Roland MicroCube Combo

You already know the features: very small SS guitar amp that's powerable for a long time on 6AA batteries. Makes quite a bit of noise for as small a speaker and power. For what it is, not too bad for features, though the effects are understandably under-developed. Hey, for what you pay, you can't be too nit picky here. Not a perfect amp--by a long shot, but ok for a starter.

Using it with a Washburn WI something with DiMarzio Steve Morse special bridge pickup and EJ Custom neck pickup. For such a small amp, I think it does a commendable job of putting out sound (read "noise") for jamming by itself--it's what it was designed for; and using it far from outlets for a long time. It's a tiny little speaker--obviously you're not going to get big cab sound from it. I don't think they did a good job with the distortion settings. Just a touch of chorus on the clean channel is ok. Tuner isn't worth too much.

He're where I dock this toy. The volume fritzed out on me after a couple months. I took it in to have it fixed and it came back with the same control (by the loose feel of the pot). Worked again for a little while and as started cutting out on me again. I know the pots are pc board mounted toys but I"m going to try to figure out how to hard-wire in a real volume control to bypass what Roland gave it. It's a cheap amp, cheaply made and could have used some better parts in construction, but then they would charge what bigger amps cost. So you do get what you pay for. Haven't had much else that I can gripe about for now, but opening it up and looking in, I'm sorry for the cheap quality of components.

Roland? Customer Service? I don't think it's their bag. I'll find out more as I get further into this thing. The band-aid repair just got me out of warranty service, so I'm on my own. I don't want to trash it if I don't have to, but I'm not going to spend a lot fixing it.

I'll give it an average recommendation. It's not high dollar, and it doesn't sound like it. It's not heavy duty. I'm glad for those who have not had problems with theirs--and I wish mine was like that too. I'm beyond going for another one of these just because I would rather stick close to an outlet and have better sound. Need a battery operated amp and not a whole lot of sound? It's pretty good if the pots don't shell out on you. It's got a lot going for it. I'd push the rating up to maybe a 7 if I had no problems.

The feature is simplistic. The amp model is enough for may kind of music. Very portable (I think it's the first one at this class, only later VOX and Line6 followed with their small amps DA5 and Microspider). What I have seen so far Roland/BOSS has always been the leader for innovation in this field.

The good thing about this amp is the 2 dedicated AUX-IN jack with different size 1/4" and 1/8". The audio sound reproduction from the AUX-IN is the best in its class, I presume because of the full range speaker. This has always been my companion for jamming (for playing MP3 or sequencer as backing track). The response is really flat. If you pair in stereo it can be a good PA for small room. My Cube 30X AUX IN is not this good. Maybe because it does not have a full range speaker.

Good enough for a quick practice, just grab the guitar and MP3 and play. But for better sound I like to put other multieffect in front of it and set the amp to JC120, tone and gain mid way, effect and delay are off. I normally use Korg AX5G or ZOOM G1X in front of it to make it sound better.

It damn quiet. The AUX IN mix well with the guitar but you have to control the volume in the audio playing device not to make it too loud.

The overall guitar sound is sterile, it's like there is no life in it. But adding other effect in front of it, you are set.

Never broke. Good and sturdy. I used to have two of these and I sold one at the same price I bought. Yes, because after years of abuse (take it to travel overseas in a carrying back, dropped it sometimes) it still works and look like new (just wipe with clean cloth).

never had to use them.

A very good product for overall value. This is a very successful product from Roland. A friend suggested this through internet after seeing my review on MicroBR. I was so happy with my first purchase and bought another one (but I sold the older one with red colour to buy VOX DA5 for different flavor, but I still keep the black colour one).

For more and better amp sound and effect tweakability, you can buy VOX DA5, it's a bit louder and has better guitar sound in my opinion. But the AUX-IN sound is worse than Roland, I guess because it does not have a full range speaker. But the DA5 has additional channel for Mic, so you can also sig while you play. Good for street musician.

But I'm still happy and I'm keeping one. Good value, especially when the price is this cheap. Way to go Roland!

The complement of features on this amp is excellent considering what you're going to be using it for. For such a tiny box the volume it projects is huge. Perfect for bedroom jamming with none of that annoying hiss and hum of larger amps. The battery life is respectable too! All you need is the little amp, a guitar, pick and a lead and away you go. Sweet!

The tuning fork has to be the weakest link; would a tiny digital tuner really have cost that much more?

A separate mic input would make this the ultimate busker's amp ever.

A footswitch would also be handy.

Any guitar I use with this amp sounds as awesome as I can play. I've used countless cheap combos over the years and this sounds far better than all of them. It's just plug and play for a great sound. I can't vouch for how closely the models resemble the originals, all I know is that EVERY option sounds great. I tend to use the JC setting the most - I love a clean sound - it responds beautifully to my touch. I often use an Aphex Punch Factory Compressor for those hidden harmonics and the right attack. The Micro Cube has a similar feel.

I've spent hundreds of hours over twenty years trying to get the right sounds with numerous modellers, valve preamps, eqs, compressors etc etc. The Micro Cube pretty much nails it right out of the box. Don't tell the wife, otherwise she'll be wondering why I haven't got rid of the other stuff!

Just a disclaimer, I've found the Micro Cube fairly susceptible to single coil buzz (not unlike most amps) - just be mindful of where you are. Also, not suprisingly, the Micro Cube does not handle electric bass very well, apparently there's a new model for that.

So far so good - bought second hand six months ago. It feels really well built.

Roland does try really hard with marketting, so you'd expect good customer support. I've always felt Roland products were overpriced but this one is actually worth it.

Every guitarist should have one of these. It should be your first and last amp. It is undoubtedly the best practise amp I have ever had the pleasure of playing, and would probably do OK plugged into a PA with a band.

This is so much more convenient than my valve head stack and sounds good instantly in anywhere(or with headphones). It records well and is ridiculously easy to use.

I can't believe I've played so long without one.

What I like about the amp is that the amp models and fx are cool and
FUN to toy with, set the tone around 11 oclock for a less mid tone
and put in some delay and tonal bliss can be heard.

The sound of this amp is somewhere on the borderline of digital and analogue.

using batteries gives a brighter, clearer, more dynamic tone than with its packaged ac/dc adaptor.

Later found out that the packaged adaptor is non-regulated one. It gives out a 12v-no-load rating on the voltmeter, no wonder it sounded badly, compared when running it on batteries.

I later use a 9v regulated ac/dc adaptor and VIOLA! the sound becomes, clearer and picking nuance/dynamics comes to live!

looks sturdy nice thick baffles

I gave this a try out test first before purchasing this on the local store, noticing the sales man I wondered, why wouldn't he test the ac/dc adaptor that comes along with the package, and would rather use a different one...???(something fishy).

It was too late that I came to notice that the packaged adaptor suck tone bigtime! and found out that it is a non-regulated one.
.
It sound well at the shop when I first tried it and as I came home and played with it, it sounded entirely different. MUFFLED AND DARK!

Then again I recommend using a regulated adaptor to get that clearer tone.

I sold my Marshall MS-2R just to get this baby, now I feel like I regret and missed that dynamic amp, none the less just use a regulated 9v ac/dc adaptor or atmost batteries to get the crystal clear sound we always want in a tube amp.

Single channel 2 watt amp. Useable & essential guitar effects - chorus, flanger, phaser, tremolo, delay and reverb. Also included is a tone reference tuner. The effects aren't extreme, all sit on the more subtle end of the spectrum, but can be pronounced depending on where you set the dial. COSM amp selections - acoustic, JC Clean, Black Panel, Brit Combo, Classic Stack, Rectifier $ Mic. Gain and Volume controls. Can run with power adapter or batteries. Well made - tough exterior and strap, silver metal grill. I use this amp as a practice tool, or a convenient carry along to play with a couple of friends. I like the features, the effects are sensible and can emulate pretty much any guitar type genre believably (save maybe very heavy metal or any music at one extreme or another).

The sound quality of this micro amp is excellent all things considered. I use a U.S. Strat Plus, Cort Hiram Bullock Signature II, Hamer Artist. Humbuckers, Lace Sensors, sound very good at the levels the amp was designed for. I like the clean JC and Blackface especially. The higher gain amp models really pick up the 'bucker signals and sound equally good if the gain is turned up or down. If an external compressor is added you can get nice picking dynamics. I've been able to dial up a variety of accurate sounds both clean and overdriven - and I tend not to get near the max settings on anything. The amp is 2 or so watts, and although louder than you might expect, it's not enough to cut it with a drum kit, bass and rhythm instruments, but I don't think that's the point of this little guy. A smaller room, coffee shop, living room with a couple of instruments, practice situations are all ideal in terms of this amp's potential volume. If the volume is pushed, the amp breaks up - but consider... 2 watts, 5 inch speaker, c'mon willya? - what is the intended function design?

Solid state, solid exterior, solid reliability. Never had a problem... never dropped it either...

Haven't dealt with Roland on this particular item, but I have had occasion to contact their U.S.A. offices in CA in the past. Always found them helpful with answers to any questions.

