Roland BC-30 BluesCube

Not much for features. LOL. If you buy for tone then it will not disappoint. Channel volumes and master volume. Presence control. Works with a simple footswitch to change channels. Sensitive to guitarist's playing.

Too good to be true. Plenty loud. Both channels are good. Other people say you don't need pedals with it. True. You almost don't want to spoil it with a pedal. LOL. But it works real good with pedals if that's what you like.
I can't praise the tone of this amp enough. It doesn't need nothing added. Wow.

I always wanted a blues cube since they came out. When I saw this for sale I thought maybe I should wait for a BC 60 instead. I took a chance anyways and bought it. I'm so glad I did. It's the BEST amp i own overall. I own a few Fender tube amps-vintage and modern. They might have a slight edge in tone but the BC 30 is dependable, needs no maintenance and ALWAYS sounds great so its the best-overall-in my opinion.

I copied / pasted this from the next review. Sue me.

Solid State, thirty watts, 12" Roland Vintage 45 speaker, two channels-clean and overdrive, master volume, presence and mid/bass/treble. The eq is shared for both channels. TubeLogic circuit, nice cab in blonde with brownish grille and top mounted controls. Open back cab that weighs about 30 pounds. No reverb, no loop, no headphone jack.

Here's the moneymaker-how does it sound? I run Les Pauls and Strats directly into this amp. No pedals. Using the OD channel I can move from almost clean to roaring OD with my guitar volume. This amp reacts so well to guitar volume and oick attack that there is no need for pedals when I run it this way. On the other hand...if you want to use pedals the BC 30 reacts very well to pedals, so have at it. I have used BOSS overdrives, Metal Zone, chorus compressor, and delays, Digitech Bad Monkey, Fulltone OCD, MAXXON OD 808 and others. No problems-all sounded great. Personally, I use a guitar and a 10 foot cable with mine and I'm very happy.

This amp is the best solid state amp that I have ever played. It will fool even dyed in the wool tube snobs. I have played the BC 60 amps but they are not as good as the BC 30 in my opinion even though they have more features. Believe me, the BC 30 is the best of the whole Blues Cube line. Once you hear it, you'll forget about the lack of reverb, effects loop or whatever. I'm rating this amp as dead stock. It needs nothing to improve the sound. Nada. Roland could make a fortune by reissuing this amp with zero upgrades or changes. Seriously...it doesn't just sound good "for a solid state amp." It sounds great compared to any amp.

Roland = Good quality / built to last.

No Opinion.

I don't know how old mine is. I think they came out in the 80s. Never had any issues. I stand by my statement: BEST solid state amp I ever played through. If you get the chance to try one...you'll buy one.

I bought this a few years back as a practice amp, mainly because it came recommended and it was cheap. Mainly because it was cheap, to be honest. It quickly moved to the head of the class in my stable of amps despite its lack of features. Speaking of which: Solid State, thirty watts, 12" Roland Vintage 45 speaker, two channels-clean and overdrive, master volume, presence and mid/bass/treble. The eq is shared for both channels. TubeLogic circuit, nice cab in blonde with brownish grille and top mounted controls. Open back cab that weighs about 30 pounds. No reverb, no loop, no headphone jack.
It's quite loud for a 30 watt amp. The tone of this little amp is why it is so popular. Yes it is shy on features but once you plug in to it you will forget about features.
Clean is Fender-y. Overdrive is Plexi Marshall-y. Not for high gainers. Just sweeeeet tone, tone, tone.

Let me say something here; I know people will pump up their review to justify the purchase. I know that people post reviews after playing their "new" amp for all of 15 minutes. That ain't what I'm talking about. After three years I know this amp. After 35 years of playing in bands I think I know about good tone. So take this review with that in mind.
I'm using it with a Fat Strat and a Les Paul standard. The Strat is dead stock. The Les Paul is stock with 490 and 498 pickups. Both guitars kill with this amp. Even going straight in with no pedals this amp sounds real good. It's quiet but it hums with single coils just like all my amps.
The BC 30 likes pedals, too. I use a Tonebone classic, Barber Burn Unit (great pedal) and some BOSS pedals depending on my mood. Straight in is fine, too.
Honestly, it can compete with tube jobs-no problem. I realize a lot of people say "It sounds just like a tube amp." when describing their SS amps. I challenge anyone to take a soundcheck comparison test with a BC-30 and any tube amp of comparable size and wattage. It blows away my Blues Junior and kicks butt against a Crate Palomino V 32. Seriously.
I have heard and played the 60 watt Roland Blues Cube amps-112 and 3 x 10 versions. Love them, too. But IMHO the BC 30 is the best sounding of the BC line.

If it says Roland or Boss on it, you can count on it. Never had a single glitch with it, or any of my Roland/Boss stuff over the years.

The only problem with these is availability. Roland quit making them years ago. I got mine for 100 bucks in pristine, MINT condition. Just FYI Roland put the same "TubeLogic" circuit into their little 405 and 408 ministack amps. These go on ebay cheap and they are the next best thing to an authentic Blues Cube.
I would recommend the BC 30 to anyone wanting superior tone in a SS amp. I consider myself to be lucky to own one. I have a Fender Blues Junior, a Peavey Prowler, Vox AC 15 reissue, VOX pathfinder (great SS amp) and a Fender Princeton Reverb silver face. The BC 30 goes everywhere with me as a backup or as a main amp.
This amp will suit you to a "T" if you are in to classic rock, blues or hard rock.

I think the Blues Cubes were made in the 80s and 90s. Really I'm not sure. Not much on this amp feature wise but everything its got is good to go, baby! Plenty loud, good tone controls, presence control and bright switch. OD channel is good too. Compared to a Trademark 60 it makes the Trademark seem like a 25 dollar danelectro honeytone with a weak battery. The Trademark 60 has many more features but the BC 30 has features for the ears. It's louder, too.

Guitars are Les Paul standard and Epiphone Byrdland. Look, at one time or another I have owned the BC 60 1X12 and 3X10 models too. These have more features but the BC 30 kicks butt for overall tone. See all these guys comparing it to the Deluxe Reverb? And the BC 30 doesn't even have reverb! You'll get sick of hearing this as you read on: "THIS IS THE BEST SOLID STATE AMP IN THE WORLD!"

It beats the pants off at least half of the current crop of tube amps-probably more like 75% of current tube amps with a MSRP under a grand. Anyone who appreciates <<< SERIOUS >>> tone should get one. Remember folks...no reverb, no-name speaker, no separate EQ for each channel, no boutique anything and it still kicks the high priced tube amps to the curb and craps all over them!

Roland made it. That means it will be around for 100 years, assuming it is only terribly abused every day. Treated with respect it will survive for millenia.

Let's cut to the chase. If you've never heard one with a decent guitar then you really have no idea, so if you get the rare chance to pick one up, just do it. See all the comparisons with the Fender Deluxe Reverb amp? That should tell you something. There is nothing that approaches it in the solid state world. Few tube amps are this good.

Players who have used the best tube amps for decades could not tell this amp's sound from the ones they use. I'll guarantee that to be a true statement. There are hundreds of tube amps that don't get close to this.

I would never sell it unless I received an offer that would allow me to design and build another 30 watt tube amp with a reputable designer, using top shelf components ($50.00 capacitors, etc).

I already own three vintage Fender tube amps so I really am not motivated to ever sell this particular solid state amp to "upgrade" to a good tube amp. AS IF there is a solid state amp that is its equal.

Which amp gets the most play time of the 4 I own? Hands down it is the BC 30. If you pass up one of these you are crazy, no matter how many boutique amps you own.

Everything you need to produce dreamy sound in a solid, reliable, lightweight package. Some have knocked the shared eq. It's not a problem for me. If you are used to single channel Fenders and Marshalls from yesteryear, the shared eq shouldn't be an issue. I use pedals for my heavier stuff on the clean channel or in conjunction with the OD channel for a little more ooomph, when needed.
This amp's best feature is its tone. It will hold its own with most tube amps costing 3-4 times as much.

For classic rock and BLUES (DUH) it is the best sounding solid state amp on planet earth. I run teles, les pauls and strats through mine. The sound is beautiful. I use some pretty nice pedals with it and the amp responds very nicely. Fulltone, Barber and Tonebone all add to the natural sparkle and sweet tone. It's a classic truism: Boutique pedals will not make a crummy amp sound better. They will add to and enhance a good amp in a favorable way. I often run my guitars straight into the amp, too. You don't need pedals with this amp, but good pedals will shine with it.
There's a reason you don't see lots of these on ebay: Owners will not sell them! I would choose this over a Fender Deluxe or Blues Junior. I have a very nice Fender reissue Blues Deluxe amp too. The Roland Blues Cube isn't quite as rich sounding but it's close. Very, very close. It sounds better than my Blues Junior and is way more versatile and easier to operate.
I keep my guitar volumes at 9 or 10 with this amp. It doesn't sound as good with the guitar volume down like my tube amps. Who cares?
It's a simple amp. It's pretty loud and it sounds way too good. Roland doesn't make it anymore. They should reissue the whole line. Simply the best solid state amp for rock and blues and jazz or country. Roland Blues Cubes-There is no substitute in the solid state amp world.

No issues, ever.

I've been playing semi-pro since the late 80s. Gear includes several les pauls, telecasters and strats. Besides the Blues Cube I have the two Fenders I mentioned. I play classic 60s and 70s rock, blues, jazz and some modern rock. This amp knocked off the Blues Junior as my main gigging amp for small and medium sized venues. Not just because it's louder, which it isn't when miked up, but because it just sounds that much better. I'm not knocking the BJr. Great amp. I save my Blues Deluxe for outdoor venues or large halls but in a pinch I would use the Blues Cube with a SHURE SM 57. It always rides along when i take the Blues Deluxe, just in case of failure. I never bring a backup for the Blues Cube and I don't think I'll ever need to.
I paid 150 bucks for this and I would pay 300 for it if necessary because it is that good. Good luck finding one in good condition on the web. You would have to be very hard up or just stupid to let one of these go.

