Roland MicroCube Combo

For what it is this thing has a lot of features. I think it's already been covered. I have one possible "complaint". The AUX in does not have a volume control. This means that if you are going to play along to a CD or MD and actually do this in the street as a part of your performance (I do this from time to time) you're gonna have to record the back-up tracks as loud as possible or you may have a problem. On the other hand, with its own volume control the AUX input would have taken up space and used battry power.

And yes, one more thing. The smartest thing for a battery powered amp is to have the on and off switch located in the intpu jackTHis will lessen the chances of draining the batteries by accident.

Otherwise it's great. Especially the good sounding reverb which is not found in these kind of amps in general. I can't think of any reasonably priced battery ap that has it in fact.

Again, for what it is it's great. I have other battery amps that are louder, cleaner and sound better but they are also more expensive, bigger and heavier.

I have gigged with this one at small cafe type gigs and for acoustic shows it works just fine. Not getting enough clean volume out of it? Select the "mic" setting, much louder.

Can't really say yet but I do not expect any problem whatsoever.

Haven't had any reason to deal with Boss but they have a very, very good reputation when it comes to support of their products.

Great amp. I wanted to have one that was small enough for me to carry it to work more or less everyday without being bothered by it. This is it.

And for what it's worth... I've played in the streets for over 10 years. This amp is as loud as you'll ever need. Or at least in most cases that's true. People want to hear you when you play something cool in the streets but they don't want the sound to attack them. This amp is just right.

Bought new. Made 2004?

Features already noted by many others.

Has the basic amp models, mod effects, delay / reverb effect you need, let's you play along with CDs, MP3s, is highly portable, and sounds great for a small amp in the bedroom. For what it is, it's unsurpassed for features. And... if you wish, you can also feed it into another amp. The amp models and FX are good enough that it stands on its own as a basic guitar processor.

I've only tried it with my Agile LP 2500 (LP copy) so far.


I set it up on top of my Pro Junior, and had my MagicStomp amp / FX processor on hand, too, to compare the amp models. And I had my MP3 player to pump some backing tracks into the MicroCube. Playing was done in the bedroom with the kids not too far off sleeping.

A few points:

- The amp models are just top notch. Really very impressive. It's not marketing BS when they said they put high quality modeling into it.

- Compared to MagicStomp modeling, the MicroCube models were good or better. The cranked Vox on the Cube was very cool.

- I also piped the Cube into my Pro Junior. Worked great.

- I accidently hooked the 'Aux in' of the Cube into my Pro Junior. It worked... playing BOTH amps at once! I don't think this will hurt anything, but it's certainly not something they say in the owner's manual. For the most part, when I played the Cube into my Pro Junior, I used the REC out, and that cuts out the Cube's amp.

- The lil' Cube amp by itself has its own wonderful vibe. It sounds just great cranked on recto tones for bedroom volumes. The JC Clean with a little modulation is also great, as it the Twin amp with some reverb.

- With backing tracks from my MP3 player (um, a Palm PDA for me... ) you got a great practice tool going. You can jam away and quickly jump around to different amp models and FX. The Cube controls and feature are limited, but the 'KISS' principle of simplicity rules when you just want to play and have fun.

- I was prompted to get the Cube, believe it or not, because I found the GDEC by Fender to be a lot of fun. I got to thinking about it, and figured that this MicroCube + an MP3 player or drum machine will be more fun and sound at least as good or better in the long run.

No, it's not as wonderfully toneful as my Zvex Nano Head or Fender Pro Junior. But that's not why I bought it. For what it is - portability and versatility at a low volume - the sound is superb.
Anyway, big thumbs up for the MicroCube!

Seems reasonable solid. Time will tell.

NA

I think I've already said it, but so far I'm very impressed. I haven't tried it with batteries.... and that will be a key use when I do try it that way.

But based on how much fun it is to play and jump around to different quality sounds on this thing, I have to give it a high rating.

The features of this little gem have been covered. It's a 2 watt modelling amp with 5 amp models, an acoustic guitar simulator and a mike channel. One tone control, volume and gain, speaker simulated headphone out/record out, Aux in, batteries or wall wart all in a tight little tone package.

The tone is wide ranging enough, but bass and treble would have been nice.

I wanted an external speaker out jack, so I added one. I wil be adding an uncompensating line out as well.

