Vox AC30 / Cambridge 30
Moderators: rickenbrother, ajish4
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chaazmo
Vox AC30 / Cambridge 30
having recently acquired a 330(6) FG i am keen to purchase a vox AC30 (new) but am also tempted towards the Cambridge 30, any advice would be appreciated.
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Arlech
It really depends on what you're willing to spend, and your intended use (i.e., will you be gigging, or just jamming around the house or with friends?). Any Vox is generally a natural fit with a Ric, and will compliment/emphasize the classic vintage tone of a Ric more than most other brand of amplifiers (IMHO). But if money is no object, and you truly want the most authentic reproduction of that classic Beatles/British invasion sound, the AC30 is the way to go. But it's expensive, and it's heavy (normally about $1200-1600 new, and weighs in just over 70 lbs). It will also require the normal love and care that most all-tube amps require. I recently bought one, and I absolutely love it with my Ric 325V63, but I was also able to get an outstanding deal on it ($840, brand new). The AC30 is an amp for purists; no reverb and no overdrive channel, though it does have 3 separate clean channels (normal, bright, and trem/vibrato). It has one purpose in life...to produce the authentic shimmering/chimey tone that Vox is famous for. At 33 watts (tube), it is loud enough for gigging, even without micing if you're playing in a smaller venue.
The Cambridge 30 is a nice low (much lower) cost alternative, if you don't want to shell out the bucks for the "real thing" (don't mean that condescendingly). I've never played through one, but I hear a lot of good things about them; in fact, I was considering trying one out before I stumbled upon the too-good-to-pass-up deal with the AC30 (which would have been too expensive for me at the normal prices). As I understand it, they do have the trademark Vox sound, with the added versatility of reverb and an overdrive channel, but not quite with the same resonance/richness of tone, or the volume of the AC30 (would probably need to be miked for a full-blown band gig). So if you want that general trademark Vox sound, but you're not dead-set on nailing the absolutely perfect Beatles/British invasion sound, or if you're mainly looking for an amp just for casual jamming, the Cambridge 30 would probably be the better buy for the money.
Hope that wasn't too long-winded!
The Cambridge 30 is a nice low (much lower) cost alternative, if you don't want to shell out the bucks for the "real thing" (don't mean that condescendingly). I've never played through one, but I hear a lot of good things about them; in fact, I was considering trying one out before I stumbled upon the too-good-to-pass-up deal with the AC30 (which would have been too expensive for me at the normal prices). As I understand it, they do have the trademark Vox sound, with the added versatility of reverb and an overdrive channel, but not quite with the same resonance/richness of tone, or the volume of the AC30 (would probably need to be miked for a full-blown band gig). So if you want that general trademark Vox sound, but you're not dead-set on nailing the absolutely perfect Beatles/British invasion sound, or if you're mainly looking for an amp just for casual jamming, the Cambridge 30 would probably be the better buy for the money.
Hope that wasn't too long-winded!
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chaazmo
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RickFan
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corey
I play my 360/6 though a Cambridge Reverb 30...got it for $575 Canadian... I find the "Vox sound" to be very good with the Ric. I have nothing against the more traditional Beatles sound, but I find this amp gives you something a little different for a lot less money. There is also PLENTY of beef volume wise to gig at a small venue with a Cambridge.
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corey
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ricnvolved
chaazmo-- When you get to the point that you feel the AC-30 is attainable, at least investigate the Cage Audio 18/00 series amplifiers, and the Dr.Z Maz series amps. From what I've learned through trusted sources, these amps have a definite Vox flavor in their tone. Comparably priced to a Vox AC-30 but supposedly much higher quality in all areas.
Why get an Vox AC30 or Cambridge 30 now? If you want and/or need that "exact" sound, then that's one thing, but there are much better values waiting out there for you if versatility and reliability are top priorities. Ask ANYBODY who has owned many different brands of amps, and Vox will be noted as among the most unreliable. The EL84 tube is not even rated for inverted operation, and guess how the Vox engineers mounted it? If you are stuck on traditions and sounds of the past, and are willing to pay the price for it, then get a Vox. Other brands have taken the lead for modern guitarists.
