Roland Cube-60 112 Combo

This is the newer version of the amp made in the last couple of years. It's a loud 60 watt solid state amp. It's light and portable and can be hooked up to an extension cab (max 8ohm).
No Effects loop - poor omission but there is a line out/headphone. Apparently you'd use this to daisy chain another Cube 60.
Effects - are usable but only on very low settings as they're slightly over-cooked. The sharing of the delay and reverb is a great shame as I like to use both.
Essentially, it has 2 channels. The first is the clean channel and the only amp model available is the Roland JC. The bright switch adds flexibility to this. The second channel features several amp types which include acoustic, Black Panel (Fender), Tweed (Bassman), a Vox, Marshall, Peavey 5150, a Rectifier model and the Dyna Amp which responds to the sensitivity of your picking or volume knob to go from clean to dirty.
This is a great amp but I would've loved to have seen the following improvements to turn it into a superb amp and would not have minded paying more for this. Seeing as Roland have now introduced newer versions (X Range) of the smaller wattage amps, perhaps we'll see some of this much-mentioned improvements in a new model:-
Effects loop
Inclusion of a 3-way switch (nothing included and the amp is redundant for live use without them). I use piano sustain or unlatch pedals. They're cheap and work well and you don't need the Boss ones, which are good but expensive. The Behringer equivalents which may tempt some do not seem to have good reviews on Harmony in terms of reliability but I have other Behringer items and they have proved reliable and good. Just make sure that whatever you buy are the UNLATCHED ONES as other pedals will require 2 depressions to change channels etc and many people here have fallen foul of that. Switching is instant.
Models available - all the models available on 2 identical channels so that you could have a choice of clean and dirty amps or different versions of the same amp. I like to the JC model very much but I wish I could pick another clean amp like the Black Panel and still use the Metal Model (5150 amp) and that way get the best of both Worlds. Of course, I can't as they're on a shared channel.
I play in a function band, so I require a certain degree of versatility and use the amp effects with some Boss pedals. It works well and I've heard a Boss ME-50 plugged into the amp as well and that works very well.

I look to emulate certain signature sounds with an amp and a standard pedals like a wah, compressor, delay and chorus & they are as a jazz lead sound (G.Benson), a good crisp Fender Deluxe-type clean, a funk sound (aka nile Rodgers), Andy Summers chorus/delay sound, Bryan Adams crunch (think "it's only love), ACDC crunch/Marshall rhythm and a big articulate AOR lead sound like Steve Lukather or Neal Schon. This amp does all this with just the aid of an outboard compressor pedal. Ok, I can't get them all at the same time and some of the combinations I like, but it's all there and at useable stage volume.
I have actually used the Acoustic model with success and it works well on a strat but also on my Taylor acoustic (it's more of a piezo sound) but once again useable.
The cleans are great on this amp and I underdstand alot of funk and jazz players use them. The lead/distortion sounds are big and I found that they do respond to guitar volume changes very well. There is a slight degree of digital clipping when you wind the volume down but it doesn't interfere with my sound. I only have the gain at 1/2 way and that's enough.
I use the amp with a PRS Custom 24, a customised Fender strat and Taylor acoustic. They all work well but the biggest surprise is the humbucker-loaded PRS. It likes this amp enormously, almost stratifying it on the clean channels.
Noise levels are minimal and the sheer volume on tap here for it's weight and size (32lbs) is incredible. I do connect it to a Mesa Boogie 1X12 Celestion-loaded Vintage 30 cab) and it takes on a rounder, fuller more mature quality and it's louder. However, I do like the speaker in the Cube although I do not know what it is and I understand that Roland were careful to "marry this up" with the power amp thus creating more volume closer to the 60 watt rating (not something alot of solid state amps can do).

I've had plenty of Roland/Boss gear for ovcer 20 years and it's the best. I currently own various compact pedals, a portable digital recorder the amazing 2 watt Micro-Cube. The latter has been well used over the last couple of years without any problems.
As a back up, I normall take a Behringer V-Amp2 along and/or some pedals and a DI box/speaker simulator.

Roland UK are incredible and I'm surprised to read that the same level of service and courtesy isn't seen all over the World, in particular in the US. I receive quarterley magazines, e-mail updates and have had all my questions answered fully and succinctly either on the FAQS site or by phone and by a professional.
Their 3-5yr warranties are also superb and I wish other manufacturers would offer more than the standard year!
I've also encountered Roland reps in music stores who've been superb to deal with and have influenced my decision to buy their products.

