Zoom Fire 30 Combo

Many features, you can fool around for hours with it. Better than most modeling amps in this price range.

If you're used to good tone, you won't like this. However, most students would be happy with this.

The only reason I wanted to write this review. As a previous poster mentioned: Plastic jacks! They will break. Expect to have to fix it, and if you can't solder in a new jack yourself, expect to pay big bucks for some shop to do it.

My jack pushed into the amp when a student tried to plug in. The plastic threading on the jack stripped and made the whole thing useless.

Based on what I've read, I won't even bother with this.

Great features, but who cares if it breaks right away?

Amp was made in 2003. This amp is a digital modelling amp (it models 11 different amps in all) with a variety of digital effects. These have already been mentioned. See B Leverty's review dated 15/2/2003 for a comprehensive list of features. As a practice/home amp this has more than enough features. It is very versatile with headphone jack, footswitch in, CD input, noise reduction, preset patches and power damp.

I use the amp at home only. It plays loud. 30 Watts is more than enough power for home use.

The main problem is the background hiss. It was so annoying that I stopped using the amp for 2 years. Eventually replaced the speaker with a 10" Celestion and now the sound is much better and the hiss has disappeared on most settings (but not all!). Without the change in speaker, I would only give the sound a value of 4

I use a Fender Strat (Mex) with 3 single pickups.
I play a variety of music but mainly pop/rock

Seems a sturdy beast. It is reasonably well-built. However, it is made of chipboard and covered with a cheap looking vinyl. All the knobs and controls work and nothing has broken so far.

No need to use Customer Support.

This is a lot of amp for the money. However, the hiss lets it down. Most of the sounds you get out of it are good, but not brilliant. What it does, it does well, but it will not blow you away. In other words it is a jack-of-all-trades but master of none. But at the price, I cannot complain.

I have been playing for about 4 years. This is the first amp I have owned. Next time I will probably buy an amp that has a better sound and fewer features. However, this is a cheap way of getting lots of digital effects without buying loads of different pedals. Because of its versatility and the fact it can model 11 different amps, I would buy it again second-hand, but not new.

the jacks on this modelling amp are plastic. I accidentally stepped on the patch cord and the jack split in half.

I have been wating for over 2 months for a replace jack plug and board assembly. When I told the distributor for Canada that I would never buy another Zoom product again, the rep said that he wouldn't blame for taking that position.

Nice amp when and if it works. I would not recommend this at all due to the poor or non-existent after sales support and service.

Im violinist and use this for my electric work. Im only a learner but i have played guitar before an had a few cheap amps.
The previous reviews can offer more fact details on this amp than i can, thus i wont try! :)
This amp as everything i need and more. Its got all the effects i need an i would say the quaility of them is good, maybe some ok.
You wont get BOSS like effect standards but hey, lets remember this is a budget amp if the truth is told.
Its got enough power for me and when i got it i thought it was loud for 30 amps. i found out thats its actualy 36 amps in truth, reason enough for my thinking!

I got this amp of ebay i as new condition. You wont belive what i payed.. 42 UKP ! no shi*! 42 quid and the thing works fine. Im a very experienced ebayer and this as been the best bargain to date.:)

I have seen this model new in the local musci shop for 180UKP. i would say that this is a good value amp for the money.

I only use limited effects and dont play too loud, thus i cannot realy comment too much in this section i guess.
It is loud though! Small gigs could be done with this amp IMO.
The "Fuzzy" amp ground sound can be sorted out i find if you mess about with the settings and use the noise reduction feature. It aint so bad i find and not a massive problem if you have time to spend setting the thing up.
Chorus is fine, thats what matters to me.

Not had any problems to date, doubt i will :)

Built like Rocky!

N/A

Good amp and a silly bargain for what i paid.

I would have paid about 100 to 120 UK Pounds for this amp used as i find it to be what i need for what i do (which as i say is learning the electric violin)

I like the looks of the amp and its a solid build quaility.

If they made a 50W or even 100W version of the "fire" id buy one just incase i get good enough to `perform` LOL

Cheers

This amp has a $%^&load of features for the money!!!

