Guitar Gear

Roland Cube 60 Amplifier

Roland Cube 60 Amplifier Summary: Built like a tank, great-sounding and versatile, the Roland Cube 60 is at home on the road and in the studio. Pros: Built-in Roland COSM modeling technology to mimic 9 British, Vintage and Modern amps, plus an added Acoustic mode. The Cube 60 also sports Recording Out, Line Out and Speaker Outs, plus a Tuner Out that can feed a Tuner independent from Volume control. Very loud for a small amp! Cons: Reverb sounds hollow and a muddy at higher settings, with a definite loss of clarity. Price: New $300-$359 Street ($250-$275 used)

When I bought my Cube 60 a three years ago, I wasn’t even looking for an amp. At the time, I was using a Line 6 Flextone III that served my purposes beautifully. But when you’re a gear freak and you just happen to have a bit of coin to spend well, some things just can’t be passed up.

Such was the case when I was perusing my favorite local gear store. I sauntered into the cramped guitar area, and saw this tiny black cube amp sitting against the wall. Intrigued, I picked it up by its handle and marveled at not only its diminutive size, but also its light weight (it weighs only 25 lbs.). Then Jordan, the guitar guy walked up and said, “I just got me one of these. It sounds awesome, and you can use it anywhere.” Normally, when I hear stuff like this coming from a salesperson’s mouth, I just nod, smile and say, “Cool.” But I’ve known Jordan for awhile, and I’ve learned to trust him. After all, he’s a gigging guitarist who knows his gear. When I hear him even slightly rave about something, I know it has got to be something cool (not that I can always afford the stuff he says is cool, but that’s another story).

So instead of my usual reaction, I silently pulled a Strat down from one of the hangers while Jordan went to fetch a cord. Big mistake! 🙂 It took me no longer than 10 minutes to know that I had to have this amp. Plus it was on sale for the Christmas season, so I got it for $50 less than normal retail!

I won’t go into the technical details of this amp because you can google for them. Let me just say this: This amp kicks ass! While I use my Fender Hot Rod for my electrics on stage, I use this with my acoustic, and it’s a dream. There’s something about the Acoustic channel on this amp that makes my Ovation sound like a Martin dreadnought! It’s that sweet

But in the studio, I use this amp a lot for recording backing rhythm parts. Even though it’s a modeling amp, which I normally don’t really get too wild about, this amp produces really nice tones in all of its amp modeling settings. And with its recording out jack, which shuts off the speaker, I can safely record deep into the wee hours of the morn without worrying about waking the neighbors. Surprisingly enough, it sounds great going direct into my DAW. In fact, I recorded this song using nothing but my Roland Cube 60. Of course, there’s nothing like the sound that a cranked tube amp produces, but late in the night, when you’ve got the inspiration, having the convenience of an amp that sounds great going direct is very nice!

Finally, did I say this amp is LOUD? You’d never expect the kind of volume that this amp is able to produce. At home, I rarely take the amp above 9am on both the Gain and Volume knobs. Any louder, and I’d start getting calls from the neighbors and complaints from my wife! 🙂 One of my close friends uses this amp for gigging, and he loves its versatility. Mind you, this is a guy who has tons of gear. His amps include a Marshall JCM half stack, and a gorgeous ’71 Fender Twin. But he likes to gig with the Cube because it’s so versatile AND it’s incredibly light! Weight matters when you’re hauling gear.

This amp is definitely worth a look.

Rock on!