Roland Cubexl80

[Jos Roderkerken]

After playing a piece of !#@$ marshall for almost a year i finaly got the time(and money ofcourse) to buy me a new cube from roland..

When i turned the beast on and plugged in my steel a mirracle happend!!!!

My psg stopped sounding like a wounded animal set on fire and started to sound like a real guitar..

Even my wife gave me the thumbs up! ( thats a first btw )

My only question for the other roland players..

I know sound is a personal thing but what kind of settings do you use?

Do you play clean or are you using the "simulated" sounds.. How do you EQ your guitar..

Please enlighten me..

[Brad Malone]

Jos R. Here are my amp settings:
Bass.........3 o'clock
Treble.......11 o'clock
Middle.......10.30
Presence.....12.00
Plate Reverb 3 o.clock

two quick taps on the delay button with the volume of the delay control set low.

These are the settings I am using on the JC clean channel with the bright switch on the off position.

I do not use the lead channel for steel...I guess it is great for lead and rhythm guitar players. Hope you enjoy your amp.
Brad

[Micky Byrne]

Jos...just scroll down on this page to "THE NEW TOY I GOT TODAY" Lots of stuff regarding the Cube 80 XL.

I can honestly say it's one of the best amps I've ever played through. I think a great deal of steel players will be after a Cube 80 XL now. Hearing is believing...It's loud and crystal clear on the clean channel....at all levels. Marverlous piece of engineering

Micky Byrne U.K.

[Micky Byrne]

Jos....most use the clean JC120 channel, but the "Black Face" is also "very" good. Forget the others...they are for the rock guitar players out there. So you see, the amp appeals to many kind of players.

I use the Clean channel but the brite button in. Bass 3 o/clock.. Middle 10 o/clock..treble 10-11 o clock..Presence 11 o/clock. Delay same as Brad..a quick slap back. Reverb ..Plate on 3 o/clock.

Guess it all depends on the attack, place of the player's hand, and pick/up on the steel. I use a Wallace TT. Enjoy the amp...I know you will

Micky Byrne U.K.

[Brad Malone]

can honestly say it's one of the best amps I've ever played through. I think a great deal of steel players will be after a Cube 80 XL now. Hearing is believing...It's loud and crystal clear on the clean channel....at all levels. Marverlous piece of engineering.<<

Hey Micky B. I 100% agree with your above statement...Steel Players owe it to theirselves to check the Roland Cube 80XL amp out...great tone, great chord and single clarity..I still cannot believe the great sound coming out of this 36 pound amp..plus the fact that this amp is also a great lead guitar amp and all the effects that are built right in the amp eliminates the need for all those effect pedals and the hassle of hooking them up. Steel, Amp and VP and out the door...OH! don't forget your seat.

[Jos Roderkerken]

thanks for the information guys.. i had the same settingsd in mind. only the delay thingie..

I tab it twice and the greeen button starts blinking but i dont hear any changes in sound..

am i just deaf or am i doing something wrong

[rpetersen]

Jos - the tempo of the delay is set by your timing of tapping the button - you still have to turn up the delay knob to get the amount of delay you want - kinda hard to explain...but it is in the manual even if you have to download one

[Micky Byrne]

Jos let me try explain...see if you can grasp it :0)
when you tap the little button...for steel it's two quick taps. 1-2 quick as that.You will see the green light flash faster. Now on the delay settings, you see the "line" starts small then gets "wider"...like all the other effects. Make sure you are at the latter part, or the delay will be too loud for the mix. When you set it, go to your steel and mute one string and pick. You will hear the intensity of the delay. Don't get it too loud. After you've done your playing, always turn the volume down befor switching off. That's in the instructions anyway. When you turn on to play again, you have to tap the button again. The "Preset" flashing is a little too slow for steel playing. That's the beauty of the Cube, everything can be altered for different players. Apart from the Clean JC settings, the "Black face and Tweed are also good for steel, but the treble and presence need to be increased. On the JC, we all seem to cut back on the highs. Hope I've explained well enough

Micky Byrne U.K.

[Gary Patterson]

Add me to the list of satisfied users. I bought one a month ago and took it directly to the theatre where I was playing guitar in pit using a Gretsch 6120. Gave me fine clean and overdrive sounds, good chorus and tremolo. The "acoustic" setting was less than convincing, but OK for an ensemble.

Finally got it home to try it on PSG, and sounds great using the native JC setting and the Black Face. Delay and reverb are very pleasant, and easy to implement.

