New Roland Cubes

BobD · #1 09-02-2010, 01:47 PM

I was just on the Roland site and they are showing new XL Cubes. There is a new cube 40XL replacing the 30X and it's actually cheaper than the 30X by about 50 bucks. I wonder how they can swing that? Makes me think that maybe there are cheaper parts or assembled in a cheaper country.

BigDaddyLoveHandles · #2 09-02-2010, 01:53 PM

Cheaper than China? Maybe Zimbabwe?

cosmic gumbo · #3 09-03-2010, 02:04 AM

Maybe 8 year olds are building them instead of the usual 11 year olds.

YocoYur · #4 09-03-2010, 05:29 PM

It is not cheaper, it`s actually 20£ more expensive!!

Roland Cube 15XL, Cube 20XL, 40XL and 80XL Guitar Amp Combos - Sounds Live Shop

Electric Guitar Amps - Peavey - Ibanez - Crate

barrymclark · #5 09-03-2010, 08:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by YocoYur

Roland Cube 15XL, Cube 20XL, 40XL and 80XL Guitar Amp Combos - Sounds Live Shop

Doubled the looper time! Cool!

Silence · #6 10-31-2010, 05:13 PM

There is a new cube 40XL replacing the 30X and it's actually cheaper than the 30X by about 50 bucks. I wonder how they can swing that?
I emailed roland about this and this is the reply I got:

"This is because as time moves on, it gets less expensive to make certain products.

Sincerely,

Roland US Product Support"

I don't know if I should be switching my BS meter on, or if it's actually true, but I do hope these newer additions play well.

abracadabra · #7 11-02-2010, 02:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Silence

There is a new cube 40XL replacing the 30X and it's actually cheaper than the 30X by about 50 bucks. I wonder how they can swing that?

I emailed roland about this and this is the reply I got:

"This is because as time moves on, it gets less expensive to make certain products.

Sincerely,

Roland US Product Support"

I don't know if I should be switching my BS meter on, or if it's actually true, but I do hope these newer additions play well.

Why? This is true of anything involving rapidly improving technology and of anything at all as sales increase (other things being equal of course

)

BigDaddyLoveHandles · #8 11-02-2010, 03:13 PM

Now can you explain the regular, large, price increases at Gibson?

abracadabra · #9 11-02-2010, 03:34 PM

ha ha. No but send them an email. Actually maybe the cost of vintage instruments helps prop up their modern counterparts. All I know is, the higher their prices, the further they get from my budget.

CoachP7 · #10 11-03-2010, 06:36 AM

Check out a clip on YouTube with Alex Hutchings and two other guys (one on an electronic drum machine and the other on keyboard) jamming in a music store with the new 40xl. Type in "Roland UK Band ...." something or another. Throw in Alex's name maybe. (sorry, can't quite remember the exact title) It's a neat little jam session. The amp sounds pretty good. Basically playing a jazz/fusion piece but throws in some nice lead work with what is probably the "classic stack" setting (? guessing here).

skidbrake · #11 11-12-2010, 10:29 PM

Greetings, all. Thought I'd chime in here, as I just bought the 80XL. I mainly play solo jazz, warm chord melody stuff, and my main instrument is an '84 ES-175. I've been a tube amp snob for too long and thought I'd check out the latest in SS amps, mainly for their size and weight ... and because I needed an amp with a headphone output to keep my wife from killing me.

I took my ES to the local music shop and tested the Cube 30, 40, 80x and 80XL. While the 30 and 40 sounded nice, they lacked the depth and richness I was looking for. I didn't expect their 10" drivers to give me what I wanted to hear, and they didn't, so I moved on to the 12" cubes.

I A-B'd the 80X and the 80XL using equal settings for almost an hour. Other than having an additional amp model, the XL specs were no different than the 80X, and the X was $70 less. I was expecting no difference in tone, but the XL seemed to sound better.

With the XL being a shiny new thing I suspected I might be falling in love with, I distrusted my ears and asked some people standing nearby to weigh in. They, too, could hear a difference. The XL sounded smoother, richer and deeper on the clean tones I was testing. I played the same phrases, using the same settings, over and over and the XL was simply better sounding.

Speculations were made about COSM chipset improvements, driver improvements, enclosure woods, tolex glues, the phase of the moon, etc. But who cares ... it's about how it sounds to you, right?

So I went for the XL and I have to say I'm delighted with this amp. SS modeling has come a long way in the last 10 years. The JC Clean channel is the great old 70's Roland clean channel in a smaller package, so that of course sounds wonderful. I also like how Roland modeled the Twin Reverb (Black Panel setting) and the Deluxe Reverb (DLX Combo setting). By twiddling the EQ knobs, I was able to pull all sorts of wonderful tones out of it.

I have a real Tweed Super to compare against, so I was not satisfied with Roland's tweed modeling, at least in a clean mode. Perhaps cranked it sounds better, but it's too stiff and fizzy at lower gain settings.

But that's no bother in my case, as I was looking for sparkly 60's blackface cleans and the JC-120 clean channel, the latter of which is worth the price alone.

The built-in effects are adequate, good enough for practice and a noisy club gig, but I wouldn't record with them. I use a touch of plate reverb and delay to add warmth, and it sounds very nice on either channel. I also plugged some stomp boxes into my signal chain (Boss reverb, delay and a modded compressor) with very pleasing results. I will probably use my pedals and not the built-in FX, as the pedals sound better in front of this amp. But for practice and gigs in small spaces, what this amp can provide is just fine.

It is equipped with a loop circuit, but I don't use loops so I can't comment on how well this feature compares against an outboard looper. It also has a tuner that goes into chromatic mode when you hold down the button for 1 second. I really like that feature, as it avoids you having to turn the selector knob for each string frequency. The tuning feature is set on a 440 A only, which is what I use, so I'm happy with it.

For the price (I paid US$349), this is an amazing product that is a lot of fun. While I will still record with my old Tweed, I would not hesitate to use the Cube in a live setting.

So that's my review! I hope this helps anyone considering this amp for jazz/clean styles. Be well.

backliner · #12 11-12-2010, 10:42 PM

Nice review, and squares with my experience at a store today playing the 40XL & 80XL.

I've had Cubes before of various sizes and these sound familiar.

The 40 would probably be enough for my quiet restaurant jobs but I noticed the same thing about the 80XL and it doesn't seem even as heavy as a 50 watter version I had a few years ago (and that thing screamed!).

I already have a 30 watt Tech 21 which is fine, but has a real "tweedy" midrange with the way I set it up, and lacks headroom if I set it up more BF like, so am talking myself into going back tomorrow to buy the 80XL.