Roland Bass Cube 30

I just use the Trace Eliot setting no effects and this keeps me very happy.

I use it for small gigs (no drummers) and for practice.

My other amp is a Trace Elliot.

Aria Pro 5 string fretless.
Stingray 5 fretless.

Compared to listening straight using my monitors this amp improves the sound of the Aria Pro (the cheap one) but the Stingray is better direct. Shame there is no way to use this amp without any modeling going on.
Why not have a direct setting (maybe instead of the silly octave divider).

No problem

See above

The sound and weight are the big plus.



Minus . . .

The recording out is unbalanced. When I tried to use this for recording I suffered some (low level digital) gound loop noise which I could not cure. They should provide a proper balanced out if they want it to be taken seriously for recording.

Weight. This is a bass amp that needs no extra FX and that you can carry comfortably in 1 hand with your bass in the other.

Cubes have been around for a while. Mine is a recent model from around 2004. Some of the older cubes are straight amps and do not have the COSM amp modeling technology.

Lots of amp models, giving a total of 14 different sounds. FX - Compression, chorus/flange/t-wah & delay/reverb. 3-band EQ + Gain for overdrive. External-in for a 2nd sound source.

There's no volume for the 2nd sound source, which can be a pain. I use this a lot to play along to backing tracks.

I have a Hohner 5-string headless bass. The amp sounds great - as versatile as you would expect given the paper specification.

The only problem I have with this amp is that I need to stand 3-4 meters in front of it in order to hear what's going on at 'acoustic' levels. Stand next to it, and it's got to be so loud for me to hear it (playing next to a piano) that it's too loud once it gets to the audience. Jam in the living room with a couple of acoustic guitars, and I have to be at the opposite end of the room. Given that it's main asset is portability, this is a bit of a pain.

Perfect for church / folkies / jamming in your mates front room.
Live drums & amplified guitars? Forget it. This amp is not loud enough for that.

I've had Roland products for years. They are very robust. This is no exception, though I've only had it about 6 months.

Roland web support is all I've ever needed for downloading manuals. No complaints there.

If you travel around, play bass socially, at not-too-loud levels, this is an excellent amp. That's what I wanted it for - quality and portability. A better alternative than an acoustic bass for me.

If it was stolen, I would be a bit more rigorous in testing different amps, but despite the issues with positioning the amp, I reckon nothing will beat it for sound, portability and build quality, and I'll still be prepared to pay a bit extra for those features.

This amp does everything except LOUD.

Presumably a 2006 model. I play rock and jazz. I will primarily use this amp for jazz with either another guitar player or acoustic piano. The amp is pretty darn versatile considering its size and price. The amp modeling should give you an option that you're happy with. There's one channel and it has on-board chorus, flange, delay and reverb.

If this thing had a tuner, it would be the ultimate portable practice amp! This is a 30w amp. It is powerful enough to compete with an acoustic piano. It will be fine with another guitar player (provided he is at tame volumes.) I suspect (although I have not tried it) that it would be fine in a setting with drums that are not played at high rock volumes. The point is, this is not a loud amp, but it is a good sounding amp and has enough volume for practicing situations and living room concerts. It has enough power for me considering what I need to use it for (as just described.) It's about 26 lbs., so it's light. I plan to pack it in my duffle bag for an airline trip to my buddy's place. Should be perfect for that.

10" speaker with a horn. It sounds nice. It makes me want to pick up my bass and play. This is my 3rd "rig". I have a 4x10 1200w setup for shows, and it only gets set up for shows. I have a Hartke Kickback 12 that I leave at the rehearsal room. I was never happy about setting that up to practice or travelling with it. The Roland cube 30 is perfect to pull out, plug in and play. It should travel well too.

The power cord is permanently attached, which I don't like, but the cable is long, and there are posts on the back to wind it up on.

I primarily use a Fender J-bass standard (made in Mexico). I practice rock/classic rock for my one band on it and it's great. I will actually use it for jazz as well with my buddy who plays electric guitar. Not noisy. The signal is pretty clean. The effects, although not first-class, are good. They're a lot of fun without having a bunch of pedals to trip over. They are also very intuitive to use.

