Vox Cambridge 30 Reverb

Price Paid: 300 (euro)

Features: 9
I always try everything and think all options over before bying something, because hey i'm just a poor student and this 300 euro's is al lot money for me.

@ months ago i bought a new guitar, the new ibanez as73. And i'm glad i did, this thing has better lloks and tone than the 300 euro's more expensive epiphone dot.

Last month I bought myself a new amp. After a lot of testing and comparing i bought a cambridge 30 reverb. Now, a few weeks later i now i made the right choice.

2 channels, one clean (solid state) channel and the second i really like is the channel with a tube in the pre amp wich delivers great tone.
It's got reverb on it
And tremolo, wich is usable as long as you dont turn the dept open all the way.
blue celestion bulldog speaker (Nice!)
GOLD VOX LOGO

Sound Quality: 9
I've got the perfect combination with my guitar, and I can get almost any sound out of it. Exept for nu metal shit wich I don't like anyway so that's alright.

If you buy the footswitches for this amp, it's great because you'll get thanks tot the gain boost three channels. Clean, crunchy and great overdriven solo sound. The tremolo and reverb are also footswitchable.

A lot of peoply who write theyr reviews about this amp compare it to the ac series. You can't do that.
This is the best amp IN IT'S PRICE RANGE. You wont find a nicer amp for 200 euro's more.

+ i love the vox looks

and it's loud enough for my band practice

Reliability: N/A
can't say yet but I hope the best. (though i'm getting kinda nervous reading the ther reviews wich mention volume drops etc.)

Customer Support: 10
feedback rotterdam is one of the best shops i've ever been to. friendly, helpful and VERY LOW PRICES

Overall Rating: N/A

Submitted by Anonymous at 04/21/2003 05:34

Price Paid: US $330

Features: 8
The amp has a great Jimmy Page, Clapton, Harrison sound, very much late sixties sound. On complaint is the lack of a midrange tone control. The clean channel overdrives nicely at high volume and the gain channel is delicious tube snarl. I replaced the original tube and the output increased by a pretty big step.

Sound Quality: 9
I play through an Epiphone Dot, Gibson SG, and an ancient Guild acoustic plugged in with one of those single coil acoustic pickups you can buy. I play mostly blues based rock n' roll, but when I get up to Guns n' Roses, its not built to distort that heavily.

Reliability: 10
It's never broken down on me, but as I said, replacing the original tube (I played for six weeks before replacing it) boosts the volume a good bit.

Customer Support: 8
I've had no problems except with finding schematics to help with the tube replacement. I e-mailed Vox Tech support and they helped me within a day.

Overall Rating: 9
Great bang for the buck, even though I paid too much. I'd probably buy the AC30 if it were stolen and I had the $$.

Submitted by Anonymous at 04/17/2003 18:32

Price Paid: US $170 used

Features: 8
Hybrid amp- solid state clean channel and a tube drives the gain. Celestion BUlldog speaker and a sovtex tube. Not sure what type of tube. Reverb,tremelo, mid boost and gain boost. I would rate it higher and might after I change the tube out.

Sound Quality: 8
I use a Jay Turser hollow body and a Gibsin les paul standard. I have a wide range of styles and sounds that I like but if you are wanting an early rock and roll sound that is a little dirty then this amp is nice. don't even think aout turning the gain boost and gainlevel up all the way as it gets very muddy. New tube might change that a bit. Keep the gain boost on and the level to about 3-4 and it gets a nice clean but dirty rolling stones sound that i love. The clean chanel is nice but I will rarely use it or the tremelo. Nice features to have. Reverb is OK. Add a Tube screamer pedal and you woul dhave anice little set up

Reliability: N/A
Have heard bad things about this amp but I have only had it fo a few days and can not comment. It does seem solid and so far there are no buzzes or rattling.

