Roland MicroCube Combo

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.

As mentioned previously

I am submitting this review as i bought this amp to travel with and did so after reading these reviews.Some of the reviews i have read are total rubbish and would like to make one very important point about this amp.Only a few people that have submitted reviews on this product have mentioned the amount of clean headroom
ie. how loud the amp will go when played clean without getting distortion or buzzing.I have to say you can barely practice in a quiet room without this amp distorting.That is with my strat let alone a Les Paul!I defy anyone to tell me different.It was so bad i went back to the music shop to try another but just the same.

No problems

No problems

Been playing 20 years and own a Fender Strat and Les Paul plus some other fenders and a Mesa amp.
Its a compact amp and fits in my suitcase.The effects are fun and the overdriven sounds are good fun but not realistic.
Its also very loud on the overdriven sounds
Its a good toy and fine for practise just dont buy this for clean sounds.
p.s to the chap that uses this amp because its so good instead of his marshall-what are you on!!

I was looking for a small amp, as I live in a small NYC apartment. Just dumped a Marshall 30W and was looking for something a little more versatile. I play mainly rock and alternative and this amp fits the bill nicely. It's really got everything *I* need in a practice amp. It has line-out for headphones (the fiancee appreciates that), 1/4 and 1/8" line-in (perfect for pluging my iPod in and playing over tracks), six effects, a tone knob, gain and volume.

The sounds are all very good. The amp models seven amps (well, 5, along with Acoustic and Mic settings).

Acoustic: I don't really care for this setting. It sounds like most acoustic modelers (computerized). If you turn the volume up you get wierd airy background noise. I am sure there's some use for it, just not in my house.

JC Clean: This is Roland's own JC-120 Jazz Chorus. It's, well, clean. Very clean. Not much to be said about it. Add a little chorus and play Jazz I guess. I just play it with just a splash of reverb and it sounds nice, even at high volumes.

Black Panel: This is the Fender Twin Reverb model. When I first got the amp I didn't like this model. Then one day I cranked the gain and volume and fell in love with it. Very nice, especially with some reverb. It's got a nice tubeish quality to it. I have never played an authentic TR, but it sounds really nice none-the-less.

Brit Combo: This is the AC-30 model and the one I use the most. I practice a lot of Beatles and Who songs and this model fits the bill. Low/no gain will get you the Lennon/Harrison sound, crank the gain to about two o'clock and you're Townshend. I love it.

Classic Stack: The JMP1987 model. I don't use this one often as I have never really been a fan of the Marshall sound. From what I have played of it, it sounds like a Marshall. This model picks up a lot of buzz on high gain settings. For some reason standing close to my humidifier makes this model buzz and my pickups are pretty good. Good for Hendrix on up to today's rock.

R-Fier Stack: The Rectifier model. I don't use this model too often either, but if metal is your thing you'll love it. Really hard and aggressive. It sounds like what I recall the Rectifier sounding like. Metalheads will probably just keep it on this amp. Drop your low-E string and crank the gain and you sound like just about any metal band out these days.

Mic: I don't use a mic so I never really use this model. It's fun to turn the volume and gain up and sound like Sonic Youth though.

As for the effects:

Chorus: I don't generally use it as I don't play Jazz or whatever kind of music would. On the clean channel it sounds pretty nice but I have not clocked enough hours into it to really decide.

Flanger/Phaser: Not a bad flanger, though it's an effect I never use as I feel it should have been left behind in 1989. Same goes for the phaser.

Tremolo/Delay: These two are broken. I am sorry. The tremolo is too fast and the delay gets little clicks into the tail of the echo. Bad, bad, bad.

Reverb: This one is always on for me. It sounds good. It does not sound like a spring reverb (I don't think it's supposed to). It's perfect for the tone I like. Don't crank it too high though.

I wish there were separate tone knobs but that's asking a lot for such a tiny amp. I keep the tone at about 1:00 most of the time. If the volume is very low I need to crank it up to about 5:00 because the sound tends to gets muddy at lower volumes.

Cliff Notes:

Lots of models. All good, yet I question the usefulness of the Mic and Acoustic models. The effects are generally ok but I don't like the delay and tremelo at all. I do love the reverb.

It's like a little cinder block. I've dropped it more than once and nothing's happened to it.

Never had to use it other than getting the manual from their site to write this review.

I really like this amp. It's small, it's portable and it does more than an amp this small should. The only major downside is the price. For the price you can get a decent 15W, but chances are if you are buying this amp, size and portability are what you are after. Sure you can get a Pignose for about half the price but you won't get the amp models or any of the effects.

This amp was made in 2004. This amp is made to handle virtually any style of music considering the amp models it has. They're pretty basic, but covers a wide spectrum. It can handle acousitc, blues, classic rock, and my beloved metal.

