Roland BC-60 BluesCube 112 Combo

As the other reviewers wrote, this Roland BC-60-1x12 is a very versatile amp. I've owned it almost three years now, and tend to use it more for recording than my JCM 900-2500 1960A short stack or my vintage 1959 Tremolux, simply because it's smaller, sounds damn good and is easier to move. If I need visual impact for a live gig, I'll haul the Marshall and/or Fender, but if I'm doing a session gig where only the sound counts, I'll take my BC-60-1x12 and save the cartage expense.

I took the time to try to find my favorite Marshall and Fender tones (I actually did A/B comparisons with my Marshall and Fender amps), and was very impressed with how close I was able to come with this little amp. Yeah, yeah... it isn't everything to everyone, but for me, this inexpensive little amp turned out to be more than a practice amp for me. For the most part, it gets me to 95% of the sounds that I use. My guitars are Strats, teles, an SG and a LP. It's also capable of being very loud and can keep up with most other amps in a club gig setting.

Personally, I've never had a failure with my amp. Unfortunately, I know three other players that bought this amp on my recommendation and all three had major failures with theirs. In two cases, Roland replaced the amps; the third person was so put off with the failure (at a gig, with no backup amp) and the cost of repairing a 4 month old amp that he shoved it into a corner and went back to his vintage Fender amps. I hope this isn't a common situation. By the way - none of these guys mistreated their amps... they just crapped out in their living rooms...

Oh yeah... when I received my amp, I pulled it out of the undamaged box and found a dent in the the metal chassis and in the front edge of the wood cabinet. No biggie... that's rock-n-roll.

I haven't had to contact Roland customer support yet for my amp, but my other three friends did. Since Roland amps are warranted for only 90 days, one of my three friends was faced with an amp that was barely 4 months old, failed at a gig, and will cost him money to have it repaired. They all said the customer support folks were nice, but they'll probably never buy another Roland amp "because of the crappy quality".

Like I said, I like this little amp because it was fairly inexpensive and sounds way better than any other solid state amp I've used. It's also more protable than my "real" amps, but it's a HEAVY little amp; way heavier than it would have been if the cabinet had been made of plywood or pine instead of MDF.

60W, 1X12" speaker, Solid State amp with 2 footswitchable channels and reverb. On the clean channel there is a crunch 1 and 2 setting. It has a Rectiflex tube and diode selector. EFX loop. Master volume, presense and effect control. There is a bright switch on the Normal Channel and a Boost on the Lead Channel. It does not come with a footswitch. The recommended one is the Boss FS-5L but an a/b will work just fine. Roland doesn't make a cover for it. Minor irritant.

Lets start by saying that one amp doesn't do all. Not the BC-60, not the Twin or even the Plexi. No- I'm not one of those people who thinks that my amp is the best amp in the world (it's not) and nobody elses is any good. There are many other amps on my shopping list. Maybe a Super Reverb or a Rect-o-Verb (to name a couple) mmmmmm!!! Also,remember this: Good equipment is essential but it is the player (you), that makes it happen! You can't just plug into Jimmy Page's amp and sound like Jimmy Page! Got it!!! OK. The Blues Cube is not a modeling amp. It is an amp that gives you both a very nice clean and a nice overdriven sound (very bleusy). I've had this amp for a while and wanted to hear several players and guitars in it before writing this review. It is well suited for Classic Rock, Blues and Country. If you are into metal, it's not for you. It isn't as gainey as a Marshall or Peavey. Is it a tubey sounding as the best tube amp in town??? No. The Crunch selectors do however, give it that outdoor classic overdriven sound. Hat's off to ya if you find better on a SS amp. The good news there, is that it maintains the overdriven level throughout the volume range. This can be an advantage over a tube amp that doesn't quite overdrive enough at low volume or one that gets too distorted at high volume. So far,I've heard it played with 2 Tele's, 3 Strats, 2 SG's, a PRS and a very sweet Les Paul. They all sounded different but very nice in it. My axe is a modified Mex Tele with Vintage Noiseless pickups. The Cube is a loud one speaker amp that Rocks! It will do small gigs quite well. Very nice reverb too. There have been several pedals played through it. They all sounded nice as advertized. My personal favorite being the Boss BD-2. This really is a very nice combo amp with a couple of terrific sounds. Nothing more, nothing less. It does not do all!!!!!

