Amp Designer: How much gain would you like? Elmo: YES 😂. To be fair, I appreciate what Elmo is saying; that Roland Micro Cube just stands out more (frequencies and dynamics). Thanks for your honest opinion 👍.
I played one last night. Your review is and was on just a few basic settings. This amp requires some tuning to be what you're looking for. It made sounds i didnt know were possible. Many many settings. We had a lot of fun. Not a full review. You plugged it in qnd played to your specifications, thats it. 😊
I was surprised to hear such disappointment. I thought the sounds from that amp were really impressive, but I understand we all have different preferences. On another note, your guitar playing was phenomenal! I could hardly focus on what you said about the effects and settings at times because the playing was so good! I hope to be as good as you are some day. Respect.
Please ladies and gentlemen dont get so emotional with your equipment. Your choice, doesn't reflect nothing but the manufacturer's ability to convince you he has a better product than others.
This is interesting because I've owned the microcube for several years and I'm looking to get a THR5 to replace it. The clean sounds on the cube have this hyper-aggressive compression that can't be taken out, and it's extremely jarring at medium volumes ("medium" meaning about the midpoint of what the thing is capable of). I use it to teach private lessons, and I want a better clean tone. The distortions are nice to have, but I lean heavier in the jazz direction, though I do have a couple classic rock and shred-heavy (Slash/EVH/RR) students as well. For jazz, the cube is terrible. Cool review, thanks for filming it.
I travel weeks at a time. For ten years i used the micro cube. It sucked so bad there were times i debated weather to bring it at all. Then i stopped into a music store. The guy working there said the thr10 sounds ok. I Bought it. Wow masssive improvement. My playing was reenegized. I threw my micro cube into the donation bin at the thrift store. Now five years later i still love that yamaha thr10. Best money i ever spent.
I just got a THR5 this week and this weekend I get to drive to Sweetwater and return it. In my opinion it’s just not very good and for $200 I need to be happy with it for sure!
Thanks for a real evaluation and not an advertising video from someone working for the company. I am a beginner and will probably go with the Yamaha though. The USB connectivity enables me to use it as a nice computer speaker. It also can be used as an audio interface and comes with the Cubase recording software. This for my purposes is a better deal right now. A beginner like me cannot detect much of a difference in the amp tones anyway. Great review and excellent playing. What guitar are you using here?
I don’t know if anyone else has mentioned this but the THR can be made to sound much better when paired with the app, which enables a wider range of effects.
A few years back I got a Micro Cube GX and loved it, I then started to hear all this fuss about the THR. I sold the Cube, got the THR and felt exactly the same as do about it. To me it's a very thin sound if you know what I mean were as the Cube sounds big. The THR has been sold now and I have another Cube, happy again. Roland got it spot on with the cube the first time round. New products and technology don't always make better sounds.
Sits a few seconds and then the best review yet..."I don't like it, heh, I don't like it at all!" Well done! A blunt, brutally honest review that to my ears was bang on. I honestly in the crunch mode for sure thought maybe there was a bad half signal cable between the guitar and this amp. I think the only guy in the world who could say what he really means even with LESS words, and an even more horrifying bluntness, is former N.H.L. hockey coach Daryl Sutter. Elmo, your economy of words in this review in my opinion was outSTANDING. I am going to have to check out any Elmo Karjalainen reviews I may have missed. And the addition of the Cube demo backed your words up, while showing an alternative choice that had you far more inspired to play. You just can't fake that. Top notch!
From what I heard in the demo, there's nothing in the least wrong with the tone of this amp. If I can buy it second hand and save a hundred bucks, I'd buy it without even thinking. 😊😊😊
It’s not a bad starter amp for someone looking to start out though. My goal is just to get something to start me playing and then move up when I feel like I’m committed to playing and getting better. It’s still a solid amp, just personal preference between this and the micro. Thanks for the review 😊
Great review. I was about to buy the Yamaha, but you are right, it lacks headroom and probably sounds like mud with humbuckers. Really appreciate your honesty. I'll have to go see how the old vs new Roland microcube stacks up.
Purists might complain, but to be honest the looks matter. I've got a thing for amp heads with white knobs on the front, so reckon the Blackstar HT5 mkII and HT20 mkII are the sexiest. Incidentally, I have a THR 10c and to my ears it sounds best through the bass amp setting with some reverb, bass dialled up and treble dialled down and with my Bad Monkey overdrive pedal. I play at home so want an amp that sounds good at low volume. My Micro Cube used to sound great but has declined, so maybe something is wrong.
I have them both too. They are different types of amps with different technology in their reproduction. The Cube is built like an old school amp, a real amp. It uses CMOS technology in its rendering. The Yamaha is modeled for tube amp representation and for something you could have on your desk or bookshelf type setting. It came about just before the nutube developments and brought tube amps back into popular usage again. It's like comparing a Skoda Octavia and a BMW M3. If the Yamaha had the speaker and cabinet of the Cube i think it would be the best of both worlds.Oh, how about a test of both through a 4x12. That would be a great example of their modeling differences.Then who would sound better. :) Moi moi.