The tweaking Roland did on this speaker (take a look at the extra magnet on the back of the speaker) has somehow extended the frequency response of this little thing. Ran through a pair of Greenbacks in a halfstack and it was unbelievable. With an uncompensated line out, I could drive a larger power amp with the Cube and use it for a preamp.

The effects aren't earth shattering, but they are simple to use, versatile and do the job.

The reverb is a bit bright. I'd like a bit fuller reverb tone, but heck...the amp would be worth the money even if there were no effects or reverb.

All kinds of guitars including modded Teles, Les Pauls, Strat types, electric 12 strings...all with piezo bridges and very versatile pickup switching. (I build guitars, effects and amps, as well as mod them). This amp will suit nearly anything I play. It will be used in home practice but might make it into recording or even band practice. The clean models hold up well, especially for the low power and small speaker. The distorted models are great. Heck, the first time I played the VC30 model, I could actually hear and feel the "power amp compression" as I played. Few tube amps can do that at household/bedroom volumes.

It's not noisy (aside from my sloppy playing), but I don't use single coils and shield all my guitars.

The distortion models are pretty good. Next to my girlfriend's triple channel, dual rectifier Mesa, it holds it's own tonewise.

Again, my only tonal beef is I wish the reverb was a bit fuller.

I've been modding it for some other functions, and it's built pretty sturdily, especially for a SMT build (surface mount components.) I did seal the inside of the cabinet to protect against moisture damage. Water and partical board make a big mess. It shouldn't need servicing. I have lots of small practice amps and this one, while not the loudest, is the most versitile, and it should stand a lot of hard use.

As a repair tech, Roland is not the easiest company to deal with. They job out their repair parts to a third party company and it can take a while to get parts or even schematics. This may be the weak link. But, I do own a lot of Roland and Boss equipment and have had little trouble with any of it, even when I've extensively modded it.

They are nice people though once you can get through the menus to get to one. But long, vague menus are everywhere, and they aren't any worse than any other company. I usually rate recorded menues by the background music used while on hold.

I've been playing since 1967 and hope to improve one of these years. This thing is so cute, if stolen, I'd definitely hunt the skunk down and get it back. My girlfriend's buying me a sweet 9mm Baretta for my birthday, and I gotta shoot something...it might as well be someone who steals any of my equipment. While I am not the expert shot my girlfriend is, I can look pretty menacing without being armed. I'll be itching to practice shooting something.

I've got lots of small practice amps (and lots of mid sized and large amps as well.) My favorite was the old Peavey Decade (I've got 5 of them) and they are all tweaked to taste. I've got old tube amps, like Kalmazoo, Harmony, and others. Danelectros, Silvertones, Fenders, Vox's and lots of others, including home built. This one is special as it has a pinch of nearly every amp I own in it.

Comparing it to our Pignose, the first and for a long time the best practice amp, it's like comparing a 72 Dodge Dart to a new Accura. Both do their thing, but the Micro Cube is just too much fun.

I wish it had an uncompensated line out (which I will add) and if I get my hands on the schematic, it will have other new functions.

I may build the rotary switch decoding circuit for changing models into a pedal to allow me to change models. The decoding circuit is fed with only 3 wires so this may be possible.

AN EDITORIAL OPINION. As I read reviews on Harmony Central, I read time and time again people griping that they hate the piece of equipment they are reviewing. Well, why the heck did you buy it in the first place, and why do you expect it to do something it clearly wasn't designed to do?

It's like buying a used Geo Metro and then complaining you can't haul your three wheeler or water ski so the car's a piece of junk.

Choose the RIGHT tool for the job and use it in the manner it was meant to be used.

I bought a Zoom amp modeller some time ago. It sounds great, and I love it, but you cannot store settings as you can with a POD, or Beheringer modeler. I could complain it's a P-O-S because I can't store presets, but it wasn't designed for that. It was well worth the money I bought it for, and will sound as good 15 years from now as it did when I bought it.

I have a blackface Deluxe Reverb (not a reissue.) Should I complain it doesn't have channel switching? Should I rant and rave that it doesn't keep up with the other guitar player's 350 watt Marshall Mode 4? Of course not. It's one of the true classics and it is what it is. It does one thing...but it does it like God was breathing through it.

