Vox Cambridge 30 Reverb

Price Paid: US $300

Features: 9
This amp has a lot of features for such a low price. For around $200.00, you get two channels of sound (only one input though) and one of those has a tube in the preamp section to really shape the tone for vintage sounds. Along with that, you get foot-switchable reverb, tremolo and boost for both the channel two gain and the mid range. The reverb is very nice and the tremolo feature is a nice added touch. Admittedly, I don't own any other amps, but then I have had this one for over two years now and I have even gigged with it and it definitely meets my needs very nicely. One thing I wish it did have though is an effects loop, but I haven't had problems with plugging the effects straight in.

Sound Quality: 9
This amp really shines in the tone department, if you are looking for that vintage clean tone with the occassional tube distortion. If you want to rock out with metal music or something like that, this may not be your cup of tea. The sounds I favor are those vintage tones, and for the price of this amp you can have that without spending a fortune. Personally, I love the tone of this amp and for the money I paid, I feel like I got a bargain here.

Reliability: 10
I have read all of the reviews here, and I feel bad for those people who got a bad unit -- whatever the reason. As I said, I have had this amp for over two years now and I use it every day. I have dragged it to band practice, left it in my car while I was at work, gigged in the hot sun with it and I have never had even so much as a hiccup out of it. Every time I power it up, it works like the day I bought it. Don't get me wrong, I haven't abused this amp tremendously, but I have given it a fair amount of real use without any problems at all.

Customer Support: N/A
Never used them, but the parent company (Korg) has been responsive in the few times I have contacted them with questions.

Overall Rating: 9
I have been playing for over 30 years. I play a 2000 Rickenbacker 360, a 2002 Fender American Stratocaster, and a Yamaha Acoustic guitar through this amp using various multi-effect modeling units (Digitech RP-200, Korg PX3 & PXR4). I often find myself not using any of the effects, and just plugging my Ric straight into the amp for that classic sound. As I said earlier, I wish this unit had an effects loop simply because I think it quiets down the ambient noise, but the gate/nr supplied with the units do a passable job of that. When I plug straight in, the amp is as clean and quiet as you can imagine. I love the foot-switchable features (I have the 2 optional dual footswitch Vox pedals) to be able to switch between a clean tone and that tube-enhanced distorted tone. This may not be for everyone (namely grunge, heavy metal folks would be disapointed), but for the market it is aimed at is was a great deal. I really don't understand why Vox decided to discontinue this model, but I suspect that the intended market was smaller than they anticipated and those who do still look for that classic 60's-70's sound can probably afford the AC30-TB which is the holy grail. I think that for roughly 1/5 the price of an AC-30, this little amp does many of the same things pretty darn well. Of course the AC-30 is a much better amp, but then it has a much higher price.

Submitted by Steve at 09/17/2002 09:38

Price Paid: US $169

Features: 10
I play the Beatles and this amp is good for creating the vintage sound of them. Has tremelo and reverb built in. Famous chicken head knobs Vox is known for. Cherry colored board where knobs are. Mid range boost and distortion boost switches. Great value of features for the price. Excellent amp! Has headphone jack, and only one imput though. It is a solid state amp with one tube to boost tone. Beautiful construction and well worth the money!

Sound Quality: 10
I play a Gibson Les Paul Special, a Epiphone Dot, a Fender Strat. and an Epiphone EJ-160 John Lennon acoustic. They all sound superb on this amp! The distortion has a nice vintage sound and the clean channel is mind blowing! I couldn't believe the quality of this amp! Great for 60's invasion sound! Although not good for GIANT shows.. great practice amp, recording amp, and small venue amp.

Reliability: 9
I just got it. It was a "scratch and dent " item when I bought it. But I see no difference in appearance or tone. Seems to hold up rather well. Great amp.

Customer Support: 8
I have had a few phone operators at Musiciansfriend that had the personality of a rock.. but I won't hold it against the company. Everything has been good with the 4 things I have bought from them. Perhaps they should give their employees a personality test before they hire them though.