I am a clean player, and I find the Yamaha THR to have WAY better sound than the Micro Cube, it definitely depends on the player though. I cannot get over that awkward noise gate on the Micro Cube. My guess is that high gain players would prefer the Roland, and Jazz/Country/Clean players would prefer the Yamaha.
As a beginner they both seem fine. The Roland sounds a tad 'fuller' on the high end but since they're recorded with mic, clearly the acoustics of each enclosure I assume plays a big part. I live in a small apartment and about 90 percent of my practice is with headphones soooo.....wouldn't that make a difference as far as volume, etc? Gain and crunch and all that are at least better than my Vox Amplug lol.
I have the Micro Cube and the THR10, so: ─ the Micro Cube sounds and feels better out of the box than THR10 ─ Using tricks (Delay filters, Phaser trick, the Room Reverb) on the editor will bring to life the THR10 and will... Sound better than the Micro Cube ─ You can change parameters on THR10 presets without losing your preset, example: you can do a preset for high gain or rock'n'roll type of stuff but leave the gain at 1 or whatever, and you can change de gain without losing your preset, filters, tricks and everything, you change everything on THR10 without change what you don't need. ─ The Micro Cube sound very good with the Stone Deaf FX Warp Drive. So, when you set some presets with some tricks, you don't need anymore the computer so often or even anymore, and you can just play around plug and play.
I've just got the THR5, latest one with updated firmware, I use it with a Fender blacktop HH setup, sounds awesome, also use a Kirk Hammett signature ESP again with HH setup (EMG's Bone Brakers) and again, sounds awesome, but that is to me lol. The roland cube you reviewed as the best practice amp also sounds awesome, and I trust your judgement so I'm gonna look out for a second hand one. Many thanks for the info and great guitar playing.
I have a street cube EX, and the tones you’re getting here are nicer than the settings the EX offers with an electric straight in. The cube shines when I plug the acoustic in, it is also MUCH more versatile in it’s other features. Not so much a ‘practice amp’ as a street performers amp/PA.
Great , helpful video , I bought one recently got a great discount on new one , I totally agree on the crunch and lead . Very underwhelming in fact that’s why I watched your video to make sure it wasn’t broken , I love the Brit hi and effects , what I really like best is the way it sounds w/ my boss metal zone mt -2 , I just love the tone . It sounds a little better than my Boss 7 w mini amp which I love , but not $ 110 better . It’s a good amp, way overpriced
Glass half empty kind of guy, I've never seen him give any popular gear a positive review, but he is definitely getting a worse tone from the THR than most of the other reviewers. So maybe it's not the amp.
OK but in this case what is the best modeling amp ? I tried the Fender mustang LT 25 but it's a piece of shit too I was used to the Roland micro cube for many years which was not excellent but very good I keep a very good memory of it
I wish Yamaha just made one THR ... put all the features of all the THR models into one amp, incorporate a looper function and I'd but it in a heartbeat!
Even though when you compared the Roland to the Yamaha briefly , you used the neck pickup with the Roland & the bridge pickup when you used the Yamaha . Being a strat player with a has3 & a Yngwie ha 4 I thing it is. Both are a hs3's to me. There very different sounds though aren't they ? ( neck v bridge ) , I use the neck pickup more than the the bridge pickup live , I'm always flicking in between neck & bridge I don't use the 5 way switch really , just black & white as Ritchie Blackmore said no grey. But I was thinking of getting the Yamaha for fun, Satchel did a really good video on it & how to pick up chicks he's hilarious the entire band is ( Steel Panther ) he's a very underrated guitarist, he's very very good. But neck v bridge pickup as I said withstanding , the micro cube sounded noticeably better , I'm glad I watched your vid having similar strats the Roland sounded marge
Just got mine today. It's not producing sound. Everything's hooked up, good cables, only time it makes noise is when I plug in the aux for a split second.
Just for everyone to know this, there's a huge disparity in the volumes between the Roland and the Yamaha clip, and that affects how you perceive one as better as the other one, too; plus, different guitars; plus, different mics, a dynamic and very guitar-oriented for the Roland, and a condenser, flatter response and if it's a modern 414, higher treble response for the Yamaha. As he continuously says, he's giving you his opinion. Just buy whichever of the two, you'll probably be just as happy.
I own both an old MicroCube and a THR 10 - maybe you would like the THR 10 better? If i want distortion I connect my old Tube Screamer in anyway, but as you said - some will like one amp, others another & that's perfectly OK!
Maybe if you slowed your playing down we might get a better feel for the amp. It is the amp after all that we are supposed to be getting an idea about,
I have the THR10 & THR10c and love them! (The 2 speaker 10 does sound better) I would borrow and not buy it to test one. We all have our own tone zone. Not worth the cash if it's not your thing bro. Good video again bro. :)
Thanks for the review, Elmo. You were bang-on, as usual. Tried one this week, and after a few minutes I could see it’s over-hyped. To add to what you said, there’s very little bass response, brittle-sounding trebles on the high gain models, and what’s the craic with those volume levels? Seems to me a very high price to pay for a small form-factor amp. Would like to see how the Spark compares but nobody seems to stock these nearby.
