BOSS Katana VS Roland Cube Street (Review)
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 21 окт 2024
- I'm back with another comparison of ultra compact gear, this time of the amp variety. If you are interested in checking out the album my band released this year, Traders of the Lost Arts, follow the link below. I went to Eastern Europe and studied traditional music, then came back and arranged the folk tunes for an electric, guitar-led, prog-jazz ensemble of some of the top players on the San Francisco scene. The album is also available on iTunes, Spotify, etc.
alexhandband.b...
He plays Jazz, classical, blues, (and metal) on a heavy metal guitar. LOVE IT!
I have the same guitar and it does everything well to me, very inexpensive fantastic guitar!
Yep " you're right" Great guitarist " he needs a guitar that has four bodies on it five necks" (laughing) I was gonna check out the Amp , love your playing
Came to see the amp, stayed for the player.
same here lol.
Me tooooo ... amazing
You are an amazing player. Came for the amps, stayed for your playing. Nice job. 👍
I’m a Jackson fan and this is the first time I have seen one played like this. Awesome playing dude! I’m a Roland Cube fan, too. The headphone jack on line, the mini cube, has a headphone/ line out jack. I am surprised yours does not have the same.
Good demo and your one hell of a player, loved the little bits of jazz.
Not used to seeing Jackson guitars being played on a clean channel
who says you cant jazz on a V?
ahah thought the exact same thing!
Really great playing! I have one of the Katana Airs on the way, thank you for the in detail demo of the amp, I haven't seen another video that displayed the amp as much as you did.
Never seen a Jackson V played like that , thought you'd be a metal head more than jazz and clean tones , great playing though !
street cube wins every time- ..let's face it- they perfected it- I play vintage guitars through mine- and the natural voice really does transmit pure- un-clouded if you know how to set up your levels correctly- ..i always raise my guitar volume all the way up- then slowly raise my amp master volume- and find a compromise setting with the master gain
Well done! I want both of these. I am set for life.
Hey let me know what you are playing exactly on the minute 6, it has a name? Is it flamenco? Where can I find lessons about it. Thank you in advance
Hey great video! The direct out in street 2 is included now. I’m planning to buy that.
Do you think I can plug in my guitar and mic into the new street 2 amp, monitor my sound on stage, run a backing track through Bluetooth/aux and send the whole sound also to the house PA system?
Or is it too much to ask haha.
That sounds reasonable. I hadn't heard they added an XLR out so that's awesome. The question is whether your backing track would go only to the house or through the speaker like your mic and instrument. I'd have to try it to find out.
Im might be wrong but I think the Boss air has two different Bluetooth 'options' that you should connect to in order for it to work.
How do you like that Jackson minion RRV? I have one, I love it, one of my favorite guitars...
Correction: You can wirelessly play to any amp. It is a kind of a mark up gimmick if the Katana comes with a wireless because it lets them charge more instead of letting you choose whatever wireless you want or already have. Personally I've used the NUX B2 wireless on different amps and direct to board for years with no problems. I agree they should have a 1/4" direct out. You can get a 1/8" to 1/4" connector for direct out but I usually just mic the amp on stage and get a nice sound that way. You are spot on about how the tone and sounds of the amps are though and a very skilled player. I think you would also like the modification of adding a rechargeable battery pack to your amp instead of using AA's. You just need a center negative USB DC 5V to DC 9 Volt USB Power Supply Cable and then whatever USB battery pack you want. You can also power guitar pedals with a pack this way. Ill do a video soon about all these modifications and things that help make playing easier whether on street or stage.
It's true there are a lot of affordable options for wireless connectors these days, but the reason I still have the Katana Air instead of those is because when you buy those general wireless pieces, both the receiver and transmitter have to be charged outside the amp and guitar. You have to remove the pieces from the guitar input and amp input and keep them somewhere else to charge, then replace them when you want to use them, assuming they are sufficiently charged, and remember to turn them off when you're done. With the Air, there is only a transmitter, so I take it out of the amp, which turns the amp on automatically, play, and put it back in the amp when I'm done where it charges and turns off automatically. So it's not quite the same thing. Until products come out that have at least 4 hours of run time before needing a recharge (enough to last a typical gig) I'll keep my eye on the market but probably won't invest in a wireless set.
@@AlexHand The Lekato WS-80 will play for 8 hours!
Alex, excellent demo. Provided a clear distinction between the two amps to give me a good idea on which way to go. Great guitar playing a plus. Best wishes!