Customer Support: N/A

Overall Rating: 8
I have been playing for about 17 years and have a les paul and a holow body. I own a fender bass a larivee acoustic and have owned many amps since I started playing. I would for sure buy another one if this got stolen. In play alot of differnt styles but prefer an aggessive heavy edges rock blues kind of thing. It fits that pretty well and considering I got it for peanuts I am very happy. I will for certain add a pedal or two(overdrive, chorus,wah,etc) and it wil be an amp I would certainly gig with. Anybody that right a bad review eithe got a lemon of they are trying to get a Marshallstack out of a little VOX and are dissapointed.

Submitted by Anonymous at 04/09/2003 11:14

Price Paid: US $300

Features: 7
Standard Features
Bought it after my little squier had to be replaced.
Very good for the money.
I wish it had better cover on it. The stuff thats on it it really easy to get nicks in and tears .

Sound Quality: 10
I have a Gibson Faded Sg and a Squier Strat with a Hot Rails.
It sounds great with my DS-1.I play MxPX, Blink, Green Day and on the clean channel and my pedal i can almost match their sound.
Volume is very good for only 30 watts.
I can keep up with the other guitarist in my band who has a 160 watt peavey.

Reliability: N/A
Very reliable amp. All of the troubles mentioned here arent apparent in my amp. I dont know if a little rattling in the back is a bad thing or not but it still works fine so i'm happy.

Customer Support: N/A
Never dealt with them.

Overall Rating: 10
Overall this is a great amp for the money. I am very happy and may never need a bigger amp. Just run through the PA.

Submitted by Ben Childs at 02/14/2003 07:52

Price Paid: 225 (Canadian)

Features: 8
Two channel 30w amp with volume, bass, and trebel controls for each channel, as well as gain and bass boosts for the second channel, and finally tremelo and reverb controls.

There are two foot switch ports for channel switch/tremelo and reverb/gain boost. No effect loop, but there is headphone jack, line-out, and speaker line out.

Comes with a blue magnet celestion bulldog 12' speaker, and a single tube preamp.

And why didn't they put in a freakin standby switch.

Sound Quality: 8
I'm using this amp with an Epiohone Es335 tuned down a half-step which I use to play lot of Rock, Ska, and Surf music. Unfortunatly the reverb really sucks, and I personally find the tremelo feature quite useless.

Another problem is that I'm getting an incredible ammount of noise through the standard speaker, so I plugged in a pair of 12' vintage celestion speakers I grabbed out of my old defunked Fender Twin. This also increased the volume three fold!

With the clean channel at 3 o'clock I found it pretty acceptable to my standards. Especially for a $225 amp. The distorted channel, while incredible noisy, is one of the best overdrives I've ever heard! Especially with the gain maxed! This awesome overdrive is possible through the single tube.

8 because I pumped it through seperate speakers.

Reliability: 9
So far after two weeks of use I've had almost no problem with it. No breakdowns, no overheats, however I've had a problem with the channels fadding in and out whenever I switch them over. So far pretty reliable, and knowing the vox/korg name, no problems should appear soon.

I would use it to gig without a backup too...however it's not my lead amp, I also use Vox AC30TBX....this is just for practice since the 30 is MUCH louder.

Customer Support: N/A
n/a

Overall Rating: 10
I've been playing for about 7 years now, and I have owned & used many amps from Fender Redknob Twins, to Roland Jazz Chorus, Vox AC30TBX, Traynor, Marshal...but nothing has ever satisfied me as much as the Vox amps.

In fact I have now ditched my distortion and overdrive pedals because the Cam30R has some of the best overdriven sounds I have ever heard! All I'm using now for effects are my Danelectro Cool Cat, Boss Tremelo, Danelectro DanEcho, Boss Acoustic Sim, and the Boss V-Wah. Who needs overdrive pedals when you got a cam30.

I didn't really compare anything to this amp because I wanted something dirt cheap for practice in my apartment that I would also be able to slave other speakers through so that it could be loud enough for stage pressance (it could be fine at mic'd venues). An incredible buy for what you get.... Find another amp of this quality for under $300!