It's a Roland. No Problamas so far!

The amp arrived in an unblemished box. When I opened it, one of the corners was dented. I called Customer Support on a Tuesday afternoon. On Thursday, the new part was at my doorstep. Doesn't get much better than that!! They even offered to have a dealer replace it for me.
Now, just for fun!!! The Roland website was the absolute worst in the business. You couldn't find the Cube under MI Amplifiers. It took about 4 or 5 clicks to get to it. Go figure!!!! Congrats to Roland on the new website! It is much better but it does run a little slow even with cable. A little tweak is in order. Other than that, very nice.

I've been around for a long time. There are many outstanding amps out there. If you are hung on one particular sound, there's no doubt that you should get the amp that delivers it. Is the BC-60 better than your Tripple Rectifier? Probably not. Is your Vox AC/30 better than your 59 Bassman? Maybe not. This is simply a good little amp that sounds really nice with a good player in it. I give it an overall 10 not because it's the greatest thing since sliced bread, but because it is a good sounding and versitile amp. Outstanding value! Roland- Make a cover for it, will ya????

30 watt solid state amp, clean and lead channels.

I just recieved this amp and have run through it with an Epipone Les Paul. Overall, it is not as good as I would have thought based on the reviews here. The clean channel is not exceptional in tone, and the lead channel is more suited to Hendrix type distorted sounds, than warm tube overdrive that I was looking for.

On the plus side, it is plenty loud, and it seems to handle bass notes very well. It could be effective as a bass and/or rhythm guitar amp.

I give it a 7 for price/performance ratio.

Since it is a solid-state, it is probably reliable for 2-3 years or so.

N/A

It has a very cheap price, and basically you get a cheap amp for what you pay. It is not a horrible product by any means, but it lacks beautiful tone. If you are looking for warm jazz or sweet Allman Brothers type sound, this amp will not deliver. If you need a reliable bass/rhythm amp, or you're into Hendrix give it a shot, for the price it is worth it.

This two channel amp has a wide variety of settings to choose from. I have been very impressed with the Jazz sound.It seems to be a flatter response, along the lines of a polytone, which is what I was hoping for.

I'm using a Heritage archtop ( I play in a big band) and a Fender Strat with three humbucker pickups. The woody tone and characteristics of my archtop are well projected by this amp. I haven't found a setting with my Strat that blows me away, soI probably need to do some eq adjustments to improve the sound.

This amp is well constructed. The grille cloth on mine is torn in two places, but it still looks good. I think the overall appearance is meant to bring back memories of Fender amps from the past, but it is modern enough looking to have its own identity.

Have not ordered anything yet for this amp.

I've been playing a long time, and I feel this is a very portable, durable, and versatile amp

The features of this amp have been pretty well described in the preceding reviews, so I won't dwell on them here. Suffice to say that the controls allow a wide amount of versatility to this amp. Mine is a single 12" speaker model.

I bought this amp to use mainly for playing jazz and as a prectice amp. I have a Trace Elliot Bonneville tube amp as well. As it turns out, I mostly find myself plugging into the Roland these days. They claim that the Tube Logic circuitry will emulate a tube amp, but trust me, if you compare this side by side with a tube amp, the difference is clearly obvious. That said, for the money, this amp is one hell of a bargain. I play either a Gibson Howard Roberts Fusion of a Les Paul DC Standard through this amp, and I am constantly receiving compliments on how nice the tone is. The reverb is subtle but effective, and the tone is clear and warm. Using the crunch switch, you can introduce a bit of distortion, or just add fatness to the sound. The effects loop is nicely designed and works great with any effects I've tried. It has a switch that allows you to match the level to the effects you're using, nice. It's light, easy to carry around and certainly loud enough for any of the jazz gigs I play. Bottom line, I love this little amp, it does exactly what I want. If you're after a hi-gain type of distortion, look elsewhere, this isn't the amp you want.

