Epiphone Blues Custom 30

2007 Build Very loud very coool very versatile amp! I play everything.
This amp does it all well. For the hard rock type stuff you need pedals but makes th pedals sound better than they are.

Look up the features no need to try to list what thexperts have already listed.

I also run a 2x12 cab with eminence alnicos wioth at times it is an amaziong sound! I have 15 guitars they all sound good through it.

Seems very tuff! only had for 6 m onths but so far so good. I never gig with out a back up but I don't think I wll need one with this amp.

Epiphone is great. I have had problems with other epi stuff service was outstanding.

What I need. You know what it's got. I use the clean channel and run a multi effect pedal for most gigs. It sounds great using it channel switch stylee too. Effects loop would be nice. not that I use it, but a modern amp should. Fan is kinda present - Recording wil be difficult.

This surprised me. It sounded fine solo in my bedroom studio, but live, it really kinda blends into the mix better. Maybe it's because I'm used to 10" speakers and the 12"s are rounder sounding. 5881's are a great sounding tube and have a musical envelope.

Built like a tank - Gigged w/o a backup. taken out of the box, and to the gig. SOLID! So far...

Only because I haven't had to call.

It doesn't get a 10 because this fucker is HEAVY!! I play more than a few nights a week in different venues, and maybe I'll have to put in some Centurys. Maybe I'm just an old bitchy bastard.

aLL tubes used in "A" only
STILL at it, not too many entries for this amp, hard to figure, could be that if plugging in at a music store, if not dialed in correctly and are using a amp with the Electro Har. it can be a let dowm, at the beginning took me awhile to figure out the great possibilities use in the interactive mode, much like a reverse notch. But the reason for an update is hopefully be of some help with output tubes. I wont list the ones I found without merit but will list what my ears registered using 2 amps, my Sons and mine to A/B with tubes.
keep on mind, none of these tubes are the highest priced high end military quality....
1. Tung Sol for the entire compliment, WOW, musical tone, fat tone, never harsh really changed the amps flavor from OK to WOW, one drawback, 2 out of 4 tubes (6L6's) gave up the ghost. one within 1 minute r so, just pooped out, the other was mechanical, the top halo just fell to the bottom of the tube. My volume is low, physical moving of amp it gentle ang cased for gigs. They will run a little hot unless you bias, I like the sound so I would rather have ashorter life and keep the tone... (Not hot as hell but hot) Great musical tone. As for the 12AX7 the Sovteks which I wisely bought a case some years ago are usually freat. they are compimentary to the 6L6's VERY quiet, but its a close call between the cheaper Rusian Sovtek.
2.TAD 6L6, what goes in is what is amplifies. Very faithful to the guitar unplugged, I know this because I mostly use an old Jazz Box, With the Tung Sol, I can always hear the realtime acoustic sound with the amplified tone, the Tads are faithful to the guitars sound, tighter sound but never harsh and still musical. Was neccersary to dial in a new combination with tone and channel 2 drive. Takes higher level of drive but once you find the sweet spot, Controlling the distortion with your touch on the sting/strings is great, clean to drive with finger tip control. Nice tube, refreshing.
3. The Svetana is a fine tube with a cheap pin base, not only have I had the center post break with gentle replacement, evidently (hearsay) it's common, but with that said, for this amp its a solid performer, sound is really nice tone, runs cool but still sounds hot. Its a great compromise between the above mentioned
4. Then there is the ever used Sovtek, The Sovteks od late I'm guessing has been manufactired to the old Russian specs, A lttle noise but not any noisier then the fan, deffinately more headroom then what it has in the last many years.

I keep at updated because of my increasing joy with this amp.I was licky enough to get my start back in the day when amps were hand soldered, tubes of high quality, not until this amp have I had so much joy with an amp, frankly the amp is a good 75% less then whay I got into a habot of buy and i get a kick out of the short cash for a big bang..

This is a fairly new model so I assume it was also manufactured fairly recently (2006/2007.) This amp is versatile in my opinion. Clean is great and the overdrive channel varies a lot. You can get a nice smooth overdrive on an otherwise clean signal, a vintage sound using the overdrive's "mid" control, a fuller sound with more of a metal "chug," or anything in between. And of course this thing sounds awesome using a slide for some blues. Reverb is nice and natural.

There are two things I wish it had though. A headphone jack would be nice but I really wish this amp had an effects loop. Effects like flanging just aren't the same when they are "in front" of OD/distortion. I'll live though.

An Epiphone footswitch would also be nice. Epiphone makes footswitches but not for this amp. Given the "vintage" design of this amp, I would assume that any regular 2-channel switch would do but I wish there was an official Epiphone one, you know?