See below. It gets a 7 for shared eq.

This is a solid 10. I don't give to many out. The BC-30 earned it. I've owned mine for about 3 years and I have many amps, mostly tube, mostly 60's Fenders. I was reading the reviews for this amp after looking all over the net for a schematic for it and it's brother, the BC-60. I can't find any documents anywhere for these amps...anyway, I got to reading the reviews and so I pulled mine out because it's been a while since I last played it. I had forgotten how great it sounds, not just for a solid state amp, but just as a Guitar Amplifier, Period. I couldn't believe how great it sounded. I pulled out my Fender 1967 Deluxe Reverb and plugged it in side by side with the little Roland. I am blown away by the comparison. I have great tubes in the DR, and it is biased and tuned to perfection. And the BC-30 stood right up to it blow by blow. The Fender beats it out in complexity of tone, but all in all I can't give an amp a higher compliment. Roland, Roland, Roland...why oh why did you quit making this amp?

I have had zero issues with it. Controls are perfectly quiet, no hum, buzz, or other untoward crap comes out. Just tone.
I sure would like to find a schematic for these amps, cause if it breaks I want to be able to fix it.

I'll let you know. I ordered schematics or service manuals from the Roland web site a couple of hours ago. Stay tuned.

I've been playing for over 40 years and I've been studying electronics for as long. From a player's and an engineers point of view, they did a great job on these Blues Cubes (I also own the BC-60 1x12). If it did go away, I'd sure want another one. I love the way it sounds. The clean sounds stand right up there in blackface territory. The overdrive is good too, but the clean is where this amp does it for me.

The features are very limited...not even reverb, which would make a big difference. There's no speaker out, no effects loop and only a shared eq section...these features and more are part of the BC-60 models, so shame on me for being too eager on ebay.

What is lacking in features is certainly made up for in tone. This is a beautiful sounding amp. I have the 2x10" speaker model. The lead channel is a little thin and I find that the eq is very subtle, so it takes a bit to key in a great tone. The clean channel is pristine...clear, crisp and precise...it also handles pedals very well. I use the lead channel for bluesy stuff and handle heavier stuff with pedals run through the clean side. I'm a fan of solid state stuff and Roland really hit a homerun with this line...too bad it was discontinued...it's hard to find a good solid state non-modeling amp, but this may be the best I've heard...a little cabinet buzz here and there, but nothing serious.

Too soon to tell.

Doubt I'll ever use it.

I'm a tone nut who likes solid state amps and effects pedals, with that in mind, this amp allows you to really key in your own sound. It is very clean and pure...it will bring out the positives and negatives to your technique and your instrument. I really wish it had reverb, but I must say, it is a real solid player and is quite handsome with it's vintage look.

Thirty watts, 12" Greenback clone speaker, two channels that work with a footswitch, one set of EQ for both channels and a presence knob. Master volume. Weighs about 35 pounds and comes in a beige tolex with a brown grillcloth. Nice looking amp, sort of like the old tweed fender cabs. Discontinued by Roland. (DUMB decision, Roland.)
There are few features beyond the basics, not even a reverb. The best thing is the amp's tone which is good enough that you won't miss any other features.
I play Telecasters with neck humbuckers, neck P 90s and neck SC pickups, and overwould bridge pickups from GFS. My current band is into classic rock and classic oldies, plus a few modern tunes tossed in. I play it clean for most tunes. The BC 30 is perfect for those styles using the Telecaster guitars.

The sound without pedals is decidedly high quality old school rock and blues. The EQ is very responsive and the amp reacts to guitar volume changes. I can get a sparkley, early Beatles, AC 30 tone or a Fender clean and even a Roland JC-type clean for my oldies tunes-no problem. As for blues, cranking up the clean channel's volume and backing off the Master volume will give you the ability to control the slight breakup with the guitar volume and or the pickup selection. The overdrive channel is good for dirty blues and rock. You can also play with how hard you pick the strings to get clean and gritty tone. The preamp on this thing is sensitive and the BC 30 "almost" seems like a good tube amp. I say almost because it does not have the 3-D depth of my Fender tube amps. That's the only thing that's missing from the Blues Cube and i only hear the difference when i'm rehearsing alone. When rehearsing with the band or playing live, you really wouldn't notice this 3-D ambience is missing. I agree with the assertion that Roland's Blues Cube amps have a particular lock on the "sounds just like a tube amp" title. As a gigging amp, this one does me proud.
When I do coffeehouse gigs by myself, I use small Fender tube amps because there is a difference that is noticeable when playing solo in those venues. Call it a dynamics and depth thing but the sound of a Fender Blues Jr seems less fatiguing to my ears when playing solo with a drum machine.
I hardly ever use distortion pedals but I can get a nice crunch from the overdrive channel that resembles the Marshall type crunch. It rocks for straight ahead heavy blues solos and 70s classic rock solos. It's pretty sensitive to the guitar's volume. No good for shred or metal. There is no lag in the sound when changing channels but there is a sort of morph process that is very, very cool and eliminates the abruptness that some amps have with switching.

Never had a problem. Don't think I ever will.

I play Telecasters mostly because I love the clarity and sparkle. I have a Strat and a Les Paul too, but my Teles are by far my favorites. With the bright switch on the clean channel will give those Danny Gatton or Roy Buchanan sort of tones. The amp can be EQ'd for just about anything though.
Overdrive and distortion is the sort you would hear on classic rock records. It's not geared for 80s, 90s tones but a pedal could cure that.
I bought my Roland Blues Cubes after hearing a friend's band. He plays standard Strats and slide resos through one. I was blown away by the tone and clean power. Bought one on eBay and went back for another. These are very, very good amps and i would only use Roland Blues Cube amps for my solid state choice. They really nailed the tone of tube amps except for that elusive 3D quality. For me there is no substitue for what the BC 30 can do. It's the best of the solid staters, period.

Not much on the features side. Shared equalization on two channels. No reverb but it has a good presence circuit.

Ibanez guitars with sc and hum pickups...solid bodies, hardtails, shredders, jazz boxes. I have a boatlod of Ibanez guitars. I'm using a Boss ME 50 with the Blues cube as my practice rig at home. This amp has a very tubey sound and it is pretty loud too. Both channels rock pretty good. For a solid state amp it is the perfect size and has a tone that will leave you shaking your head. Sounds too good to be true.

Musicians Friend sold out their whole stock of these for $200 so I bought one. I'm very very glad I did. I'm another 35 year player...I hope that when today's young players reach their 50s they have such fine equipment to choose from. These are damned fine amps at any price. For 200 bucks it was the deal of the century. Get one.

Year it was made? Who knows? Here's a little amp with two channels and that's about it. It acts like a tube amp and sounds like one. That's the standout feature on this amp. You want a bunch of computers and lights and buttons then get a modeler. Modeling amps can make all kinds of sounds. When you get serious about actually PLAYING the guitar you'll get something like this.

I use Teles. This little amp brings out all the brightness and character of the Tele vibe. It is sensitive so you can get a little overdrive with the volume up and back off for a nice smooth clean. I almost never use the overdrive channel but it sounds fine to my ears. This is a player's amp. Even with the overdrive it is clear and bright. No good for metal but perfect for rock, blues, country, jazz or rockabilly. Not much variety but enough tone control to play almost any style with your guitar of choice. Get a modeler if you want a million sounds. Get one of these if you want THE SOUND...capice?

Roland and Boss are the tops in quality.

Simple. Get one. It's a Deluxe Reverb with solid state innards.

Pretty light on features. This is a basic solid-state 2 channel amp, with no reverb and no effects loop. It's designed to be a straightforward small gig amp, giving mainly blues tones or clean jazz rather than all-out rock. What it does, it does very well.

There are times when I miss having amp-based reverb, but this little amp makes you concentrate on what you play. I sometimes use this amp live for pub gigs, often miked up into the PA. Otherwise it's for rehearsals and at larger gigs I go direct with a POD 2 and no amp.

I use a Godin strat, a PRS soapbar, and a Yamaha AES. They all sound great through the BC30, but especially the Godin which totally nails the strat blues thing.

Not at all noisy (this is solid state although it gets close to tube sounds especially on the clean channel). Very good a crunch sounds where you can break up the clean channel with heavy picking, or control your sound with the guitar's volume.

Because this is only a 30 watt 1x12 it's hard to keep the clean channel from breaking up at high volumes. You're not going to keep up with an acoustic drummer going at full bash.

The 2nd channel can get pretty dirty in a typical Boss fashion if you want it. It's not a metal machine but will do classic rock very nicely.

Roland and Boss are the BMW of the music world. This stuff doesn't break often, and if it does, you get top-level support from them. After a couple of years the speaker in my BC-30 blew. It's a custom made Roland cone from California and Roland UK got me one within a couple of weeks. I considered using a Celestion Greenback or something instead, but figured the original had sounded great, so why change? Cost about #70 for the new one I think, and I've had about another 3 years out of it so far. One event in 5 years - not bad.
The little metal inserts to the amp knobs keep falling out, and I lost a couple. New knobs only a few quid from Roland UK - easy.

See above - top support.

Bought this one new from Soho Soundhouse when they were on special after being discontinued.

Would probably replace with another Roland amp if I needed to. Might get a different model as these are no longer made.

Found this baby on Ebay still with the tags still on it. It is brand new and I'm hoping to wear it out for years to come. Came with all of the manuals and a foot pedal. Pedal works well for switching between clean and dirty channels. This thing is loud. It's nice to find an amp though that has a resonable scale for the volume switch.

1 is quiet, 3 is louder, 5 is loud 7 is crazy loud, haven't gone any higher than that.

Basic Feature but everything you need (except reverb)

I have a Yamaha Pacifica 521 with a Dimarzio AirZone in the bridge and a Dimarzio PAF in the neck position. I have only just purchased this amp but have found that for Blues, Jazz or classic rock, it has many combinations. Others here have mentioned that they love the clean sound but don't like the dirty channel. I feel the same about the clean channel but I also love the dirty channel. It actually breaks up a low volumes and is solid state ! I've never heard that before on any other amp. I have 4 different amps and this one might just be the new king of the hill. I have a Fender Super 60 Tube amp that also sounds great but for smaller venues, it blows everyone out of the place. The BC-30 is just right ! I really love this amp.