Submitted by Luke at 02/12/2003 20:53

Price Paid: US $200

Features: 9
Everything has been said already. Good features for the buck.

Sound Quality: 9
Once again it has been said. Very good sound quality. The clean channel is classic vox tone while the gain is pretty good, but i prefer to use my rat2 pedal.

Reliability: N/A
This is where i have a problem. After getting 2 lemons (volume drop), i finally got one that worked. After about 5 months of use (daily for about an hour or 2), the amp just emits a loud hum noise when i turn the power on and it doesnt matter which channel i'm on or if reverb or tremolo is on. If anyone can e-mail what's wrong with my amp and how i can fix it, it would be greatly appreciated.

Customer Support: N/A
i lost my warranty card and reciept, guess i'm pretty screwed.

Overall Rating: 8
good amp when it was working. please, once again, if anyone could tell me what's wrong with my amp please e-mail me!

Submitted by Victor Kim at 01/26/2003 21:00

Price Paid: US $200

Features: 9
Holy Cow. For 200 bux, you're getting 1)reverb 2)vibrato 3) TUBE PREAMP 4)dirty channel 5)cleanchannel 6)footswitchable options 7)Celestion SPeaker and last but not least 8)that sexy VOX name and an extremely attractive amp, visually and sonically. I've had this amp for about 7 months now. I play it every day, soft loud, distorted, clean. It's a beaut! There is absolutely NO buyers remorse. I don't LONG for any other amp... I'm giving it a 9, becuase I wish they provided a switch pedal...

Sound Quality: 10
This amp sounds fabulous. It's loud enough for gigging despite what some of the clowns here have said. Here's a reality check; when you're gigging, the sound man MICS your amp and runs it through the PA. If you go up their with a loud amp, you're going to get lots of stage noise, phasing issues, and a pissed off croud. I see it all the time, some cocky loud guitarist..

Back to the sound:
This amp is DARK sounding. IT's clean sound is one of the best out there. The dirty is pretty darn good (but i really don't use it, i use tubescreamer more) IT's not brutal distortion, more of an overdrive, or super overdrive type sound>. Definately useable.. The clean channel doesn't distort too much at loud volumes,, I play Jonny Marr or Edge (u2) style guitar riffage, and it's very fitting.. The VOX name has a lot of influence.... The real winners are the reverb and vibrato channels. They sound wonderful! The amp has alot of confidence. Listen, folks, you're paying 200 bux. You're not going to get an AC-30, or a Fender Twin. So don't bitch. WHat you DO get is an amp that COMPETES on that level, for 200 bux! There is absolutely NOTHING on the market within $300 of this price that comes even remotely as close to the quality of sound and features as the Vox Cambridge. It's not the greatest amp ever made in history folks, but it's an AFFORDABLE BEAUTIFUL AMP! It's about time!!!
I'm giving it a 10 because it addresses a LONG NEGLECTED audience -the budget minded... A teenager could afford this amp, and proudly keep it his whole life. (unlike a crate, or a silly fender practice amp)

Reliability: 8
This Vox is pretty reliable. I've heard of problems with the volume dropping after a certian amount of playing. I have even experienced this once or twice. My particular vox has been pretty %100 reliable. I've not taken it gigging much so I don't know if it holds up against rough and rugged treatment.

Replacing the preamp tube will solve the volume drop problem... Since I've experienced little or no reliability problems, i'm giving it a 8... I'm really pleased with this amp. I'd give it a 9 if I didn't have the volume problem. I'd give it a 10 if I felt more confident that it was tough. I'm not so sure..

Customer Support: N/A
not had to deal with them..

Overall Rating: 9
I've been playing for 10 years. (since I was 14). I used to use a Fender Vibrolux. I sold it when I moved overseas, and have missed it ever since. This Vox has filled that void, for the most part... I use a fender musicmaster, an electra pheonix and a Sammick Fender copy (aussie guitar). I use an ibanez tube screamer and Line 6 delay modeler, among other pedals. THe vox is really important to me.. if it was lost or stolen by the hamburglar to pawn for bic macs, I'd buy another. And then I would Kill Hamburglar and feed him to Mayor McCheese. (ironic if you think about it,, a giant burgar eating the HAMBURGLAR)..