Sounds great and that's about all there is to it. I haven't really noticed any noise at all, even with a few pedals in the signal chain.

I play with a 1999 domestic PRS Custom 22 and a customized Epiphone Les Paul Stardard. Both sound great.

The thing is built like a tank. I would rely on it.

Support for the amp is through Gibson. I emailed them a question I had but they never wrote back. I would be tempted to mark them down in the "customer support" department but I guess it wasn't a big deal.

Overall, this is a great amp. There are a couple of small things that I would like to have but nothing to sweat over. I would recommend it to anyone.

update.. about an 2 hours ago I received a nother blues 30 for my Son.. The one I reviewed was one of the arliest made. I won't say that the amp was satisfactory out of the box but tended to be a little harsh, as a solo blues (early electric) I play small joints and had to do some simple changes.. Greenbacks, and TAD tube replacement. My original came with Electro Harmonix, and China 12AX7, now my amp is what I had been looking for since I sold my first amp.. a Super Beatle tube Head.. So my amp is a joy now. Now "This just in" I took my Sons amp (birthday gift) out the box, did nothing but warm it up and plug in and switched the stand-by. Sure is different then what I heard when i 1st aquired my 30 about 4 month's ago. Same guitar same settings.. took the back off and saw the outputs were Russian Sov. the pre's were still the same but even though the sound was much creamier and no harshness. I decided to still replace the pre's with the TAD's but left the Russian put. There was a change but the change made what was already there for sonics more prevalent nstead of the major change i notice when I purchased mine. I actually sold my 1st Lady Luck speakers on ebay, they were a no-go for my amp.. With this new one, the sound is pretty even with a nice fat but not flabby bass. I still wouldn't trade amps because I got my amp where I want it, but on the other hand, had my amp sounded like this new one I don't know if i would have changed a thing. Hope this encourages those not sure and are riding the fence... I have read reviews from guitar/amp internet outlets that were fiercely negative (some) .. I am just guessing but I believe there have been more changes or tweaks then just the output tubes, now that i think of it, maybe my Son won't notice a switch?!

Built in 6/2006 2X12 All-Tube 11-ply birch Combo with a nice covering. Built just like in the old days. Rolled, welded steel chassis, ceramic sockets, large transformers and Custom-designed Eminence speakers. 2 channels, shared eq, mid boost/cut on the lead channel and an all-tube long-spring reverb unit. Oh yeah I almost forgot a 5AR4 rectifier tube to go along with the 5881 power tubes and Class A/AB switch.

Out of the box a 6. The Chinesse 12AX7B tubes are terrible. I highly suggest changing them to EH's or something similar. The rest are Sovteks and are fine. The other problem area, the speakers. I just could not get a sound I truly liked so I happened to have 2 Eminence Legend 125's so I put them in. YEEOOOWW! This thing cooks. Sounds like my best tube amps. Outright kills those Fender Hot Rods/Devilles. Traynors YCV's wish they sounded like this. Closest thing I can compare this to is a 'real' Boutique amp or a 'good' Laney. This thing is a Keeper. Blues? I couln't put my strats down. Fat, full, harmonics, growl, has it all. Before the speaker change my strats sucked as some have noticed. So that's the cure. Put some Legend 125's in. 7 with new preamp tubes, 10 with a speaker change.

I don't see how this thing can brake. Unless the parts used are substandard, this thing is a tank.

I've been told they are good.

Playing since rock and roll was invented... almost. 'Britsh Invasion' time. I would buy another one in a heartbeat. It really looks good too. Reminds me of ummm... the offspring of a Sound City/Hiwatt liason after they immigrated to America? Epiphone hit on a magic formula. I hope they have more amps like this coming out. Maybe a smaller one with 6V6's and a 1x12? Now that would be great... and a 2x12 EL-34 Combo or SoCal Combo with Rectifier and 2 complete eq sections. What about a feedback loop ie; presence control on them.

Bought it January 2007, think it was introduced in the middle of 2006. I enjoy playing blues and classic rock. This amp is perfect for those styles. This link discribes the amp better than I can. http://www.epiphone.com/news.asp?NewsID=600
It has all the features I want. I play at home alone and with friends. It is built like a tank and am sure it would hold up on the road. At 69lbs its heavy to lift but solid, no rattles or vibrations.

