Roland Bolt 100

This amp is very loud and loyal to its user. It gives you tight bass and shimmering highs. The EQ is versatile. There are 2 inputs that gives a pure clean tone. You should have a good guitar and cable to enjoy the nice TUBE tone.

This amp that I used did have the reverb/effect loop but doesn't work. Who cares! The downside is. IT'S VERY HEAVY.

I use an Ibanez RG 750 - stock.

Although it has a solid state preamp, it really cleans up. It brings your guitar playing to life. When humbucker mode, it becomes a very thick tone and sustain without any rattling noise.

This amp has a lot of low end punch to it, thanks to the speaker, EV.

This amp was made before I was born! And i just broke down for the first time because of the volcano dust and all sorts of corrosion.

So we changed the housing, the pots, knobs and nothing else.

If Roland made it (the same with BOSS pedals), they're built like a planet that never gets destroyed.

Hands down. It's a very good clean and powerful amp. With and overdrive, it really roars. Although the weight is heavy, the tone is heavy too. I didn't own the amp, but I want one with a 2X12 speaker cab.

As mentioned above. Pretty straightforward.

I wanted a clean sound and a reverb, and thats all. So i got the best clean sound and a nice reverb. I use pedals to do the rest. The drive channel in this amp isn't usable to me as a drive, but I found out that I can use it as a great clean boost for solos. This amp is extremely loud. I have never had to play it at one quater of what it's capalble of, but I have testet it and it's clean alle the way up. I am very happy with this amp. The perfect workhorse. I can only give it a nine because I dont think the drive is all that great.

No problems so far. It's old.

hmmm

I couldn't find a better solution for my needs. A great sounding amp, damn heavy as mentioned, but the light amps all suck, so thats a good sign :-)

I have been repairing guitar amplifiers for thirty years and had never seen one of these amps until one arrived with me recently for a general overhaul and service. They must be very rare. The proud owner claimed it was one of the best amplifiers ever made, and my subsequent tests showed that he was quite right. The amp had never been serviced in 25 years, it was encrusted with dust and muck, but still producing a fantastic sound on its original Sylvania 6L6s. It suffered from intermittent drop-out, which was soon traced to dirty contacts on the Return jack socket. As this socket was never used it just needed a squirt of contact cleaner.
The grease on the pull switches had congealed, meaning that the knobs tended to pull off. A squirt of WD40, then a light grease, cured the problem.

This amp produces quite exceptional sound quality; a credit to Roland's engineers who must have worked long and hard on its design. It achieves this by: a) a very sophisticated preamplifier using 17 transistors (nearly all field effect types) and two ICs. b) a valve phase splitter using a 12AT7 mounted below chassis. c) an output transformer of very high quality construction, immune to saturation. The four 6L6 output valves (two of which are switched off for 60W) are operated at a very high anode voltage (480V) with a high level of grid bias (-58V). This produces a highly linear output circuit while keeping the valves relatively cool and ensuring a very long life.
The three overdrive pots are configured into a complex circuit producing an almost infinite combination of sounds, while the carefully designed early stages produce virtually noise-free operation at the highest gain settings. All pre-amp power lines are rigorously stabilised.

This amp is virtually bomb-proof. It uses solid and heavy printed circuit boards, thickly soldered. No board-mounted components get hot, so the likelihood of dry joints is remote. Internal wiring is hand-soldered between substantial tag strips and tied so that it doesn't shift on impact. No components showed any sign of wear after 25 years of continuous use. Not even a crackle on the pots.

