A few months ago I got a micro cube and I was pretty impressed with it. Is anyone using a 20xl or 60xl for gigging? What are your thoughts on these these guys? I'm not looking for recommendations on other amps just experiences with the Roland cubes.
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I own and use an older Roland Cube Bass 100. It is a killer amp and sounds great with electric bass and upright. A friend tried one of the newer Roland Cube amps and did not care for it. I have not tried the models you mentioned.
I had an old Cube 60 many years ago, but didn't care much for it.
It sounded boxy.
I don't miss it.
It sounded boxy.
I don't miss it.
and they were that "beautiful" shade of orange. I had one as well, there are lots better reasonably priced amps now.
Ric
I own a few of the older design Roland Cube modeling amps. My bass amp is a Cube 120XL and I love it. I also have a Cube 80XL guitar amp and my bedroom practice amp is a Cube 40XL. I have never seen or tried the smaller Cube bass amps. The 120XL sounds great and you can certainly gig with it. I do.
Just plugged my Kay w/guts and a KNA DB-1 into a little Roland Cube 20XL that served as my EB practice amp. Tilted up it sounds better than I thought and has a good amount of volume that would probably work in a low-medium volume situation.
Bumping to see if anyone else has been using these Roland cube amps successfully.
Bumping to see if anyone else has been using these Roland cube amps successfully.
I'm using the Roland Micro Cube Bass RX with my Alcoa. Love it. Remarkably strong, small, light, battery powered and I'm also using wireless with this so my use of this amp under battery power is totally without cables.
I've used this amp with a mic'ed 15+ person string-band + piano in large rooms for ~100 people and according to audience in the back of the rooms, it penetrates very well. I've used it outside with equally favorable reports. I've used it both without and with a pre-amp, the main difference is headroom. Definitely not a stadium amp, but then again, it can be mic'ed, or used as a personal monitor while the bass is also plugged into the FOH -- I've done both of these also.
The trick with small amps like this is to get them up off the ground to about waist level, where they aren't wasting their output into people's feet and legs.
Here's mine in its pack (before I went wireless, and also I've removed the emblems):
I've used this amp with a mic'ed 15+ person string-band + piano in large rooms for ~100 people and according to audience in the back of the rooms, it penetrates very well. I've used it outside with equally favorable reports. I've used it both without and with a pre-amp, the main difference is headroom. Definitely not a stadium amp, but then again, it can be mic'ed, or used as a personal monitor while the bass is also plugged into the FOH -- I've done both of these also.
The trick with small amps like this is to get them up off the ground to about waist level, where they aren't wasting their output into people's feet and legs.
Here's mine in its pack (before I went wireless, and also I've removed the emblems):
I’ve thought about removing them as well. Have you noticed much difference in the sound?
I had one of the first Roland Bass Cube 60's (Orange) and gigged with it for a few months until the Gallien Krueger 200MB's hit.
Once that happened all bets were off, because the 200MB's sounded far superior with Double Bass. because of the EQ
section and speaker enclosure. Apparently the new Roland BA-330 PA sounds great with EB, I'm anxious to try one out with
a Double Bass.
Once that happened all bets were off, because the 200MB's sounded far superior with Double Bass. because of the EQ
section and speaker enclosure. Apparently the new Roland BA-330 PA sounds great with EB, I'm anxious to try one out with
a Double Bass.
Wow, that’s impressive! I was thinking of raising it, even adding a pole mount crossed my mind. I’m gonna have to give it a try in an actual situation first.
Haven’t seen these before, looks very practical.
I love my Basscube 30. ...not sure it's made any more, but has the preamp of the other basscubes - VERY versatile. It has surprising power for 30 watts, but is only adequate for the smallest gigs. ...great for anything with acoustic instruments! I've never seen a 20 but I wonder how it would compare?
Well, in my case it's theoretical, but I especially wanted to remove the TopLeft emblem because it covers about 1/4 of the TL speaker and I was thinking that it has to block some sound. I also took the LowerRight emblem off because it does cover a little of the LR speaker, just in case, while I was taking the other one off. I removed the emblems as carefully as possible, have kept them, and could put them back in place if absolutely necessary, but I don't imagine that will ever happen. I can't prove anything but I have strong suspicions that removing them makes at least a subtle difference.
The other thing is I play a lot of churches and I prefer as little amp-related visual distraction as possible. Of course I also play a silver colored Alcoa, so I really don't know what I was thinking
.Unless specifically needing a clean stage, I'll usually use this amp in the backpack on a chair or stool, just unzipping the main pack compartment. Since I'm completely wireless it can go anywhere within 90 feet, without having to worry about an AC plug. If I have a choice, I do prefer it close, behind me on my right, so I can hear myself clearly for intonation among other instrument players, plus then its output will also be picked up by any FOH mics.
Edit: Because the MicroCube BASS RX is setup for very efficient 6AA power, it is rated by Roland at 5W (2.5+2.5 stereo). More than anything, this little amp has taught me that wattage does not necessarily equal volume. Granted I typically play with mic'ed acoustic string bands, however, often that includes a loud piano and this amp still covers very well. I wouldn't expect stadium output from it, but even in that situation I wouldn't hesitate to mic it and/or to use it as a personal monitor. My Alcoa is wired for dual mono output so I can be connected to my amp and to a FOH at the same time.
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I had a Super Cube 60 for Bass that I used for a few years with a BSX electric upright and a P-bass. It was a surprisingly nice—and loud—amp with good EQ and a nice bottom from its ported 12” speaker. DI was also good. The one below isn’t mine. Alas, mine was stolen out of my car, complete with a smashed window, when I made a 5-minute stop at work to pick up a document. I would happily have one again.
I use my Bass Cube 30 for practice at home, and for gigs where there is a p.a., it provides adequate stage volume, except for one of the bands I'm in that plays really loud, so with them I have to use my GK 400RB. I wish the Roland had a DI out, but I have a Tech 21 direct box.
I bought this Cube for $50 at a yard sale about 15 yrs ago. I immediately replaced the speaker with a cheap & s****y Carvin 12".
I was hoping to get a few years use out of it - teaching my Slab Students. It is a miracle of reliability and ruggedness.
It is also ridiculously constructed of ONE INCH thick Particle Board, which makes it about 20lbs. heavier than it needs to be.
It does not sound especially good or bad. The color is hideous. It is rear-ported.
That is all....
I was hoping to get a few years use out of it - teaching my Slab Students. It is a miracle of reliability and ruggedness.
It is also ridiculously constructed of ONE INCH thick Particle Board, which makes it about 20lbs. heavier than it needs to be.
It does not sound especially good or bad. The color is hideous. It is rear-ported.
That is all....
A Thing of beauty.
Almost 40 years ago, my first teacher, a long time orchestra guy with a huge gig list (I got more subs from him alone than I could handle in college ) had a 200 year old ungodly loud English 7/8ths , his tubas, a ‘52 p-bass and Gibson ripper , a B-15 and a cube 60 . Guess his favorite pick for casuals and big bands? The p bass with the cube.
I can hear the slab faithful howling already...
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