Roland Cube-30 Combo

Good and simple effects that you couldn't get in another amp without buying many pedals.

Great despite the fact that it's made of all hard plastic and metal, so tone is sometimes lacking.

I have played this amp for practice and gigging, it's been in cold and hot weather, it's gotten splashed on while playing, it's been turned to the max, and still everything works the way it should. Solid as a rock.

Never needed it.

Awesome little amp, no dissapointment

I somewhat hate this amp, so I'm in the minority here. I'm popping in just to warn you that although the cleans on this amp are very respectable considering the price, the distorted amp models have that awful gritty, brittle Roland COSM sound to them that makes you want to turn to self-mutilation after playing (or listening) for 10 minutes.

The worst thing about them is that they sound kind of okay when you're quickly auditioning the box. It take a little longer for the literally harsh reality to creep up on you.

I bought one of these things to be a lightweight complement to my tube amps, thinking it would get lots of use in the living room at home and also down at my photographic studio when I'm skiving off. And, you know, I'm actually NOT THAT FUSSY. If this amp were bearable, I'd be bearing it.

Instead, it's sat around mostly unused. I'd sooner cart my Mesa Express around at three times the weight than have to put up with listening to this ugly unmusical thing.

I've never been a pro but I have been an enthusiastic amateur player and sound recordist for the better part of 30 years. I know my Nyquist Theorem and my Phrygian mode. I can play.

I know other musicians who think these Cubes sound great. Well, they must have ears made of tin and string. Sorry to say so, but it's the only possible explanation.

Jazzers, however, may enjoy the basic clean tone of this amp with all the whizz-bang stuff turned off. I'm not one of that exalted company, but I think I know what they listen for and I'd suspect they'd like the Cube 30 quite a lot. Just make sure not to turn on any of the effects! They're better than the amp models, but still a little cheap-sounding and brittle.

Everything I need...simple as that!!

Blows away any other small solid-state amp I've tried, and close to the small tube amps like the Pro- and Blues Junior in clean and overall tone. It's also absolutely silent...no electrical noise at all. The more I play it, the more impressed I become. I'm seriously wondering whether to get a Cube 60 for jam sessions (the 30 just doesn't have the output when played live with a band, though the tone is great). Best amp models for me (blues) are Tweed and Blackface. Gain on about 3, volume 7-10 and a touch of reverb. The guitar controls do the rest.

Full confidence in it. Appears very well built and solid.

Never tried to contact them

A very impressive little amp!! Best practice amp I've ever come across, and has the ability to gig at low volumes. Beats the direct competition by a long way IMHO.

I got this little corker right after they first came out, so that must make it about ten years old now. 2 channels, clean, which is a jazz chorus sound and the dirty/ odrive channel which can do various sounds from black face fender to mesa hi gain. Lots of other very useful sounds inbetween. The effects are quite ok, I like the tremelo a lot and the phaser. I don't tend to use chorus or flange much but they all slot in with the amp sound really well and although there ain't a lot of tweakability (which may be a good thing) you can just get on with the business in hand. The delay is ok on the slapback/short setting but just too subtle for me on the longer settings. The reverb is actually pretty nice and agin slots in very well with the rest of the amp's overall sound. As for power, this little baby well kicks it out, I have used it mic'ed and unmic'ed on countless gigs, just don't expect it to compete with that 100 watt 2x 4x12 stack but who wants to lug all that stuff around?..not with my bad back.

I play psychedelisized blues/soul surfin' Syd style freak out plus various function band rock'n'roll gigs...jeez all sorts really...I've been round the block..twice. My guitars are; 1965 baldwin burns semi (lovely,lovely yum) 40th anniversary strat, squier japan jagmaster and my home brew frankentele thing. I also have a modded laney lc15 and a very ancient bird golden eagle 1x15 combo which is the heaviest 17 watt amp ever made,I don't gig it much but for recording it sings. I ramble on here and back to the cube...I just love it, plug in set the vox ac 30 sound to mid way and off you go. Want some country? the black panel is great and very very loud.I don't really do metal or if I do I prefer to use a fuzz box for heavy sounds but the cube can really do it all and it's so much fun to play with. I think I play my best through this little cazy amp it's just so versatile and useable.

I have dropped this amp once or twice, strapped it on to motorcycles/bicycles and hauled it all over the show. No problems at all it will probably survive nuclear holocaust or at least the current global financial meltdown...all those poor bankers, sob weep.

No Need.

I have been playing MY GOD 30 years now,(I started when I was 2 years old...thats an obvious lie) I have owned Hi Watt stacks, Fender Super Reverbs, Vox AC30's, Marshall Super Leads.. so many amps lost in the drug -crazed haze of the past and to be quite honest, financial considerations apart ( and who gives a **** about money, its the music we dig right?} I would not swap any of them for this mini-marvel of amplifier magic that is the Roland Cube. This is the best amplifier ever made (if you are a 44 year old cash- strapped hippie with a dodgy back) No seriously turn up to a gig with this and when all the other crazy fools have lugged their Marshall 4x12s etc which they've had on about a half of 1 on the volume control because it's 2008 and venues have PA systems now you can blow their minds with all the rightious tones coming out of this little tiny box. Best Amp Ever. Love it.

I have been using this amp since they came out. Mine is not the 30X model. Just plain cube 30. As far as features..just read below, as they are all listed. I wont repeat here.

This is where I would like to add something for folks reading these reviews. This amp sounds 'good' or 'OK" for jazz on the clean channel. I play jazz and other styles. Out of the box, it can sound a bit sterile and have that cheap sounding SS sound we all are used to. But, again, out of the box it really is just fine. Here is what you do to make it GREAT. Simply change out the sterile sounding speaker.
I put in an Eminence Delta Demon and I am getting sound that I can hardly get on my tube amps. In addition, out of the box the amp models sound wimpy and thin as most have noted below. HOWEVER, with a decent speaker they REALLY come alive. ALL of the models become VERY useable and very musical. It very simple. Put in a delta demon. Its the perfect match for this amp. My 10 is because of my speaker mod. Out of the box i would give it a 7 or 8.
Just for reference, here is a list of some of my other amps.
68 Fender dual showman w/ JBL
66 Fender Pro Reverb black face
68 Vibrolux
70 Marshall super lead
2006 Rivera Jazz Suprema
90s Polytone 112
Reverand Hellhound
Fender HRD (i have many of these all modded for different sounds)
other assorted fenders and marshalls.
For jazz gigs, weight and convienence, i use the cube 30 more than any of the above. I may go to a cube 60 ...but i cant think of why yet.

The plasic jacks break quickly and must be replaced. Other than that, since i have opened the amp to change speakers, I noted there is really nothing to this amp. Just a small pc board and cheap cabinet. Roland must make a fortune on this thing as there is nothing in it.
However, i beat this thing and it never fails to sound great.
I do not use this only for practice. You can easily do jazz gigs with this.

I own a LOT of roland product including synths, VGs, DRs, loopers and customer support basically sucks. But they are no worse than anyone else out there.

THese amps are great..i would buy another ..and a speaker to go with it.

My second cube 30, since I made the mistake to let a friend use it a couple of weeks (he paid me the amp, so no offense taken!)...
In the meanwhile I got me the cube 20x, a quite different concept (clean amp with a bunch of distortion boxes, not amp modeling), and the cube 30 may be better at low volume and by itself.

I got an empty cube60 on ebay, couldn't wait to put the cube 30 in it (a breeze) and find the right speaker(12 inches 8 ohms).

Stock you won't find a better 10'' speaker, the roland is very good at its job(loud, round, warm and much details).

In the cube60 housing and with a sheffield 1230 speaker, the cube 30 sounds incredible. Very loud, punchy, all models very usable, more realistic than stock.
This said, balance between ch1 and ch2 is only correct when metal-rfier are used, eq-wise.
If other models are used, you have to tweak the common eq to get satisfactory results, and you loose the ch1 in the process.

The sound quality is quite shocking, so better than the average.

The guy who said the epi valve jr being so superior has obviously forgotten something (if provided at all) somewhere: I had the epi valve jr head for a whole year and no matter what guitar/box/fx it always sounded strange (no bass, no treble, honk-honk and farty when pushed-that stinks big time).
The cube 30 is a very strong practice amp, with astounding sound quality, period. It likes telecasters, and is responsive to the guitar you plug in.

Rock-solid, as all the rolands I have (20x, gc405x, bluescube 60-310, microcube, cube 15) or had.

In the cube 60 housing it is only a tad bigger but the 12''speaker makes a big big difference volume/tone-wise.
One could even adapt a 12incher in the stock cube30: just cut a 25mm thick 304 per 297mm piece of wood, then cut a 280mm baffle hole in the centre, and install the speaker from outside. Dead easy, and the cube30 only gains 10mm in depth.
For the speaker check about the sheffield 1230 from peavey, others I tried (eminence alnico 122, celestion seventy-eighty, randall jaguar 50) were not as good. I think I read something about the sheffield being peavey's vintage30, do some research.

I have about 20 guitar amplifiers, and the cube30 definitely has its uses while not having to hide behind the others (such as bassman ltd, randall rx120d, peterson, peavey transtube bandit, yamaha dg60 to name the good sounding ones).
The cube30 can do so much, the perfect practice amp, no excuse to postpone your homework uh...

My friend even uses his stock cube30 at gigs (mic'ed of course) and nobody ever complains, quite the opposite.
In fact, for the non-guitarist audience it sounds more beautiful than most amps, clearer and non-aggressive. That's a fact we should learn, and fast (if we want to last on stage).

Now if you intend to hang a cab, the cube 20x may be a better choice (mine is hooked to a jensen alnico loaded 210 bass box, with great results).

OK less see, solid state amp with two channels, one designed after the JC120 amp made by Roland, the other with multiple effects and amp simulations. The effects are; chorus, flanger, phaser, tremelo, delay and reverb. The amp simulations are; acoustic, black panel (Fender Twin), Brit Combo (Vox AC30), Tweed (Fender 59 Bassman), Classic Stack (Marshal stack), Metal (?), and R-Fier (Boogie). It has Bass, middle, and treble controls. It has an Aux in and recording out/ headphones jacks. And it has jack for a footswitch for switching between the clean and effeects chanel.

Wish it had an extension speaker out.

Play a Tele, Strat, and Les Paul Custom. Use an Ibanez Tube Screamer and an occasional chorus pedal.

Ok, first let me say to the folk who already have one of these. Tell me these little amps aren't a kick in the *** to play. For practice I mean. This little amp just tickles the hell out me to play around with.

For the folks who don't have one, don't go thinking this is some kind of amp to compare with some main line amp. It's not. It's just a good little bedroom amp to practice with. It's emulations are not just like what they are labeled as. So don't think your gonna get a Marshal stack in this little of an amp.

Now having said that, I like the sounds the amp can produce. It's good enough to work on songs with in what ever catagory you need. The space/time effects are not the best, but do a good enough job to have fun with. The amp emulations are not spot on but are close enough to work with.

The JC clean chanel is pretty darn good in my opinion. Very clean and works good with an acoustic/electric guitar as well.

The emulation chanel has an acoustic setting which does a fair job of making an electric sound acoustic.

The Black panel is, to me, the best selection on this side. Pretty fat sounding.

The Brit combo is a lot of fun and brings the mid range honkiness with slight over drive of those type combos.

The Tweed selection is good territory as well. More fatness than the black panel but can get muddy if you don't tweak the EQ.

The Stack through rectifier territory has enough grit and grind to work through most any metal stuff or clean up enough to do some classic rock.

Again, keep in mind what this amp is. It's a very small practice amp. But it is a hoot to play around with. If you can get around the fact that it's not gonna be as good as a main line amp and will only be just a good little tool to practice with, then you'll like this amp.

It's thiry watts and loud enough to play over a quiet drummer. And though I've brought it to practice and played it in the context of a band, I would'nt recomend it for venue playing. It doesn't have enough volume to really get the job done. Unless you just loved it's sound and miked it through the PA, I'd leave it home for practice and bring you gigging amp.

It might make for a good recording amp. I don't know though. I haven't done this with it.

I bought this used out of a pawnshop for little to nothing and really don't know it's history or when it was made. I've had no issues with it so far in the year and a half I've had it. I probably play it every day and so far it's done just fine.

I've used several of roland pedals over years and if their reliabiliy is any indication of what this amp will be like, then it will probably last a while.

I've never had any dealings with Roland other than using their products.

I've been playing a long while now and have owned a lot of different gear.
If this little amp were lost or stolen, I would get another one.
What I like about this amp is it's convenience. And that it's a good amp to chunk in the car and go jam with in someones living room or out on the patio or something of the like and not embaress you sounding crappy.
Again, I wish it had an extension speaker out jack.

I could bore you with all the guitars I've owned and all the amps and stomp boxes I have or had, but that's really beside the point in talking about this little amp. It's value really doesn't have anything to do with all that.
On it's own, it's a very good little practice amp and a lot of fun to play around with. Try one if you get the chance.

If you are looking for a bedroom/practice amp---LOOK NO FURTHER!!There are many usable features on this amp--Clean, Several amp models for distortion, delay,Reverb,chorus,flanger, phaser and tremelo. They all work very decent--remember this is not an amp for playing gigs with--this is a VERY portable small practice amp with a 10 inch speaker so with that in mind it will do more than you need it to!

I play a PRS singlecut(10 top with Birds!) and it sounds amazing thru this thing. I play everything from blues, rock, hard rock, classic rock( Allman Brothers to Zeppelin, Eric Johnson to Satriani and everything in between)I also play a little Jazz, classical and whatever suits my mood at that moment.When I play live I use a Mesa Boogie Lonestar and at rehersal's I have a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe. I really wanted a versatile, portable, small bedroom amp so I do not have to set up my Mesa and pedalboard----I FOUND IT! Roland Cube 30X does everything I need it to and then some! Please do not expect the amp modeling to sound exactley like the amp it is simulating--cuz it doesn't but the types of distortion it does offer will satisfy your desires for Metal,Hard rock, Classic Rock, Blues, Jazz and the clean channel is beautiful--add a little phaser or delay and just play,play,play!!

This thing is built VERY well and Roland gives you a full year's warranty on parts and labor so how can you go wrong? There are no tubes to break down and replace, I have not had any problems, from what I know of Roland if there is ever a problem they will fix it without any hassle!!

I have not had to contact them---They do give a full year's warranty!

I have playing for over 30 years--I still play live (though not as often as I used)I have been playing PRS guitars for the past 18 years and when I play live I have been using Mesa Boogie amps for the past 12 years---The LONE STAR is incredible!!!)I am loving this Roland Cube 30X---30 watts are more than enough for your bedroom or living room---It is very portable so when I go on vacation it is coming with me!! The features work very well--I do not like every type of distorion it offers but then again I don't have to---the 2 or 3 I do use I am VERY satisfied with---that's one of the beauties of this amp it has something for everyone and for the price---It's a NO BRAINER!! The tuner is very acurate and a very nice feature to have---tune up anytime quickly and easily!! Need a reliable,versatile, great sounding practice amp? LOOK NO FURTHER!!

I got this amp 2 years ago and it sounds great. This amp can handle any style of music and it sounds surprisingly good. It is 2 channels, clean and Distortion. It has channel switching via optional foot switch and it also has a headphone jack and an aux input. I wish it had a direct out. I use this amp in my room and sometimes I take it to church. It is a little beast, it is quite loud for its size. The built in cosm emulation is very good for the price and i have recently discovered some secrets while practicing with this amp.

As I said it is very versatile for almost every musical situation. It is not noisy at all.
Clean channel: JC120 Jazz Chorus emulator is excellent.

Acoustic: Sounds good but it tends to be a bit hissi.

Blackface: This is the loudest of them all. I have found a secret with this channel. The EQ controls work like the original. If you roll down the EQ there will be no sound coming out because they control the input signal prior to distortion.

British combo: This one sounds very progressive. I like the fact that it has punch.

Tweed: This channel is one of the best. It works like the original as well, The EQ controls act as the volume i.e the higher they are the more distortion you get. This is because fender left the EQ controls before the distortion Circuit, so the EQ acts like volume controls. Check this out

Set the EQ controls low and the Gain low and the Volume High and this amp sounds like an old fender tube amp and yeah it adds compression to the tone.

Classic Stack. GOOD very powerful and raw sounding

Metal Stack: Very much like joe satriani.

Rectifier Stack. It gets very UGGLY in a Good Way.

The effects are alright not that good though.

Delay: SO SO it could be better.
Reverb: I like it acutally it fills the room.


The speaker is loud.

It is Roland need I say more. I used to have a JC77 which was my fist amp and Roland/Boss has never let me down.

never had to deal with them

I have been playing for 7 years or so. It is pretty good for a practice amp. I think that there amps that are better than this one but cost way more.

It's a pretty decent amp for the money. Really what can you buy for $200 bucks that's awesome? Sure you can get a bunch of pedals, but look at how much money you spend on that. There are a few things that I don't like. The effects are either all or none. I also wish it had an speaker output.

Not too bad for a practice amp. I've owned practice amps in the past that were top-of-the-line, like peavey, crate, line-6, etc... They all sounded like s*#t. And still do.

Solid.

The best solid-state practice amp on the market. Don't argue with yourself. Vox, peavey, crate, marshall, line-6, fender and countless others don't compare with the sound and durability of this amp. Peace

As a 50 year old player who started at age seven, I've learned to play various styles including pop, classic rock, country and jazz. I play two main guitars, a 1991 Fender Stratocaster Plus (w/ Lace Sensors), and a custom archtop jazz hollowbody made by Heritage in Kalamazoo, MI. My other amp is a Fender Hot Rod Deville 4X10 (Tube), which sounds awesome with the Strat, but hideous with the Heritage. Hence, I was looking for a solid state amp for my jazz box. The Cube 30 seemed well built, sounded great in the clean channel with my Heritage, and was compact and relatively light. (The Fender is very heavy, and I'm getting too old for that stuff.) All I needed was the clean channel, so I bought it. It sounds just like the Roland Jazz Chorus at a fraction of the price. Good thing too, because the effects are not very good. I use external foot boxes instead.

I was not prepared for just how good this amp sounds modelling the various amp types however! It is awesome, as long as I don't use the digital effects, and just play it through the various amp models. I have so much fun playing the Strat through this thing because it pretty accurately reproduces any type of sound I need. I can get all of the rock and blues sounds that I want, and still come clean for the jazz box. Since the thing is so much lighter and less fragile than my tube amp, i probably will use the Cube whenever I'm playing outside my own home.

It seems to be built like a tank, and being solid state, should be very durable. I'm very happy so far, although I've only had it for a month or so.

At $250 (with tax), it is well worth the money!

Normal features of a Cube 30, 2 channels, some effects, no effect sloop which is making me think a lot about using effects with this amp since with most amp the pedals sound better when connected to the effects loop, recording out/headphones jack, nice features for a practice amp

Ok, to be honest I only use it for the clean sound and it's a great clean sound. I use it with an Epiphone Les Paul Custom with an EMG 60 on the neck and an EMG 81 on the bridge and the EMG 60 shines with this amp. I tried a Vox AC-30 and comparing it I think the Cube is better! I think it's a pretty good amp for any clean sound that you want, just choose an adequate guitar and eq it, it's that simple! It's not noisy unless you use it at maximum volume.

By the way, I have played live with it and it works. These 30 watts are loud enough!

I've gigged with it, rehearsed with it and it still works. Bought it 10 months ago

Never dealt with them

I've been playing for 8 years and i have only one electric guitar, an acoustic guitar and 2 amps, one of them is the Cube. If it was stolen or lost i'd buy a new one, that clean sound is worth a lot more than the price of this amp!

Only a handful useable models from all the ones on the amp.

The JC clean channel with reverb is the nicest sounding channel on this amp. If you like some of the low-gain settings or the clean channel, it might be worth buying. The high gain settings like r-fier has too much mud in the signal, and not enough clarity or attack to be usable. There is also huge volume jumps when selecting the blackface or acoustic from the other models. The E.Q. seems to do nothing, even when sweeping the dial 100% the bass E.Q. knob still didn't remove the mud from the signal. It does the same with headphones, so its not the room acoustics. Even with a 7 band E.Q. pedal and an active EMG 707 pup I could not get any note definition on the f-fier channel.

I havent owned it long enough, but it seems to be built like a tank, like all of Boss' stuff. Too bad it's high gain models sounds so-so.

Never called them.

This amp has one of the best sounding clean channels I have ever heard. The Dyna-amp sounds like continuous distortion, but I use actives, so it might be better with lower output pups. The acoustic channel and blackface are pretty cool, but they are 4 times as loud as the other settings. The E.Q. knobs do nothing,the bass knob does not work at all. The high gin settings are 'mushy' sounding, not good for cutting high gain sounds.
I think Roland was expecting everyone that plays metal to immediately scoop all the mids out, but I hate that weenie scooped tone. Any mids in your signal will turn your sound to complete mud.

Standard features for Cube 30. Look at their website. I find them more than satisfactory for a small solid-state modelling amp.

The only things missing, that I can think of, is a different EQ for clean and lead channel and an FX-Loop if you wanna mix in other units.

I use an Epiphone Les Paul Standard (stock humbucker pickups) through the cube.

The clean channel is really clean and nice, even at high volumes. The lead channel has some interesting models, like the "Tweed" (Fender Bassman), the "Classic Stack" (Marshall) and the "R-Fier" (Mesa/Boogie Rectifier). Nice response and sound variation with the "Gain" knob. I didn't use very much the other models. The acoustic simulator was a totally bizarre bad-sounding model. I don't know if that's a problem of my unit or they're actually selling this stuff.

