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Cornford Amplification Roadhouse 30 1x12 combo £799
Cornford’s new Roadhouse range puts that coveted tone and reliability into a more modestly priced package.
The MusicRadar Team, Tue 22 Apr 2008, 2:06 pm UTC
Cornford has successfully carved out a niche for itself at the top of the UK's boutique amp-building tree. Making its debut at this year's NAMM show in California, the Roadhouse range sees Cornford forsaking its traditional hand-wired circuits for the more affordable PCB - but money aside, can the new Roadhouse still cut the mustard?
On the outside, at least, there's little change from what we've come to expect from Cornford. The traditional maroon vinyl has been changed for black and the steel loudspeaker grille is now black fabric, but the Roadhouse's cabinet is as tough as ever, and very neatly put together.
It's also very substantial, measuring a good 40mm more than most combos front to back, and this extra depth means that it's not quite as portable as you'd expect.
Cornford's thick steel chassis is the same as ever, covered in a durable powder-coated finish with the panel lettering directly silk-screened onto it. Inside though, where you'd normally expect to see meticulous hand-wiring, almost all the Roadhouse's electronics are contained on one solidly supported and through-plated PCB, with a smaller board supporting the loudspeaker jacks.
The Roadhouse 30's controls are typical Cornford - simple and easy to understand, yet deceptively versatile. It's a single channel, with gain, master volume and a standard three-band EQ. The versatility comes in the shape of a footswitchable boost with its own gain control, and send and return sockets for the Roadhouse's series effects loop.
Move to the rear/underneath of the chassis and there's even more versatility with no less than five speaker outlets, covering practically every combination you'd need if you wanted to hook this amp up to external cabinets. Even with one used up for the Roadhouse's front-mounted Celestion V30, that's still three more than most amps give you these days.
Sounds
Powered up, the Roadhouse is practically noise free - something that is always a sign of a well-sorted circuit. The single-channel preamp's gain range is also very nicely balanced.
Using a regular Strat with medium output single-coils, you start to get a mild overdrive at around the halfway mark, making it easy to dial in exactly the right amount of response for that elusive 'nearly clean' bite. Humbuckers start to bite a little earlier - around 10 o'clock on the gain knob's travel.
The tone controls are very pleasing to use - you would think that all amps with treble, middle and bass knobs would have roughly the same kind of response, but that's a long way from the truth.
Sometimes you can almost hear the peaks and troughs between different frequency bands, but not on the Roadhouse's EQ. Here, treble, mid-range and bass combine seamlessly, making it easy to predict and repeat precise settings. It's very sweet and very musical with a good wide range, and is a delight to use.
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User comments (7)
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For some reason my review didn't show!
Anyway, I wished to say that I have my Roadhouse 30 Combo for a year now. I bought it on the basis of the original review that appeared in Guitarist.
At first I found it a little dark sounding, then two things happened. Firstly I coupled it to run in unison with an external 1x12 V30 cab and I acquired a little known Italian made pedal - PROEL DS-10 (distortion) that is really a clean boost. These two elements lifted the tone and increased articulation so much so that it sounds more like a Vox AC 30 when run clean-to mid range. I don't do metal.
This is a quality amp, beautifully made and resonant. The controls all interact and have a nice steady action. With my special setup, I was getting some nice chimey cleans and when connected in stereo with a Fender Super Champ XD, I get some nice Blackface tonal qualities. The SCXD has some excellent Fender effects such as reverb, tremolo and varitone and when I kick these into the mix, the absence of any reverb on the Cornford is non apparent. The sound from 3 speakers under this arrangement is also very pleasing.
I recently got a Fender SuperSonic but the circuit is so noisy compared to the Cornford.
The drive and gain on the Cornford have their own distinct sound. I get more rough and ready blues rock from the Super-Sonic but if you want to get close to a Marshall JTM 45, then this is the one I would turn to. So in a nutshell - Vox-to-classic 60's Marshall but with a cultured tone that blends well with other elements - and classically BRITISH! -
4 stars from me by the way!
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4 stars from me by the way!
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Roadhouse 30 - Not Bad, Not Great - Give it a miss.
I have to say, I had high expectations when I ordered this amp, based on Cornford's enviable reputation. With the stripped down, simple design and minimal features, along with this brand name and at this price point, it seems this amp's mission is to do just one thing and do it extremely well - deliver truly great, world-class all-tube lead guitar tone, in a somewhat more affordable package than the hand-wired amps Cornford makes. I was expecting juicy, complex, expressive, controllable breakup of preamp and output tubes, at least somewhat reminiscent of Dumble, Two-Rock, etc.
Unfortunately, after a few days of trying it out, I have found this amp's lead sound to be distinctly underwhelming. It has a decent preamp tube overdrive guitar tone, sure, but it's not notably different or unique, and frankly not as good as some when compared to tube amps (or some other types) costing far less. It does seem like a very well-constructed, reliable amp. I shouldn't need to point out however, that there is one hell of a lot of high-quality competition in this price range, with some really tremendous, flexible lead guitar tones and sophisticated, useful new features available at prices below $1000.
