Vox Cambridge 30 Reverb

This unit has it all.

I've used Les Pauls, Tele's and Strats thru it, and honestly, I am REALLY impressed with it's Tone. It isn't designed to be a "live" amp but more of a "Recording" amp. Get thru the "Cambridge-itis" period and you will be in Love. JIMMY PAGE are the tones I go for, and folks, this amp will NAIL THEM. --HINT--On Channel 2, TURN DOWN THE PREAMP, then adjust the master. If used--Tremolo, 1/2 on each dial. Reverb, 2/3. You are there...

Cambridge-itis, an easy fix...Replaced with a MULLARD tube and I'm knocked out.

Very good. They fixed mine N/C.

Do you like JIMMY PAGE??? GET IT!!!

This is really a cool combo amp. Ive had it for about a month and it works great. I got it off eBay for 200 dollars. For that price its amazing, you get a tube preamp, dual channels, spring reverb, tremolo, 30 watts, 10" celestion speaker. It also has dual footswitch jacks, headphone out, preamp out, ext. speaker. I dont know the exact year, but it was manufactured i believe in the late 1990s. Its not the most powerful amp, but it could probably do a small gig. Its enough for what i need it for, particularly rock/blues.

I juse this amp mainly with my stratocaster. I have heard this is an amp for single coil guitars and it sounds incredible with my strat,especially in bride or bridge/middle settings. It doesn't buzz at all. Its a great rock/blues amp, but i also play jazz. This amp is generally too muddy for jazz, but for rock it sounds great. On channel one the amp breaks up smoothly when turned up and i think it would be powerful enough to power a small gig, but not more than that. The distortion is NOT for the metal crowd, it is a nice crunch that slowly breaks up more as it is turned up. THis amp is not suited as much to humbuckers, it gets too punchy and distorts slightly too easily. The 2nd channel is quiet for some reason, but it has a fine line where the tube overdrives and the volume boosts alot. THis is not a heavy powerchord/metal amp, the bottom end can be too punchy and woofy, depending on guitar settings. IT is a GREAT lead amp however, with sparkling trebles and clean mids. One complaint, sometimes in the clean channel i cannot get the tremelo off all the way so i hear a slight tremelo effect, but its not as noticeable when its turned up to higher volumes.

I have only had this amp for about a month so i cant really say, but im pretty sure it will last and hold up well, despite these reviews.

Never dealt with em, and hope i dont have to.

This is a really enjoyable amp. I havent been playing very long, about a year or a year and a half. I would definitely purchase this amp again, although i wouldnt mind the 2 speaker version. I wish this amp had a 12 inch speaker, dual inputs, slightly more power (maybe 40 or 50 watts), and a switch to turn the tremelo on/off. Other than that, i really like this amp, and its definitely worth the 200 dollars i paid for it, with all those features.

See any of the reviews below.

I primarily use a Am/St Telecaster, Rick 330-12, CIJ Jazzmaster, Casino and a no name lap steel through this. Telecaster mainly. Music style (with this amp) is jangly Ocean Blue/Riverside/Smiths (I go direct for the MBV/Ride/Swervedriver things.).

Sounds the best with the Jazzmaster and the Tele.

Love the clean and am getting into the 2nd channel a little more (I'll probably replace the Sovtek tube though). Distortion set at 12 o'clock, no mid-boost is very nice on the arpeggiated and single string stuff. I usually add a chorus (TC) a couple of delays (Boss/Line 6).

If you want this thing to wail, it won't. Go buy a cheap used Crate or something. It's perfect for a studio or an apartment. I don't think it's loud enough to play out with, but it's got a really rich sound for recording.

NEVER HAD A SINGLE PROBLEM OR CONCERN (in 3 years). It seems like this amp. has been pegged as a loser. I have a sneaking suspicion that most of the people who post here are the ones who had trouble and were looking for somewhere to vent. IT'S A $250.00 AMP! I should've bought two of them.

(Oh, and the idea that they got better along the line seems goofy, too. Mine is #175 and has been totally reliable.

