Roland VGA-7

Probably the one of the most feature laden amps on the market. After a fashion any guitar sound you could desire is in here in some shape or form.

Much better on clean sounds. Works fine with a regular guitar - about a match for most amps of this type, with exception of Vox stuff, which do get better warm valve tones. That must be the valve then.
Used with a midi-guitar/pick up many of the sounds are very lifelike.
But they will always be a compromise. Its not fair to blame the amp for this - if you buy the hype about it being dozens of different amps and guitars in one box, well whose fault is that?
Its not a valve amp, so it will always be compromised if you want a great overdriven valve lead sound. It will get something workmanlke, with decent seperate pedal, but this not an amp for tonehounds.

Built like a tank, weighs about the same as one as well. Never had any problems with it, and Roland stuff I have always found to be totally reliable

Never had to deal with them.

It is a curious bird in as much as it is a good choice for someone playing covers in clubs and bars. With work you can get close to a lot of pop, rock and country sounds. Once dialled in you can simply play through a set with the minimum of fuss about changing your guitars and set-up.
At the other end of the scale its good for experimental players - some of the hybrid sounds can be very out there..
For the players who are looking to develop their own tone, or just looking to use two or three seperate sounds, it is not as good an option as a quality valve amp with a few decent pedals.
Worth noting I paid a lot for my amp when it first came out. I now see these second hand going very cheap, so for a player on a budget it could be a lot of options, and power, for little cash.

I've wanted a fairly portable stereo guitar rig for a long time and this definitely fills the bill. There are a broad range of effects and amp modelling choices available. I also have a VG8, and one of the big advantages of this amp is that the signal from the regular guitar pickups can play through the amp models and effects, where with the VG8, the regular pickups are passed through unprocessed. Compared to most amps out there, I think you would have to rate this one very feature rich. What's more, unlike many amps with built in effects, this makes it easy to tweak the sounds a little without having to work through many pages of menus in a little display (although it does have a little tiny display with lots of menus for detailed tweaking).

Note to Roland, Line 6, Fender and everyone else who makes a programmable amp with a display and lots of knobs and switches:
Please put this stuff on top of a combo amp, not on the front panel.
I really don't know very many 2-3 foot tall guitar players who happen to be the right height to easily read the display and access the controls.

To get the most out of this amp you MUST have a Roland GK pickup. Some of the presets sound great with the GK only and don't work well with regular guitar, and vice versa. Most of them however, work well with both layered if you so choose. I use a Strat with built in Roland pickup and it works great with this rig. Some of the most interesting factory patches are thin with the GK pickup only, but sound incredible layered with the regular guitar pickups. It's almost like having two guitars at once.

Many of the factory presets are a little on the dry side compared to the reverb and delay drenched presets on other manufacturers amps. But hey, that's what the variation buttons and knobs are for.

Can't say about reliablility, but I have another Roland amp that's 20 years old now, went to a lot of jobs, and has never failed

If you are looking for that one incredible tube amp distortion sound, don't buy this amp. Go get the one you want. And I admit that my PRS through my Vibro-King is a tough clean sound to beat. But I'm not going to haul 3 guitars and 4 amps and a rack of effects to a job. I'm going to take this. The sounds are very, very good, and offer me far more breadth than all the stuff I could possibly haul. I suspect that it will replace most of my live setup, just like the VG8 has replaced almost everything else for recording.

This amp is versatile but does not support one sound that is truely decent enough to be left in my arsenal. I paid 1200 and I am going to put it on ebay for 350 and be happy to get that. It has no drive and no clarity..the onboard effects are decent so for the average player who doesn't need tone but maybe want to wash out their mistakes...then this would be considered a good amp

I use a prs custom 22 and a Brain Moore with piezo pickups...
Again it is versatile but it compares to nor tube amp and this prooves that amp modeling is jsut not there yet.

It's very reliable..Never breaks down or has any problems

Never delt with them

If your a serious player than you have to be a total idiot for thinking this amp is any good. In fact, I would have to say that you probably aren;t a good player if you like this amp. Everything is washed out. At least on my Bogner Shiva I can hear my flaws! That's good tone.. Wost mistake was buying this amp...

Right out of the Box, this amp sounded great! I already had a Guitar with a GK-3 hex pickup, and I really liked the GK system set up. After that initialization, my guitar tracked perfectly. I bought this as a "Factory Reseal" although I could not tell. The manual had two inserts with info on the upgraded features, (ability to program more than one set of GK parameters, new patches, etc.).

I'm using a new Ibanez S 470 DX with a GK-3, and a MusicYo! $79 Kramer with a GK internal, Locking tuners, and a tremset. Both guitars track excellent! The Clean sounds are unbeatable! The raunchy tones are not as close to the actual models, but I can sometimes benefit from that. I can easily get the Adrian Belew/Crimson GR-300 type sounds also, which was totally unexpected as I was only anticipating normal guitar/guitar effect/guitar amp simulations.

I've owned lots of Roland equipment, and never had a problem. This amp is WAY ON sturdy, and designed to be on the road, as well as in the studio. I don't expect any problems.