I've been playing for over 25 years and have been through all sorts of amps, both expensive and cheap and rack systems. The Cube to me is really what I've been looking for. Yes, I do hear individual sounds from amps that are better like the clean from a Fender Deluxe Reverb or a Rivera but try getting all that under one hood and in this size package for the incredible price of ??150 ($300).
I overlooked this amp a couple of years ago because of the restrictiveness of the pedals and sharing of amp models (see above for improvements) and bought a popular American amp which was more versatile in a live situation. However, sound-wise it failed to deliver and I sold it and went with my initial instinct. Lesson learnt - USE YOUR EARS!
If Roland take on the common improvements that are all over these reviews, it would be a monster product.
The following link may help answer some questions for users:-
http://www.roland.com/products/en/_support/faq.cfm?ln=en&prd=CUBE-60&dsp=0&iCncd=479

the best amp ever light and moveable. easy to use but you need footswithes to changes your fave sound effects.

its crystal clear compare to to those bigger amps. thanks to roland they made such a beautiful amp. i have no problem with this amp. EXCELLENT AND VERSATILE .

FOR SURE U CAN DEPEND ON IT big or small band its worth having one of these.

As noted in other reviews, good for clean sound channel and some of the rock tones are good (VOX, 5150 are good, Mesa is ok, acoustic emulation good if gain is pulled back a bit). Reverb is good, and chorus effect can be useful. Don't use others like phaser, flanger, tremelo, echo). Dyna-touch mode seems like useless novelty.

Unlike prior review, the 12" speaker is not Celestion, I pulled mine (logo'd Roland China, with light magnet) and put in a Celestion Vintage in place. Some mounting mods required ... smoother tone and much more bottom end for extra 100 bucks.

Wide variety of sounds for any style, very loud although effects decrease punch through. Use it with both Fender and Gibson ... higher gain modes are bad with Gibson but excellent with Fender.
Gibson is best with VOX emulation mode, nice tone and resolution.
A compressor pedal adds extra gain/sustain when needed (not included). Not noisy at all, in fact even the line out to PA and ext spkr cab are silent.

Very solid construction. I am guessing it will last forever under normal use.2 years without problem or glitch.

No idea, although owner manual could be more comprehensive.

Played for 25 years, various guitars and vintage -- have used this amp for practice and gigs of all sizes, useful as monitor and hook up to PA via DI box from the line out makes it totally versatile. Loud enough for almost anything. Only thing I had to do is replace the speaker with a Celestion but that was a personal choice. The stock Roland spkr is ok but a bit harsher and thinner than the Celestion Vintage replacement I put in (although it is quite a bit heavier now to carry!).

I just have to knock the features rating on this amp. If you read the reviews below, even though they are mainly favorable, many list features they wish the amp had, or features they wish were implemented differently, but nonetheless give a fairly high rating in the features category. I don't think that having more features should necessarily warrant a high "features" rating--implementation of features is very important, too. The "features" of this amp can be quite limiting and frustrating. Since a rating of 1=Very limited, I'll give it a 2 (quite limited in my opinion). A couple of thoughts:

"IT DOES NOT HAVE CHANNEL SWITCHING". It is essentially a single channel amp. What?? Of course it has channel switching!! Well... to my way of thinking, it looks like this: WE AT ROLANDCORP. U.S. HAVE DECIDED FOR YOU. YOUR CLEAN CHANNEL WILL BE A MODEL OF OUR JC-120 AMP. THE ONLY CORRECT CHOICE FOR CLEAN ELECTRIC GUITAR SOUND IN MUSIC. Now doesn't that sound ridiculous? This is one of the most absurd, stupid design decisions I have ever seen Roland make. In many of these reviews, users mentioned preferring a CHOICE for the first channel. Perhaps the amp, as designed, should be marketed as "A portable 112 combo version of our JC-120, with the addition of a second modeling channel". At least Roland wouldn't APPEAR so arrogant...

Other "features" previous reviewers have noted: No Effects Loop. To use all footswitchable features, you need 3 cables running from your footswitches. Footswitches not included. You can choose Delay OR Reverb, but not both (not uncommon on amps like this, but it's inclusion would make for a better feature set). Make sure you weigh the features you desire against what it offers.

