Roland MicroCube Combo

Made in 2004 this practice amp still suits the old fashioned styles I play: Stonesy rock, Beatles, early days Led Zep, some Stax-influenced soul vamping ;). No channel switching, no effects loop, but but the various amp types are very tweakable and it has built in effects.
Jack for headphones (works best with the clean sounds, I'd say it's more of an emergency option straight from the amp. If you want good 'phone sound, run the amp into your stereo and that HP output).
Like mentioned earlier, the tuning fork isn't essential, that's where the on/off switch should be. A digital tuner would be nice, but I'm not sure if it would fit. This is a nice and compact little thing! Put a tuner in front of it (let me digress here for a bit: I use the tuner of a Pandora's box, but I wouldn't put that in front of the Cube. So I use Boss' Acoustic Simulator as a by-passer, when I step on it the signal goes into Pandora and I can tune *silently*).
I think all modelling types are useful, depending of course on the style you play. I won't be using Mesa a lot unless I want to blast out something like My My Hey Hey. It can get brutal!
I use it at home, more than enough power for that. Surprisingly deep for it's size.
Comes with a wall-wart.

I use mainly a Les Paul Classic with the hot humbuckers, this works best with the Vox modelling. Tone at about 2 o'clock, gain at noon or a little past, and I have a nice warm slightly distorted sound to play all the Stones, Mick Ronson w/ Bowie and The Black Crowes stuff I love. A little more gain and it's Good Times Bad Times Jimmy Page time. The Marshall thing I don't use much but crank it and go Angus go! LP brings nice dark clean sounds out of JC and Fender settings, in fact the first usable clean sounds I've gotten from that guitar, the pandora's box settings always came out colorless. Acoustic style works fine with the LP, good enough, that's why I use the Boss to "switch on" the tuner. LP gets pretty bassy with all the other settings except Vox where it's well balnced somehow. But at least I get that bottom to drive the rhythm!
I also use a Strat which is naturally better for clean sounds and doesn't emphasise the heavier strings that much. Sounds harsh on the acoustic unless the tone is well on the bassier side. What I like about the Cube a lot is that the settings work with different types of guitar, they just change character instead of becoming unusable or weird.
I'd say MC is quiet, then again I haven't had to turn it even half way up. You do get a good sound and tone at low volumes, interference free.
Like I said the amp is very tweakable, even with just one tone knob it gives a wide range of colors. The different settings react to gain and volume interaction beautifully, like my fave, the Vox (British Combo) goes from clean to crunchy to dirty.
All FX have a range from hardly there at all to a lot, tho' delay isn't very dominant and tremolo should have that adjustable depht. Good thing delay or reverb can be used all the time while chorus, flanger, phaser and trem cancel share a control.
Put any pedals in front of it, and you can use the aux in to play along a recording or a drum machine, whatever.
Rec out, connect the thing to a stereo system or a PA and it sounds even better.

This a sturdy little thing. Take it anywhere. No need for back-up unless you really want to make sure. It will last a long time, tho' it's in the toy amp category, it is a well-built toy, good materials have been used.

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I've been playing since 1978. After playing bass in some bands through monster Peaveys, I've settled or stressless life of making demos and just paying what I like on six strings at home. My previous little amp was THE Pignose, but it lacked the depht I needed even with Pandora's Box. Micro Cube delivers (I'm so happy!).
I'd buy a new one if I lost it.
I chose it for it's features and sound. It's the best in it's category. It's loud enough (and then some) for playing at home or jamming with another guitarist or a bass player... and a quiet drummer... Cubes 15 or 30 would be too much, and this has most of the same features.
I wish it had a tuner. Otherwise it has plenty for the price, in fact everything I need to just play and enjoy the music.
With aux in I can for example use the Boss acoustic pedal through it when it's connected to the hifi-system. Additionally the MIC-option can be used for voice, and Cube's reverb works for that too, so it's usable for some low budget home recording: no need to buy anything else but a mic for your vocals.

I bought mine used. Whoa! This amp is cooool! Amp modeling, digital reverb & delay, chorus, flange, phase shifting, tremelo. All in a $100 battery operated amp. Unheard of, dude.

If you've ever been put off to modeling amps before, try this out ASAP. You will be shocked at how good this can sound, even thru its measly 5" speaker.

I bought this on a whim off eBay. I collect battery operated amps and I bought this one and an AXL Thin Amp on the same day. They also arrived on the same day. I first played thru the AXL. It wasn't bad, a little tinny sounding. The effects were OK, but a bit hard to dial in. My wife asked me to turn it down.

