I've got two portable, battery powered amps at the moment, a Roland Cube Street and an older Crate Taxi TX30-B. Found both in pawn shops. I wasn't looking for a battery powered amp(s), but they were so cheap, I couldn't pass them up.
The Roland sounds amazing for it's size and the amp models are fairly realistic. I generally keep it on the blackface setting and use a pedal for dirt. The Crate has no amp models or effects. but has far superior volume than the Roland. I actually played a gig with the just the crate and it was OK. I had an older Digitech RP unit and programmed 5-6 blackface tones with various degrees of dirt and I was surprised at how good it sounded.
I picked up an older Digitech Expression pedal in trade a while back. I use the direct out to the crate and the amp out to the Roland. Set to the Univibe or Leslie setting, with the pedal in up position provides a huge tone with a bit of verb/delay ambiance and a lush little warble. Setting the amps 10-15 feet apart is an aural delight! With a MHP 72 Degrees overdrive in front, the variety of sweet, organic tones is addicting. My new little Tone City Bad Horsie pedal also works well as does my lovely old Marshall Blues Breaker.
A new pawn shop opened in town and upon my first visit, I spotted a brand new Crate Limo Taxi TX50D. They have it marked at $199.00. I've done a bit of checking and they are now discontinued and commanding higher prices. I've seen several in fairly decent condition in the $400 and up range.
My only gripe about my current Taxi is the lack of reverb. Also, an XLR input would be nice. Well, the Limo addresses those with a nice selection of DSP effects and it does have the XLR input.
So, I'm thinking I'll sell the Roland and buy the Limo. I imagine running both Taxi's in stereo would be pretty cool! Especially in the middle of nowhere.
I paid $25 for the TX30 and $9 for the battery. I got the Roland for $125, so hoping for a similar deal on the Limo. Since the store is new, they are willing to deal.
Anyone else dig these cool amps you can take anywhere?
The Roland sounds amazing for it's size and the amp models are fairly realistic. I generally keep it on the blackface setting and use a pedal for dirt. The Crate has no amp models or effects. but has far superior volume than the Roland. I actually played a gig with the just the crate and it was OK. I had an older Digitech RP unit and programmed 5-6 blackface tones with various degrees of dirt and I was surprised at how good it sounded.
I picked up an older Digitech Expression pedal in trade a while back. I use the direct out to the crate and the amp out to the Roland. Set to the Univibe or Leslie setting, with the pedal in up position provides a huge tone with a bit of verb/delay ambiance and a lush little warble. Setting the amps 10-15 feet apart is an aural delight! With a MHP 72 Degrees overdrive in front, the variety of sweet, organic tones is addicting. My new little Tone City Bad Horsie pedal also works well as does my lovely old Marshall Blues Breaker.
A new pawn shop opened in town and upon my first visit, I spotted a brand new Crate Limo Taxi TX50D. They have it marked at $199.00. I've done a bit of checking and they are now discontinued and commanding higher prices. I've seen several in fairly decent condition in the $400 and up range.
My only gripe about my current Taxi is the lack of reverb. Also, an XLR input would be nice. Well, the Limo addresses those with a nice selection of DSP effects and it does have the XLR input.
So, I'm thinking I'll sell the Roland and buy the Limo. I imagine running both Taxi's in stereo would be pretty cool! Especially in the middle of nowhere.
I paid $25 for the TX30 and $9 for the battery. I got the Roland for $125, so hoping for a similar deal on the Limo. Since the store is new, they are willing to deal.
Anyone else dig these cool amps you can take anywhere?
