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Double Bass Roland Micro Cube Bass RX for DB?

#3
I use this amp with my Azola Lightning Bug when I travel. It is small and light enough that it can be taken as carry-on luggage with airlines. I had a gig bag made for it by a sailmaker.

As far as I know it is the only battery-powered amp for basses that uses AA batteries. If you power out, just replace them and carry on. No need to plug in and recharge. I get about 5 - 7 hours out of a set (6) of AAs. If you can or want to plug in it will take 110v or 240v. The built-in metronome and tuner are nice features.

I play bluegrass/acoustic roots and it is great for jams and practice sessions. I find the sounds is more natural if you keep the volume to a minimum and dig in a bit more on playing.

Overall, understanding its limitations, it is an excellent little amp.
 
#5
I picked one up.
First impressions plugged into the AC in my living room ;

...my eyebrows are raised, pretty natural sounding plugged DB straight in w/o external pre, 'Session' and 'Flip-Top' settings seem the most warm sounding, should be very useful for a light Jazz gig and a little extra portable help in acoustic / outdoor settings.

We'll see on tomorrow's (otherwise un-amplified) Jazz brunch w/ sax & baby grand piano.

I'll report back..
 
#7
bribass said:
We'll see on tomorrow's (otherwise un-amplified) Jazz brunch w/ sax & baby grand piano.

I'll report back..
Click to expand...

I know that Mackie unit. Nice little set up there. I tend to like my amps on the floor for the added low end. This Roland box even has a mic pre setting. Your rig makes me think about trying it that way.

The Roland performed like a champ w/ Realist straight into Roland w/o any external pre. Med to large restaurant placed near the back wall of the stage, angled up a bit, this little 15 lb. box put out more than enough (surprisingly) clean, warm tone for a drummer-less Jazz trio (pn, sx, db). Me thinks it could even stand up to drummer on the tasteful/ quieter side.

Used the supplied AC converter. I haven't tried it on battery power yet.

Of course it's not the my AI Focus -> EA Wizzy 10 set up, but I can see it's gonna be very useful in the right applications. The easy load-ins plus AA battery operation for outdoor / sans juice situations makes it a winner right there. Buskers are gonna love this thing. Put in a back pack, rehearse in the park and then use it for the restaurant gig on the way home. Could be good for the road as a 'hotel room rehearsal' rig or as a back up when the sound guy doesn't have a monitor for the bass player yet again.

It has lots of stuff packed in that made me afraid it may be just a toy amp. Amp modeling and fun slab effects like octaver, chorus, flange, T-wah, delay, reverb, mic pre and more than a few usable drum practice grooves AND a tuner. Can't say I need all those bells and whistles in a db amp, but fun stuff as a slab practice amp. Effects actually sound good..and it seems like a sturdy little thing. Affordable at $239. It may run on batteries, but it's no toy.

Bri
 
#8
Tried it, love it :D

This is a great little amp - and well suited to Bass Guitar and Electric Upright... No personal experience with Acoustic upright, but my guess is that it will respond nicely.

There's a minute amount of latency when going through the "front" of the amp - also, even with the superflat or flip top setting... there's a bit of shimmer that creeps in. So, if you're looking for a really flat and transparent sound, try plugging in through the back.

That said, if you go in through the front, you can shape the sound a good deal. How you choose to model the sound is highly personal, but I found that bringing the midrange up a little, and tapering off the high end worked well.

Also, just a shade of "chorus" and "reverb" gave a very full effect.

To be truthful though, after I mucked around with the modeling settings I find that most of the time I prefer going through the back.

Battery life is excellent - although, there's not much warning when they run out, so having spares is a very good idea.

I'm a fan :hyper:
 
#9
nickidame said:
Tried it, love it :D


Also, just a shade of "chorus" and "reverb" gave a very full effect.

To be truthful though, after I mucked around with the modeling settings I find that most of the time I prefer going through the back.

Battery life is excellent - although, there's not much warning when they run out, so having spares is a very good idea.

I'm a fan :hyper:
Click to expand...

Yeah, I'm gonna try the Aux. input on the back of it, maybe w/ a pre. Thnx for the tips.

Bri
 
#10
I bought a Roland MC Bass RX. For outside unplugged busking it's great. I get a real clean tone from it using a Bass Max pickup. Not the best pickup but it sounds fine. For practice it works great on DB, ABG, and Slab bass. It is good for low volume use. I mean it actually produces a good tone for the environments I described. And where there is no power to use, it's great running on the batteries. I play with banjos and dobros as well and the usual accompaniment of instruments which are damn loud and the bass always can use a boost and this provides jus enough to cut thru and give the guys a nice bottom end to be heard though all the instruments as well and the street or audience background noise. I thought I might not like the tone because I can't stand poor tone but it actually does very well for low volume. It was well worth the $249 to my door.

What I really enjoy is I no longer have to work so darn hard to get volume from my Upton. I used to have to dig to China and pull to the moon to get the notes out over and under all the other guys. Now I can work less hard and get as good or better tone.

A fine practice or busking amp that is the first battery powered unit that actually has some tone. I look forward to down the road when these are taken to even another higher level. For now I'm stoked. It's tiny! It's lightweight!
 

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