It can be run on 6 AA batteries so you can take it anywhere you like, or a ac adapter(included). It has a recording line out/headphone jack, and an aux in for cd play along. It has a digital tuning fork that can be switched from Standard, half-step down, or even a whole step. I think it would have been less of a hassle to just include a traditional tuner in place of the little "ding" sound you get. Its kind of annoying to have to tune all of your strings to a relative pitch. Don't get me wrong, i'm capable of tuning my guitar, but its a little annoying because the tuning fork function sounds too much like the soundtrack to an 8-bit Nintendo game. But in the end i'm happy it has this function because its better than not having a tuner at all.

For a small little amp, it actually has quite a bit of little features. It has all your basic built in effects like chorus, flanger, phaser, tremelo, delay, and reverb. For the EQ it has a single tone knob that works like the one on your guitar, gain, and volume. Very simple and easy to use. No patches or menus.

I mainly use this amp next to the computer because thats where i practice the most. Its small enough to fit conveniently just about anywhere you like. However it will surprise you with its volume when you take it to jam with a friend(not a band, it is just an itty bitty practice amp), it'll get louder than you expect. But don't expect a half-stack type roar or anything.

I use my ESP Ec-1000 equipped with Seymour Duncan humbuckers(JB in the bridge, '59 in the neck) and it sounds like my guitar. The amp doesn't color the sound of your guitar.

It covers all my musical styles which really is just classic rock and metal. But this amp has something for everyone. The quality of the acoustic channel surpised me the most because it sounded pretty damn good. Add a bit of chorus and its so shimmerry it'll give you chills! My favorite setting is the "Classic Stack." Its actually very warm and smooth with lots of sustain. It has the best lead tone from any little practice amp i've heard. I turn the tone knob at about 11 o'clock and the gain at about 3 o'clock and you're in business. However, I am disappointed with the "rectifier" amp model. In a nutshell it sounds like shit. The rectifier setting sounds like some nu-metal fag turned the treble all the way up, and mids all the way down and pulled the knobs off so you can't change it. You can't fix the lack of mids with the tone knob so this amp model completely lacks body and definition. This is where i think a 3 band EQ would come in handy, but this is however a small practice amp so i took that in consideration. Other than that, it sounds great. I give it an 8

I've only had it for a month or so, its solid state so i'm sure its pretty reliable. Its the first Roland product i've owned so I'm not sure on the company's reputation.

Never messed with em.

I've been playing for 6 years and I own a Marshall AVT-100 1x12 combo amp which has been my main amp for 3 years now. I'm about to get a real guitar rig soon so this microcube will be my main practice amp. I've played lots of other practice amps and for the price, its my favorite. I'm very satisfied with its versatility and overall quality.

This mini cube amp is very good at what it's intended to be : Bedroom practice amp and Portable battery-powered amp. It's versatile enough for both as it has 1 acoustic simulator, 2 clean models, 2 brit crunch, 1 rectum-fryer. One tone knob is surprisingly enough for controlling the overall tone.

Batteries do last a long time, so the claim of 20 hours of battery life is probably true.

I wish it has tuner + metronome built in though.

Sounds great for most bedroom/portable applications, although the speaker is the weakest link - read opinions before me, I agree that after 12:00 the volume knob doesn't increase bass anymore.

Noise? It's DEAD QUIET.

I use it with mostly my Steinberger Spirit GP-2R. Before I though that the amp sounded thin, harsh, and icepicky - turns out it's the steiny's fault. After I tried it with my Ibanez RG2120X (Mahogany bodied RG btw) it sounds full and distortions really scream!

Looks a lot like a toolbox. I don't abuse my stuff but it feels really solid.

Cannot comment on this since I haven't used customer support. Hopefully I won't have to :)

Fantastic little amp. Great match for Steinbergers with its portability.

I recommend starters and experienced players alike to get this lil amp - it's worth it. It, along with the steiny, makes me play more because of the portability and hassle-less set-up. No cables to mess like when I use my Tonelab SE for bedroom practice.

Alot for a little amp Cosm amp sims, fx, And it runs on 6AA batteries, they're cheap enough. it does come with an ac adapter as well

sounds great, I got this Puppy for what it is great sound in a small package. You can call it a toy but its a damn good one.Absolutly perfect for living room jamming and you can take it anywhere.

I was sick and tired of using a pod with headphones, wall warts guitar cables ect.I'd get tied in knots just to practce in my living room. all I need now is this thing a guitar and a cable.

keep in mind it is a practice amp and you not gonna gig with it. well I'm sure some slapdick probably will try and then bitch about it,or better yet,tell ya how great their $100 microcube sounds thru their $10,000 PA

its a Roland its, bulletproof, need I say more!!!