Tube amp - 4 x 6L6GC...yes, FOUR big, fat Sylvanias in this one! Some call it a hybrid, and yes, it does have a a solid state preamp and rectifier. However IMHO, that is not a detractor - in this case it's a stone cold selling point! Less to beakdown, with no sacrifice of sound whatsoever. I believe it is a 1983 model, but unsure. On the grille to the lower right is a silver badge that says "BOLT-100 For Professional". I don't know if it was a special/limited run or an experimental line or what...what I do know is that those words "For Professional" are an indicator of what's to be found when you play it. This amp is absolutely, without a doubt...100% THE BEST AMP I HAVE EVER OWNED! I play everything from Country to Classic/Southern Rock to Contemporary Christian. This gem excels in all - far beyond the versatility of ANY other amp I have ever owned or played through. The specs: Two inputs - high and low gain. Two channels - Overdrive & Clean. Overdrive has two gains and a master. Volume 1 has PULL OVERDRIVE ON manual channel switching; Volume 2 is straight gain and the main volume has PULL BRIGHT ON capability. Clean is one straight clean volume with PULL BRIGHT ON control. Both the overdrive and clean channels go through the same EQ (bass, middle, treble, presence) and reverb. If you can call that a downfall, so be it...but it never crosses my mind. It also has 1/4" footwitches for channel switch and reverb. Next to those are the effects send and return 1/4" jacks with a three-way toggle on the face for PRE EQ/POST EQ/POST VOLUME so you can route as you please. It has a two-way switch to go from 60 to 100 watts, along with the obligatory main on/off and standby on/off switches. All that is on the front. On the back are both 1/4" line out and XLR out; main speaker output; extension speaker output (amp accepts anything between 4-16 ohms automatically); headphone out; main in; and pre out jacks. It also has a very VERY handy and welcome grounded AC outlet. I use this amp in bedroom, church, in studio, and on stage. I have never found myself in a situation in which I had to turn it up over 80% even just playing through the internal speaker - and it cuts through ANYTHING! As if the 100 watts wasn't enough, this baby has the optional JBL E120-8 Blue Series 12-inch 8 ohm MONSTER! I have never found an all-around better guitar speaker. I wish I had eight of them for a pair of 4x12 cabs - UNTOUCHABLE!

This amp is unbelieveably clean...when you want it. You want overdrive? The two gains let you go from a sweet, easy breakup to growling to downright filthy - your choice, just turn 'em up. I use the overdrive set at 7 on both gains in bright mode when I use it. I run in-line effects pedals (Ibanez Tube Screamer, BOSS Blues Driver, Cry Baby, and BOSS DD-5) through the clean channel usually though. I own three Strats, a Les Paul, an ES-355, a Telecaster and a couple of other odds and ends - they ALL sound fantastic though the Bolt-100. The good thing about this amp is that you don't really have to get it cranked way up to get a nice, punchy, warm, bluesy tone and delivery. Roland got it right with this one, I must say. I almost want to say that I wish they had made more....but I am a little selfish that way!

I have played this amp full-tilt for hours at a time...and it has never overheated. I don't think it has ever been close. No cooling fan - just a good design. Tubes are at the back edge if the chassis with about a 2-inch opening between the frame and the upper back crossmember board. I would have no reservations about gigging this baby all by herself. Of course, you should never leave home without a backup. Murphy's Law, ya know?

I have never had anythiing made by Roland/BOSS breakdown - ever. I'm sure it happens, but it hasn't to me.

I started banging strings when I was 11 in 1976. I have branched outward to percussion, bass, keys, and vocals as well. I love being a utility guy, but I love guitar the most. I've played jazz, pop, rock, blues, country, Christian....even a little punk and a rap gig with some Georgia dudes. Eclectic...diverse...whatever. I just love jamming. Since I'm kinda obligated to be critical, I'll go ahead and get the only little bitty, tiny critique I can think of for this amp outta the way: It is DAMN HEAVY! It does have casters though. When you first look at it, it appears small-ish. It's roughly a size in between a Princeton Reverb and a Deluxe Reverb...something like that. Pick it up though - everyone whom I've ever trusted enough to pick her up has said "DAMN!"...then they set her right back down. It's a chunk! And it is RARE!!!!! Do a Google for Bolt-100...it'll pretty much bring you right back here. I have looked high and low researching Roland history and have never found any "official" reference to the Bolt-100. You'll find refernces to Bolt-30 and Bolt-60 - and you'll come across a Bolt-60 every once in a while. One is on that online auction site right now (30 Jan 2007). Since I bought this amp, I have watched that site constantly and I have seen only ONE Bolt-100 go up for auction. I was a hare's breath away from bidding on it, but I had just made another major purchase and had to do the responsible thing and let it go by.
OK - now...if you've read this far, you probably know how rare these amps are and you're waiting for the kicker to my little rant. Get this - I found this gem in a pawn shop here in Texas three years ago. It was a little dirty, but I knew what it was when I saw it. When I turned it around and saw that JBL speaker, I dang-near crapped myself! The price marked was $175.00!!! (I'd almost pay that much just for the speaker!) I played through it for a minute or two, then I himmed and hawed and got the guy down to $125.00 -- and got him to pay my 8.25% sales tax ta' boot!!! I gave him the $50 I had in my pocket and told him I'd be back in five minutes with the rest...which I was. I could never bear to part with this baby - and I just bought a nice Marshall combo for over three times as much. (Something about those EL34 tubes!) If this amp were ever stolen, I would go to any extreme to get it back or find another one. If she is ever stolen and I get my hands on the scumbag, I'll punch him in the throat and cut him to pieces. Need I say more?

