Zoom Fire 30 Combo

loads of features 22 amp models loads of effects tuner aux-in headphone socket bottom edge sustain and some more

i you can get over the hissing sound drowning out your guitar it is ok there are some good distorion setting the cleans are a bit bland the effects are ok there are some weird ones . i have a marshall mg10 and use that over that over the zoom fire30 sometimes because the sound quality is better and it cost less than half the price which must be sayin sumthing

its built well apart from the input jack the skrew that holds it on allways falls of and the jack goes inside the amp apart from that i dont think it would break easily its pretty sterdy

no idea

its ok if u can get past the hissing noise i guess ive only been playin just over a year so im not realy experianced enough to get the most out of the amp but the hissing does totaly ruin the amp in my opinion, but the tuner is pretty good you can get some gain there are loads of features for the money so its not all bad

Its ok for home practice but i would NOt use this thing for a performance of any kind. Sure it has lots of effects. I originaly bought this as a practice amp because, I can't Play a Triple Rectifier where im at lol

This is what sucks. I play a variety of styles. but i also like solos. I cant get this thing to sustain as long as ide like when i do whammy bar dives and such. When i play fast the notes sound.. .er .. slurred together=(. Kind of not distinguisable from one another. But thats only when i get the distortion that i Like out of it. Then ther is an anoying hissing noise. I notticed a bunch of other people expierienced that. The ZNR thing i turned up. It helpd a little but now i cant make sustain Nearly as long as ide like.

The Nut holding the input jack vibrated off. I put it back on, but it kept vibrating off. I finaly put alot of lock tite on it lol.

Never cared to use it

Its weak. it has no balls. Its its its....... i dont like it.

Amp was probably made in 2003 or 2004. This amp is extremely versatile for the styles of music I play which is mostly late 60's to early 70's Classic Rock, Country and Blues. The amp has tons of effects, can't even name them all and I don't use all of them, but the ones I use come in really handy. I use this amp both at home and at small gigs. I'm an American living in the Philippines, been here teaching school since 1971. I play in a small band, 3 members and we play mostly late 60's to early 70's rock, country and blues at a nightclub frequented by people my age - 50 to 60 years. The people that come there want to hear the music of their youth but they also want it quiet enough to still carry on a conversation, so we are not one of those "loud" bands. This amp is perfect for that. Great for small gigs and plenty loud enough for a bar, but quiet enough to practice at home without disturbing the neighbors. It is exactly what I was looking for. This amp can perfectly mimick the vintage fender and marshall sounds as well as the more modern peavey and ibanez sounds. Incredible amp.

I've been a school teacher in the Philippines since 1971. I'm poor. So, over the years I have had to save enough money to get a few good guitars. I have a 1984 made in Japan Fender Telecaster and the only thing I have changed is the pickups to Vintage Noiseless. I have a made in Mexico Fender Standard Strat, which I've had for 9 years and I've changed the pickups to Texas Specials. Two months ago I purchased a Gibson Les Paul Special with two humbuckers. I also use a Fernando Acoustic Electric through this amp. Between those 4 guitars, I can get any sound I need through this amp. I stick mostly to the music I mentioned above. Classic Rock - 60's and 70's stuff like Byrds, Yardbirds, Beatles, Hendrix, Zeppelin, Sabbath, early Santana and of course we do a lot of country music and blues. This amp handles it all beautifully. Use the program button and A3 and you get a great Marshall Stack Amp sound. Use A5 and you get a wonderful Fender Clean tube amp sound. Of course it also has wah, chorus, tremelo, delay, reverb, echo and all those other features. I have not heard any of the hissing noises anyone talks about on this amp. It is quiet. Clean channel does not distort at higher volumes and the distortion can be as brutal as you want it to be. Fantastic amp, fantastic sound.....everything is fantastic.

I gig with it 3 nights a week. Tough amp and it does the trick.

Never dealt with zoom.