Then I plugged into the MicroCube. Immediately it sounded rich, full and cool BEFORE I EVEN TURNED A SINGLE KNOB! That's because this amp cannot sound bad (at least to me). My wife came into the room and (no lie) said "honey, that sounds nice. Is it new?" ...I rest my case.

I've tried the Line 6 amps before and never liked their modeling amps (I love the POD and Variax). This amp, this small, battery operated "toy" amp has completely changed my mind about modeling amps. I get it now. It took Roland to show me the light. This is the future of amp technology, folks.

It has 6 modeling amps - Acoustic, JC Clean, Black Panel, Brit Combo, Classic & Rectifier. Also has a mic setting. Every one of these is usable. If you can't find a setting you like on here, it's time to get new batteries for your hearing aid. There's not a guitar that I own that I cannot make sound good on here.

I'm primarily a roots player, so I don't like a lot of useless overdrive settings. I do a lot of Pre Production with artists before I record them. That means we sit down and go over the arrangements, key selections etc. I use this all the time for that, plugging an acoustic electric guitar into a clean setting on it. I also use it for songwriting. It inspires me when I sound good. And when I'm inspired, I write better songs.

It has basically 2 EFX knobs. One controls chorus, flanger, phaser and tremelo - these effects are preset and by turning the knob CW you progressively get more of that effect until finally it enters into the next effect. It's hard to explain, but is very intuitive and easy once you do it a few times. The presets are very good. Sure, you can't adjust every parameter of an effect, but that also allows you to be creavive on your instrument without fiddling around with knobs all the time. It's simple. Brilliant!

The Delay/Reverb knob works similarly, except the delay time changes as you turn the knob. The reverb gets heavier and deeper in the same way when it's turned CW.

I usually don't ever use a line out from an amp to record with, but I was in my studio the other day and needed to lay down a quick guide guitar and used the Rec/Out and got an excellent result. I'll be recording more that way in the future, mainly because the amp modeling is so useful.

I'm not sure this amp is loud enough for club work. Maybe for a coffee house. I was so impressed with this amp that I also bought it's bigger brother the Cube 30. Same kind of setup, but with more power. (I'll review the Cube 30 after I field test it on a gig.)

I'm serious though - you cannot sound bad with this amp. Impossible.

I've always had good luck with Roland/Boss stuff. I have already used this in professional situations with spectacular results. For only $100!!!

In all my years, I don't believe I've ever had a Boss/Roland unit ever fail on me.

I'm a professional player. I play with The Hellecasters and also write a column in Guitar Player Magazine on eBay strategies. I am not a Roland endorsee. I just love this amp and now own 3. This amp will be a classic in 30 years. Hell, it's a classic now.

The only negative for me: The on/off switch is on the back and almost impossible to find. The tuning fork switch is pretty useless for me. They shoulda put the on/off there instead.

Point is, that most "modelling" anythings sound crappy. Hated the Pod. The MicroCube sounds quite convincing. I prefer some sounds to others, but that is personal. The Good Stuff: battery operated if you need it, portable and light too....so good for that alone.

Last gig I took it along as my "pedal board"...yep, just used all the settings instead of pedals, and used the line out into a bigger amp.

Worked pretty well.

Tried it with a range of geetars, all sound reasonable, no real problems here.
I play everything from hard rock to.....well......and I think that the sounds are all useful.The reverb is pretty good too for a box like this.

I think you would get pretty good results recording with it.

I have a heap of "collectible" amps, from AC30s to BlackFaces, and I think this amp stacks up pretty well sonically.

Agree that the worst part is the bottom end, the bass "woofs" out badly if pushed. But used carefully, it is a great box for the price.

The idea of using it as an on-stage FX means that if you just use a reasonably clean, punchy amp, you can cover a lot of amp sounds. Need to be careful with settings and how you drive the big amp, but overall a good concept.

who knows?

no need yet

Have been playing for 40+ years. Have tons of geetars, from Fender to Gibson and humbucking to single coils, plus many amps....from little valve guys to collectible models to solid state ones...if it sounds good, it is good.

No one amp does it all, some are better when the right pedals are in-front.

But for what it does, this is a good, useful box, for rehearsing, recording, or driving a big amp...and for travelling...combine with a Hohner G3T for an excellent portable setup.

Yes, I would probably replace it if it went away.
Best: sounds, portability.
Worst: bottom end (small speaker syndrome?)

