mistake when they stopped production of this model. It's inspiring, and I am always happy to plug it in and hit the first couple of chords of the day .....

Other equipment in the stable: Washburn Mercury Grover Jackson, 1973 Guild D-50 acoustic with Fishman bridge pickup, Ancient Kay Classical guitar, Alvarez Bass guitar, Czechslovakian fiddle, Epiphone Mandolin, Ampeg Jet Amplifier

Signal Chain is guitar->Tech 21 GT2->Guyatone Chorus->DOD Digital Delay->Boss RV-2->Ampeg Jet ...... or straight into a Yamaha MT4x four-track.

Submitted by Michael at 04/05/2005 09:14

Price Paid: 70 (£) used

Features: 5
The Cambridge 15 is featured as described previously (15W, 1 x 8" Celestion Bulldog speaker; 12AX7 Sovtek tube preamp; 1 channel; gain boost; treble; bass; mid-range boost; tremelo; headphone out; cab out; line out). It's mostly solid state, and I think it has some digital shickanery in it, because there's a lot of chips when you open it up.

I bought the amp second-hand to use with a Vox Corinthian combo organ, which puts out very low, and wanted something at least approximating a tube sound. The organ, of course, naturally lends itself to '60s-type playing, and, sure enough, 'House of the Rising Sun' is a regular in the line-up. Normally, I don't use the gain boost switch, because high overdrive doesn't sound very warm, and much more solid-state-like than with low gain. Therefore, it needs outputting into the PA to compete with the rest of the group. At 15W I didn't expect any different, however.

Most here have expressed that the lack of (spring) reverb was a bit of an oversight, and I agree. The tremolo is, I believe, cruelly overlooked by many guitarists--I think if used subtly it can really add some life to rhythm parts.

Sound Quality: 7
As mentioned, when using a lot of gain the amp sounds not much like a tube amp, and produces very John Lord-type effects (which are sometimes interesting) from the organ. However, at low gains there is a noticable 'valvey' warmth; better than the kind that most modelling amps imitate digitally, though one couldn't confuse it with anything like a vintage Vox combo.

The amp is pretty limp at anything less than high master volumes, but I am really impressed with the qulity of the Bulldog 8" speaker--it sounds larger, I feel. As mentioned, though, you can't get very loud without putting a lot of gain on, and this just isn't what I'm after. At high gains it just sound like a cheap, small combo. At low to mid-gain it sounds warm and has character.

The treble and bass knobs also need a lot of twiddling to get the desired sound--you need to put in some effort to get a really good noise. For Vox-organ-playing, it's usually best to keep the bass fairly low (c. 2/10) and the treble high-is (c. 7/10), and you can use the mid-range boost to fill out the cheesier sounds at will. With gain at about 4/5 out of 10, there's a little bit of warm break-up on big chords, which is exactly what you need.

Overall, I'm very satisfied with the sound. I was after a reliable valve amp and stumbled across the Cambridge, which was close enough for me.

Reliability: 6
After about a month I am still mostly trouble-free, but there are a few niggling things.

The line-out jack doesn't always work, and never has been reliable. You need to jiggle it a bit, and, for some reason, switching the amp off then on again tends to restore order in this department (this has to be a digital thing). It could also do with some corner protectors, as, despite looking very well-made, I'm sure the covering will easily nick on anything. I'm also dreading the day the cloth tears (but you expect that with a Vox)

One final point--it is actually important to let the amp warm up. Even though there's only one tube, I found once that, after not doing so and playing straight away, high gain sounds were breaking up really horribly. This didn't subsequently go away until I switched it on and left it running for about an hour with the organ just plugged in. Thereafter it was fine again.

Aside from that, I don't really think that I'll be too worried about this amp. Like I said, it does appear to be pretty solidly-manufactured, and to a high-standard.

Customer Support: N/A
As this is used, I don't intend to go to Korg (or Vox, or whomever), and since I live in Jersey (the island in the English Channel, not the state), I have no Vox dealer nearby. Hopefully the local guitar shop will be able to help if I have problems. Any speculation would be spurious in this regard.

