Guitar God Posted March 2, 2014 Share Posted March 2, 2014 Hey, guys. As the title says, I have a new amp on the way. I got a Roland Cube 20XL 20 watt on the way. Musician's Friend had it on Stupid Deal Of The Day for $100. Mainly going to be used as a practice amp. If any of you guys have one, how do you like yours? Will post pictures when it gets here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigDave78 Posted March 2, 2014 Share Posted March 2, 2014 I had one of them for a few months and was not impressed with it tonally. for a beginner amp it will do ok but I would personally chose the fender mustang over the cube. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guitar God Posted March 2, 2014 Author Share Posted March 2, 2014 I had one of them for a few months and was not impressed with it tonally. for a beginner amp it will do ok but I would personally chose the fender mustang over the cube. Kind of got it on a whim, haha. Woke up this morning and my Dad was like, "Hey, I ordered this for you." and I was like "Ok, cool." Like I said, I'm mainly going to use it as a practice amp. Been considering getting a little practice amp for a while, now. If I don't like it, I can always sell it or trade if for something else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie brown Posted March 2, 2014 Share Posted March 2, 2014 Lissie, and her band, doing a rooftop performance with "Cube" amps! Fun stuff! Â Â CB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimi Mac Posted March 2, 2014 Share Posted March 2, 2014 I saw that "Stupid Deal of the Day" and it gave me a pause because of the price... Â But I'm saving for a Line 6 DT50 w/Pod HD500X for a modeling amp set up... Â I'm tired of paying $$ to try an amp I think I'll like only to find it was unsuitable for me... With the LIne 6 it's a great 50 watt tube amp in it's own right and it has special modeling control circuitry built in and put together with the pod HD500X I'll get every amp I ever wanted to try without having to buy each one individually... Â I'm also still thinking of getting a Fender '59 Bassman reissue too... Â But I always have my eye out for a deal like that one... Orange has some great little solid-state amp deals like that from time too time too... They do some refurbs on some of them that go for next to nothing... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surfpup Posted March 2, 2014 Share Posted March 2, 2014 With the LIne 6... I'll get every amp I ever wanted to try without having to buy each one individually... Â Wanna bet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Searcy Posted March 2, 2014 Share Posted March 2, 2014 Great little amps those Cubes. I've thought about grabbing one one of these days. [thumbup] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FennRx Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 Wanna bet? Â i thought the same thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quapman Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 Wanna bet? i thought the same thing. Â Â Me too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
'Scales Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 Maligned 6 ...? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milod Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 I read all the comments on this or that amp, this or that guitar - as guys harp about "the tone." Â I guess I really don't understand it. Even back when I started playing electric my major interest was enough volume for a gig the way we did 'em in those days. Tone was strings, guitar and amp settings. Volume without mud was the major job of the amp. Â Ditto today. Some pups, it seems to me, aren't "clean" when played compared to my keepers. That's a bit of a problem but technically I guess I could have messed with them a bit and found some improvement. I just didn't care on those guitars. Â So to me, if the amp doesn't literally break up and the guitar plays well and the pups put out notes I think I'm putting in, I'm happy. You can get so many tones out of a given decent guitar and decent amp as it is that spending bundles searching for a holy grail seems counterintuitive. That's especially since IMHO weekend bands especially tend to destroy their own sound by not having good balance and not paying proper intention to what a crowd hears compared to what they think they're playing. Â A Line 6 should be a good amp. So should the little Cube, although I'm not at all sold on any 8" speaker other than for home practice and, as I see it, the important thing there is so you can hear a board, thin or semi, not an emulation of what you think you want on a gig. All that said, I doubt that with different speakers, regardless of quality of emulation that it'll sound like another amp. Even the old ones will become virtually different amps through aging of the speakers themselves. Â m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie brown Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 I love the term "The holy grail of tone!" LOL Most of what seems to define that, was/is merely overdriven tube amps, and the guitar! Pedals, were (at the time) either non-existent, or VERY limited, and only used to add a specific effect. NOT to gain one's overall basic "tone!" I'm (admittedly) still "old fashioned" that way. I much prefer just a good tube amp or, solid state, or modeling amp, that does an excellent job, of attaining a reasonable facsimile of such, and my guitar! Any pedals I use, are for only their particular effect. NOT, for "Great Tone," alone! In fact, what a lot of us, used to do, was use a small tube amp, as a pre-amp, into the larger amp (solid state or tube). A "Champ" into a Dual Showman, or Marshall, or some such. Â CB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