I've been playing since 1990. As mentioned earlier my main instruments are a Strat Plus, Hamer Artist and Cort HBS II. Over the years I've used a number of pedals (stand alone and multi-effects). For volume needs I have a Tech 21 Trademark 60 and a Fender Blues Jr. - both terrific and capable of a wide tonal array. So, there are my reference points. I really enjoy playing this little amp. The luggage and hassle factors are low, fun aspect high. The effects are good quality and add a lot to the amp for practice, playing with friends or teachers. To appreciate this amp consider it's name - "MICRO cube". It's not going to cut through a combo mix volume-wise, it's not going replace anybody's vintage tube combo - if you need/want a tube or gigging amp, spend the 'jack' and get one. The Roland Micro Cube is an entirely decent, portable, cost efficient fun amp for practice or use someplace where you don't need to rise above the din of a couple of hundred folks in various states of sobriety or be heard half a mile away. I would definitely purchase one again if such circumstances arose. It's a versatile practice tool, a lot of fun and for me this counts highly. You can't go wrong buying one new or used.

This is a great little amp for what it is..

<p style="visibility:visible;"><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://widget-be.slide.com/widgets/slideticker.swf" height="375" width="500" style="width:500px;height:375px"><param name="movie" value="http://widget-be.slide.com/widgets/slideticker.swf" /><param name="quality" value="high" /><param name="scale" value="noscale" /><param name="salign" value="l" /><param name="wmode" value="transparent"/> <param name="flashvars" value="cy=ms&il=1&channel=1657324662893657278&site=widget-be.slide.com"/></object><p style="white-space:nowrap"><a href="http://www.slide.com/pivot?cy=ms&at=un&id=1657324662893657278&map=1" target="_blank"><img src="http://widget-be.slide.com/p1/1657324662893657278/ms_t000_v000_s0un_f00/images/xslide1.gif" border="0" ismap="ismap" /></a> <a href="http://www.slide.com/pivot?cy=ms&at=un&id=1657324662893657278&map=2" target="_blank"><img src="http://widget-be.slide.com/p2/1657324662893657278/ms_t000_v000_s0un_f00/images/xslide2.gif" border="0" ismap="ismap" /></a> <a href="http://www.slide.com/pivot?cy=ms&at=un&id=1657324662893657278&map=F" target="_blank"><img src="http://widget-be.slide.com/p4/1657324662893657278/ms_t000_v000_s0un_f00/images/xslide42.gif" border="0" ismap="ismap" /></a></p></p>

Great at low volumes.

I've only had it a week.

don't know.

I'm an active Musician 20+ yrs......This is a great SUPER portable little PRACTICE amp with some nice features.

You know the deal: solid state, a series of Boss amp emulations, some Boss modulation: all very usable sounds, from clean to overdriven & noisy. Purists will surely find plenty to quibble with (and non-experts too: a three band eq would have been nice), but Roland???s rebuttal is the price tag. It includes an onboard tuning tone (A, Ab, G), which you hit & tune to.

I use it as a practice amp, but have also used it for quiet jams.

Covers most styles well. I play mostly clean or slightly overdriven for jazz, rock & fusion, & it sounds great.

Seems solid enough to me, but remember this is a practice amp!

Not needed it.

I originally bought this as a practice amp for my second home. It's the kind of amp I wish had been around when I started playing (over 30 years ago!), when practice amps were what you used because you couldn???t afford anything better, & budget amp meant a pretty crap sound.

Very portable! I'd definitely replace it if stolen! It really is excellent value for money - you really won???t have this much musical fun for so little money.

I started teaching lessons two years ago and needed a small versital amp that was not to heavy to carry. I play classic rock,some country,blues and rockabilly.O got my hands on the Red one! I think that the 7 COSM amp models cover enough ground to please anyone. One of the most useful tools on this soild state amp is the digital tuning fork. It starts out in standard A and can drop to Ab and G. I think this can not only be useful in tuning up but can assist in ear training.For a practice amp it gets very loud. My favortive feature is the Delay. You can slapback quick for Rockabilly or a little slower for things like Pink Floyd(Run like Hell) Or I Ran (Flock of Seagles. The reverb,Flanger,Phaser and Tremelo all sound great to me. These are Boss sounds and they sound like the real pedals.

I play with a Fender Mexican Telecaster with a maple 50s style neck and standard Fender pickups. I was told the rear pickup was hotwired to be a little hotter than most standard pickups.
The amp covers all my bases for my students. I like all the settings. Everything from country spankin' clean, to hi-watt/marshall and boogie crunch. I don't play really loud because my needs don't call fr it. But I have cranked it on all settings and it does not break up. I think the R-Fier setting can cover Metallica to Slipknot.

Had it two years. I've dropped it a couple of times. No problem. Built tough. Don't need a backup. But I teach with this amp,not perform.

Never had to call them...which is a good thing because the Amp gives me no problems.

I've been playing 28 years. I'm two hundred bucks away from owning a Hamer Daytona USA. Had it on layaway forever. I've owned a cube 30 and sold it. I did love it. Roland just makes great stuff!

Built in tuner, tone, chorus, flanger, phaser, tremolo as well as simultaneous delay or reverb, all from the revered 'Boss' fx stable. 5 different amp 'model' settings inc Rolands's own jazz chorus, 'black pane'- fender valve combo sound, 'brit combo'- AC30 maybe, 'classic stack'- no explanation needed and 'r-fier', mesa rectifier. There are also 'acoustic' and 'mic' models. Gain and Volume knobs,- you know what these are. Rec Out/Phones(mono - I believe) and 2 x Aux in, one standard jack and one mini. Power button, 6 AA Cell battery bay with easy access and 9v AC adaptor. Steel kickproof grill, very sturdy cabinet with hard plastic moulded corners and edging. Beautiful to look at as well. Carrying strap with guitar style strap studs. 5 inch speaker.

I use a G&L Tribute S500 premium,(Strat) which has Fullerton designed magnetic field design pickups. they sound like strong Alnico's almost Texas Specials when you get the height spot on. Acoustic setting is incredible, makes strat sound like Ovation. Other amp models sound great, but only at Volume, although R-Fier sounds insane at any level, but especially loud.. Acoustic and R Fier my favourites, one extreme to the other, I know! R Fier with a touch of delay, half gain on neck pick up, is bang on for David Gilmour style solos. Acoustic doesn't distort at any level and you could sound like Paco De Lucia, brilliant for buskers. This little gem is so, so loud and totally belies the rating of 2.5 watts output. Effects are excellent as you would expect from the makers of Boss. Despite having single coils I haven't noticed any hum, it is only slightly noticeable on 'Acoustic' and much quieter than my 2 Marshall combos. I tried Vox DA5 alongside this. Both amps are great. I bought the Cube because the cleaner sounds were truer to my guitar - I found the Vox slightly muddy, but Vox had excellent heavy sounds, probably better in that repect, but not overall. Also cube is smaller and uses AA batteries, not C batteries like the Vox and Line6 Microspider- Worth bearing in mind if batteries are important to you. I believe you can get over 15 hours out of the cube on AA's! AA's can be recharged in 1 hour- but C's will take around 4 hours minimum. They also make the already bigger amp even heavier, so consider this if you are going DC alot....

I was given a 3 year warranty free of charge by Roland. I think this tells you about confidence in their own product. Only had it a couple of days say can't really comment, but 3 year warranty is a nice thing to have

Not needed to date

Been playing badly for 30 years and would replace this if it was stolen, no doubt about it. It will probably render my smaller Marshall redundant, it is just so versatile and house friendly It looks and sounds great, runs AA batteries and is small enough to fit into a Tesco's carrier bag. It is a cheeky little amp that is an imposter to the domain occupied by bigger AC powered combo's and has no right to sound so good, whether clean or distorted. If you never play clean, buy the Vox or Line6. If you like a bit of Metal, Blues, Jazz or even Flamenco this is your baby...You can sound just like Gilmour, Johnny Marr,Santana, Paco, Slash,SRV, Hendrix and Van Halen all for ??60.00!!

never had one problem

never had to

update time....just to let all would be purchasers know that i have had two of these boxes more or less from the date of issue and they are as good as when i first got them.

the brit amp..vox mode is pretty much what i use as standard and it has that great clean/breakup ratio worked out.

i would now describe this combo as a time proven classic... its selling point being that its so simple ...i have many amps but late at night or prehaps for a recording i just think what the heck and go for the micro.

and thats what its all about ..its just gets used more because it has that balance of convinience and a good sound.

of course there are amps that beat it in various catagories...but at the end of the day this one will get used more ...its a usefull swiss army knife of a little amp that you will love more each day....and use if you are into just picking up a guitar and even a bass and hacking/noodling out some ideas.

If you consider the price, the features of this little amp are just great. Nevertheless there are two things that I really miss: a volume control for the aux input and a tap tempo function for the delay.

The weak point of this little amp seems to be the speaker. The amp models in itself are excellent. In my opinion they are superior to the ones VOX and Line 6 amps offer. I love the "Brit Combo" emulation especially. I have a VOX AC30CC1 next to my Roland MicroCube and I can tell you: this amp emulation really captures the spirit and soul of an AC30. It is not as dynamic and lively as an all-tube-original, of course, but it comes clother than all the other soft- and hardware emulations, that I have heard, including VOX??s own emulations, Native Intruments Guitar Rig and Line 6.

Aside from the Brit Combo the "Acc. Simulation" is a nice gimmick and the Jazz Chorus emulation sounds great for these completely clean 80s sounds as well. The distorted sounds are a little weak. This is were the 5"-speaker meets its limits, I think.

The usual reliable BOSS/ Roland construction. I except no failures.

If this little amp got stolen or lost, I would definetly replace it with another Roland MicroCube or Cube. I must admit that this amp got me thinking. It replaced an all-tube Fender Champion and I do not look back. I was very sceptical about modelling amps in the past. But the Roland MicroCube is a very versatile and good sounding amp. I love it.