Overall Rating: 10
I have been playing guitar for almost 8 years now. I also own a Fender Deluxe 112 amp. This Vox has a better sounder clean channel and doesn't feedback like the Fender tends to do at high volumes. I love the vintage diamond shaped cloth in the front and the fact that I actually own a VOX now. Someday I will save up to have a Vox AC-30 top boost... but until then, this amp is the weapon of choice. Buy this amp if you want a great vintage sounding amp that doesn't cost an arm and a leg! Buy this amp!

Submitted by Sgtpepper at 09/06/2002 11:57

Price Paid: US $300

Features: 9
This amp has an outstanding amount of features for the price. The reverb is killer, and the tremolo is great. The mid and gain boosts are nice touches, and the seperate channels each have their own character. It has a great 1 x 10 Celestion Bulldog speaker. Could use a knob for Mid though, instead of just Treble and Bass.

Sound Quality: 8
By main guitar is a souped-up standard Telecaster with a Seymour Duncan Hot Rails in the bridge and Seymour Duncan '48 Broadcaster in the neck. By turning the clean channel about halfway up and bumping up the treble a bit you can pretty much nail Springsteen's clean tone from his early albums, which is great for me since The Boss is my main man. I play pretty much traditional rock, such as Bruce, Bon Jovi, and Chris Isaak and my own compisitons in that genre along with U2 and R.E.M. This amp is very versatile and can cover all the sounds well. The Treble and Bass controls are detailed (a big difference between 5 and 7 on the Treble). With a lot of Reverb and a bit of Tremolo, you can absolutely nail the intro Chris Isaak's "Wicked Game". The more you crank up the volume, the better tone in both channels. You couldn't ask for more at this price.
The gain channels produces smooth, creamy overdrive. For classic rock overdrive sounds (such as Bruce) this is great. Probably wouldn't do for metal, but, as the old saying goes, that what pedals are for. This channel features 12AX7s in the preamp, and the tone is great, especially with the Mid Boost on. For some reason, though, it doesn't have as much volume in the gain channel as it does the clean.
No one is going to confuse this with one of The Edge's trademark AC30's, but it definetely has that VOX tone at a ridiculously cheap price.

Reliability: 10
I've owned it for 5 months now and have never had even the slightest problem.

Customer Support: N/A
No problems, so I can't say.

Overall Rating: 9
For the price, you simply can't beat this amp (especially now that Musician's Friend has them on $200 clearance!). It produces excellent clean tones, rhythm and lead alike, and the gain channel is smooth and offers a singing tone to leads and rich, full power chords. As I said, its no AC30, but its worth at least $200 more than the $300 I paid for it. Do yourself a favor and pick this amp up if you have a chance, especially now that you can get it for south of $200. This is a great practice amp, great studio amp, and great small gig amp (obviously, with 30W and 1 x 10 it would need a mic for something bigger). I would definetely purchase it again, and can't stress enough what a bargain it was.

Submitted by Jon at 05/16/2002 20:26

Price Paid: US $199.00

Features: 8
You know the features,plenty of 'emAlot of bang for the buck here

Sound Quality: 9
It took some getting used to a clean amp again(which seems to becoming the trend lately)After a day of playing on it,the sound grows on you like a weed,tones that actually work,boost that work cleanly with a marked difference.Two channel etc.you know the bit.

Reliability: N/A
Just got it but seems reasonable.I have no problem with whats coming from Korea and kick me in the ass for this,but I think the quality is heading up to Japanese as shows in this amp and a guitar or two I had from them

Customer Support: N/A
Yet to use it

Overall Rating: 8
It is GREAT,a helluvalot for the money.They went like hot-cakes at Guitar Center (179.00)but I'm sure that whoever bought one now wouldn't let it go at almost twice the price unless they really had to
It the past I went through a few amps (Fender Vib/Rev) and others but for some reasaon the sound of this amp goes great with me.I plug an Epiphone Sheraton on it and it sounds just great

Submitted by Anonymous at 05/14/2002 18:37

Price Paid: N/A

Features: 9
I wasn't really into Vox at all. Dad Got me turned on to them. He told me to Buy this and Just see. Well I did And WOW! Was he right. I am a converted Vox man now. I realize this is just a little 1 10", but it could hang with the best of them. I run a RP2000 thru to it for some really mean Distortion, Just to get the sound I like. But when it comes to Clean Surf, Rockabilly, That kinda stuff....Just plug the ol Casino right into it... Features are pretty nice, EASY..

