Vox Cambridge 30 Reverb

Price Paid: 1055 (f)

Features: 8
Well, you know all the features. I use the reverb a lot, but I almost never use the tremolo, although it's nice to have on some occasions.
I mainly use this amp playing at home, since I have some trouble finding a good drummer for our band. And because we are just a biginning band, we won't play big gigs, so the sound volume is good.

Sound Quality: 10
I play a B.C. Rich Warlock, with 2 DiMarzio humbuckers.
My music style is metal, although I sometimes play different music, the amp is good for it all. The distorion on channel 2 sucks if you play metal, but it's good for a little grunge sound.

A lot of you guys say this amp in NOT for metal: (i quote)

>>> NOT for Metallica boys.
>>> You won't be playing any Pantera with this thing
>>> ...but when was the lat time you heard some metal guy rave about
the "killer distortion" that he got from his vox....?
>>> Not recommended for metal-head, this amp is more for players with
more discerning tonal requirements.

These are VERY STUPID things to say. Like metal is about butchering your sound with you distorion pedal. No. Metal is more than that. Haven't you ever heard metal? Don't forget GOOD metal is music (not talking Limp Bizkit or Korn) Beatifull clean sounds and melodic aspects combine with rough distortion... Therefor this amp is GREAT for metal. I play through a Boss DS-1 Distorion, and I love the full tones this amp gives. If I push the distortion all the way, it sounds VERY heavy, especcially if the Bass on the amp is set on a rather high level.

I use the reverb very much, it gives a great sound to solo's and melodic lines !!! Wish I had bought this amp a long time ago.
The clean channel stays almost perfectly clean on higher levels, dispite my humbuckers.

Reliability: N/A
Haven't had any problems yet.

Customer Support: N/A
Haven't bothered them yet :)

Overall Rating: 9
I've been playing for a year, and before i got this killer amp i played a LOWbudget crappy 40 dollar bitch-amp, so the improvement is HUGE. It won't get lost or stolen... I'l take care of that >>GRIN<< I love the great tone and the reverb.

And NEVER again say this amp is not suited for metal...! Cause then... You're gonna burn in hell ;)

Submitted by Teije ter Maat at 11/14/2001 01:23

Price Paid: US $275.00

Features: 8
I just got this amp in December of 2000. I paid $275. for it and I would have paid more. The features are adequate. Although I do like the sound versitility I get in channel two with the mid-boost and gain boost. An effects loop would be nice (although I play straight without effects). Also, it would be nice if Vox included a foot switch.

Sound Quality: 10
Currently I'm using a Fender Strat '57 American Vintage reissue (awesome guitar!!!) and a '77 Les Paul Custom. I play blues, rock, classic rock, etc. I bought the amp for practice and did an in-store sound comparison with Peavy, Marshall, and Fenders amps in and just above this price point. EXCELLENT TONE!!! The Cambridge 30 just totally out-classed all of them. The 30 Watts is also plenty to drive my 4x12 Duncan cab. I use a '69 Plexi head into my duncan bottom, and when i plugged the Vox into the cab. at rehearsal one night, the guys in the band were very impressed! It's a relatively quiet amp through the volume range. Channel 1 (Clean) has such a beautiful tone. The notes ring with a shimmer that never sounds harsh, yet it has a substancial bottom and a full rich tone throughtout the whole sound spectrum. I A/B it with my Marshall and the tone fills the band sound beautifully. Although, I don't use the distortion channel (2) gigging. You could gig small-medium clubs with this amp but to make sure it gets out there (I have a very LOUD drummer) I put it through the PA. This channel is also VERY responsive to pick attack dynamics and breaks up beautifully when I want it to. It's hard to believe that Vox can produce such beautiful clean tone with a solid state channel. All those wanking modeling amps should take note of what they've done to produce this sound. Channel 2 (Dist) is fairly versitile. It has a pleasant but slightly muddy overdrive. But with some tweaking you can get some very nice overdriven tones. it handles single coil PUs better than my Les Paul Humbuckers (I have a stock PAF in the neck position and a '70s DiMarzio SDHB in the bridge position.) That is when the distorted tone really muddies up a bit. If you want metal sounds you definately have to front end it with a distortion pedal. Not recommended for metal-head, this amp is more for players with more discerning tonal requirements.

Reliability: 10
Well, I NEVER play a gig without two guitars and two amps (not at the same time) I just believe in having a backup, because you just never know and it's better to be safe than sorry. Although in terms of reliability, I'd have to say it's a reliable amp. It's never broken down yet.