This amp suits many different styles of music, from jazz to ubermetal.
Has also few effects from which I found myself using the reverb mostly.

Overall sound of this amp is quite dark, though my Jackson humbuckers might have something to do with it. I play mostly metal, so I use the R-fier preset. I really would appreciate more options in tweaking the sound, since there is only a tone knob.

I've used this amp for about two and a half years for now. Sound is still as good/bad as it was when I bought this. Considering that this amp has been abused by all means possible in my usage, and it still works, id rate it a full ten for reliability.

Havent needed customer support yet.

I would probably not buy another amp like this if it was stolen.
I like the size of this amp, but I think that the small size reflects to everything on this amp. For a starting guitarist, this amp is probably the best choice there is.

Tiny digital practise amp that actually sounds nice... UNTIL THE SPEAKER BLOWS!!!

I wish it had:
1. A better quality speaker.
2. Better "Acoustic" and "Brit Combo" simulations.
3. Bass-Mid-Treble controls instead of the single tone knob.
(Lose the tuning fork if necessary.)

It sounds good until the speaker fails. My microcube farted out badly right out of the box. So I returned it immediately. The replacement worked nice for the first few uses, but started to fart out badly by my fourth use. I only played the amp at very low volume each time, babying the damn thing. I use a Fender '57 Stratocaster, which has relatively weak pickups. The speaker must be a real piece of junk, or there is a serious design flaw with this amp. In fact, the floor models at my two local Roland dealers are also blown.

However, when it was working I found everything very useable, except for the Acoustic and Brit Combo settings. The Acoustic is way too weak and anemic, even when I'm playing in the neck position on my Strat with the tone rolled down half way!!! The Brit Combo has this awful raspy tone that sounds nothing like any Vox or Marshall combo that I've ever used!

Well my second one worked for 3 practise sessions before the speaker failed.

ABSOLUTE JUNK SPEAKER!!!

I didn't bother sending the unit in for repair. Why should I waste my money to ship a defective item? Ultimately, I returned it to the dealer for a refund.

I really wish Roland will improve this product, so it can handle a freakin' guitar signal. It should be able to withstand a high output humbucker with all knobs maxed out, let alone a weak Strat at low volume.

I'd buy one in a heartbeat if they could make it reliable & improve the Acoustic & Brit Combo sounds. I'd buy a few if they could do that and also add separate Bass/Mid/Treble controls.

I'm sure everyone already knows about the features. If you don't, jump to Roland's site or take a look at the demonstration video on Youtube.

It's packed for a practice amp. What i'd like is two modulation effects at once, and delay and reverb working simultaneously. Maybe the DSP inside isn't capable of it, or Roland didn't wanted to do it (left it for more expensive models). Amp simulators are good. The eq could be hi-lo and mid pot, i really miss the mid tone control, to drop it while playing hi-gain rhythm riffs and to boost it while soloing to get puching harmonics.

Nevertheless, i gave it 10 because it's really packed with features for a practice combo amp.

I'm using Ibanez RG series with Infinity 3 and 4 high output humbuckers. The coils are splitted in the middle position. The first two presets (acoustic simulator and jc), with a bit of chorus and reverb really sound wonderful while using coilsplit. Crystal sound. I don't care much about other amp models besides r-fier (high distortion based model), and it sounds really good.

Effects are BOSS modeled and they're pretty much the standard stuff (which means great). I miss more versatile chorus and delay control (range / time). In this case, you can add a bit of chorus and bit of delay, because increasing it you get wobbly odd sounds IMHO only suitable for some experimental stuff. They could've added two extra pots for controlling secondary variable of two enabled effects.

The sound coming out of this little box is great, and frankly i can't believe it's only two watts! With the r-fier model, gain to maximum, you're going to piss your neighbours with volume on 50%. I have to try it in the garage with drummer, in right position i think it could even fill that role too.

However, the cabinet and the speaker are small and while the preamp section is greatly simulated, you lose the "bigness" of the sound there. Normally for a practice amp, but with sound power and features MicroCube has to offer, it really goes out of that domain.

And yeah, the tuning fork is a great addon for quick tuning corrections. I'd also like real/balanced preamp recording output so you can direct inject it into PA system or whatever. It features a standard headphone output.

The amp looks great and rugged in construction. I had it for only two days, so i don't know about reliability.

I haven't dealt with the company. One year warranty.

Fantastic value, great practice amp that will get some potential from your guitar, unlike other practice amps. Rugged design, good company.

features on this amp are great. you can dial in almost any sound you want. the effects are also great.

i use this amp with a gibson lp junior, a fender american strat, and an epiphone lp. most of the amp models work great. the jazz chorus, the fender reverb, and the vox ac30 sound great. also the rectifier doesn't sound too bad. but the marshall setting sucks! the sound sounds muddled and weak. but that's probably my only complaint with this amp.

i can't vouch for the reliability of this amp because as far as i remember it sound okay when i first got from guitar center, but lately it rattles and makes a buzzing sound it the volume gets too loud, and the fuzzyness of that marshall setting that i mentioned.

never dealt with them. i don't know if they would do anything about my problem.

overall it's a pretty good little amp its portability makes it attractive. if it was stolen i wouldn't buy another one because i have a very reliable epiphone valve junior and a fender g-dec, and i don't need a small portable amp any more. i still use it as an effects pedal into my epi. i would say that this amp is a good buy but try it first and make sure you're buying a good one.

It's jazzy, it's rock, it's crunch, and I can even plug my acoustic in on the acoustic channel (comes out a bit thin though) or practice my vocals on the mic channel (haven't actually tried this yet.

Let me say that after 9 years of my Line 6 Flextone II XL amp, which at the time I bought it was Line 6's flagship modeling amp, I came to hate modeling amps -- until this one. It's about quality, not quantity -- it doesn't feel like a computer trying to imitate over 30 amps -- it does 4 or 5, but does them well. And the effects (flanger, chorus, reverb, delay, tremolo) even sound better on this than on that giant, incredibly heavy 2x12 Flextone!

For it's size it's got GREAT sound...obviously if you really want to rock out, you'll need something bigger. The tone on the JC120 is amazing...doesn't even feel like a miniature solid state...has that warm tube feel on that channel.

I use it with an American Fender Strat. The sound stacks up great next to any amp, let alone from a tiny 3 lb. box! I play PowerPop, R&B, Beach (ska/acoustic) pop and Adult Contemporary...and this can fit most of that. This is really more of a practice amp...but man, it sounds good. Not terribly noisy...tons of variety...immensely portable...clean is not distorted at high volumes...but the Rectified channel is ballsy, low-end distortion. I love jamming on that setting.

For 89 bucks (use those negotiating skills) it was a complete steal (figuratively). I can't recommend this amp enough.

Obviously not a gigging amp...perhaps you could try mic-ing the box, but this is really a practice amp. You'd probably look silly on stage with a tiny square behind you. But it's been reliable for six months and sounds as good as the day I got it. I give it a 9 just because you can't gig with it. Haven't tried the preamp for recording yet though...

No issues yet...

Been playing on and off for about 11 years...my gigging amp is a Fender SuperSonic. I also do a lot of acoustic and piano stuff, so not really a huge rock guy.

But I swear, this amp is the best 89 bucks I've ever spent. On anything.

Lightweight, compact and very portable solid state guitar amplifier. Settings for amp modeled sounds; Acoustic, Jazz Chorus, Blackface, Brit Stack and Rectifier (Mesa Boogie). Effects channels; Reverb, Delay, Tremolo, Chorus, Flanger & Phaser. Battery powered or AC adapter.

Don't let the small package fool you. This small amp packs a pretty good wallop! You probably won't be able to keep up with a drummer and a full band, but what do you expect. I play all styles from Classic Rock, Blues, Hard Rock & Pop in a few bands. I bought this amp strictly for practice and to keep in my locker at the Fire Station. I play a Fender Telecaster and a Fender Stratocaster. Normally I play these guitars through a Fender Super Champ XD and/or a Line6 Spider Valve 212, depending on the size of the gig. Of course the Micro Cube won't sound as warm or as good as my tube amps, but it does exactly what I expect and more.

I've not yet owned any Roland products until this amplifier. However, everyone I know that owns and plays Roland equipment, have not experienced any problems. Besides, I try to take good care of my things. Time will tell...

1 year warranty. Hope I never have to use it. Again, only time will tell...

I shopped around for this type of guitar amplifier. I wanted something compact, battery powered and portable. At first, I was going to buy a classic Pignose, but after research, I decided that the Roland Micro Cube was better for what I was going to use it for. The sounds and effects are very close to the ones I use on my amps that I perform with, so my private practices are more seamless. This is the best amp of it's style and price range. It is a great practice amp! If you wanted to go street perform, just take it with you and sing in an area with good echo and acoustics. You just might get discovered!

It was made in 2008. This amp s very versatile, while it has the most important sounds. I play mainly blues and classic rock,
You can find the features on the official page.
It's a practice amp, and 2W is enough.
It has everything I want, so I am satisfied.