Thr5a for acoustic sounded quite good at the shop but not very loud, just enoufh to get a nice kick and effects on your sound. Cool for recording. I ll try the thr10. I had a roland cube, more powerful, quite good, but different from the Yamaha. Different beasts. I prefer the yamaha for room practice. Thanks for the demo!
Thanks for the honest review Elmo! I tune in to hear your personal opinions whatever they may be. If I want a load of Happy Clapping I'll go to church ;)
Thanks for the crisp review and guitar technique. I was told these things were loud enough to play with a full band and was brought here by someone trying to sell a used one online - I was attracted to the idea of a small tube amp unlike my old orange and black Micro-cube that I bought used in 2009 . I've used my Micro cube for direct line out recording into my digital recorder and I got great sounds with my set-up. This Yamaha sounds lame to my ears but I'd like to hear it with a guitar equipped with dual-coil pickups. At least I know now I already have a great practise amp - I use an A. R. T. Studio V3 voice valved pre-amp to get my tube sound on anything I record line in direct, mainly for microphones or line -in recordings. I was using the Micdo-cube until I got a LINE6 Spider III 30 watt amp with a 12" Celestian - It has way more variation on the control for gain with a drive, channel and master volume knob for each setting - Insane chanel is epic for leads.. I have a Swedish made Hagstrom Super Swede and the pickups and the 11 different pick up settings are really versatile for the style of rock songs I like to write and record. good stuff!
It must have a bit more headroom. Here's a comment I copied from Juca Nery's channel a while back: I am a lead player, mostly I play in duo settings with singer songwriters, and I gig with a pair of the THR amps, a 10C and a 5A. I'll offer some stuff that nobody seems to realize or talk about. There are a couple of key tricks: First: Those 4 stainless steel socket head screws on the front. Put the amp on a table or on the floor facing speakers down. It now "slot loads" to the surface and couples both the tiny drivers and the reflex port to the air in the room. In effect you just got a MUCH bigger speaker, more surface area coupling to the air in the room. Sort of like a PZM microphone in reverse. As always, YMMV, but I find it VERY VERY useful. Most of the time, I set it face down on a small table next to my chair with a SM-57 pointed at the surface of the table from about 4" away. Second: there is another gold one, the THR-5A that was targetted at acoustic players. It lacks the memory preset buttons and the USB/AUX knob, but has 2 almost magical features: mic modeling and compression. It has become my go-to amp. It is plenty loud except in really noisy bars, and I can usually find the right sound for the room quicker with this amp than with the 10C. I can play a 3-4 hour show on battery power using the 5A (8 NiMh AA) but plug the 10C into the mains cuz it eats batteries a little faster..
I have the thr10 and it sounds great with a tube screamer in front. This guys is trying to chug metal on a single coil strat and for some reason does not like the sound?
@@nowadayswithandy , Indeed. I love it, both in terms of sound and realistic amp-response. Have a friend working in the local music store so when I broke my first one thr5 (1 feet fall..) I got a good deal and bought the thr10II instead. (the cost of repairing a thr 5 was pretty steep, to be honest..) Best practice amp I've ever had, although I might have liked the Marshall (british) -style setting slightly better on the older one but this is otherwise better overall with unnoticeable latency and pretty fancy sounding effects . Very big range of tones too depending on the guitar's pickups I've noticed. With passive pickups (when playing metal) I usually play the modern Hi-gain or special setting, but with active emg's for example I usually play on the lead channel, with gain at only one o' clock or so. (80-s metal-ish tone, for harder styles I like Blacksun plug-ins, among others)) It works surprisingly good as an interface too, have loads of distortion plugins and all, but generally don't bother to use those when i record simple ideas, and the waveforms look good without having to mess around with input levels/settings and such either.. Think I paid around 400 €, here in Sweden and find it to be one of the best value/price items I ever bought. Play drums as well, and Yamaha is certainly one of the best companies when it comes to that too.
I'm curious about practice amps with pedals. To me part of my practice is to work out the "when to kick in my clean boost" during a song, and I need something to be that part of my practice regimen. My home amp is a tiny practice amp already (a blackstar 5 watt with a real tube pre in it). It's not so portable but I don't gig and I'm ever ever on the road. Would like to see an update or sequel to this with the newly announced THR-II. it sounds better to my ears, and it has a nice built in battery. Have you reviewed the Katana?
I’ve owned this amp and the microcube at the same time. I sold the microcube... which says it all for me. If you want to crank it and use like a heavy metal back line stage rig you’ll be unhappy. That’s not what it’s for. As a serious practice amp it’s unbeatable. Much better built than the microcube which feels like a toy one. It’s solid metal ffs.
Thanks for the honest review. Was looking for a smaller amp for my guitar repair workshop but was concerned about the sound and this confirmed my worries. Any experience on the likes of fender mustang gt40 etc would be much appreciated.
@@MrPolevaulter thanks Elmo. The L25 was where I was starting to pan out anyway. I'm a big fender amp lover anyway so at 130 quid that sounds like the one.