A cheap Kustom Tube 12 with a speaker changeout (Eminence Legend 875, Celestion Vintage 8, Jensen C8R-8) and a Korg AX1G pedal in front of it will outperform a Cambridge 30 or Pathfinder. Do what 1964 says and read the reviews on Harmony Central. The Marshall AVT20 is a better amp than the Cambridge 30 if you want a British amp. You can install an Eminence Legend B102 extended range bass guitar speaker in it and use it for guitar, bass, or whatever. See "DIY Do-It-All Practice Amp for Guitar, Bass, and Steel Guitar" under Rickenbacker Guitars on this forum.
The Traynor YCV40 costs about half of what an AC30 does, and is an award winning Canadian tube amp that can use 5881 tubes. Angela Instruments has NOS Philips/Sylvania JAN 5881 tubes on sale for $15 each right now. I have one and it sounds wonderful. The NOS 5881 tubes really make it howl. See the reviews on Harmony Central. My only caveat is that you change out the cheap Sovtek Russian tubes for better ones and tighten down all the loose screws that you can. Loose screws seem to be a problem in all the amps I have owned.
Are you in a Beatles cover band? If you want chimey jingle-jangle and a maintenance headache, get the Vox AC30. If you want more versatility, reliability, and power at a lower cost mounted in a superior Baltic birch plywood cabinet that weighs less and is smaller, get a Traynor YCV40, built by our neighbors in the Great White North, and backed by a great company in Yorkville Sound.
I also have a Marshall AVT50, and it deserves the credit it gets for being solid state yet sounding like hollow state, but it costs about the same as the Traynor YCV40 and does not match the sound or quality of construction. I got my YCV40 in almost new condition for $389 delivered. Good deals are available on the internet.
For a Canadian especially, nothing can come close to the value of a Traynor amp (except maybe a Garnet). They invented the master volume control in the late 60's. Elvis Presley's band used Traynors in the late 60's. That other famous Canadian amp manufacturer, Garnet, invented the original high gain effects unit in the Herzog, years before Mesa-Boogie came along and stuck something similar in an amp. It was co-designed by Randy Bachman of The Guess Who, and is heard on the song "No Time". Canadian amps are underappreciated, meaning you can get one at a real bargain price.
Fender, Vox, or Marshall is no longer an issue with me if value is a top priority. Traynor seems to have kicked their butts long ago, and are back in the running.
I would also prefer an old Ampeg over an old Fender, Vox, or Marshall. Ampeg sells at a discount on the used market because some people do not know how to make simple tube substitutions for the tubes peculiar to old Ampegs. The information is easily obtained on the internet. The old Ampeg SVT tube amp is still the Rolls Royce of tubed bass amps since the late 60's.
Don't believe me, believe those who have owned Vox amps and their competition. Pete Townshend supposedly started destroying amps with his guitars due to the frustrations he experienced with Vox amps that couln't make it through a concert without blowing up. Another person who posts on this forum admitted to me that every Vox amp he ever owned was very unreliable. The current Vox AC30 is built at the Marshall factory in England. I hope there have been improvements over the old Vox amps.
A cheap Kustom Tube 12 with a speaker changeout (Eminence Legend 875, Celestion Vintage 8, Jensen C8R-8) and a Korg AX1G pedal in front of it will outperform a Cambridge 30 or Pathfinder. Do what 1964 says and read the reviews on Harmony Central. The Marshall AVT20 is a better amp than the Cambridge 30 if you want a British amp. You can install an Eminence Legend B102 extended range bass guitar speaker in it and use it for guitar, bass, or whatever. See "DIY Do-It-All Practice Amp for Guitar, Bass, and Steel Guitar" under Rickenbacker Guitars on this forum.
The Traynor YCV40 costs about half of what an AC30 does, and is an award winning Canadian tube amp that can use 5881 tubes. Angela Instruments has NOS Philips/Sylvania JAN 5881 tubes on sale for $15 each right now. I have one and it sounds wonderful. The NOS 5881 tubes really make it howl. See the reviews on Harmony Central. My only caveat is that you change out the cheap Sovtek Russian tubes for better ones and tighten down all the loose screws that you can. Loose screws seem to be a problem in all the amps I have owned.
Are you in a Beatles cover band? If you want chimey jingle-jangle and a maintenance headache, get the Vox AC30. If you want more versatility, reliability, and power at a lower cost mounted in a superior Baltic birch plywood cabinet that weighs less and is smaller, get a Traynor YCV40, built by our neighbors in the Great White North, and backed by a great company in Yorkville Sound.
I also have a Marshall AVT50, and it deserves the credit it gets for being solid state yet sounding like hollow state, but it costs about the same as the Traynor YCV40 and does not match the sound or quality of construction. I got my YCV40 in almost new condition for $389 delivered. Good deals are available on the internet.