I'm guessing that it will be bullet proof. It is solid state. Time will tell.

Roland seems pretty good. I have a GT-5 and they provided some information for me.

I'm just getting serious about my guitar playing over the last couple years but do gig weekly in church. Being a small venue, it will fill the bill nicely. I've been a serious musician (horn player) for about 35 years playing jazz/blues/rock and have played with tons of different guitar players and different rigs.

For what I'm doing, this is going to do the job nicely - Nice amp Roland. Why did you discontinue it ?

Really it doesn't have a lot of features. What it DOES have is great tone and great response.
The clean channel is fantastic. I sounds at least as good as any old Fender tube amp of equal power. The overdrive is good...not fantastic, but good enough to make me happy. No reverb, but don't let that get in the way of auditioning this amp because it is a diamond in the rough. Nice cabinet. Vintage Roland (Eminence) speaker handles 45 watts and is mucho excellent.

I use clean mostly but I sometimes get a little boost from the overdrive channel with the gain at 3, using an old Fender footswitch. Playing a Fender Stratocaster mostly but I sometimes borrow our bass player's PRS and noodle around. I was going to purchase the Peavey Classic 30 but the Roland absolutely blew it away in all categories. I also thought I had to have reverb but to tell you the truth this amp is so warm and sweet that i'm already over the no reverb thing. For 200 dollars from Musician's Friend this was the best deal I ever got on a damn fine amp.
My Strat is heavenly sounding through the clean channel. On the overdrive with gain on three it still sounds unmistakeably like a Strat. Turn up the gain and you can get into Hendrix, SRV territory pretty easily. Go higher still and you can get some real Marshall tones if you like that sort of thing. The PRS sounds better than the Strat on the overdrive channel. Seems to be better for humbucking pickups if you use a lot of gain. Compresses like a tube amp, too.
Good feel and response to picking. DAMN! This is an unbelievable amp for such a small solid state wanker. It's plenty loud too.

I'm a long-time player who started in the 60's. I live in Utah these days, not far from Digitech. I teach at the university here and jam on weekends with students at a local coffeehouse for fun. I have a Strat and the Blues Cube now but I have owned a lot of different Fenders over the years. For $200 bucks from Musician's Friend I feel this amp is a fantastic bargain. It sounds like a tube amp, acts like a tube amp and feels like one. I'll find another one on ebay and buy it as a spare! If you like old rock tones from the 60s and 70s then this is the one. It is perfect for me.

I just bought the roland bc-30 blues cube in germany - before I read all comments on this website - AND REALLY THIS is for the little money (about 80 $ !!!) the best amp I heard - about the features - an amp has to give clean sound first and the bc 30 is clean and so pretty loveley !!! After all - I dont miss any features on this amp - becaus what you play is what you hear - nothin more - nothing less - and this is the most important - I use the bc30 too connected together with a fender hotrod (1x12") fantastic sound couple - fender has to think about it !! Only with this small bc 30 (stereo panorama) the sound becomes magic !

I use two fine guitars - one fender strat usa and a taylor ce 914 -
the fender strat give full sounds for all kind of music - in combination with POD XT live pedal - you realize all your sound dreams - on the other hand - connect just the taylor directly to the bc 30 - without any effect - WONDERFUL HARMONICS - even the much more costful fender hotrod can't give this warm and full sound - really -
very nice and clean.

I see the high quality of the components and I'm shure this amp will working 100 years without any problem.

I bought it used for only 80 $ - repairing ? I dont think that this amp need some intervention and if - I'm shure that roland will give any help possible - as I've experience with other roland equipment - the assistance was fast and professional.

I'm playing more than 20 years with all kind of equipment - this amp give me full satisfaction - I use it to warm up my playing and in small clubs - here the bc 30 is better than the fender hotrod because he is smoother and give a full warm tone at a lower sound level! If stolen - I would buy next corner the same. I love his practical size and the sound - he goes anywhere with me not any problem to transport. I choose this amp because I know that roland make things allright - and I read the critics on this page - people says here - that this amp has a tube sound - IT IS TRUE - search for a tube amp for this price - no chance - THANKS TO ROLAND to make things like that for small budget but with a great TUBE SOUND !!! (its almost solid state ...)

FEATURES: This model is discontinued. I don't know when mine was produced, as I bought it second hand. It has channel switching, shared 3 band eq, pre and post on the dirt channel, bright on the clean. Master Volume. No reverb. Active presence. Weighs in at about 33 pounds. Nice cab-no rattles. Looks very retro-cool in tan tolex with the oxblood grille cloth. Mine has the Eminence-made-for-Roland Vintage 12-75 speaker, removed from my BC 60. The original speaker is essentially the same but with a lower power rating, which is to say it sounds great and is the PERFECT match for the amp. The Roland Vintage 12 speakers are modeled after the famous Celestion Greenback 25. The eq section is very lively. Channel switching is quick and has no annoying glitches or pops. Not an amp with a ton of whistles and bells but then a nice old Fender Deluxe is fairly bare-bones, too. Don?t hear too many players whine about it though!

SOUND: Without a doubt this is the best sounding solid state amp out there for warm cleans crunchy blues and old school, hard rock tones. I know it?s been said waaay too many times but here goes; IT REALLY DOES HAVE THE TUBE-TONE THING NAILED! I guess it?s the overall balance and warmth that makes it shine so well. No harshness on either channel. I would compare the clean to lower wattage Fenders and the overdrive to older Marshall amps from the plexi era. It is not an aggressive, modern sounding amp and it is not at all suited for metal. Forget about it! If you like solid cleans crunchy overdrives and nice harmonics then this is the amp to have unless you just absolutely have to have real tubes inside. Experienced players would have trouble picking this one out of a crowd of tube amps?no, really.
First and foremost this really is an old-school player?s amp. It can get some pretty heavy distortion going for hard rock but it does its best at slightly-to-crunchy overdriven and clean tones in my opinion. I use a Les Paul and the BC 30 seems to be made for humbucking PUPs. Single coils are just fine through it (I have a strat-syle Ibanez, too) but humbucking PUPs really match up to the BC 30 in a very, very pleasing way. By the way, it?s pretty loud and responds well to picking dynamics for a 30 watt solid state amp, too.
For boost I use the Digitech Screaming Blues pedal. It is perfect for this amp and it actually adds some depth, bite and clarity to an already fine sounding machine. Although I miss the lack of reverb, the BC 30 is so warm and fat with the Les Paul that I almost don?t feel I need it. Can?t say that about any other solid state amp I know of, can you?

RELIABILITY: I own a Roland BC 60 112 and some other BOSS equipment along with a micro-cube. Over the years the most serious problem I ever had was a loose solder joint in a BOSS pedal board. ROLAND / BOSS is renowned for their durable, tough-as-nails build quality. I pulled this amp out of the wood to inspect it before buying. Pretty typical of Roland products in general. Clean, well laid out circuit boards and an adequate power supply section. The cab is pretty stout and stable with big fat rubber feet. The original speaker has a smallish magnet, but it?s well made and it?s loud. This thing has a very impressive carrying strap too. Quality everywhere. About what you?d expect from Roland.

OVERALL RATING: I think it?s the best in its class to be honest. If you?ve ever tried the Tech 21 amps you have an idea of the kind of gain and tone the BC 30 has going for it, but it?s much simpler in its approach to achieving those kinds of sounds and way cheaper than the Trademark 60, which is a pretty good sounding amp too. To me, it?s kind of like a Fender Deluxe from the 70s. Although I own and gig with a Roland BC 60, I actually find myself playing through the BC 30 more often at home and at jams with friends. I also play smaller venues with it because it has that ?magic? that just makes you want to play and listen. It?s loud enough (about as loud as the BC 60 actually!) and it?s versatile enough to cover country, jazz, classic rock, hard rock and blues styles quite well in clubs, halls and smaller outdoor venues. Roland managed to balance the solid state reliability / low maintenance features with a great sounding amp / speaker combination in the Blues Cube line. No doubt in my mind it will be on the list of ?classic gear? for many years to come. I?d buy another one in a new-york minute if it were lost or stolen.

I never write reviews but this amp is worth bragging about.
Very basic bare bones amp with just a ton of character. I really miss having a direct out or headphone jack but when an amp sounds this good for such an affordable price...it's worth the sacrifice.
Oh yah, reverb would be nice too but don't we all want everything for nothing.

I use a Yamaha SL 550S and an Ibanez RS 140 (modified) which both sound amazing through this beige baby.
I play everything from Sabbath to George Benson and it covers all the bases. Put a pedal in front and it shines. I've played other amps with pedals and they make the amp sound artificial.
Hard to believe this is a SS amp with the warmth it delivers. Get the Boss foot pedal for switching between clean and dirt...it will make your life so much easier.

This amp stays in the studio so I can't comment on roadworthy reliabilty. If it is anything like other Roland products, there will be no issues. I also have a JC 77.

I'm sure I won't be calling them

Been playing awhile. Girlfriend at 16 taught me to play Cat Scratch Fever and The Zoo (Scorpions). I was sold. Got lots of toys but have finally found an amp that I will keep.
Most of my gear is Japanese made because Japanese rule with design and value (their work values are the best in the world). Sorry North America but when I'm spending my hard earned money, I look for the best possible deal (price and quality).
In my opinion, Peavey U.S.A is the only other company that gives us such great deals (price and quality).

Just the basics. One 12" speaker, Clean and O/D footswitchable channels, Bright channel switch, Clean channel volume control, Pre and Post volume controls for the O/D channel, 3 Band E.Q, Presence knob (which I love), and Master volume.
This is a real amp not a toy so don't expect Aux in and all that kind of stuff. Having said that, it still bothers me that it doesn't have an FX Loop and individual channel E.Q. I know that if it had all that the price would have been different but it would also make it the perfect amp.