Overall Rating: 7
I decided to pursue this amp after looking for a while (in vain) for an old all-tube amp. I heard someone using a Cambridge 30RT in a blues bar, and was puzzled--the amp looked brand new (it was--about three hours in his possession), but sounded quite a lot like a vintage amp. Up until then I was very dismissive of these new digital modelling amps. Its sound may be attributable to the tube, or perhaps just the circuitry, but it provides exactly what I need and was cheap. I get a warm, round tone which perfectly complements the music and the instrument.

I'm a harsh marker (10 would be the best amp ever), so a 7 can be considered pretty good. The Cambridge doesn't blow you away, but it's definitely worth the money I paid. And it looks lovely, too.

Submitted by Andy Nowacki at 02/06/2004 16:37

Price Paid: US $179.00

Features: 10
This a is a follow up on a critique I sent in on 1-21-01, which is still posted. It's pretty obvious from reading it that it was written by a new guitarist with zero experience. After three years my experience is still limited, but I want to correct some of what I said. THIS IS A FABULOUS AMP, AS ARE ALL VOX AMPS. GET ONE. It only needs one thing - reverb. And now you'll notice Vox listened to all of you and started including reverb on most of their amps.

Sound Quality: 10
I play a heavily modified Strat, with factory everything, except for the addition of the Strat Lover's Strat modification outlined in the GuitarNuts.com website. The amp is ultra quiet, very smooth, and in contrast to what I said in the above mentioned critique, it has absolutely fantastic rounded distortion which approaches rich fuzz. It is totally devoid of distortion when set in clean.

Reliability: 10
The headphone jack briefly failed to return to amp speaker mode recently, but I don't use the phone jack often enough to keep it clean, so I don't blame the amp for that. Otherwise, no problems.

Customer Support: N/A
Never called them, never needed to.

Overall Rating: 10
Pretty much covered everything, except that in my last e-mail I raved about the Danelectro FabTone pedal - forget that. Leave the FabTone at the store where it belongs. This amp has enough of the right kind of distortion all by itself.

Submitted by Mark B. at 12/27/2003 18:25

Price Paid: US $185

Features: 7
best features:
- very responsive treble and bass control
- midrange boost for extra warmth
- gain boost for fat tones. I don't care for the volume boost.
I appreciate the differtent sounds it gives me.
- Celestion bulldog: great sound for a 8 inch speaker

other:
- gain control: adding just a quarter is nice,
from half to max. is noisy and muddy (rather use a peddle)
- tremolo is fun but I don't use it much
- line out: nice feature but haven't recorded yet
- speaker output: can be used for band rehearsals
but but without gain boost it's not loud enough with a drummer
- headphone output: all single coils too shrill, even with treble on low
only rockabilly tones on a jazzbox (don't use it much)

Sound Quality: 8
I've been using it for a year and tried all the settings and combinations with my guitars and peddles. The clean sounds are really beautiful. In the shop compared it with a H&K edition silver which has a rather warm sound too, but the Cambridge just had a better sound in my opinion.
The clean sound is better then my old AC30 solid state which sounds dull next to the Cambridge.
It can go from sparkling clean to warm (+midrange boost), to fat (+gain boost) to superfat (both).
That makes it very useable for all the three off my guitars which are very different in sound.
The cheapest is a Samick Telecaster with low output single coils. With the midrange- and gain boost on it sound fantastic. My Gordon Smith GS2 (very nice handbuild in the uk) with coil-tapped humbuckers sounds great in most settings. It can go from very fat to very sparkling.
My third is a Gibson ES175D which is the opposite in sound of the telecaster. This one don't need no midrange or gainboost. This one sounds best with a little bit of gain.
It's my only guitar which sound good with the gain control up (for dirty but not harch rock and roll sounds).

Generally I use a T-rex Alberta peddle for overdrive with a danelectro Spring King reverb sometimes combined with a Boss compression peddle or a Cry baby. I don't care for the valve in the pre-am because I love this amp for it's clean sounds, but perhaps I'll the tube just for curiosity.
I once used my AC30ss as an external speaker in our rehearsal studio. The sound was nice and rather loud but it doesn't liked to be cranked up to much.
(10 for the clean, 6 for the distorted , that makes an 8)

Reliability: N/A
After a year of daily use everything still works. When the tubes dies I'll change it.