The amp has a great sound if you know how to set an amp when I read the amp has a "HISSING" noise i laugh becouse it is a grounding issue and I know the DUMB ASS just don't know how to set an amp I have had mine for about a year and a half never had a hissing problem (I plug it in to a grounded outlet and do not use cheap ass guitars with no sustain single coil pickups) the amp has very good sustain if you have a good guitar or at least good pickups! It is very versitile and can sound clean or totaly insane metal!!!!

This amp is built just as well as any amp out there

never used it as the amp works every time!

For the money this is a kick ass amp (If you have a strat like guitar with single coil pickups then don't bother all amps of good quality will sound like $%^& to you)

Made in 2003 I believe. I play a wide range of stuff but mostly acoustic and recently started playing electric and thought that it would be a better idea to have a modeling amp than a bunch of pedals just to mess with different sounds and mainly use as a practice amp. This was my first amp purchase which I got from a local pawn shop. There were more than enough features and effects for me and I tested them all and everything seemed to work fine, I didnt really spend much time actually listening to it other than to see what worked. It all worked I believe, LED,s, tuner, you name it. I was never able to actually figure out how to refine the presets or to switch from one to another without it going to the default manual. Shrug. Electronics whiz I am not, which if I had known anything about amps, I wouldnt have bought this one. I chalk it up to a learning experience, albeit a bad one.

I have a Fender stratocaster, made in Mexico that I played it through. I actually played through my computer before I bought this amp and with those cheap PC speakers, I still had 50x more sustain than that sorry ZOOM amp. I couldnt believe it and I tried to add more gain/volume and that only made the hissing intolerable and seemed not to help matters so I called a friend (who I should have taken to the pawn shop and look at it with me before buying) and he came over and took a few minutes to look at the amp. He looked at the speaker and told me it was a piece of shit and told me to take it back. I took it back the next day and almost had to beat the guys ass at the pawn shop to get a friggin refund.

I dont know if I could have played out with that thing without scaring people with hissing just to get some volume. It was even bad with no gain on the clean channel, horrid with any distortion. I really didnt own it long enough to know if it would break. As far as I am concerned, I know nothing about amps, but I know that that amp sounded awful. I compare it to one of those 4" door speakers out of a '78 Toyota Celica.

N/A, and thank God I was able to get rid of it. Now I know what not to buy, just need to find an amp now and the first thing I am gonna look at is the speaker, then what country its made in.

I have been playing acoustically about 4 years, only just recently started out with electric. If someone with my little experience thought this was that bad, it should tell you that a well experienced player would vomit on it, then burn it and send it back to hell. Wouldnt replace it for anything, had a bad enough time getting rid of it. I would also like to share that I will from now on, attempt to buy only American products as this make and model were pisspoor.

Really really really packed full of features. its a modelling amp so it has to be! tuner, dfx, preset channel, soundgate thing - too much to put

ok this is a very controversial issue. The sounds it produces are really quite good - they just sound nothing like they say they do. for example the 'FDR' (fender) amp setting is just clean, thats it. and the marshall channel is just a nice distortion - not marshall distortion at all. If your a metel head dont bother with this, unless you like your metel screetchy the metel channel is wank-too tinny.

FX
The effects are really good, its just a shame you can only have 1 effect on at a time (you CAN have reverb/echoe on with effects). There are some pointless effects like doubling and ring mod and the phase and flanger sound the same. other than that really good.

Just note that this amp is verrrryyyy cheap for what it so just be aware that it WON'T sound anything as good as a POD does. Compare it to the vox valvetronics.

Havn't ever gigged with it and probably never will. Its basically a practice amp for somebody who wants every amp sound known to man in their bedroom, it fits this criteria very well.

BUT

if u turned up at a venue with this it wouldnt be the wow amp of the group. Not that its a bad amp but because its a zoom. Most of zoom stuff is shite but this is as good as it gets really with zoom. Its not great but i really like it. It wont ever produce YOUR sound because it rips off everybody elses.