Submitted by Anonymous at 12/23/2002 19:31

Price Paid: US $200

Features: 7
This was purchased in Spring, 2002. For features, see other reviews: Just like the rest. Very attractive amp.

Sound Quality: 5
So-so sound; not very good at emulating tube Vox amps, as I'd hoped. Also, it didn't play as loudly as other 30-watt solid-state amps like the Fender Champion, but still loud enough for solo practice (but not with others, or gigging).

I used a single-coil guitar. the sound wasn't bad for the money, but try before you buy. The amp didn't last long enough for me to try other guitars with it.

Reliability: 2
This is where it really disappointed. After about two days of minor use, the tremolo stopped working altogether; the vibrato was unreliable; and it became increasingly noisy on both channels after being on about ten minutes. Clearly a lemon; I returned it to the store and got my money back and decided against any subseequent purchases of Asian-made Vox solid-state amps.

Customer Support: N/A
Don't know; I just wanted to get this lemon returned to the store while I still could.

Overall Rating: 3
If it had worked, it would have been a good value for the money. Instead, its multiple systems failures both disappointed and angered me. Some of the other reviews indicate more satisfaction with the product, but my experience suggests: buyer beware!

Submitted by Anonymous at 11/18/2002 12:52

Price Paid: N/A

Features: N/A

Sound Quality: N/A
I don't feel the need to repeat any information from previous reviews. I took the advice about switching out the preamp tube. I ordered a 12AX7-R2 and 12AY7 from Groove Tubes (the NOS are too spendy for me!) and the sound I get out of the 12AY7 is much more to my liking. Much better bass response and lower gain. I can now switch back and forth between channels without adjusting my pickup volumes. Before, I had to turn the treble pickup almost all the way down and crank the bass EQ on the preamp to get a decent, full tone. I am playing a late 80's Les Paul Standard.

Reliability: N/A

Customer Support: N/A

Overall Rating: N/A

Submitted by Anonymous at 11/04/2002 18:10

Price Paid: US $160

Features: 8
This amp is very versatile. Clean channel is real nice, could use a Mid knob though. Lead channel is quite felxable with gain boost and mid boost along with Gain, Treble, Bass, Volume. No FX loops. I never use the Headphone jack, but i am pretty sure its there. I wish this thing had a mid knob on both channels but ohh well. Also I am probably going to get the footswitch soon, but it would have been nice to be included. I use this amp mostly in my house for practice, but in emergancies this thing steps up and handles any gig I've ever had (if you mic it). Once i even had to play bass through it and it held up... kind of... I would say it is about average volume for 30 Watts. The single preamp Tube goes along way, but dont mistake this thing for a tube amp.

Sound Quality: 8
I use a custom imitation Gibson LesPaul. Great guitar, old guitar. This amp is good for many styles. I play some Ska, Classic Rock, some newer stuff and alot of Praise Music for church through this thing and it all sounds good. Doesnt get noisy unless you really push the volume. The distortion (due to that one tube) is very nice, mild, and thick (not quite thick enough though, but better than a solid state)

Reliability: 9
It has never had anything go wrong with it. I have gigged without a backup, but it is still a good idea to always have a backup. I hear the tube is real hard to get at to replace, but its just preamp, so it should last for a while.

Customer Support: N/A
N/A

Overall Rating: 9
I have been playing for only 3 years, but have been giging since day 250 (or around there...) I own a big old ampeg 4X10, but it needs some repair work, as soon as i get to that, this amp will be put on 2nd string. This amp has very good tone. I bought it for the price, kept it becuase of the tone, versatility. If it were stolen, I am not sure what i would do, if i could get the same price again, I probably would get it again. Good amp.

Submitted by Michael at 10/11/2002 07:55