This amp can cover quite a large soundscape (in my practise/bedroom recording setups): from perfect clean (if you wanna hear just your pickups), to subtle bluesy, to classic-rock crunch, to fluidly distorted thrash.

EQ: It's OK for the lead channel but I couldn't get much of drastic change in the sound for the clean channel (or the "Blackface" lead model, a Fender Twin simulator). Perhaps its my guitar with the poor quality stock humcuker pickups...

The reverb is nice and the delay is OK but you cannot get really long delay times or repetitions. I'd say about half a second max delay time, dying out after 3-4 repetitions in a bedroom volume configuration.

The modulation FX - Chorus, Flanger, Tremolo, Phaser - are just OK. The problem, again, is that you can't really tweak them. Here, the little knob changes a little bit the "tempo" of the modulation. I don't really like/use them, except perhaps for the phaser, but they can be useful if you want some variety.

I also got myself a foot-swith, the Boss FS-5U, to switch between Clean/Lead. That's a cool feature.

The overall amp is very quiet, and it gets just a little noisy if you start pumping up the volume over the bedroom level. I'm normally below 10% of max, and the amp is dead quiet there, for the lead and clean channel.

I should also note that the Headphone output is quite nice, and for some models I'd say it's even better sounding than through the actual amp speakers. It retains nevertheless a "digital" sounding aura. I have never used it (yet) as a direct recording output.

Problem here: About 12-13 months after I got the amp, the selector knob that switches between the 7 different lead models blew it.

When you turn it, you get the actual model sound you want for 1-2 secs and then it disappears leaving something sounding like the clean channel. You're into the R-Fier with full gain, the red LED on, and you get just clean sound. Fortunately one position kept working: thank God it was the Marshall simulator and not that acoustic crap.

I opened the amp to have a little look inside, and I didn't find any striking problem. Looks like this switch sits on a small circuit board, which must have died out. I'm planning to get it repaired, but I don't think its gonna be cheap.

Too bad. I bought the Cube partially due to the high quality and durability of the company's pedals (BOSS), and it let me down.

The warranty was 1 year. My amp presented a problem right about that time. I'm planning to have it repaired but I haven't dealt with them yet. Seems like Roland has a repair place in Greece, so that could be less of a problem than I first thought.

I've been playing strictly in my bedroom for 8-9 years. Electric guitars for about 6. I like rock, blues, jazz and some more hard-rock stuff now and then. I'm not a talented musician nor have I a good "ear", but through a decade's experience with guitars and music I can tell a nice sound from a bad one.

I used to have a small Park 10W amp (Marshall licenced product of the early 90s, replaced by the Marshall MG series), which is a terrible mess compared to the Cube-30, but was functionning really well for over 15 years (I got it from a friend).

Before I bought it I also checked some small Marshalls, Fenders and Line6s in that price range, but they didn't quite hit it like the Cube.

If it was stolen I would probably buy it again. Perhaps I'd go for a smaller cube (the 15 or 20), cuz the 30 version is way too loud for my bedroom action. The other amps I want to check are the small Orange Crunch and Vox Pathfinders. I found the on-board DFX are not really mature yet, and I can settle for just a reverb. I'm also intrigued by those small tube amps that start to appear (Ibanez, Epiphone, Behringer).

To conclude, I liked the Cube30 amp - especially the clean channel and the Bassman/Marshall simulators - but I was disappointed by the switch problem I mentioned. Thus the 5.

I bought a micro cube and was so impressed with that, I raved about the 30 watt and my girlfriend bought me the 30 watt for Christmas. I make my living with a guitar and have many vintage amps. I use this amp on small gigs and home recording projects. I never would have thought in a million years I would ever use a transistor modeling amp, but it is very COOL!!

I like it!!!!

Its a Roland, what can I say? Its as tough as a boot

Never used them

I've been playing over thirty years and as I said I have tweeds and Blackfaces as well as plexi-Marshall and I love this 30 watt Roland is the bomb!

This amp has plenty of features, none of which are very good.

Strange that people rate it highly in this category and the sound quality category and then say things like "emulations pretty much useless"; "only use external effects", etc.

The JC20 channel and the blackface emulation, both of which are pretty clean, sound fairly good.

All the other amp emulations sound like garbage. Muddy, no sparkle, no attack. Garbage. Makes me wonder if anyone who rated this thing has actually played through any of those real amps.

Don't know, but it's a Roland, so I'm guessing it will last like a tank.

No comment.

Save your money. I sold this thing and bought a Valve Jr from Epiphone for $120 less. Forget about transistors and get a real tube amp. The attack will make you want to play for days without stopping!

Put your money into pedals for the Valve Jr (eq is a good one) and you will come out miles ahead. Trust me, it kicks this amp's butt any day of the week unless you are planning to play clean and loud. If you want dirty and loud, get the Valve Jr. It's a very loud 5W when it's disorting.

Keep saving your money and buy a bigger tube amp if you ever need to. Transistors are for amateurs, just ask any pro.

I've own it for 1 day. But I have tried my friend's cube30 for about a month :D
I bought it because my amp is broken. I just use it for silent practicing at my bedroom and use it for home recording. All I need is a good clean channel because I use Tonebone HotBritish for distortion and BadMonkey for booster

i use a Epi Les Paul Classic with 2 humbuckers (Duncan 59 and Duncan Distortion) and it sounds great with both. i play pretty much anything from blues to 80's heavy metal and it suit my songs just fine. it is never noisy.

The clean channel simulates a sound of a jc 120 and it sound so damn good with my boss ce5

Lead Channel:
-The acoustic simulator is good enough but I don't need it.

-black pannel(clean), surprisingly very good with my tonebone on.

-british combo, I hate it

-tweed, I don't need this

-classic stack, hmmm...tonight i'm gonna check how it sounds with my tonebone on. I think i'm gonna set this classic stack for cleaner sound and let my tonebone handle the distortion. Hope it works.

-metal stack, I hate it!

-r-fier, suprisingly good. I use it without my external fx. I set the bass/mid/high at 11/1/12 o'clock and the distortion feels wide. Think Dream Theater rhythm guitar tone for example.


Effect:
-chorus, its good only for clean channel (JC120). But I think my CE-5 sounds better.
-flanger, not too good
-phaser, I don't like it
-tremolo, good but yes, its completely useless
-delay, good but not too good.
-reverb, good. I like this.

I'm not going to use this amp for my gig. It's a bedroom amps only for practicing. My friend told me that if I change the speaker to some celestion or something like that it will sound punchier. But I don't need to sound louder for practicing. If I need to sound louder then I have to buy some head cabinet like marshall-crate-peavey etc and not this one.

never had a problem

I've been playing for 9 years. I have two guitars: Epi les paul classic tobacco sunburst and some cheap washburn lyon guitar.
I use badhorsie2 wah, boss ce-5, boss ns-2, digitech badmonkey, boss dd-3, boss ps-5, behringer eq700 and tonebone hotbritish.
I've not compare it a lot because I limit my budget to $150. Many combo amp is better than this, but it stil worth the price.
if i would lost it id buy the Line 6 combo or buy again a new cube 30.i wish it camed with a foot switch and the clean channel for every metal amp modelled in lead channel.

By now you know about the features of this amp, so I wont go into that in this review.
But I will say that the FX and Delay are pretty good and more than useful, they work well.
Yes I wish some things were slightly different, but that's because I'm used to spending hours and hours tweaking Line 6 trash, and going through Boutique pedals into tube amps.
This amp is simple to use, that's why it's so cool.

I think the JC Clean is perfect for what it's supposed to do. I own a 66 Vibrolux Reverb, the "Holy Grail" clean Fender amp, and I'm quite happy using the Cubes Clean Channel, is sounds good to me.

But here's a great little trick I discovered whilst messing around.
I have a Boss OD-20 Drive Zone(COSM) pedal, the one that models 22 distortion boxes.
So I put it in front of the Cube, and whilst messing around I discovered that using the Cube's Black Panel and the OD 20 for distortion I get some incredible fat tones, very impressive.

I set the Black Panel with Gain halfway, but here's the weird part.
I set the EQ at Bass/Zero, Mids/Fully Cranked, Treble/Zero.
They say those EQ settings normally put an amp in "neutral" mode.
Well, the OD 20 Metal Zone and other sims into the Cube sounds unbelievably good, way way better than the Cube's Rectifier and Metal sims.
Try it, use any of your Boss pedals, it works.

No opinion as yet

Roland, Boss, must be good.

I've been playing for about 7 or so years.
I own 62 and 68 RI Japanese Strats, a Les Paul Studio, and a Floyd Rose Strat, also Japan.
The Fulltone OCD is my favourite pedal into my 66 Vibrolux Reverb amp.

I heard and played a bunch of tube amps in the last few years, they need high volume to really shine, the Cube 30 doesn't, it sounds great at low volume and even better when loud.

I won't bore you with what you already know.

I bought this amp a little over a year ago and I submitted a review for it not long after. I raved about it then and now it's over a year later and all I have to say is...I JUST LOVE THIS LITTLE THING! I just can't get over the tone I can get from it. Since I've owned it,I sold 4 of my guitars. When the people came to my house to try out the guitars,I plugged them into "the cube" and each person that played through it,raved about the tone that came from this little gem. To me,this is the ultimate practise/recording amp for the money.

I've owned it over a year now and I play use it on a regular basis. Never had a problem with it. It's so solid. I really believe if I through it off the roof of my house onto the street,it would still be in one piece and still work. Of course I have no intention of doing that!

I can't say. I never had to call them.

I've been playing guitar for 30 years. I've gone through a ton of gear. I've heard a lot of different amps and played a lot of different guitars. I know the good stuff from the shitty stuff. When it comes to tone,I'm very fussy. So I think I know what I'm talking about when I say that the Roland Cube 30 is one of the best amps out there in it's price range. Actually,I want to rephrase that. The Roland Cube 30 is one of the best amps out there. Period. If it got stolen,and I got my hands on the bastard who stole it,that son of a mutha will wish he was never born
when I got through with him. Needless to say,I would buy another one in a heartbeat.

Its a solid state 30 watts with a 10inch speaker. Its very loud, I have never gone past half volume even when playing with loud drummers. Lots of channel models, JC Clean, Acoustic, Black Panel, Brit Combo, Tweed, Stack Classic, Metal, R-Fier. Chorus, Flanger, Phaser, Tremolo, Delay and Reverb effects. Input, Aux In, Recording Out/Headphones and Foot Switch jacks.

I bought a footswitch for it to switch from JC clean to the lead channel. I am not sure if this is normal but it takes 2 presses for it to switch, which is annoying and kind of makes it useless.

Paired with a good guitar this amp is extremely versatile. It offers a huge amount of usable tones and allows you to cover many genres from vintage to modern, clean to high gain. I switch between the JC Clean, Brit Combo, Tweed and Metal channels fairly often and they allow me to mimic just about any band or artist's sound fairly well.

Contributing to the versatility of the amp are the included effects, although I must admit I do not use them very much (apart from a touch of reverb). On the subject of reverb, it comes on very strong. I have the dial turned so it just barely comes on and even then it is very noticeable, especially when you turn the volume up. Overall I like the sound of it but if you turn it up it'll sound like you are playing in a bathroom. The delay isn't as good because you can't set the delay length or anything like you can with a normal delay, so I never use it. The chorus and tremolo effects are decent (and usable). Flanger and Phaser aren't my thing so I can't really comment on them.

The amp sounds great if you are just playing in your bedroom or jamming but its not the best for recording. The speaker is very powerful and doesn't get flabby at high volumes which is a plus, but on the other hand its a little too noisy to use for recording.

Overall I'd probably give it an 8 but considering the price and that its meant to be a practice amp I will give it a 9 because it definitely excels at what its made for.

Built very solid and meant to last. I have had mine for 2 years and its traveled around to many places and received a fair few knocks and it hasn't minded one bit. The input jack is starting to get a little lose but that is probably more my fault than the build quality. I have gigged with it without a backup, I know it can be depended on.

I have played on an old Roland Cube (pre COSM) which I'm guessing would have been around 10 years old and it was still going just fine despite being thrashed by school kids everyday (it was an amp for a high school). If thats anything to go by then I guess the new Roland Cubes will last forever.

Never worried about the warranty and have had no problems so I can't really comment about customer support.

I have been playing for 5 years and I am a bit of a tech head so I like to do a lot of work/tinkering on my guitars which means this amp has been played with a lot of different pickups. The only other amp I own is a Fender Champ 15w but I have gigged with a Marshall 100w combo.

It has great versatility for a prac amp. Sounds good at low volumes but can also be really cranked and get extremely loud for its size. Lots of usable tones from the different modeling settings and most of the effects are usable. As stated before I don't like the delay effect or the footpedal for it.

When I was buying it I compared it to a Marshal 30DFX, obviously I felt the Roland Cube was better.

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.

This is a follow-up.
This amp really lacks a tap tempo button!

I have hooked it to a bassman 410box loaded with alnico jensens(I own a bassman reissue, and the tentation was way too big!), and to a 115 closed-back box too, to see what happens. Read on.

With the 410 box this little cube sounds unbelievably good and loud, fresh and much detailed. It showed some critical trebles too, somewhat constipated if you forgive me.
I could hear very well the fakeness of driven tones, with their same frequencies which were displeasing. Just normal with such a box and such a type of amplifier.
The clean tone is perfect with humbuckers, very clean and fresh, nothing disturbing here.

With the 115 box the cube sounds way different, on the dirty side a la bluesman. And with a very noticeable delay due to the speaker's size (and quality, a Park 15-80w ). Again the clean is excellent, and the drives sounds processed.

In all cases the onboard eq is adequate and efficient.
The most important is: this cube really sounds awesome!

As long as you respect it, yes. The boxes I hooked it to were 8 ohms, so no trouble.
If you want pure ****, go buy a Vox AD series (any would do).
Roland stands for highest reliability, as you already know.

Very awesome little guy!
I don't understand the lack of tap tempo button, and the fact that effects volume does affect the signal in the same way, distorted or not. Everyone knows that if you set the reverb on 3 in clean mode it will be far too much in drive mode. So Roland could at least have done this differently, and I'm not speaking of adding controls or what.
For example, Hughes and Kettner do this on their analog amps: you have one reverb knob, but it acts heavier on the clean channel than on the drive channel. By the way, their bass knob acts the same on the tube 20th anniversary edition.
Can you hear me,Roland?

A short review. Feature are terrific for a practice amp and modeling is fast and intuitive. As I recall it lack an ext. speaker out, and that was an oversight.

Brutal with single coils, ice-pick, harsh, terrible.

This amp was voiced for humbucks or P90s and OD/High Gain players. It's not a pleasant experience using this for a Fenderish clean sound. If chimey high end is your thing, look elsewhere.

For what it's designed for, fine. The JC clean channel is particularly annoying and digital sizzle with good single coils.

Appears rock solid.

If you are a single coils player, try before you buy. If you're looking for decent OD/Gain thashing practice amp for your LP, SG, etc., go for it.

I own a 2005 example of the Cube-30. I bought it before I had an accurate knowledge of tube vs. digital/tranny, and only after a year of playing. I play mainly punk, grunge, metal, and some classic or hard rock. Tons of sonic options, 2 clean sounds (Jazz Chorus, Black Panel), 3 classic gain (Brit combo, Tweed, Classic stack), 2 high-gain (Metal, R-fier) and an acoustic simulator. This amp has a recording out, AUX. in, and a footswitch jack for channel switching, but np effects loop, and switching EFX on/off requires an expensive 2 footswitch thru stereo cable system. I use this amp for bedroom practice, but it can handle a band rehearsal. It's really too weak for gigging, though. Good practice amp.

I use a BC Rich Mockingbird with 2 super hot ceramic humbuckers, a Fender Mexico Strat with 3 stock singles, and a Gibson SG Special with 2 vintage-style Alnico 2 humbuckers. The amp seems to suit the Mockingbird for super high-gain settings, and the JC clean. The Strat suits the R-Fier setting, Acoustic, JC Clean, and the Black Panel clean. The SG loves the JC Clean, Brit combo, Tweed, and R-fier settings. The amp can make virtually any sound, but, the only well-mastered sounds are the Chorus effect, Jazz Chorus, and R-fier settings. Very good practice amp, but I wouldn't dare record with it, because the sounds are quite cold, and in some cases, extremely muddy. The EFX (Chorus, Flanger, Phaser, Tremolo, Delay, and Reverb) are o.k. The chorus and phaser were my favourite, while I found the Tremolo harsh, the Flanger and Reverb cold, and the delay was very hard to adjust to the perfect time (tap-tempo reqired maybe?) I found that the Black Panel was way too bright and harsh with humbuckers, and it was much louder than all the other settings. The Brit Combo was muddy and buzzy, also the Classic Stack, which sounded extremely similar to the Brit Combo. The tweed was nice, actually capturing some tube dynamics, but it was very harsh with the Mockingbird. The metal setting is nice for the Strat bridge-pickup and the Mockingbird, but isn't bright enough for the SG. As I've said before, this amp is a nice practice unit, but if you want an authentic sound, you need the real thing, or at least an all-tube circuit.

Very reliable! What can I say? It's a little solid-state combo that's never been past 5. Never had a problem.

I've never dealt with the company.

If this amp got punk'd, I'd get a Mesa F-50 or Mark IV, which I am currently saving up for. But, if I was limited to under $500, I'd probably choose this. I wish this amp had a MIDI-in for switching distortion sounds, rather than just channel switching. I also wish it had separate depth and rate controls for the efx, and a genuine spring reverb. But for $345 Canadian, you can't go wrong

je joue du metal et cet ampli me donne tous les sons dont jai besoin et plus.il y a 2 sectionss de son et on peut les changer grace a un petit bouton. sur ce bebe, on y retrouve du chorus, du flanger, du phaser et du tremolo. on y retrouve aussi du delay et du reverb. on peut brancher une boite de son pour faire plus de bruit et on peut mettre une footswitch. jaurais aime qu'il y aille de l overdrive. javoue que le tremolo et le phaser sont presque completement inutiles excepte pour se vanter davoir plein deffets. jutilise cet ampli dans mon sous-sol et je nai qu a mettre le volume au cart et cest deja tres fort.

pour jouer j utilise une laredo noire qui est vieille mais efficasse avec trois single coils, que jutilise plus souvent avec un behringer, et jai ma chere samick avion 3 (les pauls) de couleur cherryburst, qui a 2 humbuckers que jaime brancher dans le cube 30. le cube sonnes tres bien evec toutes les pedales, particulierement avec une boss od 20 drive zone twin pedal, que je reccomande d acheter tout comme moi, vous ne le regreterez pas. comme le lai ecris plus haut je joue du metal (heavy metal, thrash, black, speed, death ...) et sa me donne tous les sons, et meme plus, que jai besoin.passant du metallica nothing else matters au metallica hit the lights ou du quo vadis (groupe de death de gatineau) a tetris, tout les sons du cube sont parfait.(pourquoi ca sappelle cube 30 si ce nest pas un cube?)

on peut choisir entre du acoustic simulator(BOSS)ou acoustic, qui dailleurs ne fonctionne pas tres bien mais qui nest pas le plus utile

du black panel, qui donne un son particulier (clean)

du brit combo, qui est une distortion crue et sale

du tweed, qui est une faible distortion et est assez grave (fender)

du classic stack, qui provient de marshall, est un son de stack qui donne un son particulier

du metal, qui vient de peavey, est une distortion plus eleve en drive (gain) que les autres

du r-fier (rectifier), provient de mesa boogie, est une des plus grosses dist que je nai jamais entendu

bref, les sons varies beaucoup: dist brutale a simulateur acoustic

le cube 30 est mon bebe, je depend dessus. jai deja fait un consert devant 700 personnes avec ce bijou et cest parfait. il na jamais brise cependant cela ne fait qu un an que je lai

avec les memes vendeurs jai eu des rabais exceptionnels. ma guitare etait 660 $ et le cube etait 375. jai peille ma guitare 319 et le cube 30 300. malheureusement avec les rabais je nai pas eu de garantie

je joue depuis 9 ans avec une guitare Encore (classic), une guitare laredo noire (electrique), un ampli behringer 30 watts, une guitare samick avion 3 (av 3)cherryburst, une pedale boss od 20 drive zone twin pedal. si je perderais mon bebe ou bien je le racheterais, ou bien jacheterais le cube 60, dependemment de mon montant dargent.jaime tout de l amplificateur. avant de l acheter, jesitais entre le marshall mg15cd et quelques autres mais des que jai entendu le cube 30 je lai acheter sur le champ a cause de sa flexibilite sonore. jaimerais qu une footswitch vienne avec.


ps. je nai que 13 ans et jai fait une vingtaine de conserts solo et en band. a chaque fois que je donnais un show, javais mon cube 30 a cote de mois

Not sure what year mine is. it's pretty versatile for me: i play anything from The Beatles to Disturbed. it has two channels(one clean that is supposed to simulate a jazz chorus and another to simulate distortions, plus an accoustic simulation on the distortion channel). it has an MIDI footswitch but it doesn't come with the amp and i can't find out where to get one.it has a decent set of effects:chorus,flanger, phaser,tremolo(al on one knob;not overlappabble) and a seperate knob for reverb/delay.has a headphone jack/recording out. also aux in in the form of a 1/4 " input. despite all of these, i wish it had a tuner and that the effects had a seperate control for effects-level(all it has is speed)and that they wereoverlappable. i don't ever use the flanger because it simply isn't my styler, and i use the phaser occasionally. i use the reverb alot(almost always)and everything else moderately. i use this amp as a practice amp and as a backup for church.it would be plenty powerful for my church band but our band leader is obsessed with mic-ing anything and every thing that can be mic-ed. this is a solid-state amp.