Customer Support: N/A
No experience with this yet.

Overall Rating: 10
I'm been playing for 33 years. I have a Sigma acoustic with a homemade pickup, an Ovation Applause Strat copy set up for slide and tuned open, an Ibanez acoustic 12-string, a Kramer Bass, a Fender '57 American Vintage Strat (my baby!), and a '77 Gibson Les Paul Custom. I play through a '69 Marshall Plexi had into a Seymor Duncan 4x12 cabinet loaded with Celestions. My signal path goes: guitar > Cry Baby Wa > Tuner (Rack)> A/B switch > (A chain) (rack) Peavey DeltaFex > Hush IIC (usually "off" for better tone) > Power Attinuator > Marshall Head. (B chain) direct into the Vox Cambridge 30R Clean Channel (1) > PA.

If this amp wer elost or stolen, I'd replace it as soon as possible!

i love the clean tones of this amp and IMHO there isn't an amp that would suit me better in this regard 9well, there might be some exceptions, but NOT for this price or even hundreds more). There is noting I hate about it.

The comparisions i made are outlined in one of the other categories. It won the test against 3 other major brands in price points at and above the Cambridge. The Vox Cabridge has superior tone and the Celestion bulldog is beautifully voiced.

Too bad it didn't include the footswitch, but it an easy thing to get.

If you care about your tone GET THIS AMP! If you care about spending money GET THIS AMP!

Submitted by Phi Domagala at 10/21/2001 09:59

Price Paid: US $260

Features: 9
Brand New - 2 channels, one clean, one for both clean and dirty - 30 watt 1X10 config
*great reverb
*tremolo neat but i dont really need it
*LINE OUT THAT WORKS GOOD is awesome
*2 pedal inputs - one for channel switching and trem, one for gain boost and reverb control
*Headphone output
*external speaker output

Sound Quality: 10
Used with a gibson LP double cutaway for primarily modern jazz/fusion
love the clean tone, absolutely great
distorts well too but i dont use it very much
Just the clean sound i want

Reliability: N/A
brand new, but has a good warranty

Customer Support: N/A
never dealt with then

Overall Rating: 10
Its the perfect amp for practicing and gigging - great jazz/fusion sounds.
Absolutely love it
Amazing for the price

Submitted by Greg at 10/07/2001 13:41

Price Paid: 375 (Canadian)

Features: 9
I think it has been stated before. The tremolo is a nice addition. The two foot switch option is great. This has pretty much everything you would need for a 2 channel amp. If it included the footswitch I would give it a 10

Sound Quality: 10
I play several G&L's some of which would sound great played through a radio and some can sound awful depending on the amp. To my ear they all sound great with this amp.

I am shocked how good this amp actually sounds. I had absolutely no desire to play it until I tried it out in the store. I bought it instantly. Once I got it home... things have only impoved.

I play alot of different styles blues/jazz/roots rock type of stuff an this amp is perfect for all of them. The clean channel with the treble way down and the bass way up is exactly the sound I have been looking for. Very tight bottom end and all notes can be heard.

The gain channel is amazingly dynamic. I can go from almost clean to dirty by pick attack alone. What an amp should do. You will definately not get anything close to high gain with this amp. It is not a Marshall or a Boogie.

I would guess it is a little underpowered and probably would not be the answer for a loud band like ours. But two of them in stereo would probably be great.

Reliability: N/A
Just bought it. Little nervous from the things I have read.

Customer Support: N/A
Don't know. In Canada Vox is distributed by the Korg/Marshall distributor and I bought it from the biggest retailer in Canada so I am not too worried.

Overall Rating: 10
I have been playing 14 years. I have owned numerous amps from numerous manufacturers. I recently sold a Mesa/Boogie and a Line 6 amp, neither of which I would trade two of for this amp. I like it that much.

I also play a Rivera Fandago which was almost 10x the price of the Vox. Does the Rivera sounds better? Obviously it does but on a pure dollar thing it does not sound 10x better.

If this was stolen. I would buy another instantly, at twice the price. At one point I was wondering if Vox screwed up, as something that sounds this good can't be this cheap.

Submitted by Jeff at 10/04/2001 18:16

Price Paid: N/A

Features: 5
This is a follow up review to one I did earlier when I bought this amp, I won't describe it again, you all know what it looks like etc.

Sound Quality: 5
Again, I won't bore you with the same details, it suits my style but Vox could have made it more powerful and put a 12" in it.

