Roland MicroCube Combo

This is a review of the new Roland Micro cube amp. The amp has two watts output but seems more like about 6 watts out with it's good volume. The amp has a built in chorus, flanger,phaser and tremelo for effects. The amp simulations have one acoustic, 2 clean, one semi-distorted and two full on distortion circuits built in. There is no handle but it comes with a nice carry strap.

This amp pretty much nails that vintage clean tone and the Vox semi-distortion is very usable also. The effects are all high quality and would fit well into the context of a song. There is a minimum and maximum setting for the effects and you can not combine any of the effects or tweak them to your personal tastes. The delay and reverb sound very nice and you can not combine them either, it's either one or the other. There is only one tone control not the standard treble, middle and bass knobs on a standard amp. The two different distortion circuits sound cheesy to me. They would be ok for a beginner but they remind me soundwise of those cheap zoom multi effects boxes. I tried running the distortion settings into a larger speaker but that did not work either they still sounded cheap and fake to my ears.

This unit is made in China but looks to be of the highest quality you could expect in a small amp. You would never guess it was made in China. The jury is still out on it's reliability.

I think the warranty is 3 years

I have been playing since 1986. I own 10 guitars and several amps at the moment. I do not have any particular style of playing. The amp is loud enough for practice. It's much louder than that cheap pignose amp that sells for about 70 dollars. It's also 10 times better than the pignose. If you are looking for a good distortion amp try the new Behringer 15 watt 108 V-tone it gives 27 different amp tones for less than half the price of this unit and the distortion is more natural sounding. Roland just raised the bar for portable amps with this unit. It's well worth the money!

I heard the Microcube on the Frankfurt Music Messe for the first time and bought it the day after. Any kind of music is possible and that is just what I need.It's just right for hotelroom sessions and for rehearsing with a plugged in drum-machine or cd or md-player.Even if you need to record a guitar-passage right into the machine (I use a Yamaha AW 16 G)the results are more than satisfactory.The only feature I miss (like most of my fellow-testers) is a separate bass and treble control,because it has difficulties in reproducing a clean bassy sound.It sounds like the speaker reaches its limits.Anyway,you will never get an amp with these features for that price.The batteries last for ages, no matter what sound you use.

Any sound you select sounds absolutely professional.I use it(hanging on a guitar strap) playing in a duet together with an accordeonist so that we can walk about.I play an Ovation,a Yamaha jazzguitar and even a Yamaha classical guitar through it.We play anything from french music,country,rock and even classical music.As I mentioned in the last category already: The bass is the point that does not really satisfy my "ears".But I guess, you cannot exspect more from such a small speaker.Curiously this phenomenon does not occur with distorted sounds.These sounds are better than most of the sounds reproduced by much more expensive gear,and,mind you I`ve tried them "all".

I`ve been using Roland equipment for ages.Never had the slightest problem.I exspect the same quality from this little beast.

I can only mention,that I have an "antique" Roland JX-3P bought 2nd-hand with no handbook.Roland gave me a free copy of that!This may answer the question on Customer`s support!

I have been playing for almost 40 years now.My equipment: Amps: Roland AC 60, Peavey Classic 50/212, Vox AC 30 TB,Musicman RD 50,Fender Bronco Effects: Boss GT-5, Behringer V-AmpII,Cry Baby Wah.
Guitars: Strat,Gibson LP deLuxe,Gibson ES 335,Takamine (old)Squier Precision special, Yamaha AES 502,Hohner SG Lion,etc. pp.
If it were stolen . . .I don`t know what I would do to the person (perhaps admire him for the taste).Anyway, I would definetly buy it again.
All you out there, who need a small, easy to carry, loud, good-sounding, extremely versatile amp: GO OUT AND GET IT. Especially if you need distortion.And even more: The cheaper the guitar is you use, the better it sounds.If your children want to learn how to play the guitar: Forget all the other amps that go with starter packs!!!

This little cube has it all.
From delay,to chorus, and its capable of doing well.
The quality of the effects are great, and very clean.

Here the little microcube shines. You should not be fooled by its size. The sounds are amazing for that prize your pay. And the more you turn the knob up the more "tube" like it gets. It's a very dynamic, and harmonic little amp. The settings are fixed but that didnt bother me at all. Having own both Pod and Pod.2 i have to say this product is better in dynamics. My main guitar is an Ibanez 507 and with the Roland Microcube it has found (in my opinion) a well sounding combo.