If you want high gain sounds please don’t buy this amp. That’s why Elmo doesn’t like it. He wants a Marshall stack sound out of a practice amp. You will never find that sound with a practice amp. Just setting yrself up for disappointment. 😂 The THR amps are great for new players. I got one when I first started playing and I loved it to death. Ended up trading my THR 10 to a guy for a Fender J. Mascis Jazzmaster he didn’t know the value of and I do regret getting rid of it. Everyone has an idea of what the best sound for an amp is and Elmo likes gain. Yr not gonna chug with a Yamaha THR5. ✌🏻💙
Check whether it has the latest firmware as they massively improved the speaker Sims. I could get a malmsteen tone easily and really like it. Think it compares well to my axe f2f tbh
😳Wow🤔Well I don't really know if you really knew it or not. Lol this little powerful Amplifier is made for Acoustic guitar's!And not really for made for a Regular everyday hard body guitar lol like you are paying really good in this video. 🤔But to me it sounds still pretty good to be a Practicing Amplifier😉👍.So you really should make another video playing Acoustic. guitar through this Yamaha THR5A 10 watt and then let us know just what you think about it!
Check out my two reviews of the new Yamaha THR 10 II: ruclips.net/video/migMFj6YYT0/видео.html and ruclips.net/video/wIwNw-1z094/видео.html
@HUWAN CLAN I think I'll feature you in one of my videos :D
Very much appreciate your honesty, don't believe I've seen that in a gear review before.
Some of those solos man, I love gear reviews but I had to subscribe for the work you put into your guitar playing. Thank you for some inspiration
Awesome, thank you!
Thanks for the review, and most of all thanks for being honest and not sugar-coating anything that needed to be said. Keep up the good work.
Cheers!
I kind of forgot I had a Roland Microcube. Guess I'll start playing it more before I think about buying another practice amp. Great playing, BTW.
Amp Designer: How much gain would you like?
Elmo: YES 😂.
To be fair, I appreciate what Elmo is saying; that Roland Micro Cube just stands out more (frequencies and dynamics). Thanks for your honest opinion 👍.
I played one last night. Your review is and was on just a few basic settings. This amp requires some tuning to be what you're looking for. It made sounds i didnt know were possible. Many many settings. We had a lot of fun. Not a full review. You plugged it in qnd played to your specifications, thats it. 😊
Not the amp, it’s the tiny speakers that suck. Probably be awesome through a cab
Great to see honesty
Nice guitar! And thank you for the helpful review, I look forward to purchasing this now.
Cheers!
Thank you for your honest evaluation and opinion! You may have saved me a lot of money and disappointment. I appreciate you.
I’ve never tried this earlier model but i bought the THR30 and it is an amazing amp! You should give it a try and do a demo of the new one.
I was surprised to hear such disappointment. I thought the sounds from that amp were really impressive, but I understand we all have different preferences. On another note, your guitar playing was phenomenal! I could hardly focus on what you said about the effects and settings at times because the playing was so good! I hope to be as good as you are some day. Respect.
Thank you very much :)
Please ladies and gentlemen dont get so emotional with your equipment.
Your choice, doesn't reflect nothing but the manufacturer's ability to convince you he has a better product than others.
Spot on.
Sounds good to me. Thx for the review.
This is interesting because I've owned the microcube for several years and I'm looking to get a THR5 to replace it. The clean sounds on the cube have this hyper-aggressive compression that can't be taken out, and it's extremely jarring at medium volumes ("medium" meaning about the midpoint of what the thing is capable of). I use it to teach private lessons, and I want a better clean tone. The distortions are nice to have, but I lean heavier in the jazz direction, though I do have a couple classic rock and shred-heavy (Slash/EVH/RR) students as well. For jazz, the cube is terrible. Cool review, thanks for filming it.
Great man! To the point and very well demoed in regards to the sounds and so on
I travel weeks at a time. For ten years i used the micro cube. It sucked so bad there were times i debated weather to bring it at all. Then i stopped into a music store. The guy working there said the thr10 sounds ok. I Bought it. Wow masssive improvement. My playing was reenegized. I threw my micro cube into the donation bin at the thrift store. Now five years later i still love that yamaha thr10. Best money i ever spent.
For me the Micro Cube is some of the best money I've ever spent. I have two of them. Great amps. But then sound is subjective.
I just got a THR5 this week and this weekend I get to drive to Sweetwater and return it. In my opinion it’s just not very good and for $200 I need to be happy with it for sure!
Thanks for a real evaluation and not an advertising video from someone working for the company. I am a beginner and will probably go with the Yamaha though. The USB connectivity enables me to use it as a nice computer speaker. It also can be used as an audio interface and comes with the Cubase recording software. This for my purposes is a better deal right now. A beginner like me cannot detect much of a difference in the amp tones anyway.
Great review and excellent playing. What guitar are you using here?
A custom made Strat. This one: ruclips.net/video/P_E8p2DoZoY/видео.html
I don’t know if anyone else has mentioned this but the THR can be made to sound much better when paired with the app, which enables a wider range of effects.
which app are you talking about?