I haven't had it long, but it looks solid. I think I'd risk going without a backup.

No experience.

I've been playing bass for 3 years, but piano for over 30. I'm new to bass, but not new to music. I love the low weight and the good sound that comes out of it compared to its weight, power, and size. I needed something that fit that description: light, low cubic inches, but I did not need a lot of power, just a good strong, decent tone. I looked at various other options (SWR-LA-10, and a few others...) but this amp is the lightest and nearly the smallerst in cubic inches. It has more features. Most retailers are selling them for $300, which I think is a good value. I got mine new on ebay for $190, which includes shipping. Go figure, I was shocked it came in that low.

Like I said before, if this had a tuner, it would be complete bass practicing joy in a box, but this already is making me want to take it out and practice. I can use headphones as well. There's something about playing through an amp (as opposed to the headphone amp) that is joyous. And now I can do that very easily without hauling out my quirky Harkte Kickback (great tone, crummy jack!) or the SWR 4x10 monster.

I was skeptical that Roland (my primary keyboard vendor) would put out a decent bass amp, but my experience with Roland keyboards is very postive, so I gave it a shot, and I'm pleased.

This was the amp that I've been searching for for 2 years. Remember: not powerful, more fun, home practice or living-room concerts than something you could use on stage.

Extremely versatile. 7 different models. I wish I could control the ratio between the lower octave on the first COSM model, but other than that, it's great. I highly recommend it for small gigs and recording. For recording, it gives off a surprisingly great sound, with outstanding lows and a very present, solid sound. And with the modeling, it's extremely versatile. For such a tiny amp, it has an awesome sound, and is *perfect* for recording. Also, the Aux Input allows you to play keyboards through it, and since the amp has a tweeter, keyboards sound full.

I'm using an Ibanez bass, not sure what kind. This should suit just about any musical style because of its aforementioned versatility. The Cube 30 exhibits a little bit of hiss when playing, but when not playing, it is perfectly quiet. This is actually the only aspect I dislike about what is otherwise an incredible bass amp. As previously mentioned, you may use the Aux In for keyboards, and it sounds great. The Record Out sounds surprisingly great (I usually dislike direct bass, but would have no hesitation about recording direct with this).

I just got it, and have only played it for several hours. It seems rock solid!!

I've been playing and recording for approximately 15 years. If stolen or lost, I would definitely get another one immediately. I chose this unit because I wanted something that was small but still sounded great on bass and keyboards.

Unsure of what year the amp is, but I bought this new in June 2004 and have had it for 16 months. I think the other reviewers have already covered the numerous features of this amp.

The 6 modeled amps feature combined with the 3 band EQ and compression is great to help you get the sound you are after in your playing. I play primarily rock and funk using both my fingers and a plectrum (including some slap/pop thrown in) and this amp handles those styles well.

The Chorus, Flanger, T-wah and delay are great additions to this amp, as I've already created a number of basslines using these effects. As a result of seeing what each of these effects can do, I'll be buying an EBS Bass IQ Envelope Filter and DigiTech BP200 Bass Multi-Effects Pedal soon when I upgrade to a bigger amp.

The only downside I can see to this amp as mentioned previously, is that the octaver is a model and not an effect, so I can't change the levels of it. Apart from that, I love everything else about this amp.

I currently run an Ibanez SR900 with active pickups into it and I can get some great sounds from this amp. With the active pickups I can get a range of sounds from a great rock sound to a fat, funk sound.

Even though this amp is only 30w, I never need to have the volume turned up past halfway (+ gain 1/4) to get a loud, warm sound form it. I use this amp when jamming with 2 guitarists (50w Marshall tube amp which he keeps down luckily/ and a crappy 15w Ibanez amp) and a drummer and can be heard fine without having to crank it to distortion. I've even played with it at a small gig and it held up fine.

This is the most sturdiest little amp I've seen. It's taken alot of heavy knocks including repeatedly smashing into things in the car when I've forgotten to tie it down. After all this abuse all it's had to show is a few scuff marks and not one dent. I wouldn't be suprised if you could roll it down a few flights of stairs and find it unscathed and still playing perfectly.

