Roland Tone Capsule NY

I bought the Roland Blues Cube Stage combo in August having tried it at a guitar show and also having tried one at my local music store. I found that the way the amp reacted was much better than any other solid state product I had tried before.

On using the amp at home however I found that the overall sound was not quite what I was looking for. It is clear that this amp is based on the Fender tweed amps and, until I bought this amp I had never owned such an amp. I have played guitar for over 45 years and my previous amps have all been British style amps (WEM, Laney, Hiwatt and Marshall) and I was trying to make this amp sound like those valve amps which it didn't do. My most favourite amp ever was a Marshall JCM 800 single channel master volume combo and I always compare everything to that.

I must point out that I only rarely get the chance to try an amp out at a gig on rare occasions these days and I am more of a home studio recordist now.

On a couple of recordings I had completed using the Blues Cube I found that I had to work quite hard to get the sound I was looking for and some of my guitars did not sound at all good through the combo.

I then found some articles on the internet about the Roland tone capsules and on hearing demo's of them on line I decided that the Robben Ford and Eric Johnson modules would not suit my style and I was not overly keen to try the Ultimate Blues capsule for the same reason. However, when I heard a "side by side" comparison of all of these capsules I was convinced that the New York capsule would get close to the sound I was looking for.

I bought one at the first available opportunity and I installed it this week. I must admit that I am totally hooked on this sound as it has opened the amp up in terms of tone and gain settings. It is one of the best things I have ever bought and even though it seems to be overpriced it has enabled me to use all of my guitars again and I would gladly give this product a high recommendation. There are Pro's and con's though:-

Pro's:-
1 - Much cleaner clean sounds
2 - More definition on the lower strings - the standard amp sounded a little "muddy" to me on the low end.
3 - Richer overdrive sounds with more clarity and sparkle.

Con's:-
1 - This is a REALLY important point. When I received the capsule I followed the installation guide notes which made no mention of also fitting the protective plastic shield. In my eagerness to hear the capsule at work I did not attach the shield and when I switched the amp on all I got was a very loud buzz. I subsequently attached the shield and everything worked fine.
2 - Cost. These amps are not cheap but they do a good job at tube emulation. The cost of the capsules is also high but, in my view the cost can be justified given that it has turned the amp into the thing I was searching for.

Overall I would say that anyone looking for a British style sounding amp should get one of these capsules. Forget that the capsule was designed by a jazz style player. My default sound is based around the early overdrive sounds of Billy Gibbons and Rory Gallagher and I can get these sounds with the New York capsule in my home studio. I hope that this will be the same on a live stage performance but I have a suspicion that the sound will translate to a gigging scenario well. Time will tell.