Lighten up. Music is entertainment. Don't use the annonominity of a forum such as this to sound like a bigger idiot than you might be.

And don't criticize my spelling. My head isn't cooperating today.

I just bought the Micro cube for teaching private lessons in students homes. One channel, digital modeling, lots of features for such a small amp (headphone jack, CD line out, 6AA battery or adapter power, 6 amp models, effects, ability to use two effects simultaneously.) 4 inch speaker, 2 watts. Like I said, I use the amp for teaching. If I ever do street gigs (which I have yet to do) this thing would be perfect. The amp gets pretty loud for 2 watts. FX include chorus, delay, flange, phaser, reverb, tremelo. Amp models include acoustic simulator, JC 120, Fender blackface,Vox AC 30, Marshall, Mesa Rectifier. MAster volume and gain control.

I play mainly a Parker Nitefly. The amp is very quiet (generally the single coils in the Nitefly buzz like a mother#@$#%^%, not so when I plug into this.) Plenty of variety to the sounds. I especially like the Fender and Vox models. The cleans don't distort but at higher volume the amp starts to crap out. (No surprise with the 4 inch speaker.) For what it is, this thing sounds really great.

We'll see.

I've been playing for 18 years, professionally since about age 16 or so. My main amp is an Ampeg Reverberocket reissue. (Great bargain tube amp.) The micro cube is an amazing piece of gear for what it is (a practice amp with a 4 inch speaker that's about the size of a, I don't know, it's pretty small though). For the size it sounds amazing. Surprisingly rich lows on the Fender model. The vox model has a great clean to dirty range. Overall if you're looking for an extremely portable little practice amp (particularly to teach lessons with if you do "housecall" lessons) this is the amp to buy. Price is a little high but it was a good purchase.

This little amp is loaded with features.
Check their website for all the details.
The nice features are:
The cd/mp3 input jack, which is very cool when you want to play along with a song.
The battery operation. Although I haven't tested it, they say you can get around 20 hours of playing with 6 AA batteries. Now, how cool is that?!
The tuning fork button is very appreciated too.
Lots of effects and amp sims.

The one thing that bugs me a bit is the placement of the controls. They are at the back of the top. I mostly pratice sitting down with the amp at shoulder level. There's no way to see the controls that way, you have to lean the amp towards you every time. A bit annoying.
And the power button is at the back of the amp, in the middle somewhere..... very hard to find while not looking. Annoying too.
Because of those few design flaws I have to give it a 9.

I use a Gibson SG Special and an Ibanez SZ320MH with this amp.
I bought it as a bedroom pratice amp.
It is not a noisy amp. And although they say it's only a 2 watts amp, man, it can get pretty loud for 2 watts.
When you start going over the halfway volume setting, things start to get mushy, muddy and crappy. Stay below volume 5.
After the initial WOW feelings you get with something new, you get critical pretty fast with this amp. The micro cube tries to be several different amps in one, and fails miserably with each.
But don't get me wrong, for the price you pay this is some incredible little piece of hardware. Just don't buy it for it's incredible sound, of which you'll soon tire of. It's a small inexpensive practice amp with loads of bonus stuff in it, and works wonders if you see it as such.
So, based on what it is and not on what it tries to be, I have to give it a 9.

Very solid stuff this micro cube.
I guess you could kick it, drop it, carry it everywhere with you and it would still keep on playing.
I'm very delicate with my stuff, but this baby can stand some pretty evil abuse for sure.
Very reliable.

Haven't had to deal with them.

I've been playing for about 26 years. I bought this amp as a practice amp, and it does the job very well. It's just that after a few months I got tired pretty fast of the crappy sound. Now, I basically play my guitars through my V-amp, with headphones, without using the cube.
This Roland Micro-Cube is a very good practice amp if you don't expect incredible sound. You get what you pay for here.
It will probably end up in the hands of my 13 year old son (which has recently showed interest in playing guitar himself) and I will go and get myself a Line6 Spider II amp, a bit more expensive but in a diffenrent category too, which IMHO will make my guitars shine a bit better while practicing.

It's amazing how many features they packed into this small box.
6 COSM amp models, 6 effects, tuning fork. One of the best features is the small size and that it runs on batteries, it seems to draw little current so batteries last long time.
I was looking for something very portable, so I can easily move around and it fits the bill very nicely.
The only feature I don't care about is the tuning fork, I would prefer a bass EQ instead.

