ROLAND CUBE 60...comments please

[greco]

I have been looking around for an SS amp. No rush to get one...just checking out what is available.

I have seen a few used Fenders at pawn shops which would do the trick, but I keep wondering about the newer Roland Cube 60 amp. I'd like to get something that could model the JC 120 (or similar) as I'm trying to get more into jazz.
The headphones option would also be a nice feature. I like having reverb, but I don't use any other pedals/effects beyond a simple overdrive pedal.

Anyone out there tried/own a Cube 60? .....What do you think of it?

I haven't tried one as the local store that carries Roland is a place that I refuse to deal with (long story).

I looking for something fairly simple with a single 12" speaker and not too heavy to lug around (i.e. 30 lbs or so max). I have 2 nice (vintage) tube amps but I hate dragging them to jams (especially in the winter).

I know that jazz tones can be "achieved" from many amps, but I'm curious about the Cube 60 as it seems to have a good reputation (according to internet reviews) for this.

Thanks

Dave

[Tarl]

I had one for a few years. For my money the best SS combo out there. Built like a tank, great cleans and very good modeling of some classic amps. The effects were no hell but it holds its own with a drummer and had a line out to go directly into a board. I actually owned the 30 for awhile too and found the tones to be somewhat better on it at lower volume than the 60.

[greco]

Thanks Tarl

Seems like, given what you have written, that I should also consider the Cube 30 as an option.

I seem to be somewhat drawn to 12" speakers (that is all I have ever used)...maybe I need to be more open to giving 10" a try.

Thanks again

Dave

[noobcake]

I've owned a Cube 30 in the past and it was a nice and solid amp. I sold it awhile ago to fund a tube amp. Anyhow, I now have a Vox AD30VT as my practice amp, and all in all the Vox Valvetronix line of amps seem to offer better tone than the Roland Cube line. The Cubes are more compact, they feel a little more solid and are way more user friendly and feature rich (aux in input on the back, 2 independent channels). The Vox is a bit of a pain to tweak, it doesn't have 2 independent channels per say, it requires you to program 2 presets and these 2 presets essentially act as your "channels". The Cubes on the other hand are much more user friendly and easy to use and dial in since they actually have independent channels (shared EQ though). Tonally, the Vox amps have much better tone in my opinion (the boutique clean model is just splendid). For a gigging amp I would definitely recommend the Cube 60 over it's Vox Valvetronix equivalent simply due to the fact that it's a lot more user friendly and easier to use live, but tonally, the Vox amps are better in my opinion.

P.S. Don't get me wrong though, the Cubes don't sound bad at all, they just sound a bit more digital for lack of a better word compared to the Vox line.

[greco]

Thanks noobcake

The words "programming" and "presets" strike a level of fear to my simple, aging brain...I break out in a cold sweat when I have to reset our clock radio...LOL

I appreciate your comments just the same. The music store that I often go to carries Vox, so I'll have a look...and get some young salesperson to walk me through the programming.

Cheers

Dave

[bcmatt]

For what it's worth, I an older friend who is the best guitarist I know. He's got to be in his sixties and I probably mentioned before that he's been playing for about 50 years and on hundreds of amps. He has an electrical engineering degree and I built on and worked on many of his own bands over the years. He grew up in Liverpool and shared gigs with the Beatles before they were popular and Ringo was even in his band before the Beatles stole him.
Anyways, with all of his experience over the years with many quality vintage amps, his favorite is still...
his Roland Cube 60.
Before he had a chance to go retrieve is cube from Toronto where he had left it in storage, I was getting him to use some of my amps, like my DC30 and my JCM800. He said they were nice but he always longed for his cube 60 and was so happy when he finally retrieved it. He doesn't want anything but nice cleans, and he'd rather go nowhere else than his cube 60. I don't think it has any of these presets on it. I think it is somewhere between 5-10 years old. He just sets all his EQ controls to 5 and controls his sound with just his guitar. So, I guess it gets a vote from one old Brit.