Sound Quality: 9
I use a Les Paul, and a Casino thru it. Like I said I couldn't get the Distortion I wanted just pluggin in so I ran my RP2000 on the Clean channel. AS far as Nice Clean, Surf, GOTTA PLUG STRAIGHT IN.

Reliability: 9
I've had this one for about a year now, and NO problems. I would have to say I would Gig with it. I don't play lead so I don't have to worry to much about standing out to much, But even when Practice comes, my Uncle is the lead, and he runs a 4X10 Cab and Not sure head, (some new Rack mount crap,Still sounds good) and I can still get up with him.

Customer Support: N/A
NEVER DEALT WITH THEM

Overall Rating: 10
I been playin it bout a year now. I also have another one, jsut haven't played them together yet. Should be really Nice. RP2000 has Stereo out, so......If They were stolen, You bet I would replace them.
This amp is really deceiving. You look at it and think hmmm another little no sound amp, WELL PLUG IN AND YOU WILL SEE YOU ARE WRONG.
I am in the works of getting a Buckingham head, got the Cab all done. So this should be real fun...

Submitted by Nathan at 04/17/2002 07:34

Price Paid: US $199.00

Features: 10
Brand new in 2002. wo channels, has a reverb and tremolo-sort of rare these days. Made in Korea, but hey, crate is made in the usa and look what you get. Headphone jack is a nice touch.

Sound Quality: 10
Hey guys surf's up-all for less than $200! You can sound just like the Blue Stingrays with this baby....it's a surfer's life.

Reliability: N/A
We'll see-quality looks to be okay and everything works so far

Customer Support: N/A
Hope I don't need it..bought from musicians friend so they take care of you if something is wrong...have experience there.

Overall Rating: 10
Been playing for many years and have been looking for a small amp for home use "have like five different ones". Really rare to find an amp with reverb and tremolo these days. Have a fender twin, but a few more bucks! Tried a crate DXJ112 and you can read my report under price paid "too much"-what a piece of shit, really. Back to the vox..I love surf music and the tremolo is really nice. You just can't get the same effect with a plug in box for some reason, it just doesn't sound right..has to be in the amp. Reverb is a spring unit (which you can hear if you set the amp down a too hard) and reminds me of my first Crown amp back in the 60's. This may be the vibration that some of the other users are writing about....Hey $199 is a steal for this thing. If it lasts I will be happy, real happy. It has an overdrive and distorts pretty good and actually sound decent at lower levels which is good for the house. I am real pleased with this dude, believe me if I wasn't you would be reading another "crate" review.

Submitted by tom at 04/12/2002 20:23

Price Paid: US $199.00

Features: 7
See other reviews.

Sound Quality: 1
After UPS delivered it, I played it for about 1 hour. That was all my ears could take. I boxed it up and I'm sending it back. If your band's name is THE CRAPPY TONES then this amp is for you. All others stay away from this worthless piece of junk. The "noise" this thing makes is beyond description. "There is no tone in Cambridgeville, this amplifer has struck out!" Vox should be ashamed.

Reliability: N/A
Don't know. Don't Care.

Customer Support: N/A
Don't know. Don't care.

Overall Rating: 1

Submitted by Benjammin' at 04/12/2002 07:46

Price Paid: 450 (canadian)

Features: N/A
A 2001 model I got last fall. hybrid amp with a 12ax7 pre-amp tube This is a nice small gigging amp/practice amp with incredible tone for the price. I have it in my living room right now, but I use it for playing in church, and jamming with friends.