I use it with an American Fender Strat.
I liked this amp from day number one. Very nice sounding and no noise problems at all.
After owning it for nearly a year, I love it even more now. Whenever I play with a different amp (even with some very good tube ones that I had the chance to get my hands on) I always get to appreciate even more what the Blues Cube has to offer. It does sound amazing at any volume level and you don't have to be always loud to get the good tones out of it.The clean channel is phenomenal. I would say that this is definately where this amp shines. Warm and clear sounding all the way up. From bedroom volume level practicing to full volume giging, the clean channel of the BC30 always delivers pure tone heaven.
The O/D channel does some things really well and some others not so well. It'not my favorite distortion, but the amps that have my favorite distortion don't have my favorite clean sound so....it's probably unreasonable to ask to have everything in one package. Maybe amp modelling would be able to offer us this option one day, but even then I will still use my Blues Cube a lot.
Another thing that I like about the Blues Cube is it's response to pedals and processors. I've tried different kinds of stuff in front of it and it always delivers. With the right chain of pedals or FX processor in front of it, you can go from cool jazz/funk rhythms and solo lines to total mayhem.
As far as power goes....if this amp is not loud enough for you,... you have to check out your hearing dude. At the end of the day this one goes beyond 11. It goes up to 12!

If I can depend on it? Well, what is there to break? This amp is built on an old school kind of philosophy where less is more. No tube maintenance either.

I have dealt with Roland regarding other products of them that I own.
They might not be a small "boutique" kind of amp manufacturers that you always get "Joe" on the phone to personaly answer all your questions, but I always had a positive experience dealing with them.

As I said already I wished it had an FX loop and individual channel E.Q's like it's big brother the BC60. I will probably install an FX Loop one day myself.
As far as sound goes this is a true plug and play and an amazing all around amp that you can use from practicing at home to giging and it will always sound great. Guitar on one hand the Blues Cube on the other and you're ready for your staight ahead jazz trio. Place your favorite FX chain in front of it and rock out!
I am still comparing it with whatever I get my hands on and it always keeps its place as one of my absolute favorites and beloved pieces of gear. It's a real workhorse.
When I'm in my studio recording I plug my guitar through a quite complicated, mostly digital (and unfortunately quite expensive) set up of preamp, souncards, computers, amps and cabinets modelling simulators, FX and the rest of the junk. Programability and the pre-sets etc that I can have using those devices, make this option the fastest and most reliable way to get all the different sounds I need to get on the hard disk. Most of the times, after I finish, I switch off everything and plug directly to the Blues Cube where I find heaven.

Made in 200?? Quite versatile -- clean channel has a nice grainy breakup to it, which I like quite a bit... not a sterile clean-tone like a JC120. Bright switch -- may as well call it a "shit" switch on any amp... will instantly make your tone suck!

Headphone jack? CD inputs? Are we looking for toy amps -- pro-gear amps do NOT have headphone jacks and CD inputs... get a nice, cheesy crate if that's what you want!

If you need reverb or an effects loop, try the BC-60... At this price-point, it just has the basics: two channels, shared eq, presence, bright "shit" switch. No external speaker out... doesn't really need one. Plenty of power for any gig!

I've played all types of guitars through this: Strats & Various HB equipped guitars. All my OD/distortion units work well with it: SM-9, SD1, DS1, Tubeman, TS9, and a few others...

I've played pretty much every style at one gig or another -- jazz, fusion, rock, metal, blues, disco, funk, R&B... The BC-30 works for them all, but you have to use your mind a bit and find the right outboard gear to compliment each style.

The clean channel, like I said earlier, breaks up a bit even at low volume -- which adds character and makes the amp sound better.

The distortion -- for some things its great, for others, not so great... just like anything else. The good news is that pretty much any OD/Dist/preamp works well through its clean channel.

Not at all a noisy amp! For what it is, it is amazing... the only solid state amp I've ever owned that I would consider recording with.

I own lots of Roland/Boss products and never an incident as far as function. If you gig alot, you will lose the little metal things on top of all the knobs -- they just fall off over time.

-1 for those damn knobs!

I've never dealt with them????

I've been playing for 30 years or so. I have a collection of tube amps in my studio -- they don't go to gigs... that's is why I have two BC-30s... Great gigging amps. They sound great and weigh in at 32 pounds! Put your favorite pedal(s) or processor in front of it and it can do many things well.

I would definitely buy it again! I love its tone, portability, and reliability. Nothing bad to say about it... I'm not crazy about its distortion, but that is so subjective -- I don't like a Soldano's distortion either... or a Matchless (eww!). That's why they make so many distortion pedals -- use what you like!!!

Very basic, but as others have said, functional.

The best combo ever. Forget Marshalls, Twins, Boogies, this is the best sound ever. You don't need reverb to mask the sounds of others and the presence is simply, to die for!!
This is the guitarists best kept secret ever.

It's Roland, it'll last longer than me.

Unknown, this thing is so sturdy.

If you have doubts about this thing, play it, leave it, go play somthing else, then come back to it after about a year. That's what I did. WOW!!! What a tone. Forget valves, tweeds, twins, mesas, this is where tone heaven exists. A Strat into a BC30 is the holy grail, like Les Paul to JCM.
If you can find one - buy it!!!!!

Made in early 1900's. has a volume, 2 gain volumes, 3 eq knobs, and presence and master volume

I use a gibson les paul special faded w/ this amp. this amp gives a voxy / orange amp sound to it. this is probably one of hte most versatile sounding solid state amps i have ever worked with. i currently own a vox ac30, and comoparing to the 2 amps, i have to say that the blues cube blew the ac30 away in sound. one thing thatyou have ot be careful about is the volume. keep the volume below 5 and you'll be okay. caue beyond that, it gives it a really distorted sound. the only thing i don't like about this amp is that it has no reverb. that's probably why i use both ac30 and this amp. but it's nothing a electro harmonix or a fender reverb unit couldn't fix.

This amp is great. it's never broken down on me. it's also very tough. i've enjoyed it very much

N/A

This amp is great for a low budget. using this amp, fender reverb unit, and an ac30, it's probably the best amp i've ever had. If you want to spend 200 (how much they sell it for on musicians friend), then you should add about an extra 100 bucks and get a holy grail or a digitech digital reverb. if you got that, you're good to go. best amp. GOOD JOB ROLAND. I'm actually not a big fan of roland amps either. =O

What, no reverb? I'm really kind of pissed about the lack of reverb and may still send it back to musiciansfriend. I just don't want to go to the trouble and doubt I'll find anything with as much sound for the money. Not many features. Simple, makes you rely on your playing, not alot of effects.

Clean channel is great, hefty and nice. Distortion has a little to be desired. I suspect I'll end up using a pedal. I have two g&l guitars, an older s-500 and a new blues boy semi hollow. They both sound great through it. I'd say the clean channel is this amps strong point.

n/a only had it since Feb. 2- 05

haven't had to use customer support.

I've played for over 20 years. I haven't had a lot of amps though. I've got a fender hot rod as my main amp. This amp is a home amp and is fine except for the lack or reverb.
I trust roland products.
It also looks pretty cool. It's plenty tall so you don't have to lean too far over to reach the knobs if you're sitting down to play. It's also quite light and easy to move around. Overall, I'd say this is a good sounding amp but be prepared to buy an external reverb unit and though it has distortion you may want a better distortion pedal too. It will probably last forever since there are so few features to break I guess.

Not many. It has a lead channel and a clean channel. It has presence. No reverb though. It is a solid state amp. It has 30 Watts of power...but it is plenty of power because it is almost equivilent to 30 Watts of tube power. With regards to this aspect it is not like other solid states...the thirty watts is plenty.

No headphone jack or effects loop.

I use a telecaster copy(american made) and a Godin Radiator. I use it in with a Adrenalinn synth filter/delay pedal. Well this is the best solid state I have owned. Clean all the way up to 12, which is uncommon for small solid states. It also can be competive with tube amps regarding volume, which is very uncommon for 30 Watt Solid States. Basically this amp is versitile, it sounds very good. It only gets a point off for no reverb.

I never use distortion on the amp.

I use it for loud post-rock and shoegazer music and it works quite well. I also use it for quiet indie pop.

As reliable as it gets.

It is a great, cheap, small, and versitile solid state amp. The best bang for your buck. Yeah it is not as good as its bigger BC-60 brother because of the lack of reverb, or its cousin the JC-120. But it is damn fine and one of the best solid state amps ever. I would buy it again in a second if I was not opting for the BC-60 in the future(the amp is that good that I want an upgrade as supposed to a tube amp). Basically Roland proves why they are the reigning kind of Solid States and do not even bother to make tube amps...thier solid state amps are simply the best ones out there. For $200 or under it is simply the best available.

BC-30 Blues Cube. Purchased Dec 2004. Musicians Friend as it was the only place I could find it. Sitting on my door step in 4 days, great service. A basic no frills amp. One jack in. Clean and Lead channel switchable. 12 inch speaker. No reverb but hardly notice it missing once you get rocking with this thing. Would like an extension speaker jack. Not sure about adding one as its an 8 ohm speaker now. Dont want to screw up anything by adding another 8 ohm speaker. But would be VERY interesting with a Mesa 12" speaker cabinet.

Guitar: Gibson Les Paul Stuido, also new. Play the regular blues, Hendrix, Clapton etc and maybe some mellow jazzy stuff. Clean channel will distort a bit when played hard. Dial back the guitar volume for a jazzier clean sound. I use a Boss FS-5L footswitch to go to the Lead distortion channel. LOTS of sustain and blues there. From slight to mega. You can dial in the Clean/Lead volumes to match or got louder when switched between the two. The amp did well in a small loud group setting along with a Fender, Mesa, and Marshall. I had the amp on about 8-9 and didnt get the guitar fully volumed. Could have easily however.

All my Boss/Roland stuff so far is great gear.

Never needed them
2 years on the amp. 5 years on the Speaker.