Roland JC120 - pure jazz sound, Twin Reverb - warm, blues jazz, country, blues, AC30 - Shadows, Brian May, Marshall - Clapton, AC/DC, SRV, Van Halen, Mesa - It sounds very good, but I'm not a metal player. The amp models sounds very good. I found it very useful the Mic mode, while I could use my acoustic guitar with it. It sounds just great. Sometimes it will be useful, I'm sure.
It has an effect section with chorus, flanger, phraser, tremolo. I don't use these effect frequently. They have limited possibilities, while it is very difficult or impossible to mix the wet and dry signal. The knob adjusts mainly the time of these effects.
It has another section which is delay and reverb. I think they are ok. The delay is not a pure delay. It's an echo and a slight reverb combo. It sounds good.

I have it for two days. I don't have any problem. I read that some people had problem with the speaker. I hope I won't have problem in the future... But I would like to mention that every gain/master amp could be burn its speaker. Be careful with the volume. If you hear that the speaker buzzes turn the master back. Don't forget that it's a practice amp! Speaker distortion was one element of the traditional guitar sound. (Hendrix, Clapton) That guys used the powertube distortion to make those sounds. They played their amp VERY loud. You can listen the live record of Wild Thing from Hendrix, and you can hear that some of his speakers are totally damaged. :D It's a Roland, so I hope the best. But while I have it not so long ago, I give a 7.

I don't know.

I've been playing the guitar for 14 years. I have a Laney LC-30II tube combo. I love it very much but it is heavy, big, and VERY LOUD. I have an Ibanez S2170 Prestige guitar. I also have a lot of pedal effects. So I have a high-end equipment, and this one for traveling.

I'm just very jealous while in the time I began playing the guitar there was not such a versatile little amp like this...

> Ultra-compact electric guitar amp, that runs on 6 AA batteries, or the included AC adapter.

> DSP amplifier modeling, with 7 amp models:
ACOUSTIC (broad mid-scoop & extreme high boost)
JC CLEAN (Roland Jazz Chorus)
BLACK PANEL (Fender Princeton/Deluxe)
BRIT COMBO (Vox AC series)
CLASSIC STACK (Marshall Plexi)
R-FIER (Mesa Boogie Rectifier series high gain channel)
MIC (optimizes the amp for Hi-Z microphone input)

I wish it had separate Bass/Mid/Treble controls, Time adjustment for Delay/modulation effects, and a better speaker!!!

I use my two workhorse guitars with this amp...
- Fender '57 reissue MIJ Strat with Duncan JB-Jr at the Bridge
- Ibanez MIJ RG570 with Dimarzios: PAF-Pro(N), V.V.Blues(M), Norton(B)

I compared this amp to the Vox DA5, Line6 Spider III 15 Watt, Fender VibroChamp XD, and various Fender, Marshall, and Crate solid state amps in the $250 or less range. The Micro-Cube has the most useable & inspiring sounds of the bunch. I really wanted to like the Vibro-XD, but it just sounds way too thin & has very uninspiring overdrive & distortion models. The Spider III is just plain horrible! The Vox DA5 has very poor overdrive & distortion models. All of the analog solid state combos I tried had poor overdrive/distortion sounds.

Unfortunately for the Micro-Cube, its speaker farts out badly. This happens even at low volume. Also, I find the single tone control quite limiting. This is a big problem on the BRIT COMBO, CLASSIC STACK, and R-FIER models, where I would like to scoop or boost the mids, and have independent control of the highs.

I've been playing for over 18 years. I own & have used a variety of nice gear from Mesa, VHT, Soldano, and others. Regarding the Micro-Cube, I was looking for an easily portable practice amp. Unfortunately I cannot recommend the Roland Micro-Cube due to the speaker break-up problem. The lack of separate tone controls is another big mistake with this product.

This being review # > 180 I can skip the details --- its a nice portable amplifier. Well made, tight. Runs > 20hrs on the batteries --- I have taken it all over and it does the job.

I am kind of a clean jazz guy -- and stay pretty much in the JC clear mode. Tele/Strat/Les Paul all sound really good.

Heres the issue --- if you start reading the various news groups on this, you will see that there are units that the speaker has gone bad -- mine is one of them. About 6 months after I bought it, the speaker started to buzz - the classic "farting" sound. Since I don't play load, and never use distortion I was a bit surprised, and knowing that this only has 5-7 watts of power into speaker, you wouldn't think you could blow this speaker. Its really not that big of a deal -- its happens.

So I called Rowland --- I am still under warranty (parts 1 year, labor 90 days - I am at 6 months)--- the problem is that microcube has to be sent to CA for repair - I pay shipping both ways and labor to replace speaker. With insurance, shipping could be $50 bucks, labor is $35/hr; time could be 3-5 weeks + shipping. I paided $125 for the amp at CS, with a coupon I got it for $110. Instead I just ordered a new speaker ($18 including shipping) and will install it myself (I have a MS electrical engineering so I should be able to handle that) - they did warn me it would void the warranty -- a little annoying but I understand. All in all, customer service girl was very polite.

Good amp - if it were lost or stolen, I would buy another.

Amp emulations, effects, super portable, can run off of batteries (but comes with a power adapter, too). Also works as a PA if you switch it over to the mic setting and have a mic cable with a 1/4" jack instead of an XLR cable. For under $140, that's a lot of capability!

I play an American Deluxe Telecaster with no effect pedals and it's my favorite of the three amps I own. I much prefer it to the Marshall practice amp I have (oh why did I ever buy that Marshall?). There's definitely less growl to the MicroCube, which is fine for the bluesy stuff I play. The rectifier setting is brilliant, and is a sound I can't get out of even a VOX Valvetronix AD15VT.

Small, sturdy, not fussy. Knobs are solid. I think I could drop this and it would be just fine.

Nothing in the price range matches the combo of effects, sound quality, battery power, the rectifier emulation, and the ability to double as a cheap PA. This is also the easiest to use combo amp I've seen. The VOX Valvetronix I own gives me fits with all the settings and options and the knobs doing different things in different modes. The VOX is louder, yes, but the MicroCube is more pleasant overall.

I'd definitely go with the MicroCube over a tiny Marshall, VOX, or Peavey.

Got this as a Christmas present from the missus - asked for a little Smokey tuner (it can be used as a practice amp too). She came home with the Microcube. Wow is the only word I can say. The rig has plenty of features that I've found to be really fun to work with. Single channel - but has "six" amp options plus a "vocal" option. There is a headphone/aux out that makes for 100% listening quiet.

This is my late at night don't disturb the others amp. I have plenty of tube powered gear. It does all I need it to do for what it was purchased for.

Like one other poster - my fave is the "Brit Combo". The "Blackface Twin" combo is too bassy - distorts the speaker into tone fart land too quickly. The other options are fun to visit but the Brit Combo is where it lives. The amp's effects range from cheesy - tremolo (no where near the true Fender sound I'm used to), good - delay, chorus to best - reverb, phase, flange. Does this mean I can't use any of them - certainly not. Small practice amps are that practice amps!!! The gain - is good but nothing to write home about. I can get a decent "tube emulation" type tone. I still put a Digitech Bad Monkey in front with a DOD IceBox Chorus - allows me to multitask effects when I need to. Most of the time - clean w/some reverb is all I need.

New - no problems. Use the 9V Wallwart almost exclusively.

no opinion - but figure Roland would be there if I needed them.

Too many years to count. Too much stuff to list. The Microcube is a great tool to noodle with and if it were lost - as the story goes - would buy another and go back to noodlin!

07 model
in red, white or black.. i chose red
has 6 diffrent amp models
about 8 diffrent effects
AUX imput
recording input/PA equipment
9VT adapter included, or it can run on 6 AA's
comes with strap
and a tuning fork

really great amp! great for gigs,studio, practice, or even on stage

very great everything on this amp!, lots of variety, lots of diffrent settings really good distortion

maybe its because i use a 2005 dimebag darrel camo flying V with a crappy seymour duncan, and a high gain bill lawrence pickup, its not really bold...but it could just be my guitar, i'd have t use someone elses

i can take and use ths anywere, and its very durable. very outstanding amp

so far, no porblems. and i doubnt i ever will

iv'e bee nplaying for almost 5 years

i have a dimebag darrel flying V, a blue 2005 godin, a sunburst fender acoustic, and a OLP tintop electric

a camo randall
a marshall MG15 amp
a fender mini amp
and a pocket rocket amp.

i wish it had a digital tuner instead of a tuning fork, but else wize, this thing is perfect, i highly suggest getting one if you need an amp for traveling or any other use

Does what it says on the tin.

I love the size of this amp and the look on people's faces when i show it them, just about to laugh at the small size of it when i plug it in and WOW how can a unit that small deliever such a large sound. Personally i love the "Brit Combo" setting with the gain just over half and volume at a third for a great rock sound and turn back the gain for that Vox sound. I used to have it at ear level however now put it on the floor behind me when sitting down which seems to being out the bass more for a fuller sound.

Seems to be built like a brick

Dunno

Excellent,

it it sounds crap it's propably your playing or your crap guitar.

Not sure where it was made, but it seems pretty solid. It's very small and is meant as a secondary amp, starter amp, or a cheap amp to carry around. very portable and have a battery powered option. Although it's only 2watt, it's surprisingly loud, and that's a good thing. It has Roland's effects built in. I don't gig and only play guitar as a hobby so this is probably as much power as I really need.

Okay, I must say that I haven't mess with many amps except for a tube amp that my friends has and my first cheap-ass amp (a Johnson Reptone 15Watt). So to compare it with the Johnson, I must say that it is a million times nicer. Clean mode is nice and clear, and distortion is just right. I can get the sound of most of my favorite bands. Although, I must say that the built in distortion is not good enough to get that Metallica sound.