i use an ibanez-style guitar very similar to steve vai's. both the sinle- coil and the h/bucker sound good. it makes a little noise when not playing, but why would you buy an amp just to pug in your guitar and not play. the sound goes away completely when playing.

alright, about the distortion models. it has the following:acoustic, blackpanel, brit combo, tweed, classic stack, metal stack, and rectifier stack. the accoustic sounds pretty convincing, considering that most other acoustic sims sound like poop. once while playing bass for my church, our acoustic player forgot his acoustic at home, but luckily i had my amp with me. so he plugged in his lite ash strat aand turned on the acoustic sim. the first words out of his mouth were "Wow, that accually sounds almost exactly like an acoustic". there were people in the audience that had some funny looks on their faces that day, trying to find out where the acoustic guitar sound was coming from without having an acoustic on stage. i don't personnally care much for the black panel, but both the brit and tweed combos sound good. the classic stack has too much unwanted bass for me. the rectefier has a fuzzy, nu-metal sound when the gain is turned up all the way which is good for metal leads too.but, my favorite is the metal stack on gain: approx. 3 o'clock. this gets a good marshal sound out of it, but not necessarily marshal with gain turned to eleven(wich is frankly too much for me). my favorite band is Audioslave and this setting gets me the perfect average Tom Morello gain (average being what he uses the most).

the clean channel sounds good, but the best thing about it is that you can crank it without losing your tone. althou it is good, it doesn't quite sound like the jazz chorus that it's advertised to sound like.

now to tackle the effects. im not much of an effects guy, buti understand that they occasionally have their uses and still try to make the best of them. the only effect that i can find a great deal to complain about is the delay. it doesn't have the length that i would like, but even more detrimentally, it is more of a bockground effect. each delayed signal sounds alot more quiet than the last, so you don't get a sound as if there are two guitars playing one after the other, more like an echo than a delay.

the reason this gets knocked down to a six is because of the speaker. i have had this amp for over a year and just recently i decided to try something new. i used the headphone jack to plug into my 16 watt bass amp (with an eminence speaker)an it sounded, well, completely stellar. simply beautiful. the clean acually sounded somewhat bright and the distortions all just sang. the acoustic sounded even more like an acoustic. everything just sounds overall better. the only problem is that my bass amp, being a 16 watt amp, cant handle anything above a loud practice setting(loud being about the sound of an average noisy washing machine)with the thirty watts of the cube driving it.

also, i tried running some dist/overdr boxes into the amp, but it doesn't seem to be very compatible with external tone shaping.

this amp has never broken down on me. just recently i pluged in my guitar in and i didn't get any sound. i jiggled the cable input and i sound for just a second and then it went away again. i was getting worried but it just ended up being the cord, thank goodness. i wouldn't use it on stage without a backup, but that is because i would use it as a backup. it sounds good enough to use it if you have to and is durable enough to be counted on as a backup, but i wouldn't use it with the stock speaker as a main amp.

haven't had to deal with company.

ive been playing for fun for three years but have only been serious for the last year. i have also played bass for a year(seriously all the way through) and im starting drumming (all around musician i suppose). in case you were wondering, my other bass amp is kustom kba 16 (with an 8" speaker) i think.

if this were stolen, i would probably get a tube driven amp. probably the classic 30.

what i love is that i got this a year ago on christmas as a present (because my cousin decided that he wanted to pick up guitar again and i had to give back the amp that he gave me after he quit playing; he has once again quit already). this amp is what made me get serious about guitar. if youy are looking to uprgrade from your crappy solid state 10/15 watt crate amp (just for example) and aren't quite ready for the responsibility of a nicer tube amp(or simply don't have mony for a nicer amp period), this is a great amp.

what i hate is that i payed for a couple of effects that aren't versatile enough for me and that i don't ever use. also, i don't care much for the speaker.

i didn't compare this to many other amps, but looking back on it, i needed an amp really badly beacouse i didn't have one and there really isn't much to compare this to. it is the best amp in its wattage range with all of the modelling crap on it.

musicians friend just knocked it down about 5$. but, they also have the cyber deluxe on sale for three hundred and thats 150 dollars off. it has more than twice the wattage and the effectgs are higher quality. i wouls get the cyber deluxe if i were you.

IM CURRENTLY IN THE MARKET FOR A NEW AMP, SO IF YOUR INTERESTED IN BUYING THIS FROM ME FOR AROUND 150$, JUST EMAIL ME.

awsome features. i was blown away wuth all the kick ass distortion and delay i could put on this baby. probubly the best jam amp around in turms of badassity. but i loved the octive option as well as all the other settings, and with a pedal pretty much put every other bass amp below 1000 dollers to shame. you could jsut about put this amp in any musical style adn not sound like its spread itself thin.

basicly i look like about 60 times the pro i am. considering im not a pro this means that thes amp has siccesfully distorted realaty itself in order to multiply by zero. i actually put my guitarist to shame as far as distortion went. and my style is discribed as acoustic industreal/ alternitive rock - like NIN + smashing pumpkins i guess. i it is way louder thatn other 30 watts and like i said befour, the badassity is through the roof.

well i cought it just recently so it hasn't exactly been gigged out. but it seems pretty damn solid and if it were a person, it would be some kind of commando.

it was a gift-im not as rude as to ask how the shopping went. meh

my only other amp was a kostom 10 watt (lol) witch i needed to put on overdrive to sound messed enugh. works well with a pedal. excuse my spelling

I just gave it high ratings two reviews ago, and in the meanwhile I could check out what other 30watters are on the market now.
So yes, I really think the cube is the best sounding out there.
However, I would like to see some improvements:
1-A built-in tuner, be it as simple and effective as the microcube's one
2-A master volume
3-The delay effect in the same department as the chorus&co, which then would allow footswitching on/off without losing reverb
4-A tap tempo button, so the existing knobs would do the effects mix
5-A very nice feature would be a recording out not affecting the speaker's signal.

With all these very minor interface-only mods this cube 30 would be good for the next century without more mods whatsoever.

Let's hope Roland hear me!

Achete neuf en 2005 a Paris pour 260 Euros.
Je me suis offert ce petit ampli essentiellement pour jouer a bas volume en appartement.
Il s'agit d'un ampli a modelisation (technologie Roland Cosm), d'une puissance de 30W. C'est plus que suffisant en puissance pour un appartement. Je n'ai eu l'occasion de l'essayer a un volume plus consequent que dans le magasin, et cela m'a semble tres convainquant.
2 canaux, avec egalisation 3 bandes commune aux 2.
1 canal clair, emulation d'un Jazz Chorus Roland 120, un master volume.
1 canal lead, gain et master volume, 7 modelisations : acoustic, fender twin, vox, fender tweed, marshall stack, peaveay, mesa rectifier.
U regret : le manque de progressivite des potards (pas evident a regler a bas volume).
Une section d'effets avec modulation : chorus, flanger, phaser, tremolo.
Une section d'effets avec retard : delay, reverb
1 prise casque, 1 entree auxiliaire, 1 entree pour footswitch (changement de canal)
Je trouve que ces caracteristiques donnent une grande polyvalence pour ce qui demeure un ampli de travail. Les reglages d'effet sont notoirement insuffisants, mais je suppose que ce n'est pas ce que l'on demande a ce genre d'ampli.

J'utilise cet ampli principalement avec une Fender Strat US Standard ou une Fender Telecaster Mexico avec micros Bill Lawrence, occasionnellement une Rickenbacker 330, une wha Morlay et une TS809, essentiellement pour jouer du blues.
Il s'agit de 3 guitares avec des micros single coil. Le canal clair est correct sans plus. On est encore loin du JC120... .
Le canal lead est beaucoup plus convainquant, en particulier les modelisations de Fender Twin et de Marshall Stack (Classic Stack), en tous cas avec la Strat et la Tele. En restant raisonnable sur le gain, on obtient des overdrive tres realistes pour jouer le blues et le rock.
Le HP de 10' semble etre d'une excellente qualite, ce qui joue bien sur beaucoup sur la qualite du son.
Sans revenir sur l'eternel debat, il evident que les sons obtenus sont assez eloignes des originaux a lampes. Cependant, la qualite intrinseque des sons obtenus est excellente quand on les compare a la grande majorite tres moyenne des amplis a lampes que l'on rencontre habituellement.
Le son obtenu respecte entierement les caracteristiques de la guitare employee et du jeu du musicien (attaques), ce qui est appreciable pour le blues. Avec une petite compression en entree, c'est le bonheur a ce niveau de volume. Pour en avoir essaye des palanquees, je n'ai pas encore trouve mieux.
Avec des micros double bobinage, les sons clairs sont bien meilleurs.
La sortie OUT/casque est relativement utilisable pour l'enregistrement, mais j'ai obtenu de bien meilleurs resultats en reprenant le HP avec un micro, y compris a bas volume, ce qui est surprenant.
Les effets embarques ne sont pas terribles, en dehors de la reverb, a petite dose. Pour les afficionados du traitement sonore, il faudra penser a investir dans les pedales adhoc...
Un regret : l'absence de boucle d'effet pour pouvoir mettre en insert les effets en question.
Possedant par ailleurs un modelisateur d'ampli J-Station et un preamp Marshall JMP1, j'apprecie l'entree auxiliaire qui me permet d'utiliser les 2 entrees du Cube 30 avec une petite A/B Box Roland. J'utilise egalement cette entree auxiliaire pour amplifier ma basse, avec laquelle j'obtiens un son tres correct (c'est une basse active Ibanez BTB 400).

Cela semble costaud. Il s'agit d'un ampli a transistor, peu sujet en principe aux pannes.

Je n'ai pas eu a m'en servir jusqu'a present.

J'ai 43 ans et joue depuis l'age de 15 ans. Je possede egalement un tombereau de matos divers et varie: ampli Peavey 60 (pour la basse),un HH 100W avec enceinte SoundCity 2x12 (pour les repetitions), un preamp Marshall JMP1, Ibanez Tube Screamer, Banzai Fireball, Wha Morlez, Phaser Electro Harmonix, Roland A/B Box, Art Tube Compressor, Art Tube Pre Amp, Art FX1, Multi-effets Zoom 2002... et j'en oublie. Je ne parle pas ici de ce qui m'est par ailleurs passe entre les mains ou que j'ai possede par ailleurs !
Cote guitares : Fender Strat US Standard, Fender Tele MIM, Rickenbackern 330, Vantage XX, Yamaha electro-acoustique Compass CPx15w, basse Ibanez BTB 400.
Ce que j'aime dans cet ampli : le (tres bon) son a bas volume pour le blues et le rock, le prix, le poids. J'apprecie egalement qu'il laisse entendre le guitariste...
Ce que j'aime moins : des effets qui font honte a Roland (en dehors de la reverb), l'impossibilite d'avoir 2 canaux "lead" pour beneficier de toutes les modelisations sur chacun d'entre eux, le manque de progressivite des potards de gain et de volume, l'absence d'une boucle d'effets.
C'est un excellent rapport qualite/prix, a recommander a tout le monde. Pour les debutants, ce sera l'occasion de faire un investissement rentable sans le mondre risque (y compris pour la repet., a moins de jouer avec un batteur fou). Pour les autres, cela fait un excellent ampli pour pratiquer a la maison ou pour enregistrer.

it's been covered. (could have come with a foot switch though) pretty good for the price.

this little guy really suprised me. it really does sound pretty good. by itself it isn't bad at all considering the 10" speaker and 30 watt power rating. i just wired up an extension speaker jack on mine (disconnects the internal speaker when a cable is plugged in. radio shack $4.00 for two) through a halfback mesa 112 it sounds stellar. blackpanel is particularly juicy sounding and will do both clean and slight break-up. i find that modeling amps have the hardest time with slight break-up sounds. all of the models are much more convincing through the 112. (remember it also weighs more than the amp) the high gain models are a lot of fun. good for fast noodling and actually have pretty tight bass. they don't sound just like the 5150 and dual-rec they were modeled after but they sound good. for a laugh i hooked the line out through a 100 watt tube head (effects loop return) and a genz g-flex. oh my, the models got exponentially better. actually made me consider using it as a preamp for some things. the clean channel is good but black panel and high gain stack are the stars of the show. (wish i could have both on seperate channels) the reverb is not bad but the effects are so bold they aren't really usable in most situations. the acoustic sim is a waste of a slot that could have housed a useful model.

as far as how loud it is. is isn't terribly loud by itself (very small gig at best) with the 112 it's about twice as loud. now we're getting somewhere it might actually cut it up against a drummer. pretty impressive for what it is. considering its price i give it a 9. it really is a fun amp

haven't had it long enough but i would guess it'll be ok

i've been playing for about 17 years. i have played through or owned almost every type of amp out there. some highlights include, mesa tremoverb, dc-3, marshall jcm800, mk II masterlead, laney vc30 112,peavey delta blues, and various rack setups. this little amp is the best practice amp ever. the amount of sound you get from this little package is astounding. i highly recommend the extension jack mod though.

I would give the features a ten, but the 4 effects don't overlap. The only one I think much of is the flanger. I like both the delay and the reverb, but those two won't overlap each other.

There's only one channel that can be manipulated, the auxillary in goes straight out.

This amp easily goes too loud to play when my mom's home, though it did start breaking up at about three o'clock with some of the amp models.

If I gigged (or when I eventually do) I expect this amp would work in small gigs, and it should work as a preamp in larger affairs.

I have a Lite Ash Strat with Seymor Duncan pickups, and I send it straight into the amp. I am primarily a rocker, 70's and 80's mostly, which I think this amp does excellently, and I also play some pop and a little country, and whatever else I feel like, and this amp fits everything I do.

I plugged in my Ovation Celebrity (what it lacks acoustically it makes up for plugged in), and it sounded pretty decent on the acoustic amp model.

When the gain is turned all the way up, there is just a little noise on all but one amp model, but it's not at all prominent, and it's unnoticeable when playing.

While some of the amp models do start falling apart at loud volumes, the clean channel seems to hold on well all the way up.

I like the distortion, there's almost too much for me at the top of some of the models, but death metalers won't find enough for their music. The distortion stays musical throughout it's range.

It seems like it's pretty sturdy.

Haven't had to deal with them.

I've only been playing about four years, and this is my first amp, and the Strat is my first electric, and only my second guitar. I was in serious need of an electric guitar to adequately play the music I wanted to. I researched many other amps, but for what I wanted and in my price range, this one was the best I could find. The other amp I was considering was a Behringer V-Tone GMX110, but people seemed to have less problems with this Roland.

It is a bit heavy, and the strap is a bit stiff, but these are minor complaints compared to what I really want: sound.

This amp is a lot of fun to play around with and sounds great, especially for the price.

2004 model, same size as a marshall mg15, only one kg heavier.
No noise when switching channels or effects, impressive.
Built-in automatic noise gate, but don't worry it is non-intrusive. Just plain useful, never annoying.
Volume knobs are not progressive enough at low level, I mean it's not easy to get late-night volume. Just the same as my micro cube, I guess Roland should change their volume pots'characteristics.
Rec out way good, clear and open sounding.
Never tried headphones though.
Aux in convenient, accepts my active bass gladly (at living room levels, mind you) so I don't need an extra bass amp for practice.
Amp absolutely silent, I appreciate. This stated, it can be louder than expected, and I agree with reviewers who said its speaker to be way good:it is, and does not collapse at high volume.
Don't see the point of buying the 60watter, in fact, especially with a p-a around.

I only use two sounds, the jc clean and the 5150 model. I don't need anything else, but all models are more than okay.
I set the gain of the 5150 at noon, and use my guitar vol pot for rythm&lead. The big difference with many amps around is that the cube reacts very very well to this basic technique.
If I can't use my guitar's vol pot, I set the gain at minimum and just stomp on a clean booster for lead (same results as with guitar vol pot, only faster).
Overall this 5150 model can do anything, not unlike Luke's sound. Not bad!

About JC clean: it is a bit thin-sounding, mates very well with jazzboxes (...) and humbuckers. Too shrill with strats. That's at room levels, in a band this character is an advantage: you are well heard. Definition is the word here, I just like this channel.

Effects are useful at home, who needs them in a band anyway?
Chorus is a waste, flanger too, phaser is okay at low speeds, only the tremolo is up to my taste...
Reverb is quite fine, delay is enjoyable but really lacks settings.
Still, I like tremolo and this one is smooth and plain, and delay/reverb is a big plus when playing alone.
For what it is, what it costs, clearly top mark.

Absolutely. Tough tough tough.
No fuse I can see, maybe there is an automatic one inside I don't know.
Remember you still find orange cubes from the 70ties, and jc120 too, so I don't worry about reliability.

I bought this to replace my marshall mg15dfx and Ibanez valve bee all tube amp. And I did well!

Just the right size, power, features to get you playing for hours without touching the amp, a real musician's dream!

When I checked this, I immediately found two sounds I really much enjoyed, the jc clean and metalstack5150, and I knew I had to buy it.

Note that this amp is very transparent, doesn't spoil your guitar tone. Great to check guitars in a store.
On the other hand if you use a stomp box you better choose a real bypass one because you'll really hear a difference.
With a wireless system it is even worse, and I didn't hear much difference on other combos (line6 spider2, dod juice it, peavey bandit, marshall mg15) so the cube is very superior.

Apart from more control over delay, the most perfect small amp ever.
I can foresee it will stay long in Roland's catalogue.

Made in 2004/2005.
Lots of amp emulations, a wide palette to choose from. The channel switching and controls aren't much stage friendly, but not many people buy solid-state 30-watters to get onstage. I will, if I have to. Good stuff are the aux in, line out/phones, great reverb and the emulated amps. On the downside, you get no fx loop and no decent control of the effects. More on this below.

Like I said before, amp-simulation-wise, whatever amp baby wants, whatever amp baby gets. This little bastard covers it all: JC for cold clean and multi-fx pedals, not-so-bad-with-a-telecaster acoustic guitar simulation, blackface fender cleans, ac-30 from clean to dist, fender bassman, marshall stack, peavey metal stack, and, of course, mesa-boogie hi-gain. My music goes from U2 and Cure thru Radiohead and Blur down to Velvet Underground, so I don't think I will get harder than Ac-30 and classic marshall. I play a japanese '62 reissue Tele through a Vox Wah with a modded Ibanez tubescreamer to keep the wah from sucking tone. I wanted to buy a vox ad30vt, but it was almost two times the price. But, after I played this one, I thought the effects weren't so bad, and also vox has a valve in the poweramp. I don't think valves are a good thing in moddeling amps-- Valves means servicing, and servicing means spending money and less reliable amps.

I had it for only a week, but from other Roland products I've been getting the idea that only roaches and Roland amps would survive a nuclear war.

I've been playing for 10+ tears now. I've been in a band for 8, but we still thing on getting back together 'one of these days'. I own a '96 trace elliot supertramp twin stereo chorus. It was the amp that got me favouring good solid state amps over low budget and low quality tube amps. An amp doesn't have 2 B tube 2B good. And being tube doesn't make it good. There are great tube amps, but they're expensive.
I really like this amp. It has only 2 problems for me. First of all is the lack of control on the effects. The effects sound great, but you have 1/4 or 1/2 of a knob to do something you would need 2 or 3 knobs to do?! The second issue is something that's been irritating me since modeller amps got around. 90% of all modelling-amp-making companies are stupid enough to think "ok, so we got one reverb, delay, flanger and chorus on this amp, it doesn't need 3? spent on an fx loop, since it already has effects." I think these and most modelling amps would sell better if companies would wake up.

Made in:
2004
Versatility:
Seems to handle every kind of music I play. I like the Brit combo for Blues, slightly dirty rhythm and general purpose dirt (gain at about 2 o'clock). Classic stack is a good representation of a Meshal AC/DC sound. Metal and rectifier are good at reproducing 80's metal and new metal. I am not into metal but enjoy the r-fier. Nicely compressed full sound.
The acoustic model is nice and makes the electric sound like an acoustic.

Channels:
2 channel - JC and lead (with modeled amp sounds)

What features do you wish it had ?
Would be nice if it had a tuner. This would make it a great practice amp without the need to cary extra gear.

Where do you use this amp:
Practice at home and rehersals

The AUX-in is a great feature. I generaly use this to plug my laptop in to pump through Bass & Drums via a midi player. Great for learning new songs !

Use this amp with Yamaha pacificas 604 and 604w (great guitars that stay in tune). Stock pickups. I generally use the neck and humbuckers (for lead work and some riffs)
The only nise this amp produces is amplified noise from the single coil pickups

The clean channel isn't distorted at high volumes however I have only had the amp at 50% volume.

The distortions can be brutal if you have the gain maxed out. Distortion is good & usable with gain up to 75%. R-fier is good an 100%. Classic stack muddies up past 75%

No problem yet, but haven't pushed it hrd over long periods. I expect it to be reliable seeing it is a Roland and appears solid

NA

I have been playing 15 years. Played covers for 5 years and beginning another phase of covers after a 5 year break. I own a peavey bandit 80W, Roland GP8, Yamaha Magicstomp, 3 Yamaha Pacificas, several acoustics.

I try to only buy quality gear. Musical instruments need to be able to stand up to riggors of live playing.