The sound is amazing for such a small package, I found that it gives the best tone with volumes knob turned to around 9:30 and 10:00, after that it's starts distorting and bass is starting to kill the speaker. But even at that setting it gives enough volume to practice at home.
I like the JC Clean, Black face and Brit combo settings the best, reverb, chorus, flanger and phaser are very nice. I don't use tremolo much.
i tried it as a preamp through my 50W marshall and the amp models sounded quite nice.
Sometimes I connect my Boss drum machine to Aux in and practice with that and it sound good.

It is very well built, front grill is a very solid mesh, and the box itself is very thick and sturdy.
I never had any problems with any boss/roland stuff, so I expect this to be very reliable.

Never dealt with them.

This is a very nice, very protable amp, it's not loud enough for gigging or practicing with a band, but for home practice it's perfect.
It's got very nice tone and features for such a small package.
I'm 100% satisfied with it and I would get another one in a heart beat. There isn't much that you can compare this to, so if you want a small very portable amp that sounds nice, has some effects built in and runs on batteries, there is no other choice, but that's ok because this thing does it very nicely.

This amp has a LOT of features for such a cheap box. The only feature that I would add would be an extrenal speaker jack. It has a recording/headphone jack that is controlled by the volume control. I assume that you could run it into another amp and use the Cube as a pre-amp. That should be interesting. It has effects and models. It's a really fun amp that will pull good things out of your fingers.

Sounds... This is why I bought the amp today. It sounds good. I was looking for a SS amp, I have quite a few tube amps and a Flextone III and a Trademark-10. I went to the store to try out a Peavey Bandit II but it didn't speak to me. I tried one of the Fender Dyna-Touch amps and it is an ICEPICK, you can't dial the higs out of it. I tried a Vox Valvetronix, a Vox Brian May (it's a great little amp too), I tried the other Roland Cube amps but this one grabbed my pants leg and would not let me leave without it. It is sitting right beside me now. I love it.

Who knows? Roland has a good rep. No worries...

????

It's a great little amp that makes me want to play and it doesn't hurt my ears...yet.

I really am in love with it so far. I was just on Ebay looking at the Cube-60 amps and the Blues Cube amps... that's how impressed I am with this little wonder. BTW, I build small amps...tweed Champs and 5e3 deluxes. They are nice but they will not do what this little amp will do without being louder than I want them to be. It was time to feed the GAS and this really did the trick.

The amp was made in 2005. It is a very small unit designed for portability first and foremost -- 2 watts power, 5 inch speaker, 7 pounds weight, runs for 20 hours on 6 alkaline "AA" batteries or on power via a wall wart. It will accept 1/4" mono or mini-jack input (e.g. for a CD player). A 1/4" "rec out" jack can be used either for recording or for headphones.

The amp includes COSM amp modeling with 6 amp types, ranging in style from clean to heavy metal. Effects include chorus, flange, reverb, tremolo, and delay.

The amp is amazingly quiet when powered up. With all controls set to maximum, there is no audible hiss. As a front end for recording, this thing will do the job.

I've tried the unit with both guitar and harmonica, using the "mic input" setting for the latter. It will produce a decent blues harp sound for harmonica, though 1) not very flexible and 2) more prone to feedback that I like. The effects don't sound very good with harmonica either.

The unit sounds terrific with guitar -- every amp model has lots of character, and they cover a wide range of sounds for such a small and inexpensive unit. The effects obviously were designed to sound best with guitar, and they do the job. The main limitation on the effects is that they have very little flexibility -- one can set delay time but not number of repeats, for example; one can set chorus and flange wet/dry but not depth, regen time, etc., etc.

Reverb or delay mya be used with any of the other effects.

For a 2 watt amp, it's plenty loud.

I haven't had the amp long enough to know how it will perform over time. External design and build quality seems very solid -- lots of reinforcement on the corners, metal grill protecting the speaker, nothing sticking out waiting to be broken off, etc.

Because I haven't had a breakdown, I've never had to call the company. The warranty is 1 year, pretty normal for this kind of gear.

Given the design intentions and constraints -- very small size and weight, very low price -- this thing is terrific. It's loud enough and light enough for street gigs, it's quiet enough to plug straight into a recording console, and the palette of amp models and effects, while limited, has enough variety to be useful in a range of styles. The quality of the sound it produce for guitar is remarkable.

