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.