I tried to get info from Roland before I purchased this amp. I wanted to know about upgrades, etc. They don't seem to have any e-mail address for this type of query. I don't think I'll have any problems if I need service, but trying to get info out of Roland is tough.

I write jingles, and do promo advertising, so I have to play ALL styles of music. There is not a better system for this than Roland's. I would replace this in a heartbeat! I have a Roland VG-88 and a GR-20 coming through the aux in and record to my pc with a Lexicon Omega. It's all either professional quality or near so, and all very reasonable. I look for the "reseals" "demo's" "closeouts" etc, to save money. If you have the opportunity, and the ability, I highly reccommend purchasing this amp. It will be as indispensable as the JC-120 has come to be.

The VGA-7 has about any feature you could want and more in an amp! Where else can you emulate most types of guitars, amps, effects, and have a capo to boot? You want Drop D tuning? Just press a button. With a GK2A pickup, you can go from acoustic to electric with the press of a button mounted on your guitar. I've shopped and haven't found any other modeling amp that can do all the things the VGA-7 can and most of the other amps are more difficult to operate.

I like lots of options in my sound. The VGA-7 answers. You can play any style of music you desire with this amp. Some modeled sounds are better than others, but this depends on your ear. The organ and bass emulations do sound digital. Most amp and guitar combinations sound great and all these sounds can be obtained at the push of a button. I've had this amp for close to 2 years and every time I go to a guitar store to try out other things I always come home and say to myself that this amp sounds better and is easier to operate than anything I just sampled at the stores(Line 6, Vox, Marshall, Fender, Crate, Peavey). The effects are more exact than other modeling amps (phase, flange, reverb, compression etc.) and you don't even have to buy pedals. It's like having multiple guitars, multiple boss pedals, multiple amps all in one!! If you are stuck on Marshall amps then buy a Marshall. If you want versatility and great sound at the push of a button, buy this amp!!! Which does a great job at modeling the Marshalls without the noise.

I bought mine used and I haven't had any problems yet. It is built like a tank, weighs a ton(80lbs.), and should last for a long time.

I haven't dealt with them.

I've been playing seriously for about 2 1/2 years. I own a Mexican Fender Strat with a GK2A mounted on it. I have an Ovation Elite Standard acoustic. Both guitars are 1999 models. I agree with some of the other reviewers and think this thing should have handles on the sides. However, overall, this is a great product!! If something happens to it, I will be looking to purchase another. If you haven't tried one, give it an honest look and I think you'll be impressed.

Many good features. Wide range and variety of musical styles.

Superior, very sounds. Found most useful simulated sound for Fender strat, Gibson Les Paul, acoustic, etc... I love the acoustic guitar sounds, warm distortion in Les Paul, bright overdrive in Strat setting,... nylon guitar is not as good as the real but can fool someone if using it in recording studio rather than on stage. Must install the Roland GK-2A pickup to get these sounds. For those unsatisfied reviewers, I've found that variation parameter settings are important to learn and know. I did not know this feature until reading the manual. Yet JC-120 has produced ever best chorus effect, but VGA-7 has given more chorus effects than any. Using different Variation Parameter settings will manipulate players the ability to set several different distortion, chorus, delay effects, amp simulations, etc... One should know the variation parameter settings before geting rid of this amp

Tough, heavy. No problem found so far after 2 years

Don't know yet

It is too heavy as a combo amp. It should has built with the handles on both side for easy of moving and carrying into your car or truck. With casters installed would make it easy to rolling along.

I won't repeat what others have already said, but I want to be upfront and tell everyone to AVOID buying this AMP for several reasons:

1. It weighs like a truck, and it is practical for a band. You really need two people to carry it up or down stairs. Only one heavy duty strap! Two recessed handles on the side made more sense.

2. I know it is a DIGITAL sound, but the dynamics canNOT match that of REAL tubes. I can't wait to trade mine in even if I am going to loose money! The NYLON imitation is a JOKE and an INSULT to the consumer. It is also missing an emulation of spring reverb.

and LAST but NOT least

3. ROLAND has NOT UPDATED the SOUNDS/SOFTWARE in years! Mother#%@*.
That is another one of the catches they use, so don't be a sucker like me who bought this piece of CRAP just like their NYLON string and BANJO crap! Those who give this AMP a 10 are out of their freaking minds!

This AMP just has a few pluses (Full Range, so it can be used to play a real nylon or steel acoustic...Clean sounds are very good, especially the JC-120, but the original sounds better (Buy the real one, although I know LINE 6 and others (e.g. H&K) emulate the JC-120 sound and do a better job than ROLAND (Incredible but true, put them side by side with a real JC-120 and check for yourself)

I have only called them once, and the tech had NO idea how I could know what version of the software my AMP had. Never called back.
I also asked them about an update for the AMP, and that was over 2 years ago!

