Micro Cube upgrade?

[BobD]

I have CV Tele that I play through a micro cube. It's a great little practice amp ,as we all know, but the low end gets real muddy unless I'm playing very quietly. So I still like the amp for late night practice and will keep it but is there a way to get rid of the muddiness? Someone mentioned a while ago about adding a compression pedal. I don't really know what that kind of pedal does and if it would help.

My other thought was maybe I just need to go with a bigger Cube like the 40Xl or a used 30 but I like the portability of this little cube.

Any suggestions? Any other small amp suggestions besides a Cube?

[NSJ]

I'm curious about this--my Fender "AmpCan" got smashed in someone's trunk, so I need a new "battery amp" for those occasions I wind up playing on the beach or in the park.

The sound of the "AmpCan" was on the "meh" side. How does the MicroCube sound??

[mambosun]

Well, this has been already covered elsewhere; quick answer is everybody has different findings about it.
I've been using is for 3 years, so my 2 cents: it is super handy, has some funny and tasty sounds, but sucks in clean tones, specially the acoustic (zingy), Black pannel ( bassy) and JC simulations (dry).
It works best with single coils than with HB, has some nasty farty sounds as soon as you hits the heavy strings with almost every clean settings.
I still could'nt figure out if the farts come from speaker which couldn't cope or Cosm artifact.
> Differents guitars will bring different results.

My fav are mostly crunchy and hi gain settings:
For Telecaster and ES 335: Bristish combo and Marshall (Rectifier is a bit cheesy).
For Jazzbox with floater: British combo with almost zero gain= nice fat and smoky jazz tones.

Beside that, the built-in FX are globally good and usefull.
Cabinet construction is not perfect; again with bass notes it could buzz.
While my feedback could be perceived as mostly negative, I still have it and will keep it for the funny and handy aspects.

[BobD]

sucks in clean tones, specially the acoustic (zingy), Black pannel ( bassy) and JC simulations (dry).

has some nasty farty sounds as soon as you hits the heavy strings with almost every clean settings

Maybe that's my problem. I only use the black face and jc120 simulations. I guess it's the farting sounds that I'm calling muddy.

Will the larger cubes eliminate that fartiness? I had a Cube 30X a while ago and don't recall this problem. Also had a Fender SuperChamp XD that I know sounded good on the low end. I sold the SCXD because it had too much buzzing. i think my house isn't grounded well because it buzzed no matter where I plugged it in. I think the Cube 30 buzzed too but not as much as the SCXD.

[mambosun]

Originally Posted by BobD

Maybe that's my problem. I only use the black face and jc120 simulations. I guess it's the farting sounds that I'm calling muddy.

Will the larger cubes eliminate that fartiness? I had a Cube 30X a while ago and don't recall this problem. Also had a Fender SuperChamp XD that I know sounded good on the low end. I sold the SCXD because it had too much buzzing. i think my house isn't grounded well because it buzzed no matter where I plugged it in. I think the Cube 30 buzzed too but not as much as the SCXD.

Some reported that Cube RX or Bass Cube are less prone to farty sounds in low end (which makes sense), these could have been a solution for you, but unfortunately are similary priced as a 40Xl (which is more difficult to swallow).
There are some more micro amps models in the market which could better suit your taste, Vox for exemple.
Beside this I 'm quite interested in the Champ XD to replace my Micro Cube and to be exclusively used for Jazz; Apart from the buzz issue, were you happy with it?

[Al_F]

I went from a micro cube to a Vox ac4. The ac4 sounds wonderful, plenty of volume to play clean at practice levels, and the over drive is to die for. It's compact as well, but its has just 3 knobs, no reverb, effects etc if that matters to you.

[BobD]

mambosun,

I really liked the the SCXD. The Micro Cube sounds like a toy compared to the SCXD. Definitely worth checking out.

[mambosun]

Originally Posted by Al_F

I went from a micro cube to a Vox ac4. The ac4 sounds wonderful, plenty of volume to play clean at practice levels, and the over drive is to die for. It's compact as well, but its has just 3 knobs, no reverb, effects etc if that matters to you.

Do you mean AC4 TV Mini?

[smick]

I had a little Vox DA5 for years that just died. It had a little bigger speaker than the MicroCube and could be battery powered as well. I thought it sounded better, particularly the low-end, than the MicroCube when I compared them, and it had a lot of models/effects that sounded decent.

My DA5 just died unfortunately, and even worse Vox discontinued the model this year and the new Vox Mini replacement for it is only 3W versus 5W and has a smaller speaker.