I'v been playing for 3 years and im a fairly good player, if the amp was robbed i wouldn't buy another but i'd want it back. I love its flexability but i hate its 'cheap' feel. I wish it had balls! its too bloody pansy like, really really loud, but weak.

Good amp for bedroom bashers

it has good features and lots of opportunity to tone your own sound from the settings available even if some arnt to your own taste.tuner built in a bonus.open back cab leaves you space to store the power lead and the amp is light in weight for portability.

i use a fender jagstang and play punky style rock and like to mess with classic blues tones and sometimes slightly overdriven tube tones thats not in your face.there is a buzz(hiss) noise on the amp but tube amps turned on make a noise as well so i,m not that bothered by it apart from when i,m playing quietly at home with the acoustic settings.i had a marshal 100dfx and that had a cooling fan which was even noiser than the hiss.like i said before you will find some very nice sounds on this beasty.30 watts at home is well loud.just ask the neighbours.

had zoom products before and not had any trouble with them.

never had to use them.

been playing 10 years.may replace it but would like to try out some other 30 watt amps first.vox,marshall,behringer,fender.taking off a couple of points just because of the slightly annoying hiss.

scroll down.i hate redundency.Therefore i won't write whatever has been written.

as good as my POD xt;only the price is cheaper!!!!way cheaper!!

i use it for home practice,therefore i dun care.

If this amp were produced in the 90's,i wud say it wud cost u a fortune!!Luckily digital equipments/components are becoming cheaper each day and the fact that ZOOM had to compete with line6 and other manufacturers made the price of this amp so affordable to almost everyone.

Line 6 stuffs are good(no doubt about dat)...... but the price is
not for everyone.
I've been playing the guitar for more than 15 years now and wud consider myself as a 'pro' as i gig alot.
When i bought my first amp,little did i know that 15 years later, practice amp (with tons of features) can get this cheap.
And I wonder why tube amps are still expensive?The price never goes down as far as i am concerned.
Not that i hate tube amps;infact i am a proud owner of marshall TSL 122 which i bought almost 10 times the price of this ZOOM fire30.
The TSL 122 is good,but its NOT practical for bedroom playing.
Above all,its way overpriced for what it does!!!!!and to be honest,i like my pod xt better when playing live.
Bottom line is, if u r looking for a practice amp.....look no further...FIRE 30 is the one....regardless of your playing level -whether u r a beginner,advance,expert or even a pro,
this amp is worth every penny.Trust me.

See other reviews below about the features (a long, long list!).

This amp is more than versatile enough for the various styles that I like to play. I'm kinda stuck in the mid/late '60's psychedelic rock groove, with a penchant for fuzz, wah, reverb and the Marshall stack sound. Well... this amp has got a lot more than that, much of which I know I'll hardly use. What's great about the features is that you can easily tweak and do gradual adjustments to get just the sound you want. And that's what comes next...

I have a Yamaha for an electric (yeah, I know, I really should graduate to a more serious guitar, but I'm just a play-for-fun amateur, yup). Still, with a straight up, good value for the money Yamaha guitar, this amp can acually make you sound like you're playing Hendrix' Strat with Marshall Stack amps. No, I'm not an expert on this... some of the reviews by the pros below agree with me, though. :-)

About the hiss... you'll notice it'll disappear once you touch the string, or for that matter, any metal part of the guitar that the strings touch. The cause? Grounding. Ground the power plug and use what you'd use for a PC computer for a power supply / surge protector, and your household items electrical interference will disappear, too. I get a nice clean, noiseless sound out of my amp now that that power supply is clean and grounded.

Brutal? *laugh* Major understatement! This amp can be as brutal, and as gentle as you want it to be, such is its versatility.

No problem so far... but it's only two days old. ;-) So, not rating or opinion on this one.

Same for customer support.

This amp suits me fine. :-) I tried a lot of amps in the shop, and this one not only had all the features I wanted, but it had THE SOUND I wanted.

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!