All the amp-settings are equally good. But i think the Classic-model is a winner.

I'll bet this little amp will last a lifetime.
It seems really stable, and i will try it as soon as possible on a gig.

Have been playing for 9 years.
This product is besides my Laney-Vh100r the best sounding product yet. I must say i love everything about the cube.
Comparable to both the Pod and Pod.2 i must say this is a real winner. Especially for the beginner. Just plug in and play. You dont have to pray for good harmonics, the little microcube has it all.

For a tiny portable amp, it has lots of features. Chorus, Flanger, Tremolo, Phaser, Delay and Reverb are included, although the mix, depth and other settings comon on these types of effects are fixed, you can only change the speed. I haven't found this to be a limitation at all, though. It has several amp sims, all of which are usable.

For a 2 watt amp matched to a 5" speaker, I was blown away by the sound. The built in effects are great, and the amp sims are also pretty good, although this isn't a POD or V-Amp. The rectifier amp sounds awesome and has tonnes of gain, so you don't need any outboard gear to get anything from jazz to metal from this amp! The bass is surprisingly resonant, and this amp projects sound very well for its size.

Just got it, but Roland has a good reputation.

Never dealt with them.

I've been playing 15 years, through all kinds of crappy practice amps right up to high end tube amps. I love this little Roland micro cube!

Brand new, just released. Great features set, really establishes the baseline for the inexpensive, battery-powered (and AC adapter IS included!) amp. Wide set of sounds available through models, effects, and splitting effects from reverb/delay is a nice bonus.

I use it with an Ibanez Artcore and A Steinberger Spirit. Sounds nice with both. The JC120 setting is really warm and nice, and the distorted sounds have a nice kick. It is surprisingly loud for 2W! Not super loud, but great in a hotel room, or in a house gig fooling around with pals. I haven't tried it through another cabinet, but I bet it would drive one nicely.

I used it for a house party goofing around one night, and it was fine. Not powerful enough to play out with unless using it with another amp/cabinet. It is a Roland though, so I don't anticipate any problems.

Haven't ever dealt with them - but well-known brand.

I've been playing off and on for 25 years, fairly seriously last two years. I also own a Cube15 from Roland but prefer the MicroCube. I also have the Zoom PS02 and PS04. I use an Ibanez Artcore or a Steinberger Spirit with this. The Spirit and the MicroCube make a lot of business trips with me now. I'd buy it again in a heartbeat if stolen. It perfectly fits the bill for a small travel / practice amp. I'm sure my mother-in-law will love it too ;) I considered the Stone, Pignose, AmpCan (which sounded AWFUL!), and the Taxi. This was a better fit for my needs, and I suspect that Roland will dominate the market with this little amp. It had more features for the price than any of the other alternatives, and sounded better. Every person that I spoke to that had either tried one or heard a demo was impressed with it - it was a no-brainer purchase at that price. The only thing that they could have added was a 2nd or third tone control. It has only high/low for tone, no bass/mid/treb split. But hey, at the price, I've got NO gripes with it. There are also multiple inputs on the back 1/4 and 1/8 for an aux input to jam with, and also a headphone/recordingline out. This one really is a keeper.

This is a brand new 2004 model. It is a portable swiss army knife-amp. It has amp modeling, effects, (separate delay/reverb and chorus/phaser/flanger/tremolo, each with that single rotary knob with set effects mix) a 5" speaker, CD input, headphone/recording out, tone, gain, volume and a button for the tuning fork. Runs on batteries or the supplied power adapter. It is not a PSA 120 so don't lose it or forget it. The amp is tiny and has a wood cabinet covered in vinyl with a steel grill. Serious looks for a serious amp. Two killer watts. It weighs 7.5 pounds and has strap buttons so you can hang with it everywhere. It would be nice to have adjustable effects and another tone control and channel switching but considering NOBODY makes anything like this makes that wish a waste of energy. This is the only way to go in portables.