Reliability: 1
Ok, this is where I must say what I think. I bought this amp very early on, serial #200. I was very excited to get it and loved its classic looks and general vibe. I liked how it sounded but wished it was louder and had a bigger speaker. I played it on stage about 4 times and in practice. I plugged it in one night about 7 months after I bought it and it was distorted as hell with no volume. I bought it in the States and the warranty was not valid in Canada so I was on my own. I called the dealer, Britishsound in Kansas who sold it to me and Dave and the gang were as helpfull as they could be but the chip that was gone was virtually unavailable. I wrote Vox and they didn't get back to me, I wrote Korg USA and they didn't get back to me. I tried Korg Canada and they sent me a brochure outlining the features of the new Cambridge 30R. I waited a respectfull amount of time and tried again...again I was ignored, not even a reply telling me to get lost. So my amp sits there for 3 months...no one can fix it, it cost to much to ship back to the dealer so I wait and wait and wait. Finally the dealer locates a chip and sends it to me. We install it and the chip pops again. This amp is a piece of garbage. Don't waste your money, the service sucks and I mean SUCKS...The once venerable VOX corporation couldn't even see fit to answer my email and KORG USA...forget it. Don't buy this amp, if you do you will never get the proper service you deserve as a paying customer. Customer service is probably not a phrase you hear often in either company boardroom. I would rate the service at 0 but the option is not here so I will rate it at 1

Customer Support: 1
See above...from my experience, the service from the manufacturer and distributor is dismal and embarrasing to say the least. I wouldn't buy a VOX amp again if a Beatle came with it. And a warning if you buy out of your country...your warranty is not valid in the country where you live. BEWARE again I'd rate this a 0 but it is not an option

Overall Rating: N/A
Doesn't matter...the amp doesn't work so it's a moot point. Again I stress that Britishsound in Kansas were terrific, I'm sure they would have replaced it if I had sent it back but it would have cost more to do that than the amp was worth.

Submitted by veejayrecords at 05/23/2001 18:17

Price Paid: 2500 (FIM (1 euro = 5.94 FIM))

Features: 9
You know them by now, it has all I want. Well, effects loop might be nice.

Sound Quality: 10
Using Fender strat. Sounds great, very nice clean sounds, and great distortion. Booster on and the dist. at about 1/4-1/2 makes this thing sound really good. Without the booster one can get nice vintage type of sound. With fuzz, it is possible to get very 'funny' sound, if you put some gain from the vox. Very long sustain, and when playing chords, 'overdrives' hugely. VERY HUGeLitsii
NOT for Metallica boys.

Reliability: N/A
Couple months old.

Customer Support: N/A

Overall Rating: 10
The people who have complained about the dist. channel, have bought the wrong amp. It sounds great, if you like the sound. And to know if you like the sound, try it before buying. I like it. I like it very much.

Submitted by Since10years at 05/04/2001 16:41

Price Paid: N/A

Features: 7
Probably made in 2000.
Very versatile for clean tones and mild rock tones.
It has two channels clean and overdrive. The overdrive channel has a gain boost switch for more buzz.
I wish it had an effects loop, I'd use my boss DD-5 to get some cool strat driven Edge- U2 and Andy Summers tones.
I also wish the preamp tube was easier to access. You have to take the amp chassis out of the cabinet to re-tube.
Use it gigging with friends and @ home for practice.
I dont use the tremolo that much.
Barely loud enough with a hard hitting drummer. Fortunately it sounds fuller the louder your push it.

Sound Quality: 10
I use my USA Kramer Classic strat copy with this amp. It has Fender tex-Mex pickups.
Gets some stellar clean tones and mildly overdriven tones. The clean channel is fat and warm. It has a nice sparkle to the top end without being harsh. Bottom is BIG!! tons of bass in this guy, especially with the neck single coil, while still retaining the high end clarity.

Switching to the overdrive channel gives some warm fat tube driven overdrive tones. This channel impresses me with all 3 pickup locations. Blues tones are warm and resonant with the neck and middle pickups. I can get some cool Dick Dale jangly tones with the bridge pickup as well. Can also get some sweek Peter Buck-REM jangle with the bridge pickup. Very versatile with strat pickups.

This amp like many others sounds better the louder its played. Bass is fatter and the high end becomes even clearer. Cranking the power amp section gives some mild overdrive tones as well.
The celestion bulldog speaker is voiced wonderfully, one of the best 10" guitar speakers out there IMNO.