Played years ago in dives and bars. Got this for fun and jams. Took back a Blues Junior and ordered this. This is a bit larger and heavier than the Blues Jr. The Jrs a good amp but this blows it away. Dont bother to buy a distortion or Blues pedal with this amp. I added reverb and delay but had that stuff anyways. For a GOOD sounding balls out entry level amp for home practice at low volumes, and small clubs its the best 200 bucks you can spend. Read the other reviews for more details. Im very pleased over all with this amp. If it were crap would simply send it back.

Already covered below. Has everything I need, except reverb and a speaker jack. No biggie though.

WOW! I used this with a band last night, and with the volumes full up on the clean channel, and the bright switch engaged, I was able to cut through the mix with no mic on the amp. The tone was FANTASTIC! Very tubey, with a spongey feel. LOTS of low end for a 1x12 combo. It had plenty of crunch and sustain, and I was able to clean up the tone by rolling the guitars volume back - just like tubes do! It may have been even slightly too loud. It was jam night last night, with many other guitarists in attendance, and all were impressed with the sound of this amp. The amp held it's own with two other guitarists - one using a Laney LC30 class A tube amp. With the clean channels volume full up, it was PERFECT for any club gig. As Ralph Cramden said below - if you need more volume than this, you're TOO DAMNED LOUD!

Well, Lord Valve has been complaining about the cheap pots all over the internet, and mentioned something about the reverb in the BC60 model being a potential disaster. This doesn't have reverb, so not to worry. About the pots, well I'll just have to take extra care not to knock 'em around. Other than that, I can't see why this thing shouldn't last for decades. Even running full volume for hours, it never gets terribly hot, and I didn't encounter the intermittant thumping noise that others have mentioned. It rode in my trunk for a 10 hour drive the other day, and it's still working great. I intend to use this for small club gigs, without a back up amp, although I'll have an amp simulator in the gig bag. So if it does die on the job, I can still get through the gig.

Hope I don't have to find out.

I own about 9 or 10 amps (I've lost count). All of them tubes, except for three of them (Lab Series). My main amp is a silverface Pro Reverb from about 73. I know how tube amps are supposed to sound, and I'm only deaf in one ear - not both! This amp sounds so much like REAL TUBES that it's RIDICULOUS! It feels like tubes too! The price is dirt cheap, and all of the tube snobs STILL refuse to give this, or any other non-tube amp, the time of day. Solid State technology has come a LONNNNG way, and with the trend growing towards digital modeling amplifiers, the analog Solid State amps will just get cheaper (that's a good thing).

Mark my words - someday, when all guitar amps are either vintage tube designs, or digital modeling amps, these analog Solid State tube-pretender amps are going to disappear. When that happens, it may take 10 years or more, but eventually people will WAKE UP to the fact that these were GREAT amps with GREAT tones, and they will probably become the next collectors items. Include Tech 21 Trademarks, and Lab Series amps in that list.

I got this off of ebay. It came with a Celestion V12-60, which I'm sure is an upgrade from the original. I too would like to see reverb and an external speaker jack here, but I can live without it.

I'm using Telecasters. Mostly a 52 ReIssue. It makes a nice plug in and play kind of amp. It seems just about loud enough for gigging, if you crank it. If it doesn't cut through the band, then your band is just TOO DAMNED LOUD!!!

The clean channel is the real prize on this amp. It's warm and wonderful. As previously noted, when cranked, the clean channel will distort ever so subtly, and in a most ear-pleasing way. Unfortunately, it's just not quite enough for soloing, which brings us to......

The dirty channel. You know how a good lot of amps with dirty channels sound kind of nasally when using the dirty channel? Well this is no different, but it's nowhere near as bad as most. It's actually quite usable. The distortion is smooth. I don't understand why anyone would need any more distortion than this amp offers. It's WAY too much for my tastes. It is smooooooth though. You have to keep the presence control back otherwise it gets raspy.

I've been reading up on these for a long long time before deciding to go for one, and I've never heard of anyone having a problem with them.

Never dealt with them.

I have lots of amps. All tube, except for my Lab Series L5. I wanted something lightweight and decent sounding for small gigs and jams, when I don't want to pull out my tube amps. Every amp I have was either too big and heavy, or too small (Champs). I wanted something that didn't need to be miked up, yet not be too loud. The BC30 has lots of low end chunk for it's size.

I can grab the guitar with one hand, and the BC30 in the other and head into the club without having to make a return trip to the car. I'm very happy with my purchase!

Nice, basic, well-made amp, built in 2003. I was looking for a lighter weight amp (my main gigging amp WAS a Boogie S.O.B., great amp but a bit HEAVY for this old man).

I use a Strat Texas Special American, mostly. My combo plays jazz, pop, blues, elevator music, you name it...I used the Roland for the first time friday night for a restaurant/bar gig and it seems like it fits the bill perfectly, without all the weight. I am selling my Blues Junior, it just didn't cut the mustard tone-wise. I think the BC-30 will become my main amp for real performances, although if I need more volume, I'm gonna keep the Boogie...If I ever play a Stadium (fat chance!) I've got a vintage Laney AOR 100 watt head for that sort of thing (and for driving my wife crazy with volume here in the house!) although the Boogie with the 12" extension cab and 2 EVH's would probably handle that, too...but I digress.. The Roland has a very sweet tube-like sound and is very versatile for such a lightweight package.

I have Roland stompboxes, Keyboards, etc. and the quality and durability of their stuff is unparralleled...

Never had to use them.

Well, I've covered this above for the most part...I've been a music teacher privately and in elememtary school, and a High School and Jr. High Band director and Chorus director since 1970. I am a professional trumpet player, and currently play lead in a local community big band as well as a 6-person combo where I arrange and play guitar and trumpet, trombone, and sax as well. I am playing guitar because finding a reliable guitarist is problematical in my area...

I chose the Roland because of prior experience with their products and somewhat because of the reviews here. So far, it looks like I made a good choice...heck, for 200 bucks new, you can't go wrong...Get one..

2003 Manufacture date. The best clean channel ever! Needs a reverb bad! Gets loud for 30 watt solid state amp. Thre dirty channel is a bit hard to figure out, and the instruction book is not all that much.

I play a Washburn X-40.
The amp has a nice 12" speaker, I've never gotten it to rattle.
Like I said clean channel very clean, not much variety here, no reverb.
The dirty channel is way out there! If you like good basic distortion this is it at it's best!

I don't gig, so the amp dosen't leave the house, but seems to be very well made. Excellent construction and finish.

It's a Roland, who needs customer support? I really don't know about their support system, never had to use it.

I have played for years off and on again I have a les paul.
Would I buy it again? Yes.
I love the looks of the amp, great clean channel, well made,very nice afforable amp. All around winner.
I hate the fact there is no reverb, every amp should have reverb!

Everyone knows the features; I won't rehash that. But, like others; I gave it a few points off for no line out or headphone jack.

I have a BC-60-310 also and I needed a smaller amp for practice and small "open mic" style gigs.
Just like it's big brother, this thing sounds great. I still can't understand how they can sell for this price..?
I play blues and blues/jazz and classic rock and this really delivers great tone for all those.
I primarily use the dirty channel and control the amount of dirt via the volume knob on my guitar; and this amp cleans up very nicely.
You just can't beat this amp for the price..

I've never had to fix a roland product or deal with them.

see above

I've giving this a 10 overall even though I wish it had reverb, line out and a headphone jack...tone is what matters most to me; the other stuff is just "icing on the cake" and this amp just drips tone!
Granted it's not a "DR-Z" or a Boogie MK-4 but it's also not $3.000!

2003 (I think). The amp has two channels: 1) clean w/ bright switch and 2) dirty with pre/post. It has no reverb, which is kind of minus, so I'm going to give it 6. For what it is, it really doesn't need to have much more. It's a straight ahead blues and classic rock amp.

I'm playing it with fender single coils, P90s and humbuckers of various types (PRSs, Gibson, Gotoh, DiMarzio). This amp suits my style perfectly. I really like the sounds. It's amazing to me that this thing is not a tube amp because the sound is very realistic. The clean channel sounds very good. Crisp and clean and gets a little dirty when driven hard. The bright switch enhances things to get it more Fenderish. The dirty channel is pretty good actually. Before I got this I read the reviews here and was a little worried the distortion was going to sound too buzzy and synthetic, but to my surprise it's actually very good sounding. At lower settings (Pre - 3, post - 8) it's a nice growl with some nice overtones. I find myself playing on the dirty channel more than the clean. I have yet to try the clean channel with some pedals (TS-9 + Keeley compressor), but I bet it will sound great.

I don't know really, since I've had it for a very short time. But the keyboards I've owned have always held up.

Can't say, but I expect good things.

I've had a couple of other amps in the past. I have a Peavey classic 30 and I love that amp. The BC-30 sounds very good next to it, but is missing just slightly that tube shimmer. I don't think that that's a major failing because it's $200 amp. It's also very loud.

Built in USA, 30 watts, 12" speaker, footswitch input for changing between the 2 channels, normal channel has bright switch and volume controls, lead channel has pre-volume and post volume controls. Simple to use. No effect loop, headphone jack, or speaker out (but at this price they can't include everything).

I play jazz and blues with an older customized Carvin guitar, straight into the amp with no effects. Very close to real tube-like tone, and plenty of sustain. Good enough sound even at low volumes, so I can use this without headphones when practicing at home. 30 watts but seems louder when cranked, enough for small gigs.

Seems to be solidly built. I play it nearly every day, never any problems. Sounds as good as the first day I turned it on. And continues to be extremely quiet, no hiss at all.

I hope I never need to find out, but I do hear that Roland has good customer service when you need it. I only deal with companies who stand behind their products.

This is a damn good amp for only $200 -- I would definitely buy another one.

Bought new in 2004. Clean channel w/bright switch, dirt channel w/gain and level. Passive (according to the manual) three-band tone section + true presence control and master vol. 30 watts and one 12" speaker. And that's all.

For my anticipated application, few features and simplicity are a plus, but since there aren't many features, I rate it a 6.

