Cube amp

[Paulcc1]

Hi everyone I am thinking of getting a Roland Mirco cube or a cube amp any thoughts on these will help.
Thanks Paul :cool:

[MadHatter]

I have some students who have them...they seem to like them...
I've never played through one...

doesn't teleguy (steve) play his tele though a cube 60?
I seem to remember him saying that once he got over being a tube snob he really liked the cube 60, plus he could haul it around with needing a 1 ton dually truck with a crane on the back to do all the heavy lifting.

I guess it depends what you want to use it for...

I think if you don't have a lot of gear...and you want a simple rig, with some pretty good onboard effects, and you want it fairly light and inexpensive that the cube amps would be a good buy.

go try a few out and let us know how they sound

[stephen]

I guess it depends what you want to use it for...

How true!

If your looking for a good all around practice amp at home, its a good little solid state amp. It's probably more versatile than say the Fender Frontman series of amps, because it has more sounds (DSP type effects), but I would put it in the Frontman solid state amp catagory, for goos tone, and reliability.

I dont know about a "gig" type situation, or even playuing it in the P&W Band: I'd be concerned as to whether or not it could cut through the mix, especially if the drummer is aggressive. But then again, thats why they make PA's......

I would recomend that you try one out first too see if you like it. If I were you, I would take my guitar in to the guitar store, plug er in, and let it rip for while. Give it a good listen too, and bring a friend along to listen too.

I have heard many say how much they like there littel cube amps. You may like em too.

[Crunchyriff]

The Cube series amps are a great value & sound good. They have few drawbacks for what they do; but personally, I'd like the FX in them to be footswitchable, and they are not. For gigging, (and even practice) for me, this rules these out.

Another great non-tube alternative is the 1-12 Peavey Trans-Tube Bandit. These offer two distinct footswitchable channels (dirt & clean); plus a decent FX loop. Get a modest FX processor to compliment the Bandit and you're set.

[LiveOak]

I have a Roland Cube 15, which is a great little practice amp. I have used it for ALPHA meetings at our Church, as that is held in the great room area, which does not have a P.A. and it held it's own nicely. It is surprisingly loud for a solid state 15 watt amp.

My only complaint is that it does not have reverb. However, that is no biggie, as I just plug my Digitech RPx400 in front of it and then I have all the effects I need. I set the equalization settings on the amp to 5 so that it does not color the tone of the MFX when I use it, works great!

Depending on the size of your venue, you may want to go with the Cube 30 or 60, as they have more punch and also more built-in effects.

During our regular Sunday services in the Sanctuary, I don't use the amp but I use my RPx400 plugged directly into the mixing board, which works great.

[Ravindave_3600]

I don't have one, but listening to them they seem to be fine in small rooms, but get lost in big ones. So, keep that in mind (or buy yourself a good mic to stick in front of it).

[Teleguy]

I use a Cube 30 quite often.
It's lighter than the 60, but the 60 is loud enough to use in a loud band!

The 60 has a "Dyna-amp" model on it that the 30 doesn't. That Dyna setting KILLS for Rock & loud Blues! :cool:

I haven't tried out any of the newest "X" models yet, but the X-20 looks pretty interesting.
These things are pretty versatile and good sounding. I love the BF setting on most of them, and the Classic stack turned down is another fave. Real tube sounding.
'Course, it doesn't react like a tube amp, but they're gettin' closer all the time. It's just a bit too narrow at the breakup point to really milk it, but if you have enough time to set up properly in advance, you can be very pleased with the tones.

[MDK2323]

If your looking for a good all around practice amp at home, its a good little solid state amp. It's probably more versatile than say the Fender Frontman series of amps, because it has more sounds (DSP type effects)

IMHO, this is the perfect situation for one of these little guys. I had one for a while, and sold it for something that I wound up not liking much. I am considering another for home practice. They have alot of features. I would suggest the Cube 15 over the Micro Cube, unless you want the battery capabilities. The 15 is less expensive and has all the same features as far as I know, it just doesn't run on battery.

I say go for it!

