Double Bass New Amp Day ROLAND Micro Cube Bass RX

[kerrycares]

I recently played amp less at a gig and needed a hint more volume.
So I bought this battery powered amp for a guitar/bass gig at a small jewelry store that didn’t want cords on the floor.
My guitarist had a battery powered ROLAND so I found this little beauty on sale at GC.
Perfect for the gig, clear , tight bottom and “too loud” !
It has a handful of effects, rhythm patterns, tuner and amp modelers and all for under $200.
5 watts
15 lbs

 

[Don Hergert]

Yup!!! I'm a very enthusiastic believer...

You'd be surprised how large a room/audience this can supply your bass tones for. And if it's not powerful enough, it can always be mic'ed. I've used mine both ways.

The only thing I would recommend changing is removing the emblems from the front cage over the speakers... It makes an audible difference.

(Also, if you're using a standard acoustic upright with pickup(s), I highly recommend using a pre-amp.)

I've fitted mine inside a nice daypack so I can easily schlep it while rolling my bass to venues (pics taken before I removed the emblems).

 

[kerrycares]

Yup!!! I'm a very enthusiastic believer...

You'd be surprised how large a room/audience this can supply your bass tones for. And if it's not powerful enough, it can always be mic'ed. I've used mine both ways.

The only thing I would recommend changing is removing the emblems from the front cage over the speakers... It makes an audible difference.

(Also, if you're using a standard acoustic upright with pickup(s), I highly recommend using a pre-amp.)

I've fitted mine inside a nice daypack so I can easily schlep it while rolling my bass to venues (pics taken before I removed the emblems).

View attachment 3258326 View attachment 3258329

Thanks for the emblem info, mine are coming off today.
Merry Christmas!

 

[Chris Fitzgerald]

Looks very cool, kind of "Phil-Jones-esque" with the array of small drivers. Good to know about!

 

[kerrycares]

Looks very cool, kind of "Phil-Jones-esque" with the array of small drivers. Good to know about!

Takes me back to the original Bose systems

 

[Remyd]

Have been wondering about these more and more since I have been playing bass uke around town here and there. It would be nice to have a more mobile less valuable “acoustic” option.

The thing that has been stopping me is that seems like a setup like this might thin bottom freq’s just due to physics. How does it present in the low range? Do you get any punch in such a small driver/low watt package?

Nothing against the small driver crowd - just wondering about the budget side of the street.

 

[Don Hergert]

Coincidentally I bought and use a ubass as a "backup" for my DB for those situations where I can't or don't want to bring the DB...

For both the DB and ubass the Roland seems to do just fine... I've played in a small size church (seating for ~100, 60 present) mic'ing the amp and the low end was supported really nicely... And for a rather large cafeteria (seating for about 150, 100 present) I played with only the amp (and this was before I had a pre-amp), and folks in the back row commented that the bass was coming through low, loud and clear.

Like with anything audio, it's great if you can try before you buy, but my experience has been great with the Cube Bass... And I've read other reviews expressing surprise at how powerful they are.

I also use a few Roland Cube Street PA/Amps (2x 6" speaker 2 channel combos) for a quick and dirty PA when I don't want to get my full PA out and they work very nicely given their size and power for small venues or street fairs, etc...

With any of these small amps, penetration is best when the amp is elevated on a chair, table or some platform so the amp is pumping sound at approximate audience ear level.

I'm no amp expert, but my impression from using the battery operated Rolands for quite a while is that wattage is not necessarily the best metric for judging an amp's power.

 

[Flamingo21]

I read somewhere that it's less powerful on batteries than plugged into the wall. Anyone?

 

[Don Hergert]

All I can tell you is that while all of these Roland battery amps come with an AC adapter, I've never used one. I always use batteries, so all of my comments here about them are based on that experience.

I also have to say, I love the convenience of not having to worry about AC being available.

 

[kerrycares]

Thanks for the emblem info, mine are coming off today.
Merry Christmas!

Done!

 

[Alexis Duntov]

Yup!!! I'm a very enthusiastic believer...

You'd be surprised how large a room/audience this can supply your bass tones for. And if it's not powerful enough, it can always be mic'ed. I've used mine both ways.

The only thing I would recommend changing is removing the emblems from the front cage over the speakers... It makes an audible difference.

(Also, if you're using a standard acoustic upright with pickup(s), I highly recommend using a pre-amp.)

I've fitted mine inside a nice daypack so I can easily schlep it while rolling my bass to venues (pics taken before I removed the emblems).

View attachment 3258326 View attachment 3258329

What preamp do you use? I have this amp as well and I almost always plug into the aux input in the back for the flattest response, but there is less volume than going into the main input.

 

[Don Hergert]

I'm using a K&K Dual Channel Pro ST pre-amp. My pickups are Vic's Pickups Model C (fingerboard/bridge wing pickups) with a stereo female plug socket; I use a stereo patch chord to plug into the K&K.

So for me, the preamp not only provides EQ, gain and volume boost, it also allows me to blend my fingerboard and bridge wing signals... If you are not using multiple pickups you probably do not need a dual channel pre-amp, a single channel should work well in that case.

 

[Don Hergert]

What preamp do you use? I have this amp as well and I almost always plug into the aux input in the back for the flattest response, but there is less volume than going into the main input.

... And one other note.

I get more general headroom plugging into the main input on the amp, but I use the "Mic" amp emulation setting which basically provides a clear, flat input. (All of the other amp voicing emulations on this amp are filters so they do reduce total volume output.)...

Before I was using a pre-amp, that "Mic" setting provided enough volume and everything else to get along, but I did have to run at or near 100% on the amp sometimes. Since I acquired my K&K pre-amp I have set the EQs in the K&K flat but high, and the gain at about 20%. That gives me the ability to run at less than 50% on both the K&K and on the amp almost all the time.

Btw, the K&K is a great pre-amp, but some may prefer to have easier access to the EQ and gain settings -- the K&K's independent pre-output dual channel EQ and gain settings are pots inside the case (with a little screwdriver provided), with the only easily accessible controls outside the case being the two channel volume controls. That's ideal for me, I love the fast simplicity of only worrying about volume and channel blend on the pre-amp. But there are other dual channel pre-amps that do have all the settings available outside the case for those who might prefer that.