Roland Cube 30X or similar for jazz?

[Scrybe]

I'm carless and need a small amp portable enough for gigging if I have to use public transport. I don't want to have to be reliant upon other muso's for my being able to gig places. I do have a Blues Jr for when I can get lifts, but this is a little too heavy for public transport.

It'll be a long while before I have a car (for various reasons). I'd be using it mostly in duo/trio settings, with either tpt or sax, and maybe also dbl bass (tho I could go through the bass amp in some cases where bass is present). Am looking to use it for restaurant and quiet bar gigs.

Obv, I'd be using it for jazz. Fairly traditional jazz (e.g. everything up until fusion - no mad distortion sounds needed). I have solidbodies and acoustics, but no hollowbody jazzboxes or semis. That said, if luck holds out, I hope to be the proud owner of a hollowbody or semi within the next year. So, I'd ideally need something that could get decent clean tones from acoustic, solidbody, and jazzbox.


For the price, I know not to expect sonic greatness, but I was thinking of trying out the Roland Cube 30X for my needs. It retails around £160. Any others to try in this price range? Any thoughts on my choice so far? Might I be better looking for an acoustic amp in this price range and size (size/weight is v. v. important here) and running my solidbody through it?

If the world was perfect, I'd be the owner of an AER and my solidbody would sound sweeeeeet through it (I've tried a few of those, and they're awesome). But alas, it isn't. So, until my finances get a lot better, the £200 price limit is in place for this. Thanks!

Oh yeah, I'm hoping to take my electro-acoustic into town this week sometime to try it through the Cube, so any thoughts before then, or suggestions of other amps to try of similar spec would be massively appreciated before then.

[RonD]

Scrybe, I don't know what the used market is like in the UK, but if you can find an old "orange" Cube 60 or maybe a Polytone, those would be good choices. Here in Canada, they'd both be close to that price.
Good luck.

[Scrybe]

Thanks for the heads up, RonD. Just as a note - I am a wussy skinny ass gurl, currently with a shoulder injury (hope to get it sorted in the next month or so, but not expecting full recovery for 6-12 months realistically), so the weight/size issue is a real biggie for me. I'm not familiar with either of those amps - any idea on weight/size for them?

The used market is pretty thin in the UK, due to the size of the place, but I'll keep an eye out anyway. Would like to be confident about the size and weight first though - I'm selling my Marshall JTM 45 Combo mainly for this reason, and it sucks to do, but I gotta have gear I can use - if I can't carry it to gigs, it doesn't matter how great it sounds! I know I'm fine carrying the R Cube 30 on buses and trains if need be (and it will, for a while). Thanks for the tip though, might be a future buy, if not an immediate one.

[randyc]

Hi Scrybe, nice to read your posts again. We (in the U.S.) miss the contributions of our unfailingly courteous and knowledgeable British cousins.

No "Lunchbox" or "Club" amplifiers available in the UK? Both will outperform the "Cubes" for jazz (my opinion only, of course) and they are smaller and lighter, easier to transport. I've noted recently that several "Cube" owners on the forum have divested those products in favor of the Z-T amplifiers.

Perhaps you read our reviews on those amplifiers a few months ago? These are Chinese products (what isn't ?) but designed in California and there is a "real" (albeit small) company located in Berkeley rather than an import office + ad agency.

(Of course we have no insight as to the cost of these products in Europe, your tax laws are very different - probably more sensible, LOL.)

Bonne chance,
Randy C

[wyatt]

Hi scrybe,
If you liked the AER, you'll love this, for the price.
Roland U.S. - AC-60: Acoustic Chorus Guitar Amplifier

First time I played my archtop through one of these, I couldn't believe my ears.
I was going to buy an Acoustic Image amp.
Instead I bought 2 AC-60's for less.
You can find them used for $300-$375.
*Slightly used* Roland AC-60 Acoustic Amp + BAG AC60 - eBay (item 400133043026 end time Aug-29-10 22:52:57 PDT)
They come with a carry case. For a guitar combo amp it's about the smallest and lightest you can find-- and still packs a walloup for such a small amp.
Another plus is it mounts nicely on any speaker stand.
I mount both of mine on stands (works just like a PA system)
Elevating the speakers carrys the sound out to the audience very well.

