Vox Cambridge 30 Twin Reverb

Price Paid: US $250 used

Features: 7
Found this baby at local Music Go Round. 2 Channel. 2x10 inch Custom Celestian Speakers. 30 Watts. Classic Diamond pattern Vox cloth and Blk Tolex cabinet give it that classy British look. Not quite in the same league as VOX AC-15 or AC-30 but good enough for most half ass guitarists out there. Lets be honest, if we were that good we would be on tour and dating super models.

Sound Quality: 8
I am 53. Been learning guitar since age 16. Like to play just about everthing meant to be played on guitar,elvis, beatles, stones, clapton, Santana, Merchant, Mclahan, Tracy Chapman. Own several guitars. I get very good sounds with my US Strats, as well with G& L Legacy. Have not been able to dial the tone I want with my Gibson LPs. I am probably most impressed with the sound that I can get from the amp with 95 Fat Tel, sort of that Murky, early Stones stuff like Heart of Stone, Time is On My Side, and some of the Beatles stuff like Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, Mr. Moonlight, Babys in Black.

Reliability: 8
Have'nt had the amp very long. Obvioulsy some of the earlier reviews would be a concern but its not like a paid a small fortune for it either.

Customer Support: 8
Have not needed to call the Dr. yet.

Overall Rating: 8
Vox is a icon in the History of Rock and Roll. While someday I would like to own an AC 30 or Fender Twin, this amp is more than adequate for my ability and musical tastes. If I get discovered and hit it big, it will become a collectible and folks will be dishing big bucks for it. Ain' that how it works?

Submitted by Anonymous at 01/22/2003 16:44

Price Paid: US $375

Features: 1
This is a second review, my first was 3/2001. The reviews you read before this are as correct as they get. One person described the problem as a "brown out". I was trying to keep up with two other guys and all of a sudden, I started to lose power and couldn't use it the rest of the jam. Totally avoid this amp, if someone is selling, it might be because of this.

Sound Quality: 8
Sounds good with headphones, you don't have to play it loud, therefore,it doesn't lose the power, atleast it hasen't yet.

Reliability: 1
It's not!!!!

Customer Support: N/A
Why try, I'm checking this $400 off as a lesson in life,you know, that " box of chocolates " thing.

Overall Rating: 1
DON'T BUY ONE!! I don't even want to sell it for $100!!!

Submitted by Rick M at 01/12/2003 18:03

Price Paid: US $329

Features: 1
I saw all of the horrible reviews on here and had to chime in. THEY ARE ALL 100% TRUE! This amp is HORRIBLE. I have worked in shops for years, and played for 20....but I am not a gear snob. I feel almost EVERY piece of gear out there has SOME place in the world for somebody...be it as a practice amp, a first amp, or maybe just to keep around to get that one "wierd" buzz or sound you need on a track. This dud has no purpose. In fact, I'd go on to say that this is THE worst amplifier I have ever owned.

I have had the EXACT same problems everyone else has. The thing just goes totally raspy sounding then DIES! Controls for tremolo do nothing, and the speakers wires were switched out of phase RIGHT OUT OF THE BOX (The rest of you might double check yours too).

PLEASE do yourself a favor and AVOID this amp like the plague. I am alos scoring this catagory low for the fact that the reverb "feature" sucks HARD on this amp, the twin speaker "feature" on this amp is pointless....I've had 10 watt single 8inch amps with more body and depth to the tone. The tremolo "feature" is weak beyond words.

VOX should be ashamed they ever put thier name on this pile. You can't put amps like this out very many times and NOT do damage to your company's reputation.

Sound Quality: 2
Reliability is my #1 beef with this amp....sound is #2.

The dual speakers is very deceiving. All of that speaker cone area should give it SOME body to the tone......Not here. The reverb is weak and lacks any depth, yet at the same time has no real attack. Fender reverb it is NOT...not even close. It sounds like a really bad hall reverb effect on a multieffects stomp unit. The tremolo is the worst though. 2 knobs to control the same bad effect, and even then the knobs have little total effect. I suppose if you wanted to show a new player or one of your students what "bad tone" is, you could by this amp and use it.

Overall, the amp IS NOT A VOX! No Voxlike tone....any other reviewer that says you can must have no idea what Voxy tone is.

Reliability: 1
Broke within 2 weeks. No, I don't abuse gear or even push gear hard for that matter.

If I could score this a zero I would.

Customer Support: 5
A form email was mailed back to me telling me to take it to my authorized service center. I did.

Thier exact words when I set it up on the counter...."Oh, another one of these." Followed by "Who talked you into buying one of these turds". I do know these people at the shop and have worked with half of them before, so I got a kinda joking friends welcome....but that's just my point. All the bs customer service front you have to put on at work was down, and the truth came out. Even the service shop knew these sucked.

I give this a 5 for the "No sh*t" email I was sent. DUUUUUUUUUH.