Once Again-its a Roland, need I say more!!!

Been playing 25 yrs. Own a whole lot of top notch gear. if it were lost or stolen @ $100 i'd get another one. might get one anyway to double our fun for parties

Got this amp last month at Guitar Center. It's new, a 2004 I guess, paid $125.00. I heard a salesperson demo the amp for someone and I thought it sounded great, especially in a noisy store environment. The features of the amp have been discussed plenty here, but I'll say I like the JC and Fender Blackface models the best. I also played my Ovation Acoustic Electric thru the mic model as someone suggested and it sounded excellent. The reverb is very good for digital, I also used a very small amount of chorus. The effects can get intense real quick.

I'm using a Carvin AE-185 with humbuckers and the amp sounds great. Yes, you can "woof" out the speaker real quick at higher volumes but for rehearsal and working out tunes and parts, it's great. It is not noisy, altho' I've really only run it on batteries so far, (6AA). The Blackface model with gain about 10:00, volume between 11 & 12 and just a touch of chorus, and some reverb..very nice. Now here's where I think this amp is a sleeper. To me, it's one of the most complete "direct boxes" I've used. I took it to church Sunday morning and plugged it into the sound system via the rec out/headphone jack. Man, did it sound great and absolute quiet. I carried it in with one hand, set it atop the keyboard player's meat locker Roland 500 KC switched the amp on and turned up the guitar volume. Complete silence, no hum. I played a chord and guitar filled the church from two 15 inch PA cabs and monitors and sounded absolutely great! I kept up with band fine, going thru the house PA for assistance! Also, practicing with some friends, I took it over to their house, again, plugged it into the PA there and I was good to go, guitar, amp, [battery powered] and a cord. Yes, there's no channel switching, you're limited to one sound unless you reach over and turn the model selector. How many amps do you want running? I want one great tone going for 90% of what I play. This little beast will surprise you, provided you maintain realistic expectations and are open to a little experimentation and tweaking. I use this amp in my music/computer room to work on leads and songs and am happy to be able to do it with good tone and effects.

I don't think I've ever had a problem with Roland equipment. I've had their effects pedals, drum machines, etc. over the years. To me, Roland is synonmous with quality, reliability and clean sound.

Haven't had to talk to Roland support. Usually only do that if something breaks down. See above.

I'm 55 years old, been playing since I was 16. I currently own a Fender Deluxe 90, Carvin AE-185, 1979 Ovation Acoustic Electric Legend, JBL Eon PA, Fender Passport PA and numerous other musical itemes. I played in a band on the road for 12 years, in the mid 70's and currently play in a duo with my wife on the weekends. Yes, I'd buy this again and will probably demo and buy the Roland Cube 60 when it's available.

It has a few features.. .. basic overdone, untable stuff. nothing special here.

I use this as a practice amp only.. I'm only interested in low volume sound for going over technique with some semblance of usable tone. Tone isn't the concern here, nor is volume, just making sure I can clearly hear what I'm working on with a TV on or with while jamming with the stereo for the sake of just learning stuff. Do I care that you can't play it past 3 or so, nope. Do I want to bring this to the park and play it out, no. I have quite a few real amps for that. This amp has a couple of usable sounds I can get out of it for each of my guitars and it allows me to practice in a very comfortable way.. Would I use this amp for anything other that going over technique or working on tunes.. Nope.. Would I use this amp to jam along with others .. Nope. Do I really care about the actual sound, a little, but again it's just a practice amp.
I gig every weekend, I get my jollies at volume that way, but for simple learning and just going over stuff, this amp works for me.

It doesn't look like something you would want to drop, but then again it is really cheap. For my purposes, it normally just sits on top of another amp while I practice, it doesn't leave my little practice space. In truth, I've had it for a while (I don't remember how long, I bought it when they first came out on a whim) and it hasn't broken yet. When and if it breaks, I'll chuck it or give it away and see whats around then.

Who knows..

I've been playing a long time, well over 30 years and in truth who cares? I gig every weekend doing the classic rock power trio thing and have quite a few guitars and tube amps. When I need a real amp, I use one. For going over songs by yourself and just working on chops, this little amp is pretty cool. I really do like it for that purpose. Would I record with it? No way.. Would I expect it to be heard over a drummer. No.. I've given lessons using it and I've jamed at just above acoustic volume with other guitar players using it. It does both of those quite well. Is the tone out of this thing wonderful? No, but you can get very nice sounds out of it and you can clearly hear your technique when you practice.
The effects are pretty useless IMHO, but I tend to not use chorus or flange pretty much ever. The reverb and echo's are pretty tinny, unflexible and cheap sounding, sometimes that can be fun though.
In terms of the amp models, to my ears the Vox is ok, the roland jazz chorus is ok, and the marshall is the most usable (by varing the gain and your guitars controlls). The fender twin model is absolutley horrible and I'm not interested in the rectumfrier.