For a Canadian especially, nothing can come close to the value of a Traynor amp (except maybe a Garnet). They invented the master volume control in the late 60's. Elvis Presley's band used Traynors in the late 60's. That other famous Canadian amp manufacturer, Garnet, invented the original high gain effects unit in the Herzog, years before Mesa-Boogie came along and stuck something similar in an amp. It was co-designed by Randy Bachman of The Guess Who, and is heard on the song "No Time". Canadian amps are underappreciated, meaning you can get one at a real bargain price.
Fender, Vox, or Marshall is no longer an issue with me if value is a top priority. Traynor seems to have kicked their butts long ago, and are back in the running.
I would also prefer an old Ampeg over an old Fender, Vox, or Marshall. Ampeg sells at a discount on the used market because some people do not know how to make simple tube substitutions for the tubes peculiar to old Ampegs. The information is easily obtained on the internet. The old Ampeg SVT tube amp is still the Rolls Royce of tubed bass amps since the late 60's.
Don't believe me, believe those who have owned Vox amps and their competition. Pete Townshend supposedly started destroying amps with his guitars due to the frustrations he experienced with Vox amps that couln't make it through a concert without blowing up. Another person who posts on this forum admitted to me that every Vox amp he ever owned was very unreliable. The current Vox AC30 is built at the Marshall factory in England. I hope there have been improvements over the old Vox amps.
The Cambridge 30 represents good value. They have been discontinued but can be found used in the $200+ range and are available with one or two speakers. One word of caution, however. These amps frequently suffer from what the VOXtalk board calls "Cambridgitis". It uses an opto-isolator that has an extremely high failure rate. This can be cured by substitution of a more reliable Vactrol equivalent. All this is discussed in great detail on the Voxtalk board.
In addition, there is a low cost mod that will boost the power of this amp to 56 watts.
I recently acquired one of these amps suffering from this malady and performed the surgery myself. It turned out to be a nice little amp especially if you're on a budget. I'd rather have an AC-30, but it does offer good value with tube preamp, reverb, channel switching, and vibrato.
In addition, there is a low cost mod that will boost the power of this amp to 56 watts.
I recently acquired one of these amps suffering from this malady and performed the surgery myself. It turned out to be a nice little amp especially if you're on a budget. I'd rather have an AC-30, but it does offer good value with tube preamp, reverb, channel switching, and vibrato.
"Les is more"
Don't forget the versatility and great sound of the Vox Valvetronix. It's worth a look into. I'm sure you've checked out the Vox website. Rhoads also has a nice Vox offering, including a small and very affordable Pathfinder mini stack. Not really for purists, but something that has received favorable reviews.
Some great comments.
I'm currently living in New Zealand, and my local shop has new supplies of the Cambridge 30 Reverb (single only) at less than US$300, which is excellent pricing here, but of course it's only excellent if the product is reliable. And, I get the impression that the NZ distributor may have bought up the last production run of these.
I'm not short on amps that do the job for me, but I was specifically looking for Vox chime, and require more output than a Pathfinder's solid-state 15W through 8”. I have ordered one of the newly announced Vox Brian May Special "amps", and wanted to mate it up to a suitable amp to boost for small gigs (preferably with an extended range 10” speaker). However, the BMS seems as if it will serve my recording well, and I don’t *need* to mate it up to anything.
I haven’t yet tried any of the Cambridges or Pathfinbders myself, but some of those whose opinions I value have stated they sound pretty good, at least clean.
Currently, I use my Roland GC-405X (25W 8x5” stack) for small gigs, as it has that very good Roland clean sound, and its speaker configuration means it is suitable for electric and acoustic guitars, and keyboards. For modelling I am using my Johnson J-Station, which I’m happy with. So, in this respect, I’d be surprised if the Cambridge delivers something better or more useful.
For small-medium gigs, I currently use my Trace Elliot Velocette 12R (Class A 1x12” (same as older model Gibson Goldtone GA-15RV), which although somewhat Voxy, this amp has fallen out of favour with me.
That happened when I picked up a modified 1960’s NZ prototype amp, which I am told is based around the Vox AC-4 (4W Class A, EL84/EZ80/ECC83, 8” Rola alnico spkr. Mods: neg feedback loop switch, line out, ext spkr cab out). It sounds awesome, and I’ve even used it on small gigs, either through the PA or mic’d, but it naturally has virtually no headroom, especially with humbuckers. It sounds awsome through a big cab, and sometime I’m going to get a little 1x10” cab made.