Anyway, hope you shoulder heals quickly.

[Scrybe]

randyc,

thanks, I plan to read through the Club reviews in depth over the next couple of days (started reading about an hour ago, and my brain just wasn't processing properly, it's so late!). I can order a Club from thomann.de but don't think any local stores stock them. It's a bit out of my price range though. Well, double my price range, actually, so unless I could try one in store, I doubt I'd spring for it. The last thing I need is the hassle of shipping it back overseas and finding a replacement. I'll see what the local stores have to offer, though.

wyatt - yeah, I spotted those on thomann.de too, I should have added them in my post here as I was thinking of trying one out if the locals have them. I don't suppose you have a solidbody at all? How do you think that sounds through it? The 'surprise' for me with the AER is that, although hollowbodies sound great through it, I've run my Spear Tomcat (lp-style with seymour duncan jazz and jb pups in it) through them and got really syrupy cleans from it with no tweaks. I have the feeling that, with enough tweaking I could get suitable jazzy tones of a darker nature, too, but the syrupy sweet tones were great as well. That's what got me thinking about buying a small acoustic amp and running my solidbody through it, as well as my electro-acoustic for some gigs, with a view to getting a £500 or so jazzbox in the next year.


(that said - I've just come back from New Yoik where, among other things, I went to the Sadowsky Shop and tried their guitars and man that Jim Hall model was made for me!!!! Now I just gotta rob a bank to finance one! i seriously seriously seriously love that guitar, and meeting Roger Sadowsky was pretty cool, too) - randyc, if only I could afford a Sadowsky right now.....that thing was GORGEOUS! but alas, I suspect I may have to go mid-price then save (and use said mid-price to gig and fund savings) before getting the Sadowsky. But I am in love, it's official! I also tried an old Gibby L5 in a guitar centre and again, WOW. The humble £500 guitars just don't sound the same anymore.

[frogeye]

I own an old beaten up gray Roland Cube 60 Chorus amp that is of similar age than the aforementioned orange Cube and works great. Picked it up locally for a mere 85 bucks and use it as a practice room and spare amp. It is significantly lighter in weight and also somewhat smaller in size than my Fender BJr. Depending on available funds I'd check ebay.uk and see if one comes up for bid. They are great budget amps just forget about the chorus and also the reverb effects in this amp. Both are cheesy sounding and outdated and modern multieffect pedal will do a better job. Any of those mid eighties cubes should serve your need except maybe the keyboard version that is a little heavier. Good Luck

[jazzrat]

I just replaced my Cube 30 with a Henriksen JazzAmp 110.
Great sounding amp and I'm glad to have it but I will say after getting it
that the Cubes continue to impress me.
For a general working amp, I'd get a 60 or an 80.
I played gigs with the 30 and it was underpowered in some situations.

[Scrybe]

I played gigs with the 30 and it was underpowered in some situations.

What kind of gigs? I'm thinking of using it solely for duo/trio settings in fairly quiet, smallish restaurants and bars - the kind of place where a sax or trumpet could easily cut through, no trouble at all. For anything bigger, and whenever there's drums present, I'd be using my Blues Jr. The big issue here is having a decent amp that's portable and doesn't mean me relying on getting lifts every time I go to gig. Getting lifts sometimes is much better, until I can get driving lessons and a car!*

* v long story, but I was in a pretty horrific car crash years back, then spent time living in park-and-ride places where cars weren't really allowed and totally redundant, so never needed to learn to drive there. Now I'm living in a place where a car would be very useful, and I'm wishing I'd been able to sort lessons and a car, but it's on the grand To Do list. But I need to gig regularly to finance driving lessons, so....