This is where the amp really shines. It has great tone. Warm tube tone, clean, just breaking up or classic rock crunchy on channel two. Its two different amps because of the 15 watt class A or 30 watt AB. With two amps that each has two channels and two different EQ settings their are a lot of choices when it comes to sound/tone. Having two 12" speakers is really the way to go. Much fuller sound. Doesn't have to be loud unless you want it loud. The Lady Luck speakers sound great and will break up just when I want them to. The 15 watt class A is nice because you can adjust the volume so it breaks up naturally at 3/4 to full volume and it doesn't blow down the house. This is not a heavy metal amp. I suppose you could get a pedal but their are other amps built for that. I have a Les Paul type guitar (Samick AV7, with Semour duncan classic 59 and Jeff Beck pickups) and a Strat. The AV7 was easier to find the sound I was looking for but the Strat sounded good too. It just took longer to dial it in. Their is a cooling fan you can hear when you turn on the amp but only if you are close. I can't hear it when I'm playing.

Its built like a tank. 11 Ply birtch cabnet, 16 Gauge steel chassis. Its still new and no problems.

I called with a question and they spoke english and were nice to me.

I've been playing guitar 3-4 years. Played brass instruments for 35. Bought records and listened to music my whole life. I know what I like and what I don't. I like the sounds that come out of this amp. I traded a Crate Vintage club 30 and 50 in to get this amp. It was well worth it. Those were nice amps but this is much nicer for what I want to do. Go look at one. Try to find this build quality with these features for $1500. This amp is selling for $500 all day! This amp will be a classic and change what people pay for guitar amps.

This amp came out in 2006. I bought mine January 2007. I play blues and classic rock. This amp fits the bill perfect. This link can explain the the features better than I can. http://www.epiphone.com/news.asp?NewsID=600
I play at home by myself and with friends. It has all the features I want, anything else could be done with a pedal.

This amp is comfortable from clean to classic rock crunch. It doesn't have a ton of headroom on the 15 watt side but perfect for recording or use a mic. The 30 watt side has more. Either channel will distort if you want it to with ease at higher volume levels. And on the 15 watt side thats not a bone crushing level. Which is Great. The speakers sound great too. I really like having two 12" speakers. It really fills out the sound. This is a Blues amp. Classic rock sounds good too. Anything more and I don't think so. With a pedal maybe. But there are other amps for those sounds. It has a cooling fan you can here if you listen carefully up close, when your not playing but it's not a problem. I really like the tone in this amp. It has a lot of them and takes a while to find them but when you do, WoW it sounds great!

So far no problems. Its built with 11 ply birch plywood and a tough 16ga, welded steel chassis. So at 69lbs its built like a tank. I have had it about 3 weeks so I'm not going to rate this category.

I called Customer support with a question and a person answered and was nice? Thats all I can say at this point.

I'm not a 30 player thats had every amp, guitar, and pedal in the book. I've listened to blues and rock music for 40 years and know what I like. Not sure if that counts. I've been playing guitar for about 3 or four years. I own a les paul type guitar and a strat. I found it easier and faster to find the tones I like with the humbuckers. But with a little time the strat sounded good too. Used to own a Crate vintage club 30 & 50. I liked those amps but this blows them away. Tone, build quality, looks, number of different sounds, this amp has a lot going for it. Find an amp that sounds this good and is built like this for under $1500. You can't. This will be a classic. If stolen I Will buy another.

Further thoughts. Something I neglected to mention which applies to ALL amplfiers with detachable IEC AC mains cords; you MUST uprate the cord for the size amp you have.
The supplied cords are almost always three wire 18 gauge, marked AWG 18/3 on the sheath.

Experience has shown that for full tone, amplifiers from 5-20 watts need a minimum AWG 16/3 cord; for 25-45 watts, a minimum AWG 14/3 and for amps 50-120 watts an AWG 12/3.
These are no longer made, so hunt them down at local computer repair shops; those people save EVERYTHING and always have racks and boxes full of cords for two or three dollars each. I am using an AWG 14/3 with my Epiphone BC 30.
Your tone will thank you.

this is an update to my review. The amp was fine to say the least out of the box. I did not that as a solo peformer I was getting a little ear fatique, so I did what i always end up doing whch is putting in NOS GROOVETUBE big bottle outputs and groove in preamp, have to say the difference was dramatic, sound became much more transparent, might not be a good thing if you in a group trying to cut through. I also had a cab with 1 celestion 8 ohm and what cameto ind after a piano type chord was the old Bedrock, which to me is quite a compliment. this is a great amp for the money or a botique price, I admit dialing in what your looking for can take a while but now its rote, at least in the class A position. Everyone has there criteria but you would be doing yourself a dis-service if you didn't at least check it out