Orchestra pits can get very crowded, and this one was actually an elevated loft, so small and light is a major benefit.

[Micky Byrne]

Gary...there seems to be a growing fan club of the Cube 80XL, and quite rightly so.As we know it's a light amp, but there is no sacrifice with it's tone.

Gretsch 6120.Wow you lucky son of a gun. Years ago I had a Gretsch Tennessean..this was with the painted "F" holes. This was about 1966. Well, like all crazy musicians, I sold it to buy something else. I've regretted it to this day


Micky Byrne U.K.

www.micky-byrne.co.uk

[Brad Malone]

Hey Micky, Correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think is is necessary to turn your delay contol down when turning the amp off...I just let mine set to about the 8:30--9 0'clock position and when I turn the amp back on I hold down the tap button for about a second ..that sets the delay for 30 milli seconds..then I do the two quick taps and I'm set to go.

[Micky Byrne]

Brad...re read...I said "turn the VOLUME down" ..... It said so in the manual, so I do so accordingly

Micky Byrne U.K.

[Brad Malone]

Brad...re read...I said "turn the VOLUME down" ..... It said so in the manual, so I do so accordingly

Micky, I stand corrected..thank you.

[Jos Roderkerken]

got it, and the machine works like a charm..

again thanks for all the information guys

[John Russell]

Nice to hear the Cube 80 XL is getting popular. I have the older Cube 80 model and had a Cube 60 before that. I set mine similar to Brad Malone's. I'll use the amp's FX if I'm in a hurry or on a small stage. Otherwise I like to juice up the tone with a Boss RV3 reverb/delay, or an older Boss Analog Delay--better still. I also like to use the Boss GE-7 equalizer pedal. I can set the amp's tones at 12:00 and reshape the eq for steel on the pedal. As convenient as the built-in FX are, I prefer stomp box pedals for EQ, delay, distortion and phase. Easier to turn on and off as well as adjust settings.

I often play lead guitar and steel on certain gigs. I generally need to change EQ for the Strat and one technique is to just switch off the EQ pedal using the amp's settings. I like the acoustic guitar setting and have used it quite a bit live. I often play an Ovation classical with onboard pickup and it sounds wonderful thru the Cube 80. I'm considering unloading the Fender Twin since I use the Cube more often. It weighs about half the weight of the Twin.

[Todd Weger]

This is just the info I was looking for.

I have a road trip from our place here in Safety Harbor, FL up to Madison, WI in July, and I'm taking my PSG, my acoustic and my resonator. I'll be doing some solo gigs (using my Fishman Loudbox "mini" as my PA and acoustic amp), and playing both electric guitar and PSG with an old band I played with all through the 90's. I have a wonderful NV1000, and great sounding Fender Deluxe Reverb, which I like for smaller jobs, but I really want to try to minimize the weight for the drive, as well as not get my RAV4 too packed with gear.

It sounds like I owe it to myself to check out these Cube 80XL's for serving double/triple duty for the variety of situations I'll be in. I really like the "Swiss army knife" description. Sound like just what I need!

Thanks!
TJW

[John Russell]

You won't be able to run a mike (XLR) thru the Cube. You might want to use the Fishman for singing and playing solo.

I like the Clean JC 120 for steel. I've used some of the other amp models for lead guitar. I like the DLX COMBO and the BLACK PANEL. With a little experimentation you can set your volume and gain controls to get a distortion tones. I generally use a Tube Screamer pedal for that but it's more kit to haul to the gig. The Acoustic Sim setting works for me and my Ovation. With the delay and reverb it sounds very nice. Every ear hears tone differently--for some, only a condenser mike on the sound hole will get the sound they like. The Cube is a winner for me.

[Roger Kelly]

Well guys, let me give you my take on the Roland Cube 80XL.

A few weeks back I found a Mint 80XL on Ebay and I won the bid.

The Roland was shipped from California to me in Georgia.

When the box arrived I was afraid to accept it from the postman, since the shipping box was in bad shape...holes and tears in the cardboard all over!

I just knew that I'd find the Amp in pieces from the looks of the box. I opened the box and unwrapped the foam wrapping and there wasn't a mark no where on the amp...still looked like new...I couldn't believe it.

Well, with all the beating it took, I figgured it probably wouldn't play. So I took it out to my studio to see what happens when I plug it up.