The sound is great through its own speaker but put it through a big amp or PA and it's even better. The amp models sound great but what impressed me is that the amp models are amp-like. After trying various amp modelers I noticed that while they can sound good they don't sound good if you roll off the volume on your guitar. The Micro Cube retains the amp vibe all the way down to 2 on my strat. The amp models all sound different and act different. The JC amp is the cleanest and has that solid state sound nailed. No sag. The Black Panel is warm, fat and with the tone all the way to the right even can do ice pick in the ear. The Brit Combo (think AC 30) is nice and gritty. The Classic Stack is great. The R-Fier is great. There is also acoustic modeling and a MIC model (when you want to plug in a mic) but I probably wont use them so I offer no opinion. The effects sound good. My fav is the tremolo. As stated earlier the effects mix is preset. The rotary knob increases speed for chorus, flanger, phaser, and tremolo. The reverb/delay knob increases delay time or reverb depth. Impressive. BUT... plug this into a PA or a bigger amp and you hear that this is a serious little amp. Plugged into my Polytone Mega Brute (80 watts, 1 8" speaker) this amp's models sound incredible. The Classic Stack and R-Fier models kick ass. I don't impress easily when it comes to amp modelers. I can't wait for my next gig.

Made by Roland. I have only had one problem with a Roland product in 37 years of playing guitar. It was a used compressor with a bad jack. I suspect that this little amp will last a long time as long as I don't bounce it.

Since I have had no bad problems with Roland gear (except for some wierd error message I got from a U-110 MIDI tone module. It showed these little Space Invader figures on the LED. A call to Customer Service fixed it over the phone in a step by step process tahta took about ten minutes) I hope it will never be an issue.

$125 may seem like a lot of money for a battery powered amp but Roland has built a high quality amp that sets the bar pretty high for portables. I'm thinking of maybe getting another one and footswitching them to an amp/mixer for a gig rig. The overdrive/distortion sounds are better than my TS9, Keeley TS7, browned TS5 and Boss OD1. Even better than my BAD CAT 2 Tone. That is my opinion, yours may differ. Roland has a winner here.

2 watt output
5" speaker
Battery/Mains (adaptor supplied), runs for 20 hours on batts.
6 diff amp models (acoustic, 2 Clean & 3 O/Drive models)
4 FX: Chorus, Flanger, Phaser & Tremelo
Separate Delay/Reverb
Gain, Volume and Tone controls
Aux in: both 1/4" & minijack to connect a CD player etc (or second guitar with FX unit).
Mic input
Rec jack: headphone or recording output (mono)
Tuning Fork button
Size: about 9"w x8"h x6"d
Weight: 7lbs

This new mini-combo has only just been released.
My initial reaction..... brilliant !!
Turn the gain up, add a touch of reverb, select R-Fier (Mesa Boogie model) and this baby sounds terrific.
The Vox AC30 and Marshall models have less crunch but do provide totally different sounds - impressive !!
Cleaner models (Roland JC-120 & Fender Twin Reverb) have a good tonal quality and the acoustic model also works surprisingly well.
No separate bass & treble controls, but the Tone control has a good range.
This amp belies its rated 2W - it's LOUD - easily loud enuf for a practice amp - ur neighbours WILL hear it !!
The four (Boss series based) FX work fine as expected and are adjustable for depth of effect - these can be used in tandem with the Reverb/Delay.
A wide range of excellent sounds can be dialled out of this lil wonder, and being 'only' 2 watt, u can screw the volume up to make it really sing.

Too early to say - if it's made to the same quality as other Roland products (which have always been highly rated) I don't expect any probs.

First Roland product I've owned, so no experience with their support - but it seems well made.

I compared this amp with others such as Marshall MG15DFX, Zoom 15, Behringer GM110 and Orange Crush models, but none of these suited my needs perfectly, so decided to give this one a chance.
For me, the 15 watters are possibly *too* loud if u like using lotsa welly and the tiny microamps just don't have the sound/features.
At this price point the Roland may look under-powered, but it's actually a lil monster with good balance for a practice amp and has more features/versatility than the others.
Anything you wish it had?: Mebbe separate bass & treble controls.
Would I buy again?: Yes without question - it suits me perfectly.
I play mostly rock music - influences: Neal Schon, Schenker, Satriani etc. Recently got back into playing again - used to gig with Gibson SG/Marshall stack. Had loads of diff equipment in the past. Surprised how good modelling FX are these daze - using Korg PX4 multi-FX headphone amp - instant Satriani - whoo-hooo !!
Would I recommend this amp: Absolutely, it sounds impressive and incorporates all the features needed for a practice amp.
Roland call it 'The ultimate Portable Amp' - a claim which is probably justified.