Roland BC-30 BluesCube

I dig the bageebers outta this amp! The U.P.S. guy brought it fifteen minutes before I had to go to work, so as I ripped the box open and frantically plugged in, I was consumed by the clean sound, and the versitility of the distortion blew me away! Thought about the lack of reverb, and it would only mask the highlights of the clean and distortion. It didn't really need the reverb. There are many pedals out there that deal with effects, one I'd suggest is the Boss acoustic simulator, that way you have an acoustic sound too!

I've got a Mex Strat with Tex special pickups, and a '76 Paul deluxe that I run with the acustic simulator on some stuff. We play anything from Ain't Misbehavin', to Jesus is Just Alright, to Cold on the Shoulder, and Turn Your Lights On! We have 5 guitars, drums, keyboard, banjo, mandolin,and there is plenty of volume, and versatility! The blend of footswitchable clean, and ultra-controlled distortion volumes are JUST what I needed. I'm seriously considering a backup, so I have a new one if ever anything happens to this one, and if not, I'll have one amp for each of my sons!

I also have a Roland JC 77 that I like alot,I bought it new, and never had any problem with it, so I really feel assured the BC-30 will do just fine! The JC was bought in '84 or '85. As with any tech piece, if you take care of it it takes care of you! I also have a Schwinn Fastback that I bought in'68, it works just fine too!

I don't think I'll ever need custi support, but I've got a feeling they would be as solid as their product.

This is THE amp.The sound is better than what I hoped for, Tote-ability is great, intelligent choice of blend of speaker size, and power. One thing on all amps I've seen, I wish they would put a longer cord on the rascals, go for ten or twelve feet. And give a cover with the purchase! Don't make it an option, people need to take care of the things they love, and I don't remember a cover even offered. Make it a good one too, not just a cheap "easy rip", people will notice especially people that have bought other amps. You'll hear "Man, you got that with the amp? I had to pay extra for this peice of........shtuff!"

Made in 1999, two channels, three band EQ, a bridge switch for the clean channel, a master volume and a presence knob. Footswitchable (but doesn't come with one). A very basic amp, for the price its an 8.

I'm using this amp with a Strat with american stock pickups, the tone is ridiculously good for a solid state amp - it feels more tube-ish than many inexpensive tube amps. You can get a pretty wide variety of tones, but metal and hard rock is out of the picture unless you use a pedal.

There is, however, quite a bit of cabinet rattle when the bass is turned up.

The covering is plastic, the grill is a bit loose, but overall it seems very solid as long as you don't drop it down a flight of stairs.

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A reverb would have been nice. However, for 200 bucks this is about as tone-ful an amp as you can get. The 30 watts is not a problem, as it sounds louder than it looks.

The features are well documented in the other reviews. Mine is the 2x10 version. 20 inches of speaker versus 12, it might be a little louder than the 1x12 version if that's of importance. Has enough features for me. Doesn't come with a footswitch, which is a pain.

My signal chain is: Godin SDxt > George L's cable > Blues Cube. No effects. My favourite players are Eric Johnson, Allan Holdsworth, Michael Hedges, Alex de Grassi, David Torn and a few others... essentially players with their own sound and style. I think this amp sounds great. The Normal channel is in the Fender ballpark, and with the level on 12 (one more than Mr. Tufnell's Marshall) it breaks up a little in quite a natural way. Back it off and it's very clean. Complex chords ring through nicely, and with the H/S/H pickup layout of my guitar, I can get quite a few good sounds. Responds well do pick attack and volume pot changes, but that's just as dependent on the guitar. The Lead channel can go from a purring, low gain blues tone, to a smooth Robben Ford-style singing tone to a fairly ballsy grind. Quite versatile, but not enough gain for metal (otherwise it would be the Metal Cube I s'pose...). The EQ is quite effective, and it's great having a bright switch on the Normal channel - makes it easier to get a glassy clean sound without eardrum-shredding treble on the Lead channel. As others have mentioned, these amps have good bass response. I think it sounds good; makes it sound bigger than it really is, but others may want to turn the Bass control down.

I only use it at home, and it has never had any problems. Designed and assembled in the USA, so *hopefully* this equates to good quality. It's very well built from what I can tell.

Never dealt with Roland.