Seems pretty well designed. I've heard that the pots are a bit flimsy, so I take care not to bump them when transporting the amp. The little chrome cap/indicators on top of the knobs kept falling out. I superglued all of them and that took care of that issue. No problems to report.

Never dealt with them, but I would expect that they would stand behind their products.

I've been playing for over 35 years now - these days I'm mostly into jazz so this fits the bill perfectly until I can get my hands on an Evans amp. I'd buy it again in a heartbeat, bang for the buck is awesome. The tube emulation definitely lends a nice feel to the amp though as I mentioned, it's not a real tube sound (most obvious when you dial in some distortion, my Trace Elliot blows it away crunchwise). These can be had for under $300 bucks these days, and I highly recommend them if you're looking for a nice amp for jazz, rhythm tasks, or non-shredder solo type stuff.

perfect small amp. Like everyone else has said, sounds wonderful.

Guitars: strat & tele. play classic rock- style & blues & jazz.
I use two of these routed through an effects pedal. awesome sounds.
I use only one with no pedals for practice, and I am never disappointed with the sound of these amps.

have not had a problem. based upon my experience it would rate a 10 but I have two amps out of probably thousands. I will give it a 10 only because I also have a Roland K-500 [keyboards] and an old Roland Spirit 50, neither of which have ever failed me. Roland seem to be well made.

never needed, no idea.

been playing 22 years, owned lots of amps, like this one as well or better than any I had or played through. For the price I feel you can't do better. I did have a hard time finding a dealer that carried these amps for some reason, and they are not advertised at Roland's official site, and I can't figure out why this is!

Not sure what year. Probably the first year Roland made them. Bought it used at a pawn shop. I won't waste your time with the features as the other gear junkies have laid it out much better than my fart infested brain could. I do wish it had an exra speaker out to drive a larger cab or additional 12, but at the price I paid for it and what I use it for, I can't complain! I quit playing out several years ago ( although I still do an gig her and there ) so I just crank her in the house and a jam here once in a while.

I use the obligitory strat style guitar with carvin p/u's. I play blues, pop, rock, C&W, altered tunings, whatever floats my boat when I plug in. This amp has a very nice slice to it. It can get clean or mean. I use it mostly on the clean channel and play with the crunch buttons. It seams most of the reviews on this amp do not like the crunch settings. I do! I like them much more that the distorted side. The distortion sounds thin and muddy to my ears, while the crunch settings add a very musical grit to my sound. I get the disotrted sounds with a real tube and a fab tone. Very quite amp. I have always seemed to have a solid state amp. Not by choice, but it seems like thats waht I always wound up with. Out of all the SS amps I have had, this is by far the best sounding. Very warm and textured. I like it! I've only played two gigs with it, but It really shined when the volume knob was turned up!! Again, I used the clean channel with the crunch settings and dolffed the distortion side, using my pedals when the need arose.

I always ( 20 plus years ) giged without a backup and only had one amp ( a peavy artist ) fail me. and that was because of the wiring in the joint, not the fault of the amp. Lucky forme a kind patron left the bar and returned with a black face super reverb for me to finish pout the night with! Now, if I giged again, I would take my Rockman or something as a spare. But I do not forsee any problems with this amp. It is very well built.

Never dealt with Roland. Bouth it used so NO WARRANTY!!