Never had to contact anyone.

I've been playing for 10 years (maybe 6 seriously). My Cambridge is part of a home studio and absolutely perfect for recording. Since I don't play out, most of the recording I do is direct (POD, etc.) so this is only the third amp I have ever owned (started on a Squire Bullet - don't laugh; this one replaced a Princeton Chorus) and I don't think I'll be looking for one soon. If I had the space, I'd have an AC30 like almost everyone else here, but for a small studio this amp is totally righteous.

Kind of hard to find now, but I'm probably going to get another one and use the pair.

I love this amp and until I find some space, it's the only one I'm going to use.

Bought this amp for about 200 bucks off eBay mostly just to have a Vox amp. It has a good tremolo and the reverb is OK as well. It can really only be used as a practice amp with my Fender Telecaster Plus (hot hot hot dual red lace sensors in the bridge and blue lace sensor in the neck). It doesn't seem like a good 30 watts.

Hmm... mine distorts easily out after a while. Also it takes a bit to warm up sometimes and the tremolo won't turn off.

NOT RELIABLE. Mine also suffered Cambridgitis and I had to pay 81 bucks to fix it. Not very reasonable to pay half the value of the amp to fix it. Just not worth it.

Been playing about 5 years and I wish I just got a fender Hot Rod instead. This Vox LOOKS pretty but it plays like a dirty whore.

Two channels; one clean, one overdrive through a single 12AX7 tube. Footswitchable tremolo and reverb. This is the 30R with one 10" Bulldog speaker.
Made for Vox by Korg. See lots of complaints about this amp. Maybe I got lucky, mine's been a gem. Purchased new in June of 2000. Serial number is 1289.

Using a MIM Strat with Rio Grande Vintage Tall Boy pickups. Great clean sound out channel one. It's no AC30 but they've done a good job of getting the clean channel to break up a little bit to give it that Voxy jangle.

The second channel is also pretty good once you ditch the tube that comes with the amp. I replaced mine with a Mesa 12AX7 and the thing sounds so much better. With the gain set to 3/4 and using the volume control on the Strat I can get anything from a dirty little blues sound to a decent AC/dc type crunch. I'm so knocked out by the sounds I can get out of this amp. It's no Marshall or even an AC30 but it's very versatile.

That being said, it doesn't seem as loud as 30 watts. I think I'm going to do the power amp chip replacement others are doing to take it up to 56W. Should be loud enough then.

Here's where things get a little less rosy. The cabinet is made out of pressboard and I doubt it could take too much knocking around before it buckled under. The tube socket on mine seems to be a little sensitive. If I don't put the tube shield on just right the tube will cut out. In light of this I do tend to baby the thing. I would gig with it but I don't think I'd recommend it for touring. It's just too light duty for that.

never needed to contact them. I guess it would be Korg I would deal with rather than Vox. Never had to deal with either of them.

Been playing for 23 years. Also own a Fender Twin and a Peavey Classic 30. This Vox sounds way better than the Peavey which somehow doesn't seem right.

If it were stolen I'd try to track down another one for sure. I had a choice of the single 10" or the twin 10" and opted for the single. I should have gone for the two tens I think.

When I purchased this amp I did so because it was the most full-featured, best-sounding on ein its price range. I'm glad I did. Would buy another on in a heartbeat.

already covered

already covered

Part 1

Well im service technician, and im fixing one of these amps, it has a crackle and a volume drop. First thing i noticed was the 12ax7 heater voltage - too high to merit a long lasting preamp tube, transconductance drop would occur after short use. The heater voltage has obviously been over-rated by some newbie tube tech, thinking it will add tone; unfortunately disregarding reliability. Well, reminds me of a Samick amp with regards to construction and circuit layout, not exactly a soldano lmao (leagues apart). Im yet to examine the schematic and peruse the rest of the internals. But i shall post again if i find anything interesting..

haha

Hm if you budget won't allow you to purchase anything else i guess it does the trick. Beware of the technical issues though, might pay to know a techie.

