Roland Cube-15 Combo

Fairly simple - Three pot Eq, 1 clean channel with volume control, and one distortion channel with four amp models with varying levels of distortion, plus gain and volume controls.

I did try out the cube 20x in the shop. I liked the extra punch but didn't like the fact that I'd be paying an extra ??35 for a tuner and effects that I wouldn't use. Now if Roland did a 20x without the tuner and effects I'd have snapped it up.

I'm giving a low score for features because it is a fairly basic amp. However a basic amp is what I wanted so please don't think the low score means it's a bad amp.

My main guitar is an unmodified US Telecaster. This amp brings out the Telecaster 'bark'. I had also tried out simarly wattage Peaveys, Marshalls, and Vox amps. The Peavey and Marshall both failed to reproduce the telecaster punch. The Vox was actually very good with a wide range of sounds, and it was a close run thing between that and the Roland. I think the simplicity of the Roland did it for me as I'm not one for using many effects.

I play mainly rock and blues, but plenty of other stuff too. The four distortion models give the range of sounds I want but I appreciate that other players may want more models and effects.
The distortion is never overly brutal, so probably wouldn't suit metallers.

Some noise at high volumes on the distorted channel, but not enough to be a nuisance. No rattles - everything seems well put together.

I like the fact that when using the distortion channel that rolling off the guitar's volume to about three-quarters will clean up the sound beautifully, which helps with the versatility.

I play in a church worship group and this amp is sufficient for our congregation of just under 100. Can play with drums with volume round about half, but then we're generally playing gentle stuff. Wouldn't cut it in a larger venue.

Too early to tell - Rolands have a good reputation in this regard and it certainly appears to be robust.

3 year warranty

As other people have probably mentioned, 4 types of distortion, 1 clean channel, line out/headphone, channel switch button, 3 band EQ.

Would have been nice to have reverb on this amp, this would make it usuable for other things beside bedroom practice.

9 because it has no reverb.

You can get a pretty good sound out of this (compared to other practice amps) by using the EQ properly.

The tonal difference between the distortion settings is huge, here's some tips:

Metal stack, it is a thin, hollow sound, cut the trebles, boost the mids right up and the bass to about 8 (this is with gain on full) and it sounds better.

Metal: more mids, bass and treble on about 5 (12 oclock)

Distortion: Less mids, less bass, slightly boosted trebles

Overdrive: same as distortion.

Well that's how I like it.

Great sound for a practice amp, and love the range of distortion!

It's a practice amp, you don't gig with this thing.. but this is is solid as a rock, I'm sure it would never breakdown.

never used it.

I use this for teaching guitar, my students plug into this and I plug into my stack. If it were stolen, I'd probably buy a larger amp like a fender hot rod deluxe or something, because I need two amps, but I also need a new small amp for doing jazz gigs.

for a practice amp this is great.

This cube is a great practise and begginer amp, with a clean and lead channel, with four lead channels; Distortion, overdrive, metal and metal stack. It has gain, volume (obviously), bass, middle, treble but no reverb or chorus. It has a nice headphone jack aswell. also the bass middle treble volume and gain have 20 little notches that makes it a bit confusing.

For my style of playing(metal), it is great and the distortion would leave a kooks fan in a crumpled heap on the floor, But in my opinion only metal stack has a nice tone for a mixture of rock, metal and some other genres. works well with any bc rich warlock. IT can go up to high volumes and still keep a nice tone.

I havnt had any problems with mine, but i would not use it at a good gig without backup.

Never had any problems so i dont know!

Very reliable, with a good overall tone. Great for a practise or begginer amp!

I don't know the year it was built, but I bought it new one week ago.
I'm a beginner in playing the guitar, and I cannot define clearly which styles I play. I played some rock riffs and simple songs to test the amp. It doesn't get 10 points because I would like to have a chorus and a reverb.
It has got 2 channels (Clean/Lead), no effect loop and a "recording-out/phones"-jack.
It has enough power for me (and maybe even enough for my neighbours...). Since I cannot play very loud in my room, it's ok.
I think it wouldn't be loud enough when playing with a band.

The clean sound is good, there are 4 types of lead (distorted) sounds: "Distortion", "Overdrive", "Metal" and "Metal Stack".
I think that they are all pretty nice. I much prefer the distorted sounds over the ones by small Marshall amps I know (MG-30 DFX, MG-50 DFX).
What really annoys me is that the amp produces noise, even if all volume and gain knobs are turned to 0 and no guitar is plugged in.
I have some sensitive headphones and the noise was too loud to play at normal volumes. There was also a 50Hz hum with headphones.
I tested another amp (the same Cube-15) and it was this noisy, too.
So I returned the Cube-15 and took a Vox Pathfinder 10, with is really better, I think.
For the price of the Roland I could also get a small chorus-stompbox.

