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Roland Cube 30
List: $500
It seems that Roland`s Cube series amplifiers have a rather cult following considering its diminutive nature. The Cube 30 is a middle offering in this series, the Cube 60 & 30 being the elder & younger siblings respectively. So what draws the beginner & the more seasoned player to this magic cube?
Build/ features
Despite its rather plastic look, the Cube 30 has a firm build. The leather cabinet binding was well applied & showed no signs of errant application. It is also very reassuring to note the inclusion of corner protectors which run the whole breadth of the amplifier, a very thoughtful feature considering that this amp would most likely be lugged around due to its very player friendly overall weight. The control panel has a top surface layout which leaves the front face to be a dedicated tone projector- a very Vox vibe indeed. The Cube 30`s rear offers other access features, namely an FX loop access & a cabinet extension output.
The Cube 30 is effectively a dual channeled amp, offering a clean & a drive setting which is further diversified by a preset of 7 distortion patches. Both channels share a common EQ control (3-band), the drive channel has a supplement of modulation & time-based FX. Onwards- tone!
Tone
The Cube 30`s clean offering is simply above-average & tasteful. Do not expect lush chimes from this one; Fender`s Bullet practice amp would emanate a more pronounced sparkle or even the Laney LC15R for that matter. Be assured that you are not getting a bland entry-level honk with this one. Need more glitter with your cleans?
Then the drive channel`s acoustic emulator would serve this need. I`m seriously wondering why this patch was included in the drive channel when all it offers are cleans. Anyway this is one of the impressive patches offered in the drive section, the first half of which gives off a mild drive (except the `Acc` patch), even with the gain set to stun. The Tweed patch gives off that infamous restrained fuzz, tone purists would love, especially with some chorus dialed in & the volume turned up. The remaining 3 distortion patches are grouped under the `Stack` section for a simple reason- these sound markedly thicker & give off a cabinet-like resonance. My personal favourite would be the `Metal` setting as it offers a very balanced default EQ, useful for lots of drive based music, more so for the extreme genre. Hormonics? It`s all here. Back the gain off to taste, the `Metal` patch would serve your fusion needs, no problems here. Many of us would get excited with the `Rectifier` setting but this patch offers a mediocre interpretation of MESA`s notorious saturated drive, I hear excessive midrange from this one & felt that it could have been rectified (forgive the pun).
The modulation patches are very useful inclusions for those of us who appreciate tonal variety in our amp, this definitely beats hooking up multiple pedal units which suck off more tone than you`d appreciate, not to mention being unnecessary feedback inducers. I had fun with all 4 patches but do not expect a microscopic manipulation of each as there`s only one knob to keep things acceptable here. The `Delay` & `Reverb` patches were also convincing but the former displayed limited capacity in terms of its time parameter; long delays were unavailable, so if you want a dedicated delay offering, a pedal route is inevitable.
Last say
The Cube 30 is a very intimidating amp for its size. What the beginner would get from it is a pedal free setup which has enough inspiring tones, drive & modulation-wise, to keep on playing/ practicing. The tones on offer would simply put other beginner models to shame, not that the Cube 30 is a starter in its range (the Cube 15 would be nearer that status). It is rather senseless to invest in any Cube series for that matter & have supplementary FX pedals hooked up to it. For those of us who embrace the Cube philosophy, we believe that the amp has enough inherent offerings to render pedals unnecessary. If you simply love pedals, invest in other more affordable amps which are less feature laden. For the seasoned players, the Cube 30 is a quick plug-&-play solution, well worth investing in addition to that boutique amp which runs your main show. A highly recommended offering for those who are after good tones per se.