I can't say much for this because I've only had it for a week, but I think it should last for a while.

Never had to contact Roland.

I've been playing for only about two and a half years, but I know a good sounding equipment when I hear it. This is probably the best small amp that you can get for this price. If stolen, I'll probably look for another one.

Great system.
I love the battery operation. I got 30 hours out of my first set. All the input/output jacks I needed. I loved the sound choices.
Two minor complaints:
1) I would have preferred a better digital delay that I could have used more easily in an echo/bounce role. It would have been rather simple to set up the digital delay in a slapback that could have allowed me to duplicate Flight of the Wounded Bumblebee or Malmsteen's "bow bouncing" in Black Star.
2) What if I want to use a chorus, phaser, and flanger at the same time? What if I want digital delay with reverb at the same time? It's understandable they put those on the same knob, but still very slightly annoying.
Still, those are nit-picks. This amp has every feature I really need except an "auto-wah" effect.

I just play around at home, so I don't need arena-level volume; but I have never needed more than 2/3 of the volume this baby can produce, despite its small size and miserly power usage.

I've used this with jazz semi-hollow bodies, 80s-era Westone "superstrats", Schecter metal guitars, and Carvins.
This amp is able to emulate all the fancy/expensive amp sounds, yet allows each guitar's individual character to come through.

There isn't that much difference between the JC Clean and Black Panel amp emulators, but that's no big deal.

The amp can make any sound I've ever asked it to make for styles from alternative to rock to metal to jazz to R&B to blues to pop.

I've had it for 5 years now, and never had a problem. I've taken it to the desert for two deployments, but other than, I'm not that hard on my equipment; it just sits in my office at home.

No problems, so no contact with company necessary.

I have a Fender practice amp that I never use, but have been too lazy to sell.
The Roland Microcube is pretty much the only amp I think I'll ever need, since I don't plan on every gigging. If you gig, you'll need something bigger...but this amp would probably do fine acting as a head unit plugged into a big speaker, making a homemade amp stack.
If I were going to gig, I would buy a bigger Roland amp based on my experiences with the MicroCube.
If it were stolen or broken, I would buy a new MicroCube immediately.

It's pretty feature-heavy for such a cheap amp. For a beginner who doesn't plan on gigging and doesn't have the cash for a good amp & multi-effects pedal, this is the way to go. Several types of distortion & fuzz, limited delay, reverb, chorus, phase & flange all built in. Certainly nowhere near the control and quality you would get from pedals, but decent for practice.

It's a tiny solidstate amp, so obviously this thing isn't going to sound like a Fender Twin. I think it sounds fine if you're using it to play amplified acoustic or clean/blues electric. Quite obviously, it doesn't handle distortion well because of the size and power limitations. If you're mostly into metal or harsh noise type of stuff, I really wouldn't recommend it. Better off going with a Blackheart mini-stack or something.

Hasn't failed me yet. I've noticed the same issues with the input jack that another reviewer mentioned, but it hasn't been a major issue. Runs through batteries pretty quick, but that's to be expected. I've taken this amp on rugged camping trips, left it tumbling around in the trunk of my car & spilled beer all over it during drunken practice sessions & it still keeps ticking.

As noted above, I've never had a reason to contact Roland support.

Overall, it has been a decent little practice amp. If it were stolen, lost or spontaneously combusted, I probably wouldn't replace it (I'm playing more heavy music lately & that Blackheart stack I mentioned previously is looking pretty good right now), but it has served me fairly well.

My best advice--if you play mostly acoustic or blues type stuff and you already have a good amp for jamming/gigging, the Micro Cube is a good choice. If you play heavier music or plan on having this be your only amp and you want to play with other people (especially drummers), find yourself something else.

Sound like a toy. The clean tones aren't bad...overdriven tones are cheezy, sterile, and sound like crap. Yeah I know, what do you expect for a small, battery powered amp. Its a fun novelty, but I want more from my amp so I purchased a Songworks 3350 amp.

Yes its about 4 times more expensive but its tube and the overdrive and clean tones (though minimal in variety) are in a class its self.

The Roland Micro Cube is like comparing a Walmart desk top radio to a Bose Wave radio (the 3350). They're the same size and wieght, but the Bose (and 3350) are in a different class in itself that you pay for.

That's just it, you pay for what you get. This amp bored me in a few days...the 3350 wants me to show it off to my friends and is tons of fun to play. Rich screaming leads at low levels and can hang at a moderate volume gig just by itself.

I returned it after a few days. The amp is boring and not inspiring at all to play. If you're the typical beginner who doesn't really play lead, this amp is for you. If you a lead guitarist and really gets into the tone of your amp...look elsewhere. Its toy and sound like it. I would put it in the class of the other battery operated toy amps out there. There is shines.

In the class of micro amps...the Songworks 3350 which only slightly bigger (ac powered) just slaughters it!

10 on features....its got headphones line out reverb trem phaser phlanger can go by batteries can sound like jefferson airplaine type overdrive or judas priest with super long sustain all in this teeny tiny little box that i could bring with me; with out plugging in!!!!!!!!!!:if that dont get u excited SEE YOUR DOCTOR PLUS i get a good JAZZ clean tone out of it(roland jazz corus)....OH YEAH IT HAS CORUS..... i use the jazzz corus mode the majority of the time
cuz i like a clean guitar sound.......but the metal defanatly does it for me .....and the bigbrothe and the holding company overdrive
it has gain.......this is a GREAT AMP

i like it.......this is the onley amp where i changed the speaker...it now has a nice car speaker in it..........mabey a soney or......i forget its a tad bigger tho but it JUST fit in there

Aaaaaaaaaathe onley thing that troubled me about this amp is the .....plug hole for the guitar wire ....it seems to ckick alot sometimes especialy if i move around with it

dont know dont bother with that stuff ..was a lower price amp.....if it was a high end amp .THEN u use costomer support

i give it a imature TEN in this area because it .....its awsom it makes me wonder what all the excitement about tube amps is.....
crawdave2001@yahoo.com....email me if u like

More versatile than the Marshalls, Fenders, Rolands, Yamahas, and Mesa Boogies that I've owned before - as far as multiple sounds from one amp, and pretty much all of the amp emulations are good sounding and usable.

Sound quality for a 10 watt, 5 inch speaker amp? - "10" Sound quality for any amp I've heard in person? - still probably a "7". I'm giving it a "9".

Well, I've owned it for about three hours now...

Three hours...

I paid $50 plus shipping on Ebay for this new-open-box item intending for my daughters to use it for karioke (it has a mic emulation, and built in effects)- and it sounds great for that (try the Rectifier setting Darth ;)). I was impressed.

When I plugged my strat into it I was amazed. I had to go plug back into my Marshalls to confirm that they still sounded better. They did of course, but not by as much as I was hoping. ;)

Wow. Know a beginner who needs a cheap amp? Need a travel or headphone amp? This is a good one.

These have been well covered previously

I am a one tone kinda guy and I liked getting to choose from the different amp models to find a sound I liked without buying several amps to find it. I play in a zydeco band with accordion, washboard and upright bass... I like the JC Clean setting with a little bit of digital delay for a rockabilly/Johnny Cash/Chet Atkins slapback echo and that's it. That's the only setting I ever use. My guitar is a pawnshop prize Yamaha EG 330 strat-like model that does just fine...I can't afford to be a tone freak and let my fingers do the talking anyway...I sound like me no matter what rig I play thru.
Now, if I were going to play in an electric blues band, I would have to go get another amp, for sure..the fact that our band has no drummer is the reason I can gig and rehearse with this rig.

I use the 2 micro cubes at gigs as my standard rig...I split my guitar signal with a 'Y' Cable, and use one cube as my onstage monitor, and the other as a D.I. into the sound board with the settings exactly the same....delay at 2.5, gain at 5, volume at 5, tone at 7, no chorus or any of those distracting swoosh-y effects.
The other reason I bought it is for playing electric on the street and with 2 of these babies, it makes for a very full sound and plenty loud enough for our band. Unplugged acoustic guitars can't hang with an accordion!

No dealings with Roland, though I will probably have to replace the speakers pretty soon as I think they are getting blown out.

I have been playing 26 years. My gear is nothing to brag about and I have let some really good equipment slip away over the years. At the moment I have an inexpensive Johnson Resonator guitar which I love to play on solo gigs (forget the model), a 70's Guild dreadnought which is getting the bridge re-set, a crummy Peavey practice amp, a Gibson A-9 mandolin (bluegrass hot-rod) & my grandfather's 1920's Lyon & Healey fiddle, and a recent chinese Jazz Bass copy. Nothing to brag about, for sure.

If stolen or lost, I might upgrade, but, I'm pretty low-budget, so I may have to hit the pawnshop and get whatever in time for the next gig.

Built around 2004. I got it used in 2005.
I play everything from sparkling clean and bluesy
leads to high gain metal leads and rhythm. This amp does most of it
very well. Clean is not bad. High gain models are awesome. Other features I remember: headphone out, many amp simulations, delay, reverb, tremolo, chorus. I use this amp while I play my ibanez in my
car in the parking lot and my wife is shopping in the mall. This amp
has saved my marriage :-). I have used it to jam with my friends
as well. If its not loud enough, I run the headphone out into the mixer
and use the PA.