My main guitar is an old Ibanez PF300 w/Rio Grande pickups. Depending on the gig, I sometimes play a Peavey Reactor (tele). My band plays classic and modern rock, blues and "progressive" blues. I also sit in with a few bands and attend a lot of open mics and jams. The latter is my main reason for picking up this amp, 'cuz it's compact, reasonably loud, and pretty good tone for the styles I like to play.

The clean channel can be very warm, and it breaks up a little when cranked. The breakup is smooth, but there's not quite enough gain to do the Fender Blackface blues thang. Too bad, cuz the breakup has a nice character, just not quite enough of it. Works nice with a Tube Screamer, though.

The dirty channel has a pretty wide range of distortion. To me, it's got plenty of gain. I set the "pre" volume a little less than halfway up, and that gives me a good "plexi-on-10" tone with the guitar cranked, and cleans up nicely with the guitar turned down. I got a footswitch when I got the amp, but I currently don't use it. I can get all the variety I need just from the guitar volume.

The speaker is a major factor in the tone of this amp. It's got a very strong low-power Celestion vibe. Lots of that upper-mid "crunch" which is either good or bad, depending on your preference. It's easy to nail that Duane Allman "Live at the Philmore" tone, or early ZZ top tone, but hard to do a Robben Ford or Larry Carlton kinda tone.

The breakup on the dirt channel is also very natural and smooth. Notes decay very smoothly without the solid-state "gating"-type breakup at the edge of distortion.

The amp is nice and loud for 30 solid-state watts, and still sounds good at fairly high settings of the master vol. Plenty loud enough to gig with, in that it will keep up with even a loud drummer. Warmer with more "push" than most solid state amps. Can keep up with a Peavy Classic 30 tube amp. Probably can NOT keep up with a cranked 35w Fender Vibrolux Reverb, but still adequate for club bands at sane volume levels.

Haven't had the amp long enough to have an opinion worth anything in this regard. I've played a couple gigs with it so far, and was happy with the way it sounded. Hung with a bass player and guitarist who were both using full stacks in a small-to-medium-sized club, although of course they weren't pushing their gear at all.

I will say that to the eye the amp appears to be of very high quality, and very solid construction. Kind of a small thing, but the handle is really heavy-duty for all the bigger the amp is, with four mounting screws. Kinda makes you all warm and fuzzy about the design ethic, if that notion carries over to other aspects of construction.

Based on my experience with other Roland and Boss gear, I expect reliability to be pretty high.

While I've had no problems with the amp, I did have to call Roland customer service regarding a Roland synth I have. Found them to be very responsive and willing to spend time on the phone working through my problem.

Instrument amps may have a different support group, I dunno.

I've been playing for over 30 years, and I'm a full-time professional musician. I wanted something small, simple and decent-sounding to use on pick-up gigs and for casual open mic and jamming situations. This amp is perfect for that. All I need is my guitar, a cable, and this amp. Sounds great on stage, and makes a good backup for my main gigging amp (Tech 21 Trademark 60).

While I still prefer the tone of the Trademark 60, (primarily because of the "bluesy" breakup of the clean channel, and the "throatier" tone on the distortion channel), I think the Blues Cube is just as good at having "tube" character, and I've owned a number of quality tube amps in my career. While the Celestion-style "rasp" of this speaker is not my favorite tone, it's still a good tone, and as I stated earlier,it nails that cranked-plexi tone pretty well, in my opinion. In the converse of the usual experience, I like the sound of this amp BETTER on stage than I do in my rehearsal studio.

These amps are a real bargain. Good tone, good responsiveness, more volume than 30 solid-state watts might lead you to believe, and solid construction.

2003 Blues Cube Two channel one clean and one crunch. Twelve inch speaker.

I'm playing a G&L ASAT with duncan pickups and can get a very bluesy/tubish sound out of this solid state. I love the harmonics and sustain in the lead channel but like the other reviewers I miss just a little reverb.

Only had the thing a short while but seems reliable.

n/a

Been playing 35 years and owned many different amps both solid state and tube and would highly recommend this amp for the older player not for metal.I've got tinnitus in my left ear from playing too loud for too long and you young guys are'nt gonna like it any more than I do.
I would definitely buy another if lost or stolen, you cant beat the price for this kind of tone.

Basic 2 channel amp. No effects loop, headphone jack, speaker out,etc. Just a basic guitar amp. Like the 60's Fenders. Volume, bass, mid treble, presence, master plus a lead channel. Mine is the 2 x 10" version.

The 10" speakers break up nice when cranked. The clean channel goes from nice clean to a good tube OD when cranked. That classic Fendery breakup sound when cranked. The amp spanks tone with the blues. The lead channel is voiced like a Boss DS-1. I compared the two and the Bluescube is bassier than a DS-1, but the sound is pretty much the same. The only time it sounds Solid State is when the presence is maxed out,it adds to much fizz. The amp is dead quiet. No hiss.

This amp takes what your fingers and guitar produce and amplifies it beautifully.

If you are familiar with the DS-1, it does not do nu-metal. Classic Rock, Blues,Country and Jazz are this amps forte'

It's a Roland.

When I called them once they were nice and helpful

Very underated amp. I guess haveing no reverb, effects loop and other extras scare people away. I look at like an old Blonde Fender Deluxe. Basic but Toneful.

Straight forward two-channel amp -- clean and gain. Bass, Mid, Treble, Presence, Volume for each channel, Gain for gain channel, bright switch on clean channel, Master Volume, 1 12" speaker & 30 watts in a nice, portable package.

This amp is quite impressive on its own and I have used it live many times like that -- just plug in and play. Currently, however, I run a Boss GT-6 into it because of the wide range of tones I need during a performance. This combination allows me to get basically any sound I desire -- many of the Boss' presets are quite good and the Blues Cube produces them quite nicely.

I have a tendency to use a ton of low-end as well as gain in some of my sounds and unlike a previous reviewer, I get no cabinet rattle what-so-ever. This amp is a Gem and has been completely reliable even though it has been through a war!

I think I just said it -- has fallen down stairs, been knocked over, etc... has its share of bruises but still sounds like the day I bought it.

Never had a Roland product fail, so I've never contacted them.

A great amp -- especially for the money. I have been playing for many, many years. I am a first-call support-musician/keyboard player for a national band when they are in town, though guitar is my main instrument. I have a music degree, have taught music for many years, etc. I have owned many tube amps and many solid state amps in my time. The BC-30 is by far the best SS amp I have ever owned.

If it were lost or stolen, I'd get another in a heartbeat. There's nothing that I do not like about it -- I love it's portability coupled with its big sound. If you're worried that 30 watts won't be enough, this amp is louder than many 100 watt SS amps that I have owned.

If you're thinking about a Line 6, you might consider this coupled with a GT-6 instead -- much better sound plus equipment redundancy... What I mean by this is that I do not need to bring a back-up of either. If the amp fails, the GT-6 can be run direct and still sound good; if the GT-6 fails, I can plug straight into the BC-30.

Once I get this unexpectedly hot sounding amp dialed in, in the clean channel with the volume about halfway up, I never touch it. So any "features" it might have don't matter. I thought it looked like a piece of garbage, but I play it onstage and used it for my last recording session.

I'm an odd case. I play a 1952 Gibson L-48 archtop with a Fischman bridge pickup. I've always had terrible impedence and feedback problems with amps and PA systems. For some reason nobody seems to understand, my guitar plugged straight through the blues cube produces a wall of warm, slightly clipped, tube-like tone which sustains forever. The fat tone has become the backbone of my bands country-rock ( think Gourds, Steve Earle, Wilco) sound. It produces more stage volume than you have any right to expect, and sounds delicious through the PA.

Been treated rough and keeps on rockin. It's used, maybe early 90's. Solid.

My only other experience with Roland is the BOSS line of effects pedals (indestructible) and the ubiquitous 2-12 Jazz Chorus (heinous!). But roland seems to stand by their stuff.

I have been playing out for 10 years. I also own a Fender 4-10 Blues DeVille, but I like this amp better. People giggle at the tiny solid state amp with one speaker, but when I strum an open chord that reverberates with overtones and just a little slushy distortion, jaws drop. Get one.

Brand-new, 2003 kick-ass little combo. Two-channels, eq, gain, master and presence. This little beauty is the BOMB! I use an Ampeg 100-watt SRT-212 tube amp on stage, and this little monkey can certainly produce the tone, if not the volume. I have been half tempted to use it to gig with, and I do bring it as a backup. No effects loop or reverb, but so what?

I play funk in an eight-piece, all-teacher, horn-driven funk machine, and use this for practice. I sold my 130-watt, mid-80s Fender M-80 Chorus, because I didn't need two big amps. This sucker sounds even better, though I do miss the reverb a bit. Quiet as a mouse, loud enough for clubs, it gives me that funk jangly-jangly and a screamin' Carlos-y blues sustain. Distortion might not be enough for metal, but at 42, I probably won't be playing that again. I run either a 1970 Gibson ES-335 TD or a 2003 PRS Santana SE w/trem>1970 Crybaby>2001 Dgitech RP-200, and I can pretty much do what I want. It not only cuts through the mix of the horn section, but has enough headroom for those screaming Prince leads!

Since I just bought it, I can't tell how long it will last, but Roland has a great rep, and the thing seems to be built like a tank.

Again, Roland has a great rep, so I don't really expect any problems!

I have been playing since I was six, in metal bands in high school back in the 70s, jazz,fusion and punk in college in the 80s, off to get married and raise kids in the 90s, and now doing 70s funk with horns, overall about 36 years. I did a fair amount of research on this thing, because I wanted to get rid of my M-80, only because I don't need to haul around a 50 lb. practice amp. My Ampeg weighs 75 lbs., and I'm going to start using the Roland in a alt-funkabilly band I'm working on as a side project. It's light (22 lbs.), meaty and tasty on the eyes (retro blonde). This little booger kicks, and I'd buy another in a second. The financier (wife) says the kids gotta eat, so I look for good values.

Don't know the year. Two Normal and Ddrive channels, pre and post gain on Drive channel. Bright switch, Presence Control and master Volume. Mine has two 10" speakers. Solid state, best I've ever heard.
Amp lacks reverb, but the quality and usability of the other features more than makes up for it.