[Scrybe]

I own an old beaten up gray Roland Cube 60 Chorus amp that is of similar age than the aforementioned orange Cube and works great. Picked it up locally for a mere 85 bucks and use it as a practice room and spare amp. It is significantly lighter in weight and also somewhat smaller in size than my Fender BJr. Depending on available funds I'd check ebay.uk and see if one comes up for bid. They are great budget amps just forget about the chorus and also the reverb effects in this amp. Both are cheesy sounding and outdated and modern multieffect pedal will do a better job. Any of those mid eighties cubes should serve your need except maybe the keyboard version that is a little heavier. Good Luck

Good tip - one of the things that made me edge towards the Cube in general was the chance of picking up a used one, as they're pretty ubiquitous these days. Do the amps' clean tones and/or weight differ significantly over the years? Any bad apples to avoid? Thanks!

[bopandroll]

hi scrybe.

Just to let you know that the ZT range of amps are now avalible in the UK distributed through Aria UK.

If you get in touch with aria im sure they'l be happy to provide you with a list of outlets in your area.

Official Site - Aria Guitars Co.

[Little Jay]

Scrybe, I have a Cube30x just for the purposes you describe: small (jazz)gigs, living room rehearsels, jamsessions, you name it. I strapp it to the back of my bike (yeah, I'm Dutch... ;-) or carry it in public transport, I plug in my strat, my ES-333 (semi), ES175 (archtop), a nylon-strings electro-acoustic, it delivers convincing sounds with all of them, depending on what amp-simulation you use. Haven't tried a steelstring yet, but I would feel comfortable to do so.

It never fails to amaze me: it's indestructible, it delivers good sounds (not excellent, but convincing enough), it's flexible with all the in-built possibilities and amp-models.

The cons are: effect quality is only so-so and 30 Watts is plenty enough loud with a jazzdrummer (brushes), but with a hammond and a somewhat louder drummer with sticks it reaches it's limit quite quickly.

The only serious competitor for the Cube 30x would be the ZT Lunchbox: even smaller and lighter and even louder. The advantages of the Cube are: bigger bottom-end, more flexibility and (I think) more suited to amplify different types of guitars.

But you could also try: Line6 Spider 30w, Vox AD30-VT, Tech 21 Trademark 30. All 30 watters with a 10" and similar features. Personally, I liked the sounds of the Cube 30 best.

Of course bigger or older Cubes, Henriksens and AERs offer a lot more in terms of sound quality, but they are all heavier and/or costlier and I wouldn't want to strapp those to the back of my bike......

[Scrybe]

Little Jay - interesting comments. I will be looking up stockists for the ZT Club and/or Lunchbox (thanks bopandroll!) and I'm not too fussed about FX tones, I just need good cleans and portability, with sufficient power for small gigs. I'd look into getting separate chorus and reverb pedals if I was looking to expand my sound palette that way anyway, so while useable reverb and/or chorus would be a bonus, it isn't a deal breaker. Thanks for the info on portability, that makes me feel a lot better! I'm in the Doc's this Friday and meeting up with an old friend tomorrow, so I'm looking at hitting town to check amps on Monday now. May do two trips, taking my acoustic first, then my electric to try through different amps. Will keep you posted on what I decide.

[Scrybe]

Thanks for the advice guys!

I didn't have the chance to try the ZT amps yet, tho they are on my watchlist to try when I get the opportunity.

I just order my amps online. Yup, I said amps. They were much cheaper from thomann.de than my local stores, so I went with one Roland Cube 30X for gigging in trio format, but I also picked up a red MicroCube and matching bag to use as a practice amp at home. It'll sit under my desk so I can use it when doing techie stuff, and I'll be keeping batteries in it, so anytime I feel like playing in a different room/outside/etc, it'll be there, nice and easy to grab. Also, I can carry it with no problem whatsoever, so when I'm working on new material with my songwriter buddy, I can easily carry that around for the days I'm meeting him. That, and it is red. With a matching bag. I was sold.