I'm confident all the previous reviews are sincere, and should give the reader a good assessment of this amps desirability and value. Thanks to all who took the time to write reviews! I may go ahead and buy one of these amps for myself (used--Roland doesn't deserve the sale of a new unit to this ornery customer), but to me as well as some of the previous reviewers, it will likely be used as a basic single channel amp, probably with pedals in front.

See below for many thoughtful reviews

After years of useless, uninformative websites, Roland is finally getting its act together. Haven't had dealings with the people at Roland...

It really is a pretty nice little amp--but with an extremely frustrating, illogical implementation of features.

2006 model, bought it new in Brisbane, Australia. Immediately got rid of my Peavey JSX combo, as after the Roland I could not stand the weight, noise and poor power/weight ratio of the Peavey. I have no idea whether Satriani actually plays this JSX, but I am sure that if he does, then his noise gates are the best of the best. Roland kills. My other amp is a Carvin SX200, which is a bit better than the JSX, but still had to repair it a couple of times whiole new. The Cube could do with some more channel versatility, but then it is simplified for a purpose. It is loud, clean and I get by most gigs up to 500 seaters. For larger venues I run a stereo setup with the Cube and the SX200.

Sound really great. I play mostly classic rock and contemporary stuff in the Pink vein, but have tried it a few times in the downtuned growling-howling sort of "Disturbed" mode - did not let me down. Also sounds great with my Ibanez Tolman accoustic, surprisingly. My guitars are Ibanez, Westone and Fender, all equipped with either DiMarzio or Seymore Duncans, and all sound good on the Cube. The noise is much less than any american amp i have owned, and to be honest - never again will I buy anything else but Made in Japan, when it comes to electronics or cars!

Not yet sure, but I am blasting the hell out of it and still smiles back at me!

I have dealt with Roland - Boss most of my life - always satisfactory!

Guys, buy Japanese electronics, unless you want to look sheepish on stage when your Fender, Marshall, Mesa or other overpriced crap fails! Low cost too, and better design! I would certainly stick to Roland, and probably get rid of the Carvin for a JC or something.....

I preface this review with the fact that I've owned Line 6, and Vox modeling amps prior to purchasing the Cube 60.

As one reviewer said...just the right combination of features and simplicity. I gig with this amp, and I don't have time to read the manual in the middle of a song. It's very straight forward to make adjustments with it. Now..having said that...there are a few suggestions I have. First of all...Roland should include a footswitch with this amp. If you want to take advantage of all the switchable features, you'd have to buy three seperate foot switches...that's not cool Roland! In some aspects, the amp's too simple. One or two patch bays would be great. If Roland couldn't include any patch bays, then seperate tone and effects controls for the dirty channels would be just fine. I would pay more for that.

I love the size of the amp and it's not too heavy. It seems to be constructed well. I love the different output options (line level, headphones, tuner).

I first heard this amp over a year ago in a music store...I couldn't believe the sound quality. I went through a Line 6 Spider II, and a Vox AD50VT before finally purchasing this amp. A music store salesman, who's opinion I highly regard, told me he owned one of these amps and he raved about it. That was enough for me. The Vox was put on eBay and I purchased the Cube 60. I'm not let down by any means. My other working amp is a Fender Hot Rod Deville. I also build tube amps. I'm really impressed with the sound of the Cube 60. So much so, that I've been leaving the Fender at home on gigs. The Black Panel and Tweed models are outstanding. The distortion models are awesome too. It's not quite as loud (on clean)as my Deville, but has more than enough volume for any of my applications (I play in a 9 piece band!).

I have no opinion on reliability yet, as I've owned it a month or so. Seems well constructed though.

No opinion here, but I like Rolands website. Getting to manuals for download is easy.

Overall rating a 9. Would like a different arrangement in the channel switching or a patch bay or two. Other than that...it looks to be a keeper!

This amp has a lot of features, but unlike some modeling amps, they're not overwhelming. It is exactly the right combination of versatility and simplicity for my needs, which are oriented toward diverse classic rock covers. I love the fact that there's only one knob for each effect (no need to twiddle two or three parameters), and no menus to scroll through.

As others have mentioned, the one significant shortcoming is the lack of an effects loop. However, the built-in effects cover most of the obvious bases.

I'm not going to review all the models; others have done that well enough. They do cover what I need more than any other single amp I've gigged with.