I use strats (standard wiring) an Oscar Schmidt 336 copy and a Johnson jazz hollowbody. The two channels work well together.Unlike some amps the overall EQ isn't radically different between Clean and Drive channels. Three band EQ and Presence Controll affect both channels. EQ is incredibly smooth, effective and tweakable. Presence control is great too.
This amp has the perfect tone for me, tubelike, smooth and extremely adjustable. I tried a Blues Driver into the clean channel just for fun, and was astonished to get exactly the same sounds as the drive channel. Roland ad Boss are related companies, so I suspect the drive channel on the amp uses the same or very similar circuit. The two 10's sound great, less muddy than 12's. Pre and Post distortion adjustments on the drive channel provide a wide variety of tones. Again, the EQ on this thing is fantastic. Distortion is great for blues/rock/jazz. Probably not an amp for metal players.

Don't know about reliability. Hasn't broken yet. Seems solidly built and looks great.

Have never had to contact Roland yet.

Fantastic amp, especially for the money. Been playing for over 30 years and getting back into it heavy again recently. Afer a long and somewhat dissapointing search fo good tone through lots of other amps, including tube amps, I prefer this for sound, reliability and versatility. I'd highly recommend it to anyone who needs good tone and reliability and plays rock, blues or jazz. Great amp.

Don't know exactly when it was made but I figure somewhere in the early ninties.
It has a normal and lead channel (pre and post) with bright knob. Channel switching with footswitch or manual. No effects loops but who cares. No headphone jack but I can live with that. Precense, mid, bass and treble. 30 Watts just sounds like 30 Watts and solid state

Different guitars Fender Strat, Hohner LP with Dimarzio PAF Pro and a Chery (Chevy) Tele with Dimarzio PAF.
It is the best solid state amp for blues and a little rock (with help from my BOSS ME-50. Distortion (Lead) is great also a little mild perhaps. It is the quitest amp I've ever played and I played a lot of different amps. It sounds as good as the guitar you are using and that what's all about. It can get any better. Forget the noisy, heavy and 'the look after' of tube amps.

Any complaints over a period op 10 years now.

Never had to deal with them. But as the amp is perfectly build the CS should be as good.

I've played for more than 25 years now and I've had a lot of gear over the years. Including tube amps by Fender, Marshall, solid states and stacks. But after 25 years you discover it is not really the amp who counts (although you have to get an amp which reflects the true tone and style of your playing but how you play with what guitar you play. It is the ultimate amp!!!!!!!!!

Clean channel, lead channel, 3 band eq, master volume, headphone out.

To get a decent clean sound out of this at any real volume, you need to crank the clean volume and then use the master to get the level you want. that gives you a nice sparkling tone, but if you get it wrong the sound distorts in a very crap way, solid state way...

I don't like the distortion. It's not heavy, it's not tight, it doesn't even give a particularly good overdriven sound. And there's a delay if you're using a foot switch

Never broken, seems pretty damn tough. Survived many gigs and transit, but has now been replaced by a stack.

Rock.

No idea, never used them.

It's okay, it's fine for practicing, it *can* sound okay, and most other amps in a similar price range or not much better.

I ordered this amp from Musician's Friend, it came in the mail, and wow, its great. I was able to get a great Clapton tone, I am amazed how great a simple amp can sound. I mostly use it in my house, and it sound great at low volumes, but really rocks if you want it. I have had tube amps in the past, and the Blues Cube really sounds as good ot better because it is more quiet. Channel switching is great, and the overdrive is mild to wild

I play a Fernandes Strat and a Squier Tom Delonge Stratocaster, both sound great and I can get all kinds of sounds, but I like it bluesy. I can just back off on the Squier and get a sweeter sound, really great.

It works great, I can't see needing another amp unless you wanted a Marshall or Laney rip roaring stack

No manual came with the amp, but they would sell you one for 10 bucks, forget it! Warranty is good, but I have not had to use it.

I have a Tubeworks Real tube, which pushes this amp nicely and you can get all kinds of sounds. I have a Digiverb for reverb, but you know I have gotten used to no reverb, this amp simply sounds great just plain. I sometimes use a dyna comp, but this amp allows you to just plug in and let er rip. Truly amazing amp for the price, retro blond styling, great sound. Roland has really made a great amp with a fat tube tone.

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.

n/a

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.

2001 Model. It was actually a "scratch & dent" model from Musicians Friend. When I opened the box, I saw a brand new amp. No scratches nor dents. As in other reviews, I'll review this per price point and then some...

It's a 2-channel model. Its circuitry is called "Tube Logic". This is Roland's low end tube modeling; but it isn't half bad, especially if you compare the amp with some of the Peaveys and Crates in its class. No reverb, no effects loop, no external speaker jack. I don't use an effects loop but an external speaker jack would be nice. Reverb comes from my effects unit. When I first got the amp, I went through a lot of tweaking. I think I've finally found my niche with it. The mediocre score is for its lack of features; not lack of tone.

I play a mix of jazz, pop, country, & blues. Think, Larry Carlton, Robben Ford, Brent Mason, and Steve Lukather rolled into one. I don't use the lead channel of the amp. Within my setup is a BOSS ME-30 multi-effects unit. It takes care of the effects, reverb, distortion, echo, chorus, etc... What I have found is that if I'm playing through the clean channel and have my reverb and delay settings the way I like, when I switch to the lead channel, the reverb and delay are out of control. Through all this tweaking, I decided to use this amp as just a bedroom amp and go back to my Blues Jr. for recording and stage.

I thought, "Let's just tweak it a bit more." I really didn't want this amp to go to the bedreoom only. I love the blond tolex and brown grill cloth. I exchanged speakers with mt Fender Blues Jr.; which has an Eminence speaker with a huge magnet. There was a noticable improvement in tone. It became warmer and bigger. Now remember, all this stuff is very subjective. Warmth to me might be dark to you. I decided to NOT use the lead channel at all. That let me use the clean channel for all it's worth. I set the master bol all the way up and control actual volume levels with the clean channel's volume control. It becomes very loud and punchy without much noise - great for the studio.

I love "real" tube amps. I hate their unreliability. Be it shotty wiring in a club or the deafening hum of florescent and/or mercury lights in your church, or accidentally bumping it and having a tube go out. They're very fragile. The BC-30 is a tank. It's solid state with a respectable tube simulation. I would gig without a backup.

Never dealt with them. Go to your warranty repair store. That's what they're there for.

I've been playing over 20 years. I've owned a lot of gear. I decided that I wanted to have a couple of good guitars and maybe a couple of small, but loud amps. That's what I now have. It's really nice when you can go to the studio or a gig and fit all of your gear in the frontseat of your car; plus sound as big as the guy with the Bluesbreaker or Super Reverb.

This rating is features per price point. It has no reverb, digital effects, or effects loop. What it does have is two channels, clean and gain, that both sound really good. It has a bright switch on the clean and a shared three band eq, a master volume section with a presence control. In order to get those other features such as reverb, digital fx, or fx loop, the price would obviously get much higher -- and at a higher price point there are alot of good sounding amps available. At this price, you could get a crate GX-15 with digital effects. Only problem is that the Crate sounds like garbage.

This amp is very impressive -- probably the best solid state I have owned and better than many tube amps including a Marshall JTM-60 that I recently bought and then returned. I do own several tube amps that I love including a Carvin, Sovtek, and Trace Elliot which all sound better than the BC-30. However, if you compare the BC-30 to tube amps from Peavey and Crate the BC-30 wins hands down. The BC-30 has a nice warm creamy tone. If yours doesn't, maybe you've got a bad one or you turned your treble up to ten -- this amp's eq is not like marshall which sounds best with everything full on. I've found it to sound its best with all eq at or near 12 O'clock and then cut or boost as necessary. As for volume, this amp is very efficient and loud enough for any professional gig.

By the way, where are all of these people playing that say an amp of this sort, or even a H & K tube 50, is not loud enough for a gig. I have been gigging professionally for well over a decade, and the only volume problem I have EVER had is my tube amps being too loud. My Carvin is thunderously loud and needs to be to get its tone. My Sovtek and Trace Elliot amps are more manageable, but I still get complaints from sound men about too much stage volume. I have yet to use the BC-30 for a gig, but I know it is loud enough to draw the "you're too loud" complaint.

At this point, I am curious how the amp would sound with a good Celestion. I may change the speaker. If I do and it sounds better, I will update.

I own alot of Roland and Boss equipment and I have never had any failures of any sort. I do not expect any from this. I usually carry a Pod along as a back up. I will update if this amp fails.

Never had to use them -- I guess that's as good as it can get!

I've been playing pretty much since birth, I have been performing and teaching (I am a full-time degreed musician and teach guitar as well as piano, bass, drums, mandolin...as well as perform 6-12 times monthly) for fourteen years (since age 17). My list of gear that I currently own is very extensive -- 2700 Watt PA, Yamaha AW4416CD and corresponding equipment, Amps from Carvin, Trace Elliot, Sovtek (I have owned Marshall JCM800(hated), Peavey (hated, but not as much as the Marshall), Marshall JTM-60 (liked, but unreliable and BC-30 sounds better anyway), Boogie Mark IV (sounds great, but move one knob a 10th of a milimeter and your tone is completely different, not to mention you could anchor a cruise ship with one). Here's what I love about the BC-30: It is a great sounding, light, plug in and play type of amp which doesn't need reverb because a) it sounds good without it; and b) even when I use an amp with reverb on stage or in the studio, I never Print the amp's reverb to tape or put it into the live signal, for I will let the soundman or engineer use the much higher quality reverb in their studio or sound system.

I used to do the Stack and Rack thing, but as you become more experienced and start gigging more often, you quickly learn how to downscale while maintaining or upgrading tone.

Here is what I hate about it:_____________!

I would definitely but it again. In fact, I probably will get another one for my lesson studio.