I don’t like big, heavy amps, and I have no need for them, as I almost always have access to a PA and monitors, so the likes of and AC-30 are out of the question, even if I was able to devote the money.
At more than 47 lbs, my Warwick W-CL bass combo (150W, 12” speaker and HF horn) is heavier than I would like. As an aside, I must check it’s useable frequency response, and suitability for guitar, because if suitable I can probably model the sounds I need out of it.
I had been thinking of getting a little Orange AD15 to replace the TE/Gibson, and replacing the stock speaker with an extended range one, but these are three times the price of the Cambridge 30, at around the same price as a Valvetronix.
I have yet to try the Valvetronix, but I think it’s likely overkill and overly complex for my needs.
I’ve got a truly excellent amp tech, so modifying the Cambridge doesn’t phase me, as long as the mods are simple, inexpensive, and safe. If replacing the stock tube, and this opto-isolator *truly* make this amp toneful and reliable, then it sounds as if it might do the job for me. If the 56W mod is safe and reliable, and the stock speaker can handle it, then that sounds excellent too. Further down the line, I’d probably replace the speaker with an Eminence Legend 105 to extend the range.
Anyway, I’m in no rush to buy anything.
I'm currently living in New Zealand, and my local shop has new supplies of the Cambridge 30 Reverb (single only) at less than US$300, which is excellent pricing here, but of course it's only excellent if the product is reliable. And, I get the impression that the NZ distributor may have bought up the last production run of these.
I'm not short on amps that do the job for me, but I was specifically looking for Vox chime, and require more output than a Pathfinder's solid-state 15W through 8”. I have ordered one of the newly announced Vox Brian May Special "amps", and wanted to mate it up to a suitable amp to boost for small gigs (preferably with an extended range 10” speaker). However, the BMS seems as if it will serve my recording well, and I don’t *need* to mate it up to anything.
I haven’t yet tried any of the Cambridges or Pathfinbders myself, but some of those whose opinions I value have stated they sound pretty good, at least clean.
Currently, I use my Roland GC-405X (25W 8x5” stack) for small gigs, as it has that very good Roland clean sound, and its speaker configuration means it is suitable for electric and acoustic guitars, and keyboards. For modelling I am using my Johnson J-Station, which I’m happy with. So, in this respect, I’d be surprised if the Cambridge delivers something better or more useful.
For small-medium gigs, I currently use my Trace Elliot Velocette 12R (Class A 1x12” (same as older model Gibson Goldtone GA-15RV), which although somewhat Voxy, this amp has fallen out of favour with me.
That happened when I picked up a modified 1960’s NZ prototype amp, which I am told is based around the Vox AC-4 (4W Class A, EL84/EZ80/ECC83, 8” Rola alnico spkr. Mods: neg feedback loop switch, line out, ext spkr cab out). It sounds awesome, and I’ve even used it on small gigs, either through the PA or mic’d, but it naturally has virtually no headroom, especially with humbuckers. It sounds awsome through a big cab, and sometime I’m going to get a little 1x10” cab made.
I don’t like big, heavy amps, and I have no need for them, as I almost always have access to a PA and monitors, so the likes of and AC-30 are out of the question, even if I was able to devote the money.
At more than 47 lbs, my Warwick W-CL bass combo (150W, 12” speaker and HF horn) is heavier than I would like. As an aside, I must check it’s useable frequency response, and suitability for guitar, because if suitable I can probably model the sounds I need out of it.
I had been thinking of getting a little Orange AD15 to replace the TE/Gibson, and replacing the stock speaker with an extended range one, but these are three times the price of the Cambridge 30, at around the same price as a Valvetronix.
I have yet to try the Valvetronix, but I think it’s likely overkill and overly complex for my needs.
I’ve got a truly excellent amp tech, so modifying the Cambridge doesn’t phase me, as long as the mods are simple, inexpensive, and safe. If replacing the stock tube, and this opto-isolator *truly* make this amp toneful and reliable, then it sounds as if it might do the job for me. If the 56W mod is safe and reliable, and the stock speaker can handle it, then that sounds excellent too. Further down the line, I’d probably replace the speaker with an Eminence Legend 105 to extend the range.
Anyway, I’m in no rush to buy anything.