I'm sure that many guitarists would find this to a be a useful tool.

See rolandus for the features or just read the other posts. This amp is wonderful for me.

I have many strats in different configurations..stock, with real Bill Lawrence pups, with Carvin pups, Fat strats too, and a Parker Fly Classic. I can use this amp for most of my styles Blues, Rock, heavy rock etc.etc.

The amp is just plain cool and gives you a nice feel when you play your guitar. I am not a fan of the rectifier setting. I do like the Fender settings and the marshal setting as well as the jc setting. This amp works well with my rc anbd ac booster pedals.

At higher volumes it can get bassy...flabby, fartty.

I also have the cube 60 but I purchased this first. Other than these two roland amps, all my other amps are vintage to new fender tube amplifiers, crate tube vc series, and boogie. This amp is light and sounds fine.

I have done some interesting things with it that you should try also.

I run the line out to an eq pedal then feed my fender tube amps or my mosvalve power amp. I use the eq pedal for a boost for my solos. This little amp is amazing when used as a pramplifier like I use it sometimes.

I have rehearsed with this amp with an sm57 mic in front of it. I like trying things!

The FX section is not usable however (I cannot use it anyway), the reverb and delay are.

The clean settings work better for me. The recto sound which I do not like at all. I really don't like it on the cube 60 either.

People that are more into the heavy distorted sound can give a better descriotion than I can.

This is my third one. The first two had problems with the wall wart powersupply getting very hot and the amp sagging out. This one has been solid and works all the time. It has fallen off of my deck and down the stairs, my dog ran off with it to get me to play with her and dropped it down a flight of stairs. It didn't even sustain a ding in the finish. I guess I was lucky for the first time ever.

I can depend on it and actually will be using it at a gig feeding into one channel of my deluxe reverb. I always have a backup whether I need it or not. Get serious, if you a being paid to play, you better be prepared for whatever.........

I haven't had to deal with anyone but my dealer.. They are top notch. Daddy's Music in North Dartmouth, MA. Probably the only good shop in the chain.

Been playing since I was 7, now 46. Still gigging on weekends.
I love the sound and size and ease of setting up anywhere. I love being able to mic this tiny thing an dplay a gig like I had my full rig on stage.

Lots of features for a highly portable, $125 practice amp that fits in a suitcase. I was looking at a Pignose until I saw the FX and amp models this has.

This was purchased to bring on business trips. I keep getting hassled in every hotel when I play my guitars through my THD Univalve.
Lately I have been flying out of state and I wanted something that would fit in my suitcase. This fits, and leaves plenty of room for everything else.
I have tried my Tele, Strat, and Les Paul through this amp and they all sound good. Recently, I bought a freaky acrylic travel guitar off eBay but it I don't have it yet to run through this amp.

I contend that this amp has plenty of clean headroom on the JC 120 setting when using the supplied power adapter. Dying batteries may produce a different result. Adjustment of the Gain and Volume knobs are key, here. The Black Panel setting has an emphasis on bass and treble frequencies and the speaker does become overloaded at higher volumes on this setting. The bass craps out. No matter to me, I don't use it as I prefer the JC 120 for the flat eq'd clean sounds.
My favorite sound is the Vox model. It is suprisingly dynamic and resopnds well to pick attack. I never would have thunk it was possible from a solid state amp like this.
The Marshall and Mesa models are fun for a few minutes but I end up back on the Vox. The Marshall and Vox are voiced with a lot of midrange and the Mesa is voiced without midrange.

The Reverb, Delay, and Phaser are my favorite FX. I think they sound best with the clean amp models but that's because I rarely use effects with my bigger amps anymore. With this amp, they add a depth to the clean sounds that really makes me feel like I got a great PRACTICE amp for a great price.

I haven't had it long enough to rate in this category.
It seems sturdy. I am going to fly with it soon and I'll report back.

Never dealt with them.

I have been playing for 24 years. I have THD, Fender, and Marshall tube amps and a few nice guitars.

This is the best $125 I have spent on music gear in a long while.
Because of it's perfect size and quality of sound for my application, I would surely buy it again if lost or stolen.

If you want an amp this size and configured as it is for anything other than practice, good luck with that.