This amp has many features and provides much versatility for various playing styles. The other reviews cover the many of the features so no need to go in to much detail. A foot switch which allows for switching between more than two effects would have been a big plus. Perhaps a 2-button switch to control other stuff like reverb, or the modulations. Considering the price it looses only 1 point for this.
The Power damp works great, very cool and useable feature. I will mention that this amp is 35 watts (per the manual not 30) and the speaker seems to be a standard 10 inches not 9.5. looks like the marketing staff at Zoom may really zoomed or zoned out when they wrote up the specs...:>)

I Use a Fender MIM Fat Strat, Epi LP standard, and old hollow body 60's electric with this amp. You will absolutely find great sounds. The fender and marshal sounds are fairly true to my ears, like them both. Several other settings also have their place. You can get heavy metal to light blues type sounds out of this amp. The acoustic setting is lousy... I also notice a drop off in volume when switching from a distortion to clean. Here the thing, several other reviewers hear noise (odd hiss when touching strings etc).... This is true with the high gain/distortion settings. You also get an adjustable noise filer which works. What the other reviewers do not seem to understand is, that this noise my be a characteristic of digital effects pedals. I have 2 other (both digitech) RP-3 and RP 100, both will make the same type noise.... with out the filter... So I will not take points away for this as I have seen this before. I will take a 2 points away because it is susceptible to electrical noise. Appliance goes on you hear a little pop/crackle/ static. Touch my TV nearby I hear it. This amp needs better filtering in the power section, - 2 points for this. If you find a good power source you probably could eliminate this. Would only be a problem for recording, but would you use this amp for that?

One more thing on the Sound not mentioned in the other reviews. I have tried my Ovation acoustic electric though this and it sounds Great! Better than an epiphone acoustic amp of the same wattage. Plus you will get some usable effects for acoustic, like chorus, reverb, and tremolo! Lots of versatility with sounds! I do think this amp is loud enough to gig with at a low-level backyard/small room session.

Seems reliable, very and well made. Speaker looks a litte suspect... but seems to do the job. I may try differnet speakers at some point

Haven't called yet.

This is a very versatile amp for the money. Other modeling amps in this price range include a Roland cube and a Marshall. Check them out; you will then buy the Zoom. It is less than half the price of the closest fender or Line amp. This is a great buy if you are looking for something more than a standard practice amp. I have several other amps, tube and solid state, Gibson atlas tube 50 watts, Peavey Bandit, Epiphone acoustic, premier 50 tube (very cool). This amp can hold it own. And does a good job of emulating other amps. I would definitely buy another if it were stolen. Happy Zooming?.:>)

Model was released 'round May 2003; bought it about a month later, was so new the salesman had not even had time to check it out yet. Was feature-laden, that's what caught my eye. Can't be faulted on features. A gazillion knobs and buttons, not too convenient to use unless you keep the amp at eye-level (or keep your eyes at amp-level); desto minus 1 point here. Tuner is a nice touch, and a breeze to use (providing it is accurate).

This is where it hurts, and I had the same experience as some of the other reviewers in that regard. Hissy, hissy, hissy. Very susceptible to interference from any electrical motor switching on or off in the house (furnace blower, refrigerator, etc.), interference which took the shape of a loud click in the speaker. I was afraid the damn thing would blow. Lots of interesting amp simulations, but very weak clean (and acoustic) simulations. Volume varies wildly from one simul to the other; moving around the dial can produce some loud squealing (I have a semi-hollow Washburn, with humbuckers, perfect feedback machines). If you can overlook the constant hiss, it's a superb sound. But you shouldn't, this is a solid-state machine. Heavy hit here for hiss and mismatched volume among models.

Looks OK, although jacks are of the plastic variety.

Warranty seems to be handled by dealer; there is not even a mention of a warranty in the manual, at least here in Canada. Must admit customer support (here in Canada) looks outstanding: I made an inquiry by phone one afternoon, the rep couldn't reply on the spot, but he made the research and called me back a few hours later, in the evening! They should change their slogan from "Catch us if you can": they're easy to catch!