[Brian]

The Cube series amps are a great value & sound good. They have few drawbacks for what they do; but personally, I'd like the FX in them to be footswitchable, and they are not. For gigging, (and even practice) for me, this rules these out...I use a Cube 30 quite often. It's lighter than the 60, but the 60 is loud enough to use in a loud band! The 60 has a "Dyna-amp" model on it that the 30 doesn't. That Dyna setting KILLS for Rock & loud Blues! :cool: These things are pretty versatile and good sounding. I love the BF setting on most of them, and the Classic stack turned down is another fave. Real tube sounding. 'Course, it doesn't react like a tube amp, but they're gettin' closer all the time. It's just a bit too narrow at the breakup point to really milk it, but if you have enough time to set up properly in advance, you can be very pleased with the tones.I agree with Randy and Steve about the sound of Roland's amps, think they are a great value, and can recommend them.

I bought my son the entry level(???) Roland VGA 3 (http://www.rolandus.com/uploads/CMS/Downloads/1573/vga3.pdf) from the Roland VGA series now unfortunately discontinued. It's 50 watts and also quite loud; keeps up with the young gun's Blue Voodoo for youth worship at mic'd stage levels. 1/2 the weight of my Boogie MKIIB, 3 year factory warranty too. 11 amp models and 10 guitar models with the Axon AIX-101/102 synthesizer pickup/driver I put on the early 80s MIJ Stratocaster I gave him. And Randy, besides the great Roland models, the cool thing about the VGA series was they were all MIDI compatible that I think would answer your concern about footswitchable effects. Even the entry level 3 model has 48 addresses to store custom patches, so I came up with a bank of addresses for the best amp models (BF Twin, Tweed Bassman, AC30TB, JMP1987, SLO100, and Dual Rectifier) on my RFC1 MIDI Mitigator (http://www.synthony.com/vintage/mitigator.html) (a real classic). He can select any of those amp model banks (all volume balanced & eq preset), clean or OD, then add any of the built-in Roland effects he wants (chorus, echo, flanger, phaser) from that bank. Even has a built in tuner. A nice thing about these modelling amps is they sound the same at low or hi volumes, making them a FINE church amp, and offsetting the lack of touch sensitive dynamic control that good tube amps provide. It's a REAL versatile setup. Man, I wish I could have had a setup like that 1st starting out. And for all those features it was cheap; $400 out the door. Big shame they discontinued the series.

[bek]

I use a Roland Cube 30 in our church P&W band, replacing a Marshall 50-watt 4210 combo (like driving a Ferrari in a parking lot -- my skills are inadequate). The 30 is great, easily keeps up with a loud drummer (as long as you're using humbuckers or hot singles -- my vintage-wind Tele pickups might not manage on the louder songs). We just played the music for a youth program in a schol gymnasium. The bass player uses a G&K 300-watt amp and 4-10 cabinet and the other guitar player (stock Epi LP) has a Valvestate amp into a 4-12 cabinet. I had to look out to hold the volume down to stay in-scale with everyone else, also using a stock Epi LP, staying below half or two-thirds volume on the amp and only above half on the guitar a few times (Strong Tower, Battle Cry and the Party Song). I would certainly consider trading up to the 60 for the DynaComp feature, the line out, the built-in tuner and the extra available clean headroom, but the 30 wouldn't hurt me if I stayed with it. I usually use the Twin emulation with Strats and Teles, and the Bassman with buckers.

[Jaybo]

Man, I wish I could have had a setup like that 1st starting out. And for all those features it was cheap; $400 out the door.

That is a GOOD deal!

The VG series stuff is SO far and away above the other modeling gear. It's hard to get away from your pickups, and guitar's tone - but for it's purpose, and for the tones themselves, it's amazing.

[MDK2323]

I bought my son the entry level(???) Roland VGA 3 (http://www.rolandus.com/uploads/CMS/Downloads/1573/vga3.pdf)

I saw one of those in a pawn shop a while back and really thought about taking it home, but I ended up with a little tube amp that I love. I'd really like to have one someday. Thanks for the info! :up:

[Mark From Hawaii]

I got my daughter a little Microcube 15 - the one you can power with AC or D cells. It's OK but I really like my VOX AD30VT for bang for the bucks. Try one of the Vox Valvtronix amps while trying the Cubes. ;)

[Paulcc1]

Well I skipped past the Roland and went with a Behringer V-TONE GMX110
30 Watts and a 10" JENSEN speaker. It does all that I want it to.
Thanks Paul

[davesg]

Well I skipped past the Roland and went with a Behringer V-TONE GMX110
30 Watts and a 10" JENSEN speaker. It does all that I want it to.
Thanks Paul
I've got one of those too. Good choice.