1983 Model, Switchable 100w/60w switchable 4 Valves /solid state hybrid. 2 Channels Foot Switchable, Clean sound is amazing, the cleanest. Sweet and full.
Tonnes of tonal adjustment , Bass, Mids, Treble and Presence controls.
fx loop selectable postioning for pre or post gain. 10/10
Best ever reverb sound.again 10/10
Phone jack. XLR & Jack out for direct recording. The direct out is adequate but I found recording with it miked (sm57) to be better. This gave me a fatter sound. Some sort of speaker simulator would be nice. 8/10
Comes with casters, (unfortunately mine got damaged in a rough plane landing so they don't roll so well anymore. At over 30kg it is too heavy to lug around any further than is necessary without casters.
I use it in a duo / trio. We play all size venues, including the occassional oval/ outdoor gig. I used to run it just with stage volume only, amp set up on stage just off centre. It has literally Tonnes of volume to spare when used in the 60w setting and knobs at under half drive. Onstage sound is incredibly loud. Drowns out the 200w foldback. Had to resort to miking it through the P.A. to avoid the volume problem. Sounds great cranked or miked. Also used for many recording sessions in styles ranging from standard rock and country to full tilt metal.Features I would have liked to have seen? Slightly sharper gain sound for leads when I am recording metal, I still play with hard rock, metal bands occassionally, and in these cases use external fx to increase the gain, for some songs.
I also would have liked it to have featured a power soak, to allow me to get the high gain tones from the tubes at even the lowest volumes. However that is just being overly picky due to the recording work I am involved with. Being able to get the high gain sounds at lower volumes makes it easier to control at the desk. Otherwise it is perfect.

Guitars used, Les Paul Custom, 57 Re-issue Strat, Valley Arts custom shop strat, Custom Tele, Takamine GX200.
Suits most styles, extremely versatile.
Excellent smooth gain tones for Blues, and clean Jazz and Country sounds are easily acquired. Suits all standard rock styles. Fattest Rhythm crunch tone imagineable. Excellent Sustain 10/10 for sound.
only lacks the thinner metal type lead tones some bands (eg. poison / stryper) would need. It would be nice to have them but those sounds aren't a priority to me.
Humms at higher gain/ volume levels, but not at all excessively.

It has broken down twice. Both times after it had sustained a hell of a beating. One very very rough landing 20+minutes of full on turbulance. Everything at the back of the plane copped a hammering. From the cabin we heard it all come tumbling down. Caused a hum and slight crackle. Still got me through the gigs before flying home. Second time was in a automobile accident.

I have only had it a few years. When it gave me troubles I took it to the local Roland dealer. They had no worries getting parts, however living in Australia meant a long delay, as with everything.
I am sure that all spare parts no matter which company come to Perth stopping at all stations via Cyberia in a Row boat with no rudder.
Luckily it has never been out of action more than a couple days, the agents were able to patch it up well enough to continue gigging with it until the parts got here.
I've never dealt direct with the company.

Playing 21 years.
It is the most versatile amp I own. I also have an 87 Marshall combo (not great!!), 2x late 60s or early 70s Yamaha 2x12 100w combo (love 'em), 61 Vox AC30 top Boost (Over rated).
If it were stolen, I'd hutn the mongrel down and kill 'em. Too hard to replace, very very rare, I have only ever seen the one.
What do I love about it. Everything except the bloody weight of the unit.
Compared with many amps I own and have owned.
Wish it had 1) Power soak, 2) higher Gain ability for metal and maybe the Roland chorus circuit for extra versatility.
Also wih it had, More availability. I would love to own another one just in case...!

Great amp with fantastic features.channel switching for clea or overdrive. nice eq the best reverb in a combo i have ever heard( sounds great at 10)swichable fx loop so you can put an effect before the eq or after the pre amp ect. half tube switch for volume reduction. ext speacker jacks 100w into 2 412 cabs! lookout! second fx loop and xlr recording outputs and headphone outs. oh and a 12" EV force 2 speaker

mostly jazz and fusion with no outboard gear. the distortion is very bluesy and can be as clean or dirty as you want. with my gibson hollowbdy pluged in i get some of the sweetest jazz tone.

it came with casters and i roll it down bumpy street nearly every day. it works great.

this amp is so old and so rare i wouldnt blame roland for denying its existence. the price for the scematics was unreasonable.

This amp is great and i would buy another if it exists. for jazz this amp truly is phenominal. for blues it is also phenominal. but it is so dam rare i hope i wont have to look for parts