The things that stood out once out the store (like the hissing and clicking) turned me off this amp. I took it to another dealer and traded for a (Traynor) hybrid, a well-kept secret with fewer bells and whistles, but an outstanding sound. Took a hit ($), but I'm perfectly happy with the little Traynor.

Loads of features for the money. Considered a POD but once I heard this amp and played it at by brother-in-laws I had to have it. Sold my Fender Princeton Chorus to buy it and feature-for-feature it was an outstanding trade UP!

Play with 2 Ibanez's (Ibenezi?) - One an '85 EVHish strat copy (one humbucker, etc.) and another the Ibanez Artstar (copy of the Gibson 335). Makes me sound pretty polished and produced, though I'm neither. I've noticed NONE of the noise experiences complained about in other reviews and am amazed at the effective modeling of Marshall, Fender, and other amps married up to some adjustable effects patches that ROCK. One of the most convenient features is the power damping button that attenuates the high volume crunch to a moderate level without losing the flavor of the tone.

Only had this for 2 weeks so a rating on long term reliability would not be relevant from me. Brother-In-Law's gets alot of use and he's still sold on it!

N/A

I've been playing off and on for several years, alot more lately now that I can sound this cool. I would absolutely recommend this amp and would purchase another if I ever got this one stolen. I do wish that the built-in chromatic tuner easily facilitated tuning down a half-step vs. standard tuning, but this is quibbling. In case you noticed, my overall rating is a 10/10 or "fantastic value" as put by our friends at Harmony Central... higher than average of the individual ratings I have heretofor assessed. This may not be arithmetically or even statistically valid, but since the overall rating focus keys in on VALUE I have to rate it a 10/10. Why? In my humble opinion you simply cannot touch the versatility and sound of this modeling amp for near this kind of money elsewhere.

This is a fairly new Amp from Zoom, offering a lot of built-in effects & Amp emulations, and reasonable power (36W), at a low price (#150, $240). It must rate 10 for its numerous features, but unfortunately I have to report that the Amp itself has such serious flaws that I cannot use it as a guitar amp under any circumstances.

The first problem is immediately obvious as soon as you switch on;- the amp has terrible "hiss". Zoom include a switch to reduce this (perhaps knowing it's a problem?), but the hiss has the very odd charchter of starting & stopping abrubptly whenever you touch the guitar strings. Similarly the amp produces a muddled sort-of rumbling noise in the background. All Amp emulations are also accompanied by a low-level swooping or whooshing noise. When playing fast runs/riffs the circuit actually seems unable to cope, & it actually appears to lose notes completely! At very best it becomes a jumbled & incoherent mess. To me that makes the Zoom Fire-30 entirely unusable as a guitar amp in any setting.

I sent the first Amp back thinking it had serious circuit faults, but the second amp was identical (except for wobbly feet & loose mains plug). Full marks to Aire Guitars though, who were very quick to provide the replacement, and also agreed to return my money without hassle. The vinyl cover on both amps has a strange 8-inch slit on the base area (apparently the way Zoom join it?). Otherwise all the panel switches work well, and the rotary controls are fine (albeit the main Drive positions could be more positive). On the first amp I loved the built-in tuner, which was fun to use & accurate. Unfortunately, on the second amp even the tuner was faulty (G was hopelessely way off).

Obviously a bad experience with the Zoom. I emailed Zoom to ask if such hiss, rumble, stopping-starting, apparent loss of notes & jumbling of notes etc. etc. was intended on this product, but so far no reply. As I say, Aire Guitars were fine about it.

I've been playing over 25 years, I've owned numerous guitars & amps, but I've never before encountered a product like this, in any field. I just found it a total non-starter.

I bought my Zoom Fire 30 in August 2003, it was brandnew, came from
a ebay using profi music shop. Packed very good, looking very good,
weight 12 kg, which is good for comfortable transport. When I first tried it, it was already diappointed. This amp makes a big noise.
This black big box is filled with incredible effects, which I consider
to be very very good, but this amp makes a big noise. The features are
absolutely saddisfying. The ground noise is too loud.