The yamaha thr app
I have the THR10x (green) an love it. Helps for that EVH "brown" sound too
I use this little 4.4 lb modeling amp every Sunday at church with the worship team. Mic'd right into the PA system. I like it a lot!
High gain and tone all way up did it for me. Nice and meaty sound....Rock on!!!!
A few years back I got a Micro Cube GX and loved it, I then started to hear all this fuss about the THR. I sold the Cube, got the THR and felt exactly the same as do about it. To me it's a very thin sound if you know what I mean were as the Cube sounds big. The THR has been sold now and I have another Cube, happy again. Roland got it spot on with the cube the first time round. New products and technology don't always make better sounds.
Spot on.
Sits a few seconds and then the best review yet..."I don't like it, heh, I don't like it at all!" Well done! A blunt, brutally honest review that to my ears was bang on. I honestly in the crunch mode for sure thought maybe there was a bad half signal cable between the guitar and this amp. I think the only guy in the world who could say what he really means even with LESS words, and an even more horrifying bluntness, is former N.H.L. hockey coach Daryl Sutter. Elmo, your economy of words in this review in my opinion was outSTANDING. I am going to have to check out any Elmo Karjalainen reviews I may have missed. And the addition of the Cube demo backed your words up, while showing an alternative choice that had you far more inspired to play. You just can't fake that. Top notch!
Thank you very much. Glad you appreciated it :)
From what I heard in the demo, there's nothing in the least wrong with the tone of this amp. If I can buy it second hand and save a hundred bucks, I'd buy it without even thinking. 😊😊😊
It’s not a bad starter amp for someone looking to start out though. My goal is just to get something to start me playing and then move up when I feel like I’m committed to playing and getting better. It’s still a solid amp, just personal preference between this and the micro. Thanks for the review 😊
Great review. I was about to buy the Yamaha, but you are right, it lacks headroom and probably sounds like mud with humbuckers. Really appreciate your honesty. I'll have to go see how the old vs new Roland microcube stacks up.
Thanks :)
I have a Microcube GX and absolutely love it. That 3 watts are magical. But the Yamaha is the most beautiful, I have to say.
It does look quite nice, I have to admit :)
Purists might complain, but to be honest the looks matter. I've got a thing for amp heads with white knobs on the front, so reckon the Blackstar HT5 mkII and HT20 mkII are the sexiest. Incidentally, I have a THR 10c and to my ears it sounds best through the bass amp setting with some reverb, bass dialled up and treble dialled down and with my Bad Monkey overdrive pedal. I play at home so want an amp that sounds good at low volume. My Micro Cube used to sound great but has declined, so maybe something is wrong.
I have them both too. They are different types of amps with different technology in their reproduction. The Cube is built like an old school amp, a real amp. It uses CMOS technology in its rendering. The Yamaha is modeled for tube amp representation and for something you could have on your desk or bookshelf type setting. It came about just before the nutube developments and brought tube amps back into popular usage again. It's like comparing a Skoda Octavia and a BMW M3. If the Yamaha had the speaker and cabinet of the Cube i think it would be the best of both worlds.Oh, how about a test of both through a 4x12. That would be a great example of their modeling differences.Then who would sound better. :) Moi moi.
I am a clean player, and I find the Yamaha THR to have WAY better sound than the Micro Cube, it definitely depends on the player though. I cannot get over that awkward noise gate on the Micro Cube. My guess is that high gain players would prefer the Roland, and Jazz/Country/Clean players would prefer the Yamaha.
Good to know
As a beginner they both seem fine. The Roland sounds a tad 'fuller' on the high end but since they're recorded with mic, clearly the acoustics of each enclosure I assume plays a big part. I live in a small apartment and about 90 percent of my practice is with headphones soooo.....wouldn't that make a difference as far as volume, etc? Gain and crunch and all that are at least better than my Vox Amplug lol.
I haven't tried the phones option, since I usually hate it on every amp :D
I have the Micro Cube and the THR10, so:
─ the Micro Cube sounds and feels better out of the box than THR10
─ Using tricks (Delay filters, Phaser trick, the Room Reverb) on the editor will bring to life the THR10 and will... Sound better than the Micro Cube
─ You can change parameters on THR10 presets without losing your preset, example: you can do a preset for high gain or rock'n'roll type of stuff but leave the gain at 1 or whatever, and you can change de gain without losing your preset, filters, tricks and everything, you change everything on THR10 without change what you don't need.
─ The Micro Cube sound very good with the Stone Deaf FX Warp Drive.
So, when you set some presets with some tricks, you don't need anymore the computer so often or even anymore, and you can just play around plug and play.
I've just got the THR5, latest one with updated firmware, I use it with a Fender blacktop HH setup, sounds awesome, also use a Kirk Hammett signature ESP again with HH setup (EMG's Bone Brakers) and again, sounds awesome, but that is to me lol. The roland cube you reviewed as the best practice amp also sounds awesome, and I trust your judgement so I'm gonna look out for a second hand one. Many thanks for the info and great guitar playing.