Thanks Bobby
I came looking for information on the effects of the Roland Cube Street and I find this guy playing such wonderful music! :D Btw, have you compared the Cube Street with the Roland AC-33? I tested the AC-33 against the bigger Cube Street EX in a music store when shopping for a battery-powered busking style amp and I found the AC-33 to sound sweeter and fuller, and the Cube Street EX sounded a bit plastic, even though it was louder and could probably do a fairly large gig. I ended up buying the AC-33 and I totally love its sound. But now I need to get another small one and the Cube Street seems like a hugely versatile and robust tool.
Thanks, it's true the AC-33 is more geared toward acoustic instruments so for vocals it's probably better than the street. The street is more versatile with effects and amp simulators for electric guitars. I think the EX is too heavy for dragging around in real busking situations. It's more of a camping or music festival amp where you need battery power but won't be moving it often. It does give you more power and volume than any of these other amps.
Your guitar playing is just beautiful! Bravo 👏
Dude! Hope your channel blows up. Great playing. You need a little polish on video production but the content delivery was great, informative and you showcased a bunch of styles instead of just one chug chug chug style. Here for the Katana Air review, but found the info on the Roland informative. That's one rugged amp.
Thanks. I do need a crashcourse in AV. Hope I can make more stuff soon.
Well that's the guitar for jazz indeed :D
it's definitely the player for jazz
The Jackson minions are fantastic guitars for everything, great little things...
Keep going I like your videos and how you play
You sure can play, very impressive!
Thanks man!
Great video and playing. I was inbetween cube and katana last year but went with the cube and am very happy. Another benefit to wireless amps is not having to worry about "dirty electricity" if practicing in an apartment complex with lots of interference.
@@pentatonicpaddy Mains hum.
Nice playing 👍 i am still undecided between the 2 amps for home practice. What would you buy between the 2 amps?
I use the Katana at home.
Well done! Now I know what to get for with my Acoustasonic. You showed any guitar can be used for jazz or any other style. Its all about the player. Cheers
.
dude! you play so beautifully! dam!
Forget the amps… god damn virtuoso over here
Have you tried the Ibanez Mikro guitars? I have one and its very decent but I like my Jackson minion more...
Yes I have both Jackson Minion and Ibanez Mikro guitars and I hope to post a comparison video of the different short scale electric models I've used soon.
@@AlexHand That should be good. I am thinking about getting the GFS quick connect wiring harness with coil splitting and a set of their vintage extra hot humbuckers for my minion V. Comes out less than $100 for all of it. The stock Jackson pickups work fine for me but I want to try out the GFS swag...
Great review and playing. Have you seen the Roland Cube EX, more expensive, bigger, but more features and volume too.
Yes. Great for block parties or camping but pretty heavy to carry in most travel situations for which I'd imagine you'd want a battery powered amp.
@@AlexHand agree with weight, but it is also battery powered, and you can plug it into a PA for situations with a band.
Geez! I Wish I Could Play Like That' On One of Those New Amazing Jackson Jazz Model's! 🎸🔊🎼
Thanks! Here's a track from my latest album:
ruclips.net/video/sDVKPwWQVrw/видео.html
what about the mic input and the way it's compliment vocals , is it great ? compare to bose s1 pro for exemple please ?
Not sure
What is the piece of music that you play @7:28? It's one of the coolest sounding pieces of music. Amazing playing!!!!
Thanks, it's a piece written by Allen Alexander on one of his guitar CD/book sets. I think it's a tribute to O'Carolan.
Sounds strongly influenced by Vivaldi
It's funny, when I see a dude with a fluorescent green Jackson V, this is exactly the kind of music I expect to hear being played lol
I had a months-long ongoing debate with an ex gf over the color of that guitar. She said it was more green than yellow. I said it was more yellow. Jackson lists it as yellow, and offers a green one too. That was my main leverage in my argument. Eventually I downloaded a color-scanning app on my phone and it said it was chartruse/lemon-lime.
@@AlexHand lemon lime is a good description. Great playing too by the way!
Hi do you know any tips or tricks to make the Bluetooth signal louder I want to have my backing tracks a tad bit louder For the kattana air
great review and nice playing thank you. Tony uk
it is obvious how good Alex is as guitarist
This is Jackson Jazzmaster ST1.
They’re built only by personal demand so you can’t see it in catalogs.
Have you tried using an adapter for the "out" headphone-recording jack? Either unit? You are and astounding guitarist Alex!
Dan M. Allison thanks Dan. I’m not sure which adaptor you mean, but I have tried running a line out of the headphone jack to the PA and that doesn’t work very well, but you do get sound.