Customer Support: N/A

Overall Rating: N/A
During the year I've been trying lot of other amps because it's nice to compare to this one. Only in the 'two-times-this-price'range I heard amps with nice clean sound like this one. Laney TF 200, Princeton Chorus (too loud, 15 watt is enough for homeuse). The Tech 21 trademark 10 had nice sounds but it only makes you yearning for the real amps and I missed the reponsiveness of the cambridge.
I would buy another one secondhand or else a pathfinder EXR 15R which seems good too.

Submitted by Anonymous at 12/18/2003 17:25

Price Paid: N/A

Features: N/A

On -off switch is junk.

Just a heads up for all of you that own smaller, cheaper voxes - suspect the switch if you suddenly have no power LED one day.

Well,not the first component I'd expect to go.I'd expect the valve in my Cambridge to have gone first. Almost two years old and the cheap on-off switch died.

Very bad. No other practice amp ive had has done that,in years of abuse..

Sound Quality: 9
Once fixed, fine. Or even better. ..because i've been at it again,the JRC455DD in the preamp has been swapped for a (chip socket and) a TL082..the distortion/gain boost side of the amp is certainly more toneful now. The TL072/82 chips are a worthwhile substitution for any JRC4558 variant.. well, that's my opinion. If you have to tinker with your Pathfinder of Cambridge,out of warranty,you may want to put a socket in and try these.

Obviously the tube does make a big difference, i currently have an Edicron [read el -Cheapo] ECC83 in there,which is ever so slighty more in the direction of a "Fender" sound,can't afford boutique valves,but, if you can.Try them too. It's a good amp design so sounds fine even with bargain basement bits in it.

9.5 out of 10 now.

Reliability: 8
Heads Up -<CRAP SWITCH ALERT> Everything else,including the Tube is still fine. February 2002 - Dec 2003 no troubles,used almost every day for several hours .

Customer Support: N/A
Customer Support,mm,Yes, that would be a good idea,in theory.

Overall Rating: 8
All as before. I wouldn't be without this thing now.It's a great practice amp and has outlasted several others. It's very musical and can do tones ranging between Clean Clapton (if you must) Beatles,Zep, up to Black Sabbath at a push..,it'll do Paranoid quite well though.

Simple reliability issues a pain otherwise everything else, ok.

Submitted by James at 12/11/2003 08:13

Price Paid: 150 Eu (Euro 150) used

Features: 8
As described by others. I read all the reviews here and the first thing I did was: To take out the russian 12 AX 7 WA Tube and put
in an old german Valvo ECC 83. And Man, woman, I tell ya, this DID
make a BIG change.

Sound Quality: 9
I use a Fender USA Strat build 1987, an another USA Strat build in
91, and since I changed the tube, the Amp ist loud, man is this amp
loud. The low frequencies and the high frequencies come a lot better,
the amp has won character. I have also a VOX Pathfinder 15, which is
a very good practise amp by the way, I wouldn-t sell it, because I
really like it. The Cambridge is more tube like, there are more
high frequzencies in the sound, but the low ones are absolutely saddisfying, since I put in the ECC 83. The Cambridge has "something"
like a much bigger VOX Amp. Its phantastic. Change the tube! Take a really good one.

Reliability: 9
Absolutely OK.

Customer Support: 8
Not dealt with it.

Overall Rating: 9
Very good amp. Wouldn-t sell it. I would take it for smaller gigs
without hesitating. My other practise amps are 2 Orange crush 10.
Not so strong and soundful but also exciting amps with a warm crunchy
tone.

Submitted by wiedema at 11/05/2003 12:15

Price Paid: N/A

Features: 7
Probably Korean, bought in NZ for NZ$600.00. No mid on eq, no reverb, no fx loop and unlike SS prectice amps you cant turn the gain off with a switch you have to turn down the gain knob. I only bought this as an affordable step from SS to hybrid - so far so good.

