Roland Cube-30 Combo

2006 The amp is very versatile, that is what it was designed to be. Name another 30 watt combo that has channel switching, effects with footswitch capabilities, line/record out, extension cabinet and the amp modelling that it has, at the price I got it for and ... forget it it's not possible. Plus it's made by Roland/Boss, which means it will last forever. Nobody could ask for more. This little puppy is impressive. It's not a 2X12 tube combo so don't expect it, but for a practice amp, jam or even a gig miked it is cool. It would make a great backup just in case.

Gibson Les Paul, Yamaha LL-X6, Yamaha AES 420. For classic rock especially 50's rockabilly the delay is awesome, for certain songs the tremolo is very useable and a welcomed addition. It's quiet, very quiet. It's great to not have to lug my Traynor YCV80 to practice or my pedal setup. Quick and painless. Our band does all kinds of different stuff and the amp can handle it all with ease. I am pretty picky and realize it wouldn't be ideal for a live setup but in a pinch it would certainly do and for practice and small jams more than enough. Distortion is good but not a full botttom-end pounding wall of sound, so don't expect it. It's amazing what some reviewers expect from a $300.00 practice amp. Come on get real and be fair.

It's Roland. Enough said. No other company has the track record that Roland does, as long as it's not abused buy the owner. Yamaha is a close second though.

I always go through my dealer. He always takes good care of me with all my products. The Roland rep for my area is great.

I've been playing 25 + years. I have lots of gear and have owned lots of other stuff, some which I wish I still had but this baby will be around for many years as a solid practice amp. I could say I hate this or that about it but it is what it is and I am happy for what it is and was designed for. I didn't compare too much, it's Roland and my past experiences have made it easy to buy Roland products. If stolen I would get another one, but I might get the 60 watt version instead, just in case I did ever need to use it for a gig.

What can i say? Its got all the effects one could look for. I mostly use the delay and chorus though, so i've not got too much experience with the other effects.

Clean channel: This is undefined and also kinda muddy. However, i'd say the clean channel is the best feature on this amp, as the drive channel simply doesn't hold up against my standards. The clean tone sounds pretty warm and rich, and with some tweaking, i could actually get a pretty good clean from this amp with my epiphone les paul custom.

The overdrive channel is another story completely. I don't use it anymore, to put it simply. The tone i get from this is just too discouraging. Its come to a point where i only play my guitar through the clean channel, i just can't stand the overdrive.

Whats wrong with it, you ask? Well, its ice cold. The tone is almost dead, its just plain awful. Also, its waaay too trebly for my tastes, and the bass barely packs a punch.

Is this sound good enough for a beginner? Definately. But once you start moving towards an intermediate level of playing, your ears should have developed to such a degree that an amp like this is a pain to be listening to.

The overdrive channel i give a 1. The clean channel pulls up the average quite a bit, and is the only thing worth shit on this amp.

Very reliable. I haven't gotten the chance to push it, though, so i put N/A. Its not once been past 5 in volume, due to my practising conditions at home.

Never dealt with them.

I've been playing for 9 months now. Im buying a mesa/boogie f-50 now, and i'll never look back at this amp. Its junk as far as i'm concerned.

The sound i get from this is so cold and death, i shiver at the mere thought. This amp has been paining me for about 2 months now, and im so glad to finally be getting rid of it. Still, i do have some affection towards it since it was my first amp, but believe me, its got nothing to do with its sound. I give it a 6 overall. Its a good starter amp, and thats what it was designed to be, so i can't really fault it for not being on par with an all-tube marshall tone-wise.

Basically, you get what you pay for when you buy this amp. If you've progressed to any point beyond intermediate, though, i'd advice you to skip this link in the amp chain, and save up some more money for something better.

Cheers :)

Bought new 2005 for a small, in house practice amp, features have all been explained and nothing new to add.
Foot switch would be cool to toggle back and forth from clean to dirty.
Have run an Ultra Vibe in front for Hendrix and Trower wanking.
Although never a priority, I like the looks and seems most I've read don't for some reason, I guess they have to compensate for the lack of talent and focus on just trying to look good, I've seen that method get a lot pussy though, so I can't really knock it, whatever works.....

Have more guitars than I need and still not enough but right now use mostly with my stock JP Music Man sig.
Play everything from Classic Rock, Texas Blues to instrumental Shred & Metal,a little Prog also...Amp takes me where I want to go in those categories with authority.

I'b gig with it in small venues with confidence or without worries of malfunctioning.

Stock warranty, one year I think,and haven't had to call Roland on it.