I like this amp when used with low output single coils. High output pickups tend to sound harsh and sterile with this amp. I have several guitars with various pickups (Duncan Screamin deamon, distortion, Classic 59, Dimarzio tone zone, EMG 89 & SA, Schaller PAF, Bartolini active humbucker) Of all these PUs only the low output ones(Duncan 59, EMG SA, Fender strat) sound sweet. For my high gain tones I switch guitars and amps to a carvin 2x12 combo and a Kramer Baretta humbucker equipped guitar.

I bought this amp after demo-ing it at the shop. My intention all along has been to use it with low output single coils, for its clean tones and mild overdrive. I give it good marks for its clean tones and mildly overdriven tones with low output pickups.

DO NOT BUY THIS AMP IF YOU INTEND TO USE HIGH OUTPUT PICKUPS AND WANT MARSHALL / BOOGIE TONES!!!

Reliability: 10
No problems yet.

Customer Support: N/A
No oppinion, havent had to contact them. Their parent company is Korg. And they are huge in the music industry, so contacting them should be do-able.
1 year warranty.

Overall Rating: 8
Been playing since 85'
I own the following guitars:
86' Kramer USAPacer Deluxe, 88' Kramer USA Baretta, 87' Kramer USA Classic (strat like), 84' Kramer USA Vanguard, 87' Kramer misc parts guitar (focus ESP made body, Pacer Carerra neck), 88' Kramer Focus 2000 , 91' Fender Prodigy, 98' Hamer duo-tone, 86' Ibanez roadstar II.

For my high gain tones I use humbucker equipped guitars played through a carvin 2x12 tube combo. I would deffinitely buy it again if lost or stolen. It does what I want it to perfectly. I dont really care for the gain boost, and an effects loop would be sweet.
I compared it to a Line6 spyder and a peavey classic 30. All 3 are good amps, but the VOX sounded fuller when cranked at low gain. I also think the cellestion bulldog is a better sounding speaker, than the line6 or peavey speakers. The line 6 is more versatile though. and the Classic 30 has some really great tube tones.
Overall I give it an 8 because of its great clean channel.

DO NOT BUY THIS AMP IF YOU INTEND TO USE HIGH OUTPUT PICKUPS AND WANT MARSHALL / BOOGIE TONES!!! If this is your goal, look elsewhere (carvin, randall, peavey,hiwatt, laney)

Submitted by garrett at 04/27/2001 15:06

Price Paid: US $182

Features: 8
Two channels, reverb, tremelo, gain boost and a mid boost on Ch.2. 42 watts, 12ax7 tube in the preamp, solidstate power. Not too shabby for an amp under $500.

Sound Quality: 9
I should start by saying that I am very pleased with the sound of this amp. Ch.1 is warm and the top end is articulate without cutting your head off. Ch.2 has some nice "gritty" tones- think U2 or a '68 bassman cranked all the way up. You won't be playing any Pantera with this thing... at least not without some help.

I recently converted from a mamoth rack system and 4x12 to the Cambridge 30 Reverb and I have nothing but fun playing this amp. I do like to get a more distorted sound than this amp wil allow, so I run a Rat 2 infront of it... bingo.... I can now get any sound I want. I love the tremello.

My setup: Heavily modified tele > crybaby wah > rat 2 > Cambridge 30. I have a SD lil 59 in the bridge of my tele, among other wacked out things that I've done to the guitar... >:)

Reliability: N/A
I haven't had the amp very long so I can't say.

Customer Support: N/A
Never delt with them.

Overall Rating: 10
Over all I think this is a great amp. For the price you really can't beat it. I've read other people complain about the lack of distortion, but when was the lat time you heard some metal guy rave about the "killer distortion" that he got from his vox....? That's what I thought. If nothing else, this is a fine practice amp. And a nice one to gig with for those of us who have realized that you don't need a Marshall stack to sound good at a show.

Submitted by Joel at 04/24/2001 12:44

Price Paid: 175 (£)

Features: 4
The reverb on this amp aint to bad but ive heard better.there are 2 channels but you only need one (youl only want to use one)the tremolo is alright but again ive heard better.Its nice lookin amp and could be mistaken for an older more expensive vox.Also is quite sizeable for a 30w

Sound Quality: 5
The distortion channel .well ive never heard such crap .if you want distortion buy a laney,marshall or fender but not this ,dont make the same mistake i did.the clean chanel is quite nice(well its vox) i use a boss blues driver .you can get some wicked indie rock tones ie stereophonicsetc.