Cheers Steve!
@@MrPolevaulter Got the cube and you are right, it does sound better!
@@stevegreen1177 Glad you like it :)
@@stevegreen1177 Is the clean still better or are you referring mostly on the crunch/gain ?
Maybe try using it with the THR Editor software. It allows for better tone shaping with the cab simulation, compression, etc.
I have a street cube EX, and the tones you’re getting here are nicer than the settings the EX offers with an electric straight in.
The cube shines when I plug the acoustic in, it is also MUCH more versatile in it’s other features. Not so much a ‘practice amp’ as a street performers amp/PA.
Great , helpful video , I bought one recently got a great discount on new one , I totally agree on the crunch and lead . Very underwhelming in fact that’s why I watched your video to make sure it wasn’t broken , I love the Brit hi and effects , what I really like best is the way it sounds w/ my boss metal zone mt -2 , I just love the tone . It sounds a little better than my Boss 7 w mini amp which I love , but not $ 110 better . It’s a good amp, way overpriced
How 🤔 ❓️ 🤔 much do they run....?????
Sorry? Not sure I understand.
@@MrPolevaulter how 🤔 much do they cost?
Glass half empty kind of guy, I've never seen him give any popular gear a positive review, but he is definitely getting a worse tone from the THR than most of the other reviewers. So maybe it's not the amp.
Or maybe it is.
Most "reviews" on youtube are commercials with the creators getting some kind of compensation (direct or indirect) from the manufacturer...
@jh lau guitar pickups
Still sounds mint for such a tiny amp!!! What more do you expect haha
Totally agree! If it doesn't sound like Yngwie, he disses it!
I got the bigger THR10C. It sounds great with my Ibanez RG. With my Jaguar, it just feels lacking for some reason.
Guitar pickups sound awesome too 😍
OK but in this case what is the best modeling amp ? I tried the Fender mustang LT 25 but it's a piece of shit too
I was used to the Roland micro cube for many years which was not excellent but very good I keep a very good memory of it
I like the old Roland Micro Cube. The Spark is good imo, and I actually liked the LT25.
I wish Yamaha just made one THR ... put all the features of all the THR models into one amp, incorporate a looper function and I'd but it in a heartbeat!
Sounds great because you have it miked. Can I connect to a speaker cab without miking?
Can't remember.
Even though when you compared the Roland to the Yamaha briefly , you used the neck pickup with the Roland & the bridge pickup when you used the Yamaha . Being a strat player with a has3 & a Yngwie ha 4 I thing it is. Both are a hs3's to me. There very different sounds though aren't they ? ( neck v bridge ) , I use the neck pickup more than the the bridge pickup live , I'm always flicking in between neck & bridge I don't use the 5 way switch really , just black & white as Ritchie Blackmore said no grey. But I was thinking of getting the Yamaha for fun, Satchel did a really good video on it & how to pick up chicks he's hilarious the entire band is ( Steel Panther ) he's a very underrated guitarist, he's very very good. But neck v bridge pickup as I said withstanding , the micro cube sounded noticeably better , I'm glad I watched your vid having similar strats the Roland sounded marge
I really wasn't being picky, I just meant as you'd know there's a huge difference between the neck & bridge pickups is what I meant.
Just got mine today. It's not producing sound. Everything's hooked up, good cables, only time it makes noise is when I plug in the aux for a split second.
Honest review. I'll stick with my Vox mini 3 G2
Do you think a pedal can help adding more gain on this amp?
No
Just for everyone to know this, there's a huge disparity in the volumes between the Roland and the Yamaha clip, and that affects how you perceive one as better as the other one, too; plus, different guitars; plus, different mics, a dynamic and very guitar-oriented for the Roland, and a condenser, flatter response and if it's a modern 414, higher treble response for the Yamaha. As he continuously says, he's giving you his opinion. Just buy whichever of the two, you'll probably be just as happy.
Yep. Just my opinion. Get whatever floats your proverbial boat.
Yep, this was not an apples to apples test.
I've come to understand that this Yamaha Amp series is more popular with the acoustic guitar players. 👍🙂
nice vid well done
Thanks!
what's that purple pedal? A noise gate?
Don't remember.
Why do you use different guitars to compare those two amps?
so good guitarist also thanks for your demonstration yamaha
Glad you like it!
I own both an old MicroCube and a THR 10 - maybe you would like the THR 10 better? If i want distortion I connect my old Tube Screamer in anyway, but as you said - some will like one amp, others another & that's perfectly OK!
Maybe if you slowed your playing down we might get a better feel for the amp. It is the amp after all that we are supposed to be getting an idea about,
can you connect headphones
I don't remember, but I'm sure you can. You can Google it. I don't use phones, so I think I didn't even check if it had that option.
I saw a phones input on there.
Yes you can, there is also an aux-input so you can connect your phone, computer or mp3-player and play along to your songs.
Isn’t the Yamaha created for acoustic guitars?
Both if I've understood correctly.