Been playing long before most here parent's even knew each other, close to 30 years and old enough to probably be your dad....yes we all get older and no one gets out alive.
I'b buy another if stolen and compared it with the Vox Valvetronix line
which sounded very "digital" and un-tube like compared to the Cube30.

I bought this amp last year at a moving sale for a music store
High-quality DSP guitar amplifier with 30-watt output and 10" speaker
Includes 8 COSM guitar amp models: JC Clean, Acoustic, Black Panel, Brit Combo, Tweed, Classic Stack, Metal Stack, R-fier Stack
Powerful onboard EFX section includes chorus, flanger, phaser and tremolo
Independent Delay/Reverb processor
Two-channel operation (Clean/Lead) with footswitch control of channels and EFX Recording/Headphone output for silent practice and recording
Auxiliary input for connecting CD players, drum machines, etc.
Simple interface for selecting amp models and effects
The Roland Cube 30 is a great little practice amp, that can be used for gigs if you have a good PA.

I mainly use the amp for practicing at home, but I have also used it as my stage amp at Church.
My guitars are a Bill Lawrence swampcaster tele, and an Ibanez Artcore.
At home I use it straight. The clean, Overdrive, and Distortion, and very sweet and meaty.
At church I run my pedals into it, (Sabine turner> Danelectro pastrami overdrive> Godlyke OD 1> Barber electronics OD> Nobel OD 1> Ibanez Smashmouth> Digitech delay > Nobel Preamp boost >Danelectro Tremolo> Ernie Ball volume pedal)
and have it miked for the front of house mix.
I have more then enough volume in both settings.
When I use my pedal board I set the amp to black panel, and put both the gain and volume at noon.

I have had no problems, with this amp, in fact this amp would make a good back up, as long as you have a good PA to mic it through.
Solid state so no tubes to worry about.

Never had to deal with customer service.

I have been playing for 24 years. I bought the amp as a practice amp, but had to use it in a church concert setting, due to a problem with my main amp, and it kept up extremely well with the rest of the music team, which consists of A synth player, a piano player, 3 back up singers, lead singer, acoustic guitar, bass, and drums.

If stolen I would purchase it's big brother, the Cube 60

What I don?t like about it is the 10 inch speaker. I wish it had a 12, but for the price, definetly bang for the buck winner.

shortly:

30 watt solid state with 7 different amp emulations. Chorus, flanger, phaser, tremolo, delay and reverb effects. Two channels, no footswitch. Aux in, line out/phones.

The sound from this amp is generally dull and flat. I have found black panel to be only somehow useable amp emulation. JC clean sounds very cold. Distortion lacks punch and is muddy. Don't even consider playing metal with this.

Reverb and delay are quite ok but phaser, chorus, flanger and tremolo are all terrible. Also it lacks support for multi-effects though it doesn't matter because the effects are useless anyway.

The EQ is ... useless. You have to turn the buttons from 0 to 10 to make some kind of change to the sound.

Seems to be quite solid.

No experience.

I can't understand all the hype about this amp, you'd better check it out in shop before buying. Instead of fitting this amp with loads of useless effects and amp emulations it should stick to one or two decent sounds. Definitely not worth money. If it were stolen i would just buy another amp.

This little tank of an amp has more features than you can throw a bean at, and I don't even know what that means. It's ultimately versatile and can support almost any style of music, especially if you have supporting FX. Two-button switching for channel and built-in FX. I'll spare you the rest of the features b/c they're available elsewhere. I've used this amp in my studio/practice room and in the living room. I'll gig with it too, when I don't feel like lugging my Twin around. In short, this amp is a little wonder of amplification

I'm using it with a 1979 Gretsch 'Beast' on a variety of styles (http://dand.net/tunes.htm) the clean ('Jazz Chorus') is great. HUGE bass is available if you want it, and it stays clean even at high volumes. Amazing, from such a little thing. There are so many different CSOM distortions that you'll be able to find something you like. I use an external FX box most of the time. The built-in FX are fine, although you necessarily don't get as much control as you'd get from dedicated FX units. Nothing to cry about, it's an AMP, not a pedal board. The reverb is great and some of the other FX are decent if they're what you're looking for.

I have no doubt that it's reliable. I have several Roland family products. Never a problem.

Rolands are so dependable, who'd know how good the support is!