I've been playing for about 16 years, many styles in that time. Currently play Hedges/deGrassi-style acoustic fingerstyle and EJ/Holdsworth-influenced electric guitar. Write my own music for the most part.

Plain and simple, I think this amp sounds very good. At the end of the day, I can plug into the Blues Cube, close my eyes, and listen to the fact that I have MY sound coming out of the speakers. This amp translates what I do on the guitar (well or not so well), and it comes out in a very musical way. Whether it runs on tubes, transistors, a mouse running in a wheel, who cares. It sounds good, it is good. Good design, the basics are there without the fluff (although the BC60 has more features... I might buy one of those too if I see one used). Obviously it's aimed at blues players, but I could see jazz, country and rock guitarists finding great tones too.

My humble opinion is that many blues players (especially todays well-heeled doctor/lawyer types) buy gear with their eyes, not their ears. They woudn't be caught dead with a Blues Cube because it isn't tube or handwired or whatever. Many of these amps ended up with home players on a budget (like me). Try one if you see one used, they go for very reasonable prices and most are in excellent condition and have not been gigged. Well worth it, a fantastic little amp!

All the stuff on the amp people have already gotten to. It's a very versatile amp. The band I play in does a lot of late-60's blues, with a lot of funk thrown in. We cover a pretty wide range of styles too. This amp takes care of it all. I do wish it had a reverb though. My old crap amp had it, and I used it a lot. It has more than enough power than what I need. I'm coming over a drum set and a bass, not too much to worry about. I really love the tone, I found it in the used section of a music store and curiously plugged in. I was blown away by just the clean channel, not to mention when I hit the dirty. This amp does it all.

I'm playing a Fender Strat (Mexican) through it, stock pickups. I get a really good tone. This amp really is a blues machine. It can also cover some good rock ground. My pickups cause a little bit of a buzz, but nothing a pedal can't fix. The distortion blows me out. I've yet to pick up a footswitch for it, but it's worth the trip to the little button.

Never had any problems.

n/a

One hell of a great amp.

The only thing lacking in terms of features would be an internal reverb unit but Roland probably wanted to keep the price point down so they left it out. To do justice to the amp they would have to put a very good reverb in there and that would put the price way up.

I play a mixture of 50s and 60s smokey jazz (Jimmy Raney, Grant Green, Kenny Burrell) and a wierd jazz meets pop meets Brazil meets techo meets Musette style etc,... and this amp does it all very well. I play a Washburn Memphis with two stock P90s and I don't think those pickups pull all the tone out that is available in the amp. Ditto for the Epiphone Les Paul Standard I use (with stock, muddy pickups). The amp does emphasize the low end so I keep the Bass controls at 2 and the middle between zero and 2 with the treble at 6. The presence dial - which I thought didn't do anything at first - is between 10 and 12 beause it gives the notes a real edgy, glassy tone that I love. Very retro sounding. With the volume at 5 or 6 and the Master at 4 or 5 you get a little warm distortion at times that add to the effect.

No problems so far and I have had the amp for two years. Not very hard on it though

never had to use it so don't know.

I have been playing for 29 years and having gone through the whole period of racks of reverbs, pedals, whammy bars, and the kitchen sink I have scaled back to the amp, a guitar and a cheap vibrato pedal and that is it. The reverb I add through the mixing board.

This is an addendum to an earlier review that I posted for a 2x10 Roland BC-30 that I purchased used. Bass, Middle, Treble, Presence, Master Volume, Bright switch, channel switch and pre and post-volume controls for distortion channel.

I am posting an addendum to my earlier review because I recently purchased a Heritage 550 Custom with Shalller pickups and I am using the BLues Cube exclusively for that in performance situations.
What the consumer should know is that if you are using this amp to get clean jazz tones with a humbucking guitar, you have to tone down the bass and middle to 0 to 2 and hold the treble around 6 or 7, period. It's best if you can keep the master volume around 5 and raise the volume as desired. However, I have had to crank both and have come out with an occasional overdriven chord or note where perhaps I had not desired one. In any event, this thing continues to amaze me in the pleasing tones that it can conjure up. Once I am properly dialed in with the lower bass and middle and the presence rolled off to 3, I get that clarity and warmth that I'm searching for in a jazz tone. My prior review was predominatnly based on my uise of this amp with a P90 equipped jazz box, which I sold to obtain this wonderful Heritage guitar, and a couple of strats, including a 2001 American Series Strat and a strat with Van Zandt BLues pickups. With standard humbuckers you have to be a bit more aware of this amp's tendency to boom out notes and be too heavy on the bottom end. Even with the bass and mid rolled off you still get enough bottom end. I was disappointed initially with the pairing of this amp and the Heritage until fuirther tweaking revealed what could be done. Again, I simply cannot figure out how I got such a good amp for such a great price.