I've never had to deal with Roland before so can't comment

I've been playing for a bit over 3 1/2 years and have not had complaints with this amp since I've had it. If someone stole it I would knock them down and drop the cube on them, leaving them with shattered bones from the weight of this little monster. At the stage I'm at with my playing I wouldn't buy another as I'll be looking for something which I can gig with soon. But if I was happy just playing on my own and using it for the occasional jam with mates, then I would definately buy another.

If you are a beginner and looking for an amp, definately go with this. It has a few effects which have really helped in deciding what effect boxes I wanted. It'll also give you a great sound which most other amps this size/price can't give. However, even if you're not a beginner and are just looking to play on your own or with a few mates, this amp is great for it.

Very good quality. Bought it seconds after I finished to try it in the shop. It's an amp designed for your room, not at all for gigs and it does what it has been designed for more than very well. The features are as described above so I won't be long on that subject.
And the 30W are really powerful 30W, unless you're deaf, you won't have to turn up the volume.

My gear is Tune TB5 bass - ProCo Vintage Rat - EHX Big Muff Pi.
I play everything from Doom etal to Rock and Fusion, never had to think of buying another amp. Perhaps an equalizer with more than bass/mid/treble vould make it even more versatile but it's only to say that nothing is perfect in this world.

The only problem I find annoying is that two of the 6 modelisations are noisy. When you play you can forget this buzz if you are not a fanatic of perfect sounds but when you don't, the buzz is there. And (unless I'm really not lucky) I found this flaw on the three different Cube 30 I have tried.

Never had any problem but I bought it only 6 months ago... It looks as solid as rock. It's not intended for use on a gig, so no backup is necessary :)

Never had to deal with them

I've been playing bass guitar for 3 1/2 year, I have used many amps that I've been allowed to use before buying mine: Fender BXR 100, Peavey TNT160 and twice on a gig, I played on a Trace Elliot and a Warwick. This amp is far better than the two first and I have no advice for the 2 others (the Warwick was more punchy than the Cube) since I played about 2 hours on each, worried more about the mistakes my drummer made than about my sound so...

It's really an excellent amp but as I said, only for your room, not for a band with a drummer. If mine was destroyed or stolen, I'll go straight to the nearest store buy another one.

I use this little beast on gigs, albeit in small rooms with acoustic bands. Haven't tried it with a drummer but certainly wouldn't be afraid to, were he playing softly or with brushes. One option is miking it through the P.A. Having said that, these still are the loudest thirty watts I've ever heard come out of a transistor amp. This is easily the most versatile amp I have played, or even heard of, for that matter. The models I have used are very close to the originals- even the Ampeg SVT 8X10, and that is the amp that I played nightly for several years. I have the most fun just playing this thing for my old musician buddies. Having never played an SWR and having little Trace Elliott experience, I can't vouch for those positions, but they still sound good to my ears. There is a "notch" setting for each of the seven positions but, to me, that just means "interesting variation". After a year I'm still experimenting. The only feature I really wish it had is the ability to footswitch between the COSM models, or a second channel with fundamental tone variations, but I'm being picky there. I seem to use the Acoustic 360 setting for an acoustic tone, the Fliptop and B-man settings for nearly everything else. But I do have a lot of fun experimenting. It's just that, on a gig, I'm the kind of player who gets a tone he likes, then deals with other issues.

I've used this amp with a variety of instruments: a '53 P-bass, a new American Jazz, a Takemine "acoustic" and others. I build guitars and basses for a living and usually try new pickups through the Cube 30 and they all sound good. In fact, it lives next to my workbench and is what I use to test circuits on finished instruments. Doesn't sound like much with a six-string transducer type (without a preamp), but electric guitars, basses and preamped acoustics all are fine. One exception is my Wechter Pathmaker with Artec 3-way circuit and I don't know why that is. I will say I've never had occasion to try it with a low 5-string bass but it wouldn't surprise me (much) if it pulled that off as well.

Just as a gut feeling, I would be mightily surprised if I ever had any maintenance problems with this. I have no cover for it, it rides wherever in the car there is room and gets dropped, kicked and abused just like the big boys. There are even cleats on the back for wrapping the power cord! I've had big amps from big companies that didn't have this essential feature. This, to me, speaks volumes about Roland's attitude toward their customers.