I have the THR10 & THR10c and love them! (The 2 speaker 10 does sound better) I would borrow and not buy it to test one. We all have our own tone zone. Not worth the cash if it's not your thing bro. Good video again bro. :)
Thank you, and indeed. Everyone has their thing, and that's a good thing :)
Two speakers? So does the THR5. (?) Maybe that’s it: he’s got the mic placed in the middle of the dead spot right between the two speakers.
@@MattWhatsGoinOn Having sat in the room, I can say that's not it.
Parabéns. Dá pra ter um desempenho bacana assim no violão nylon ou é jogar dinheiro fora?
Don't know.
Going to get one, I have a Roland Microcube, but these look cooler! Is your neck sculpted?
Yes, scalloped
Review irig micro amp?
Maybe at some point.
Thanks for the objectivity.
Cheers :)
Thanks for the review, Elmo. You were bang-on, as usual. Tried one this week, and after a few minutes I could see it’s over-hyped. To add to what you said, there’s very little bass response, brittle-sounding trebles on the high gain models, and what’s the craic with those volume levels? Seems to me a very high price to pay for a small form-factor amp. Would like to see how the Spark compares but nobody seems to stock these nearby.
Totally agree
Very useful review. What better guitar amps will you recommend with this price range?
Terrific overview of the THR5.
Cheers :)
Would you recommend this amp for the native flute?
Onko reverb?
Kiitos.👍✨✨🙏
En muista.
Hi ! Is it possible to use effects pedals on this amp? please.
Can't remember.
There is no effects loop, but you can always run something thru the front. Like an overdrive pedal 🎸😊
Not hating you got a nice channel ,I wish you used a humbucker equipped guitar also
And one more review with Strat and single coil ;)=
Thr5a for acoustic sounded quite good at the shop but not very loud, just enoufh to get a nice kick and effects on your sound. Cool for recording. I ll try the thr10. I had a roland cube, more powerful, quite good, but different from the Yamaha. Different beasts. I prefer the yamaha for room practice.
Thanks for the demo!
Do you prefer indeed the thr5 from Roland cube?
For practice?
Thanks for the honest review Elmo! I tune in to hear your personal opinions whatever they may be. If I want a load of Happy Clapping I'll go to church ;)
Haha :D Thanks :)
Thanks for the crisp review and guitar technique. I was told these things were loud enough to play with a full band and was brought here by someone trying to sell a used one online - I was attracted to the idea of a small tube amp unlike my old orange and black Micro-cube that I bought used in 2009 . I've used my Micro cube for direct line out recording into my digital recorder and I got great sounds with my set-up. This Yamaha sounds lame to my ears but I'd like to hear it with a guitar equipped with dual-coil pickups. At least I know now I already have a great practise amp - I use an A. R. T. Studio V3 voice valved pre-amp to get my tube sound on anything I record line in direct, mainly for microphones or line -in recordings. I was using the Micdo-cube until I got a LINE6 Spider III 30 watt amp with a 12" Celestian - It has way more variation on the control for gain with a drive, channel and master volume knob for each setting - Insane chanel is epic for leads.. I have a Swedish made Hagstrom Super Swede and the pickups and the 11 different pick up settings are really versatile for the style of rock songs I like to write and record. good stuff!
Cheers Rob!
Whoever told you this amp is suitable to play with a band on it's own was pulling your leg 😅
Samaa mieltä.
I felt the same, boxy sounds but ok clear channel.
Great comparison, very useful.
And what about the max usable volume compared to the Micro Cube ?
Cheers! Not sure, as I sold the THR ages ago.
Hiya. What is the model type of the older Roland mirco amp you said is the best one?
Roland Micro Cube (without the GX in the name).
What about the THR10?
Dunno. Haven't tried it.
It must have a bit more headroom. Here's a comment I copied from Juca Nery's channel a while back:
I am a lead player, mostly I play in duo settings with singer songwriters, and I gig with a pair of the THR amps, a 10C and a 5A. I'll offer some stuff that nobody seems to realize or talk about. There are a couple of key tricks: First: Those 4 stainless steel socket head screws on the front. Put the amp on a table or on the floor facing speakers down. It now "slot loads" to the surface and couples both the tiny drivers and the reflex port to the air in the room. In effect you just got a MUCH bigger speaker, more surface area coupling to the air in the room. Sort of like a PZM microphone in reverse. As always, YMMV, but I find it VERY VERY useful. Most of the time, I set it face down on a small table next to my chair with a SM-57 pointed at the surface of the table from about 4" away. Second: there is another gold one, the THR-5A that was targetted at acoustic players. It lacks the memory preset buttons and the USB/AUX knob, but has 2 almost magical features: mic modeling and compression. It has become my go-to amp. It is plenty loud except in really noisy bars, and I can usually find the right sound for the room quicker with this amp than with the 10C. I can play a 3-4 hour show on battery power using the 5A (8 NiMh AA) but plug the 10C into the mains cuz it eats batteries a little faster..
I have the thr10 and it sounds great with a tube screamer in front. This guys is trying to chug metal on a single coil strat and for some reason does not like the sound?
Very weird review , cause it sounds great when you're playing it..