I used a fender stratocaster tex mex and a couple of good copies.
My style ist country & folk an melodic rock. You can clearly notice
if you play with this zoom, that it was built and concepted by a
company, which is doing mainly effect equipment. The effects are
very good, the amp is just added and not optimized. The Amp has no
"personal ground character". In germany we say: Its a "eierlegende
Wollmilchsau" which means: It can do nearly everything, but it has
no main strength. If I take my litle Orange practise Amp crush 10,
I hear a wonderful orange character. With my VOX 10 its the same.
The Zomm has no character. Not really.

Its built very good an stabil.

No need for it, seems relyable.

Its definitly not MY amp. I-ll sell it. I want a real good ground
character, and this amp has non. Good Effects, great possibilities,
But the end product, the sound you get, is not saddisfying. Try a Behringer AC112. Its a far better amp with nearly the same effects.
Its louder. Its warm in Tone, it has Power. It has Character.

Great sounding distortions and tons of features. The acoustic modeler is kinda weak but the distortions more than make up for it. Many nobs and buttons to fine tune settings. I have yet to figure them all out.
MORE than enough power for me, Its begging to be unleashed.

I'm using a weak Ibanez rg170 but the amp masks it's shottyness. I play rock - which this is great for. There are so many distortion variations - fuzz, zoom, metal... and a setting for vintage or standard which adds a really cool fullness to the sound. I have been looking at amps/pedals for a long time trying to make up my mind and this really made it easy having it all in one package.

Haven't had it long enough

Thanks ebay

I been playing for about a year. I love the effects and I would def buy another if it was lost. The acoustic effect is weak but thats to be expected I think. I think the price is excellent compared to getting things separately.

Amp modeling, digital effects, noise reduction etc. More knobs and buttons than a 747. Preset patches are very good and the ability to edit them and save 10 user patches is nice. I'm not usually impressed by gadgets, I prefer to keep it simple (stupid) but this amp has alot of useful features I like.

Currently playing my electroacoustic through it while I find a new electric I like. I've been playing (on and off) for 12 years and felt like getting back into playing electric guitar. The preset patches cover most sounds you'd like to get out of an amp and allow you to make any sound from country to death metal. The MS setting is very impressive, sounds just like a Marshall valve amp.

Despite the guitar I'm using it still sounds great but not quite full marks as I'm limited by the guitar in testing all the features.

No problems yet.

Got it from Highly Strung online who were very helpful when I bought it. No need to contact the company yet.

Got to be a 10 for this one. I'd considered the Marshall MG30DFX but this has more features, is better built and sounds better. I'd definitely get another if lost or stolen.

Brand new model as of Feb 2003. Comes LOADED with features. This is a 35 watt solid state modeling amp w/digital effects, with a 10" speaker. Has CD/Aux in, Headphone/direct out, and a footswitch in. It boasts 22 amp models, but you really get 11 basic models, with a 'variation'button that gives a different version of the original. Has delay,reverb, chorus, flanger, phaser, ring modulator, slow attack, tremelo, and pitch shifter. There is a dedicated knob that controls the delay or reverb, and it's mix. This means you can use this in conjunction with the other modulation effects. There are 2 different types of delays and reverbs to choose from, and you tweak the 'mix' knob to taste. The effects are surprisingly good, and not gimmicky as most other amps of this type seem have. Has buttons to add Edge (Treble boost, Bottom (Bass boost), Sustain (For well...sustain) and a Boost button that adds a little more distortion. Has built in chromatic tuner and a noise reduction button that's adjustable. For 35 watts it's surprisingly loud. The amp even has a Power Damp button that's supposed to work like a power brake, and does a pretty decent job of it. Although loud, I don't think it's built for any live outings. A big plus for this amp, is that unlike a Line 6 Flextone that only has 4 channel memories, this amp has 10! Unfortunately, an optional pedal you can connect to it only allows you to switch between 2 of them (Another reason this may not be the ideal live tool).