Overall Rating: 1
100% pile of crap.

Submitted by Q SHARP at 01/07/2003 18:35

Price Paid: N/A

Features: N/A
No Comments

Sound Quality: 2
I took it to a gig once when I first got it and that was the first and last time it ever left my home. This thing can't even cut through a band. It simply hasn't got enough power to do it. It spent some time under my PC as a practice amp until........

Reliability: 2
.....it started to sound very distorted on the clean channel, like a speaker with torn cone. Brought it to the dealer's shop 2 weeks ago and it behaved for the first 5 minutes, then it started acting up again, It's still in the dealer's workshop. The last news was that the dealer was trying to get some response from the manufacturer in South Korea. This sucks!!!

Customer Support: 1
No problem with the dealer. But the folks in S Korea sucks. Same thing happened when I asked some questions regarding a Kurwzeil sound module which I bought. Is there anyone living in S. Korea?? Where is this country? In Mars??? Sheesh..

Overall Rating: 1
Wish I hadn't bought it. But I thought I could have a lightweight gigging amp to lug around. I muist have been was lured into it by all the fav reviews on the Vox bbc site. Maybe they all posted by Vox people.

Submitted by Ricardo at 12/18/2002 17:28

Price Paid: US $325

Features: 8
This is a follow-up to a follow-up on this amp for sisters and borthers out there. Fix for brown out problems. typical hybrd combo amp

Sound Quality: N/A
Excellent amp in the clean channel. Forget the effcects channel: No mids or highs, lacks definition. If you like beefy Fender quank sound, don't buy this amp. It's a very different sound. I run treble at 70&, bass at 30%. Volume at 50%. In a large hall I go 70% on volume. The clean channel clips very nicely at these settings. I do have a Bluesdriver to control overdrive-volume balances. Amp is very loud in a small blues venue. Most blues venues are small.

Reliability: 5
Brown out problems extend from quality control problems in soldering the board. Make certain there are no cold connections in the board. If amp still brown outs after 15-minutes or so, place a small six-inch fan in the rear of the amp to blow air into open back and into the the air vents. This amp seems to be very sensative to heat.

Customer Support: 8
OK. Korg handles all problems in USA. It takes time. Seems the amp's blues prints are atomic secrets.

Overall Rating: 9
Been playing for too long [35-years]..I'm just a serious amateur, but I play out with some very gifted people. Play blues. This amp is excellent for studio and small clubs. It's quiet and has power WHEN IT'S RUNNING 100%. I use a BluesDriver for an little extra kick. I only use the clean channel. This amp has better highs and mid's than Fender Blues Jr. It's tough. Many people play through this amp at open jams. I use this amp in the clubs three-times a week. It hangs in there. Excellent amp for the money when you correct the grimlins.

Submitted by Mark at 12/14/2002 14:42

Price Paid: N/A

Features: N/A

Sound Quality: N/A

Reliability: 2
An update to my earlier review. After about a year of playing (primarily as a practice amp) the little thing started to sound like their was a massive tear in the speaker cone. I checked, of course, and the speakers are fine so I am guessing their are some serious inard problems with this (I didn't abuse this amp at all). Luckily, I bought a two year warenty so it is still covered and will be going in for repairs. When I get it back, I'm selling for as much as I can get for it and then buying a Tranyor Mark III

Customer Support: N/A

Overall Rating: 2

Submitted by Mike Projekt at 12/13/2002 01:06

Price Paid: £285 (Pounds)

Features: 8
I think this VOX was produced in 2000, but not completely sure. I play mostly Radiohead, Muse, Nirvana that kind of stuff. It has two channels Clean/Crunch, it also features extremely warm reverb and additional Tremelo Depth and Speed. I never really use the Tremelo because i own a BOSS TR-2, but for anyone who loves classic tremelo quality will adore this amazing feature. I wish it had a seperate channel for the Tremelo and Reverb though because i don't use the reverb all the time. I'm mainly a bedroom player and have it up about half-way which creates a nice bright/warm tone. But the best feature is the amazing tube in the pre-amp, although it is mainly solid-state. It's equipped with Twin Celestion all valve speakers to boot!

Sound Quality: 8
I mainly use a Squire Standard Telecaster which goes extremely well with this amp for rhythm. My music style's mainly light rock with a mild bit of classic grunge(confusing hey!)That sort of sound soon comes out from hiding once you fiddle around with a few knobs. It can be very noisy if you want it to be, once you turn it up full on volume you get a slight overdrive warmth created naturally. Pretty simple sounds though really:-Clean/Crunch/Reverb and Tremelo, which should be considered quite a lot! The distortion is very mild on it's own on mid-way gain, but once you push the gain-boost button and have it on at about 3'o'clock you get a neat and quite messy traditional distortion. But the distortion isn't brutal enough for grungers to slit their wrists to. I'll give it an 8 just mainly for clean and mid-way gain.