You can do a small modification to the auxilary board, adding a switch to shortcut the muting of the amp when connected to a PA (or recording). That will give you that last option you are wishing for. You will find instructional step by step videos here on youtube on how to do this on the Cube Street😊
Terje Nuis thanks for the tip 👍
Great review love listening to your playing, but why no videos in 7 months?
I have a question, can I connect my Android smartphone to the cable, or just the iPhone? Please I need help.
Would you say thay the clean channel is actually "clean", and remains like that even in loud volume (not cranked as well)? I'm really interested on that for playing home and streets and I usually use cleans, like John Mayer. Don't have it in my city to try it out first...
Julien Viapiana if volume in loud outdoor spaces is your top priority I’m not sure the Katana Air is the best option, especially when it’s running on battery power.
It’s refreshing to see an honest and useful review. In many other product reviews, The reviewer is always saying how great everything is but doesn’t really criticize any of the faults or flaws. Thank you and great playing.
Still have my street cube 10 watt. We're ever I go my busking gear comes with me .🎺🎸. 👍👍🏼
I have that same satch strap! Man I love those jazz chords! Where did you learn them?
JayBruceWorld thanks. I like anything with skulls on it that doesn’t look like cheesy mall ninja gear. I went to school for jazz performance so I had to focus on that stuff for years. These days I play more folk music but it all mixes together.
Garry galbreth has some great books as well as any Berkeley study books!
Great review! Would you recommend the katana boss for busking?
Mae Paloma if you’re playing solo in a quietish place it would be enough. In a noisy subway the Cube Street would be better.
@@AlexHand Alright! Thanks so much! 😄
I love your take on this. Is the bears at as loud? And have you used this busking?
I haven't run into any bears, but I have used the Roland for busking and if there's no drummer it's usually enough.
Good review Alex. Thanks.
Awesome jazz playing! Thanks!
What is the 1st song in lead channel?
Very informative video. Sans the bulshido you get a lot on product reviews: straight to the point no nonsense. I'm researching getting the right amp for my daughter (plays acoustic guitar/vocal and may want to busk/small 'gig')..probably going to go Roland Cube. Great playing, by the way; I liked the Gypsy/Jazz and classical as well as the shredding/sweeping ;-). I'm from the UK but have family in the Bay area - perhaps I'll check you out when I'm over there :-)
p.s Subscribed
Thanks
Anthony
Which is better pedal plataform...Cube Street take well pedals high gain ? Distortion is good on R Fier Setting? ..What is the size of the speakers on Cube Street...8" ? 6"?
I'm not sure because I never use distortion pedals.
(2) x 6.5 inch stereo speakers
Nice review, great playin'!
I have a specific question about the roland cube street: How does it react to rolling the volume-knob of the guitar?
I use my guitar's volume-knob A LOT to create those "string swells" (while adding also a delay-effect)
& basically I ONLY use my volume on my guitar to go from lead-sounds to crunch to more cleaner sounds as well...
In my experience, the Katana didn't react well to my volume-knob action... it was either "volume ON" or "volume OFF" (if you catch my drift)... Not enough dynamics in there. I haven't played through a cube street yet... So I'm hoping the cube is a bit better at that... & if it is... I'm getting one to go busking :)
I do volume swells with my feet most of the time, but I do play with the volume knob at 7 or 8 sometimes and the Cube Street does have enough of a dynamic range to make that work.
@@AlexHand Thanx for the reply... By the looks of it... I'm gettin' a cube street then :D Keep the music alive! Cheerzz!
Reckon ill be getting a roland, thank you for this review. ( amazing playing btw)
So in your gig, you play the tambourine right?
Great guitar playing. My fingers got tired just watching. At last, someone who is not afraid to demo the clean sounds before the other sounds. As an old 70 year old rocker, I have become fond of more clean sounds to hear the actual sounds of the equipment but still enjoy my vintage pedals.
Great playing, great feel... You are still young, bravo maestro ! Just one thing, get your self a Tele, Thinline... You will look and sound like the legends instantly !
I see you're a tele guy
Interesting instrument selection for a jazzy intro. Or?
Interesting intro on a metal guitar.
Either way…..👍🏻👍🏻.
Hey man, did you ever end up getting the other cardoba mini?
Russel Davus nah I got a Baby Taylor and it’s great. Steel string but I think you can put ball end nylons on it since the pickup isn’t magnetic, I just haven’t tried. The pickup in it is more reliable than the Córdoba one, but it’s a different kind of guitar.
Great review!
I have the CUBE Street, and I was able to find settings I like for my guitar, BUT it's not really loud enough to compete with the drums and bass.
