Roland CUBE-120XL: good practice amp ?

[CarlMega]

Looking for a sanity check.

I can get a pristine 120XL for a good price here locally. I have a Fender Rumble 100 which works well but my upstairs practice amp is a Rumble 40 and it's a bit anemic; so looking to replace the 40.

I was considering getting a GK MB115 II (200watt) but that's going to cost me several hundred more than the Cube. Most reviews on that 120XL are sort of dated so I'm wondering what's the scuttlebutt on it in comparison to more current offerings?

COVID and living rural means I won't be able to compare side by side.

Thanks!

 

[Aaron Houts]

Looking for a sanity check.

I can get a pristine 120XL for a good price here locally. I have a Fender Rumble 100 which works well but my upstairs practice amp is a Rumble 40 and it's a bit anemic; so looking to replace the 40.

I was considering getting a GK MB115 II (200watt) but that's going to cost me several hundred more than the Cube. Most reviews on that 120XL are sort of dated so I'm wondering what's the scuttlebutt on it in comparison to more current offerings?

COVID and living rural means I won't be able to compare side by side.

Thanks!

I’m not sure about that particular model, but I played a larger Roland bass amp at a blues jam years ago and it sounded great-nice and thumpy!

 

[winston]

I've played through Roland Bass Cubes of several eras since the '80s, and liked them all.
Your "local, cheap, fine condition" one sounds worth checking out.

The 120XL has digitally modeled effects and amp profiles, so it's not a "typical" bass amp.
It also has Feed Forward Processing - Roland's active DSP to optimize the amp/speaker response in real time.
Common in PA speakers, but (aside from Bergantino IP) not so much in bassamp-land.
FWIW, Joe Dart used a smaller digital Roland Cube on some Vulfpeck tunes.

 

[Samatza]

I have been using the Cube 100, the version before the 120 for about eight years.

it sounds good and is loud enough for a small unit and quite roadworthy.

 

[Roland GR 88]

As long as the price is right you can’t lose.
It’s a weird one with delays, reverbs and other stuff not usually found on bass amps but it’s basic tones are as good as any other small combo.

 

[CarlMega]

Thanks everyone. Sounds at least worth checking out for sure; mostly wanted to hear if it had some fatal flaw that would make it hard pass. Hopefully it'll have a 'full sound' tone-wise which is most important to me. Strangely, while usually all the gizmos would be a meh thing, I actually think there's a practical use for me as I use 2 practice rooms but only one pedal board so having some rudimentary pedal-type controls like this isn't a bad thing.

 

[Samatza]

Thanks everyone. Sounds at least worth checking out for sure; mostly wanted to hear if it had some fatal flaw that would make it hard pass. Hopefully it'll have a 'full sound' tone-wise which is most important to me. Strangely, while usually all the gizmos would be a meh thing, I actually think there's a practical use for me as I use 2 practice rooms but only one pedal board so having some rudimentary pedal-type controls like this isn't a bad thing.

Last year I had the power cable changed on mine, the internal build quality is high. One good thing about Roland is they maintain the quality in their products.

 

[HaphAsSard]

mostly wanted to hear if it had some fatal flaw that would make it hard pass.

Not applicable for your intended use, but some/many would object to Roland having wired the extension-cab-out in series: this lets the un-expanded combo work at its maximum wattage (when cranked, that is), but with reduced power output from the amp whenever an external cab is connected (which only makes sense if the the latter is very efficient to begin with). Again, it's a non-issue if one expects to only use the 120XL on its own.

 

[CarlMega]

so just a few hours into my 120XL ownership and I'm quite pleased with it. Nice construction, good tone. Even in the unmolested tone settings - it's different than the Fender 100 which I think is closer to an actual & clean signal to output - but I very much like what the Roland delivers. Boomy/thumpy. I'm glad they are different and hit more than a few worthwhile sound profiles right in the package itself.

 

[Gringo Basso]

I really enjoy mine - what I like about the Cube is the endless variety of tones, which allows you to really try a more unique sound than I could with most amps. I've had mine for about 5 years and haven't run out of ideas yet! These are a bit much for a practice amp, but why not have something this good and versatile? Having the attenuator allows me to get some nasty tones without bothering my neighbors.