Benn playing 31 years. I own or have owned just about everything ( except a fine tube amp )in that time. Currently, the strat, a tele, ovation, silvertone....the real tube, boss CE3 chorus, delay, wha, fab tone, Korg G3 blah blah blah....I would like to upgrade, but i can't justify it with the piddly ass amount I play anymore. I had to by the amp because I had read some good reviews and it was such a steal at the pawn shop. The sucker was like brand new. I had seen it in mail order catologs for $400 ( maybe a little less, can't remember) so I though $150 was a freakin steal. If it broke, I think I would pruchase a trademark 60 ( see, that solid state thing again!!)
a line 6 might be nice...but I usually go with one or tow or three sounds and thats it. so the trademark sounds like it woul fill the bill. although, I certainly would consider this amp again. I just doubt I would find such a deal on it. I know they are discountinued. Helmer Music in Federal Way Washington bought the remaining ( so they say ) stock from Roland. so if anyone out there is looking for one, let me know and I'll hook you up with their number. Alos, if anyone wants to trad a trademark 60 for mine...let me know!!!

This is a two channel solid state amp featuring Roland's patented "Tube Logic" sound...another way of saying "solid state made to sound as close as possible to tubes" Each channel has its own set of controls for vol, treb, mid, bass. The clean side has 3 settings, normal, boost 1, and boost 2...which add two steps of overdrive over the clean. The distortion side has a boot function to adds more gain. There is a shared Master Vol., Reverb and Presence section as well as an effects loop with level control and setting for pedal/rack type effects. The speaker is one 12" Roland "vintage" voiced that is supposedly modeled after Celestion Greenbacks...don't know how close it is but it does a nice job, I may swap it out for a real Celestion later. I give the amp a 7 in the category due to several factors: no footswitch (its "optional"..that's BS, the crunch modes on the clean side are excellent yet they are not footswitchable..a bit of a set back, and there is no output for an external speaker. If Roland had really done their homework they would have given the 60 watt little screamer an ext speaker jack..I'd love to hear this amp through a 2nd 1X12 or a nice cabinet. Other than those gripes this amp has a lot more going for it than most high end amps when it comes to features and versatility.

First off let me say that I love tubes but have gotten tired of the inconsistant quality and tone...even the boasted Groove Tubes have left me wondering at times...maybe its my ears?! This amp give a good tube combo a run for the money, especially with humbuckers which I really think it seems to be voiced more for especially on the dirty channel. I tried the Marshall Valvestate line and they were some of the most sterile and harsh amps I have ever heard!! Total CRAP at any usuable volume. The best way I can decribe my style is punk with a blusey edge...The Damned meets The Rolling Stones. I also like lean towards some textured moody stuff like Radiohead and The Cure. I use a 70's Gibson SG fitted with Schaller Golden 50's (which by the way are pretty microphonic and are coming outta this guitar asap) This amp seems to be able to cover most of the bases I need. The clean side is very nice. I prefer the bright switch off for a nice fat clean sound with a touch of reverb. The cruch settings are also nice on this channel...I can get a nice tone ala' Stone's "Gimme Shelter" type. Cranking the volume up adds more thickness and warmth to this effect...very nice. The dirty side is great as long as you don't go nuts with the presence or treble...there is plenty on tap but the controls are very responsive so a little goes a long way. This might be another result of these shitty Schaller's as well...when I played this amp in the store with an Les Paul and an Epi Del Ray I got a really smooth, warm, fat distortion with gobs of very smooth compressed sustain....which is why I bought this amp. I don't get the same effect with my pickups...so lesson learned...you get what you pay for. Say NO to Schallers!! Microphonic Hell! The boost switch is a very nice feature...I usually set the drive at around 6 and kick in the boost and don't need much more..there is plenty of dirt. The only thing I would not recommmend this amp for is metal or thrash...yes there is tons of gain, but its smooth and warm, not the scooped out fuzzy metal tone. For a solid state this amp REALLY kicks. Its plenty loud but I don't know how it would hold up for a sizable gig. I use it in the house for practice and recording and it has more than enough volume for those uses. Again though...an ext spkr jack would give you more bang, how much is that to ask for?!?