the only feture i can see if you want to call it that is it has a VOX logo on it

i am old so i remember when things were real, fenders, marshalls, vox, etc. it is pathetic to see what has been done to what once were fine pieces of gear. this amp should be given away at gas stations with a fill-up. to say it sounds bad is being nice.

sad day when the finest products of the british empire are made in korea, who is threatening to bomb us!! i say they have already by sending amps that say vox and marshall on them when they are nothing but junk. if you want low priced amps, then at least buy a crate or a peavey made by americans.

they know this stuff is junk and are too ashamed to respond to customers.

40 years as a player. thank god i got some decent gear back in the days when it was commomly known as used and not "vintage" the only new stuff i see that is worthwhile are the "custom shop hysterical limited edition signed by jesus made for clapton you can't afford this model" who buys this stuff? investment bankers? it sure isn't the average player, who by the way are the very people who have kept these companys in business all these years.

You all know what this amp features. If you don't, browse www.voxshowroom.com and you will find it. Pretty nice amp, loads of features if you consider the price. But I am writing to make a sugestion to the Vox Cambridge owners. Change the preamp tube to a 12AT7. I think all models come whith a 12XL7, but it's way too powerfull for it. I am giving the amp a 9 in features for that. Besides de tube chance, It's has all you need.

Channel 2 is way too dirty and bassy with the 12XL7 stock tube. It's kind hard to find a nice sound. You have the option to get "distortion" or "more distortion" (if you push the "more gain" button). Since you have the option to have two kinds of sounds on channel 2 (even three diferent sounds with the middle boost on), It's more usefull to have an nice overdriven channel and an good distorted one for your Led Zeppelin/Black Sabbath days.

Besides that, you have too much bass on channel 2. I mean, you can't pass the bass knob over 2. Really heavy bass.

The 12AT7 tube has 70% power compared to the stock tube, but you don't miss the volume loss. Mostly because you can get a more trebly sound, you hear more frequencies. It's a simple and cheap change and worth every cent.

I play a Fender Tele Custom (the one with a humbucker on the neck position) and a De Armond Stafire Special (with 2k alnico De Armond pickups), mostly 50's/60's rock, rockabilly, blues, late 60's stuff.

The clan channel is nice, but it's all solid state. The tube just run on channel 2. Channel 1 gets a bit dirty when you push the volume past 6, let's say. Pretty good for a solid state channel. A love the variety of tones, you can get some nice bass for jazzy e bluesy sounds, a kind of rare thing on a small amp. A though it would be louder for a 30 watt amp, but It's a solid state channel and I am used to tubes. But you can play clean stuff on channel 2 if you chance the tube.

Spring reverb it's a iten on it's own right. VERY GOOD reverb. Use it on 10 and play The Ventures! Tremolo is also VERY GOOD. For old school rock lovers, it's heaven.

Just bought it. One month old. Can't tell yet.

Can't tell. Never use it.

Well, nice amp. Change the tube.
If you are looking for a small amp, with spring reverb, tremolo, line out, preamp out, headphone out, footswitch jack, good dirty channel, fare clean channel, lightweight (this is important), probably you won't find it. It's not easy to an amp with all these features and good sound for a good price. Two thumbs up for Vox.

Oh, and you can gig with it on small clubs. I did recently and It went well (of course, ou have to put a mic in front of It).

There is another small time problem. A heard a fellow saying that the amp loses it's tone after some minutes of using due to the heat. I think I suffer the same problem, but I just got it, can't really tell. So, he put a computer cooler on it. It's an idea.

This has been covered...I needed a small amp under 400 euros with reverb and TREMELO! Let's face it, there's aren't many choices out there...I like the line out, I like the speaker out (more on the speaker later). Footswitchable channel and tremelo is very handy (and the option for switching gain and reverb is nice too). Overall, lots of bang for the buck.