I've been playing for about 17 years. I've owned countless vintage amps and plenty of other gear. This 10" sounds better than most single and many dual 12" amps. It's remarkable. This amp is so small and light and perfect, I would absolutely buy it again were it to leave me. I can think of a few ways to make the FX controls better, but that would clutter the interface and drive up the price. Regardless, I use my own FX. THIS IS A GREAT AMP. IF YOU'RE THINKING OF GETTING ONE, JUST DO IT.

its my second rewiew because i found some new features on the cube.
i will skip the yaddi yadda that everyone has written

i use a samick av3 (les pauls)with 2 humbuckers and it sounds great with both. i play pretty much anything from metallica to cob (children of bodom) and it suit my songs just fine. it is never noisy.

it simulates a sound of a jc 120 but i cant tell if it simulates well because i never heard it but it sounds great

in the lead channel there is

an acoustic simulator witch sounds good with chorus, delay or reverb with the treble knob to app. 7 the middle to app. 3 and the bass to 10. the acoustic sim. with distortion sounds incredible

a black pannel(clean) witch i think is useless for my gender of music can be useful for other genders

a british combo its a week dist for blues or rock riffs with the gain knob at max

a tweed its a medium dist who is not really present

a classic stack its a good dist for rock and maybe metal

a metal stack its a powerful dist not verry good for classic but better for metal

a r-fier its the more heavy dist that the amp has

effect

chorus its good

flanger not so good its like chorus but there is waves in it (normal) but i can only choose the speed of the waves

phaser good but useless if you dont know where ever i may roam from metallica

tremolo good but its completely useless

delay good but not long enough

reverg good

but it is still a good amp: it has plenty of effects and lead sounds

depend on it

never had a problem

ive been playing for 4 years and it is the best thing i ever had after myself of course. i have two guitars: samick av3 (les pauls)cherry sunburst and a classic one (encore (roumanian mark)) and a boss od 20 twin pedal. i will probably buy a cheap guitar (equinox or something like that) and a kustom amp 10 watts(both for traveling without the heavy equipement. my brother has a black laredo (strat style) and a behringer (30 watts) witch i played on for 3 years. we both prefer my equipement. if i would lost it id buy the cube 60 or get back an other cube 30. i love everything about it exept the tremolo and the fact that there is not two jacks for a footswitch ( effects and clean/lead). i wish it camed with a foot switch and the dyna amp dist

Originally I am a keyboard player. I bought mine used halfway 2003, with the intent to (re-)activate my guitar playing skills. Because I actually had no idea which amp character I was going to like, I chose this model, because it is a modeling amp and it is able to emulate a lot of different types of amps.

It's a great amp to practice at home because of the headphone jack, which also works great for recording.

Mow that I joined a band as a guitar player, I also use it for gigs and rehearsals. It's definitely loud enough for my style of music (gospel/praise/contemp. Christian) which isn't quite the loudest music around though. I never needed more than 1/4 of the range of the volume pot on the clean channel. On the other hand, the guy who owned it before me sold it, because he thought it wasn't loud enough. I saw that Roland also have a 60W model now, in case you have to compete with a loud drummer.

Most of the time I use the built-in chorus on the clean channel, and the R-fier setting on the lead channel. I use a self-built footswitch for channel switching and to switch the chorus on and off. It is really really nice that you can select delay/reverb apart from the other effects (chorus/flanger/phaser/tremolo).

Ideas for a Cube-30 Mk II?
- 3rd channel for a foot-switchable clean-crunch-lead configuration
- par. effects loop
- recessed mains cable storage
- built-in tuner

I use it with a Chinese Squier standard strat, which I upgraded with Seymour Duncan vintage pick-ups. The clean channel, which is called "JC clean" indeed reminds me of how a strat sounds through a Roland Jazz Chorus 120. (The guitar player in the band where I played keyboards had one) It is very clear and crisp and you never have a lack of treble. It's ideal for rythm guitar. I like this sound a lot, especially with a little bit of the built-in chorus and delay on it, but that is a matter of taste. I can imagine very well that a typical blues/rock guitarist would find it a bit too sharp.

Most of the time I use the R-fier setting on the lead channel. It gives a modern lead sound which is great for single-string guitar solos. This sound is obviously meant as an emulation of a Mesa Boogie Rectifier amp. Although I found the emulation on other modeling amps (e.g. Line-6) more realistic, the nice thing about the Cube is that it really seems to behave a bit like a tube amp. If you turn down your volume pot on the guitar, or you just play softer, the distortion gradually disappears, until a claen sound remains at very low volumes. I found this a very usefull and expressive feature.

The other settings on the lead channel are ok, although I don't use them as often as the 'r-fier' setting. The 'brit-combo' setting is meant to emulate a Vox AC30. Put on the delay, play a U2 riff and voila!