[noobcake]

Thanks noobcake

The words "programming" and "presets" strike a level of fear to my simple, aging brain...I break out in a cold sweat when I have to reset our clock radio...LOL

I appreciate your comments just the same. The music store that I often go to carries Vox, so I'll have a look...and get some young salesperson to walk me through the programming.

Cheers

Dave

Well the "programming" is dead simple, you just find a setting you like on the amp and then press the "write" button, which registers that setting under one of the 2 preset channels. Myself, I only use the Vox for practice so I don't bother with the presets I just set it to "manual" mode and turn the knob whenever I need a different sound. For practice this really doesn't bother me at all, but if I were to play live with the Vox and wanted a clean sound on 1 channel and overdrive on the other then I would have to mess around with programming presets and whatnot which is quite a pain. Since with only 2 preset channels which means you might have to reprogram one of your channels in the middle of the gig when you need a different kind of overdrive or whatever. I'm getting pretty good results with my overdrive pedals into the boutique clean model of the amp though, so good old dirt pedals are an alternative to programming presets for distortion.

[greco]

For what it's worth, I an older friend who is the best guitarist I know. He's got to be in his sixties and I probably mentioned before that he's been playing for about 50 years and on hundreds of amps. He has an electrical engineering degree and I built on and worked on many of his own bands over the years. He grew up in Liverpool and shared gigs with the Beatles before they were popular and Ringo was even in his band before the Beatles stole him.
Anyways, with all of his experience over the years with many quality vintage amps, his favorite is still...
his Roland Cube 60.
Before he had a chance to go retrieve is cube from Toronto where he had left it in storage, I was getting him to use some of my amps, like my DC30 and my JCM800. He said they were nice but he always longed for his cube 60 and was so happy when he finally retrieved it. He doesn't want anything but nice cleans, and he'd rather go nowhere else than his cube 60. I don't think it has any of these presets on it. I think it is somewhere between 5-10 years old. He just sets all his EQ controls to 5 and controls his sound with just his guitar. So, I guess it gets a vote from one old Brit.

Very interesting story!!

I might have a chance to get one of the older Cube 60's for about $200.00. No modeling, but it does at least have reverb and a headphones jack. Appears to have been pampered (reportedly never left the house and has a cover).

Dave

[noobcake]

Well I was noodling around with the Vox today and figured out how to record via the line out. I just threw down a random track in about 5 mins and after adjusting the levels on the amp to get a decent signal into the soundcard, it was all smooth sailing. I used to record with the Cube 30 as well, the Cubes and the Voxes are both excellent for recording. I'll try to upload the clip for ya greco so you can get an idea of what the Vox sounds like. Unfortunately, it seems that soundclick is down at the moment...

[greco]

Well I was noodling around with the Vox today and figured out how to record via the line out. I just threw down a random track in about 5 mins and after adjusting the levels on the amp to get a decent signal into the soundcard, it was all smooth sailing. I used to record with the Cube 30 as well, the Cubes and the Voxes are both excellent for recording. I'll try to upload the clip for ya greco so you can get an idea of what the Vox sounds like. Unfortunately, it seems that soundclick is down at the moment...

noobcake..I appreciate your kind offer (re: uploading a clip) but I don't have a soundcard or speakers. I'm honestly afraid that I would be on the computer 24/7 listening to clips and watcing old concert footage if I added sound to this thing. As it is, I spend far too much time looking at this forum. Thanks again for offering to go to all that work just to help me out.

Cheers

Dave

[noobcake]

Alright no problemo, if anyone else that happens to be reading this wants AD30VT clips just shoot me a PM.

Edit: oh well, it seems that soundclick is up and running again, if anyone's interested here's a clip of the Vox recorded directly via line out, no outboard mixing or anything http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=864150&content=music (rhythm track is on the boutique clean model and the lead track is on the boutique overdrive model)

the playing isn't too great, I'm still an amateur, but I definitely like how this thing records, anyone who's looking for an awesome practice amp that works well for recording as well should check these Vox amps out