I've been playing all my life and I'm almost 52. I have the gear I mentioned and several acoustic guitars. I also have a Marshall MG50RCD but it really sucks. I love everything about this amp and I would definitely get another one if it were lost or stolen because it is exactly what I need. I compared this to the Carlsbro GLX100 and the Peavey Studio Pro. Liked this one best. For what would be a little over $200 US, you can't beat it.

I believe mine was made in 2004 in China. I don't know what people are complaining about on this amp. For a $200 amp, I believe it is the best thing going. It is extremely versatile with all the effects. It just takes awhile to figure out how to use them. The easiest way for me is to use the program mode and the patch list and you can get any sound you want. The coolest things about this amp are the built in tuner, noise reduction button and the boost/sustain buttons. It has a LOT of effects and I've been able to increase my range in my music because of it just by messing around with all the effects. The reverb is excellent, the chorus and tremelo are also excellent. This is a good fucking amp and although it is only 35 watts, it is more than loud enough to do small gigs. Sounds anywhere from a clean solid state amp to a Marshall or Peavey Stack amp and everywhere in between.

I have three guitars. One is a Yamaha Les Paul Copy which is awesome, not a cheapie guitar and as good or better as the real thing. It of course has two humbuckers. I also have a Fernando Strat copy with three single coils that is one of the best strat copies around. Finally, I have a Washburn X-21, with a humbucker and two single coils that is just a rock guitar and it's a good one. My style in music varies. I write mostly electric folk stuff or classic rock, but I have my country, soft rock and heavy metal moods. This amp does it all. You can literally mimmick the sound of any type amp out there and do it damn well. I have not experienced any of the noise the others talk about in these reviews and I have had mine two months and I play the shit out of it everyday and night and I gig with it and crank it up. The variety of sounds is awesome. Country, blues, jazz, metal, classic rock, soft rock, funk, you name it, it will do it. The clean channels are very good and will get a nice Keith Richard's type crunch if you crank it all the way up. Distortion is fucking brutal on the metal and marshall stack amp settings.

Looks like you could drop off the empire state building and it would be fine. Mine has not broken down yet, but this is the first digital effects amp I've ever had, so we'll see.

Never dealt with ZOOM. Didn't even know anything about them before this amp, except that they made pedals I didn't use.

I've been playing for 35 years, been a studio musician most of that time. I have the guitars I mentioned above, several acoustics, several Marshall Amps, including an AVT 100 and one of those little MG10CD's that I keep in my bedroom. I love this amp too. I do small gigs with it with no problem.

It has a lot of Modelling settings (11 * 2) although like someone else here said, you only end up using about 3 of them, Clean, distorted and something in the middle. The rest of the sound can be adjusted by the gain, bass, mid, treble, and level controls & also by the pickup selector on your guitar.

I have to say I love the echo on this amp especially since my previous amp had none. I usually keep mine on Hall 9 and the amount of echo on full. Also the delay can create some interesting sounds, although I don't tend to use it much.


Also the effects buttons are very useful to me since i don't own any pedals. It comes with Chorus, Flanger, Phase, Doubling, Tremolo, Auto Wah, Step, Slow Attack, Pitch and Ring Modulation. I particularly like the flanger, although a few of these are rather pointless, "Ring mod" - what the hell is that. Try using the pitch effect when playing bluesy stuff especially with the modulation turned up. Unfortunately most of these effects seem to sound pretty crappy when used in conjunction with distortion (On some settings I'd go as far as saying it sounds hideous).

True to say, 36 watts of power is too much for me since I only play at home although I'm covered if I ever want to play a gig at a small venue in the future.

I'd just like to point out that the reason for any background noise or "Hissing" that seems to only occur when you touch the strings, IS OBVIAS. The zoom fire-30 amp comes with something called ZNR (Zoom noise reduction). If you turn this off (by pressing the ZNR button) you will notice that hiss is actually always there, usually only on high gain/distortion settings JUST LIKE ANY OTHER AMP WOULD HAVE. However when you turn it on it stops this hiss but only when you?re not playing anything. Try changing the setting to metal and wack the gain up, without ZNR on then put your guitar down for a few minutes and watch TV or something - Gets annoying doesn't it. ZNR stops this hissing when your not playing, but as you as you start playing or even tap the strings it recognises it as a note being played therefore stops the noise reduction, of coarse when your actually playing the music by far drowns out the hiss anyway.