I got the CUBE Street EX, but it doesn't have the same tone and efx controls and I can't get a sound I like out of it. It has a lot more power, more features that I won't use, but I can't make my guitars sound the way I want through it. Also, the EX won't fit in an airplane overhead bin. So I'm selling it.
So, I need to hack the original CUBE Street to output to a powered slave cab, either to complement or to replace the CUBE speakers. It's long out of warranty, so why not?
What I'm looking for now is a reasonable priced FRFR battery powered speaker, powerful but not too heavy, that I can kit up with the CUBE Street for busking at noisy locations.
Any suggestions for the cab?
Regarding the Katana Air, I got an Xvive U2 wireless system I can use with any guitar and any amp. It works fine. I paid $160 for mine but I see highly rated alternatives for 1/2-1/4 of that.
Sweetwater, Sam Ash and all of them want $400 for the Katana Air. They give good service, but Thanoshop.com currently has it for $160 if you don't need any service.
Paul Brown it sounds like you need a battery powered AB/Y switch to play into two Cube Streets at once.
@@AlexHand Thanks, Alex. I hadn't thought of that, but wouldn't there be a problem if each amp, although the same models, differed subtly, especially with reverb and delay if they're not perfectly in sync?
Is roland street cube powerfull enough to play with drummer?
Only if the drummer plays very lightly.
Katana sounds way too tinny and has no robust volume and low end like the Roland- let's face it- tiny speakers produce tiny sounds, unless it's made by Bose
In my experience, the headphone jack is going to work for an output for a mixerboard, amped PA, monitor, etc. (Although, it cuts the roland's speakers off, and you may need to watch the gain on the device you plug it into). Great video.
It does send an audio signal, but it's not really functional for two reasons. One, like you mentioned, it disables the speaker so the whole amp basically becomes a big pedal. Two, the signal is so weak that you need to add a preamp to it and that presents other issues about tone and clarity. A true line out is the signal that is optimized for the speaker being sent straight into a PA system. I learned this the hard way taking this amp on tour and trying to run it into the PA through the headphone jack. That's why I'm so annoyed when these brands won't just add a little line out jack to solve the issue. Thanks for the comment.
@@AlexHand Headphones are line level. So it should be OK. If you wanted to jerry-rig, the headphone jack has a switched jack on it, and you could jumper the legs to a simple on off switch on the outside to get the speaker back, I think. I agree it would have been thoughtful of them to have a line_out. But in a pinch, it can me made to work option B: Second mic (ala sm57/sm58 and a cable in your kit). I am doing this all the time on my electric which I run though a 5f1 champ to an sm57. I'm looking at the loudbox mini charge at the moment, seems pretty damned spicy. Street time --considering all bookings are tanked still, but the people are out... We lost over 100 shows this year.
Could I play Bon jovi ,def leppard ac/dc etc by the sea front etc with the cube street
Paul Fiero 🤷🏻♂️👍
Nice playing!
Круто играешь! Молодец! И джаз, и рок! Супер!
Good job 👍
Awesome playing!
Great!
Which scale u played sir?
On the roland how would you set it to play comfortably numb ?
steve dental there are a lot of guitar tracks in that recording but for the solo I’d use the “lead” setting.
I don't know what the lead setting is . What do I set the knobs to to get close to the same sound. On my roland under the equalizer section I have bass, middle and treble and they go from 1 to 10 . then next to that I have efx and under that the knob has off , chorus , flanger , phaser and tremolo. next to that I have delay/reverb and on that knob it has off, delay and reverb. Next to that it has rhythm guide but I have that turned off . On the bottom row it has the input jack and next to that it has the cosm amplifier . The first knob is Acoustic sim, jc clean, black panel, brit combo, classic, metal, r-fier and mic . the next knob has Gain from 1 to 10 and the last knob is volume from 1 to 10 . Can you tell me what to set each knob to for the solo part .
Steve dental u are using the cube street ex different model. This is just the cube street.
Jackson should make an arch top for you!
I'm all for this idea.
great player. Awesome
does anyone know where I can find a red case like Alex's for the roland cube ex he convinced me to buy. nice review :)
Looks like they discontinued the red one but maybe you can find one used.
I tried the boss katana vs the roland street cube at guitar center.... I thought the boss sucks the roland is realy good..
I have both the original Cube Street, and CS2, and they go through hell for me and still do their job. I've also played through the Katana, nice amp but I'll stick to the cube streets.
They're definitely more rugged for hard use. A music shop where I've been teaching has Katanas now and for most kinds of guitar music I do think they have a little better sound, but Roland's stuff is great for touring, street performing, etc.
You are amazing ❤
Thank you!