Sound Quality: 8
Good sound for practice. Clean is not crystal clean but has some thickness for a bit of character. Gain is limited but you can get 2 or 3 blues/rock sounds overall from tweaking with the gain boost and mid boost switches as well as the gain knob itself. At high volume and high gain my Epiphone Goldtop (.011 onward) with stock p-90's sound much much better than on my previous practice amp a ss fender champion 110 with the gain on. Havent tried it in a gig but it will probably fail in volume. As a practice amp I think its good as long as you're not looking for a budget version of crystal Fender clean. I give it an 8 because when I jammed against a megadeth CD the gain wasnt bad. Am not into trem but I like playing around with the trem when I'm bored so cant comment on the trem.

Reliability: 6
I dont know, but the cold winter and moist have probably messed up the speaker or the gain circuitry, theres some weird ugly sound at low gain on my bass strings when at low gain settings at low volume

Customer Support: N/A
n/a

Overall Rating: 7
Not my dream amp, but good as a transient practice amp. Not as cheap as other hybrids, but not rediculously expensive either. No regrets, but will not buy again because there are better things out there at dearer prices though. ADEQUATE but NOT fantastic

Submitted by chatpanzer at 08/27/2003 03:33

Price Paid: £120 (GBP )

Features: N/A
This is regarding the "trip posts" ie,trim pots.

Please note I'm not a qualified Electrical Engineer so only do these mods under advisement,you may overload the tube or other components with current or voltage .Any qualified electrical bods are most welcome to help out here.

Undo the 8 self tappers holding the panel holding the output jacks and carefully remove [don't let the pcb on the jack panel short to the amp's “head”]

Location: above the 2200Uf cap,”Under” the tremolo speed pot.

These are fragile components and need the correct screwdriver.

Adjusting the upper pot anti clockwise reduces the gain “level” -- IE: you have to turn the pot up further to get the same gain as before - This is what I did. The trim pot was turned approx 20 degrees anti-clockwise.

Adjusting the lower pot clockwise increases the “Overall volume level” -- IE: you have to turn the pot up less to get the same volume as before - This is what I did. The trim pot was turned approx 20 degrees clockwise. Make small gentle movements, this isn't a Mack Truck -and test the sound repeatedly.

These settings were made using only my ears and a screwdriver- it would be wise to MARK a line on the PCB and pot to show the factory setting.

Sound Quality: 8
The, highly subjective ,sound quality rating is 8/9 high/low [to mid] gain.

The 490 Set in my Gibson [and other high output humbuckers] clean up on low gain a lot better and give a clearer sound.

The sweet spot is “higher up” - at 1 or 2 o'clock as opposed to 11 or 12 o'clock before.

High gain settings do not mush up as much as before and it's a slightly more “classic” sounding amp now.

The amp can now give a ”heavy” overdriven sound at almost inaudible levels.

This is using the standard 12ax7.

To hard to describe, but, sounds better all round...hey, ho taste is all subjective.

Reliability: N/A
NB _ while you're in there you may want to tighten all the wood screws and speaker mount bolts - that has [almost totally] stopped my Cambridge vibrating and rattling at higher volumes.

I doubt it will die, but, I will keep you posted.

Customer Support: N/A
Without knowing exactly what the trimmers do, i wouldn't recommend going nuts and turning them to the extremes of their travel.

Hopefully these small tweaks won't damage anything..and congratulations you've just voided your warranty.

Overall Rating: 9
DON'T ATTEMPT THIS MOD UNLESS YOU ARE FAMILIAR WITH ELECTRICAL SAFETY PROCEDURES.

As a keen amateur amp and FX nut/builder I was curious about the “trip posts” so I took a look.

SO far it's been worth it .

If it dies I'll tell you.

Still lusting after a Laney LC15,although quite satisfied with the Cambridge 15 for now.

Good Luck.

Submitted by James at 05/12/2003 12:20

Price Paid: US $179

Features: 8
Bought a few years ago, so probably 2000 or 2001. Not as stripped down as a Fender Pro Junior, but seems to give a nod to old school styling and engineering (one channel, tremolo) while incorporating some modern features (mid boost, gain boost, hybrid tube/SS platform). I don't use the gain boost or even the mid boost that much anymore, I just plug in and go. I don't use the tremolo, but I like tremolo so it's nice to have. I basically do bedroom jamming and home recording with it, and it works great for this.