This is my main reason for posting today: To anyone who says, "This thing is built like a tank; I would gig without a backup", think twice. Mine crapped out on me without warning right in the middle of a practice session. Turns out the power amp IC blew. It's a $20 item but cost another $70 labor to troubleshoot and replace. That's not excessive as far as cost goes, but my point is that these amps CAN fail, and I'm damned glad I wasn't gigging without a backup at the time.

Before I turned the amp over to a qualified service person, I had the idea that I might try to troubleshoot it myself. So I ordered the "service notes" from Roland. What I got was a parts list and a schematic, and it turns out that it wasn't for my amp but rather for ANOTHER solid state "Cube 60" that they manufactured in like 1982 (no modeling capability, of course). I called them about the error and they sent me the correct copy, which still didn't turn out to be useful to me personally, but no matter. Overall, my dealings with Roland were satisfactory.

I've been playing electric guitar since I began teaching myself in 1990; I've been gigging with a "weekend warrior" classic rock cover band for about five years. I play a modded Strat (humbucker on the bridge for one), and my main amps until now have been a Fender Deluxe Reverb Reissue and a Gibson Goldtone GA-15RV, both 1x12 combos.

One thing I really like about the Roland Cube-60 is the very low weight to power ratio. It's the easiest amp to carry around and yet it gets pretty loud (recall, however, that 60W on a solid state amp are more like 30W on a tube amp .. not sure why). I would probably replace it if lost or stolen, because of that exceptional sonic versatility in a surprisingly simple, convenient package. I just hope it doesn't blow again, as that would really dampen my enthusiasm for this model.

60 Watt modeling amplifier 1 x 12 made in China. I play mostly classic rock, 80's rock, etc. There are 9 amp models and 6 built-in effects. This amp is very versatile. You can get a sound for just about any style of music from this amp. It is a very loud amplifier, loud enough for gigging, practice, etc. It sounds great at bedroom volumes as well. I wish there was a footswitch included for channel switching. I am going to buy one. I am not going to go into too many details since the other reviewers have done it already. There are enough inputs and outputs to do anything you want to do.

My main amp is a Mesa triple rectifier half stack. I use a 1993 PRS Custom 24, a 1987 ESP Mirage, and a USA Fender Sambora signature Strat. I have been playing for 22 years and have owned many amps, both tube (5150, double rec, triple rec,tremoverb, mark4, jcm800, jcm900, DC3, ETC.) and solid state (peavey, marshall, etc.). I am not going to get into the whole tube vs. SS argument because they both have their purpose and I just want to talk about this Roland. This amp flat-out rocks. I can get great sounding cleans, to extreme gain, and everything in between. The amp models are great. In fact, at lower volumes, this amp sounds better than my $3,000.00 Boogie set-up. The two I use the most are JC clean and metal (5150 model). I use a little bit of the built in reverb or delay to fatten things up. I am SUPER picky about my tone. In fact, I am a real freak about it. For this kind of amp, I think the cubes are the best. I had the 30 watt version of this amp previously. It was also a great amp and perfect for home jam sessions. I compared these to the vox ad30vt, ad50vt, and the new line-6 spider 3 75 watt combo. The roland's are built like a tank and don't feel as cheaply made as the competitors. Also, according to the reviews here, the vox seems to have some reliability issues. I just think the cube sounded the best and seems to be the most reliable. Roland has an excellent reputation. The other's had more effects editing capabilities and so forth, but reliability and tone are more important to me. I don't care what is the most popular, I care about what sounds the best and what will last.

I had the cube 30 for a year without any issues. It sounded great and worked flawlessly. I upgraded to this one for the extra power. I will use this for small shows instead of bringing the big rig everywhere. This thing kills when miked-up for recording or through a PA system.Built like a brick outhouse. Never gig without a back-up, no matter what amp you have. You will regret it at some point.

I called once to ask some general questions and they were very nice.

I have been playing 22 years and if this were lost or stolen I would buy it again. I feel it smokes the competition. These can be scored pretty cheap because they are not the "sexy" amp right now. Show the cash and your local retailer will probably be happy to give you a deal. I have seen them priced all over the net and in stores at $345.00 which is a fair deal for what this amp has to offer. I got a brand new one in the box for $269.00. There is nothing that can touch this amp at that price. Or actually at the $345.00 for that matter. If you can compare this to the others and judge them based soley on the tone, I think many would choose the Roland Cube 60.

