jabronie25's Full Review: Roland Microcube Guitar Amplifier
Roland is known for its modelling amps and high quality products. They are most known for their cube series, and this little bad boy is no disappointment. The Roland Microcube is a 2 watt practice amp, with a 5 inch speaker. It comes loaded with effects and amp models. You can also plug in your mp3 player or a microphone so you can jam with your guitar.
According to the Roland Website it comes with:
- Ultra-compact DSP guitar amp with 5-inch/2-watt low magnetic leakage speaker - Runs on battery or AC power (adapter supplied) and includes carry strap - 7 COSM guitar amp models including JC-120 and a special mic preamp model - 6 DSP effects: chorus, flanger, phaser, tremolo and separate Delay/Reverb - New Digital Tuning Fork with support for flat tunings up to 2 semitones - Recording/Headphones output and stereo Auxiliary input for CD players, etc.
Other specs - Weight: 7 lbs. 5 oz. without batteries and adapter - 9-5/8"W x 8-15/16H x 6-9/16"D
Amp Models and sound
Acoustic - It turns your electric guitar to an acousitc guitar! Ok well not literally, but it does a pretty good job modelling that "acoustic," sound. You will have to fiddle with the tone knob to get that right acoustic sound. If you want a real acoustic sound, it still doesn't beat an acoustic guitar. The volume coming out of this mode, is not that loud, so you have to crank up that volume.
JC Clean 120 - Models Roland's JC-120 amp. This is one of the best features of the amp because the clean sounds coming out this amp is really good. I am playing through a strat and boy oh boy, it sounds good. Put it in the bridge pick up and let the amp do the work. The tone is really warm, but if you want a lighter tone just turn up the tone knob. Turn the volume knob half way and lower down the gain and the clean tone shines. You can add a little bit of gain with the gain knob. In this setting, you will hear virtually no feedback, which is a plus. This setting is also an ideal choice for you pedal users. Just lower the gain and plug in your pedal to enhance your sound.
Black Panel - The black panel is dirtier channel than the JC Clean, where it produces a little gain. It is the ideal Blues channel as the tone is really bluesy. The sound is deeper and sounds really good with a little reverb and chorus. This channel resembles tones from the 60's (Blues, surf rock). It models Feder's twin reverb amps.
Brit Combo - This channel models the VOX AC series, which gives you a good 60's/70's distortion. With this setting you can get a good Led Zeppelin or Deep Purple tones. This setting also has a good range, as it has a really clean tone when the gain knob is set at 0, but as you bring it up; the gain really changes your tone to give it that vintage distortion sound. I use this channel to play Hendrix; I use a little chorus and reverb and I get a really good Hendrix tone.
Classic Stack - This channel models the Marshalls stacks to give you a good classic rock sounds. This channel is also one of my favorites because you can get a lot of good classic rock sounds, especially that ACDC tone you've been looking for. All you have to do is use your bridge and middle pick up, bring up the gain and play with the tone knob; you will playing Back In Black, in no time! To me this channel shines with a stratocaster.
R-fier - The rectifier models the Mesa Boogie amplifiers, and this is my favorite channel of all. I play a lot of Metal, especially Metallica and I need a channel with a lot of gain, but does not wreck my tone. This channel can give you a good hard rock to that good heavy metal sound. This channel gives you a good chug, especially a guitar with humbuckers. You can get a good Metallica sound, then bring down the tone to get a good Pantera sound. Even though I love this channel and think it gives a good metal chug, there are other practice amps that beats the microcube in this category like the Line 6 Spider III 15 watt amp. The Line 6 is meant for the heavy metal players because the chug is really heavy sounding.
Effects
Chrorus - Zakk Wylde anyone? Anyways, this effect sounds really out of space like and it really brings out your tone especially if you solo. The chorus sounds like the Boss Chorus pedal.
Flanger - Eddie Van Halen? Yes, you can play like him with this effect turned on! The flanger gives you a swirly type effect.
Phaser - Oh no! My guitar is under water...lame, anyways this effect changes your tone so it sounds like you're under water. It's liquidy, its watery its....phasery. I use this as a substitute to the wah pedal at times.
Tremolo - Tired of tremolo picking? This you can use this setting. The tremolo is natural sounding to the ears. It gives you a good shakey, earthquakey kind of sound.
Delay - The delay effect is my least favorite because I wish it could've been better. At the low setting, the delay is fast and hard to hear. You have to bring it up where the attack is slower and more noticeable. If you want a good delay effect, get a pedal. It does produce a good echoey tone if you find the right settings.
Reverb - The reverb is one of my favorite effects because it gives you a good empty room type of echo. It's bright and has a nice attack. I use this while playing lead guitar because it brings your guitar solos out. Add a little reverb to the rhythm guitar and you will have a less stale tone. The reverb really brings out your guitar.
The only problem with the effects is that it doesn't have a lot of range in my opinion. The effects are either too little or too much.
Sounds
Overall the sounds coming out of this amp are out of the world. You get a lot of good sounds for a great price. This is a practice amp though, so I don't recommend using this for a big gig. Your drummer will drown your tone unless you use a PA system to make yourself heard.
You have the tone knob and distortion knob to modify your tone. I wish this amp came with a treble/bass/mid settings, but the tone knob i can deal with. It changes the mids of your tone so it can be bright or deeper.
Reliability and Durability
This amp is built like a brick. Its really sturdy and you can keep dropping it without breaking. Well, they had to make it strong because you will be playing this everywhere! The body is plastic/rubber like. Im not sure what it's called but the body is strong. The soldering and hardware insides seems in place and strong enough to withstand a fall.
Portability
Oh man this is my favorite part. This amp is the perfect portable amp out there. You can run on an AC adapter, but you can't really showcase your skills like that, so why not bring it outside! It runs on six AA batteries which would last your about 24 hours. Mine ran for about 30 hours on good alkaline batteries. The amp came with a strap, but you can change that strap and add a guitar strap so you can wear this amp too. Put on a strap and put this amp on you, just place the amp behind you and put on your guitar and you would be playing everywhere: on the beach, park, neighborhood and even on the moon!
Other features
This amp comes with an AUX port so you can plug in your MP3 or CD player. If your guitar is plugged in at the same time, then your guitar won't be as loud.
The Mic option is here, so your singer can sing along. Its a good feature and when you plug in a microphone it produces a good clean sound. If you just have your guitar, you have a really distorted tone.
Final Thoughts
This is one of the best practice amps, if not the best. It has a wide range of tones, which stands out against its competitors. The battery life on this is also amazing as it lasted over 25 hours for me. The only part it would lose to the other practice amps is the heavy metal tone. Even though it produces a good metal tone, amps like Line 6 are meant for you metal players. However they cannot beat the range of this amp.
Overview It s Hip to Be Square. With the new Micro Cube, guitarists get a genuine Roland Cube amp in an ultra-compact package that even runs on batter...More at eBay
Fantastic prices with ease & c...(Stock status: N/A)
With the new Micro Cube, guitarists get a genuine Roland Cube amp in an ultra-compact package that even runs on batteries. Weighing in at just few pou...More at Amazon Marketplace
Fantastic prices with ease & c...(Stock status: N/A)
With the new Micro Cube, guitarists get a genuine Roland Cube amp in an ultra-compact package that even runs on batteries. Weighing in at just few pou...More at Amazon Marketplace
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