I was looking for an amp that was light weight, capable of enough volume for rehersals, headphone and aux-in. I was in no rush to buy but wanted to get the right amp. They are probably worth Aus$400 new but $250 is a good deal. I tried a VOX, Line6 and a Kustom but went with the Roland because of the tone, size, reliability and resale value.

I like that this amp is loud enough to play with a loud drummer, has great tone and can be used with headphones for late night practice (very important with a new baby in the house).

It would be nice if it came with a footswitch, in built tuner and seperate eq's for the channels but I am happy with it, as is. It makes me want to practice without the need to setup a lot of extra gear.. Because of its small footprint I can now practice in various rooms.

The chorus seems a bit thin and the flanger etc are toys but I use external effects anyway. It would be nice if the reverb/delay were switchable.

Summing up ... It does its job well and is a versatile peace of equipment that can be used as a monitor as well.

Made in 2005
Three band eq, same eq for both channels
Two channels, clean channel models JC Clean (and does it very well)
Other channel has different amplifier models: Acoustic, Black Panel (Fender twin reverb), Brit Combo (Vox AC-30TB), Tweed(Tweed Fender Bassman 4x10 combo), Classic stack (Marshall JMP 1987), Metal Stack(Peavey EVH-5150), R-Fier (Mesa/Boogie Rectifier)
Separate volume knobs for clean / lead channel
Gain control, footswitching between channels and turning efx on / off
Aux in, use with a cd player, maybe even a microphone, handy feature
Recording out / headphones, good for nighttime practice or maybe recorinds, i would prefer micing it up
Digital effects, chorus is nice, hardly ever use the others, but they seem nice too
Delay & reverb, nice reverb, delay is a little short i think

Lacks separate EQ for each channel, and more footswitching features, compressor, noise gate

I use it for practice with a custom-built guitar, mahogany body, super strat body shape, maple neck, rosewood fretboard, 6 stringer, bill lawrence L500XL bridge, 2 duncan singlecoils

With humbuckers, make no noise at all. Hums with single coils (but hey, there's no noise gate on this thing.. you'd have to expect it.) At max volume, hum pickup, no feedback or noise at all. Used in a living room enviroment.

I play all styles, pop/rock to church-burnin' metal, and it can do everything. Nice rock sound, great for blues, jazz master, and really good metal sound (the r-fier model). I find the metal stack model quite useless, too much chug-chug.. probably good for old school metal. For jazz, pop/rock, metal and blues it's perfect, maybe it lacks just a tiny bit in a hard rock setting (i.e. def leppard, kiss, deep purple-kind music.) Distortion is really nice, i burn two-three churches a week and i think it's got plenty. Pinch harmonics really scream, i compared this with a marshall AVT fullstack and the marshall lost distortion-wise, plus pinch harmonics on the marshall sounded real crappy. Clean channel is clean even at max volume.
Reverb is great, delay is pretty good, chorus is really nice, i rarely use the phaser, but it delivers, i don't use the other effects.

This plays really loud for being rated 30 watts, perhaps because of the easy driven 10" speaker. A line6 spider II 212 (75 watts, 2x12" speakers) barely plays louder, and i know, since one bandmember o'mine has it.

Gets a lil minus, i don't like the metal stack model + it doesn't like single coil pickups.

Hey it's a roland, you could microwave it for an hour and it would come out fine. Speaker element is protected by a metal grill, it can take a kick, i use this as a seat all the time and it still works. Speaker element can play at max volume for hours, doesn't blow. If our employers couldn't get us a good fullstack (mesa, engl, krank, orange) for a gig i'd go with this. I'd choose this over a fender or marshall.

Never dealt with them, but i bought this from a music store, so i'd deal with them not roland

Been playing for 3 years, besides this i have a engl powerball / mesa 4x12 combo but it doesn't sound nice on low volumes, plus i only use the stack in studio / for gigging because my neighbors are sons of bitches and call the cops as soon as i crank the volume on the cube past 5.

If it were stolen, i'd get either this or the new vox ac-30, i havent tried the ac-30 yet but i hear it's good, but it's a vox and vox has a hate it or love it sound so i'd probably get this as it has a more generic sound

I compared this with various amps in the 300$-400$ price range and this thing beat them all, the spider II which would cost $170 more came close but i like this better. I suggest you try the vox ac-30 too, though. I got a good deal on this too, retail price where i live (norway) is $450 so.. at this price it's like a 9.9. I'd want separate eq's though, but no biggie.

Eu comprei este amplificador no ano de 2005. N?o sei quando foi feito, mas acredito que seja neste mesmo ano. Versatil ??? Este amplificador e uma m?o na roda. Pra tocar em casa n?o tem nada melhor. Vou fazer uma comparac?o simples. Faca o preco de um Meteoro Thor Plus e some uma pedaleirazinha simples. Ja chegou aos R$700,00? Ent?o pode parar e comprar este amplificador. 4 distorc?es claras, delay e flanger de qualidade. So ai ja vai mais de R$1.000,00. Eu uso este amplificador em casa, para estudo. Ainda n?o usei no palco, mas acho que n?o vai decepcionar.

Minha guitarra e uma Epiphone Les Paul Standard Left-handed de 1997. Os controles de equalizac?o n?o s?o muito versateis. O controle de agudo ate que e bom, mas o de medios n?o faz muita diferenca. De graves ate que soam bem. O canal limpo e brilhante, doce e muito bom de se ouvir. As simulac?es s?o boas. N?o s?o perfeitas, mas s?o muito boas. A distorc?o METAL e arrasadora. A STACK e muito boa. A RECTY da vontade de tocar power chords pro resto da vida. A TWEED e legalzinha e a BLACK PANEL e perfeitinha para solinhos limpos e levadas swingadas.

Achei muito robusto. Sem defeitos. Rocha pura.

The cube 30 has all the fearures you will need and more.

The cube 30 can make brutal noises.It has 8 kind of distortion(lead): acoustic, brit combo, tweed, r-fier, metal, black pannel, classic stack.It also has wicked efx: chorus, flanger, phaser, tremolo, independent delay/reverb. And for the clean channel, the cube 30 reproduce the sound of the legendairy JC-120!

I totally depend on it.

They were incredible. Mine was 375 $ and i got it for 300 $.

It has been 8 years since i started playing. I had a laredo guitar, behringer amp, and now a cube 30 and a Samick av3. If it was stolen i would buy it again, of course.

Mine was made in 2004 and is the same model that is being produced today, and was being produced through the nineties. The main thing about this combo is it massive versatility. The first channel, is JC clean, models the bigger roland JCs and its clean as a whistle. The second channel is where the versatility gets involved. It has a cute acoustic sound, a "black panel" model which i think is simulating a black face (that would make sense), it has a brit combo (vox AC-30), a tweed model, a classic stack (marshall I guess) a metal (peavey?) and a Rectifyer (Mesa/Boogie REcto). These obviously dont match the real amps but the style is the same and therefore they are usefull. ROland owns boss so the 'COSM' models that are on this amp are the same as on the boss pedals like "amp factory". The main gripe i have is that there is only one eq section, and that does both channels, the other is switching between models is a pain also. It has some pretty worthless effects Chorus TRem Flange and Phase but its nice to have them. It also has very useable reverb and delay.

I use it with a Epi Les paul and a PRS McArthy Soapbar. Ill start by saying that this is my favourite practise amp and it sounds great with both guiatr. It has a really warm bottom end for a solid state amp. Although i wouldnt gig with this, it certainly has the quality of sound to mike for a rehersal if need be. It does just what you tell it too, with the dials and your fingers. The brit combo model especially responds well to the dynamics and pressure of your picking. The distortion can go crazy with the gain knob cranked and you get get anything from sprkling cleans to bluesy crunch to metal head. I am giving it 8 for sound quality because it doesnt hold a candle to the better tube amps, but I think it could take on any other transistor amp.

I defininatly doubt it would break at a gig, it doesnt run hot like a valve amp, but it did get stuck on channel two for a while. The shop gave me a new one so Ive never dealt with customer support.

Never dealt with them

Ive been playing four years, and Ive had three practise amps, this one is the best. Its an important tool for jammin with when you dont have the car space or energy to load up the Mesa. Its got a clever thing to hold the cable on the back (like a zip tie thing) but no space behind the speaker for cables and pedals. It doesnt sound tacky like its marshall, fender and line 6 competitors but it would be the perfect practise amp, with a footsswitch and seperate EQ.

Not sure year made, but bought 2004 to use as stage foldback with acoustic electric. Not very effective competing with the other guitar player's 100w Music Man combo. I am happy to work with what it is - in my opinion, setting limits for yourself is good practice as a creative person.

I now sit the amp on the drum riser and go directly through the foldback. I play an epiphone Dot deluxe through the JC120 channel with a smidgen of chorus, on the other side, I use the Classic stack with tremelo halfway. The reverb is set on about a quarter. I mix the Dot pickups - full neck, three quarters bridge.
I got heaps of complaints at first when miked up and trying to play with heavy distortion. That was never my style anyway. It is much better now. The blues sounds I get are like an ol-bitey block of Kraft cheese.
The JC120 channel sounds fab - I use this for choppy, syncopated grooves and ballads.

Does what it is supposed to do. Feels solid. Everything works.

Billy Hydes, Victoria have a great guitar department, so I will phone them if I need to.

I have been playing for 20yrs in Christian church services. This is my first guitar amp. If it were stolen, I would replace it.
I compared this with the VOX and Marshall practice amps. This beat them hands down.

I am currently using two Cube 30's set up in stereo. I play primarily in a solo and duo (with a bassist) Jazz settings with these amplifiers. Although many people have panned these as "practice amps", I have had incredible luck with them in large hotel meeting rooms, brew pubs, and small outdoor concerts,(once playing in a very loud blues band setting) all without the benefit of a PA. The combination of portability, usable but not overpowering effects, and most importantly GREAT SOUND, has made these amplifiers indispensable to me.

I am currently playing a number of different guitars through this set-up. My primary guitars are a Rick Turner Renaisance Nylon string, a Tradition SP1 Strat style guitar with stacked humbuckers (a wonderful guitar, please see my review on this also...) and a Cort Joe Beck hollowbody. I am using the 'BLACKFACE" model set to a clean but warm sound. I add delay ( and sometimes just a touch of chorus) to help acheive a nice stereo spread effect.

In a solo setting I play primarily fingerstyle jazz chord melody. In the duo setting we stretch out to more towards jazz improvisation and blues. I have always been very, very, pleased with the articulation that comes from these amplifiers, no matter what guitar is played through them.

No idea about the reliability. It's a Roland. You can get them just about everywhere. Plus they don't cost a lot!!! I always take two with me anyway so I don't worry too much. Plus jazz chord melody is not real brutal on an amp.

Never dealt with the company.

I have been playing for a long time, 30+ years. I have had coutless guitars over the years and still have over 20. I have also had (and stil have) many amplifiers... Mesa Boogie, Fender, Peavey, Carvin, Standel, Gallien Kruger, Silvertone, and Polytone. At this point in my life, and for this kind of music, these amps are my hands down favorites.

The best not practice amp money can buy!

30 watts solid state COSM modeling amp with a 10" speaker and a closed back, 2 channels, 4 effects (chorus, flanger, phaser and tremolo) with a separate Reverb/Delay knob, 3 band Eq., earphones Jack an "play along with CD's" input Jack.

Channel 1 is modeled after roland's JC clean amp.
Channel 2 offers several amp models wich include : Acoustic, Black Panel, Brit Combo, Tweed, Classic Stack, Metal Stack, R-fier Stack.

I'm currently using this with a yamaha RGX121D, an Ibanez RG170R and an Ibanez Artcore AF75 hollow guitar, all straight in to the amp. (notice that the pickups on all of this are not to hot)

The amp is very versatile soundwise, even though it doesn't have as many amp models as some other modeling amps do, the efects section is very limited and the efects are very basic sounding but the reverb and delay are just right (to my taste) since i only tend to use a little bit of them to ad depth and to avoid totaly dry sounds, I don't use the other efects as much (maybe a bit of chorus on the clean channel).

The modeling itself is fun to use and not as dull as some other modelers i heard, obviously it doesn't sound or react as real tubes should do but it's half way there since it does react to playing dynamics better than other solid state amps that i have tried (this is a personal taste thing though).

The one thing that impresed me when i first tried it is that it can get really loud at the lowest settings and it seems to handle loud volumes well without speaker distorting or farting out, this is a good thing especialy on the clean channel. (also good headroom for such a tiny amp)

all models have their "sweet" spot after a little bit of tweak, i tend to gravitate around midrange sounds rather than scooped (i dislike too much trebble for some reason)yet with this amp i play with EQ settings on all positions more then with other amps i have used, the EQ settings make a big difference from model to model, as if the models where voiced to react diferently to eq settings with each model. also the diference betwen single coils and humbuckers is quite dramatic, but in a good way (at least for me):

Acoustic - sounds better with the archtop to get a electroacustic kind of sound, however i don't use this setting as much since all acoustic models on every modeler i tried tend to sound flat and unimpresive.

Black Panel - i love this model, it doesn't get dirty as you turn the gain up, instead it just gets louder and it affects the warmth of the model a bit. with the mids set slightly behind the trbble knob i can get a very "snappy" sound when used with single coils without loosing low end. (great for blues)

Brit Combo - this one has the vox AC30 type of sound and it tends to sound good with a little bit of dirt (gain slightly pass half way), I'm not a very big fan of this sound but don't find it bad or useless, so i use it only if i'm in the mood, i do find it better with the Artcore than with the solid bodies.

Tweed - Another one i like, with the gain around 3.5, mids and trebble about 6.5 and bass at about 3 through single coils it sounds clean with an edge if i pick hard, again a very bluesy sound.

Classic Stack - this one is good for hendrix / srv / classic rock type of sounds that need only a small amount of gain (crunch)yet is very warm and it has good sustain, it has an enhanced midrange on the overall sound, so is best to roll the mid knob back a little for this one, it works great with both single coils and humbuckers.

Metal Stack - This is my favorite, great for hard rock or metal, it has a reasonable amount of gain without getting hissy or mudy, the eq setting for this one i tend to change depending on the mood (gain always on 10), i find this one to be great for soloing and rythm alike with both humbuckers and single coils , Very versatile, and it even cleans up a little bit when rollong back the guitar volume knob without a drop in volume.

R-fier Stack - this one is the tipical mesa rectifier sound, kind of trebbly if you ask me, but it gets a good metal sound rolling up the mids to 10 en the treble back to about 5, also helps if i lower the gain a bit, not bad but i find th "metal stack" better for metal.

Channel 1 - this one is an all around good neutral clean sound that sounds good for just about everything, it even likes pedals and overdrive/dirt boxes. O yeah this channel is GREAT f

Its solid and rigid and very well built, since i've only had it for a month and a half and i don't take it out, i figure that it will last, (Also modeling amps tend to be much like computers on their power requirements and benefit from surge protectors or voltage conditioners to avoid damage from power surges or irregularities in electric current).

its probably the most solid and straight forward practice amp. with a great versatility, great sound and most importantly FUN to play with, as it is so easy to use, much like a standard amp, no need to go trough patches or programs wich is a big plus for me at this time since i just want to plug and play. there is a lot of room for improvements in the effects section, i would have liked an effects loop for better versatility but at this price that is pushing it.

Amazing value, worth considering upgrading to a CUBE 60 in case it got lost or stolen.

Features already covered by other reviews. A line out (or even better a DI out) socket would be useful, but for the price, who's complaining? In any case, it is clearly an amp for practice, rehearsal or very small (folk-club, back bar of pub) venues. If you want to plug into the Live8 PA in Hyde Park and start rocking, you may need to open your wallet a little wider.

Great fun for home practice with humbuckers, single coils or even the piezo p/u on my acoustic. I'm sure the rectifier and 5150 models don't sound a lot like the real thing but they are very entertaining. The reverb is OK at moderate settings, the other digital effects ar fun to play with - the tremolo is actually quite usable if you get the setting right, but the phaser, flanger and chorus are all a bit vulgar (but fun to mess around with at home). Out in the real world of performance, the clean (JC) channel is fine for jazz and even for acoustic guitars, and the blackface, ac30 and bassman settings work well enough provided you keep the gain down a bit. I use it as a backup for a 500-quid 40w Class A all-tube amp and it just about cuts it - which it pretty darned impressive for a ?170 small square solid-state digital modelling box. I'm particularly taken with the depth and control of the bass. Maybe it's the closed-back cab, but for a 10" speaker, it is remarkably good.

It fell out of the back of the car onto he (brick) driveway after a gig. Plastic corner protector smashed - but it protected the corner so I suppose it did its job. The amp itself is still working absolutely fine. Rather impressive, really. Corner now protected with gaffer tape while I decide what to do long term...

Not used.

I've been playing for over 40 years, and hope to start improving soon. This is a super practice amp, and is also usable for small gigs, but don't expect to fill the Shea Stadium. If lost, stolen or strayed, I'd certainly buy another.

This is a follow up review now that I've had the amp for about 6 months. I still love this little amp and think it will be with me for sometime. For a practice amp (that what it is ..a practice amp ...see the headphone jack, kind of a give away right?) I think it's one of the best out there. The reason I'm writing this follow up is because I want to let potential buyers that play single coils know that there is a big difference between humbuckers and singles when playing thru this amp. I experienced this myself and it has been noted in guitar player magazines review of this product. See the link below to read this yourself. Since I no long own any guitars with single coils this really makes no difference to me but thought I'd share the info. Good luck, and remember it's only $225

http://www.guitarplayer.com/story.asp?sectioncode=6&storycode=4375

The JC is great with a little reverb, the Black face is nice and the Recifer is a lot of fun. The Reverb and delay are decsent the other effects are not so good but are fun to play around with. This amp is very quiet, not very much hiss. This thing can get fairly loud too, the speaker handles well at all volumes.

Rock Solid

Never used

Top 5 practice amps of all time

UPDATE!!

i forgot to mention the acoustic setting. this setting isn't meant to simulate an acoustic as much as it recreates the sound of an electric played through an acoustic amp. roll of on the gain and play from the middle switch and up....WOW!! sensational!!

the amp in a whole is very open and flat in response. the eq isn't as strong as i would like, however you can go from a mid heavy classic rock sound to a scooped out metal sound, all the way to a california crunch, to a bluesy vibe, a crisp jangle, a throaty gutsy overdrive....this amp covers all the bases.

another benefit....this AMP can handle ACOUSTIC GUITARS!!! due to it's flat response...play in the JC CLEAN setting, roll back the mids and set your mid parameter on your acoustic eq to 0. WOW...no feedback, no swelling...this amp is just amazing!!

although i still wish this amp had independent EQs....you can't have it all.

the effects...mehhhh, it seems to overwhelm the lead channel on a few of the high gain settings at quiet settings(volume set to 3). however this is all solved when you really open it up and let the amp really sing!

nothing but high praise for this amp, it's well worth the money and sounds better than anything in it's class.

i know some may say this amp sounds "good for the price"....WRONG, this amp truly does sound good regardless of price. the sound is strong, pronounced, and the COSM does an excellent job. this may be a modeling amp..but you can put the sound quality of the roland above line 6(i owned the axsys 212), marshall dfx, tech 21, behringer....etc. it truly is a fantastic amp!!

This is simply a GREAT amp! Great features as have already been discussed.

VERY great clean sound along with a tremendous gain as well. Can be overdriven and will not break up as do others in it's price range. The speaker is of the highest quality I have found in because I have A/B tested ALL of the amps in this price range.
Great for Blues, Classic and Country.

VERY dependable! Made of the highest quality from the cabinet to the speakers all the way down to each and every screw that holds it together. I know because I have taken it apart and inspected the quality.

I would not own one of these damned amps!
I don't see how a man can run a full service guitar amplifier company and put out a product like this!
How can a man do that. SIMPLY USELESS AND WORTHLESS.
You would not find one of these in my house!

See other reviews - covered 100 times already...

I am basically playing an old Les Paul copy at the moment which I would say is as good as an Epiphone but no way a substitute for a Gibson.

I play jazz, blues and rock, and this amp is fine for "bedroom guitar hero" versions of all three. A quick runs down of the amp sims:

JC Clean - gives a nice clean sound, good for jazz or turn up the treble and good for a bright "poppy" clean sound

Acoustic - sounds a bit like an acoustic while strumming but not while fingerpicking really

Black panel - nice for jazz, blues and a 50's chuck berry type sound on the bridge pup

Brit combo - gives a reasonable fuzzy 60's sound with the gain up but with the gain down no decent clean sound

Tweed - don't use this much. sort of OK sound for blues etc but the black panel is better

marshall stack - good rock sound for zeppelin, lenny kravitz, sabbath etc

peavey stack - 80's metal sound for all you iron maidens fans.

r'fier stack - metallica and beyond. more distortion than a burning church full of norweigian goths will ever need

To cut a long review short, plenty of sounds, tones and power for bedroom practice or a rehearsal room for an amateur band. Probably lacks enough power for anything but small informal rock gigs or less "aggressive" forms of music. If you miked it up thru a PA this wouldn't be an issue.

I should probably mention that the onboard effects are OK but not great but I hardly use them. Don't buy the amp for them alone - buy the individual stomp boxes for whatever you need.

This thing is very solidly built. I have had no problems with it and if you take care of it it will last decades. It could probably stand a lot more abuse than some other practice amps. Throw this and a Fender Frontman down a flight of stairs and I'll tell you which one will work afterwards (or probably anyway).

Never needed it.