This is a 1997 model, single 12". No reverb or effects loop; other than that, the standard tone controls, master, two channels, etc. Features have been addressed below. Quite a lot of power for an amp that some consider a mere solid state practice amp. Shared tone controls for both channels and presence control in power section. It does its clean and overdrive channels extremely well, but feature-wise no fancy tricks.

I play the range from jazz to rock to country. The clean channel is blackface beautiful, that is light bluesy distortion when cranked. The distortion channel - on 2 think early Bloomfield Tele era, on up think ZZ to Doobies to Hendrix. Can do "light shades" of shred. The tone is, quite honestly, about as good as it gets/no reverb necessary (I'm a forty eight year old pro who owns the classic original amps and has a/b'd them extensively). Why these did not fly off of the shelves and have ended up being almost given away is solely due to marketing and media psychology.

Only had a short while, picked up as a lark on a Sunday afternoon cruising ebay, with a ridiculously low bid. Reliability? These are the Boss people.

Used so no warranty, but no problems and no experience with Roland.

I own great examples of most of the classic amplifiers and most classic electric guitars. This amp has no preference for single coils or buckers. It sounds spectacular in all modes with all guitars, including accoustic. It does have a bit of a "blat" at high volumes on the clean channel that is a sympathetic resonance around low A notes. For the money this is unbeatable; I now must have the BC-60, either 12 or 3-10 models or, most likely, both!

I use a KH-2 ESP model, a blue Rhoads V, a B.C. Rich Warlock, and a cusotm built explorer, all with EMG pickups. On this amp a 50 dollar rogue would sound the same... Thats why I got a Mesa Boogie Triaxis and 2:90 power amp, with 2 Marshall 4 x 12 cabs and various other items... but with this amp you cannot actually play the songs of the artists you know and truely admire because its sound quality is not very good. Period

It has never failed, btu tube amps that require attention, actually have tone unlike a solid-state POS like this.

Haven't Delt with them, and wouldnt't even if it broke.

There is worse out there, btu not much worse unless your talkig about some battery powered thing you wired yourself to a 3 inch speaker inside of a shoe box... in other words... this amp is not worth buying.

Normal amp features: 2 channels, 3 eq's. However, i guess in order to bring down the price, they decided not to put a speaker out which makes the amp only good for practice. My model has a presence control which when combined with the eq's give it a lot of versatility. it's a class A amplifier and the sound can get a lot louder that 30 watts, but it getts really muddy when you turn everything up. it has a master volume which, when used with the presence can help you put a leash on your tone.

i'm playing a homade gutiar with duncan 69 (neck) and jb (bridge) or a yamaha 512 with lace sensor blue pickups and a tone zone hum bucker in the bridge (i love this guitar. the old yamaha strats have a neckjoint that enables easy upper fret access. i'd recomend this guitar to anyone at any level, the craftmanship is good, put in some new pickups andi t's golden) I play primarily blues with this amp. you get some good tube type overdrive by turning the clean chanell all the way up. The drive channel is nice and thick, especially when juiced. The amp is naturally bassy, and handles my eq pedal different from my marshal or vox. This amp was made to thump, but it's not big enough to do anything but scream when playing out. I love it's sound. when playing in a room or garage or coffeehouse or small venue, it's sound is great. the speaker pushes more sound that this amp gets credit for, but then again, it's a small amp. I just wish it had a line out.

I can depend on it. It's a solid amp. it has a tendancy to be inconsistent at different levels, so make sure to do a sound check before the crowd gets there. I've taken this thing up and down the east coast. I use it for auditions because it's got monster tone.

no, never dealt with the company

It's under 200 dollars and it gives you monster tone. if it had a line out and an fx loop i'd use it for gigs. If i lost this thing, i'd go to church for committing the sin. i put the tone up there with my old bassman(god rest it's soul) and up and above the marshal i use when playing out.

Two channels - Clean and overdriven
Love the sound of amp on the clean channel, it sound warm. On the overdriven channel I find it to not get crunchy enough. As mentioned in other reviews it is definitly not a metal amp. It seems to work well with my Danelectro - the combo mixes well. I do wish that it had reverb.

My Danelectro has three lipstick pickups and the only problem I notice is the constant hum - to be expected. The amp sounds better as you increase the volume - especially on the second channel. The distortion has a wide range which is a nice characterictic of this amp.

I bought it used (from a dealer) & have been using it for about two monthes now. I have had no problems with it.

No need for support - however I could not find the amp on their website - a big disappointment

I'm not sure when this amp was made. I got it on A clearance sale
from A mail order house. The amp is dual channel but I didn't get
A footswitch. Very simple layout no effects loop or preamp out and no reverb. I'm A big fan of tube amps but I also know solid state amps
have come on strong for quite A few years. Also I have never bought
an amp that I could not try out first but the price and the huge
R&D that Roland has I thought what the hell and bought it. I got new
in july 99

The guitars I use are an early 80s Strat with A humbucker on the
bridge, and A 75 Music Man with two Carvin dual humbuckers. I need
an amp to do good sounding chops and lead fills. This is where the
bad part starts. In less than 30 seconds after turning this amp on
I got A horrible flash back to the 70s when as A kid I hated that
awful sound of solid state treble. Here it was again! it seems to
have that peak at about 2KHZ. At ear level (the speaker pointing
at you) know one could stand to be near it! I tried different
guitars and every setting I could think of and it is bad sounding on
all of them. on the overdrive channel the distortion kicks in on
about 2 with A raspy fuzz and gets worse as you turn it up. I tried
the amp A couple of times spread out over A few days in different
setups an tried to get friends to take it and try it out but, all
they would do was smile and say no thanks. How can I relate the
style and type I like to play ( sorta classic rock and kickin country)
when an amp falls so flat. No sustain,natural overdrive,or glassy
sound to talk about. The only positive think I can think of is the
clean channel stayed clean almost all the way up if you like an
old Roy Clark sound. Any treble and presence you try and add just
sounds piercing.

Only had it A week. Did I get A bad one?

Did not deal with Roland. Just UPS back to the mail order warehouse.
I called and they said to return it(I sure did).

Wow I've played guitar for over 20 years. I have many amps from Fender
to Mesa Boogie and Vox To Sears Silvertone! and some I wish I still
had. I am not A Brand hound. I can find A little no name amp and love
it and keep it around for years with A couple of other amps.
When I first read about the Blues Cube line was in A Roland mag.
Of course they had A review by A guy that was an amp guru that
had countless classic tube amps. So he raved on how great the Blues
cube line was. So even if you only belive half what A brand says
about themselves they have their butt on the line if it is A clunker.
The glowing reviews by other buyers in Harmony Central was the reason
I bought The pig in A poke(buying without trying). I must have got A
bad one or everyone else is tone deaf. JUST KIDDIN GUYS! This amp
just did not give any of the classic tube sounds it promised,or even
passable solid state sound.

This is a relatively straight forward amp, but missing some critical features, primarily a speaker out and an effects loop. I love this amp to death but I need something larger and it's killing me trying to find something that sounds this great. The 3-band eq is nice, it has quite a wide range.

This amp is simply the best amp I've ever heard. It delivers a beautiful creamy tone (like a good Guinness) that I'm finding impossible to duplicate with any other amp. It has enough crunch for almost everything but death metal. Sometimes the clean channel isn't quite clean enough though. I'm using a 1970 Les Paul Deluxe and an epiphone Sheraton and both sound absolutely amazing (especially the Sheraton, I've never heard such a tonally well-balanced guitar/amp). I need something louder for bigger clubs and i can't find anything even close. I may end up with the BC-60 if I can find one (I don't think they are making these anymore). If you want a fat smooth creamy sound with decent bite and no dirt, this is the amp for you, especially if your pickups tend be on the hot side.

lugged it around a lot, never had any problems yet (had it for about a year).

For me, this amp delivers the ultimate sound and I would hunt to the end of the earth for another one if it were stolen. The only drawback is the lack of a speaker out for a cabinet. You can pick these up for $199 new (if oyu can find them), and that's a great price for what you get.

2 channels: lead and clean. Wish it had reverb though. Very flexible, can produce many different sounds from rock to blues. Uses Roland's TubeLogic circuitry to emulate a tube amp (not too bad, but there's still a little bit of solidstate hardness in it).

Sounds very close to a tube amp. I play it with a LP, and it sings with sustain. Distortion isn't hard enough for metal, but is perfect for rock. Clean channel has very nice lows (partly due to a nice heavy duty speaker) and shimmering highs. Sounds best when you crank it, gives more sustain. Even gives a tad of overdrive.

Never had any problems. Pretty solid.

Haven't had to deal with them.

Really good value, but lacks power and reverb. If you're using it for a practice amp, its perfect, but for gigs, get the BC-60.

This amp is a solid state amp with rolands new tube logoic tec. as the names states it is a blues amp it rely gives great blues tone that you usualy can only get from those older tube amps and it seams to have eaven thos strange reactions to signal changes that you can get on purpose from the tube amps but can never find on solid state. It has two chanles clesn and lead and is realy versitile but for more descritions look at http://www.sweetwater.com/bluescube/bluescube.html it has almost every thing on the amp there. It gives great sound for a 30 watt and has powerful bass i think its because of the speaker, i mean this thing is one powerful speaker. It has a footswitch jack for the clean and lead switch. and has a bright boton that gives a nice bright tone (dugh obviously). The only thing it shuold have for this size amp is a headfone jack and i wish it had reverb.

Its great for blues on both clean( that can be overdriven) and lead (very versitile) but you can get almost any rock sound out of it exept for realy heavey metal styles

its preaty tough since its lolid state.

na

Its very good and probably the fist series of amps (blues cubes) to realy give the old tubes a run for there money. Iwould buy it again but if I had more money I would buy the bc-60 because it has a lot more feature(and I mean alot). I wish they would make a bc-30 with the same features as the bc-60 exept for the rectifex circuit. this amp is great for a practice amp of for those of you that like pure just amp and wah blues with a mic in front of the amp. and if you have a couple of bucks and want to go for the most awsome blues sound you can get on a 30 watt try hooking this one up to a wah and a boss blues driver.