Sound Quality: N/A
I usually use my Fender strat through this. Its was made to be used with single coils. I also have a '57 gold top les paul, but I plug that through my Marshall 2x12 combo - which was made for each other too! Cranked the Cambridge up and its noisy.. what do you expect?
Not a high gain amp by no means, but a more "tone" amp. When I plug my strat straight in I can get some mellow Clapton sound and with my Dan echo, I get nice u2, and pink floyd sounds. This is a great amp for the money, plus it has avery nice celestion blue back 10" speaker.

Reliability: N/A
No problems yet, but there is a lemon in any batch I'm sure

Customer Support: N/A
havent dealt with them

Overall Rating: N/A
I've been playing for seven years, three in a serious band. We've recorded a cd two years ago and are starting a second this summer. I will definatly use this amp to record clean guitar sounds . I love to play finger style blues like Clapton, Jeff beck and Eric Johnson, so this amp is great for that. It sounds best with a strat or telecaster.

Submitted by Anonymous at 04/09/2002 22:49

Price Paid: US $179

Features: 9
FEATURES: 9 (the dropdown box had garbled characters)

I bought this VOX Cambridge 30 Reverb combo amp new at Guitar Center (Seattle) at a close-out sale price of $179. I was looking for a good quality practice amp for under $200 and this amp fits the bill perfectly. I tried out several other amps in this price range: Crate GFX-15 (nice effects, decent distortion, but generic sound), Fender Frontman's (LOUD, but horrible sounding),Fender Champion 30 (ok, mediocre tone), the smaller 15 watt VOX Pathfinder (ok, but no reverb), and a Fender Blues Junior (LOUDER, but not better SOUNDING than the Cambridge, and costs $200 more). In terms of great vintage tone and over-all sound, the Cambridge 30 was a no-brainer. Also, a great steal at $179...normally sells for $299.

Features: (on the one I finally purchased, they ALL WORK...)
30 watt combo amp
2 channels (clean and clean/overdrive)
12ax7 pre-amp tube
10” Celestion Bulldog speaker
Built-in reverb and tremolo
Mid-range boost and gain boost (channel 2)
Headphone and speaker outputs

I am an intermediate level guitar player (about 6 months). At this point I'm mostly concentrating on 60's brit-rock bands because the guitar parts are not exceedingly overwhelming, and other types of 'rhythm guitar' style songs. For these types of music, this VOX Cambridge 30 is perfectly suited.

Sound Quality: 10
SOUNDS: 10 (the dropdown box had garbled characters)

I play a Fender 62 Custom Telecaster Reissue, and this amp is perfect for it's classic vintage tone, especially if you like playing Beatles, Stones, Kinks, etc. Also very good for more modern rock like R.E.M, U2, and Nirvana (clean stuff).

The Reverb on this amp is absolutely killer (on mine, anyway, much DEEPER and ECHO-Y than even the Fender Blues Junior). The clean channel is very bright and clear with a bell-like chime with no background noise or hiss. Perfect for jangly Beatles or R.E.M. stuff.

Channel 2 has a gain and mid-range boost. You can dial in all sorts of bluesy and grundgy tones by adjusting the volume and gain controls accordingly. I particularly like the overdrive boost...the distortion is not especially BRUTAL, but you can get great vintage over-driven tube sounds (like 'The Who Live At Leeds'). Back off the boost a bit and you can recreate that classic Beatles/Stones 'Paperback Writer/Brown Sugar' type of distortions.

This amp is NOT for METAL Styles...you'll need a quality distortion box if that's what you’re looking for.

(NOTE : with the Cambridge 30, you’ll need to crank your guitar’s volume control up FULL to drive the pre-amp tube to achieve a maximum overdrive effect...at least on mine...)

Oh yeah, this amp comes with built-in Tremolo also. Nice feature, especially if you like songs that use it...turn on the variable speed tremolo and you can get sounds just like 'Born On The Bayou', ‘Come As You Are’, etc.

ANOTHER NOTE: The Cambridge 30 is plenty loud enough for home practice, jamming with another guitarist, or recording. However, I don't think it has enough volume for performances (especially a band with a loud drummer). In that case you will probably need to mike it thru the PA system or output it to a larger power amp or speaker cabinet.

Reliability: 5
RELIABILITY: 5

This is a tough call...