Reliability: 3
This amp may easily break .dont buy it if your lookin for a heavy duty one.

Customer Support: N/A
n/a

Overall Rating: 5
I expected a bit more from vox

Submitted by Anonymous at 04/21/2001 07:22

Price Paid: 164 GBP

Features: 10
This is the 2000 re-issue Cambridge 30 reverb with single speaker. Two channels - a clean channel with vol, bass & treble and a drive channel with vol, bass, treble and gain. In addition, there's a gain boost switch and a mid-range boost switch. Also master reverb and tremolo with depth & speed controls. Footswitch sockets for channel switching and for invoking the tremolo. Line out for recording. I give this a 10 in this category as it has all the essential features that I want ( namely, reverb, tremolo & fuzztone)

Sound Quality: 5
I use a Danelectro U2 re-issue with no other effects except sometimes a Vox wah-wah and also a stomp box made by Dememter Amplification called The Tremulator which is designed to replicate the tremolo of an early '60's Fender amp. In theory, the sounds for this thing should be perfect. The drive channel is excellent. I have read many derogotary comments about this channel both on this web site as well as in a number of guitar mags which leads me to think that I may be playing a completely different amp to everyone else (I am reviewing the Vox Cambridge 1 x 12 with reverb, 2000 model). Kick in the mid-range boost and put the gain on 1 o'clock position, reverb full on. That's a buzzy surf tone, reminiscent of the days when folks like Bo Diddley and Link Wray where experimenting with the possibilities of distortion. Turn the reverb down to about mid-way and invoke the gain boost. That's a rich fuzztone sound, snarling but classy. Turn the gain and reverb full on and , with the aid of a Vox wah-wah, you can nail that Stooges "Funhouse" sound perfectly. Also works excellently for narcotic drone-punk Spacemen 3 sounds. With the reverb & gain back to 2 o'clock position, turn the bass control to 3 o'clock & you get a really heavy , hairy sound. Ok, if I dig the sounds that this amp elicits so much, why do I only give it 5? Read on...

Reliability: 1
I have owned this for 1 month. Ordinarily, I would not post a review on this board unless I had owned a product for at least one year but I feel that this is a special case. You may have noticed that in my comments relating to sounds that I mentioned neither the clean channel nor the tremolo. That is because a mere 13 days after purchasing the amp (new), the output on the clean channel suddenly dropped, the bass control stopped working and the tremolo went completely dead. AFTER THIRTEEN DAYS!!!! So, I took it back to the store where I bought it from which cost me £40.00 (approx $60.00) in cab fare and they replaced it for me. Fourteen days later THE SAME FUCKING THING HAPPENS!!!! Now, I can't keep going back to the store because it's costing me a tiny fortune in taxi fares so I have decided just to live with it but I think it's totally fucking outrageous to pay money for something new which ceases to function properly after a few days. Vox are a bunch of assholes. I don't think that they bother to test these things properly. Like Fender, they are living off their brand name...a Vox amp manufactured today is not the same thing as one made in the '60's. I give the Cambridge a 1 in this category since there is no option in the drop box to give it a zero.

Customer Support: N/A
Actually I was quite impressed by the customer support. Within 45 mins after firing off a hostile email to them I recieved a reply, and not a generic one but a properly written one. Ok, their customer services is very efficient and deserves a 10 but as I am still stuck with a semi-functioning amp, I cannot post a rating here.

Overall Rating: 1
Potentially this should have been an amp to die for. When it worked, it proved to be a veritable encyclopedia of '60's sounds. Every single guitar sound made between 1961 & 1969 could be captured on this. With a Danelectro U2, I thought that I had found the perfect team. The clean channel had a beautiful chime. But the thing that I really dug was the tremolo. Tremolo is my favorite effect and much as I dig the Fender trem, to my mind the Vox one is the best. It has a kind of sterile quality which , when invoked, makes you feel as tho you are a participant in some kind of bizarre psychological experiment. However, this is an appallingly made piece of equipment. I don't think I'm being too demanding by expecting the fucking thing to work for longer than 14 days. I have been playing for almost 19 years and if there is one thing that I have learnt it is this: if you are not willing to shell out decent bucks, you are not going to get anything very good (even my Danelectro is severely limited). The Cambridge was made in Korea and I find that where guitar equipment is concerned, you should always buy something made in America instead of trying to cut corners. This is without question the worst piece of electronic equipment that I have ever bought.

Submitted by another satisfied Vox customer at 12/17/2000 03:02