Sound Quality: 9
I use this with Telecasters and a Rick 330/12. I play mostly blues and classic rock inspired stuff, but love indie and shoegaze and write some stuff that veres into that realm as well. This amp does it all for what it is. I try to keep things stripped down, and normally use a Boss Super Overdrive, a TS-9 (use them both interchangeably to keep my ears from going stale), a Boss Tremolo/Pan (square wave tremolo), and sometimes an EH Big Muff NYC and NYC Small Clone reissue. Every once in a while I throw a Boss Dig Reverb/Delay into the mix. The Rick 330/12 gets an MXR Dynacomp. So much for stripped :)

The Cambridge has a nice range of gain, with the boost. You can get some pretty high gain sounds with it, but probably not the kinds that hi-gain aficianados would look for. I keep the gain pretty low. The amp plays well, with all my pedals...the SD-1 sounds especially cool through it...very gritty and rock 'n roll. The TS-9 is great for copping Oasis style grind. Overall, the amp reacts very differently and very nicely to both pedals.

The Rick sounds great through it, especially with the Dynacomp. Recording the Rick through the Vox sounds fantastic. You won't get that Rick/AC30 sparkle, but you won't be disappointed either.

The midboost helps the versatrility, and I used to just keep it on all the time, but I don't use it so much anymore. I do kick it on occasionally for the Rick though.

Basically, it's a great sounding practice amp. It's got plenty of volume, enough that you could probably mic it up for a gig without a problem. I love the way it just seems to accentuate the positive aspects of all my guitars. On tape, it doesn't sound at all like a practice amp. Of course, it doesn't sound much like a tube amp either, but it's still a nice package altogether.

Reliability: 10
This thing has been across the country twice in the back of a hatchback. It's spent time in desert locales and in the big city. Aside from battle scars in the covering, it has stayed solid and still pumps out great tones.

Customer Support: N/A

Overall Rating: 10
For $179, this thing is a steal. Great speaker, nice setup, cool Vox looks....it wasn't a tough decision for me. It sounds much more "mature" than a regular little old practice amp...it's not going to tease you with dual channels or reverb and it's not going to try and sound like a Mesa Boogie crammed into a shoe box. It has a very classic and old school feel and sound to it, but can handle modern stuff if needed. Highly Recommended overall!

Submitted by Anonymous at 05/07/2003 09:07

Price Paid: US $125

Features: 7
Year: 2000?
Gen. Features: Covered above
Use as a home amp and for song writing
Mid boost: Meh. Don't really use it.
Gain boost: see below in "Sounds"
Would rather have reverb than Tremolo if only could have one. For an inexpensive amp though, I'm not complaining.

Sound Quality: 7
I play a Gibson SG Classic (P-90's). Style-wise, I play 60's Beat, Blues, Ethereal moody stuff. It suits my style very well with the following additions:
Dunlop Uni-Vibe pedal, Electro-Harmonix Holy Grail (reverb)
I had to have some reverb, and the real tanks were too expensive. I LOVE the Holy Grail pedal. I run the signal into the Grail, then Uni.
Someone mentioned that the Tremolo on the amp doesn't really work, and I have to disagree. It seems quite flexible to me and is a nice effect.
Given the relatively low cost of the amp, (especially for one with a tube pre-amp) I can't complain about the overall sound. Oh wait, yes I can:
The Gain boost switch. I can't use it. IMHO, a gain boost switch is going to take the place of an additional channel. It's function being to give a you a quick boost of gain for "lead" playing. The gain boost on this amp increases the overall volume far too much, so I just can't use it. If I wanted it that much louder, I'd tweak the knobs, wouldn't I?
So I will need to add a gain pedal for that purpose. I recommend the Tube screamer as an inexepnsive option that doesn't overdo it.

Reliability: 10
So far so good, had it a year, played every day, no problems. I don't think of this as a gig amp, so I'm not going to evaluate it as such. More like a living room amp.

Customer Support: N/A
N/A

Overall Rating: 8
I love it. My other home amp is a 1971 Fender Champ, which is great, but to get the tube to distort it must be up around 7 (a bit too loud for my living room playing) and it doesn't have a gain knob. The Cambridge isn't all tube, but it's a great solid amp for the price.
I would buy it again.
Damn that gain boost!

Submitted by Anonymous at 02/24/2003 14:29