Sound quality of this amp is awesome for the size. The fact that it
works on batteries and does not drain the batteries that fast (mine
last for about 3 months and I play it about 2 hrs every week when
I am outside). Clean is not bad. Distortion is amazing.
The first time I took this amp to my band practice (the drummer has
electronic drumset so its not too loud), they laughed at me but were
amazed by the volume and sound quality when I started playing.
I use USA strats, jacksons, ibanez RG guitars with EMGs or SD pups.

Yes its very dependable. I always keep it in my car. For my gigs,
I use its eldest brotha cube 60. And the microcube is a backup if
60 ever fails, which I dont think will happen. I dont think its usable
for live situation but if I have to I think I can pull it off by
running it thru a PA. Ofcourse I am talking about small gigs and
emergency situations, not big arenas.. lol.

never dealt with roland.never needed to.

I have been playing for more than 15 yrs. I got mesa boogie single recto, line 6 podxt live, vamp2, roland cube 60 and bunch of guitars.
If it were stolen, I will buy this amp again for its high gain channel.
I still have to compare it to vox ad15. I wished it had better
effects. I dont like the effects on any of the cube amps.

2007. Modeling amp.

Heres where it stinketh. For three months it sounded great (for a teeny amp) then one day it went into 'crap' mode, never to return. Its buzzy and just sounds horrible. Clean channels arent too bad, but the distorted ones are really bad. They were good but now bad....so I sent it in for repair.

It came back with this reply from Roland

"Ran several tests. Works Fine. Meets all factory specs. Check your settings. Use the clean settings."

Check my settings?!? All two of them? Meets specs? Well I dont know how they measured these as I filled two of the screw heads with wax to see if they would actually take it apart to test it. They didnt, wax still there.

Use the clean settings??! This to me sounds like they admit that the OD channels sound like crap.

Anyway, frustrating. It was good now its bad...and roland wont help. At least it was cheap. But I wont buy from them again..

It was a 10 and now its a ZERO

It was good, and then one day went bad. Ive read the other reviews and it seems others have this same problem. I'll admit that all the good reviews on here are honest as that was how I felt about it too for 3 months anyway....

Under warranty sent it in they sent it back, unopened and unfixed.

Lame!

Playing about 7 years.
Fender Hot Rod DLX. Peavey Bandit 112. Strats

I hate that it was great and now it sux and Roland left me stuck with it.

The features have been mentioned countless times before but here are the highlights. The 6 amp model simulations, 4 modulation effects, 2 ambient effects, gain, volume, tone and headphone out. It also has a somewhat useless tuner and an mp3/CD line in jack. It is very portable and will run on AA batteries (6 at a time)with solidly built construction and a sturdy handle.

As a standalone amp it sounds fairly good on all the different settings but the 5 inch speaker in it is a bit wimpy for any good low end. However, after saying that, what I have found is that if I run the effects and amp simulations from the line out into a larger amp this turns the little guy into an amazing effects line. The digital effects are top notch and the amp sims are very close, closer than most other amp simulation products, which when used as an effects line create great versatility for live playing. Especially for covering various classic songs. I use a Boss AB-2 line switch to change between the cube effects and my regular pedal board. The cube is very quiet, except when you dial in the Recto or the Classic Stack with the gain turned up. My favourite amp sims are the Brit Combo (AC30), Black Panel (Fender Twin) and Classic Stack (Marshall Plexi) while the chorus and phaser (low position) are excellent modulation effects (I am not a fan of flangers or tremolos. The Digital Reverb and Delay are very good and very useful as well. By using the Micro Cube as an effects line in front of my amp, I can switch between the clean sounds of say the AC30 or Fender Twin, then switch over to overdrive from the pedal board. Or I could go the other way and play clean into the main amp through the pedals and then switch to overdriven AC30 or Plexi sounds. Great versatility to cover classic rock and blues. I do this with 2 different Strats (1 stock Vintage Noiseless single coils and 1 hot rodded w/Duncan Strat Rails)and an Epi Sheraton Deluxe (335 style w/2 PAFs. The amps are a VOX AC30CC2x and a Fender Custom Vibrolux Reverb for gigs. A Fender Champ 600 Reissue for home practice.

I have had it for 2 years without any trouble what so ever. Roland are known for reliable products and I have been using Boss pedals for many years and have never had any issues with those. So I suppose what I am saying is; The Micro Cube is very reliable.

Never needed it.

I think this is a great little amp to introduce to new guitarists the fundamentals of different sounds for a very reasonable price. My daughter is beginning to learn to play so I got her one of these to use as she learns. She is having great fun exploring the different sound from the cube while she learns her chords and scales. As for me, well as I have said, this is a great effects line for versatility with excellent digital effects and amp simulations. Can't recommend it enough for these two reasons alone but when you factor in the very reasonable price with the rugged durability and portability, it becomes a no-brainer. Don't think twice before you get one because even if you out grow the Micro Cube as a practice amp, you can still use it as an effects line in your set-up when you go to a bigger amp.

You probably know them already.
My only wish is that it had a chromatic tuner.
Use it for practice in the music room, plenty of power for that. Put a clean boost in front if you need more gain.

I loved this thing as soon as I plugged it in. Very surprising quality and features for its size. I find all the sounds useful with a little tweaking, even the "Mic" setting. I wanted a small practice amp that could just be plugged in and played without effects pedals, this one does it. Sounds great with single coils or humbuckers. I use it with the included adapter, no hum or issues. I have quite a few amps, tube and sold state, this is the go-to amp for personal practice.

Don't know, seems solid like all Roland stuff I've had. Never had any problems with Roland gear so far.

Can't say.

Great value, money well spent; this is a keeper. Highly recommended. I'll give it a 10 despite the lack of a real tuner. Goodbye Pignose!

Solid State amp. Bought new in 2006.
Comes with tons built in effects, settings to emulate different amps.

the best little practice amp i've ever heard.. cool effects and distortion.. even has a built in chorus for that roland clean sound

very dependable

haven't had to conact roland

the boogie sound is my favorite!

2 Watt practice amp with support for battery operation. Enough amp simulation and effects for any practice session. Line in for a drum machine, or CD/MP3 player and headphone out (can't imagine needing that with this little beauty since it sounds great even at extremely low volume)

Not something for a gig, but great for taking to the cottage, campsite, or even backyard practice (without annoying the neighbours)

Unbelieveable!!!

This thing is tiny yet produces some remarkable tone without screaming, ear bleeding volume. I have no idea how they do it but this amp remarkable. I like the JC clean and R-fier models the best, but when I want something a little more versatile, I just plug my GT-6 into it and go nuts.

I've only had it for a week but it apears to be built solid.

Haven't needed any so far.

I've run a Godin Freeway, Ibanez SA260, PRS Custom, and (my favorite) Lado Elite III through this thing and get amazing tone from every axe. The remarkable thing is that I can practice in one room with an infant sleeping in another and not worry about waking the little guy. Such low volume and yet with great tone is what sets this little practice amp apart from the competition.

If it died, was stolen or anything else happend to it, I would have another one within hours. I've already recommended this little gem to several of my friends who have come to love it as well.

I'm so impressed with this, I'm going to check some if its bigger brothers to replace my LINE6 Spider II.

Bought in 2007 direct from zzsounds - two day delivery, $125 total. Everything else is well documented below. I will say I like the controls, simple, solid, very easy to dial in. Don't like the tiny power button on the back, would have been cool if they put a retro-metal flip switch like on legit tube amps, but hey what can do.

I'm admittedly a gear head and have been playing guitar and in bands for over 15 years. This is my first solid state amp in 10 years. I've had and still have vintage fender, marshall, vox, and various boutique amps (Rivera, Roccaforte, Dr.z.). So I feel I can tell you straight - this is great little amp. Perfect for bedroom jamming. Perfect practicing to a cd or jamming with your buddy in the bedroom while your wife is watching tv in the living room. I don't mess to much with the effects, some delay, a bit reverb, and I mainly play with the British Combo channel - but man if that's all it had I would still be happy with this thing. Certainly not a touch sensitive as a cranked up tube amp, and not quite the string clarity, but for what it is, it's size, minimal price, this thing is so worth it. I truley enjoy playing through it. If your considering - I'd say buy it, its worth it. By the way, the Marshall Stack, the Fender cleans (black face and silver face era's) and the Mesa Boogie rectifier channels all sound right on to my ears - I just don't use them much.

DOn't know, only had it for a few months - so far so good.

no contact

For $125 bucks, if your looking for a small bedroom practice amp, or something portable to take on vacation, I'd be surprised if you could do better. Fantastic value for $125.

Great portability - carry with your guitar in one trip without being over burdened.
Not extremely light but I like the "feel of quality" you get with some heft.
Battery power is awesome! Six AA's and you're up and running.
Sound flexibility is excellent including many cool amp models - a real treasure trove with easy to understand control dials.

Has no business sounding this good for an amp of this size/cost. Its amazing. Not incredibly loud, but plenty loud. It just blows people away who hear it.

One of those purchases that leaves you totally satisfied how smart and discerning a buyer you are.

Made in 1492, which makes it an immediate classic. Wow. Pushes 120 watts through a 5" speaker. Wow. Made for extensive touring. Lots of effects that can be accessed with the included Brashaw switching system.