Now I just have to wait for them to arrive! Pleased with my choice, especially given I didn't have much time to be picky - I'm hoping these turn up by this time next week so I can use the 30X to rehearse a week Friday.

But there's something about ordering new music gear that makes me want to order more.......oh crap! serious crap! damn! I forgot, I meant to order me some Thomastik Infelds at the same time, too (the locals don't stock them, but thomann.de do). Bugger. I've only just remembered. Now I really am gonna have to buy some more stuff (purely to save on the shipping costs, you understand.....). Grrr, I knew something would go wrong.

Either way, happy to be doubling my amp collection sometime next week (fingers crossed!), thanks for the help in choosing my amp!

[barrymclark]

...I went with one Roland Cube 30X for gigging in trio format, but I also picked up a red MicroCube and matching bag to use as a practice amp at home.

This is pretty much what I have going on.

I have a MicroCube already and it is easily the most incredible practive amp I have ever encountered. My Cube 80X is due to arrive in a couple of days for larger gigging.

If you are HALF as happy as I am about the Cube, you will be beside yourself.

[Scrybe]

This is pretty much what I have going on.

I have a MicroCube already and it is easily the most incredible practive amp I have ever encountered. My Cube 80X is due to arrive in a couple of days for larger gigging.

If you are HALF as happy as I am about the Cube, you will be beside yourself.

Excellent! Now I feel getting the MicroCube was slightly less spurious than it was (I was looking at the amps online, and it was red, and I went "awwwww!!!!" and the next thing I knew, the order was complete. no idea how that happened...).

My other amps are a Fender Blues Jr, and a Marshall JTM 45 Combo, so I'm confident I have enough power for now if I need to go bigger. But these two will do for practice and for carting around on public transport, so I can get to rehearsals and some gigs easily. Bigger gigs, I have more chance of a lift on anyway. Until I get a car.

If I bought another amp in the next 12 months, I'd be looking at something to do my acoustics justice.

But now I've got ants in my pants - the only problem with ordering online is the wait, and it's only been a few minutes so far....I have a whole week to get through!

[KB_Blues]

Congrats on the new amps. Cube 30 is great.

You can get Thomastik strings here:
Guitar strings, Bass Strings & Accessories

if you don't want to pay Thomann shipping (think it's a tenner for anything to the uk)

[Scrybe]

Ahh, nice link, thx KB! I'll no doubt be using that place, but the idea of buyng more gear to get my Thomastiks from thomann is very tempting (I do have a bunch of Ernie Balls to get through before I switch 'full time' to TIs anyway).

Yeah, I'm pretty sure it a tenner flat rate on anything under £165 or so. Shame really, as I'd probably use them even more if the rates were more reasonable (tho I understand why).

[frogeye]

Congrats and keep us posted as amps arrive and get applied to productive use.

[Scrybe]

Thanks frogeye!

[Greentele]

New amps are more fun than tweerlin' pasta!
I just love my Cube 30X. Great amp.

[TK_AK]

I have a Roland 80x and I have a great jazz sounds with my PRS Santana (solid body) and my PRS Hollowbody. I guess that the Cube 30x is the same thing.

( but be aware that the distortion is really bad ... but if you want a warm clean jazz sound for a cheap price go for it !)

[barrymclark]

( but be aware that the distortion is really bad ... but if you want a warm clean jazz sound for a cheap price go for it !)

Really? I found the 5150 almost dead on to the old half stack I once had.

[Scrybe]

Heh heh, if I want distortion, I have a Marshall tube amp and ProCo Rat....

This one's all about the cleans, really.

[TK_AK]

Really? I found the 5150 almost dead on to the old half stack I once had.

I am referring to the "R-fier" channel, it sounds really plastic IMHO.

Anyway if Scrybe wants the Cube for cleans, I think it's a very good choice ...