I'm unclear how long Rolands' made these amps, but it is definatly a gem. It is one of THE most versatile amps I've ever run across. It's a two-channel w/a single 12in speaker & it does have channel switching. The amp is perfect for my tastes & style. It's simple, but extremely effective. It behaves exactly like a tube-amp. The most impressive solid state amp I've ever owned.

I play a stock SG through it. It's a very versatile amp for many stles of music, it's great for me with my playing blues & jazz through it. It's a very transparent amp & SUPER quiet. The clean channel stays clean & the gain channel is a pleasure to tweak with & easy to use. It get's anything from a 59 bassman all the way to a Laney stack with it's vicious distortion capabilities.

This is a very well constructed amp. I would definatly feel confident using it a gig without a backup. It's never broken down & I haven't heard of anyone else saying it either unless it was beaten on.

I've never dealt with the company & am unsure if Roland even makes these amps still. The repair centers are easily found though in case someone should have a problem. Since I bought the amp used, I have no idea about the warranty.

I've been playing for 19 years. The only other gear I currently own is a Gibson SG, a danelectro slap echo pedal, a vox wah, & a danelectro tremolo pedal. It any of my gear was stolen or lost, I'd definatly replace it. After comparing it to other amps such as Fender & Crate, the sound quality was so much fuller & overall better. I can't think of anything to improve it, it's perfect.

American designed and asembled,this amp meets my expectations and after reading a review below from another 'old Faht' like me who has played more than 30 years,and has owned the earlier amps,I needed to know if what he said was true and sounds as good as the classics.YES IT DOES!.....It's a solid state diamond in the rough,and roland said they didn't try to emulate vintage gear,but to take the characteristics of tweeds,blackface and plexis along with a celestion style vintage speaker,mix it all together in a potpouri of elecronic wonder,and come up with the real deal.YES THEY DID!It's 30 watts of loud power able to fill a small auditorium or larger one miked.I use it in a garage when the classic rock band gets together and my office inbetween times.

I play a strat through this beauty and it has'THAT'sound.Warm,fat,articulate and glassy.For blues,rock,jazz,YOU need this amp.It has 2 channels that allow you to have it clean and it will break up in either.If you are in channel 1 and have the vol.on 10 and put the master on 3,it gets a full,warm,glassy tone .If you put the vol on 3 and the master on 10,you get the same tone with a wonderful glassy breakup at low volumes and it truly sounds like a'BIG'amp in a small package.Channel 2 is the overdrive channel that has a fairly transparent and flowing drive from mild to mayhem.A clean sound may be obtained by reversing the pre and post gain knobs.One thing I look for that's difficult to find in many of todays amps,is a good low end that's not muddy,yet full and round and you can actually hear a difference between 1 and 5 and 5 and 10 on the controls.With this amp,you can do that.The eq works well together in that you can hear each (bass,mid,treble) separation clearly.I have a Peavey Ranger 212,that is a terrific tube amp and I wanted something light to carry around that has 'tube tone' and this fits the bill and is a nice compliment to it.It weighs about 32 lbs.with a large carrying handle that makes it easy to carry.No bells and whistles like line out,effects loop,speaker jack or reverb.I Would like to have the latter 2.Works well with effects and if you add a delay and a fuzz face,you'll be rockin with the big boys!

Haven't tried,but like any co.that's been around along time with a good reputation and stands by their product,with a little patience and common courtesy on the phone,I would expect them to come through.

Been playing 35 yrs,would buy another if lost or stolen.It's portable and light to carry,versatile in the sound dept.Would like to see reverb,speaker jack and footswitch come with it,as it's a quality product compared to some brands that have those features.Compared to Vox,Marshall,Fender S.S. amps,this one truly has the vintage feel and sound.Get one for fun!