I thought it might Smoke so I turned all the knobs to 0 and plugged it in the wall...nothing happened, so I plugged my Mullen into the input and turned up the volume on the Clean channel and had a pretty good sound coming out, I backed off the volume pedal and the amp was quiet.

I ran the volume up tp 50% and still no noise....added some reverb and still quiet until I gave it some volume....I was amazed that the Roland was not damaged.

I played around with it for a few minutes and decided to Video a tune to playback and see how the sound compared to my Peavey and Fender Amps.

I like the Roland Cube 80XL and have been playing it for about a month now and believe it is a keeper.

If you want to hear my video made with nothing but my Mullen and the Rolland Amp, with a little plate reverb...here 'tis.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDVkr_oL ... ure=relmfu

[Brad Malone]

I like the Roland Cube 80XL and have been playing it for about a month now and believe it is a keeper<

Roger K, I think as more people try out this amp they will also come to the conclusion that this amp is a keeper. IMHO it is the one of the best things to come down the track in a long time. IMHO it far exceeds in tone and on board effects that one gets with the Nashville 112...in fact, as Micky B. has stated, it totally blows away the 112. As one learns to set the delay properly combined with the plate reverb the sound and tone just keeps getting better and better..in short, it is the best $360 I ever spent on a piece of musical equiptment.

[Lee Baucum]

I hope Roland doesn't see all these great reviews.

They might raise the price.

[Lee Baucum]

Well, you can add me to the list. I picked up one of these wonderful amps yesterday. This afternoon, I finally had time to take it out of the box and start working with it.

This little amp is just amazing. I haven't tried it with my Mullen U-12 yet; but, it sure sounds sweet with my little Williams Keyless S-10. Using the JC Clean channel, here are the settings that I'm liking:

Bass: 2 o'clock
Middle: 10 o'clock
Treble: 10 o'clock
Presence: 10 o'clock
Bright: OFF
Plate Reverb: 3 o'clock

I was surprised at the difference I could hear between Bass at 2 o'clock and Bass at 3 o'clock. With this guitar, a 3 o'clock setting on Bass made it a bit "muddy" sounding. It seemed to diminish the clear mids and treble.

I also like the Black Panel setting on the Lead channel. With the Gain turned almost all the way off, I get a nice, clear Fender Twin Reverb sound. It's easy to A/B between the two channels, using the Select switch.

The times I tried playing through a Peavey Nashville 112 I could never dial in a sound I liked. In a matter of minutes, after plugging into this amp, I found all kinds of great sound. The delay is very good. I really like the plate reverb. Lots of good stuff in a small package.

This amp seems to be built like a tank. I like the recessed knobs. It looks like they are very safely lowered out of harm's way.

I wonder if anyone at Roland knows they've got a new market for their amps.

[Dennis Wood]

I also ordered one of these after reading all the rave reviews and couldn't be more satisfied. I have had this little jewel about 2 weeks and used it at two rehearsals and one live show. No need to repeat all the comments, its a great little amp. I,ve been playing using an Evans LV or a nashville 400 and a pedal board with blues driver, dd3, rv3, super overdrive and a dano fish&chips. I won't be packing anything now but the Cube80 and my U12 GFi or Sierra. It also sounds great with my Dobro and Tele. I can't imagine anywhere i would need more power as we always mic up the amps.
If you are looking to go lighter, take the plunge, you won't be disappointed.

[Lee Baucum]

Looking at the prices quoted at a few of the online retailers, I see the Roland Cube 80XL is priced about $200 less than the Peavey Nashville 112.

[Dennis Wood]

I had been thinking about a Peavey Nashville 112 wanting to go lighter. Peavey is a great company and are the only company who makes a dedicated steel amp, but I thought the roland cube would be better for my uses. So far, i am not disappointed. Next week I have a gig with the other band i play with, they play mostly classic rock and blues. We will see how the cube does on statesboro blues and smoke on the water... The Britt combo and the blackface with the gain cranked sound pretty good for rock and blues.

[Brad Malone]

I also like the Black Panel setting on the Lead channel. With the Gain turned almost all the way off, I get a nice, clear Fender Twin Reverb sound. It's easy to A/B between the two channels, using the Select switch<<

Lee B. I too like the Black Panel setting..it also reminds me of my Fender twin Reverb Amp..sounds tube warm and yet it is a SS amp that only weighs 36 pounds..my plate reverb is at 3 o'clock and two quick pushes on the delay puts me right where I want to be. Make no mistake about it, this is a great amp..so far we have had all positive posts from the guys that bought it.