If you are just learning and are looking for your first amp, this shouldn't be it. If you want to jam with a full band, or play it above 3 or 4, this isn't your amp either. If you just want to practice at low volume's while watching football (my favorite way to practice scales and stuff) this is pretty cool.

got as a christmas present but have played it in the store for months. I love this amp to death, it has 6 amp models and 5 effects and every single one of them sounds good. it also has an electronic tuning fork that allows you to tune your 5th string to standard, half step down or whole step down very cool.

here i am going to talk about each model specifically and how the sound-
Acoustic- This is ok but you can never get an eletric to sound like an acoustic, and i never use it so its really no big deal
JC Clean-This is the Jazz Chorus, very flat eq, great for thowing the cubes effects over, as the name implies sounds great with a little bit of chorus
Black Panel- This is the fender twin model, more bottom and top than the JC, seems the mids are a bit lacking, still sounds good though.
Brit combo- This is the Vox ac-30 model, responds very well to gain and goes from clean to pretty distorted, this model can cover all grounds
Classic Stack- This is the marshall model, sounds great for classic rock you can make it really bite by turning up the tone knob
R-Fier-This is the MESA model, sounds pretty close too. I have a rectoverb combo and it really captures that recto agression this is my favorite model along with the brit combo and jc clean, i would be 100% satisfied with those 3 alone

About the guy who said that the distortion is buzzy at high volumes, you need to turn down the tone control as you turn it up because as you increase volume more highs come out, i find at low volumes i keep the tone on the high side but set it aroud 50% for louder volumes

There is one of these at my local store and it get the hell played out of it and just keeps on tickin. I think this will be around for a while. because i havent had if for long though, i think i will leave this one blank

never dealt with roland, hope i never have to.

If you need a portable amp this is it! sounds very very very very good and does alot more than any other portable amp out there, its really no contest, i HIGHLY reccomend this amp to all guitarits go get one NOW!

bot new- you know the features.

What is up with all the rave reviews? makes me wonder. I was happy with sound until I turned it up past 3 (9 o'clock) then it sounds HORRIBLE!! dist. sounds are extremely harsh and tinny. clean is better. Yes I realize its a little practice amp. I thought it might be cool to camp or take to park and play outside but how is that gonna work when you cant turn it up? dont buy. the only way to get good sounds is to either not turn up past 2( I admit its loud enough for practicing at 2) or run it through another amp. I tried it through my fenders and through my P.A. and a 4x12 and the sounds are excellent. Nice fx and marshall sound. but I already have a multi fx.

I hope this saves you from a bad purchase. the thing is cute as hell but is really just a toy. I bot to use for lessons and practice but its going back. My 15 year old peavey rage blows it away and IT sounds crappy! you might like it if you never have need to turn up past 2 but why settle when there are so many good little amps out there and as i said, the advantage of battery power for playing outside is worthless since you have to keep it so low to keep that tiny(4 inch, not 5) spkr from rattling.

I have two of these, both purchased in 2004. I scored the first one in at Matt Umanov's in the Village/NYC right after they came out early in the year. The salesman said he was using it and he had the same Micro Cube look that most buyers get: Grinning and Bemused.
It's a nice, pleasing little toy. I bought a second one two weeks ago to leave in New York for when I visit family (I live in L.A.)
The features as stated: the "Fender" settings have a smooth, jazzy vibe, and the other effects are fun. The reverb is surprisingly good.
One of the best surprises is the batter life. It lasts forever. I loaded it in May and its still running on the same batteries in Dece,ber, with light usage, of course.
Price, by the way: I paid $125 for the first one and a cool $109 for the second at the new Guitar Center on 14th Street in Manhattan, big sale.

Lots of fun and several surprisingly good sounds. It sounds like quality. I have a lot of little amps, and this is the best. I have a new Fender 15r, for my daughter, that is more livey and powerful, also a good product, but I prefer the Roland. And I enjoy it's portability.

Seems likely to withstand my light use.

A solid performer and tops in the little-amp niche. Well worth the money. Roland should send me a commission: I own two and I steered a bandmate toward buying one. And he steered a friend toward one. I don;t see how any player could go wrong, or be displeased, with a portable, light, smooth playing and sophisticated little box that runs off the wall and off batteries, with long battery life. Hat's off to Roland.
(By the way, the bigger versions are intriguing, at 30 watts and up. They are still light but can resonate and push more air. I think Roland has taken a strong position in the small amp niche).

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.