About the built-in effects: Most of the time I use the chorus together with the delay; both are ok. Sometimes i use the reverb, which sounds a bit like a traditional reverb-spring, which is fine for a guitar amp.

The amp hardly produces any noise. I think that the circuit has a noise gate. If you listen carefully you can hear that it cuts off the final part of a decaying tone. It's not annoying though, and I prefer it over the noise i heared on many other amps, including the venerable JC 120!

No problems, it's road proof.

Support wasn't necessary for this unit. On all other occasions I dealt with the Roland customer support they were very helpful.

I never heard an amp at this price level that had so many good sounds right out of the box. If you want to find out what kind of amp you like: buy it for it won't disappoint you.

On the other hand, after using it for almost three years, I find myself trying out the originals. . . .

Achete neuf en 2005 a Viry pour 240 Euros chez Guitarman.
J'ai achete cet ampli pour jouer a volume modere chez moi principalement du Jazz et du Blues.

Les caracteristiques sont connues : Electonique a modelisation (Roland COSM), puissance de 30W.
Tres puissant mais tres bonne epaisseur sonore a bas volume.

1 canal dit "clair", replique du celebre Roland Jazz Chorus avec un volume dedie et on beneficie de l'equalisation Bass - Medium - High

1 canal dit "lead", reprend l'equalisation 3 bandes avec en supplement un reglage de gain
Il possede son volume et propose 7 types de modelisations d'amplis. (Comme 7 canaux differents en grain d'ampli, en dynamique ainsi qu'en seuil et niveau de saturation).

Acoustic (son de type electro acoustique a micro piezo),
BLACK PANEL (du Fender Deluxe Reverb a Twin Reverb),
BRIT COMBO (VOX AC15 a AC30),
Tweed(Fender Bassman a Vibrolux),
Marshall Stack (Bluesbreaker a Plexi 800),
Peavey (5150 ou Soldano) ,
Mesa boogie (Rectifier).

La section d'effets de modulation : chorus, flanger, phaser, tremolo.
Moderation dans le dosage ! Manque quand meme des reglages pour une reelle exploitation.

La section d'effets de retard : delay, reverb
Super vraiement !

1 prise casque (pas terrible du tout)
1 entree auxiliaire (super pour les lecteurs MP3 en accompagnement)
1 entree pour switch de canal (valable uniquement sur scene).

Tres grande polyvalence sonore pour un petit ampli a 240 euros.

HP de 10' etonnant en reponse et en chaleur.

Je regrette qu'il manque une boucle d'effets mono pour inserer des effets choisis, ainsi qu'une sortie pour "external HP".

Il manque aussi une line out avec "amp simulator" commutable.

Mais bien sur, s'il y avait tout cela, le prix serait sans aucun doute plus eleve !

J'etais septique sur les modelisations mais je doit dire que la technique a fabuleusement progressee et que la musicalite, le realisme et la diversite obtenue sont stupefiantes.

Ce Cube 30 est vraiement super pour tous les sons Clairs ou Crunch que j'ai toujours recherche a obtenir.
Il faut passer un peu de temps pour optimiser les reglages tres efficaces de cet ampli.

D'abord et surtout pour moi, tous les canaux sont exploitables en son clair !

On peut obtenir par exemple sur le canal "Marshall" un son Jazz un peu sale et "oldies" de Type Charlie Christian
avec comme reglages : un gain au minimum, Bass a 50%, Medium a 90%, Hight a 10% sans oublier les reglages propres a la guitare, micro grave, volume 80% et Tonalite 50%

Les canaux Metal et R-Fier peuvent avec un reglage du gain modere et un bon dosage de l'equalisation 3 bandes, procurer des sons bien Blues ou Blues/rock du genre rauques, organiques, rapeux et quand meme chaleureux (de type Soldano ou Brunetti testes a Pigalle en Magasin (mais hors de prix)

Le canal fender tweed va donner un son bien punchy clair pop/blues funky/jazz d'un ampli Bassman 59. (Je connais bien cet ampli Fender pour avoir souvent joue dessus chez un ami)

En poussant le gain avec un reglage Bass 50 + Medium 40 + High 70 et sur la guitare, micro "Bridge" on arrive au son voisin d'un Fender Vibrolux en mode crunch !

Le canal Brit Combo emule bien le mode VOX AC30-AC15 (J'ai possede un authentique Vox AC30 des annees 70) avec des sons clairs etincelants de type pop Beatles ou crunchy genre Rolling Stones, Queen ou U2 - Les sons Brit Combo vont aussi bien pour de la "country/rock". Tout est dans le reglage de l'ampli et de la guitare.