Used it only some days and it didn't broke, but as I said:
It's not the best in manufacturing quality even if the case looks unbreakable.

I've been playing the guitar for 4 months. My other gear has nothing to do with guitar...
No, I would not buy this amp again, I would take a Vox Pathfinder 10.
I love, that you can "fasten" the power-cable at the back of the amp.
I hate the noise.
The sound is not bad...

2 channels (clean & dirty), 1 input, bass mid and treb knobs for both channels, etc etc etc. No reverb knob or built-in effects.
I do like the 4 distortion settings, which really adds versatility. I'll talk about that later.

For a small amp with a fairly low wattage (15 watt), it REALLY packs a punch. It could easily fill a small venue, but probably not a huge auditorium or something. I only use the amp in my bedroom (I'm only 14), but when nobody's home, I turn it up to almost a third of its volume, and it'd be loud enough to drive the neighbours absolutely insane. But oh well.

This beast has all the features an amateur guitarist would really need.

Back to that 4-way distortion setting switch.. This is how it works...
-Overdrive : fairly unobtrusive, sometimes a bit weak for my taste, but good for most pre-70's rock.
-Distortion : Ditto, but a fair bit stronger, and good for some 70's rock (listen to the chorus of 'no quarter' by led zeppelin.. that kind of sound)
-Metal : BRILLIANT rock sound.. think AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, deep purple... Most rock, really.. Plenty of character and bite, and sounds awesome turned up loud. I use this most of the time.
-Metal Stack : Good thrash metal sound, typical of metallica, pantera, etc

I use mainly a cheapish les paul copy, with a normal H/H set up. I play mainly 70's metal/rock, and little bits of blues, jazz, etc.

The clean is nothing special, though, it does the job and there's bass mid and treb knobs for it, but that's basically all you need.

I can't wait til I hear a gibson through this beast!

Consistent and reliable. I'd bring a spare amp to a gig just in case, cos you never know what'll happen, even with the very best gear.

Never dealt with Roland. Probably never will, knowing the quality of this amp.

I'm 14, and have been playing for 7 months, but I can play most of Jimmy Page's (Led Zeppelin) solos. (I'm the most proud of finally getting The Song Remains The Same right).

My first amp was a SoundArt amp, but it was absolute shit. This was a breath of fresh air, and I'll keep it forever. If this can make a $400 AUD les paul copy sound so great, then it'll sound PHENOMENAL with a real Gibson.

If I lost my amp, firstly, I'd slap myself repeatedly, then i'd go and buy the next step up, a cube-30. It has more knobs and more volume. I could have bought a Fender amp, but I chose this instead for better value and sound.

Roland is one of the best amp manufacturers in the world. This amp is testament.

i have owned my cube 15 for about 3 years. sure, i would like amp models, but these can be gimmicky. 2 channels and 4 onboard pedals. better than any other practice amp for the price, outside of the microcube.

i generally use the distortion, or metal setting. i am a wall of sound type player... think jesus and mary chain meets

3 years and going strong. most practice amps i have owned for this long sound scratchy, noisy and usually have a blown speaker. this one is solid and dependable...

they answer emails, prompty and are quite helpful. they weren't so helpful with questions about my boss pd-1 rocker distortion from the early 80's, but that is asking a bit much.

2005 Model. Very feature rich for a $100 practice amp and the features are better than you'd expect in an amp in this price range. Outstanding quality. I play classic rock, southern rock, soul, blues and country. This amp handles it all with ease and it's very loud. You could play a gig with this amp if it were a small venue. It's a two channel amp and the distortion channel has many styles from which to choose. I'm not a metal head but the metal setting on this amp is perfect for hard rock and southern rock. It breaks up nicely and the sustain rings forever. I almost never like on board distortion but in this case the amp's distortion is better than most of the pedals I've ever owned. The amp has all the jacks you need and it's built to last forever.

I use my amp with a Ventura Country Gentleman (semi-hollow body 335 style with coil taps), Hamer Les Paul copy and Epiphone Les Paul copy. My guitars have humbucker pickups. All of the guitars sound great through this amp, especially the Les Pauls playing leads on the metal distortion setting using the rear pickup. The sustain rings forever and the tone is amazing. Will cut through a rythm guitar and overpower a drummer without breaking a sweat. No noise, hum or feedback when you aren't playing.