This thing is basically a heavy plastic brick with "Roland" on the front. I like the ways it looks and it is way better than the Marshall MG30. The two aren't even in the same league. If you have to have "Marshall" on the front of your amp to feel happy then go ahead and get an MG30 but you are wasting money. Don't get me wrong, I would take a "proper" Marshall valve amp over this anytime, but this costs 20% of the price.

I paid 110 pounds (about 170 USD) for it on eBay and consider it a bargain. If it was nicked I would buy something more powerful as I would like to start gigging one day, but if I wanted something just for practice I would get this.

This doesn't get 10 out of 10 because
i) it would be nice if they threw in a footswitch instead of charging 30GBP ($50) for one (and you need two if you want one for the effects as well as the channels)

ii) The effects aint great (chorus=OK,phaser=OK, flanger=not enough scope to adjust frequency/depth,tremolo=as flanger, delay=as flanger and tremolo, reverb=quite good)

Features already well covered.

Well now, this is the point of this review. It's amazing how you can build up a rosy picture of some piece of gear by reading the reviews on Harmony Central, and then be disillusioned when you actually try it out.

On the strength of the glowing reviews here, I'd almost decided to buy one of these amps -- pending listening to one, of course.

I usually play through tube amps: a Laney LC-30 (like a Vox AC-30 plus an overdrive channel) and a peculiar old Ibanez tube amp with a Bassman-style circuit. However, tube amps are heavy and high-maintenance, and tend not to sound great at low volume. I was hoping that the Cube 30 would live up to its billing as a lightweight solid-state digital modelling amp that had finally come of age.

I'm by no means a tube snob: I'd far rather play solid-state if I could get the right sounds out of it. Lord, I've tried -- I've got a Pod and a GT-6 and they're cool, usable devices, provided you understand them, play to their strengths and tolerate their weaknesses.

And so off I went off to the local guitar shop to try out a Cube 30, taking two of my guitars -- a Fender Tele with Texas Specials and a stock Ibanez 540S. Spent about two hours in the soundproof room playing and tinkering with the knobs.

The clean channel wasn't bad. Amazing headroom for such a tiny amp, I must say. I haven't played through a JC-120 for decades so I can't comment on the similarities, but I can say that although the Cube 30's clean channel was clean and pleasant-sounding, it lacked character. Possibly this is why jazz players like this amp: a rather colourless clean amp with decent headroom seems to be what turns them on.

But the clean channel certainly didn't flatter my Telecaster. Tube tone is hellishly hard to describe, but a Tele going through a nice clean tube amp sounds like heaven (to me). The Cube sounded pleasant enough, but without any of the complexity that tubes and transformers impart.

Strangely, the clean channel sounded better with my pointy rock stick, the Ibanez 540S. Positions 2 and 4, which give a fairly credible quacky Strat sound, sounded excellent. The neck and bridge humbucker positions sounded as if they could be useful in a mix, too -- but again, the impression was of a rather lifeless, hi-fi-ish rendering of the natural tone of the guitar. Which is a good thing for some people, I'm sure.

So, clean, I'd give the Cube a cautious thumbs-up for those who want a certain kind of clean channel.

The distortions are another story. They are (to my ears) fizzy-sounding and unimpressive. For sure, they capture the sound of the modelled amps in a cartoonish sort of way, but they're no better than that and, bejeezuz, do they ever fizz. Can't hold a candle to the Pod. People have written here about how the Cube is capable of that tube holy grail, the "edge of breakup" sound. Well, it isn't. On the Blackface setting it can almost do a pastiche, but not a particularly convincing one. Again, nowhere near as good as the Pod or the GT-6 (which ain't particularly awesome in that department either).

In fact, I'd rate the distortions, on the whole, as unusable -- unusable by me, anyway. I actually thought the floor-model amp might be defective so I asked to try another one. It sounded the same.

For such a tiny amp -- it's really small -- it does produce a humungous amount of sound. The clean channel stays clean most of the way up, but the speaker (or something) starts to break up just before full volume. The amp isn't loud enough to keep up with a loud rock drummer, but is probably loud enough for a reasonably restrained and tasteful one.

I reckon the bigger Cube 60 must be the way to go if you intend to use the amp with a noisy band; unfortunately the shop was out of stock of 60s so I can't compare.

I do plan to go back to the shop armed with my GT-6 in the hope that a Cube's clean channel might do well as a basic amplifier for the GT-6 (one of whose standard output settings wants to see a JC-1

Not a clue. I've got various other bits of Roland stuff and it's never failed, so let's hope this one will live up to the corporate reputation.

No idea. Never needed Roland/Boss support, which goes to show how reliable the stuff tends to be.

Ok, time for the grand summation. My credentials: been playing rock, blues and pop for 25 years as an amateur, in and out of weekend-gigging bands. Have owned more gear of all kinds than I can remember. Like lots of us ageing chaps, I'm trying to carry less to gigs and practices, which is why I was looking at the Cube.

The Cube 30 is cheap. I suppose that enticing fact has coloured people's view of it. "Wow, look at all these sounds and functions for only $220!" And that's true.

Unfortunately, it also sounds cheap. Not quite as cheap as its cost, so in that sense it's good value. But I do hope beginners don't get the impression from the reviews here that the Cube is a miraculous device that renders tube amps (and better digital modellers for that matter) obsolete. Far from it.

What you get for your small outlay on the Cube is a nice-enough clean channel, some half-decent effects and some yucky distortions (with one or two almost-honourable exceptions, such as the Blackface and, oddly, the Rectifier, if you like that sort of thing).

I suppose the clean channel alone is worth the price. Jazz players, rejoice. Everyone else, buyer beware.

by now you already know

It sounds sweet and I love it. Here?s why. A.) You?re practicing at home and you have neighbors. The Cube is loud. Here?s where the output jack comes in handy. Run this thing through a decent home stereo (1/4 inch output to RCA input) with accurate speakers. It spreads out the sound more and gives you much more control over lower volume levels. It beats getting beamed by the main speaker from the Cube when you?re trying to jam at home ? I doubt you?ll mind the fact the main speaker switches off when you plug it in. Run a drum machine or whatever through the input jack of the Cube and you?ve got a sweet home practice rig. B.) It?s band practice time. Grab guitar. Grab Cube. You?re out the door with both in hand and your back isn?t about to snap. You?ve got your basic effects, amp modeling, and plenty of power right there in one hand. The Cube is tough ? don?t worry about him sliding around back there in your trunk. He?s just a little guy ? so when you?re rocking out ? do him a favor and set him on a chair so he can see everybody. You will be pleased. C.) You?re back home and want to record some stuff on your 4-track or whatever you have. Run this little guy directly into the recorder. There you go. Amp modeling?effects?a lot of basic but versatile stuff for laying down demos or ideas or whatever. And REMEMBER it only cost $225.

Solid, sturdy, made by Roland.

not yet needed

This is a great practice amp with Roland quality effects at the right price. I like the way it sounds and love its functionality - but if you?re looking for more ? look much deeper into your wallet and buy yourself a nice tube amp. There?s nothing better in between.

by now we all know the features....but is it too much to ask for a separate eq for the lead and a footswitch?!?!

i do love the closed cab design, it's compact size, the cord rounder in the back, and it's rugged look. the aux-in, recording out features are also nice...an excellent jam box.

most amps have a lot of wasted space and bulky size...roland did an excellent job of creating a compact cab where no space was wasted.

i don't care for modeling amps, however the roland cube 30 reminds me of the generic brands of cereal...taste like the real thing, smells like the real thing, resembles the real thing. by golly it must be.....wait a minute?!?

it takes on the most noticable qualities of the amps it models after, it did an exceptional job with the "jc clean" (jazz chorus), "black panel" (fender twin), and the "brit combo" (vox ac 30). these amp simulations have a nice jingle and sparkle to them with the abilty to get a touch dirty.

i really dislike the "tweed" (fender bassman) setting. i'm biased because i never cared for the real thing...so you can imagine i much i detest the modeled version. (just my opinion)

now onto the hi-gain amp simulations. the "classic stack" is their take on a marshall jmp, and it sounds fantastic, nice crunch, shimmering highs, and a nice fat midrange. the metal is a take on the "evh 5150"....now i am hard to please in this department because the there are somethings that a solid state amp just can't do....it doesn't respond the way tubes do...5150 is a very dynamic and responsive amp. now roland....they did their best with the compression and saturation aspect of that particular setting but as far as response....very hard to duplicate(they tried their best, and still is a great sounding distortion, especially for being a solid state). the "r-fier" mesa boogie....i never cared to much for rectifier amps...i like my mids scooped, but mehhhhh....it is functional and has it's place.

the effects channel is very nice, but be careful, it can overwhelm your lead channel amp simulators. the delay and reverb are nice as well. WE ALL WISH THE REVERB COULD BE DEEPER!!

for a 30 watt solid state, good luck finding a better sounding, affordable amp. this thing sounds very VERY good....i wish it had a separate eq for the lead channel GAHHHHH!!!, but oh well....job well done roland, a job well done!

the cab things to be constructed rather well...the closed back is a nice touch and the metal grill....well, it's more cosmetic than it is functional...but a very nice touch!!

because it is a modeling amp i worry about the reliability. but roland and boss both have been in the field for quite sometime, so i don't worry about the reliablity.

never have, never will....it's roland....which means a customer service rep, which means most likely, HORRIBLE support.

i've been playing for about 11 years and due to my living space(apartment)...it was pointless to have a tube amp that you couldn't turn past 2. i decided to get a smaller sized practice amp to better suit my current living arrangements.

i looked at the marshall avt series...however those proved to be overpriced and were lacking in features. the salesperson tried to push the crate combo amps on me....and crates are garbage. i stumbled across the roland cube 30 and fell in love with it.

i play a heavily customized 40th anniversary fender strat, coil tapped duncan 59 in the neck, wire tapped duncan distortion in the bridge, tbx controls and telecaster switching.

the roland cube 30 is an amp anyone can appreciate...it's well sized, suprisingly light, pumps out a VERY loud 30 watts. this amp sounds amazing...and not just for a 240 dollar amp, it sounds good in general. the effects channel is a nice touch, although hardly used....the reverb is decent for an amp in this class, and the clean...you'd be hardpressed to find a better clean tone in this class.

i wish it had a separate eq for the lead channel, however it's not so much a drawback considering the no-frills approach roland has to their amp design.

if you are looking for an affordable, well made, high quality sounding amp...do yourself a favor and check out this amp. if anything thing else...the amp is a blast to play!!

The amp is a 2005 model and the features are all described below.
The little thing has more than enough power for band practice and small gigs.
I must admit that I never showed any intrest in the Roland cubes, but as someone before me said, this must be a man thing.
Switch on the power plug in your guitar and the little bugger proofs that it is full of steroids.
The only thing I don't like is the footswitch that doesn't come standard is is way to expensive. I read somewhere that any switch wil do, so you can build them yourself.

Did I write a review a couple of weeks ago about my Marshall MG50 dfx wich I rated fairly good, after spending more time with that amp it just dawned on me that it was impossible to get the sound I wanted. It just kept sounding to hars.
So back to my music store where I told the guy that I would like to trade the Marshall in for A Line 6 Spider.
He advised me to take the cube 30 home with me for the weekend and give it a try.
It took me one hour to sort this thing out. The sound just blew me away. My strat sounded just the way it should sound (to me) and evrything was possible from warm Jazz to screaming metal.
Especcialy the Tweed, moddeled after the Fender Bassman is very much my cup of the. The slight crunch I like is veryu easily dialed in.
Looking at the price, this is the best sounding amp I ever heard.

No experience there but the cub shows no weak signs. The knobs and switches feel very solid.

Have not delt with Roland except through their website. Downloaded the manual but could not print it because it was protected. Silly thing to do.
The 10 I put here is for the support and advise of the guy in my local music store.

I've been playing for 30 years. I own a Tokai strat 1984 and A Epiphone les Paul Custom.
I compared the Cube with, of course, the Marshall MG50 DFX wich after all turned out to be very disapointing in the sound departement, the Line 6 spider, wich is still a great amp for the money, but sounds more "dull" in the lower gain settings compared to the Cube.
There's not much to hate about this amp and after all it is the sound that counts and that is love at first sight.

this is a 2005 model cube 30. i find it has the flexabilty to play all the music we currently play which is rock from the 70s to present.the features are covered pretty well in previous reveiws.it would be nice if roland would provide a single foot switch rather than the setup they recomend in the owners manual which is two switches and a special cable.i made my own foot switch using two momentary switches in a plastic box and a modifided stereo cable. it has plenty of output for the band situation i am in now, and i will be using it to gig with along with a cube 60.

i am using a standard strat. the amp does make a hissing noise that might be a problem for those using this amp to record with. it happens at the end of the notes. but i don't notice it when playing loud and live. i use the classic stack mode of the distortion channel with the volume and gain about 12 o'clock. i also find that this amp does it's best work in the band setting as apposed to playing alone in a room. i find that it has the stange ability to put alot of edge and attack on single notes and still have what i call a clear distortion when playing chords.

no problems during the past few months of abuse i have thrown at them

i am waiting for roland to make the owners manual available for the cube 60 on the web site as mine didn't come with one

i have been playing for 30 years and i traded all my other amps towards the purchase of these cubes. if my cube 30 was stolen i would immediatly replace it, but i will never let it out of my sight. i like the tone for such a small amp, the light weight, and the elimination of the need for stomp boxes for effects. i don't like the foot switch situation.[roland did such a good job on the rest of the package-a good foot switch should'nt be an option]

What can I say, this amp is packed with features. Two channels, tons of amp models, 3 band EQ, effects, what more could you want from a 30 watt? It even has a metal grill.

I use the cube with a Ibanez RG170, but I've also played it with a Squire, and a crappy one pick up Memphis that I bought for 5 bucks. Let me tell you, this amp sounded great through all three, even the Memphis. Is suits my style well, which is metal, but I do appreciate a good clean tone, this amp does both. And it does them well I might add, any sound you want you can achieve with this amp, within reason. The distortion gets plenty heavy thanks to the Metal and Rectifier amp models, my friend commented everything I played sounded like Death Metal when I was on rectifier with maximum gain. The JC clean channel was great, and the effects are pretty good, for built in effects. I think the acoustic model could have been better, but hey its not bad. Just keep in mind, this is not a tube amp, but it sounds great for what it is.

Havent had it too long, but it seems pretty reliable to me. It has a metal grill, so no worries there. Im not quite sure if its gig worthy, I havent cranked it too high yet, but it does get pretty loud from what I've heard.

Never had to deal with them, so thats a good thing.

I've been playing a little under a year, but I can hold my own. I wouldnt be too happy if it was stolen, but I would buy another if I could. This amp has all you need if your using it for practice, if your serious about gigging, you might want to go for the 60 just to be safe. But hey, I've never gigged with it, I imagine it could handle small gigs with no problems. Its hard not to notice the hype Line 6 is getting lately, I'm pretty damn sure this amp can out perform a Spider anyday. I do beleive this is one of the best solid states on the market, from what I've heard the Vox ADVT series is a great amp too, but the distortion does not get heavy enough, which is why I went with the Cube.

I don't want to waste your time.See the other reviews for the features.

All I can say is this amp sounds INCREDIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm a fanatic when it comes to tone so for me to rave about this amp it's gotta be special.It is!As far as I'm concerned,I have found the Holy Grail of studio/practise amps.I've always been a tube amp guy.I would never consider a solid state amp.It wasn't so much the clean channels I had the problem with.It was the distortion sounds.I always found tubes to produce a superior distortion.Well I have to say after owning this little baby that I've changed my mind.The technology that's out there is unbelievable.I must say that the distortion tones that come out of this puppy are tube like.It's crazy! It's awesome. I love this amp.Not only is the distortion awesome but so are the effects.And the reverb is better than my Fender Pro Reverb! You really have to listen to this amp to believe it.It's a TONE MACHINE!!!

This thing is built like a tank.I think if I dropped it from the roof of my house it wouldn't break.I'm so impressed with the quality of this amp.It's made to last.

I've never dealt with them.

I've been playing guitar for thirty years and I've owned a lot of amps.As I said realier,I've always preferred tubes over solid state,but this amp has set a new standard in practise/studio amps.For 200.00 YOU WILL NOT FIND A BETTER AMP in this class.To say that this is a great value is an understatement.If something happened to this amp I would defenitely get another one asap.Do yourself a favor...BUY THIS AMP!!!!

2004 Made in China by Roland Corp (Boss Pedals are made by the same Japanese company)
2 channels, etc. Other reviewers have already covered all this.

Footswitch:
My brother is a electronics geek and fashioned a footswitch for this amp ... and for other geeks out there, dont buy a footswitch. You can make one yourself. All you need is a stereo plug and a Push on-push off switch. Its very easy.

Not too many features... The ones that are there, are artificial sounding. At first, they sound very good. But as you keep playing, you are like ... ok ... anything else ?

I'm using a Ibanez RG350DX (white) through a home-made A/B box into the Amp. The Guitar has 2 Humbee's and 1 single coil. Anyway, I'm not here to talk about the guitar...

I love to play mostly metal and at first impression, this amp seemed very well suited for that. This was my first and last modelling amp. I think that modelling amps are good if you like one of the sounds they make and you just want to stick to tha. but if you want to mess with that sound, you are screwed.

I used only the metal and Rectifier settings on the amp. It was pretty good. But then I realised that even with full gain, the rectifier setting was weak when compared to my new crate glx30. Weak in the sense, there's enough treble but no midrange. Then, when I tweak the mid-range knob, the sound starts becoming very artificial. I cant explain it, but that's definitely not the sound I want. So, if you want good sounds from this amp, dont mess with the equalizer. Set everything to 5 (or the 12:00 position) and leave it at that. mess with your guitar tone controls if you want.

There is a delay, a reverb, but you cant use them both at the same time. The delay is weak. Chorus is excellent in clean sounds... Flanger is ok. Never used the tremolo.

The amp is very loud. The speaker is excellent. Its got nice clarity and reproduces every little sound. But, if you want to play inside an apartment, its too loud even with the level knob down to almost 0. Below that, the sound cuts off. I find that my Crate GLX30 (which is also 30 watts) is more flexible in this matter. I can have the amp playing at a very low volume and still sound good. My marshall MG10CD was very nice at that. I can lower the level all the way down and it would still play loud enough for you to be able to hear it and low enough for an apartment.

Steel face-plate. Knobs are shielded by amp body if something falls on the amp. Pretty good.
Its basically a Boss. Built like a tank and probably will last long too.

Never tried using the support

I've been playing for a little more than a year. This was my second amp. Its better than an Marshall MG10CD but not good when compared to a Crate GLX30.

Ibanez RG350DX (my oh my, what a beauty) -> A/B Switch box -> Crate Glx30
Ibanez RG350DX (my oh my, what a beauty) -> A/B Switch box -> Dunlop Wah > Crate GLX30

Love ? After using it for 5 months, Nothing! Hate, lack of versatility ! If it were lost or stolen, I would feel bad for a while, since I paid $200 for it. Then, I would go and buy a Marshall or crate amp. Its a good practice amp for the one who just wants to play the damn guitar and not worry about nitty bitty details. but if you are picky, then modelling amps are not for you. My experience with this amp suggests that this amp is not good for head-phone practise as it is for live performance. But, I cant comment much since I never used it live...
But anyway, beware of all the great reviews. Its not as good as all the reviews say.

Made in 2004. This amp is very versatile, and the prime reason that I chose this amp. I'm a hobby player who likes to play it all. Particularly like jazz, country, blues, and prog rock. This amp is versatile for those. I also jam with friends, and this amp is versatile to cover all the duties on pop songs. There are 2 channels, and you can switch from clean to COSM amps with footswitch, and also footswitch off the effects. headphone out, aux in. I like the closed back design. I extremely like the hooks that they added to wrap up the electrical cord, instead of having to stuff it in the handle like most close backed amps.

I have used this amp with two guitars. A shielded, otherwise stock 2004 MIM Standard Tele, and a Carvin Bolt-T Kit guitar with custom wiring and Dimarzio Air Norton neck and Tone Zone bridge. The amp is quiet for both guitars.

For the Tele, the amp is excellent on the JC-120 clean channel, and the Blackface and Tweed COSM amps. When turned all the way up, there is no breakup. The single coil through the overdrive COSM sounded too chimey and bright. The acoustic COSM model is actually really good with the Tele in the middle position and highs all up.

For the Carvin, this guitar and amp combo is sweet. The neck gives great jazz tones on the clean channel, and on the COSM overdrives sound great. The split buckers single coil sounds also are awesome.
The acoustic model did not sound as good as the Tele, as it picked up some bridge noise from the Wilkinson trem. (jangly)

5 - Tone for the Tele (maybe its just the guitar pickups), only half of the amp is useful.. the clean stuff.
9.8 - Tone on the Carvin dual Dimarzio. Every feature of the amp is good.

Deppendable for home and jamming use. If I could gig, I would and mic it, or pull the aux out to the board.

Have not dealt with Roland.

If stolen, I'd buy another one.
I compared to Fender Champion DSP, Marshall AVT 20, Vox ADVT30, my homemade AX84 P1 class A tube amp.
Compared to Marshall, the Roland has better clean tones, and with the COSM, the overdrives are more flexible.
The Fender had great clean that was better for the Tele, but I am happier with the clean on the Roland for my Carvin. The Fender was less flexible, why I chose the Roland.
I liked the Roland over the Vox because the sounds on the Roland were warmer at low volumes. I tried to check out the power knob on the Vox to drive the Valvetronix circuit as I read on the FenderForum, but it did not make a difference really and it was confusing because the master volume made more difference. The Roland was easier than the vox to get excellent cleans and overdrives.