Seems to be very sturdy. Very solid and heavy for a little 1X12. I have only had it a week so that is yet to be seen...but most Roland products are tough.

Haven't had any contact. Roland does have a pretty informative website.

I have been playing for 11 years and like I said before I swore by tube amps but after too many JCM 800's blowing their phase inverter I was fed up. This amp gives you a very "tube" sound when used with the right pickups and the controls are tweaked right. I got instant satisfaction out of this amp. I tried the Valvestates and Line6, this amp sounded closer to a Marshall than the damn valvestates and the Line6 requires you to spend another $200 on the damn footboard! I owned a Flextone for a month or so and while it sounded good it seemed to suffer from a case of "a little of everything and a whole lot of nothing" if you ask me. The Roland BC50 is a great basic amp that's loaded with usable features. Again my only gripes are the footswitches and the lack of a spkr jack.

As mentioned previously, this is a 2 channel 60 watt solid state amp. It has 1 12" speaker. Channel switching can be controlled by a footswitch, or off the panel. Both channels have bass, med and treble controls which many amps don't offer. The clean channel has an overdrive option switch which is not controlled by the pedal - intersting but not too uesful. The overdrive channel offers a lot of tonal possibilities from smooth to rough, and can rival most tube amps. There is a 'tube' or 'solid state' push button on the control panel that does slightly alter the attack, and it's something I've never seen before. My biggest beef is the bizarre input jack configuration - only one guitar input, but two footpedal inputs (channel switch & reverb) - why? Lots of unusual features on this amp.

I play a Hag 335, Fender Strat, and a 175 thru it. They all sound great. The BC60 is not quite as 'Fendery clean' as my Princeton Chourus, but it's pretty close. The BC60 has a beautiful punchy, rich tube like sound, great for blues, most kinds of rock, jazz or country (there is a bright switch). It's pretty quiet, unless you bring the master volume way up, which causes a little hiss. If the amp is cranked, it will start to break up a little, even on the clean channel if your using hot pickups.

I've had the amp for about 3 months, and it was used. No problems so far, other than a little cabinet rattle at high volume, which I fixed by tightning up the cabinet screws. This thing is built like a tank.

No problems, no contact with Roland

I've been playing over 30 years, and I am always trying to find the perfect inexpensive reliable amp. I've had a Peavey Bandit (rugged but one demensional sounding), and a Fender Chorus (beautiful clean sound, but not the best blues amp). The BC-60 is a great find. I got lots of compliments on my sound at jams. I just wish there were 2 inputs!

This amp is solid state. It has 2 footswitchable channels (lead and normal). One thing I like about this amp is the effects loop and it has a control knob to mix the level of the pedals in the effects loop. The clean channels sounds great, it has 3 options (normal, crunch 1, and crunch 2). The crunch sounds alright, but its not the best. The lead channel sounds awesome. I usually only use the clean channels and use my Ibanez Tubescreamer for my distortion but I use the amps distortion on this amp. The reverb sounds good and is mounted on the side of the amp on the inside instead of on the bottom. It's rated at 60 watts, but its nothing like my Fender Blues Deville 2x12's 60 watts.

I use all kinds of guitars and all kinds of pickups with this amp, to me they all sound good with this amp. I play Blues and Classic Rock and its perfect for that, it can even get some great heavy metal type distortion. I have not noticed any noise on this amp at all.

This amp seems to be dependable. I would definately use it with out a backup. It has not broken down, I got it from a pawn shop and the pawn shop even gave me a 2 day warranty on it!!

I've never dealt with the company and I don't plan on dealing with the company.

I would definately buy this amp again. I like this amp the best out of all of mine. It sounds great with all my guitars, and it has the only lead channel where I actually liked the distortion. I like the sound of it better than my Blues Deville, because I can actually hear after playing this amp, my Blues Deville is WAY TOO LOUD. I especially like the master level control on this amp. If you need a good amp for blues or rock or something else I'd check into one of these amps.