MGF in 2004, This amp is the proverbial 20lbs of "stuff" in a 5lb box! For a portable mini, you just can't find a more feature rich small amp.
It includes 7 guitar amp models including Fender and Marshall and a mic preamp model.
6 DSP effects: chorus, flanger, phaser, tremolo and separate Delay/Reverb plus a built in tuning fork model! It also includes
recording/Headphones output and stereo Auxiliary input for CD players, etc
I can't thnk of any other features I need in such a small footprint.
I use this thing all the time instead of my big Line6 because it runs off of batteries.

I have several electrics; Strat, Les Paul and a Gibson ES-335. It sounds terrific with all of them. it gives quite a bit of versatility
with no noise or hum unless you crank everything up to 10. You do have to ride the volume volume levels depending on the model you select.The effects are relatively decent too. Don't let the specifications fool you (2 watts and a 5 inch speaker) This cube can crank it out, it's all you'll want in a practice amp for sure. It sounds more like a 10-15 watt unit but it is so lightweight to haul around.

Obviously, this is a practice amp-don't try to gig with it unless you are soloing for your preschoolers Barney show. If I had to draw on paper what I thought I needed in a small, portable, light weight A/C and battery operated unit, The Roland Micro Cube nailed it!
This thing is dependable and came with carrying strap (looks like a car battery with it on) and a power A/C adapter. It'll run about 15-20 hours on 6 AA batteries.

I have never needed it, but Roland has a cool website with quite a bit of info and very nice Videos there on the unit with video/sound demos, (That sold me!).
Parts & labor warranty is 3 years.

I originally purchased a Fender 15R and was very disappointed. I exchanged it for the Micro Cube and have never looked back! I'd recommend this little bably to anyone wanting a real practice amp.
It is by far the best money I've spent on guitar products in awhile
(don't tell my wife!).

Very good features for the size and class of this amp - but definitely not made for acoustic guitars with active pickups.

Sounds excellent with passive pickups only - on solid body electric guitars. I brought my Godin A6 and Taylor 514ce into the store to try it and it distorted even on the clean setting on low volume - it simply sounded awful with these guitars. I tried other acoustic electric floor models on this - There's no usable acoustic guitar tones at all. It's definitely not made for acoustics and acoustic hybrids with active pickups. The Fender Amp Can sounds better, louder and can handle the active pickups - but it doesn't have all the fancy sound effects. I normally use a little chorus and reverb on my Marshall AS80R to spruce up my acoustic tone. I really was looking for something small, battery powered with decent volume to use while playing intimate solo acoustic gigs at the local coffee shop. I guess I'll have to continue lugging my Marshall to the gigs (but it's way too big). I play mainly instrumental fingerstyle solo guitar where a small amp is needed to cut through the typical chatter and murmer level of your typical coffee shop. It's definitely just an electric guitar practice amp - or for the electric guitar playing street musicians you see playing at your local outdoor Saturday Markets and such. I really tried to like this little puppy for my style of playing - but it just won't do. Roland should come out with a battery powered version of the AC-60 - I'd buy that!

...for electric solid body guitars only, this fits the bill...I suppose it is reliable enough to use for practicing and such.

Haven't dealt with Roland/Boss, but their website is pretty decent.

I've been playing for over thirty years in various rock bands, acoustic duos and jazz trios. But i've since hung up my electric guitars and concentrating on strictly acoustic fingerstyle. Again, I tried to like it for my style of playing with the guitars I use and have come to the conclusion that acoustics jsut weren't meant to be played through this thing, no matter how much you tweak it.

I'm not going to re-hash these; they're all there below. I say 8 because, while there are lots of features in a very small package, I think it needed one more knob to provide better control over the chorus/phase/flange/tremelo.

All kinds; Strats and Teles, LPs, Gretsch, Rics. Seems to work well with all on the Class A, pretty well on the Stack. I don't use the Rectifier mode, and am disappointed with the blackface mode (I know it's supposed to be bassy, but it's too bassy to my ears). The JC120 is fine for clean, as you would expect from Roland. The main model that I was interested in was the Class A anyway, and to my ears it's the best of the lot. I really like the way this mode distorts as well; to my ears not nearly as harsh as the other models...much more tube-like. As to the effects, they're fine, but I'd like something to tweak the depth of the tremelo; it's the one effect I'd like most to have, but I don't use it because I can't get it to sound the way I'd like. Oh well, if I want tremelo I'll use a pedal; not a huge deal. Chorus, flange and phase are better, though I don't use them much. I do think that the delay and reverb are very good; delay's quite good for a slap-back Sun Studios sound, or even a Dark Side of The Moon tune if maxed. The reverb sounds like a good spring reverb to me, but I use it at a very low setting, just to add a bit of depth.