Well, nearly 10 here! Firstly, 4 modulation effects, flanger and tremolo sound how they should, chorus may be weak, and phaser... Well, not all guitarists need phasers. Also, reverb and delay. All 6 FX are digital, and, even since some guitarists run away from digital FX, I really like the digital reverb. Delay is good for leads, although it will mud any rythm riff you have in mind (oversoing the reverb will do the same, like 1/5 is good for some depth).

Secondly, amp models. JC 120 model ("JC Clean" channel) is just clean, no breakup all the way to 10(I use J&D strat copy with S-S-H config and ash as the deck wood, it sounds low-middy and bassy, not too much treble), good for Jazz, especially if you use 2 and set some Chorus on both at different levels. "Lead" features 7 different amp models, from the orignal "Acoustic" amplifier and Fender Twin Reverb (my personal favourite) to Marshall JMP1987 and MESA/Boogie Rectifier stack.

Why 9 instead of 10? It's closed back. Read and you'll understand.

JC Clean is good, but kinda not as loud as the "Lead" channel models (even clean ones). It also lacks in presence and drowns out much, but maybe pushing mids up will cure this. As For the "Lead"... I mostly play metal, and "Metal Stack", the Peavey 5150 model, is VERY boxy sounding, too much mids and bass, much like zero clarity, even with bass and mids at 0 and treble at 10. "R-Fier" can be tweaked much better, but still it is pretty hard to scoop the mids to get that At The Gates sound, as well as any death/black metal band out there. There are 2 solutions - to open up the back, although I don't think that's a good idea, or get a better guitar with some sparkle (in fact, my guitar costs 200$ and it SUCKS. Especially the pickups. They are really low output and I don't get enough gain even with setting it on 10. Have some sympathy.). With it's present form, I can get some Pro-Pain sound, and most of the hardcore bands out there. With a hot pickup, I believe, you can model up Dimebag Darrell (R.I.P.) tone no problem. I really think that the clarity could be better. The best of the amp is its precious "Black Panel", which is just great... No breakups, even with the gain at 10, I believe that using a noisegate with some good distortion pedal will make this amp scream some mod-scooped sounds like At The Gates and all. Really. (I know what I'm talking about. I hooked up a Digitech RP100 at some shop, and got some good mid-scooped studio-like distortions, but it had me to drop Treble past 5, so I believe it's just Roland's desision to make the sound more middy-bassy on the COSM module by itself) I think that other models can be good, If I'll spend some time EQing them (And I understand that Brit Combo must be bassy anyway, as it's VOX AC30, it's good for what is bassy, esp. some Pink Floyd). Actually, when I use Marshall JMP1987 model I can get some nice classic rock sounds, and with the gain at 0, sounds EXACTLY like the clean guitar on the first Taproot Album. EXACTLY. And it's good at reacting to dynamics, better than those solid state Crates and Marshalls, although I know that tube amps will react better. Also, this thing is like 40 solid state watts actually, although it's rated for 30.

7 because of the charming "Black Panel" model and pretty good Pro-Pain tones.

I also don't think it colors the sound of the guitar that much. It only sweetens your tone a bit on the "Lead" channel, and good amps sweeten up your tone too. That's why they're called GOOD amps.

10, especially compared to Behringer which are 1, they break like a pilehouse.

1 year warranty for "Let's Rock!" e-shop. Amazingly, but e-shops treat their customers better than the regular ones (at least here in Russia. And I can give examples).

Well, it's good for low-watt gigs and rehearsals, too loud for my room (5 on the "Lead" channel will break all the windows and kill my cat... It's not toneful enough at like 1/3-1/4 of the volume, although at 1/3 you get a good tone, but for that I take it to the hall, as it's bigger, and still my eardrums nearly bleed after an hour of playing). You can mike it into some PAs for bigger gigs and rehearsals. Also miking is good for recording some cool clean or light overdrive, sweet sounds.

Overall, if you need and amp and you want to use it's built-in distortion for metal, maybe it's not the choice. If you have a distortion pedal that you really like and use, or play clean music, be it Jazz, Blues and Rock, go and get one! They're great in general!

7 here, Because I wanted some really cool built-in high-gain tones, but what the hell...

Lots of different sounds, some unecessary (never been a fan of chorus), but great value for money, earphone jack is handy (but in my opinion the amp sounds much better thru it's speaker) for quiet practicing. Reason for point docking is the recurring complaint - the channel switching foot switch, at around #30 a go, and the fact you need to buy 2, plus a split lead etc. is just down right cheeky - are you telling me the people who came up with such a great sounding amp couldn't have come up with some easier and cheaper option? Come on.
...oh it does have a nice long power lead as well!

I play in a band who specialise in a kind of psychedelic/country/garage mish-mash, and after witnessing the umpteenth sound engineer at yet another 400-600 capacity sized club telling the other two guitarists to turn their 15w, yes 15 watt Marshall and Vox Pathfinder (another great little amp) down because "there's no point in micing it if you're gonna have it that loud", I decided I was fed up with carting 3 stones of Peavey around with me (and after 12 years I never really managed to find a clean or dirty sound that I really liked). I checked out this site and noted the Cube 30, and I concurr with everything everyone has said. I INSTANTLY found a nice warm, but bright clean sound for those Roger McGuinn type picking tunes, my lap-steel also sounded great. It took me a little while longer for the dirty stuff, but have settled on the Tweed (Bassman)one which provides me with enough filth for the more garagey end of things.
I used to have (sob!) a 60's Marshall JTM 45 head, and the way the Cube responded to the tone controls immediatley reminded me of it - they added noticebly colour without jumping all over the sound.

Having had a go on a new Vox equivilant to this, there is no competion, - that sounded digital to me, this, while not a valve amp (see the price and weight) provided a vast array of sounds that I actually like and can use.
Yes, it is also loud - at rehearsals I've not had it over about 6.5 - the reason my band like small amps is that we like the sound of speakers being driven, what's the point of having 200 watts of valve amp that you're having to run on 2, push the little devils!!!!

Had it a year, no problems at all. A friend of mine is a guitar tech., and one of the bands he used to work for had one of these for a back-up/studio amp, one day it fell down a large flight of stairs, he plugged it in - still worked fine, nuff said.

Not yet had to find out, general concensus from these reviews is that I won't have to.

I wanted a small but loud enough amp, with great varied sounds for both studio work and live stuff. I wanted a 10" speaker, and switchable clean/dirty channels. Got it all, and if I ever need more volume, which I doubt I will at the moment - even 200 capacity places seem to mic everything up these days, I'll probably just buy another one and run them in tandam.
All of my guitars - Tele, '70's Ibanez, '70's Yamaha Superflighter, and my '60's Selmer lap-steel sound great thru it, handles country, rock, pysche, folk etc etc. - I love it (ugly little bleeder though!)

Read all the preceeding reviews for more technical observations.

I got this amp brand new for x-mas.

It has so many different sounds and effects to choose from i couldnt be happier. I dont know how to use all the features but the selection is a 10

For the price I Paid the sound is awsome. I compared it to other amps in the same price range and this one was the best. It sounds great and has plenty of effects to change the sound. The distortion is good enough for metal and the clean plays great. I havent figured out how to get a smooth jazzy tone but i`m inexpierenced

Its brand new and everything works like a charm. Its built real solid, and judging by other people its pretty reliable

I`ve never dealt with the company but i would trust them becasue they make high quallity products

I have been playing electric for a couple weeks and acoustic for a month.
If it got stolen i woud gett he exact same amp. I havent found a thing to dislike about it and I highly recomend it. I was playing an Ibanez Destoyer through it, if it means anything.

I just want to say that its the best amp In its price range by far.

An honarable recomendation is the Hughes&Kekner blue-30 I think thats what it is

already noted

i use 2 in stereo, i put a speaker out on one, i run it thru a 2-12 slant cab with vintage 30's i put it on blackface for clean-- and then-- and i mean holy shit i use a radial tone bone hot british, and i put an aphex guitar x-citer before it-- tweak it right, and you'll think your playin thru the best stereo marshall setup you've ever heard!! i use a boss od-3 and a super shifter for a awsome chorus, set on detune-- trust me ya'll this set up is loud, that tone bone cranks!! think "rock the nation" only better! its all in your fingers after that , my friends!! the cube 30 is a great , light very portable and a working gigging amp,i use 2, 30-30 stereo-- they kick boys and girls!!

built like bricks, drop dead reliable! i also own a roland bc-60 blues cube that totally cranks, i put a v-30 in that bitch, man i wish i could invite all you to my house so i could prove all the stuff i'm talking about!! i'm 48 and have been a pro for years, i ley my fingers do the talkin!!

never had to!

as i say i am a guitarist that has been playin since "inna gadda divida" was on the radio, i've done countless independent recordings, i have a g@l asat semi classic, a reverend slingshot custom, a 91 les paul standard with a 59'er in the neck and a duncan custom custom in the bridge, i like small amps, but ive owned tons of marshalls and laneys peavey, ampeg--- dang way too many!!, tube amps i have an orange ad-15-- a 64 skylark ga-5t, and man i want a reverend goblin!!read up on that amp, it will work for me!! hope this helps you all, too all of you pickers good luck, stay safe, tip your barmaids, and keep rockin!!

Don't know when it was made. Extremely versatile. I use it for recording and practice. By now you know all the features. I wish it had external speaker out so I could hook my Vintage 30 cab to it for more volume.

I use an American Series strat with this and it sounds awesome. I am not 12 years old using a toy, I am a tube geek that needs a portable amp. The acoustic amp model is the best I have ever heard. On any amp or any effects box. I own them all - Line 6, Behringer V-amp, Pod, Vox ToneLab, and a few Korgs. I wont even mention Zoom and Digitech. This amp nails the sounds of the amps modeled also, but with understandably less volume and bass, due to the size of the speaker and box. I have to laugh when people like me try to compare a $2000 Mesa to a transistor circuit on this tiny little cube. It does an outstanding job of mimicking the great tube amps of the past. The effects are not as bad as everyone here says either. They are there just to take away the dryness, so don't expect stomp-box sounds from a patch a circuit board. It is extemely quiet even on the acoustic setting with treble on 10. Clean channel does not break up all the way to 10 on JC model. Distortions sound better than people here say they do. I know because I own 3 Marshall tube amps and have played through a 59 bassman to know what they sound like. Not to sure about the botique amps, never used them, but have heard them.

Twoyears now. So far, so good.

Never needed them.

I have played for 20 years now and am a Certified Tube Geezer. I own several Marshalls, and a Fender, all tube except for this cute little gem. My wife thinks it's cute, so it must be. If some one stole this one, I'd offer to but it back from him, and long as he didn't hurt it. I wish it had ext speaker out jack, maybe a depth/speed control for effects, but the fact that you can use 3 effects at once is cool. I had Behringer Vampire, and it sucked. Line 6 spider, a shallow, kid-rock toy, and even a Vox Valvetronix. Can't say anything bad about the Vox, it just quite on me. Keep your stomp boxes. I love the way this thing will fit in my glove box in my car. I traded my 1952 Telecaster (Once owned by Kieth Richards), a 1954 Strat (once owned by Buddy Holly), and a 1968 Strat owned by Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton, along with two 1966 Marshall Plexi's to get this amp.

2002 model - all the usual suspects, amp models, EFX, delay/reverb, EQ etc, etc.
Amp used to practice, jam play very small venues.
A loud little solid state 30 watt-er.
Wish it had a speaker out so I could try it with a 2X12 box.

Used with standard 3 single coil MIA strat, Maton JB6 solid body electric with DiMarzio buckers, Maton semi-acoustic (mini-buckers). Used to play everything some clean jazz - mainly blues/rock/punk - some metal thrash. Handles everything I've ever tried to play.
This amp is quiet even at high volume you just get sound with little extraneous noise.
I just love the range of sounds you can get out of this thing - just set it up for how your feeling (musically) and play.
Clean channel stays clean to the max. Distortion is what you want it to be crunch to mean with feedback. All the settings sound good at most volume settings - I mean turn it down really low (below 4) and yes you lose some dynamic, but what do you expect.
Even the acoustic simulator is passable (just).

Had it for 2 years and its had serious use (at least 2-3 hours a day, been tripped over and tipped over and nothing has broken.
Very reliable indeed.

Had a year warranty - but never had to use it. Roland are reputedly good to deal with in New Zealand.

I've been playing electric for about 3 years, I've tried other amps including tube amps and this rates up there with them all - in fact better than most. When I bought this I tried out Line 6, Zoom, bigger Rolands and other modelling amps - to my ears, none came close.

I've been using this amp for over 2 years and still just love it to death. Other players have tried it and have all been really impressed (gob-smacked when you tell them the price). If it were stolen I would cry (lots), seek revenge (of the most nasty type), try out a cube 60 (could be really good)and probably buy 2 cube 30's and a Y splitter box.
This amp helped me develop my playing ability HEAPS. It was easy to get really good sounds out of it and as I improved I could hear the changes. I would really reccommend this amp to any new players out there - don't buy some cheap arse little buzz box, they'll either put you off playing or you'll lose money as you try and hock it off to some other poor bastard.

Break the chain be a tone hound aaaaaarroooooooo!!!!!!!!

(2) Roland Cube 30 2003's.....I really like these amps ...I had one Roland cube 30 and decided to purchase another one for a bi-amping set up. One Roland cube 30 is perfect for a small jazz combo gig if the drummer is moderate in volume. I really like the sound when I upgraded the power/punch and bi-amp for gigs in a larger room or band. I wish that the amp had a direct out that won't cut off the speaker like the headphone output. I use these amps for jazz gigs with my archtop and nylon string acoustic. The archtop's sound great and nylon string sounds ok; but you might want a external unit with a notch filter to reduce the attack from the nylon strings. However, that's a condition from the piezo pick-up. The overall features are incredible...the effects are top notch and the power for a 19 lbs. amp is something to believe. Also, there must be a decent speaker because this amp has alot of low end response. My les paul sounds very accurate in this amp. I must say that the COSM channels have their own gain and volume so you can fine tune the saturation on the "modeling amps". Thier is a footswitch option that allows you to switch channels. I had a footswitch built. The one thing that perplexes me is the diagram on the amp about the footswitch show , a tip , ring and sleve (2 rings on the jack output like stereo) however, I can only get the channels to switch, not change the effects like the diagram suggests. So, I might have to research to see if the effects can engage and dis-engage with the footswitch. However, the amp features are very incredible for the price. I think 2 Roland cube 30's (or 60's) sound better than Jazz Chorus 120 when you use the chorus effects onboard the amp. The cubes have more presence and bottom end that the "transparant" sound of the jazz chorus amps. If your playing a archtop or a les pual you want the bottom end to come out of the amp.

I've used many different guitars in these amps, everyone sounds as it should; the amp is very accurate. There almost isn't any color from the amp, it's all the guitar tone. If you are a guitarist that want's to have every available guitar tone , then this amp is perfect. Like those wedding jobs you have sound like a jazz player to heavy metal or hard rock , this amp can do the job. The amps are really clean and quiet. When the amp is loud the sound doesn't break up and distort, very effecient loudness. The COSM modeling effects let you decide what kind of distortion you desire , by the amp style. I will say I've A/B'ed the fender twin sound with a real twin and it's very , very close, only the fact the real fender is 100 watts and has 2 12" speakers is the main difference; the tone is virtually identical. The other effects are chosen by selecting the knobs; great HQ Boss effects. If you had a good sound tech and PA with good monitors , you could mic one of these amps for even a large engagement!

The studio would be a great place to use these amps , you can get the sound pressure at a low volume by either using the COSM modeling with the gain and volume. This amp really does sound like a marshall full stack. I'm sure that if you used a good mic and set the amp with the gain, you could the "brink of feedback" tone with out really cranking the amp way up. Also, you could use the COSM modeling on the twin setting and mic it for the correct sound pressure and you will achieve a nice sound in the studio. I recently went to a leading recording studio with the roland cube 30's and the engineers were so impressed that they were thinking of aquiring one of the roland cube amps for the studio. I never really believed in the modeling aspects of amps , but for recording it truely is scary on the realism, especially if you mic it. I don't think running guitars works well in the studio production by direct means. I think the dynamics get a little flat when guitars are run direct for studio recording. This amp is full of "good" surprises!

The greatest aspect of these amps is; I've never seen a amp that sounds great and accurate no matter what type of guitar , or single and/or humbucking. Every guitar I plug into the amp wheather my strat, les paul, 12 string, acoustics with b-bands or fishmans, sounds EXACTLY like the guitar. I don't many amps that function that way, many amps respond to the type of pickup on the guitar. For example, my polytone doesn't sound good with my strat, but it does with archtops and les puals. These rolands don't color the guitar's sound, the guitar sounds natural, if your guitar sounds good , the amp will sound good, if you guitar doesn't ; then the amp won't either. Also, I find the circutry in the amp to very warm for transistor amp. I think the non-COSM channel sounds the best , tone wise, very clean , and very flat; but not as flat as other transistor amps.

The amp seems to be pretty solid...of course , it isn't a twin reverb; but at 19 lbs. it's very compact and easy to carry. I'm having a pro road case custom built for travel for 2 Roland Cube 30's. I like to bi-amp , but I can also get away with using one in case one fails to work; especially if there is a good sound tech on the PA. I plan to tour the states and europe; I think these amps will do fine and be very reliable and flexible for jazz.

Roland customer service is one of the best in the biz. They know their products and can explain almost anything on the phone. I've never had to ship any products back to them for repair; however, I'm sure they could fix it correctly and effeciently. I don't know about the warranty since I bought both cube 30's used.

I'm a professional guitarist so I'm using these amps for professinoal purposes. I wanted a amp that is flat and won't really color the sound, the roland cube 30 is great becuase it's allows the true sound of the guitar. I wanted to purchase a Acoustic Image clarus 1R, but for alot of less money I think I've got a better tone and presence by bi-amping two roland cube 30's. The decision of bi-amping always gives me the option of just using one, especially if I'm on the road and one amp fails. What do you do , when your rig want work 5 min before the curtain? The sound of 2 of these rolands bi-amped is something truely to hear , the tone and most importantly the presence is great! I also like the option of using the amps for small rock and roll jobs in small rooms, these amps have the ability to do that as well. If you use a foot switch you can change channels to the distortion channels; however, you have to be using the clean sound on the primary channel, not the COSM channel with the amp modeling. Every person that's heard these amps when I play say they sound great; some of these folks are even picky guitarists that fancy their sounds , but all them have shaken their head , and said , "man, that little amp does sound good"

see other post for specifics... I'm giving it an 8 here because this amp will only do either reverb or delay and not both simultaneous, because both effects are on a single control.

a tuner and the ability to recall a few (6-10?) presets would be just perfect on this amp. maybe next time... eh Roland?

giving it the highest rating here because once you figure out how this amp works, you will find out that it will cover every tone need that you have for working in small rooms or recording conditions.

the JC120 has a lot (A LOT!) of headroom for the clean work and will work with either solid body (1991 G&L ASAT w/ G&L P-90 type pups) or (surprise, surprise) acoustic guitars (1980 YAIRI WH-50 w/ Fishman Rare Earth blender pup) very well. pull the mids back for the acoustic work. it has a very fat clean tube feel to it and will not distort. i am sure i will use this side of the amp the most.

here's the trick on this amp... when using the "modeled" JC-120/ brit combo/ classic stack/ metal/ r-fier set the tone controls al the way back to 0 (zero) and build up from there. when using the "modeled" black panel/ or tweed, the tone controls also emulate the actual amps so treat them as you would the actual amps... e.g. if tone is set to zero the volume will be zero (you older guys will know what to do here). i don't use the "modeled" acoustic at all... i use my acoustic guitar for that, but i am sure with some tweaking it works fine with a solid body guitar...?

the lead side of the amp provides "feel"... pick lightly and the amp responds accordingly. bear down and it will overdrive... like the real thing. the subtle differences between this amp and a real tube amp are not up for discussion here. i say this because, with a good modeling amp in real world playing, at some point this discussion becomes irrelevant. once you understand, you can get this puppy to really perform.

all of the effects are limited, but clean, simple and very usable. on this amp a little bit goes a long ways. i wished the amp had separate reverb and delay (deducted for that above).

for what this amp is designed to do... it is about as perfect and simple as it gets for @ $200 new. i really loved my Tech 21 Trademark 10... but its a gonner now.

been using a GT-6 for years for playing live with my tube amp (Music Man 112/65) and have several Boss pedals... so I know that Roland builds their stuff for real world use.

never needed it... but my local Roland distributor (Guitars ETC, Havelock NC), whom I've supported for over a decade now says that Roland/Boss supports him very well... so I'll give them a 10 here based solely on his word.

been playing since i was 9 years old... am now 49. lots of gear over the years. lots of reviews of that gear here on H-C.

while at first the modeling thing was a bit of a stretch to us old timers... but i kept an open mind that it would get better (and it is). when i find a product like this, i am very happy with what technology is bringing me (us) to make playing easier and more fun.

value wise this amp is easily a 10+.

at this time... if it were lost/stolen I'd go get another one immediately. but in a year from now i am sure I'd be looking around to see what else has cropped up on the market. that's just the way it is in this digital age.

for all of you tube tone snobs out there, i tend to want to apologize for all of the 10's here... but i can't, because the $200 Cube 30 really is a 10. i can easily imagine any big time pro with one of these in his/her living room or bedroom practicing or creating.