Well I?m sad to say that the jack socket on the amp has become extremely loose and will need repair. It cannot be fixed by tightening the nut because the nut its self seems to have gone out off its tracks.

However the amp was bought second hand from Ebay, though it seemed to be fine when it first arrived.

I'v been playing about 3 and a half years now. my previous amp was a marshall 10 watt practice amp and to be honest was pretty crap in comparason.

This is an update to a previous review posted on 11/21/03. Has many features, power damp is unique, use it all the time.

I upgraded the speaker with a Jensen MOD, 8 Ohm 70 watt version. The speaker tested exactly 5 Ohms on the button... Definitely improved sound overall, and perhaps a bit more headroom. The Jensen is MOD very efficient speaker. The amp can be turn up to full volume on a clean setting with gain and level turned up as well and still sounds clean! The 4-Ohm version did not work well as it tested at 3 Ohms. Not right for this amp. The MOD series of Jensens seem to be targeted at the Celestians, and are lower cost alternative (paid $27.99 online). See my original review on 11/21/03 for more detials.

Reliable, never failed

Not sure, but I did contact Samson electronics (they make Zoom products) and the rep seemed to be convinced (maybe clueless) that this amp came with special custom designed 9.5 inch speaker and recommend against trying anything new... Well the speaker is special, especially cheap! And it is a standard 10-inch. The Zoom marketing may have tried to cover up were the designers scrimped on the product to save a few bucks by calling it a custom voice 9.5 inch. I am not professional by any stretch, but the first thing I do when in the music shop and look at an amp, is tilt it back and look at the speaker. When you at this compare to others right next to it you get the tweedy bird feeling...:>)

See previous entries for feature list.

The manual says the amp puts out 36 watts, so could the 30 in the name refer to the number of presets?
However, while there are 30 of those pre-programmed presets, ONLY 10 can be changed, which is a REAL pity, because the majority of the fixed presets I can't or won't use. I would have preferred to tweak those to my liking and rewrite them.

The ads say that you can switch between two presets, which isn't exactly true. You switch between one preset (which you can pre-select before a song, and program before the gig) and the manual mode (which is whatever you've CURRENTLY got set up). You CANNOT select a preset and put it into the manual mode. You HAVE to set it up on-the-fly if you're using the manual mode (like any non-presetting amp, I suppose).

What features would I have liked?
I think every amp should have an effects loop. But probably not this one, due to the number of effects available.
More FOOTswitching. At the least, a switch to turn on/off the modulation effects and one to turn on/off the delay effects. For more, a couple of switches to scroll up and down on the presets. Or even MORE, several switches to mimic the effects buttons on the panel. I would have paid extra for those switching capabilities.

Features I don't need?
Headphone, Aux In.

I think Zoom ALMOST got it right here, but not quite. Versatile, but not so versatile. So I'll give it an 9.

I have NOT experienced the hisses, crackles, and ground noise that the other reviewers have mentioned, so I'm reluctant to dis the sound of this amp. I have noticed however, that this amp, more than any other amp, seems to have helped me tame the buzz that comes out of my strat-style guitar (I play standing under dimmers when I use this and previous amps), and that's good.
The modeling sounds themselves are quite tweakable with gain and 3-band EQ, and additional buttons: boost, edge, sustain, bottom. The blurbs say 22 models, but I see them as 11 models with 2 variations each.
The problem for me, though, is that I don't use the models.
I like to have 3 sounds available: clean, rhythm crunch, distorted lead. Since you can only have two sounds (unless you're ready to make quick changes DURING a song), I've resorted to BYPASSING all the models and inserting a Tech 21 Tri-AC between the guitar and amp. By doing this, I'm using ONLY the effects sections and the power amp. Now I switch between "models" on the Tri-AC, and use the presets to footswitch the effects in and out.
The effects suit my purposes, so I'll give an 8.