Seems to be fine, but I hope not to drop it. At least it weighs less than most of my "real" amps.

I've been serious about playing and getting good tone for about 6 years now. Good tone is like the Holy Grail; I'll spend the rest of my life looking for it, and will only come close to finding it. The thing about this little bugger that led me to put this review out here is that I think the Class A mode is FANTASTIC. I have a 1963ish Vox AC30, which with all of its foibles sounds great, a Korg AC15 (also sounds great), a Pathfinder Stack and a Brian May; the MicroCube's Class A mode sounds as realistic as any model of an AC30 that I've ever heard, and in some respects it's much more "user friendly" - sizewise, loudnesswise, heatwise, weightwise. Would I give up the AC30 for it? Well hell no, but for sitting in the living room practicing, this beats lugging the AC30 downstairs anyday (kidding-- I wouldn't), and with the effects this is an outstanding little package. I likely will rarely use any of the other amp models (maybe the stack if I play some Oasis tunes); the Class A is enough for almost everything I play anyway, and even with the other amps I have that should be more true to Vox tones, I honestly think this one beats the Korg amps at their own sound.

This little amp has a decent smattering of features to keep practicing and playing with small groups fun. It has a few different amp emulations (acoustic sim, Roland, Fender, VOX, Marshall, and Mesa-type sounds), as well as a modulation-based effects knob and a delay/echo-based effects knob. None of these effects are super-controllable or "perfect" sounding, but they DO sound good and like I said, keep playing fun. The modulation effects run a bit thick sounding. There is also a gimmicky little tuner (you hit a button and it makes a tuning fork noise)... I actually find it useful and if they got cost-savings by doing it this way, good for them. Also, there is line-in and out (recording level too), and it can run on batteries. That is cool.

This amp sounds pretty good, and at times will really surprise you for its sound vs size! However, let's not kid ourselves, it has a 5" speaker and since it is a closed-back enclosure, when you turn it up load the bass puts out more thump than the little guy can take and it makes a bit of a muffled "huffing" on some settings. BUT... you can work around this. The VOX and Marshall emulations seem to have enough mid to high range sound that they can cancel this effect out. Also, it seems like if you turn the volume past 1/2 way, the bass doesn't increase any further--that part of the volume curve seems to just boost mids and highs... a good thing. These are the sounds that make you cut through when you are playing anyways. The amp sounds more like an 8-10 watt amp in my opinion, but since the bass seems to have a good deal of weak-spots, you can't really use it for any type of live performance, except maybe solo playing in a small room. If you can live with these quirks, and they are kind of endearing since the amp is so tiny, it may be perfect for practicing alone or with some friends (no drums).

Seems really solid! Comes with 5 year warranty. Well built and Roland/Boss has a good name. The AC/battery options are nice too. I hope the bass-issue where it really muffles the sound isn't causing any hard to the electronics, but it doesn't seem like it... it's designed to be a combo amp.

Never dealt with them. Big company, so I don't know if that's good or bad.

This little item is something that will turn heads when people hear it because it definately outplays itself. When you DO find those sound sweet spots on it, it is certainly sweet. My "other" amp is a Tone King class-A tube amp, and before that I had a Top Hat. So I "know" what good tube tone sounds like. It has a certain cushion-quality to the sound that is warm and enjoyable to play with. Well, surprisingly, this little amp has a few sounds that have a similar vibe to them. I really think it's a cool amp... maybe it is a bit of a "toy" but at the price who can mind that? I plan to use it at home and for ensemble practicing with other guitars. It should do fine. Maybe it will become a collector piece one day!

This is a brand new Microcube. See features below. The tuner is great. Headphone jack is a life saver late at night. Extremely versatile. Only gripe is that the power switch is a little tough to find sometimes since it's on the back of the amp.

This baby sounds excellent. It quickly has become my primary toodling amp. I typically play through it with a PRS CE22, which sounds excellent on either humbucker or single coil configs. The model I use almost exclusively is the Marshall stack. Can go from huge gain to very clean with the twist of the guitar's volume knob. I especially love the PRS's single coil settings. In a strange way this little amp has inspired me more than my real tube amps (Peaveys, Mesa's, Marshalls, etc.). Noise suppressor works perfectly and seems pretty transparent until you forget the amp is on while taking a breather.

No problems after four or five months. I could use this thing to jack up my Nova while changing punkin' oil!

