NAD heresy alert: Solid state

voggin

voggin

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image.jpgActually, got this puppy a couple of months ago. Roland Blues Cube Artist. 80w, 1 x 12.

Apparently, these are based on an old tweed bassman. Has two channels, clean and crunch, shared eq. Reverb and tremolo.

Certainly sounds a lot like my mental image of a tweed, although I don't have any real life experience playing one. Has a nice gradual breakup above about 4 on the clean channel, and the crunch gets you up to a rock level of drive.

I really like the power scaling, goes from .5 w to 15 w to 45 w to 80. It also has a master volume. I find it sounds pretty much the same at each power level, other than the volume, of course. So you can go from bedroom levels with the natural sounding breakup to stage volume. Or you can use the power scale to increase headroom. Jamming with some friends at modest jam levels, I was using the 15 w with the amp alone, then switched it to 45 and lowered the clean channel volume to use my pedals.

Got a good deal on it. Very happy so far.
 
Re: NAD heresy alert: Solid state

Nothing wrong with a good solid state amp. I have a Microcube and I can only imagine that an 80watt Roland can get quite loud. Especially if you use an extension cab. It probably also sounds good at lower volume levels and I bet it takes pedals well.

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Re: NAD heresy alert: Solid state

Yup. Clean is good - especially playing jazz and funk.
Solid state can sound badass, too - anyone remember Ty Tabors' wicked sound on the early King's X stuff?
He was playing a Strat Elite through a fricking Lab Series amp set on stun.
 
Re: NAD heresy alert: Solid state

Demanic said:
I have a Microcube and I can only imagine that an 80watt Roland can get quite loud.
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I used to have a Cube 60 which went up to 80 watts with an extension cab.
Used my 1x12 with it and never ever took it past half volume. Ferociously loud and never got even a hint of breakup in the clean channel.
Just loud, uncompressed cleans. I kinda miss it just for those cleans.
 
Re: NAD heresy alert: Solid state

That's the best type of amp to run a sick distortion pedal into.

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Re: NAD heresy alert: Solid state

I've heard great things about the Blues Cube. Is that the one that takes Tone Modules that look like preamp tubes?
 
Re: NAD heresy alert: Solid state

Oh yeah. Everyone knows tweed Bassman amps were 80w solidstate two-channel amps with reverb, trem, and power scaling. Absolutely.
 
Re: NAD heresy alert: Solid state

One of my favorite amps is my Tech21 Trademark 60...completely solid state. So enjoy it!
 
Re: NAD heresy alert: Solid state

PFDarkside said:
I've heard great things about the Blues Cube. Is that the one that takes Tone Modules that look like preamp tubes?
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Yeah, the modules are little tube shaped things that plug into the back of the amp. I've got one on order, the Blues capsule, which apparently revoices the amp to a blackface twin on clean and a 70s marshall on drive.

The tubes are stupidly pricey (2-300 bucks) but I worked out a deal for the whole package.

I forgot to mention, one of the biggest plusses of this amp is its weight. Sure beats the hell out of dragging around my Hot Rod DeVille.

I'm not sure how the technology in this thing works. I'm guessing it's a blend of a ss amp with some modelling in the chain. The tone modules must have some digital info in them to revoice the amp so dramatically.

I was initially looking into a higher end modeller (I have a Mustang III, which is quite fun), but I realized I use about three tones when I play, so most of the modeller would have been unused. I also looked at the Yamaha T100 (don't have the number right, too lazy to look it up, is a head/cab setup) but decided to go with a combo instead.

I think Roland took an interesting approach with these amps. It does what I want, and to me, it sounds really good. Which is all you can ask from an amp. But it's pretty close in price to a used DRRI, so I don't see it overtaking tube amps or anything like that. But for my needs, and given the weight and expected reliability, it's a good choice for me.
 
Re: NAD heresy alert: Solid state

My Peavey Studio Pro 112 was just a fantastic amp - even at the slight/subtle breakup gain stuff.

And My Roland Cube 30 (probably 10 years old) is still a go to...
 
Re: NAD heresy alert: Solid state

Aceman said:
My Peavey Studio Pro 112 was just a fantastic amp - even at the slight/subtle breakup gain stuff.

And My Roland Cube 30 (probably 10 years old) is still a go to...
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Lots of Peavey amps never got the respect they deserved. Come to think of it, same with a lot of their guitars.

I remember Peavey amps everywhere when I was a teen in the 80s. They were bar band staples. Then some time in the 90s they seemed to have gone out of favour, and pawn shops were full of them.
 
Re: NAD heresy alert: Solid state

voggin said:
Lots of Peavey amps never got the respect they deserved. Come to think of it, same with a lot of their guitars.

I remember Peavey amps everywhere when I was a teen in the 80s. They were bar band staples. Then some time in the 90s they seemed to have gone out of favour, and pawn shops were full of them.
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I once rented a Peavey Renown 2x12 combo for a gig, which was solid state and somewhere in the 150-200 Watts region.

The damn thing sounded HUUUUUUUUUGE. Like a dark, stout JC120. I put my Keeley Blues Driver in front of it and it sounded terrific.
If I ever see one for sale you can be assured I'm going for it.
 
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Re: NAD heresy alert: Solid state

Don’t we already have a thread for this?
 
Re: NAD heresy alert: Solid state

Diego said:
I once rented a Peavey Renown 2x12 combo for a gig, which was solid state and somewhere in the 150-200 Watts region.

The damn thing sounded HUUUUUUUUUGE. Like a dark, stout JC120. I put my Keeley Blues Driver in front of it and it sounded terrific.
If I ever see one for sale you can be assured I'm going for it.
Click to expand...

weighed a ton didnt it
 
Re: NAD heresy alert: Solid state

What other kind of modules are available for this amp? It sort of reminded me of another famous amp that used modules.
 
Re: NAD heresy alert: Solid state

Mincer said:
What other kind of modules are available for this amp? It sort of reminded me of another famous amp that used modules.
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There's the Ultimate Blues one, that I mentioned, a Robben Ford one, a New York Blues one (which I think is Vox-voiced) and an Eric Johnson one. I don't know what the Ford and Johnson ones are voiced for.

Yeah, it does kinda remind me of the SD amps from the eighties. I remember a cool ad with Jeff Beck sitting on a hot rod car playing one.
 
Re: NAD heresy alert: Solid state

Simple....If it sounds and feels good, it is good!
I have a number of tube amps, but my most recent purchase was a Roland Blues Cube Hot. Very nice sounding and feeling amp.
 
Re: NAD heresy alert: Solid state

Really, I think it can be said that Blues Cube amps represent a breakthrough in technology. They REALLY DO sound and behave like some of the best tube amps I have ever heard. I started with the 80w Artist and am now selling my Traynor to get the 30w BC Hot for leaving at a regular gig. I am totally sold ... though I will never dump my AC30!


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