Never given it a thought.

I've been playing since puberty, as soon as I saw the Beatles and the Stoned make little girls scream, cry and pee their pants. This includes a dozen years full-time pro, playing mostly rock and blues, on the road, using big tube amps. Of bass amps, I've also got an SVT III Pro (which is great), a Hartke 120 Kickback (which is... not as bad as popular wisdom says it is) and a '59 Bassman clone that I made. If it were stolen I would find the perpetrator and make him pay. Then I'd take the money and buy another one- you betcha. The Roland Cube 30 is, as far as I know, absolutely unique. The next amp I buy will probably be a yet-to-be-produced 100 watt tube rig with all the Cube's features. Until then, I'm fine.

As already stated by previous reviewers. Bought in February 2005.
Cost me #169 from a store's website rather than #199 if I bought
in the store. And guess what ! I still picked it up at the store, to
avoid postage costs.

Using it as a practise amp with a Fender Hot Rod P.Bass. It will suit anyone's style as it has several famous amp. simulations in it.It is
noiseless in operation, but I have only used it up to half volume. It
can get quite loud for a 30w Solid-state amp. All the sounds are very good & it is very good value for money. A bonus, which I found by accident, is that it also makes a darned good Electro-acoustic guitar amp. There is enough high treble in some of the amp models to give an
excellent acoustic sound. No good for electric guitar, though.

Roland reputation precedes it.

Never dealt with them.

It's great. I'd buy it again without a second thought !

The web spec looks amazing and the popularity of this combo on Ebay made me very interested. Currently using a Carlsbro Stingray Super into a hefty '2x12' for practice - I decided I needed something more portable! The brochure spec has it all - the Boss standard 'floorboard' stuff - all in one box with a little amp and speaker! The COSM modelling of popular historic amps was a challenging feature It all comes in a super, robust-looking, well-trimmed package. But that was it for me........

My local store had the 'Bass Cube' and I tried a (very nasty!) Squier P-bass into it. What an amazing disappointment! The low end is handled so poorly that there was an audible roll-off of volume from the top 'E' to the open position on the 'E' string. It was hopeless! There is plenty of kick in the mid- and high-end and definition is near-perfect but the lack of any real low frequency handling (on the unit I tried) was a major disappointment.

But that wasn't the worst (I could always slave into my Carlsbro after all) but somewhere in the signal path, Roland have put a noise compressor in - apparently to hide the hiss introduced by those effects! If you listen (none-too-carefully!) and leave the strings alone, everything is nice and quiet. You then barely more than breathe on the strings and the hiss shoots up even on the lead channel when clean. Again, this <might> have been just the unit on trial, but it sounded like Roland had trouble with the inherent noise of all those effects sitting in the path and decided to put an AGC on to mask it! Sorry, me this combo does not work!

No experience, but I expect this little box will churn-out hiss for as long as you want it to :-(

This is a very low-cost way of getting lots of effects in a compact practice amp. In my opinion, that bundle comes with an insurmountable 'downside' in that the system noise of the unit is unacceptably high (on the sample tried and tested). I did not buy it! I was very sorry my expectations weren't met by this prestigious brand.

Adrenalin should not stop you from taking your time in the store to REALLY play each feature it brags about. 6 effects, but only 2 playable per session, 7 amp models but not really too tweakable. As a practice or recording amp (for its price)is a HEAVEN SENT GIFT... a perfect 10 !! Any other purposes it is about a "6".

THE PICKUP STYLE I am using is Seymour Duncan.
I Play jazz to rock to some blues.
The amp is not noisy all, pretty good sounding.
Read above about the variety.

Looks well built. I love Roland/Boss!

I own the Boss BR1180-CDR, JS5 Jam Station, SEVERAL BOSS floor pedals, 2 Roland keyboards, The V-Wah Pedal ect ect. Not ONE EVER failed me.

I have been playing for 12 years, I get tired of lugging around my Hartke B90 combo, I use my Hartke 3500 Head/ 15" and 4x10" stacks for live. For practice and recording this little buddy plugs into a mixer REALLY NICE !!! (a weighs soooo little)