I bought this on Ebay in Germany. I guess it's about 3 years old and in good condition (was never used outside of a living room). I play this thing in JC-120 Simulation mostly, using a Boss GT5 effects pedal and sometimes switching over to one of the amp sim lead channels for a solo boost if necessary. I could also use this without the GT5 if that should die on the road somewhere as it has some cool effects of its own on board. I use this amp mostly when I travel to play internationally because IT FITS INTO A REGULAR SUITCASE!!! Try that with a Mesa Boogie! We don't have roadies yet so this thing is my spine's rescue out there on the road. It is loud like a barking dog at close range, as yet I haven't been able to stand the volume over about half way.

I play a www.rockinger.com fat strat copy that I built myself from parts with Duncan pickups. We do christian rock from sweet to heavy, and this little brute covers the ground. It's very clean, low noise and able to produce anything from JC clean to metal burnout using the Roland COSM simulations. This is much more than a practice amp in my view.

This amp is built solid as a rock with hefty corner construction and a metal grill. I trust it to the airlines in my suitcase and would expect the suitcase to collapse long before the amp. If it should die or go missing out there I'd just plug in my GT5 direct to the mixer board. I'm really just using this as a miked monitor speaker.

Roland/Boss have sold me gear which I have never had to repair so it's hard to comment on service! Nice when you don't need it, end of story.

I like this brute a lot as it's compact, loud and clean. I guess the 12" speaker Cube 60 may sound rounder but the 10" speaker is also very good. I would replace this if it went missing. I used to have a Fender Frontman which had a noise problem, the Cube is much better. An extra line out for the mixing board would have been a nice extra (there is only 1 phones/lineout socket).

NOT SURE WHAT YEAR IT WAS MADE,IT HAS Two-channel operation (Clean/Lead) with footswitch control of channels and EFX section,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,Independent Delay/Reverb processor,Recording/Headphone output for silent practice and recording,Auxiliary input for connecting CD players, drum machines, etc.THIS IS PRIMARLY MTY PRACTICE AMP TAHT I BRING OVER FRIENDS HOUSE TO JAM WITH OUT HAVING TO BRING ALOT OF GEAR BUT STILL HAVETHE DIVERSITY OF TONES AND POWER PLUS ITS LIGHT

I USETWO GUITARS WITH IT FENDER 50TH ANNIVER STRAT A ND RG2570 BOTH PERFORM VERY ALL AMP MODELS AND EFFECTS ARE HIGHLY USABLE,MY FAVE ARE JC CLEAN ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL TONE,ACOUSTIC,AND RECTIFER,ITS LIKE HAVING THE BOSS GT6 MAIN PATCHES IN A AMP AND ONLY THE USEFUL EFFECTS IE FLANGE,PHASER,TREMLO,DELAY.REVERB NOT ALL THAT OTHER UNUSABLE EFFECTS,AND THIS THING IS LOUD!!!!!!!FOR A 30 WATT

ITS A ROLAND.NOT WORRIED ABOUT IT...

NA

IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR A GREAT HOME AMP THAT HAS POWER VERSALITY AND QUALITY TONE AMD IS INEXPENSIVE THIS IS YOUR AMP,I LOOKED AT LINE6 SPIDER TO PROCESSED OUT OF ALL THE COMPANYS OUT THERE ROLAND/BOSS HAVE COME THE CLOSES TO THE REAL THING WITH THESE DIGITIAL EFFECTS OTHER COMPANYS PRODUCTS SOUND WAY TO DIGITIAL.PROCESSED

Compact 1 x 10 combo with amp modelling and digital effects. Tremendous package for little money. Portable and powerful.

I'll use an illustration to tell you just how good this little beauty is. Last month's Guitarist magazine published the tab for War Pigs by Black Sabbath. Using the Roland and his Jackson DX30 (and a bit of know how - he's a good guitarist) he reproduced that beautiful Tony Iommi tone no proble. You just couldn't tell the difference. And you can play, jazz, blues, you name it. A real top piece of kit.

Invincible, will last for ever, will never gather dust either. You won't put it down.

You'll never need it.

There is no amp in this class that comes anywhere near the Roland Cube 30. Got 10 out of 10 in What Guitar magazine, and they weren't lying.

This is an update from my previous review. I have owned this amp for 6 Months and still really like it.

The only setting that makes this amp like a modeled amp reather than just a tinny solidstate practice amp is to set the eq as
Bass 2
mid 6 or 7
trble 2

I love the sounds but this amp is not useable at a loud gig. The jc clean channel, evam at full volume, gets drowned out amd disapears.
However I dont understand is why the Blackpanel sim is loud enough to play with a full rock band and still is very clean sounding?? I love the delay, the reverb still sucks unless at a low setting.

It has been moved around alot and still shows no sighn of wear.

the sound that come from this amp are great and as a nieghbor friendly practice amp there is nothing better at this price. All this in a small amp that is a fetherwieght 20 lbs.

One gripe: The recording/headphones out feature is clearly designed for teenager-in-the-bedroom-learning-guitar-on-a-school-night utility. This amp makes so much sense as direct-to-board + its own monitor, I almost can't wrap my brain around why they made the line out switch the speaker off. Someday when I'm feeling ambitious I'll see if I can figure out how to split the signal at some point and mount a transformer and XLR jack from a decent, cheap, passive DI.

The footswitch issue is simply asinine. First of all, if Roland wanted to, they could make a usable switch for peanuts. This is very low-fi application; all the switch has to do is break a circuit - your very first toy breadboard project - make the light go on and off! Roland makes a single momentary switch for keyboards (looks like a square hockey puck) on which they make a good margin at $10 (you can use this just to switch between JC and the other channel, btw, or a male 1/4" stereo to two female mono cable and two of these pedals). I guess they found a way to market their $50+ Boss FS-6. Looking around the internet, I was surprised to find that the *type* of footswitch is almost never published for a dual footswitch on a TRS connector. I guess they must all be simple latching pushbutton switches. The two I found that would both fit the bill and be cheaper than the Boss unit looked like total POS. I am seriously thinking about rounding up the parts from Mouser and selling a few rugged, low-cost switches on eBay for the Cube 30. Seems like a serious market void here. Who's gonna spend $60 (after tax/shipping) on a footswitch for a $225 amp?!

And delay would have been a more sensible thing to put on a footswitch. In my experience - playing and listening - chorus is usually either on or off for whole songs/cues.

Okay, having finished the tirade, I will say that the features feel really well designed to me. Everything is so easy to use. The consort of features as a whole seems to have a good, conscious design, not just a list of features - real art of engineering stuff...

Seems like it's rare for a company making digital products to understand what its product is best used for - like nobody who works there actually plays music. The Cube 30 is a refreshing break from that trend. They didn't name it The Little Tone Dripper or The Boutique Killer; it's a Cube - you do your thing then throw it in the trunk. Overall great job.

Great for what it is. For digital I find that people get the most excited about digitally-produced sound when I go from a cheap Digitech floor unit into the front of a decent bass rig with a 1x12 enclosure. I think the Cube 30 could benefit from a more robust speaker and power amp, but that would probably move it far away from this price range.

It is responsive to guitar volume changes and its own EQ, which is encouraging - feels more like a real guitar amp than the few solid state amps I've tried.

The sounds cover what they are supposed to. I mean it totally does the trick playing in a pit orchestra or a church where you need get the gesture across. But I'm not passionate about these sounds or anything. They are usable and extremely flexible. Blackface setting with higher gain is the best thick clean solo sound I've heard from digital.

The effects all seem especially good. Biggest gripe about effects is the tremolo - if the rate parameter is hard-wired, why not put it in a more middle-of-the-road range?

It is loud enough for me. A 12" speaker would give it more authority, but is has no problem being heard anywhere I've used it so far.

I get a kind of weird feeling playing my #1 strat thru it. It is a strat with *lots* of sparkle. That same hi-end effervescence that blooms so beautifully in my other amps just feels kinda strange thru this amp. Easy enough to fix - I just roll off the tone.

I have this amp because I originally got a Micro Cube for a specific application, but I had problems with its speaker. The store took it back and traded up for this. So I guess that's the best you can do - make it right when something goes wrong.

It is as good as I've seen for what it is. I don't know where the idea of a "practice" amp comes from; I practice with the same amps I play. I will continue to practice on a knockoff of a tweed harvard and my hacked mesa lo-watt-faux-dumble. To me this amp is perfect for taking to a low-key gig where (1)you might need a range of sounds (2)you want to get in and out quickly w/o setup, or (3)you just don't want to worry about gear at all.

I'll try the 60w, 12" speaker version if I ever see one in a store, but I doubt it would offer anything extra for me.

I guess this is the perfect modeling amp, because it's giggable and covers you for stuff where versatility is needed, but it's not in that price range (like Line6 stuff I've seen at stores) that seems to get all the issues jumbled. If you want the best quality modeled sound, plug a cheap modeling preamp into a high quality general purpose system like a PA or bass amp. If you want sensible value, portability, utility - something you just flat out don't worry about - the Cube 30 is it.

The features I find the most appealing are the eight amp-models and six onboard guitar effects.

Roland didn't add an extension speaker jack to this model.

This little monster offers ncredible sound possibilities. The Clean channel is rich and full. The lead channel offers a full spectrum of tone variations from a Fender Twin Reverb to a Marshall Stack.

For playing my favorite lead solo, I use the R-FIER STACK amp model blended with Delay. WOW! I never thought it was possible to get such huge tone from such a small amp.

The 30 watts is adequate, but I wouldn't recommend using it for large venues unless you have a good sound tech that knows how to properly mic an amp through a PA.

The small cabinet is built solid as a rock and road tested to last a long time.

The top control knobs are large and well designed to not stip-out.

I expect years of reliabilty as with other Roland products I own.

I've used Roland support in the past and they were very helpful.

Useful tech information is provided on their website.

I've been playing guitar both for fun and professionally for over 25 years. When I give guitar lessons, I highly recommend this amp to all my students whether they are a beginner or experienced player.

I researched this type of amp and found the two very best for the money are the Roland Cube30 and the Vox AD30VT.

Both amps offer amp modeling, a 10 inch speaker, 30 watts of power and onboard effects.

Try them side-by-side at your local music store and make your choice.

I've been having a blast with my Roland Cube30 which offers great sound and a lot of fun for such a small price.

I highly recommended this amp. Thanks Roland!

Features are very nice, and other users have detailed...
The footswitch(es) issue is puzzling.. do i really need 2 FS units from Boss? I'm using a two button unit, but is not the recommended one, and this means two taps to make a change. It was free, so hey? (shop gave it to me)

Wide range as described elsewhere. I will reinforce the fact that the clean channel is very very nice.

Only had it a week...

Never had to...

Been playing for some time... Have a little Peavey 110, which, i thought was really quite good enough until i heard this amp. MY REASON FOR THIS REVIEW, IS THE FOLLOWING: I love this amp, so far, but for me the one major drawback is.... Output volume control. Output volume control Output volume control

The knobs appear to be those digital ones. I live in an apartment, and like to play at some unusual insomniac hours, but there is a jump from nothing to "quite a bit for 2am on a Tuesday". So im forced to send the recording output to a little mixer, and onward to my stereo speakers. This lack of finetuning volume-out is my only gripe. But on a Saturday afternoon, humbuckers or coils, gosh, it really is lush. (and volume increments are measured in twists...)

2003 Cube bought in '04. The amp is extremely versatile and very cool. I play all sorts of music, mostly rock (as in Bowie and the Stones) punk (as in Ramones and Clash), blues, a bit o' twangy stuff, some experimental, and heaps of alternative. There isn't much it can't handle. You know the features. 30 watts is a solid enough amount for rehearsing.

I have a Fender Standard Telecaster and a cheap strat copy, recently put an Ibanez Artcore into it, sounded about equal (it had 'buckers). I love the clean channel. It is absolutely beautiful, a perfect 10, I'd be happy enough without the other channel just running my Boss SD-1 into it for Overdrive. The models are OK. Acoustic is fun, pretty fuzzy, but cool if you put a distortion pedal on while playing, you can actually get much better Hendrix-esque fuzzed out distortion than with anything else if you twist enough knobs. The middle options are just alright, Black Panel, Tweed, and Brit Combo. They're really just less toneful versions of the Clean channel with Distortion/OD as an option. I love Classic Stack, it's the perfect Marshall sound, and it is great with the gain around 4 or 5. Metal and Rectifier are actually pretty cool with effects. I have this thing for playing classical music on electric guitar with tons and rons of Distortion, and Rectifier sounds great for that.

The Effects are awesome, too. I put it against Fender's Champion 30 and it won for a couple reasons. Chorus is better on the Roland by far (it is absolutely fantastic with JC Clean) as are Flange and Delay. In fact, the Delay is one of the best parts of the amp, great if you throw it on Metal channel with your tone mellowed a bit and the Flanger on for some awesome, odd, thick palm-muting stuff. I don't think the Fender had Phaser, but it sounds ok on the Cube to me. Tremelo and Reverb were better on the Fender, Roland's sound very digital. I still use the tremelo, but the Reverb does SUCK.

My only problem is this. No matter what guitar you use, single coils or buckers, if you touch your strings or PUPs real quick this odd fuzz appears in the background of the amp and fades down. it's odd and slightly annoying, but not a huge deal. A point off for that.

Built like a rock, but the Sam Ash guy warned me of cranking it because he said people HAVE been able to blow them out, so, whether I believe him or not, I've been kinda gunshy of anything past 8 (which is plenty loud).

Dropped a few times, no dings.

ehh...

I've been playing for more than a year and really like this amp (which I've had for a month or so). If stolen I would replace or maybe spend a little more on a bigger, nicer amp. Fine for rehearsing and small performances. I love the Clean and the Delay and chorus and flange. The models are ok.

try one out. they're fun and still cool amps.

This is a great versatile practice amp! I bought my Cube 30 in 2003 for use as a practice amp. Features are listed in many reivews below, but it's a one channel amp - headphone jack (important for me!), effects loop, AUX input for CD players or drum machines. One 10 inch speaker, loads and loads of sounds! You can add Roland foot switches to the amp to switch from the clean to the 'model' channel, and to switch the effects on/off.

The main weakness of the Cube 30 is the inability to seperately control the effects/reverb-delay seperately via a foot switch. If you turn off the flanger - the reverb turns off too - and visa versa. But the amp was designed mainly as a practice amp so that issue is not as crucial in non-performance situations.

I use all kinds of gutiars with this little gem - homemade Strat style, Yamaha Pacifica, Acoustic, Epiphone Les Paul. First of all the amp is dead quiet, no hiss - no pops. The cleans channel is a Roland JC120 Chorus model that is awesome for clean sounds and acoustic guitars. The other channel has various COSM models that are to varing degrees great or lame - depending on your sound taste. Mainly - you have a wide variety of tones from Fender squeeky clean to Mesa scream, and all roads inbetween. Several of the models do nothing for me (the Tweed in particular, the acoustic & Peavey to lesser degrees). I tend to use the Blackface and the Vox settings, and I'll dial in the Rectifier model for kicks occasionally. Running an acoustic guitar through the clean channel can get some great results - especially with the direct out/headphone jack to use for direct recording.

Roland products have a reputation that is well earned for producing quality products, and the Cube 30 is no exception. I've owned mine now for 9 months and it's been rock solid.

I've never had to deal with Yamaha

I've been playing on and off for 25 years, acoustic and electric guitar, and I've owned a wide variety of guitars and amps, so I have a good feel for what is available. The Cube 30 is a great practice amp that can also be used as a performance amp for smaller gigs. It has a wide varitey of tones, and sounds killer at low volumes. It's flexibility and great sounds make it a top value practice amp that you can also use in certain live or recording situations.

Would I buy another one - heck yes! It's the best practice amp I've ever owned!

This amp has very good feactures for the price and dimensions.

The sound is great. I was trying out a guitar when I heard it for the first time, I was so impressed whith the soud quality that the next day i retorned to the store to buy it. I needed an amp to practice, and for that this amp is ideal.
The sounds that i like the most are JC Clean and R-Fier, one feacture that i use alot and it's amazing is the delay.
I give it a 9 becouse i think the efects could be a litle better.

I think it's very realiable, we have to trust Roland for it.

Never use it.

I've been playing for about 14 years and I never had a practice amp this good, i dont use it for anything else but i think this amp could be used for small gigs, if i had one i probably use this amp for it.
If lost or stolen, I buy it again.

This is a 2 channel solid state amp. 1 clean, 1 lead. Effects loop , heaphone jack. I use this amp as a practice amp. It alsos has 4 efects, flange, chorus, phaser, and tremolo. With seperate delay and reverb. And amp modeling for the lead channel.

I use a ibanez s series amp with this. I play mostly 80s metal, and 80s shred. And styles like vai, malmsteen, satch. This amp is very quite. It is very versatile. The amps lead channel sounds really good to me with the r-fier model in it. If you mess with it long enough u can definately get a kind of tone u like. The amps clean channel is very nice to, especialy it put some effects into it like chorus or flange. The efects sound ok in the dist. channel, but its not that great. And the efects arnt vary versatile but im not big into them anyways. I

I have never had a problem with it.

never delt with them.

For a practice amp this can do all u want it to. I also have a digitech rp300a, and the amps modeling is far better than the rp300a.

Solid state 30 watt amp. 10 inch speaker. JC-120 clean channel plus COSM modeling channel. Built-in effects plus delay/reverb. See Roland website for info. Wide range of sounds and quite loud for a little lightweight box. I mainly use the JC-120 or Blackface channels.

I use the amp primarily as a practice amp, although it would certainly work as a gigging amp if mic'ed. Nice clean sounds with decent effects. Some of the heavier distortion models are a bit silly IMO, but I can see how they would appeal to some players. I play USA Hamers through it and they sound pretty good. It is great amp for what it was designed for, just don't expect to be overwhelmed by the tones. I would certainly use one for low volume gigging with no reservations. When it comes right down to it, a good guitarist should be able to work with almost anything (within reason) and not blame his equipment for bad tone.

Don't really know. Have had great past experience with Roland/Boss.

Don't know.

This is a good inexpensive piece of equipment for the serious guitarist as well as the beginner. It is my number one "fast on" amp at home and I would not be ashamed to gig with it. Two of these would make a great lightweight stereo set-up.

This amp can do everything from clean jazz, country, and blues to the heaviest metal you can conjure up, and everything in between.

With two FS-5U footswitches, you can switch channels and turn the left effects on and off (doesn't affect the delay/reverb, which would be a nice bonus, but hey).

I've used this amp for practice at home, and at gigs into the PA system and it sounds great either way. For smaller gigs I have no doubt that you could use this amp by itself... but we have a REALLY loud drummer and thousands of watts of P.A. system. :P

The effects, although not tweakable, are very tasteful and musical, and you can get an amazing variety of sounds with the presets (especially delay... quick slapback to more of a metal lead delay, depending on where you dial it).

It's all solid state... which brings up the amp modeling. It's just incredible. Try one.

I've used it with a PRS SE, my Les Paul Special, and a Strat... sounds great with all of them.

It suits everything I'm able to throw at it.

Quiet as can be.

The distortion with the Metal and Rectifier settings has to be heard to be believed.

I put this in the back of a trailer with all of our band equipment after a gig, and went to a party afterwards... didn't secure it well enough and it slammed into something whilst traveling... ripped some gouges in the casing and dented the grill bad. With a little 5-minute epoxy, some black enamel paint, and some clear fingernail polish (to fix the gouges), and a hammer and washrag to pound the grill flat again, you can't even tell this amp was ever damaged.

This damage did not affect the sound or electronics in any way.

Have never had to use them - for any Roland product. Common complaint with Roland is no online manuals and bad translations from Japanese to English.

I've been playing 17 years (I'm 33).

Not only would I buy it again, but I bought two so I'd have an equally kickass practice amp for friends to play when they come over!

I think I covered everything else about this amp above. :)

By the way, the MICRO CUBE is absolutely incredible as well, I take it with me in my car at all times, and on camping trips and to parties. Nothing beats being able to model killer stacks and having effects like this with 6 AA batteries that last up to 20 hours (!) of playing time. No more taking my acoustic camping - time to ROCK OUT!!!

2004. Solid state. 2 channels. Amps modulation, FX effects (flanger, chorus, phaser and tremolo) plus delay/reverb.
I use it as a practice amp at home.
Great features. Easy to use. Took me an hour to get used to all the controls. It has heaps of power for home, I guess you can even take it to a small gig.
I think it would be nice to have some sort of discrete dividers on the effects dial to know exactly where one effects ends and another one starts.

I am using it with Schecter C1 Elite and Yamaha EG112 Stat Copy.
I am playing Classic Brit Rock (kinda like Pink Floyd, Dire Straits), Blues and metal.
It is an amasingly low noise amp (compared to my practice Marshall). Even sitting next to a computer.
It sounds awesome. From clean and crisp to heavy distrotion. Acoustic mode is just unbelievable (expecially with the cheap signle coil Yamaha). Flanger is also incredible. I wish I had more control settings for delay and echo, but c'mon it is an amplifier, not a GT6 board. As an amp it has all and even more.
I got an effect modulation pod together with it, but returned the pod the following day as it sounded like crap compared to this amp and I thought I did not need the pod at all.
The distortion is good even at low volumes (something I was not able to achieve before on practice amps).

Cannon comment on that, but it looks very well built.

The dealer I bought it from was very helpful. But it has little to do with the amp as such :-).

I have been playing for around 25 years. I love everything about this amp. I would defenitely replace it if stolen. It would be nice to be able to store customed presets, but again it is an amp and not a complete sound studio.