This is my main touring rig. I usually have the volume on 2-3 when I play stadiums and even then it is deafeningly loud. I once turned it all the way up and hit a power chord. The sound dissolved the home I was living in. Smoke and ash was all that remained, drifting through the summer air. I'd say it is much louder than a 747 on takeoff or even the Space Shuttle. I plan on standing under the Shuttle the next time it launches. I'll be jamming with the cube to see which is louder when they light that thing up. I'll submit another review after that. This amp sounds like a Dumble, a Victoria, A VHT, a Fender Deluxe/Super/Twin/ Marshall stack, etc...but 100 times as loud. It's very heavy to move around ...probably over 1000 tons, easy.

Just for fun I placed it in a 1 million ton press and tried to crush it. It broke the press into two parts...not a scratch on her. Then I took it to Fort Campbell and had an Abrahams M 2 blast away with the main gun. After 100 rounds, she only had a small scratch on the corner. Finally I threw it into an iron smelter at 3000 degrees. Nothing. So I think it's reliable.

I'm a personal friend of Ignacio Roland and his father, Cornelius. They invite me for sake (Japanese rice wine) all the time and send their Yamaha jet to pick me up in Antarctica, where I live. I complained once that the amp was not made of solid gold. They sent me 100 million dollars and promised to send 100 million dollars every day until i die. That's okay customer service in my opinion.

I've been playing since 6000 BC. I invented electricity and everything else except the internet, which Al Gore invented. If this were lost or stolen, I would simply destroy the entire universe and ask Almighty God to start over, please.

I bought this amp a few days ago for practicing at home, its everything i hoped for and then some in a small inexpensive box.
It has a few different sounds (channels) and also some built in effects.

I like all the sounds it makes except for the acoustic channel, however in all fairness i cant remember ever hearing a good acoustic sound out of a guitar amp.
There are some pretty silly built in effects in it that i doubt i will ever use (Chorus, Flanger, Phaser) and it also has pretty decent sounding Delay, Tremelo and Reverb.
I use a standard USA Fender Stratocaster with this amp and i play mostly blues and country music, i really like the way the British Combo channel cleans up when i roll back the guitar volume.
This is a really quiet amplifier, there is no hiss to speak of.

It seems solid enough, i wouldnt hesitate to take this amp with me to a studio without a backup, i wouldnt gig with this thing, its only 2 watts or something.

The store where i bought this amp is an official Roland dealership, it has been around longer than i have, over the years i have bought five or six guitars from them and a bunch of other stuff, two times i bought effects pedals from them that werent working properly and they replaced them instantly.
Im sure if my amp broke down they would repair or replace it.

I have been playing guitar for 25 years, i own a few other amplifiers, a Musicman 212, a 75 watt Randall and some old tube amps.
I bought this amp for practicing at home, its great for that purpose. Every other amp i own sounds horrible at low volume, they are made to be played loud but this thing sounds good even at low volumes.
I didnt even try this thing before i bought it but i had read a lot of good things about it.
Roland Amplifiers used to sound really horrible to my ears, back in the eighties a lot of people had these large cube amplifiers and i always thought they sounded like s##t, but that was 20 years ago, maybe their amp are better now than they used to be, i dont know.
Anyway, this one sounds just great and for the features and sounds it has its a great value.

I think the features have been well documented previously.

I don't push this amp at all.The setting i use mostly is the marshall/classic stack setting.I usually have the gain on 7 and the volume on 2 tops and use my guitar volume pot to clean up or dirty the sound.This is perfect for me to practise along with backing tracks on my stereo without annoying the missus or neighbours.
I don't use the effects at all, except for a pinch of reverb, but in saying that I don't use chorus on my main amp either.The chorus/flanger/tremelo effects do sound a little gimmicky however, but what would you expect for the money?
The sound I dial in is fine for for my practising needs, so I'll give it a 7

well built practice amp.I've had mine 2 years now and it's fine, although it has been in the same spot beside my stereo for the last 2 years, but it's a rugged little beast.Don't like the mains cable though, a bit flimsy.However, if you have it constantly connected (like I do)I don't see it as being a problem.

2 year warranty.I get all my gear locally and if i have a problen with anything they sort it out for me.

I've been playing 20 years and my main amp is a mesa boogie f-50.I've 2 electrics, a yamaha mike stern and a westbury custom.I also play some classical/acoustic fingerstyle.The roland is perfect for what it does- practising at low volumes and does a passable impression of the sounds it features AT LOW VOLUMES.
If it were stolen or lost, yes I'd get another and I'm going to get another one to have in my in-laws house so I can escape upstairs after dinner on Sundays.

A guitar gods full stack and effects all in one compact amp. It has 2watts and has 8 different distortion types including rectifier and brit combo. It also has 6 effects, which are chorus flanger phaser tremolo along with an independent reverb and delay channel. It is good for practice in small apartment or bedroom or a panhandling or maybe even rehearsals before big gigs.

It is very versatile, with sounds ranging from very clean to very distorted. also there is no middle ground in the sounds you get. If you want clean you get clean if distorted then distorted. It suits my musical style (most heavy metal styles with classic rock, blues and classical thrown).

Very reliable and trustworthy.

Never had to deal with them but they seem to be good people though.

Even though I bought it used, if broken beyond repair or stolen, I would buy another in a heartbeat. Overall, a very reliable piece of equipment.

Excellent selection of professional effects from a range of popular cabinets.

The sound quality is absolutely stunning of what offered. This a little more than a small practice amp as you can use this for professional recording when plugged into a system. The sound on the headphones is excellent. This amp will compete any normal 10-15 watt amp as it is very loud for room practice.

Believe it or not I have gigged once with this amp as plugged through a PA and it out performed my marshall as the r-fier on cube sounded exactly like the mesa boogie.

Never had any.The amp comes with a 3 year standard warranty.

So much in so little price. Iam most amazed with the compact technology and the power this baby can handle. It has replaced my marshall jcm cabinet and a lot of space freed up in my room. Couldnt ask for more.

Some guy was nice enough to post a bunch of amp settings to achieve a certain sound (see below). I'd be really interested to see if others have similar recommendations? I'm pretty new to the guitar, so this really helps me alot. Thanks so much! (or you can email them to me!)


DREAM THEATER - John Petrucci
TONE - 45%, EFX - OFF, DELAY - 50%, GAIN - 10, MODEL - R-FIER

NICKELBACK - Chad Kroger
TONE - 55%, EFX - OFF, REVERB - 50%, GAIN - 4, MODEL - R-FIER

CREME - Eric Clapton
TONE - 55%, EFX - OFF, REVERB - 50%, GAIN - 8, MODEL - BRIT COMBO

JIMI HENDRIX - Wind Cries Marry
TONE - 45%, EFX - OFF, REVERB - 50%, GAIN - 3, MODEL - CLASSIC STACK

ZAKK WYLDE
TONE - 50%, EFX - CHORUS 2 - DELAY - 50%, GAIN - 10, MODEL - CLASSIC STACK

SRV
TONE - 75%, EFX - OFF, REVERB - 60%, GAIN - 6.5, MODEL - BLACKFACE

A lot has been covered before. Great product.

Awesome...especially direct to sound board for recording. The sound is very good with no noise whatsoever. Not a lot of messing around to get decent sounds. Works with all sorts of pickups.

Built Like a tank.

Own lots of tube amps...this is in fact my only totally non tube amp. This is a practice recording amp and has been rated by that standard. For $100 it was a total no brainer. Yes, I a/b'd it with the VOX DA5. This amp sounded better. I own and ADVT15 and thought the VOX would "beat" the Roland. It did not. I like the red color. What ever the color, the sound and tone is really in there.

This amp is awsome, I have had many, many amps over the 17 years I have been playing ranging from 10 watt practice amps to 100 watt heads with 4*12 cabs and everything in between. For practicing at home this thing can produce any sound you are after. For example before i bought this I had a 30 watt marshall and a good effects pedal which produced great sounds, but this amp can can do exactly the same on its own, it is only rated at 2 watts but believe me it is plenty loud enough for practice. the amp models are great and the BOSS effects are really great.the clean sounds right through to the rectifire sounds are absolutley amazing and you can plug an mp3 player or CD player into it to jam along with and they all soung great, there is also a tuning fork button which is touch sensitive which is amazing.

built like a rock and a 3 year guarantee as standard.

not needed to use them yet.

I bought in 2006, so probably made in 2005. This is my second practice amp I bought in a year. The first one is Marshall micro. Of course, Roland is better. This one got more buttons and features to cater to whatever your style is. You can use AA battery, so it is portable. Size just right, not too bulky. However two bad things. Switch on button is strangely placed at the back, and I didn't understand reading manual of how to use the tuning fork. Easy solution, I bought a digital tuner. So for that I give 8, otherwise I would easily give 10/10.

Sound is brilliant. Digital effect together with delay/reverb is wicked. A lot of choices from acoustic to metal. Surely can fit into any kind of genre.

I have been using this amp for 6 months, mainly practising in dining hall. Possibly can do if gig is just for family members. So far so good, no problem at all.

Don't use it yet.

I bought my first guitar one year ago, so I'm practically novice to judge. But, I love this amp, simply because there is a variety of sound it can produce. My daughter also loves it. I'd recommend for any beginners like myself to try this one. It's worth your investment.