I don't think that what I do is gigging (play at church services), but I do keep a backup nevertheless.
I've had other Zoom products that never died on me, but I did have a 9000 that did occasionally forget its presets. This amp seems solidly made, but it's hard to foresee the future. I'll probably give this an 8.

If I start with 5 meaning fair service (10 meaning great service), I'd have to give Zoom a less than stellar service rating.
I was considering (voiding my warranty by) installing some outboard switches (either in parallel or serial) to the effects buttons on a foot module (which, if only Zoom had added to this amp would have made it perfect). So I sent one email, asking the possibility of a schematic. I figured, hey what's the problem, I actually own the amp, and it's probably got IC chips that I (or a competitor) couldn't duplicate anyway, right? I figure, by using the schematic I could figure out how to wire footswitches to each of the modulation effects.
The email to Samsontech was ignored. Dock 1 point from 5 to 4.
My next email, after a few days of waiting was to Zoom. It, too, was ignored. 3 points.
I wrote another email, this time, I think, to Sales. Ignored again. 2 points.
The emails I sent could at least have been forwarded to someone in the
organization who could answer my question, with a reply to me, saying they sent it on.
I wrote one more email, after I found the address to Tech. Waited about 3 or 4 days. 1 point.
When I did receive a reply, it was a CURT, somewhat haughty, "We don't hand out schematics". And it took 3 or 4 days to get that reply?? 0 points.
However, they do give you the manual on their website for the time BEFORE you buy. 1 point.
It's just a shame you don't get any help AFTER the sale.

(Here's a plug for the Dealer I bought from, however. I got great personal service from www.guitarfiles.com. Them, I'd give a MUCH, MUCH higher rating, but this review, however, is for Zoom/Samsontech.)

I'd been looking for a small amp (15 to 30 watts) with internal effects and decided this one was it.
At the time (2003) the only other small amps with effects were those from Crate, Marshall, Fender, Behringer, etc. However, with the majority of them, ONE knob handled all the effects: off, chorus, flanger, tremolo, reverb w/ chorus, reverb w/ flanger, reverb w/ tremolo, yada, yada. Very difficult to quickly switch between effects, especially if the desired effects aren't NEXT to each other on the dial.

Anyway, the Zoom designers wisely separated the controls for the modulation effects and the delay/reverb effects. The Fire 30 MAY allow you to set the effects using a single knob, BUT it allows you to select the modulation effects by using "dedicated" buttons on the panel. Much easier, much quicker. And this is still without using the buttons to switch between presets already programmed.

Peavey was another manufacturer with an effects amp I considered (Transtube EFX 258), but I couldn't find a dealer. I've also discovered the Roland Cube 30 since purchasing this amp. These manufacturers also separate the modulation effects and the delay/reverb effects. The Peavey and the Roland could have been real contenders for my bucks.

Now, I actually use this amp for something more than practice. I find this amp loud enough for an audience and I use the Fire 30 at church. Our setup times and breakdown times are pretty quick, so the amp saves me the time of setting up floor pedals and cables. I just have to set up the Tri-AC.
If the amp had an optional footcontroller (which I would have gladly bought as an extra) I might have been able to use the models off the amp. As it is I do have to reach over to the amp and press one button or another. I've had to color-code the buttons with vinyl tape for that purpose.
I do use a footswitch in the footswitch jack , but like I said, it only switches between the manual mode and the preset which I select before we start a song.

There are 3 ways you can use the switching capabilities of this amp, live. In each you use the footswitch to toggle between manual and a single preset. Anything else you have to reach over and press a button.
1) use two really different settings (model, modulation and delay/reverb), one in the manual mode, another in each one of the presets. That way you can footswitch between manual and a preset.
2) use two models effects-free in the manual and a preset, and turn effects on or off with a finger press.
3) use your own pedals for distortion before the amp, and use the footswitch to toggle between two effects only (or no effects and a single effect).
As I said, I use the third method.