Portable solid state amp with Roland Tube-Logic, 2 10 inch speakers said to be replicas of vintage greenback speakers, clean and gain channel with gain channel controlled by presence knob, bright switch, one input. This amp is not overloaded with features, but like a good jazz or blues guitar, it just gives you the tone that you want, period. There is a great deal of variety however in achievable tones and a little tweaking can result in widely varying sounds.
Great tone for jazzers and blues guitarists. Remember that these were once endorsed by George Benson.

I'm a jazz and blues player who plays an L-5 style archtop with P 90 pickups and a couple of Fender strats, including a customized strat with Van Zandt Blues pickups, and a new 2001 strat with Delta Tone pickups. I was looking for a portable solid state amp that I could use in performance situations and which would enable me to pierce through the sounds of three saxophones -all miked- two drummers, an electric pianist, two bassists, and four singers. No kidding. Could 30 watts do it? You bet. With the Blues Cube I more than held my own and actually pierced through the din!
Without using the gain channel and by simply turning the amp up to 8 and my guitar on max I was able to ring through with a warm tube-emulating sound. In fact at higher volumes I experienced a little "tube" overdrive tone coming from my amp, especially with the Van Zandts. The gain settings yield a little more of that classic tubescreamer tone but you have to be careful not to go wild with the presence knob. Most of the time, for the jazz tones I want, I'm rolling off the bass and middle and keeping the treble at noon. My Van Zandts tend tot he darkside and my P90s really thump and feedback when the bass is cranked.
Does this amp effectively emulate classic tube sounds? A solid state amp will never get the complete warmth of tube, but this amp comes so much closer to approximating those sounds than you might expect. Side by side with my Fender DeVille I have to confess that the Roland holds its own. Jazzers tend to favor solid state, both for portability and tone, and for my jazz ears this amp really does the job. There are certain sound dimensions that only a tube amp can get for you, and I probably wouldn't consider this amp if I wanted an overly gainy sound. If you're looking for somethng clean and warm with a lot more depth than you might experience from a solid state, this is your amp.

Tough amp with corner protectors. No problems so far and I bought it used.

N/A

I've been playing for some 25 years and in the past seven have become serious about woodshedding and playing jazz. I know what I want to hear, and it's blend of the warmth of traditional jazz guitar and the bite and sustain of the blues. With a strat in my hand and plugged into a Blues Cube I'm right there in tone heaven. I feel guilty almost that I didn't have to spend another grand to get the tone I wanted! When I purchased it I tried it side by side with a polytone mini brute, playing an Ibanez ES 175 lawsuit copy gutiar through both and the Roland simply blew the Polytone away. I really don't know why these amps never made it big or circulated widely in the community of jazz guitarists. It simply satisfies all of my needs, for tone, volume, and portability. Because I'm not the sort of player who's into reverb, tremolo, and other effects I wanted something that just came right out with the tone!
I would buy another if lost or stolen.

new bc 30, 1 x 12 speaker. 2 channels, clean and lead. not much else. wish it had reverb.

using a '79 strat it sounds great, warm and full on the clean channel. lead channel goes from some breakup to full distortion and harmonics. using a gibson es 135 with humbuckers it can be close to a jazzy tone on the clean channel. go to the lead channel and dial the gain up and you have blues overdrive for days. great full rythum chunk with as much distortion as you want. to rolands credit, they have a handy chart in the owners manual with suggested settings to help you get started, rock, blues, rock styleblues, and country. not knowing much else, these were a big help. this amp produces a lot of useable tones, from rock to blues to almost jazz tone. the clean channel will even break up a bit in full gain position. haven't found out how loud it can really go yet. played a jam session with 5 other guitars going and it was not even working to be heard. for me, a rotten musician who can't nail any sound but enjoys playing, this gizmo is the best amp i've owned. one reason i like it is because i can operate it and get tones i like and can use in any style i try to play in. some amps i've tried out are literally over my head so that at times it seems as if i am unable to make the dumb thing produce the type of tone i want. the blues cube for me is user friendly.

seems very sturdy. time will tell.

no experience here. warranty is 3 years parts and labor.

trying to play for over 30 years. lots of stuff. this amp is portable. sounds great. cheap. sturdy.