No problems so far. Seems like it's built to last forever.

Don't know. The product is so good I haven't had to call.

I've been playing twenty years. This was $100 well spent. I can't imagine ever practicing without a Roland Cube 15 so I'd get another the same day if it were lost or stolen. It's built like a brick $%^& house, small and easy to cart around and sounds great. Compared it to all the other practice amps before I bought it...Fender, Crate, First Act, Peavey, Line 6...blew them all away. A foot pedal would be a nice upgrade. I'd pay a few bucks more if it came with the amp.

1 rcvd as a gift xmas of 04 assuming it was made that year 2 does just what i need it to do 3 two channels with od/metal/stack distortion effects,record out,headphone jack,aux-in jack 4 ditch the dist models and give me reverb!!!!more on that later...5 PLENTY of power for home use.

1 i use a washburn wi64 and washburn semi-hollow and a japstrat sometimes. my secret is my behringer modeller. the superb clean lets the amp models come right through.i especially like the semi through an acoustic mode (doesnt sound acoustic at all but gives a nice bright boost)really sound like a big amp. the distortion is disappointing in that there's plenty of gain but they just sound muddy.....or mid-heavy,and the eq won't clean it up.the metal stack sounds good,nice and tight,but i don't use it much. it's never made any noise,and it will break up just a bit when you really crank it clean.

i,ve had it over a year and through almost daily use,it still looks and sounds new....i think its bomb-proof.

never needed them...

i've been playing for 3 yrs..blues,rock and whatever catches my ear..stolen ?lost? i'd probably get a bigger cube!!!i love it's looks,easy use,great tone(for 15w) i just hate that it doesn't have reverb.i also have a 15w marshall and sometimes for fun i'll run the marshall into the cube 'cause the speaker is so much better!!!

2 channels and 4 overdrive/distortion effects that are as good a quality as Roland's line of Boss pedals. Separate volume controls for the clean and effects channels. This amp is very good and appeals to Rock musicians more than any other genre.

10-Sounds F@cking Brutal-Awesome For Metal and Hard Rock!!! I especially like the Metal setting on the distortion channel. This setting is pretty much a ringer for the Boss MT-2 pedal.

Built like a Little, Brick SH#THOUSE.

I have been playing for eighteen years. This is one of the best practice amps I have ever owned and the best amp in it's price range.

probably 2005, this amp is good while you watch TV and you have a cheap Squier plugged in. Not suitable for what I play- (instrumental/experimental/indie rock/noise/old rock)very limited tonal value with a digital high pitched noise in the clean channel. This amp has 4 distortion models built into it that sound reminiscient of old Boss Overdrive and Hyper Metal pedals with all of the knobs set to the middle of them- good practice amp for shredders that own huge, expensive marshall or mesa-boogie stacks- really bassy and crunchy metal distortion. Not for me, but amazing tone for someone else.

The main dissapointment that this amp brings to me is that it has a very limited cheap digital equalization. The Bass is way too middy and muddy, while the highs are non-existant no matter how high you crank the high knob, and when you do, you get this terrible high pitched digital/computeresque noise that I just could'nt stand. The mid control is, well,.. middy- to sum it up it is as if the amp has 3 mid control knobs- thats it. HUGE LACK IN DYNAMICS... this goes for the clean channel- most importantly.

As I said, the distortion channels are great for new age hardcore kids to practice with- and I would definitely reccomend this amp for that purpose. The metal distortion is good for hardcore/metal, rock distortion model is good for queen/led zepplin style rock, distortion is good for Pete Townsend emulators, overdrive model is ok for blues, but sounds incredibly cheap.

I paired this amp up to this VOX Pathfinder 15 R that I have had for 3 years and there is simply no comparison to that amp in my opinion (As far as non-tube 15 watt practice amps go)

for the 24 hours i had it, it definetly felt like the constrution was sturdy enough, but I,m not too sure how long these newfangled digital modeling amps will stand the test of time.

big corporations suck

I don't care about name brands, just how stuff performs

been playing for almost 14 years, have had several guitars/ amps/pedals. I returned this small amp in for a used dunlop cry-baby wah and a few other little things. Again- good for hardcore or newer metal players, but terrible for anyone else.

Always support and get familiar with local/family owned instrament sellers- not guitar center or musicians' friend as tempting and convinient as that is.