Photoweborama Review Roland Microcube

Main Menu

Guitar Reviews

All Things Guitar Reviews

Page Link 3

Page Link 4

Page Link 5

Page Link 6

Favorite Vendors

Roland Microcube

By Mark Steven Wong

It was about 6 months ago when I first laid eyes on the Roland Microcube. Basically being always broke, I was not able to pick one up at the time. This was a good thing because it's never good for me to buy anything when I'm in my “impulse buy” mode. Of course, not that all of my impulse buys have been bad, some have turned out great. This gave me time to compare the Microcube with the competition, which consists of only the Vox DA5, as far as I know.

So after comparing both amps in an A / B fashion, the Microcube came up to be the clear winner. Well, for me at least.

The main thing that won me over was the tone. I has a very warm sound to it, and it does not sound like a little amp in a little box., plus, it has an array of usable amp models and features that make it not only a great little amp for practicing, but also a viable alternative for direct recording. The more I played with it, the more I learned.

Features
The Microcube six different amp models and an microphone mode. Though it does not have as many amp models as other amps do, the ones provided just make sense. They cover the basics without confusing you with too many choices. It features an acoustic mode, Roland Jazz Chorus, Fender Twin, Vox combo, Marshall stack, and Mesa Stack.

It also has single tone control that seems to work more like a tone contour control. It also has a gain knob and a master volume knob.

Another feature that puts it way ahead of other practice amps, even in much larger sizes, is that it has a separate control for time based effects, namely, the reverb / delay control. Every amp with on-board effects I've ever seen always consider delay and reverb to be an effect the be thrown in with the rest of them.

The effects section feature the more common effects that most will want, chorus, tremolo, flanger, and phaser. And these, of course, can be mixed with reverb or delay because they are controlled separately.
The effects sound really good in this little unit, in fact they sound suburb. I was playing with it the other day and was thinking how good the effects sounded. The box it came in was sitting on the floor and my son read the box and said to me “what do BOSS effects mean?” It then dawned on me that the effects section came from BOSS! No wonder they sounded so good!

It also has a “Tuning Fork” button that when pressed, produced an “A” tone. This is a good reference for tuning your guitar if you don't have a tuner with you. It also has an 1/8” and a 1/4” input for tape or CD players. This is great for playing backing tracks and playing along with. It has a durable case with corner protectors, and strong front metal grill.

It also runs on batteries or the included AC adapter. When I bought my Microcube, I also bought one for my son. I've been very careful to plug mine into the AC, but my son has been running his for over a month on batteries, and he has been using it quite a bit. So far, he is on the first set of batteries!

The last feature it has is a microphone input. You simply plug in an unbalance microphone into the input jack and then turn the amp model knob to the microphone mode. Just like a guitar, you can add effects and reverb to the miced signal. I'm not sure why they put this feature into it. With a 2 watt output, it seems pretty useless. But I can tell you one thing. The kids have had more fun with that feature then a barrel of monkeys! They love to hear their own voices with heavy reverb or delay. And they even got the dog into the act. They make him bark into the Mic and when he hears his bark with the echo, he barks even more!

The only negative thing I can come up with is that at times, the bass gets a bit flabby. But considering how good this thing sounds, and the fact that it's only a 5 inch speaker, that is to be expected.

Conclusion
This is a great little amp! It sounds fantastic, it's small, and it runs on batteries! You can take it anywhere and it sounds good enough to turn heads where ever you are.

You won't be disappointed! As I did, pick one up.. no wait.. I picked up two of them!