Is that the 50watt ex, or regular cube street?
SMSuperstrat regular.
Can u recommend any cheap alternatives to Roland please ?
This Roland Cube Street is selling for $300. I don't know of anything comparable that's much cheaper. The Bugera AC60 is $250 and that's more of an acoustic amp. There are lots of little battery powered practice amps like Blackstar but they aren't for performing.
@@AlexHand cheers man !
Any thoughts on orange crush ?
for busking, aka mic input, there is the Fender Passport mini, main amp somewhat like Mustang Mini but little to no control on the fly (tho computer program Fuse is great) and the acoustic models are maybe 1/3 volume (BIG disappointment). Also there is the Vox Mini 5. Both of those run around $150
I like the roland better I think. I like the sound it puts out a bit more. I also don't really plan on traveling with my gear, I just learn and play at home for self achievement goals. More a hobby than anything so the wireless doesn't really benefit me either.
Is the boss katana good for busking?
Only in quiet places.
i would think anyone using a cube is singing and the air doesnt have a mic input so not an even comparison?
I definitely have not noticed that anyone using a cube is singing. It's quite a popular amp with buskers, acoustic guitarists, teachers.
Did you do Berkeley?...
No, I went to UNR for undergrad and I'm going to North Texas right now for a masters in jazz guitar performance.
Yep, that's you alright, a master in jazz guitar!!...keep on!!...
If you want to use a pedal you need to use a cord. The wireless requires movement or it will put the amp into standby. I have both amps. The Roland is solid as a 52 Buick & compared to Boss, weighs about as much. Boss is only around 4 lbs, Roland is around 11. I hump this on my back with guitar and every ounce counts. Boss loses points for requiring you use bluetooth for amp presets etc, rather than USB to computer. Plus results can be "goofy"., never quite sure what will come out. You'd think for the $$ they charge they'd allow mod and boost, delay and fx rather either/or. I too have to turn off BT when fire up amp as it puts in random noise etc. Boss is good if you want big nasty distortion type sound (but a tad harsh IMO). I like a good clean twin sound... lots I like about the Boss esp weight and volume, but they still fell short of what they could have done for this amount of dough. If I had it to do over, I wouldn't have bought it.
The only problem I've noticed with it is there's no off switch for the wireless adaptor so if you keep it docked in the amp but unplug the amp from the wall, it drains the batteries indefinitely. Better to buy a $50 wireless guitar pair and use it with whatever amp, USB recharge and just remember to turn them off in between.
What is better - Iron Maiden or Metallica ??
My favorite metal album is Mercyful Fate's Don't Break the Oath...but between Metallica and Maiden I'd usually pick Maiden.
@@AlexHand Haha good answer man !! 👍
You could just close mic the cube into a PA
Which pieces is that at 7:40
It's a tribute to Turlough O'Carolan by Allan Alexander
@@AlexHand Thanks
Roland Street Cube - Its a busking amp and as such, is one of the best out there. I also use a wireless dongle (35 euros) with it no problem, and they get around your pedal board dilemma with the Roland too.
fell out of a truck? thrown under a van? rained on? lost battery cover? (WARNiNG... dont lend this guy anything)
hahahahahahahahaha, true
Thanks for all the input the Roland for me 10 watts is not enough or get a 12 volt inverter and take your 120 volt amps.
They have a 5000 watt one for boat and RV on amazon for $377 and $39 for the rechargeable 12 battery then I can take better sounding amps just have to lung the 12 batters around but maybe they have a good rechargeable light one that last 8 hours and then you buy a back up latter
I've been thinking about this so I'm going to save up and get a good inverter I think.
By the way your really great
Really u had to play that Dire riff??Come on!
Better sound from roland for me.
Aww I miss burning.
May Santa bring you matches
Do you like jaaaaazz??
Leo Kaiser yeah
Come on Leo! “Jazz” can be his middle name😉 👋👋
Btw Great playing Alex👌🏾
Roland for cleans katana for metal
They crippled the Katana to force you to buy their more high end version if you want those basic stuff. That's Japanese for you. They make stupid fuck decisions nowadays.
bro the volume of your vid is too low
Dude, nice picking but I had to bail after 4 minutes because if I turned your voice up loud enough to hear, your guitar would suddenly destroy my eardrums & neighborly relations, then you'd come back in whispering so I had to crank it again to hear you .. then blast guitar again. then whisper then ... well you get the drift. Hell, you made the video so you must like the radical gain shifts. Good luck & bye,
No relation to Fredrick Hand? The pedigree would be right!
I didn't know who that was until you mentioned it!
Mic it into the PA.