I think is 2006 made, and WOW this baby rocks!
I bought it because I had to spend 6 months abroad as an Erasmus Exchange student and I had the urge to have myself a light compact amp to travel with (and to let the girls go wild with my huge rockstar poses!!! -just kiddin'-).
My shop suggested me this little gizmo. I was skeptical about Roland (this brand gives me too a digital-like feeling) and I think that the looks of the Microcube isn't that gorgeous... But the guy at the shop played a couple of killer licks and I was like wooh.
The good features are the tuning fork, which can look a not so useful tool but lemme tell ya damn sure it is, and the speaker output and direct rec one. I think that I'll never use an external speaker with this puppy, but more expensive amps (like the orange crush series which was one of my possible choices) don't have one, so kudos. The direct rec is good for instant laptop recordings of riffs and ideas (which come and go with the same speed of an italian soccer player falling down after a french one's headbutt).
The on-off switch is in a ridiculously unconfortable pisition and it's ridicously small. I mean, come on! Just another little effort for a plain 10 guys!
Oh, and by the way it's battery powered too! Now I know how to collect some extra change, just rockin' down the street!
It's really small and light, it fitted in my baggage perfectly. Ok, I exceeded the maximum weight, but it was my dozen of pullovers' fault...

That's the interesting part.
Ok, I play my beautiful and sexy Epiphone Les Paul Custom Zakk Wylde model, bullseye finish with passive hambucking EMG's.
This little b#*ch has a bunch of amp emulations. The first one is, well, actually not an amp emulation, but an acoustic emulation. Not my favourite, though, but nice for a relaxing approach to the instrument. Like those nights you just, like, wanna play acoustic stuff.
The Roland Jazz Chorus emu is a little cold for my taste, but it's ok. The Black Panel (Fender Twin) gives a good clean, but whith the gain knob kranked could deliver the right amount of dirt to your playing.
The major problems come with the clean sounds: I noticed with some disappointment the consistent presence of distortion on the lows. Really bad, really bad indeed. But y'know, like good ol' Mick says, you can't always get what you want. I somewhat fix the problem by switching the bridge pickup and lowering the gain... Ok, it's the only real flaw of the amp, we have to admit it, but for the price and the type of the amp (just bedroom practice, I mean the OTHER bedroom practice) it kiks major asses.
And you haven't heard of the distorted ones!
Ok, let me chill out.
The brit-whatchamacallit delivers some awesome Brian May-like sounds, which I think is good if you like Brian May. I like him, I grew up with his mellow tones, his licks smooth like silk and solid rock rithm guitaring. But now it's the dist I use less, because I'm in my Zakk-Dime period.
For Zakk Wylde's kind of rough squealing tone I use the Classic Stack. It's Marshall, it's dirt without too much edges and I push it to the limit pluggin my Boss SD-1 with all maxed out. Good and dirty as hell.
The Rectifier-model is edgy, great sharp highs and punchin' lows (great response on the palm muting!!!) and with high gain pickups (or with a booster) it really SCREAMS!!!
The fx compartment is ok, I don't like those kind of effects so much but I like using some flange or phase every now and then, and the chorus on the distorted to have some cheesy, funny '80s metal sound, really funny. They're maybe a little too extremely biased for my taste, not so subtle, but hey that's all inside a 90 euro and (hardly) 2 kilos!
Good work, really. I cannot but warmly suggest you to buy it, or at least give it a try.

How would I know? I've owned it for less than a month. I keep my fingers crossed 'cause I hate that warranty stuff. It plainly sucks.
(Maybe it's irrelevant, but I have to say that it survived to two airplane travels, in the baggage between two rows of wool pullovers... cool, huh? or maybe not. whatever!)

Huh? Did you hear that?

Ok, basically I'm a bass player (I played for 15 years) but I've always had fun with guitar and drums. I'm good, at least I think so. And I'm good lookin too with the guitar on. Ok, I have just the Epi LP Zakk Wylde Bullseye, Boss SuperOverdrive, Boss DS-2, a russian made BigMuff. All the other stuff is my bass-related gear (some hot stuff but I assume that you might not give a damn about it, so I'll cut it off).
I think that this little amp was what I needed at the moment at the right amount of money I could spend in that very moment. I'm lookin for a good valve combo, maybe a Brunetti or a marshall. But I'm still getting used to serious guitar playing, practising scales and all that stuff, so I think this will do for now.
If someone steals it I'll cry and break something, but just for a couple of minutes. I mean, it's not that much, just 90 euros... but it would suck anyway.
I think that if at Roland the mad scientists could fix that annoying muddy distortion in the clean lows I could eventually consider to buy the new improved version of it.
Now I have to leave you guys: it's almost midnight and I suddenly have the urgent need to shred with my Zakky. And my parents are just next room: isn't it cool? It's a kind of magic...

I mostly play contemporary church music, which means pretty much a little of everything everything but metal. In my bedroom, the metal licks come out too from time to time. This little guy pretty darn versatile, as most digital stuff is. The knobs are really well contrived. They help you get the most out of a small package, but are simple enough that anyone could use them without reading the manual, and tweak on the fly. Admittedly There isn't great depth to the amount of control you have over the effects parameters, but they do what they are supposed to. I mostly only use delay (to cover my sloppy playing) with my other rigs anyway, so it does what I need it to.

Can go anywhere and run for 2o hours, which is pretty sweet. I also think the tuning fork is neat. Gimmicky, but neat.

This item is being rated for what it is: A battery powered practice amp which employs digital modeling. As of now, I've only used it with one guitar, albeit a very versatile one (my other is on another continent at the moment). It's a Hwy 1 Telecaster with a DiMarzio Tone Zone T in the bridge (very good guitar, great pickup). I want to go over the channels one by one but first I want to make some general comments.

The clean sounds distort at mid volume. The distortion is not really overly ugly, and can be cleaned up to some extent with the volume knob. This distortion sounds ok, it's just not, well... clean. So, not much head room. I think this additional distortion might be an asset to the gain channels though. It doesn't hurt at least. The low notes are a little mushy on all models, probably due to the speaker. It's not to bad on the Jazz chorus setting though. This thing also does remarkably well with booster pedals. I tried one with the Level all the way up, figuring I'd get nasty digital distortion for sure. Sounded good, much to my surprise.

Acoustic Model: Does what it's supposed, and sounds pretty good while doing it. me gusta. seems to like single coils much more than humbuckers though.

JC Clean: at bedroom volumes, this channel is CLEAN. really captures that high quality SS clean sound and captures all the nuance of your playing. When the amp gets loud enough to break up, the distortion is not so nice, but it breaks up last of all the channels.

Black Face: a little more mellow clean sound. Pile on the verb and tremolo, and you've got instant surf sound. I don't care for it so much at low volumes, but when breakup kicks in I actually like it better I suspect this is intentional. Good channel for using booster pedals.

Brit Combo: THE BEST channel on the amp. Lower the gain (or guitar volume), and you have a fat, mellow clean sound. At half way, my single coils are clean, and my humbuckers have singing sustain, smooth but articulate. Perfect, really. From there on up, the distortion takes on a bit of bite. It's a very Brian May kind of sound. an approximate Petrucci lead tone can also be found here. At high volumes, this model takes on a more aggressive character that is pretty ok too. I prefer it with the gain backed down a bit. however, This channel is best, in my opinion, at daytime bedroom volume, which is great, because that is where I use it the most. I really couldn't think of anything that would make this channel better.

Classic Stack: With just a little gain, and a neck position single coil (or bright humbucker, I assume), this channel has a very passable blues tone. reminds me of SRV. Does very well with booster pedals on this setting also. At higher gain settings, this channel is not so nice at bedroom volume. It actually sound better when the volume is up pretty loud, more meaty.

R-Fier Stack: This sound is a little to harsh for my tastes at low volumes. It really only sounds good louder, and it's still not really my cup of tea. Well, I take that back, it's pretty decent for metal rhythm actually, but to harsh for leads I think by itself. It does respond very well to external EQ though, so it has it's uses, and it sound pretty cool with phaser. Again, this one is better loud.

Mic: Haven't used it with a mic yet, but as another reviewer mentioned, it has a Hendrix fuzz vibe with the gain cranked for guitars. It's cool to mess with, but I don't usually stay on this channel very long.

At bedroom volumes I would give this a 9 or a 10, at band practice volumes I would give it a 6 or so. Since it's mostly for bedroom anyway, I'll give it an 8.

seems sturdy. Haven't had it long enough to know of any serious problems. It doesn't get hot at all, which is a good sign.

Customer support could be better. They are only open during normal business hours during the week, and they don't have a toll free number. When you can get a hold of them, they are helpful enough.

I've been playing for 5 years now I guess. Playing at church about twice a week, and occasionally doing 'worship concerts', which basically boils down to church music in a rock show format (ie: more work on arrangement and production, longer set, etc.). In terms of other amps, I have a Peavey Classic 30, which is great bang for the buck, but has it's limitations, and a THD Univalve, Which KILLS. The Univalve is an awesome amp which everyone should own. It's best sounding amp I have ever played (though Mesa Mark series amps are veeery nice too); but enough about my Univalve. I also used to have a Marshall TSL 602, but I sold it because it was really heavy and more I need. Sounded good though. I also a PODxt with floorboard that I have used live, direct to PA. It is now relegated use as an effects processor for the Univalve. I have a Yamaha MagicStomp, which I use for similar type stuff, depending on the situation. Finally, I have a Dano Fish&Chips EQ which really helps me get the most out of my C30. I have residence in two continents, so I basically have two rigs. The Micro Cube goes everywhere, of course.

I guess that should be a pretty good frame of reference from which to evaluate my review.

If it were lost or stolen, I would get this or the Vox thing. I haven't played the Vox thing yet. I might pick one up next year, but I am very happy with this for the moment.

Anyway, this thing rocks, and the sounds on it that are good are really good.