Would I buy this amp again if lost?
Probably not, due to the lack of footswitching capabilities. One of the reasons I bought the amp in the first place was the number of effects not available with the other effects amps: especially auto-wah, slow attack, doubling and pitch. However, because of the difficulty in switching, I don't really use those effects as much (I leave the amp at the church, so I don't use it elsewhere).
I would still love to add the up/down switches and attempt a foot module for the effects, but that would mean digging around inside the amp which I would feel safer doing if only I had the schematic (but I've already told you about that bit).

A lot of modeling and effects to play around with, more than enough for most people.

While I was initially impressed, I thought the sound was good for an amp in this price bracket, I soon realised that what let it down was the quality of the speaker. Take a look in the back it's a cheap lightweight thing. It ocurred to me that I a pair of Celestion 8" speakers doing nothing that I'd had for years. It took only 5 minutes to swap the cheap Zoom speaker for one of the Celestions that you struggle to lift one handed, a far better use that sitting in the workshop. All I can say is WOW! What a difference a top quality speaker makes!

Not had any problems but then again I've only had it 3 weeks.

Not needed to call them.

I've been playing for 12 years using a 10W Park(Cheap range made by/for Marshall) practice amp. Every time I've had the money for a decent amp I've gone to buy one and ended up with another guitar. Boring looking black box or sexy new guitar? No contest! Bow I've swapped the speaker I have a superb little amp that I'd have to give an overall 9 to. Yes I'd buy another, after all I still have another Cestion 8" speaker sitting about.

Power Output Speaker Modeling Type Effect Program Effect Module

Patch Memory:
(User 10/Preset 20)

Control : Gain, Bass, Middle, Treble, Level, Master
A/D Conversion : 20bit 64times over-sampling
D/A Conversion : 20bit 8times over-sampling
Sampling Frequency : 31.25kHz
Guitar Input : 1 x 1/4" Monaural Phone Jack (Nominal Input Level : -20dBm, Input Impedance : 470k ohm)
AUX Input : 1 x 1/4" Stereo Phone Jack (Nominal Input Level : -20dBm, Input Impedance : 10k ohm)
Recording/Headphone Output : 1 x 4" Stereo Phone Jack (Nominal Output Level : +4dBm at Load Impedance 10k ohm or more)
Control Input : Foot Switch (FS-01) (not included)
Display : 2digit 7segment LED
Power Requirement : 100~240V, 50/60Hz
Supplied Accessory : Power Cable
Dimension : FIRE-30 / 485 (W) x 240 (D) x 410 (H) mm
Weight : FIRE-30 / 12kg

I own 1 guitar a vintage sg with two humbuckers. it really does not suit my musical style ( modern puck: sum 41, blink 182, green day ) but could easily suit for all you 80's metal fans, glam rock fans and modern rock. The hiss!! i sent it back for this and refunded it. i found out its a problem with all fire-30's. it happens on all settings at medium volume!! the distortion is nice but it could be more changeable.

sit on it! stand on it! jack a 18 wheeler up on it!

Did not have it long enough for it to breakdown! (i had it for two days then took it back because of the hiss!! damn hiss!)

it is good effect wise but that hiss could make you look like a twat playing it!!

Tons of features! What more to say. But this should have been a warning for me. I guess its better to have those out of this amp.
I only use a few and they sound bad as well.

I use a Fender Telecaster American Series on this Amp. Actually i was looking for a small practice amp. I play most clean but use some distortion as well. The sound of this amp is ,well lets say: Okey.
The only thing is the hiss. I will for sure change this amp soon.

Seems to me this will last a while. Nice knobs ,really.

Very Bad thing. Very Fast but very Stupid answer.
I contacted them about the problem with the hiss and they told me to
go to my local dealer to exchange it. HA HA HA. Something like : go
to someone else and leave me alone.. Fuck them!

Well i give it a 5 because this is all not very satisfying for me,really!