Roland Blues Cube "Stage"

[Andy40]

New Amp Day!!!!!

Well not quite. Those that follow my threads may remember that I got this beautiful amp for my birthday (December 2016)


Its a solid state amp that produces a tube like sound (not not digital modelling) loosley based on the tweed style amps of the day.

As I've said before, the BC has its own sound, its got the warmth of a tube amp, but its not as expressive as tubes are, but its just a damn good amp. One thing the videos do not capture is the warmth and presence the thing has. its quite amazing, really outshines some smaller tube amps and when you add the different watt switch, the clean and crunch tone can be played together as well and add all of the other plusses a solid state amp has, I just can't go past it.

After playing it for nearly 6 months I am seriously impressed. Soooooo

[Andy40]

I got the Ultimate Blues Tone Capsule!



I wasn't expecting a whole lot and I was even ready, if it did nothing for me, to send it back for a refund.

But seriously. woah. Tone City.

Not only is the sound, but it acts differently and "compresses" differently to the original Blues Cube. Its like a totally different amp. and takes some getting used to.

[wazkelly]

Hi Andy, was half expecting a sound demo??? How much did the upgrade set you back and is it a better buy than similar priced all tube amps?

[Andy40]

I kinda started this thread to force me to do a sound demo.....eventually

It cost a lot less than say a Fender tube amp but more than a Joyo or other Chinese amp.

At the time I bought it, I had enough of solid state amps and really was going to buy a tube amp. I tried a lot of tube amps for a couple of months, friends amps and in the stores and just fell in love with this one.

The things that won me:-
- the different watt settings (0.5 watt/15watt/45watt and 60watt) means I can play at bedroom sounds and still get great tones (and sometimes can gig);
- It produces rich creamy tones on the clean, biscuity crunch on the gain channel and reacts differently depending on how you play the guitar and, to my average ears, sounds as good as a tube amp;
- weighs about 14kg;
- never have to replace tubes and probably wont die;
- its not based on digital modelling - very simple, 2 channels, simple EQ, reverb, master vol.
- takes pedals well.

One draw back (not for me but others) is that it does not have a lot of gain. I would not recommend it if you wanted to play with a lot of gain all the time. Would need a pedal.

[wazkelly]

Thanks Andy, you described it well.

Not all amps need to have massive amounts of high end gain as that is so easy to achieve with an inexpensive pedal. Much better to have a variety of useful sounds you like than be stuck with a one trick pony.

I have been lusting for an all tube amp and gravitating towards the Bugera 5w combo as it is also switchable down to 1w and then 0.1w plus you can use headphones on it too. All the YT sound demos indicate it has a great sound but will need to check one out in a shop, and nearest supplier just happens to be Mooloolaba Music.

Still trying to justify why I need another amp as the Vox VT40+ can do so much more than what I have yet discovered, and let's face it, how many of us can really tell the difference between an all tube and a hybrid these days? The Vox uses a 12AX7 tube in the power stage to create it's unique tone and has plenty of onboard preset sounds to play with. Also sounds great with a small overdrive unit that I purchased recently too.

Hmmm, might just hang on to those funds in case I am tempted by something else.....

[Andy40]

Maybe you could try your hand at building some pedals........relatively inexpensive.......but addictive

[wazkelly]

Hmmm, my soldering skills and the amount of patience required do not bode well for a quality built DIY pedal.

Just pulled the trigger on a Bugera. Had been watching them on eBay and saw a supplier drop one by around $100 then boom eBay goes and offers me a further 10% off until end of this month for all purchases over $100. Temptation was too much as $429.00 retail = $293.05 via this offer. Stay tuned for a product review in a few weeks time.

[WeirdBits]

@Waz. You may want to get yourself a decent set of replacement tubes for it as the stock ones can sometimes be prone to vibrate/rattle at certain frequencies. Very annoying. Also, the lowest power setting can make it sound a bit muddy, but 1 and 5w are much better.

[wazkelly]

@Waz. You may want to get yourself a decent set of replacement tubes for it as the stock ones can sometimes be prone to vibrate/rattle at certain frequencies. Very annoying. Also, the lowest power setting can make it sound a bit muddy, but 1 and 5w are much better.

Hi Scott, thanks for the 'heads-up' as at these prices there was bound to be a weak spot somewhere.

[Simon Barden]

I bought one of the Fender Champion 600 amps when they came out about 10 years ago, and the Chinese 12AX7 in it rattled so much that it made more noise than the amp did!