At first I tried guitars with humbuckers and P90s through this amp--and really hated the sound. I mean, I was disappointed. Just kind of harsh, grating--actually, I think it's the speaker that can't keep up, as soon as you try to push the volume, it just breaks up into garbage. But it's the gain channel too--at low volumes, it's okay, but pushed a little too hard...and you just can't run the tremelo with the gain channel, just sounds like mud.
Ah, but then I picked up a cheapo Morris Melody Maker copy with single-coils...and wow, what a difference! All of the sudden this amp sounds great, just like I wanted it to sound. Nice and warm--the clean channel is delicious, the gain channel is snarly but controlled. Still, the speaker really sucks--it's just too small. But the amp's not worth adding cabinet...right now I'm thinking of modifying it by putting in a 12" Greenback...don't know if that'll work! So I'm rating this a 5 --if you don't have single-coils, don't bother with this amp.
The reverb is nice and deep sounding, but never gets in the way. The tremelo could be a little more extreme for my taste--it's quite restrained. I usually leave it set to the fastest speed and then just nudge it into the overall sound. I bought THIS amp for the tremelo--there aren't many amps out there offering tremelo anymore...

This is an apartment/studio amp--they made that clear when they 'forgot' to protect the corners. Don't know why--how much could a set of corners cost?
I've had the amp for about six months now, routinely keep it running 5 or 6 hours a day or more (it's next to my desk while I work, I play it, type, play it, type...). Never had any cause for alarm.
But still, it's obviously cheap construction, and the way my band tosses things around, I wouldn't want it near them! (I don't play guitar in this band, so I don't need to bring it.) Still, since I've had no problems, I'll give it a decent rating.

I expect nothing from 'Vox' for this amp.

I just started playing again six months ago (after a long break), and this amp has helped me regain a lot of what I'd lost...for that it has been the perfect companion while I wait until I can afford a true pro amp. I plan to start gigging next year, by then, this puppy will be replaced. Too bad those AC30s are overpriced!
Like I said, I was really disappointed by the amp until I plugged in a single-coil guitar, and now I really like it--except the speaker is still too small, and that part's a shame. Wish I'd been able to get the twin version, but it was hard enough finding this one here (France).
If you're looking for a home/rehearsal amp, I think this is a good choice. If you're willing to gig with it, you're braver than I am.
I'm cutting the overall rating because of two things: The shitty speaker and my lack of confidence for bringing this along for gigs.

2 channels - one clean (solid state), one 'hybrid' channel with a 12AX7 in the preamp. Reverb, trem, 'gain boost,' classic Vox look.

Seeing that I bought this as a closeuout at $199, I was impresed for what features were available for the money. A pretty loud 30 watts makes this appropreate for club gigs - or you could mic it.

Overall, this amp has a pretty decent sound. I like the clean channel - very clear with a nice ring to it. I've played both a tele and an Ibanez archtop through it. I'd have to say that I prefer the sound of humbuckers if I had to pick one over the other. The second channel is more suited for a blusey style. I didn't care for the 'gain boost' option, but I normally use a pedal for overdrive.
I was suprised how loud this amp was - when it's really cranked, the speaker 'quacks' with some tones. As I normally mike my speaker, I don't normally use that much volume - a setting of 4 1/2 - 6 (depending on guitar) seemed enough to drive the speaker toward a warm but clean tone.
I really like the tremelo - sounds really good.

Hmm...
As one can gather from many of the other reviews here, this amp has its problems. Mine worked perfectly before it suddenly came down with a classic case 'Cambridgeitus.' I had the amp repaired at a moderate price and then...several gigs later - same thing. Also, at one point the gain pot stopped working. Its a real shame that Vox/Korg wasn't able (or willing)to work out the bugs in this thing - the potential for an amp leading its price range and size was possible.

My local shop was great aboout repairs - never contacted Vox/Korg

I really wanted to like this amp, but it seems the manufacturer decided to cut one too many corners.
This does not sound anything like an AC30 - but I never thought it was supossed to. I has a great sound for its price range.
The major drawback here is reliability and quality control.