This is probably the best $125 I've ever spent. I've been playing for about 15 years and this is my first "micro" amp. I also currently own a Peavey Classic 30 and Mesa Rectoverb. This amp stays by my couch along with my PRS, making evening practice much more enjoyable and inspiring.

this little toy was probably built around 2002 or 2003.It works with 6 AA batteries,and adapter cable for normal use.It comes with 7 different channels,tone,gain,efx,delay/reverb.its great for practicing and its pretty loud for its size.

I USE THIS AMP AS MY PRACTICE AMP AT HOME OR AT PLACES WHERE A NORMAL SIZE AMP DOES NOT FIT.IT SOUNDS GREAT THROU STUDIO MIXERS AND IDEAL FOR RECORDING DEMOS OR ANYTHING THAT REQUIRES QUICK WORKING.IT FEATURES ACOUSTIC.JC CLEAN,BLACK PANEL,BRIT COMBO,CLASSIC STACK,R-FIER,MIC.

I CANT TELL YOU IF YOU COULD GIG WITH IT...BUT IT SURE AS HELL HAS HELPED ME THROU MY PRACTICE SESSIONS AT HOME.

I NORMALLY WOULD HESSITATE TO RECOMEND ANY AMPLIFIER AT ALL.IVE BEEN PLAYING GUITAR FOR MORE THAN 15 YEARS AND HAVE HAD SO MANY AMPS I COULDNT REMEMBER THEM EVEN IF I WANTED TO.BUT FOR THE FIRST TIME I HAVE TO ADMIT THAT THIS AMP REALLY SOUNDS GREAT FOR MY TASTE IN MUSIC(HEAVY METAL ALA IRON MAIDEN,JUDAS PRIEST ETC.)AND WOULD STRONGLY RECOMEND YOU TO GIVE IT A TRY...YOU WONT REGRET IT

This two-watt device (sounds louder -- you could JUST do a guitar-acoustic piano duo with it -- but will not outshout a ten-watt amp)offers six amp models, incl. Blackface, Roland jazz chorus 120, Vox AC 30, Marshall stack, rectifier etc., but I'd say only three and a half -- the JC 120, Vox, stack and rectifier -- are really useable, despite good sweep on tone, gain and volume knobs. Same for effects (tremolo, flange, phase, chorus, delay and reverb), more on which below. Roland could have left off a couple of features and lowered the price. On the plus side, battery power accentuates marvelous portability. Two points off for the stuff that doesn't work well, but let's be clear: This is the best truly portable low-power practice and party amp I've ever owned or tried, period.

I use this amp with single coil and humbucker axes (Washburn, Reverend) to play Delta blues, Motown and soul, usually with slide. In AC30 or JC120 settings it sounds great, biting and bright; the amp is worth its price for these two models. Volume is adequate for party situations; the overdriven blues feel is there if you want it (think early Stones), and the clean sound is really pleasant. (But NOT on the acoustic amp model, a total loser.) I don't play enough metal or heavy overdrive stuff to have a valuable opinion on those options, but the stack setting sounds nice for heavy blues riffs. Like amp models, effects are not all useable to my ears. The amp has a fine slap-back delay; however, reverb sounds a bit shrill and seems to muddy the chorus, the best effect on the amp. Tremolo is OK, but I can't set the phaser or flanger low enough to avoid nasal hiss. Amp also works well with a Digitech RP50, which I bought to have a multi-effects as light as the Minicube; the Blackface model on the RP50 is noticeably better defined than the amp's.

I've had this for a few months, and rely on it for party gigs and no-drummer jams with other musicians. Roland gear is famously reliable and I see no exception here. Note also that ANY 9-volt DC wall wart will drive this thing -- no hidden costly replacements here.

No need for support yet.

I've been playing four decades, and owned Fender (tube bassman and bandmaster) and Ampeg (B12 and V4) tube gear, but my most relevant experience here is with very small transistor amps -- Yamaha (wore one out), Park (excellent cheap gear), Pignose and Minicube. I love amps you can carry in one hand to a party or bar, and that give you good sound without hiding your voice (thus cutting the need for a mike). Before buying the Minicube I compared it to Roland's other cubes (15 and 30) at length and decided they were too heavy and powerful for what I was looking for. I have owned a Pignose for 15 years and until now it was the best amp I knew for these applications -- very dirty, but lots of soul and fully portable (in fact, a tad more than the Minicube), and it doubles as a handy easy to use preamp, the one feature I would like to see on the Minicube. The Minicube is still a great alternative, with far more sound options. I would buy it again in a second. If you want a small amp for a band setting, don't get this. I'm not sure it has enough power for the street, either. But as an indoor personal amplifier, all I can say is thanks, Roland.