One thing I noticed is that almost all of the overdrive tone from this amp apparently is generated in the preamp tubes, with a gain structure that allows little if any overdrive of the output tubes - something that surprised me greatly. I noticed that the master volume control has very little effect on the amount of distortion - the real character of the tone does not change, and certainly does not improve, as any supposedly boutique tube amp should, when the master volume is turned up high - it becomes just slightly ratty, if anything, when pushed hard. This lack of output tube overdrive would seem to seriously hamstring an amp's ability to produce a great, complex lead tone, and is probably why the Roadhouse 30 overdrive has somewhat of a two-dimensional sound - more like an overdrive pedal than a top quality tube amp - without the controllable cascades of delicious harmonics one can elicit, even from an entry-level Fender all-tube amp when it's properly set up. This stands in contrast to the now common feature of many modern tube amps to provide various ingenious ways to produce delicious output-tube overdrive at controllable volume levels.
Bear in mind that I have been told that the amp I received is the actual piece that was used in the YouTube video demo at NAAMM by Guthrie Govan! This is not a case of maladjustment or factory defect.
I was anticipating something great, but instead feel great disappointment to discover that the Roadhouse 30 fails to live up to the promise of its brand name or this price point. I am not wealthy, so I will be returning this amp to the dealer, since it does not add anything unique or special to my current, modest amp rig, as I had hoped. It is worth it to me to absorb the cost of shipping it halfway across the country back to the dealer to get my $1500 back and to underscore the point that I don't think this amp design is ready for market. Yea, I do feel stung once again - can you tell? Man, I hate that! -
Roadhouse 30 - Not Bad, Not Great - Give it a miss.
I have to say, I had high expectations when I ordered this amp, based on Cornford's enviable reputation. With the stripped down, simple design and minimal features, along with this brand name and at this price point, it seems this amp's mission is to do just one thing and do it extremely well - deliver truly great, world-class all-tube lead guitar tone, in a somewhat more affordable package than the hand-wired amps Cornford makes. I was expecting juicy, complex, expressive, controllable breakup of preamp and output tubes, at least somewhat reminiscent of Dumble, Two-Rock, etc.
Unfortunately, after a few days of trying it out, I have found this amp's lead sound to be distinctly underwhelming. It has a decent preamp tube overdrive guitar tone, sure, but it's not notably different or unique, and frankly not as good as some when compared to tube amps (or some other types) costing far less. It does seem like a very well-constructed, reliable amp. I shouldn't need to point out however, that there is one hell of a lot of high-quality competition in this price range, with some really tremendous, flexible lead guitar tones and sophisticated, useful new features available at prices below $1000.
One thing I noticed is that almost all of the overdrive tone from this amp apparently is generated in the preamp tubes, with a gain structure that allows little if any overdrive of the output tubes - something that surprised me greatly. I noticed that the master volume control has very little effect on the amount of distortion - the real character of the tone does not change, and certainly does not improve, as any supposedly boutique tube amp should, when the master volume is turned up high - it becomes just slightly ratty, if anything, when pushed hard. This lack of output tube overdrive would seem to seriously hamstring an amp's ability to produce a great, complex lead tone, and is probably why the Roadhouse 30 overdrive has somewhat of a two-dimensional sound - more like an overdrive pedal than a top quality tube amp - without the controllable cascades of delicious harmonics one can elicit, even from an entry-level Fender all-tube amp when it's properly set up. This stands in contrast to the now common feature of many modern tube amps to provide various ingenious ways to produce delicious output-tube overdrive at controllable volume levels.
Bear in mind that I have been told that the amp I received is the actual piece that was used in the YouTube video demo at NAAMM by Guthrie Govan! This is not a case of maladjustment or factory defect.
I was anticipating something great, but instead feel great disappointment to discover that the Roadhouse 30 fails to live up to the promise of its brand name or this price point. I am not wealthy, so I will be returning this amp to the dealer, since it does not add anything unique or special to my current, modest amp rig, as I had hoped. It is worth it to me to absorb the cost of shipping it halfway across the country back to the dealer to get my $1500 back and to underscore the point that I don't think this amp design is ready for market. Yea, I do feel stung once again - can you tell? Man, I hate that! -
See previous comment
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I wish I could get one of those in Australia for the equivalent price, unfortunately once the shipping duty and all the taxes get added on it will be double the price!
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MusicRadar rating
Pros
Fabulous tone. Ease of use. Considering its performance, a price that's almost too good to be true.
Cons
For a 30-watt 1x12 it's a weighty beast and the extra deep cabinet makes it less portable than you might expect.
Verdict
Cornford does it yet again with a killer amp that totally delivers on every front. Miss this one at your peril!
Review Policy
All MusicRadar’s reviews are by independent product specialists, who are not aligned to any gear manufacturer or retailer. Our experts also write for renowned magazines such as Guitarist, Total Guitar, Computer Music, Future Music and Rhythm. All are part of Future PLC, the biggest publisher of music making magazines in the world.
User rating
Specification Show
Roadhouse 30 1x12 combo
- Price:
- £799
- Country of Origin:
- UK
- Device Type:
- All-valve single-channel combo with solid-state rectification, 3 x ECC83/12AX7 preamp valves, 2 x EL34 power valves
- Additional Features:
- Series effects loop
- Available Controls:
- Bass, Boost, Gain, Master, Middle, Treble
- Loudspeaker Type:
- 1 x Celestion V30
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HIEROGLYPH
20 weeks ago.
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