Excellent practice/jam amp.
Features similar to other amps for less money but a unique (to my knowing anyway) combo of: Headphone in, Aux in, a footpedal in for changing chanels and w/the right cord and and extra pedal, effects too.
This and a 4 effects knob (chorus, flange, phase & tremelo which I like) plus a seperate 2 effects knob (reverb & delay...can't do both at once which I miss) plus clean & gain chanels, plus (and this helps broaden the sounds) an 8 'COSM' amp simulation knob from cleaner ('Blackface') to grungey ('Rectifier') and 6 points in between. Oh, and the clean chanel is Roland JC and it does sound very nice.

I have a Carvin Tele neckthru and an early 70's Gibson ES150.
I have to say if you have a sound you must have, you may not find it. The 8 amp simulation is great for variety of tones and sounds but it's more crayons in the box and maybe not your favorite color.
I like playing cd's and my RC-20 Loop Station with useful progressions thru the Aux in and practicing that way...with headphones for minimal colateral damage.
I like the range of tones and effects and ease of use...especially compared to my previous set-up of blackface Princeton Reverb (sweet) w/ Boss ME-30 (not sweet).

Seems indestructable compared to other 10" speaker amps I've looked at. By the way, I tried the Marshall, Fender, Crate & Peavy in this range and like this amp best. I also like the knobs on top.
Helpful on an amp that's 15" off the ground.

Can't say...

If you're on a tone/HolyGrail quest you may not like this amp...otherwise for the money and what you get in one handy sized box, I think it's a great amp. It's plenty loud, maybe a little shy on the treble? It works well in many situations given the in & out jacks, wide rannge of sounds, portability, and volumes it can handle. I have no problem taking this thing on the bus to practice. Have to make it a 9 though because of my blackface Princeton sitting next to it.

The features of this amp are well-documented below: CD input, headphone/out, 2 channels and efx are pedal switchable, separate delay and reverb. The only thing missing for me is a master volume control. That would avoid having to switch both channel volumes when the rest of the family is at home.

My son and I share an American Standard Strat (3 singles, stock), a Yamaha Pacifica, and a Taylor 314ce acoustic. We searched for months for a good practice/small gig amp that would be able to handle at least the Strat and the Taylor, and would suit both our styles (mine: classic rock to gutsy distortion to clean for Christian praise; his: more metal a la Reliant K). This amp really caught our attention in the store.
I can run the strat through a Korg AX100G, or just use the dual channel pedal to switch between the clean JC channel and the Black face. With the eq dialled in right, the Black face mod gets a sweet crunch and bite. The Metal (aka Peavey) has a great distortion for the strat as well. With the exception of the worthless Acoustic mod (- 1 point), all the amp sounds have a lot to offer. It just takes time and patience to adjust the EQ to get the exact sound you are looking for.
What shocks me is the sound of the Taylor acoustic/electric. The Acoustic mod of the Roland doesn't get it, but either the JC Clean or the Black Face with a touch of chorus produces an amazing tone for the Taylor. There simply weren't any other amps that came close, without buying another dedicated acoustic amp. For the price, this is an unbeatable sound combination; this amp is loud, clean, and sounds great with a variety of guitars. I've been playing for 25 years and am pretty picky about sound. We looked at everything under 100W (Peavy, Fender, Ibanez, Kustom, etc. The Tech21 was the closest we came, but this amp was 1/3 the price of their comparable model.

No problems so far - solid as a rock.

N/A

Bottom line: Amazing value for crisp sounds with power. We'd consider buying a second Cube 30, especially if we saw a cheap used one.

OOOOOH BABY
WUT AN AMP !!
REVERB, DELAY, CHORUS, FLANGE, TREMELO and so on
Lots of Overdrives
Nice clean JC
CD input
man, lots of options..........

In my opinion, this is an amp to play at the local coffee shop or at hope for practice. I have had many amps, to me this is the best sounding amp you can get for its size, wattage and as a practice amp. I even think it sounds as good as a lot of expensive amps, the 1x12 tubes. I not kidding, this is very impressive amp. You always know when your playen a great amp when you can't stop playing. I would say this is the best sounding practice amp out there.

no problems

N/A

I've been playen 20 yrs. I own a lot of stuff and have had more things than most guitar players; its a sickness. If this was stolen i would buy it again for sure. I love that it produces a BIG SOUND for such a small amp. I love that the effects sound good, even though i use the reverb the most. I did compare this to other amps, and when comparing size, wattage, weight, sound, options, price, this amps is the best. What so i wish it had ?? maybe a speaker out
and better adjustment on the effects such as chorus. I wish it had a presence control. I hear there's now a CUBE 60. I think I'll try one and see how it sounds with a 12" speaker. Very Impressive amp

1. features=chorus, flange, phaser, tremelo, reverb, delay
2. Many Many OD's
3. CLean
4. Aux in for CD
5. Headphones in
6. Recording Out
Many options, thus a 10

I use a strat with 54 pickups and also a strat with 62's
NOTE: i don't agree with the previous guy ! this amp can sound great with single coils. I dialed in some very good blues rock for the neck pickup and some great OD's for the bridge. I agree, the heavy OD's wood sound better with a humbucker. I think this amp sounds better than any small practice amp out there. Yeah, i think thu amp is a little pricy, but its worth it. quite a jump from the $99 cube 15 to the $225 cube 30, but worth it.
I like that you can plug the CD player into the amp and jam along with backing tracks ! FUN FUN FUN
I think the amp soundss very impressive, thus i give it a 10

had it for 8 months or so, still working great

don't know

I like this amp a lot !!!
i play it all the time !!!
i enjoy the amp and glad i have one
hell, i want another..........
i think i'll try wut thu previous guy did and plug into a power amp and see wut happens. i think when you find an amp that is small, built like a tank, offers many options, and all the options sound great, then you have sumthing special.
yeah, i like it very much
it thu first amp where i've been able to get some convincing SRV tones
with my strat with 54's.

Many features to keep you busy, but....

Here lies the problem. Despite all the glowing reviews, I was truly disappointed with this amp.
The good:
It's inexpensive and the clean channel is good for an amp in this price range. The effects all sound nice on the clean channel (not a lot of variety but the preset range is very musical and useable). The reverb and delay sound good with distortion (the modulation effects do not). The acoustic sim was actually pretty cool with single coils.
The bad:
The amp "models" are nothing more than elaborate EQ magic with different gain ranges. Turn the treble up past 4 and you get sterile, grating fuzz like the cheap amps I used 20 years ago when I 1st started playing. Horrible bass on all the distorion models (yet the bass on the clean channel is impressive for an amp of this size). Farts if you turn the master vol up past 4. A friend at the music store let me take it home for the weekend, needless to say I did NOT buy it.

Don't think there will be any problems with the electronics. I have no confidence in the speaker.

I can't see a reason to get this amp. It's too small and feeble to use in any band situation and there are better solutions for a practice amp (a $99 Digitech RP100 through a boom box would sound better than this amp). I can't explain all of the glowing reviews here, I can only state my opinion.

This has probably already been covered. Good features...

This is what counts, the sound. I think this thing sound GREAT! I have yet to hear better tone from a solid state amp. It even sounded better imo than my Peavey XXL halfstack. (which prompted me to sell it and get a Genz Benz tube head that sounds 100 times better) I like the clean channel. Lots of headroom and sparkle for a 30 watt amp! I really love the rectifier amp model. Lovely distortion tones. Lots of tonal flexiblity. Just fantastic.

The only problem: it doesn't sound as good with single coil pickups as with humbuckers. Since I play a Les Paul, this is no problem. But if you play a Strat, you may want to check it out first. That's the only reason I don't give it a 10 here.

I've had no problem at all from mine.

Never had to deal with them.

I've owned a few small practice type amps, and this one is hands down the best, and by a long ways. If you are thinking of buying one, you won't go wrong, especially if your guitar has humbucking pickups. Single coils didn't sound as good through this amp IMO.

Everything's been stated above: very nice overall package, lots of great amps choice and f/x. Everything you need in a practice amp (except tuner and f/x level control are missing, so minus one point).

I did not want to put up yet another review of this, but i've found out a way to use this amp that blew my mind. The amp is very impressive by itself for a practice thing of this price, but the output stage and speaker does not do the preamp justice.
I plugged the direct output of my Cube into the f/x loop return of my Hughes and Kettner Tour Reverb 100w combo: WOW !!! This thing can sing and scream, it's now my main amp setup (Telecaster/SG-Boss PH1 Phaser-Dano tremolo-DOD 680 analog delay-Boss DD3 Delay-Cube 30 preamp-Hughes & Kettner power section) The Cube as a preamp (in this setup, i dont use the Cube f/x, only it's amp models), the Kettner and it's 12 inch celestion for power output, it can do anything i ever needed in an amp, and then some ! This setup also makes the amp models more realistic and believable. It takes away the little boxy sound of the Cube, wich is caused by it's poor cabinet/speaker. So a good practice amp, but an AMAZING all around jack of all trades preamp!

Roland battle ready

Pray you don't need them...

Very good as a practice or small venue amp (cant be beat at this price), unbelievable as a preamp !!

this is a the cube 30 amp from rolan
had it for 6 months
its got a lot of options on it
2 channels, clean and many OD's
this amp is mainly a practice amp and a veery good one

ok, lets get to the scoop. I play a strat with singles and a seymour duncan hot rail in bridge. I think its best to stick with one guitar, since the sound can change drastically from one guitar to another.
this is the case for all amps !
1. I love all the OD's on this amp. I find them to be very good and FUN.
2. I like the EFFECTS such as FLANGER, DELAY, CHORUS, PHASER
BUT BUT, i have a complaint ! right when you turn to a certain effect, it has too much of the effect. i think at LOW settings you should just get a touch of the effect. I think ROLAND needs to fix this problem !!! BACK OFF THE EFFECT near ZERO !!!
3. I like the REVERB and DELAY, no complaintss
4. I like the CLEAN, sounds good
5. the acoustic is OK, nothing impressive.

I've had a lot of amps, this is a great amp for coffee shops and practicing. I think its important to have an amp that makes tones you like. this way you can enjoy the playing much more. I think this amp offers that.......
compared to the tech 21 trademark 10, i like this amp more. I think it offers much more and sounds better. Both are about the same price. If both were side by side, and i could choose either.......
i'd pick the ROLAND. i've had both amps, so i know what i'm talking about. I also like that the back is closed, unlike the tech 21. this really adds to the tone.

i've had it for 6 months.
its built very good, very SOLID
too early to grade on reliability

don't know

I have a lot of amps, expensive amps !!
i play this ROLAND the most
why ? for one, its small and sounds very good
doesn't sounds as good as my fender concert reverb, but it still sounds very good. It sounds good enough to enjoy precticing and having fun dialing in some great OD tones. I think this is a great amp to have. I tried all the small amps that are offered, this was th only one i really liked. I recommend you try one !! dial in a tones you like, i think you'll be suprised !.

What can you say? This thing is packed with features and even if I'm not using them, I know they're there if I need or want to. Output to a cabinet would be nice but hey I'm not going to complain for I payed for it.

Sound is great but no amp is perfect, period! and that's the only reason for a 9 out of 10 rating. It's responsive to all types styles and tweaking gives you some great expressivness with your playing. If you can't find the sound you're looking for with this little beast, you have a problem. I haven't cranked it up to it's fullest potential yet but have had it half way up in my small studio at home and this think packs a punch baby! I'm using a strat through this thing and am quite impressed for it only being a 30 watter... Just get the damn thing, you won't be sorry. Thanks Roland!

Sturdy...sturdy...sturdy... I wouldn't have any problems toting this thing around and worrying about it.

Never had to use their support because I've never had a Roland product that broke down.

I'll be satisfied with this killer amp until Roland comes out with a 50 or 60 or even a 100 in the same model. If it were stolen, the poor fool who did it (if caught) would never forget it...

JUST AN UPDATE, ON RUNNING THESE AMPS IN STEREO, THEY SOUND GREAT THAT WAY, I TOOK MY OLDER CUBE 30 TO THE SHOP, AND HAD A EXT.SPEAKER OUT INSTALLED(BTW- IT DEFEATS THE INTERNAL SPEAKER) MAN , I HAVE A SLANT 2-12 CAB WITH CELESTION V-30'S, THAT LITTLE BITCH OPENS RIGHT UP!! PLUS I PICKED UP A TONEBONE HOT BRITISH PEDAL, SET IT UP TO SOUND LIKE A MODDED JCM 800, AND PUT A LITTLE SLAPBACK ON BOTH AMPS, AND I USE THE BLACKFACE SOUND FOR CLEAN, SO WITH ONE AMP PLAYIN THRU THE 2-12 CAB AND THE OTHER ONE RUNNING JUST THE 10", STAND FRIGGIN BACK, IT'S QUITE LOUD, BUT NOT SO LOUD THAT YOU'LL SHAVE THE HEADS OFF THE FIRST 10 ROWS!! SO I USE ALL MONSTER CORDS, THE TONE BONE, A BOSS OD-3, AND A BOSS SUPERSHIFTER, IN DETUNE MODE FOR A SUTTLE BUT VERY NICE STEREO CHORUS SOUND, IM GOING TO PICK UP A NS-2 BOSS NOISE SUPPRESSOR, TO CLEAN SOME OF THE P-90 AND SINGLE COIL BUZZ, AND SOME HISS FROM THE TONEBONE, AND IM GOOD TO GO!!

YES, IVE HAD BOTH AMPS FOR OVER 2 YEARS, ONLY PROB. I HAD WAS THE AMP SELECTION KNOB ON ONE OF THEM CAME OFF- A LITTLE CRAZY-GLUE, AND "BAM" SOLID AS SEARS!

IV'E BEEN PLAYING GOING ON 36 YEARS, I OWN AN ORANGE AD-15,A 1964 GIBSON SKYLARK GA-5T, AN ORIGINAL LINE 6 FLEX PLUS, ITS BEEN A GREAT WORKHORSE, VOX PATHFINDER, MOSTLY STUFF THATS EASY TO CARRY! IVE PLAYED PRO AND SEMI=PRO ALL MY LIFE, HAD MANY STACKS--MARSHALL, LANEY, PEAVEY, BUT AT 47, IM JUST A WEEKEND WARRIOR, IM GOING TO PICK UP A PEAVEY CLASSIC 50 HEAD, AND I TOLD MY WIFE THAT WOULD BE MY LAST!!?? AND ALSO TO ALL THE YOUNGER PLAYERS, THE QUEST FOR TONE NEVER ENDS MY FRIENDS!, BECAUSE YOU'LL FIND OUT ON YOUR MUSICIAL JOURNEY, ITS ALL IN THE FINGERS MAN! WHEN YOU CAN MAKE SHIT SOUND LIKE DIAMONDS, YOUR HEAD, YOUR FINGERS, A GREAT AXE AND A DECENT AMP- BE IT SMALL OR LARGE, IS ALL YA NEED!

made in erm, 2002 I guess. I use this for mostly progressive metal type stuff. "Death metal" too I guess. 2 channel no effects loop recording out/headphone jack, chorus, tremolo, flange, phaser, delay , reverb, and a bunch of different amp models.

I'm using an LTD EX-351 with dimarzio x2n and fred pickups. For any style really, this amp would suit. For the progressive and death metal, this amp is adequate. It is also valuable in attaining southern-hillbilly type tones, as well as jazz sounds.
I do not notice much of a noise coming from this amplifier, except when playing near some kind of electrical interference, and this will happen no matter what equipment you use. Play away from monitors!
The variety with this unit is impressive and to numerous to list.
The clean channel is quite perfect. It is superb, ultimate, and excellent. I have cranked this thing quite high and it doesn't seem to break up easily.
Mostly I'm using the recto setting, for the heavy metal tones. I do not use much bass, and I use much mids, because scooped mids sucks, and a fair amount of treble. I must say that for one thing, I require much gain, but to turn it up all the way using this , it makes a nasty fuzz. However, I remedy this by using only half gain, and boosting with a tubescreamer, which provides a superior sound. I get good gain this way, without annoying fuzz. I have also just discovered "black panel", something I previously ignored, but it has a very very nice sound to it. The other few are a bit dry but still alright to use sometimes. I also boost this with the tubescreamer, but it hardly shows, as I only use a clean boost, so it is very smooth and good sounding.

This has not failed since I bought it 2 years ago.

I don't know!

I've been playing for a few years and have mostly been playing second hand junk over the years, this was the first new amp I really had..It is my favorite. It's nothing for big shows or anything, but for playing at home this is really great, especially if you can't be so loud. The thing I don't really like is the effects, some are too harsh, like the chorus and flange, often they muddy up the sound so its difficult to make out the notes, while the delay doesn't really offer much delay really, it could have been better. But if they had super delay on here nobody would buy BOSS's 300 dollar delay pedal!
for 200-300 dollars (can't really remember!) this is pretty much all one could hope for , and a bit more so I can't really complain about its shortcomings. I do wish it had come with the pedal, as I'm too lazy to go out and get it, and would like one. I think they could perfect some of the higher gain modelling a little better as well, but if you use a pedal WITH the amp's own gain, you do get a great sound. I did compare this to like, the laney equivalent I think and there was no contest. Most amps like this are complete shit. This one is superior to almost all little amps out there. Never get a marshall practice amp, they suck. For practice amps, this cube cannot be beat. Important though, is learning how to turn knobs properly before you say its crappy. you must set it to what you like!

I play a lot of Rock N Roll, Hard Rock and Heavy Metal I think the Features are good for Hard Rock N Metal. It's a 2 Channel Amp, you can switch the with a Footswitch. I use this Amp at home, and with my band.

I play with an Epiphone Les Paul Classic, and a Cimar Strat modell, it sound quiet good, for Hard Rock an Metal, but for old Rock N Roll the Amp is to less lively (modelling). I quiet like the sound, but it's to less direct, and it sound to much like a modelling Amp.

Very good, it's not to heavy. I didn't have any troubles.

I like this amp for Metal and Hard Rock, but not as much for old Rock N Roll. For Rock N Roll I use a Peavey Envoy 110 and it sounds much better, you can really feel the sounds with the Peavey.

This is a follow-up to my previous review (right below me, I think). I've experimented with the Cube30 for about a week and am indeed able to get some useable sounds from it .... with a TS9 and Keeley compressor (KC) in front of it, that is. (This is ok, because I don't mind carrying these pedals around if I have to). I have been using a Peavey Classic 30 with the TS9 and KC as my standard sound and have been very happy with it. With the Cube30 drive at 0 and the level somewhere in the middle (actually can be cranked up if needed), it works best with the TS9 drive very low (0!) and the level very high (10!) and the KC with sustain at 10 o'clock and the level at 12 o'clock. With this setup, my guitar knobs work well to control the sound. I can get sweet by backing things off, and for solos, allow more through. The amp settings that I found work are the blackface (actually very convincing with this setup), the britcombo and tweed. The classic borders on a little too hot for the sound I'm going for, but it could work. The metal and recto don't work at all for me. I find the cube is very expressive this way and I'm happier now than when I first got it. My goal was to approximate my Peavey Classic with something more lightweight, but still reasonably loud and I believe this is it. I found the main thing was avoiding the cube30's drive -- it adds too much buzz and ruins the sound, I think. Finally, the clean sound (JC) is very nice and needs nothing special to make it sound good. For the reasons above, I'm upgrading my rating to an 8.

Made in 2003, I assume. The is very versatile and useful for the styles of music that I play, mainly blues and classic rock. I'm not into metal or shred, so I can't speak to those other than to say that the amp sounds like it produces good tones for those to (metal, r-fier). I wish it had presets, at least 1 or 2 would be useful.

I'm using it with single coil (strats/teles) and humbuckers (les pauls/PRS/Ibanez Am50). The sounds are o.k.. I'm on the fence about returning it, actually. THe modeling does a fair to midland job of emulating the tube amps it's copying: it breaks up with more distortion, but the lower distortion settings are better than the upper ones. I think the main thing thats missing is the compression that comes from driving a tube amp really hard. When you crank a real tube amp, you everything gets compressed, sweet and sustain-y. WIth this amp, turing up the drive gives you more distortion but doesn't effectively add in the compression you would expect. (A perfect example to listen to is AC/DC's back in black -- the sound is pure tube amp, no effects and you can hear the amp almost groaning under the cranked-up power). So, I don't think you can get that sound with this amp. There having said that, I'd say it's ok for a SS amp played live through the speaker, but through the headphones, forget it! I really think the sounds are horrible through the headphones. I've been doing A/B comparison's with my Pod and the Pod blows it away. Through the headphones, the amp sounds like I've plugged my guitar direct into my Dad's old realistic stereo: it's lost all the 'live' realism of playing through a speaker and sounds rubbery (sounds are hard to describe). The distortions sound grating and (as before) not compressed enough. The Pod (2.0, actually) accurately accomplishes this with nearly all the amp settings. (go pod!)

Have no idea, but it seems solid and the lack of tubes means longevity.

ZZounds was the merchant. I've dealt with them before and they're very good. I got it the next day after my order -- impressive!

Overall, I think this is good, but not worth the money because it doesn't come close enough to the real thing. Yes, it has lots of features, and yes it can emulate some tube amps, but I would only consider using the sounds if I had absolutely no other option. I bought it as a lighter (lb-wise) alternative to my PEavey Classic, but now I see that my sound is going to suffer even though my arms and back won't. I will never use the amp for recording or playing along because the headphone out is just too annoying and Radio-Shack sounding. The clean channel is good, but that's a small portion of the amp. I think I could do better to run my pod through a $100 keyboard amp that's total of $250, with Pod's going for under $150 now.