Roland Micro Cube GX for busking

[Liarspoker]

Hi Guys,

I'm thinking of getting the Roland Micro Cube GX for busking chord melody.

I don't want to gather crowds but intent on playing near coffee shops and parks etc so some traffic will likely be passing.

3 watts could be too low but I'm on a tight budget.

My main amp at the moment is the Roland 40GX which I am somewhat happy with. I know that the Vox AC15 sounds great with my guitar but it obviously doesn't run on batteries.

What do you guys think?

Thanks

[John A.]

Hi Guys,

I'm thinking of getting the Roland Micro Cube GX for busking chord melody.

I don't want to gather crowds but intent on playing near coffee shops and parks etc so some traffic will likely be passing.

3 watts could be too low but I'm on a tight budget.

My main amp at the moment is the Roland 40GX which I am somewhat happy with. I know that the Vox AC15 sounds great with my guitar but it obviously doesn't run on batteries.

What do you guys think?

Thanks

It'll probably work. I play outdoors with one quite often. I don't busk, but people definitely hear it. The best setting is the British combo. It's considerably louder and warmer and much less compressed than the blackface setting. Gain staging is a little tricky, though (especially compared to the older non-GX version).

John

[Liarspoker]

Thanks John. There's also a Roland Mobile AC available (both are second hand) which has 5W power but will cost twice as much as the Micro Cube.

[Peter C]

Go for it. I've used the older non-GX to rehearse with a cajón player and a clarinetist and even put two signals through it in an impromptu looper performance. No problems being heard, and decent tone especially in the Brit Combo setting (as John already mentioned, I see); the JC setting doesn't seem to have a lot of clean headroom. Runs for ages on batteries.

[Eck]

Of course the Cube street is near perfect but so dear.


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[v281]

Here's a good overview of all the different battery powered offerings Roland has, that you might wish to consider:

Which Battery Powered Amp Should I Choose? - Roland Resource Centre

An interesting comparison video Micro-Cube vs. Street vs. Street EX can be found here:

[TedBPhx]

I’ve been toying with the idea of something like this. Use a real amp.
https://smile.amazon.com/300W-Portab.../dp/B08616JDB4

[sgosnell]

Get an amp with a Class D power section and a power unit of the type Ted posted. It doesn't need to be that brand, I think they're all pretty similar. You can use a Class A/B amp, but the power won't last as long. A Class D amp should allow you to play all day on a charge, and sound good.

[Liarspoker]

Thanks for your responses everyone. I went with the Roland Mobile AC in the end. The Micro Cube is still available so am still thinking of getting that ($80) as well. Just trying not to be greedy. ????