BTW*****
this is an update on a previous review of this product.

Its been nearly a year since ive had this amp. Still good, still diggin the sound.

This is a 60 watt solid state modelling amp. It's got 9 amp moddels all together. I dont really like to count to the acoustic as a moddel but, eh.

i really just wish the delay was separate from the reverb.
cuz there are times where i like to use delay and verb at the same time, but cant with this amp. if the delay was controlled with the FX knob that'd be cool. people keep wishing for an onboard tunner, but i really dont mind just using a patch cable and resting my tunner on top of the amp and pluging into the tunner output. thats a really good feature. the sound comes out clean always, which is good for tunning.

Heres a list of thing that'd make this amp alot better:
.a single footswitchable boost for the OD channel.
.the delay on a separate controll than the reverb
.a fx loop would be cool, but if you had the boost and the separate delay, i wouldnt see any need for any fx that'd have to be put into the preamp.
.a storage of 3 presets.
.a tripple footswitch

the features are good, but it seems like they kinda just wanted to tease you. each good feature has at least one downset.

With this i am using my main guitar, a Fender JAP Antigua Strat with a SD lil 59 in the bridge, soon to be a JB in the bridge.

i like to treat this amp as if it were a tube amp. i use one distortion moddel, the same amount of verb always, no effects, and use a delay and an OD pedal with this, plus my wah.

as for clean, i like lowering my neck pup on my strat way way down, making it very quiet, and giving me an almost clean sound. and switch to that position while playing live. I dont like using a completely clean tone, exept for a clean jazz song, or when recording clean guitar. live, a tad bit of gain on a clean sound works well.

The distortion moddels all sound pretty good, very realistic. I allways use the Classic stack moddel. I think this is supposed to moddel a marshall plexi. The Blackface, brit combo, and metal models are good too. For certain types of music different moddels work better.

I can get a really good beatles tone using the brit combo. thats what it's supposed to moddel i gues. and the blackface with alot of gain sounds pretty good too. when i want alot of gain i use the metal model, not live just when i feel like shredding. live i use a digitech bad monkey for a gain boost. as most have said, boost pedals dont really do much with this amp. but i still use it. the boost pedals do alot more if you use less gain. as i do. with the classic stack model i use about half gain, sometimes more, sometimes less.

really i think good pickups are an important tone factor when playing this amp.

its really tuff. its dropped out of a friends car. still fine. id certainly gig without a backup. ive gigged with this thing a couple dozen times. Plus tons of band peactice. When using this thing live, put it on a chair or stool. or buy an amp stand. you really get more volume from smaller amps if you elevate them so the speaker isint pointing at the ground, and you loose half your volume.

its good. its no flextone. so its not so easy to use live on its own. i play alot of old rock (zep, allman bros, jeff beck, clapton, srv), sometimes i like to crank the gain and play some harder rock. Im also heavy into blues. Jazz as well. The band im starting will be sortof funkjazzbluesrock-ish. this is a very versitile amp. id way sudgest getting it. the absoulte best amp for under 500 bucks with all these features. just do as i said, and treat it as a tube amp. buy a good OD, a delay, and a wah, and you're set.

In theory this amp seemed perfect for me - I had to order it because I couldn't find it in stock. I wanted to get a light SS amp that was punchy, warm and verstile. I was dissapointed. The cabinet, although closed backed, was not large enough to get some resonant warmth out of it. Although the JC clean sounded OK, I really wanted to be able to use the black panel at low gain for a sweet clean tone - this was not possible due to the digital clip present even at low gain - a nasty clip sound really. The best gain to my ears was the stack with the metal and rectifier modes being too fizzy. The tweed was also dissapointing especially when driven - very ugly sounding distortion. I wasn't looking for a tube sound out of this amp. I almost traded my Crate XT-65R for this - glad I didn't. I think the Crate, though less expensive, has much better tones and feel than this amp. To be fair, the Crate doesn't have chorus, delay or flange which sounded OK on this amp. So in conclusion - a barely adequate clean and unusable distortions to my ears. I don't own any tube amps because I generally like SS for my type of playing and rely on pedals for my OD sounds. I also own Evans and Ultrasound amps. Keep at it Roland - I KNOW you can do better than this - I really liked the Blues Cube series - now discontinued (why???). Maybe you need to lose the COSM or at least up the bit rate to get rid of the jagged distortion sounds. Analog wouldn't be a bad option....