I went thru FOUR(4)! NEW! VOX Cambridge 30's before I found one where ALL THE FEATURES ACTUALLY WORKED!! On two the tremolo was completely non-functioning, the mid-range boost didn't work, and the volume was feeble...a third one sounded like something straight from HELL (screechy and tinny, with no bass, reverb, or tremolo but, it was extremely LOUD!)...and these were straight out of the box...

At this point I should have had my sanity checked because I spotted a floor model and decided to try it out...and I guess it was the luck of the draw, because this one sounds absolutely sublime, and everything works...so I'm keeping my fingers crossed...

Customer Support: 8
CUSTOMER SUPPORT: 8

Never dealt with KORG (whom actually make the VOX)...and I hope I never have to...

I live in Seattle and there all at least 4 authorized VOX service centers in the area, so if this thing breaks down before it's warranty expires (1 Year) there's at least someplace I can take it to...again, I hope that won't be necessary...

Overall Rating: 10
OVERALL RATING: 10

Overall I really enjoy this amp, and the great tones I can get out of it...it also has that classic VOX appearance, complete with the diamond-quilt grill cloth, and funky chicken-head controls.

If it was lost, I'd been bummed because this is a great sounding amp and VOX has recently discontinued the Cambridge line, so I probably couldn't replace it...if it were stolen, I'd been filled with homicidal rage...nuff said...

There's nothing I really don't like about this amp. If I had to nit-pick, I wish the 12AX7 pre-amp tube was more accessible...you have to remove the entire chassis to access it. No big problem, as I wasn't planning on replacing it soon anyway, but probably will one day just to see how it affects the overall sound. It would also be nice if the footswitch were included…but at only $30 extra, I’m not gonna complain too much.

The VOX Cambridge 30 Reverb appears to be built very solid (given that you the one you purchased actually worked). Be nice if it had corner protectors, that's about all I can think to improve the cabinet (And making the pre-amp tube more accessible).

Anyway, this amp is perfect for practice and jam sessions, recording, and possibly small venue performances. If you're in the market for an inexpensive 30 watt amp with a great vintage Brit-Rock tone, the VOX CAMBRIDGE 30 Reverb is a great choice. (BUT BE SURE to CHECK ALL THE FEATURES FIRST...)

Michael Behuniak, April 07, 2002
Seattle WA lr**

Submitted by Michael Behuniak at 04/08/2002 02:56

Price Paid: US $199

Features: 7
Fine spring reverb & fantastic "Vox" tremelo - mid range boost, gain boost, bass and treble controls on valved pre-amp channel, and simple bass and treble control on "clean" solid state channel. Provides plenty of versatility to dial in a broad range of sounds.

Sound Quality: 8
Playing Strat (SSH) -- primarily jazz influenced blues & vintage rock. The clean channel is sweet and breaks nicely at 75% -- the valved pre-amp side delivers a true "Vox" sound at low-medium overdrive and moderate volume (70 - 75%). To gain maximum benefit of the Vox tone, this amp works well in a small venue, practice and/or recording. If you need more puch, you'll want to run it through your PA or you'll want to mic it, but the sound is outstanding in the 65 to 75% range (which at 30W RMS is not going to blow out any windows.)

Reliability: N/A
This amp (Serial #1403) was purchased new from Musician's Friend 3/15/02 -- so it's not fair to comment, although despite what I've read in this forum, I have high expectations. I owned this amp's little brother (Cambridge 15) prior to trading up for this... and have never had a problem with this line.

Customer Support: 10
Haven't dealt with Vox or US rep (Korg) - but I purchased through Musician's Friend, which has always been extremely supportive.

Overall Rating: 9
Been playing for 20 years (both professionally and for the pure love of music) and consider myself fairly discriminating when it comes to tone, playability, and value. I've owned, sold and blown numerous amplifiers. This amp sounds and plays great -- it would still be a good value at twice the price I paid. I can't conceive of it being stolen, because they'd have to pry it out of my cold dead hands (I never stop playing it!)

Submitted by Zman at 03/26/2002 23:20