So to replace it as a practice amp I just bought the Fender Mustang I. It was only $100 and is a larger, but still small amp, with a 12" speaker that sounds a lot better than the smaller ones in the mini amps. No battery option, but I never used that anyway, and the clean models are very nice. Lots of models and effects to choose from and customize with their software if you want. Plus at 20W its loud enough for small jams!

[Al_F]

Originally Posted by mambosun

Do you mean AC4 TV Mini?

No, the amp is a AC4tv10, 10 inch speaker. I think the mini has an 8" inch speaker.

[jazzbow]

Hey BobD. This is from a previous thread I contributed to......

How about this, I found this link on the net as I too was getting kinda miffed at farty bass notes on me micro.

Micro Cube Dissection and Repair

It inspired me to change the speaker from the 4 inch to the whopping 6.5 inch woofer you see in the attached picture and I just finished this project today.
Is it a better sound? Well the bass frequency is better but the new speaker is a car audio speaker which focusses its sound directly in front and not at a wider arc like the original. I will say that the new speaker hasn't opened up yet but it aint gonna get louder (2 watts). I prised it apart switched to a new baffle and shaped the new speaker as it's just a wee bit too big then reglued and clamped it back into shape.
I had to use thin rubber foam inserts around the speaker/baffle and I reshaped the contact point of the metal grill to baffle as the whole thing vibrated on some specific notes. It don't fart or vibrate now but the speaker does show up the amp on the clean setting as it has a slight fizzyness on the note decay.
Car audio speakers come in pairs so if you want to try this out PM me and you can have my spare one.
Attached Thumbnails


Since writing this the speaker has opened up a bit but it aint any louder than the original. But, with a compressor pedal and my P90'd Yamaha it really kicks ass! A friend was playing a Cube 60 on the JC clean setting with the volume at 1/3rd and I was flat out with the above micro using the compressor as a boost and man it crunched and it was sweet soloing all evening.
My re-mod didn't make a jazz amp out of it as you really need minimum 12" speaker IMO but it's ok for desktop practice and noodling.

If you are considering a portable amp that's battery powered how about this?


Traynor Amps: Solidstate Guitar Amps

Or if you want small and tube this looks and sounds cool,


VHT Amplification
You could get the amp as a head and swap around diferent sized speakers.

But if your micro farts then try Mambosuns tips.

Hope this helps.

[0zoro]

I have recently confronted the same delemma as part of a equiptment upgrade over a period of time. My solution was buying a cube 40xl. Im quite happy, put mildly.

[BobD]

jazzbow,

Thanks for the info on speaker replacement.

Has anyone replaced the speaker with another 5 inch speaker? Jensen has the
Vintage Alnico Series MOD5-30. I'm thinking that might just drop right in instead of having to cut anything.

[mambosun]

Originally Posted by BobD

jazzbow,

Thanks for the info on speaker replacement.

Has anyone replaced the speaker with another 5 inch speaker? Jensen has the
Vintage Alnico Series MOD5-30. I'm thinking that might just drop right in instead of having to cut anything.

Based on my experience in audio, I would tend to say that speaker swap might not solve the problem; after all the "garbage in/ garbage out" motto is perfectly relevant here as well, thus if the "Cosm/preamp/amp" combination is not clean enough, a new speaker won't improve this.
Moreover, bear in mind the original speaker has been selected according to Micro Cube electronic and cabinet size & design, so fitting a different speaker might not fit the bill either.

[BobD]

Yeah, you're probably about the speaker swap. Maybe the best fix is to just get a bigger cube like the 40XL.

[jazzbow]

Originally Posted by BobD

jazzbow,

Thanks for the info on speaker replacement.

Has anyone replaced the speaker with another 5 inch speaker? Jensen has the
Vintage Alnico Series MOD5-30. I'm thinking that might just drop right in instead of having to cut anything.

Yeah, as per my previous reply and added link the M/Cube has a car audio type speaker terminals and not conventional guitar speaker terminals. Basically M/Cube is made for M/Cube speakers. Save yourself grief and get another amp! There you go, what an excellent reason to treat yourself

[woyvel]

I'm real happy with my Vox Mini3. Good clean sounds with my tele and Artcore. Not so crazy about playing my PRS through it.

I like the "Line" input that isn't a simulated guitar amp. It changes the Gain and Tone knobs to act as Bass & Treble.

[mambosun]

Originally Posted by jazzbow

. Save yourself grief and get another amp! There you go, what an excellent reason to treat yourself

I fully agree and that's what i'm going to do next...well as soon as funds allow.

[Al_F]

The latest MusciansFriend catalog arrived and I noticed a new Fender Mustang Mini amp, battery powered, looks nice and compact. If it sounds like a Mustang I or II, the Mustang Mini could be a great practice amp.