I use a stock Ernie Ball/Music Man Axis straight into this little sucker. I play a little of everything, but mainly hard rock/old school hair metal. I am really impressed with the quality of sound I can get with this thing! In fact, the music store I got it from had one on display, and I asked the salesman what he thought of it, and he just shrugged and said no one in the store had bothered to mess with it yet. When I plugged in, the rest of the staff all gathered around to check it out, and no one could believe the sounds coming out of this little black shoebox! To everyone's surprise, there's some really useable sounds to be had. Also surprising is the responsiveness of the EQ knobs. On a line 6 Flextone, you can turn an eq knob post to post and barely notice much of a difference, whereas with this amp you can create enitrely different amp sounds within the same patch with some careful tweaking. Sure, there's some stinky models, like the acoustic patch in specific (It barely qualifies as a glorified clean setting). The model I stay with the most is the MS (Marshall Stack) model. It has a convincing growl that sounds very close to the real deal to my ears (And I happen to own a Marshall JCM 800, and Artist 3203 to compare it to, thank you). What really surprised me was how the amp really started to sing when you raise the volume! I have not read anywhere where Zoom brags about it emulating a tube amp's power stage, but I swear the amp seems to tighten up and bark at higher volumes. If the amp has any failings, I'd have to say the clean sounds are pretty sterile (but adequate), and the Metal model is really bright and harsh to my ears. There isn't much headroom on clean settings, but there's much more on the Fire 30 than on the Fire 15 which I also tried. Also, the noise gate really doesn't work if you turn on the sustain and boost together. Overall, I am supremely pleased with the sounds this thing can make. I would think that no matter what style of music you play, everyone should be able to get a sound they are happy with on this thing.

The only Zoom product I've ever owned before this was their first desktop recording unit they offered back in '90. I had that thing for 3 years and used it non-stop during that time and I never had a problem. This amp seems really well built. The cabinet seems thicker than any other amp it's size, and for how small it is, it's pretty heavy too. Seems like it should hold up, but time will tell....

Well, I had NO intention of getting this amp today. In fact, I can't believe I'm sitting next to it right now. I left my house with the need for a good sounding practice/recording amp. I've been playing seroiusly for about 19 years now, so I already have a full live rig. I needed an amp for recording at home that was small, had enough volume to use in low volume practice settings, had direct recording capabilities, but also had to sound good in the process. I had decided to try a Marshall AVT 20, Line 6 Flextone, Tech 21 Trademark (10 or 60), and thought I'd humor myself and listen to the latest Peavey offerings. I had already owned a Flextone II before, and got sick of it quickly. It sounded great out of the box, but weeks later it all sounded digital and distant. It also was very unreliable. The Marshall AVT was dissapointing. The distortion was buzzy and quacky, and the direct out was pretty poor sounding. I really liked the Tech 21 Trademark 10's sounds for recording, but it lacked power, plus the poor little speaker could barely handle the 10 watts it had. The Trademark 60 also sounded good, but the distortion wasn't as good as the smaller Trademark 10. The Peaveys weren't bad either, but just seemed lifeless to me. So there I was, heading out of the music store, when I spotted the Fire 30. I decided to give it a shot since I had the time, and I'm glad I did. Does it sound like a tube amp? I don't care. I like the way it sounds, and that's what counts. I already own tube amps, but I don't own them so I can tell my other musician buddies how cool I am. The whole point is getting the sound YOU like, and believe me, the audience could care less if you're playing a tissue box if it sounds good! For reliability and for low volume playing, you cannot beat a solid state amp. Originally, I figured I'd get the cheapest amp I could find, since I'd run my PODxt through it's clean channel to play out loud, and then just use the PODxt to record direct with. With this amp I've already laid some tracks down with it using the direct out, and I think the POD might get shelved for a while! For the money I paid, I feel like this was a terrific value. A nice, portable, feature packed amp that allows me to record direct with and also practice with. Years ago, if you wanted to make a rig with all of the sounds and effects that are packed into this amp, you would of spent 10 times what these are sold for. I wish they offered a bigger version of this amp. If they made a 50 or 60 watt version I'd have a nice backup to take with me.