Le style de jeu est aussi fondamental.
Le canal "Acoustic" qui emule un micro piezo reagit tres tres bien au picking, au bluesgrass ou au jazz en arpege de type Ovation.
Cela passe bien evidemment par un reglage fin : guitare - ampli.

Le canal Black Panel est mon prefere. Gain de 0% a 50 %
Typiquement Fender, Jazz - Country - Blues - Rockabilly...
Brillant (Albert Lee) ou sombre (Wes Montgomery) suivant reglages...
Toutes lea variantes du Fender Deluxe au Twin Reverb, le bonheur !

Le canal Roland Jazz Chorus est fidele a l'original est est une reference internationnale.
J'ai possede un Roland JC-50 qui etait moins polyvalent sur son canal clair, c'est dire !

Le delai est vraiement super en "Slap Back" pour un type "Old Rock" et le top, c'est bien la reverb qui ajoute une bonne epaisseur au son d'une facon assez progessive.
Meme reglee a fond, on peut toucher au style "Music Surf" dans l'esprit d'un Fender Reverb 1966.

Les modulations sont inegales mais bravo toutefois pour le vibrato ou le phaser regle sur une valeur minimum.

Je branche en permanence un preampli Hughes & Kettner TUBEMAN en reglage Boost pour "lamper" le signal sonore et c'est un plus !

Mon ancien Roland JAZZ CHORUS JC-50, n'est jamais tombe en panne !!!
Ce cube 30 semble solide comme un tanck !

Jamais eu besoin.
Video sur le site, tres sympa mais pas assez representative des nombreuses possibilites sonores de l'ampli...

Je joue de la guitare depuiq 30 ans
Je possede actuellement une Washburn H35S de 1988 et une Gibson Sonex Deluxe de 1981.

J'ai possede beaucoup d'amplis differents et joue sur la plupart des marques plus ou moins connues (SUNN, Ampeg, Orange, Roland, Fender, Marshall, Brunetti, Vox, Boogie, Acoustic, Soldano, etc...)

Les sonorites du Cube 30 sont etonnament realistes !

Elles sont toutes exploitables et avec des resultats sonores tres differents.

Suivant les reglages de volume, de gain, d'equalisation 3 bandes avec l'ampli choisi on est sur un style ampli tres authentique et musical !

Les reglages des modulations sont eux a parametrer au minimum car trop envahissants si on a la main lourde.

Teste contre un VOX AD30 lors de l'achat, Le Roland s'est montre tres superieur en sons clairs et crunch.
Il font jeux egal en saturation, chacun dans sont style.
En saturation pure, le Roland est plus agressif et le Vox plus subtil grace a sa lampe 12AX7.

Le Roland est par contre beaucoup plus simple a regler !

Je rattrappe la complexite organique de la lampe en branchant mon preampli TUBEMAN en amont de l'ampli, meme pour les sons clairs.

100 euros d'ecart en faveur du Roland ?

Le rapport qualite prix du Cube 30 est imbattable !
Ideal pour le travail la maison et se faire plaisir avec plein de sonorites differentes suivant l'humeur
Mon prochain ampli sera sans doute un Atomic 18W avec un VOX Tone Lab en preampli, mais c'est beaucoup plus cher (+/- 900 euros)

You know all the features by now so I won't repeat.

I bought this for a straight ahead jazz sound and I'm very pleased with it. You get a wonderful fat,lush,jazz tone through the "JC clean" channel with one caveat. With bass and mids turned up and treble down, the tone is fantastic, if the amp is set far from a wall. Too close and the bass will boom and overpower you even at low volumes. If you turn bass and mids down, you lose that phat, thick jazz tone. In my 14 x 13 "guitar den" it must be placed near the middle of the room. In my 20 x 25 living room it's amazing just a few feet from the wall. The only channel I use besides the JC clean is the "tweed" Fender bassman which sounds more "bluesy", very different, much less thick, but still usable tone. I recommend placing the amp as close as you can get to the wall when using the tweed model. I play and Eastman carved top and a Ibanez AF-85 with a Benedetto pu. Both guitars sound distinctly different with this amp. I use a tiny bit of reverb but none of the other effects so I'm not qualified to comment on those. Overall a fine sounding amp, and a bargain I think for $225.00 from music123

Seems solidly built, metal screen over speaker, reinforced edges so it should take some abuse without any problems.