'Scales Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 Milo, I think your comment regarding weekend bands not having appropriate balance and understanding what the crowd hears is interesting and something I can relate to as a beginner in the game. I'd be interested in suggestions/tips to help improve in that area - there's got to be more to sound checks than "check 1 -2-2-2" for starters I'm sure Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Versatile Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 There are many Cube-ists on these forums...  IMO they are superb working amps with a clean channel to die for...  My Cube80 is a compact wolf in sheeps' clothing...  I gigged on Sunday with 2 Cube30's in stereo...sound was excellent  The accessible chorus and delay are crisp and well defined  V  Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Farnsbarns Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 Wanna bet? Â Â i thought the same thing. Â Â Me too. Â Me three. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pippy Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 I don't know the Cube but I will say that after playing through a Line 6 Flextone III a couple of months back (with Farns!) I went on the 'bay for a gander. The trouble was they all seemed to be in places like the Shetland Isles or Anglessey... Â I wouldn't swap my M-M for one but it could definitely do things my amp couldn't do. Â And Lissie's performance of 'All Along the Watchtower' 'In Sleep' sounded fine to me. Â Â P. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimi Mac Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 Maligned 6 ...? Â I guess... Â I ain't stupid, I know full well it's a recreation based on digitized signal manipulation... I get all that. If they really don't know how good the quality is these days on some of this technology to be able to recreate a reasonable likeness, then they're missing out... No, obviously I won't sound like I'm in front of a wall of Marshall madness or have a real '62 BluesBreaker JTM45 etc. etc. etc. But it will be a reasonably good if not great likeness. Â I don't know about them but most of my gigs are crowded noisy pubs and bars, I don't get to play great venues where the people are there only as your fans or simply to watch and listen to music while being church-mouse quiet in respect to the musicianship, so an exacting tone of specific/exact gear is not going to be noticed by the crowd, but I will be able to put on a tone recreation as far as any ears in the place will ever know and put me in the ballpark of things I'd like to be playing thru... Â If the purists wanna have a problem with that, then it's their problem, not mine... Â I've done my research, I've hunted down demo after demo after demo, I've gone and seen demos live, I have a friend who bought one and have his personal opinion and I can't see going wrong with it as opposed to paying a millionaires ransom to actually get one of every amp I wanna try. The DT50 has enough guts to gig with by itself as a tube amp and it's a high quality little rig on it's own even without the modeling. Coupled with the Pod HD500X it's part of the dream rig that can work in conjunction to recreate some of the most iconic guitar and amp tones of the classic past and also allows you to create your own with myriads of options and combinations. Â Not sure I'm willing to give up my Les Pauls for a James Tyler Variax yet, but my buddy who has one with the whole rig says it's phenomenal and sounds out of this world as part of this gear system! Â But with the quality of these tube/solid-state/analog/digital/and smart-PC combination amps and gear, the tones and sounds they're putting out these days are really good, period! Â It's like having a pedal board containing every pedal known to man combined with every amp tube type and combination on the planet to mix and match or use presets which are reasonable recreations of the classics of every make and model imaginable... And it's a real tube amp fully capable in its own right! Â I want a '62 JTM BluesBreaker, I want a real '59 Bassman, I want a classic Marshall stack w/Plexi head & twin 4x4 cabs, I want a '65 Deluxe Reverb, I want a Vox AC30, I want a Mesa/Boogie rectifier amp, I want a Peavey Delta Blues, I want an Orange Thunderverb head & orange cab, I want a Hiwatt, and on, and on, and on... Â Sorry I'm not independently wealthy and can buy anything I want and scoff at those attempting to make due with what they got or can afford... Â Or are willing to have an open mind enough to embrace some newer technology that allows them a reasonable facsimile of the originals... Â My bad... Â No thread hijack intended... I apologize in advance for my reactionary outburst... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
'Scales Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 I've seen a local band quite a few times where the guitarist uses one (don't know the model) and it does the job as you've described. Intricate pedal board he uses but he's obviously learned it well. Â I think they will be maligned in the way that anything that compensates does but some of the new technology looks interesting - for example: Â Â Â Â Hope it delivers all you are looking for from it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Searcy Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 I guess... Â Â Don't worry too much bro. I have several tube amps and some solid state amps and a huge Roland set up and 4 Line6 PODS. I have yet to meet a tone expert that could tell one from the other by listening to it. Â Trust your ears. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karloff Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 Don't worry too much bro. I have several tube amps and some solid state amps and a huge Roland set up and 4 Line6 PODS. I have yet to meet a tone expert that could tell one from the other by listening to it. Â Trust your ears. Â that right there is the best advice you'll ever get. while theres something to be said for researching an amp or guitar by reading forums and reviews, ultimately its your ears that matter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Farnsbarns Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 I guess... Â I ain't stupid, I know full well it's a recreation based on digitized signal manipulation... I get all that. If they really don't know how good the quality is these days on some of this technology to be able to recreate a reasonable likeness, then they're missing out... No, obviously I won't sound like I'm in front of a wall of Marshall madness or have a real '62 BluesBreaker JTM45 etc. etc. etc. But it will be a reasonably good if not great likeness. Â I don't know about them but most of my gigs are crowded noisy pubs and bars, I don't get to play great venues where the people are there only as your fans or simply to watch and listen to music while being church-mouse quiet in respect to the musicianship, so an exacting tone of specific/exact gear is not going to be noticed by the crowd, but I will be able to put on a tone recreation as far as any ears in the place will ever know and put me in the ballpark of things I'd like to be playing thru... Â If the purists wanna have a problem with that, then it's their problem, not mine... Â I've done my research, I've hunted down demo after demo after demo, I've gone and seen demos live, I have a friend who bought one and have his personal opinion and I can't see going wrong with it as opposed to paying a millionaires ransom to actually get one of every amp I wanna try. The DT50 has enough guts to gig with by itself as a tube amp and it's a high quality little rig on it's own even without the modeling. Coupled with the Pod HD500X it's part of the dream rig that can work in conjunction to recreate some of the most iconic guitar and amp tones of the classic past and also allows you to create your own with myriads of options and combinations. Â Not sure I'm willing to give up my Les Pauls for a James Tyler Variax yet, but my buddy who has one with the whole rig says it's phenomenal and sounds out of this world as part of this gear system! Â But with the quality of these tube/solid-state/analog/digital/and smart-PC combination amps and gear, the tones and sounds they're putting out these days are really good, period! Â It's like having a pedal board containing every pedal known to man combined with every amp tube type and combination on the planet to mix and match or use presets which are reasonable recreations of the classics of every make and model imaginable... And it's a real tube amp fully capable in its own right! Â I want a '62 JTM BluesBreaker, I want a real '59 Bassman, I want a classic Marshall stack w/Plexi head & twin 4x4 cabs, I want a '65 Deluxe Reverb, I want a Vox AC30, I want a Mesa/Boogie rectifier amp, I want a Peavey Delta Blues, I want an Orange Thunderverb head & orange cab, I want a Hiwatt, and on, and on, and on... Â Sorry I'm not independently wealthy and can buy anything I want and scoff at those attempting to make due with what they got or can afford... Â Or are willing to have an open mind enough to embrace some newer technology that allows them a reasonable facsimile of the originals... Â My bad... Â No thread hijack intended... I apologize in advance for my reactionary outburst... Â Just to be fair... This all makes sense but that wasn't what the three of us disagreed with. You said that by using this tech you get every amp you've wanted without buying them. That's not a fair statement (imvho). Everything else you said is quite right and I'm certainly not knocking the technology. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zigzag Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 I sold a Fender Princeton Chorus that I bought new in 1996 for a 80XL Cube. I think it is the best SS amp I've heard. I love the clean JC120 channel, I like the effects and the amp models. I've never heard a Mustang, but it blows the old Fender amp away in every way except the reverb (which ain't bad). Plus, it has a looper that lasts almost 2 minutes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saturn Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 I picked up a used Blues Cube 30 about 2 years ago. Very pleased with it. To describe the tone, I would use words like "deep", "rich" or maybe even "dark" but in a good way. The only drawback for me is there is no built in reverb. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quapman Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 Just to be fair... This all makes sense but that wasn't what the three of us disagreed with. You said that by using this tech you get every amp you've wanted without buying them. That's not a fair statement (imvho). Everything else you said is quite right and I'm certainly not knocking the technology. Â Â Yes,, this. Â What Farns said. Â I'm not knocking the technology either. In fact, I bought the line 6 pod 2.0 when it first came out. And I still use it to this day and it still works great. I love it. And I also love that I can just set it on the coffee table and play with headphones on and not bug anyone. Â But I had a JCM back in the day. And in no way does the Marshall amp model,through my Mesa Boogie studio .22 sound anything like my old stack. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dr faustus Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 I've got the Cube 20 xl - the clean channel is brilliant. The tone is dark, as someone else said, but in a good way. Volume is fine for practising. The effects are kind of meh - fun to play with, but they grow old fast. Except for the "Acoustic guitar" - doesn't sound much like any acoustic guitar I've ever heard, but it does sound interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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