Reliability: 10
I suppose i could depend on it gig wise, but i would proberly get an extra amp just to be on the safe-side. But all in all very reliable!

Customer Support: 9
I've never dealt with VOX themselves-yet. But when i first got this in the box it was in a bad state, so i took it straight back and they ordered a brand new one from VOX and arrived 2 days later, pretty good in my opinion!

Overall Rating: 8
I've been playing now for about 2 years now. Other gear that i own are:- Washburn D10/BK,Boss SD-1 Super Overdrive,Boss DD-3 Delay,Boss TR-2 Tremelo,Pro-Co Rat,VOX 2 way foot-switch. If it were stolen i would proberly get something else already knowing what the amp is really like on the inside, but we all like a change don't we. I would proberly go for a Fender Bassman or Deluxe. What i love most about this amp is its lovely clean channel with warm reverb. But the down side is to say anything the bass on it- it's too strong! I compared it to a Marshall AVT 20 and a Fender Champion 30. I chose this one because it had a very vintage and unique tone to it. The only other thing i wish it had would proberly be a seperate channel for Tremelo.

Submitted by Jamie at 08/15/2002 11:50

Price Paid: US $385

Features: 8
The best feature of this amp is its looks. It has that classy vintage Vox appearance. Decent set of controls for the two channels. Dual 10 inch speakers. 30 watts solid state with a preamp tube

Sound Quality: 5
Typical solid state tone. Decent clean sound, but the distortion is terrible. From what I can tell, the tube makes no difference whatsoever. I think it's just there to help sell these as tube amps, which they AREN'T. Pretty low volume - disappointing. I was expecting more from twin speakers.

Reliability: 5
I didn't keep more than a few months. It can't handle gigs, just not enough volume. Reliability is probably OK. Most practice amps like this don't get abused.

Customer Support: N/A
N/A

Overall Rating: 5
It's a good practice amp. Not useful for anything else, really. The tone is pretty generic. Nothing stands out on this amp except that it looks so cool. But who's gonna see it when it just sits in your living room? I traded it on a Fender Blues Junior, which is a MUCH better amp in terms of tone and volume.

Submitted by Darren Brennan at 08/06/2002 09:16

Price Paid: $411 (Canadian!)

Features: 10
It has very similar looks to a real vox...and oh yeah, it looks like an amp.

Sound Quality: 7
I play good ole rock music with this amp along with my '00 Fender Mexican Telecaster and my '99 Epiphone Les Paul Model. When I bought this amp I was looking for a Matchbox Twenty sounding amp. Knowing that one of their guitarist (Adam Gaynor) used Vox's I jumped right on this amp. The clean is very clean and nice sounding (but here is the catch) at low volumes. If you try to turn it up it will almost sound like there is a slight overdrive in it. The distortion is pretty good. I mean is there really a definition for good distortion? It is really all personal preferance, so in my opinion I like it but three other members in my band don't, so you'll have to hear it to decide.

Reliability: 4
This amp should have a back up! I was playing a show and for no reason at all it cut into distortion while I was playing on the clean channel. Considering that the tremolo works when it feels like it on my amp, I'm not to thrilled with it. It isn't to great when you are suppose to be playing a part with tremelo and you have to stomp on your foot switch like 50 times in order to get it to work and another 50 to turn it off. Then one good boot to it just for being so hard to work with.

Customer Support: 5
I have to say I haven't actually dealt with Vox, but rather the company that sold me the amp. Since it kept cutting out and not working right I wanted to get it fixed. It turns out that I would have had to send it to Montreal in order to get it fixed. I'm sorry but with a gig or two every couple of weeks, I couldn't really sacrifice the time considering I didn't have a back up amp. They were however going to cover it under my warranty which was still good. I was pleased with that but not to pleased on the amount of time that it would have taken to get it fixed.

Overall Rating: 6
This amp is a really good practice amp, but if you want to turn it up you really should find something else. I will admit that the distortion is good and the clean sounds like a good ole Vox and the tremelo is top notch. If you are looking for a practice amp or are using a mic at a low volume it would sound great, but since I need it in the higher volumes for gigs and such, it wasn't really the amp for me. Please remember, don't take my advice, try it out first and then make your own opinions, but remember it may give you the same problems as I had or it may not.

Submitted by Craig James. at 07/18/2002 18:32

Price Paid: N/A

Features: N/A
Follow up to review on 6/14/02

Sound Quality: N/A
same rating

Reliability: N/A
same rating

Customer Support: 9
After the tech's did much tinkering in the shop they finally found the real reason my amp blew. Damage to the optic coupler. I'm not sure what that is but it was fully covered under warranty. I'm happy that Vox promptly honored the warranty and glad that i got the amp in just under the warranty expiration (1 year). I had it serviced through Prosound Musician's Superstore.

Overall Rating: 8
same rating here

Submitted by Anonymous at 07/01/2002 12:40