Roland Blues Cube Hot VB

I have had a lot of tube amps, even built them. Also many solid state amps. So I´m not a first amp buyer.

This one seems to be on the better side of "solid state amps".
Almost as good as a vintage style tube amps, not too far from them.
I feel this reacts very well on playing style, almost like as some tube amps.
Even on clean, (without boost) this amp produces nice "edge of breakup" tone on 0,5W setting. -And in home practice volume!

With boost on, overdrive is more present but can be adjusted with guitar´s volume.
Without boost this amp is really nice and suits fine for blues or early rock´n´roll.
Boost function is okay, how it affects the sound depends on how volume and master volume are set.
What is strange, there´s no way to adjust this boost function.
Same thing with "Tone" button.
The tone button makes the amp brighter. This also helps to cut through the mix in band context better.
-But both can be very usable.

Reverb is clear, room / hall type reverb, really nice.

In this case 30W is a lot. With ease good to go for small gigs or training with a band.

Don´t fear this amp, this is really good. I think this "Cube Hot" will shine after the speaker is used a bit more.

This amp feels like it´s not a toy. It´s really well made tool for for the job.
This is much more a really good amp than what I was expecting.

Some may miss that this won´t have effects loop.
But this amp is designed to mimic old late 50´s tube amp, and they tend to create overdrive from power tubes. -Not from pre amp.
So if modeling is done correctly, effects loop would be worthless.

You can also use phones for silent practice. Sound you get pfrom phones is a little bit thinner than from amp´s speaker but good for practice.

I am musician for almost 40 years and I always have tube amplifiers. I have to admit that I hate the sound of transistor amplifiers. I've been owner of Fender Twin Reverb Silverface, Fender Vibrolux, Marshall JCM 900 with 4X12? Celestion cabinet, Music Man 2X10? EV combo and now I have a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe George Benson.
I bought this amplifier for two reasons: the weight (12Kg) because I am getting old and the reviews that claim that it sounds like a real tube amp.
Roland says that they tried to emulate Fender Bassman. Does it sound like the Fender Bassman amp? Not 100% but it is close. You can still hear the metallic highs of a transistor amplifier but you can correct that with the equalization or with smart compressor settings.
With pedal effects though, sounds great. Better than expected. The tone button I think is useless because makes the amp sound like a transistor amp.
The button that really surprise me is the boost button. I never though that I am going to use that because I don't play blues and I never use crunch sounds. I play Jazz and sometimes Fusion and I use pedals for that. But I have to admit that boost is incredible.
Do I recommend this amp? If you play Blues, Jazz and you want a light weight amp, loud enough for small gigs and the ability to study in your room with 0,5Watts, the answer is yes, this amp totally worth it.

First of all, I'm not a professional musician. Playing for fun with friends. I've been playing several tube amps in rehearsal rooms but for home practice I have a small and cheap solid state amp (Fender 15R) that served me well for years but with two "small" drawbacks - not a great sound and cheap pots. Now, the home practice game is at a whole new level!

When I've decided to buy a new practice amp, it had to fulfill three key points:
1. No maintenance
2. Power attenuator
3. Good headphones and recording capabilities
(4.) Good sound of course...

I've read a lot of reviews and probably watched all Roland blues cube videos on the web before deciding that this amp is the one I'm looking or.

The amp sounds amazing! It does not resemble the major brands as emulators do. I have an Tech 21 amp simulator and this is different. Everybody thought that this is a tube amp.

Sound remains unchanged and only the volume level drops when switching power control between 5W, 15 W and 30W. The change from 5W to 0.5W is good for midnight playing, if you are careful with the volume knob, but the amp does not sound as open as with the other power levels. I think that the best low volume sound is with 5W and lower volume levels from the volume knob.

Almost stopped using pedals with this one. I like the sound so much that most of the time I play it with the guitar connected directly to the amp. It nails the blues, funk and classic rock style.

For people considering buying this amp I will recommend to get a footswitch as it will be easier to switch the Boost and a cover to protect it from dust as this is an open back amp.

I watched many reviews of this amp before buying it. I really hate the fizz that passes for gain in non-valve amps. But this one has none of it, I don't know how.

It does Fender almost as well as Fender does it. Great bottom end and sparkling cleans. Not *quite* the chime that Fender has but very close. If you want the bottom end make sure it's on a floor or hard surface. The loss of bass is large otherwise.

I love it. I play blues and need no pedals at all with this amp. I had my usual array plugged in at first and then discarded them all one by one. Now I have none in the chain and the amp is just sweet on its own.

For the record I have a Marshall JVM, a Mesa Boogie 5:50 and a Hughes and Kettner 18. A good array of valve amps and this Cube still sounds great to me. I use it all the time for practice as it's easier than waiting on standby for valves to warm up and cool down. Also the sound is good at all settings from 0.5 to 30W.

A beauty and cheap too!