Get a REAL Tube AMP (Fender) with great clean and distortion channels, and clean Effects Loop....You will sound a lot better than this MONSTER of an AMP that is MID-PACK of the Digital world.
#1 Hughes-and-Kettner (And they do provide updates to their amp)
#2 Line 6 but not reliable (I know from experience...Plus it is full of features most will never use, and still needs to work on dynamics and the feeling/emulation of a tube amp)

If you want digital, just get a great little tube amp from fender and buy a Line 6 POD...
Save yourself the $.

AGAIN
Don't buy this amp from ROLAND as they do NOT update their crap.
I don't care how reliable the equipment is, if it doesn't get improved often!

Just amazing. I've been playing for decades now and this is like a dream come true. Flick a switch and you get a beautiful 12 stings sound, flick again you have Dream Theater's technical tone in Eb. Again, it's a banjo....
Tuning, guitars, amps choices, everything is adjustable.
Not to mention the array of effects like chorus, flanger, delay, phaser, wha, slow gear etc etc.

You gets some great sounds which have the tone and quality of much more expensive gear. It takes a while to find what you're after but worth the tweak. I love the Angra/Dream Theater sound personally, but you gets some of the best acoustic sounds and Fat distortion for blues and well as just about anything you might wish for.

I've had it for 2 years now and nothing has gone wrong with it yet and I use it a hell of a lot. I have had problems with the sound of the original tuning coming through when I had changed to synth only, especially on piezo setting but as the GK2A is virtually touching the humberbucker on my guitar, it's likely to have something to do with that!

n/a

It just blew me away when I bought it, and still does everytime I use it. I've been playing for nearly 20 years and have owned lots of different equipment but this amp is the best by far. I use an Ibanez RG 470 with Inf 1,s1 and 2 pick up and it sound great. But most guitars sound tops with it too, almost just as good, even el cheapo Ashtons. It's hard to be critical of this amp, I just love it.

This amp is modeling heaven. It allows for unlimited possibilities. Sure, a digital simulation of a strat is not a strat, but Roland gets so very close; and you get to pick from 3 different types of strats.. and les pauls , and accoustics, hollowbodies, teles , etc.... You can select different pickups as if you held the actual guitar in your hand. I play mostly at church ( 10+ times per month ) a lot of wich is at a hard rocking outreach service, and this amp is perfect. I love going from the 12 string patch right into an over the top grinding distortion. I could go on and on, but I'll just say that you gotta check one out. Amazing!!
Criticisms would be ...no fx loop
don't even think of using this without a synth pickup
no jack for extra speakers
13 pin cable eliminates fx before input......
bottom line----I love it and those gripes are petty

I've had this for over a year now so I'm over the initial shock phase.
As stated above, this amp gets used alot. I love the clean sounds most. Most fx are very good though the expression pedal (EV-5) doesnt work as smoothly as a real wah or volume. The distortion can range from mild bluesy crunch to over the top downtuned ugliness. With the virtual capo feature you can rattle the windows pretty quick with some downtuned, max gain settings. The amp is not way loud for being 130 watts, but I seldom go past half way. Versatility. It does some sounds incredibly well, Most sounds very well, and I'm sure you could find settings that you hate if you try. But it has so much to offer, I just pass over those. C'mon already. its got 160 patches (80 user) available. I guess if I had to pinpoint a weakness in the sound I would say that the distorion is not as monstrous as what is out there now, and for long sustain and harmonics the digital signal doesn't decay like a tube amp. Mor unnatural sounding.

Probably averaging 10 hrs + per week for 18 months now. Not one problem. Like I stated above I play out with it for 10+ hrs a month, and I never had a backup..or a problem. I guess I can say that after all this use the 13 pin cable is making some scratchy noises when I move around sometimes, and It is not cheap to replace. Some where in the future I guess I'm facing replacing an internal battery but havent seen the " battery low" message yet so no worries/

no contact with them yet.

This was a non factory sealed deal from an online vendor. everyone who plays through it loves the sound and versitility. If you like to dabble at lots of different styles this amp cant be beat.

Nice amp, many features, good to have it.

You should better use it with GK-2A pickup for getting the best sounds out of it. Clean sounds are as close as you can find in accoustic, Fender Strat, and Tele. I could not tell the difference between the original sound of my strat and the one modeled by the amp. Clean sounds are little weak compared to the distortion rock or blue sounds. One of the advantages when using this amp with GK-2A pickup is that you will not hear any unwanted noise (hum or bridge vibration) that are commonly heard.

This is probably a heaviest 2-12" amp outthere. It looks tough and well built. Since I recently have it, I have no idea about its reliability. I have long owned a Roland keyboard, effects processor, and JC-120 amp in the past. I can trust Roland.

- Helpful
- Several authorized repair centers found in my local area. The amp has never been broken, so never try to get it repaired.

With this amp and GK-2A pickup, you don't have to spend much monies for Gibson Les Paul or even Fender Strat guitar. I have installed GK-2A pickup on my Kramer Striker ST300. The sounds are as same as it has on my Fender. You also don't have to buy a guitar multieffects processor. Most effects are available on VGA-7. However, you may need to have a foot controller and an expression pedal. These accessories will cost additionally $300 (FC200 or GFC50 + EV-5)