@@nowadayswithandy , Indeed. I love it, both in terms of sound and realistic amp-response. Have a friend working in the local music store so when I broke my first one thr5 (1 feet fall..) I got a good deal and bought the thr10II instead. (the cost of repairing a thr 5 was pretty steep, to be honest..) Best practice amp I've ever had, although I might have liked the Marshall (british) -style setting slightly better on the older one but this is otherwise better overall with unnoticeable latency and pretty fancy sounding effects . Very big range of tones too depending on the guitar's pickups I've noticed. With passive pickups (when playing metal) I usually play the modern Hi-gain or special setting, but with active emg's for example I usually play on the lead channel, with gain at only one o' clock or so. (80-s metal-ish tone, for harder styles I like Blacksun plug-ins, among others)) It works surprisingly good as an interface too, have loads of distortion plugins and all, but generally don't bother to use those when i record simple ideas, and the waveforms look good without having to mess around with input levels/settings and such either.. Think I paid around 400 €, here in Sweden and find it to be one of the best value/price items I ever bought. Play drums as well, and Yamaha is certainly one of the best companies when it comes to that too.
@@fredrikh3547
I'm curious about practice amps with pedals. To me part of my practice is to work out the "when to kick in my clean boost" during a song, and I need something to be that part of my practice regimen.
My home amp is a tiny practice amp already (a blackstar 5 watt with a real tube pre in it). It's not so portable but I don't gig and I'm ever ever on the road.
Would like to see an update or sequel to this with the newly announced THR-II. it sounds better to my ears, and it has a nice built in battery.
Have you reviewed the Katana?
I'll have to look in to the new THR. I have reviewed the Katana 50, and the Katana mini.
Shit, that's how all product reviews should be. Good video
Thanks!
Awesome review 👍👍👍
Glad you liked it
Sirve para tocar jazz?😝
Que?
I’ve owned this amp and the microcube at the same time. I sold the microcube... which says it all for me. If you want to crank it and use like a heavy metal back line stage rig you’ll be unhappy. That’s not what it’s for. As a serious practice amp it’s unbeatable. Much better built than the microcube which feels like a toy one. It’s solid metal ffs.
So you don't think a practice amp should sound good with gain?
Thanks for the honest review. Was looking for a smaller amp for my guitar repair workshop but was concerned about the sound and this confirmed my worries. Any experience on the likes of fender mustang gt40 etc would be much appreciated.
I have reviewed the Fender Mustang GTX50, and the LT25. I liked the LT, but not really the GTX50.
@@MrPolevaulter thanks Elmo. The L25 was where I was starting to pan out anyway. I'm a big fender amp lover anyway so at 130 quid that sounds like the one.
Great review, wich amp would you suggest for home studio recording ? Thanks !
Are you using a mic?
@@MrPolevaulter yes e906, im thinking to buy the micro cube gx.
@@mofei6337 That should be good :)
@@MrPolevaulter last question😁, is it fine with pedals ? Still like the roland cube 10gx too
@@mofei6337 It should be OK.
Hi Elmo, great playing as usual. Pardon the weird question : what are your settings on the microcube? Mine doesn't sound like yours😅
Thanks! I have gain on full and tone pretty much all the way up. Might be you have a newer Micro Cube. The new ones aren't the same :(
No it's an old one. I'll try your setting!!! Thanx a lot
If you want high gain sounds please don’t buy this amp. That’s why Elmo doesn’t like it. He wants a Marshall stack sound out of a practice amp. You will never find that sound with a practice amp. Just setting yrself up for disappointment. 😂 The THR amps are great for new players. I got one when I first started playing and I loved it to death. Ended up trading my THR 10 to a guy for a Fender J. Mascis Jazzmaster he didn’t know the value of and I do regret getting rid of it. Everyone has an idea of what the best sound for an amp is and Elmo likes gain. Yr not gonna chug with a Yamaha THR5. ✌🏻💙
Hey brother, is that a Warmoth?
No. Custom made.
Only criteria is gain 👍
I guess this is geared more towards the blues, John Mayer type players than an Yngwie crowd. You may wanna check out the THR10x?
Tried the new version. Didn't like it at all. Besides, Yngwie doesn't use high gain amps. He uses old Plexis.
Roland Micro Cube: 3w
Yamaha thr10: 10w
Check whether it has the latest firmware as they massively improved the speaker Sims. I could get a malmsteen tone easily and really like it. Think it compares well to my axe f2f tbh
Already sold it, as I didn't like it.
Buddy, it would help the gain issues you’re having with this amp if you had a high output Humbucker!!
Wow the Microcube sounds better than your Marshalls. What pedals are you using?
Just an overdrive and a delay.
Could be because I'm not in the same room, but it sounds cheap to me.
I have my micro cubes away I have a vox mini 5 rythem
Video suggestion: compare Roland Cube with a Boss Katana
Whoops I see you already did
Yep :)
😳Wow🤔Well I don't really know if you really knew it or not. Lol this little powerful Amplifier is made for Acoustic guitar's!And not really for made for a Regular everyday hard body guitar lol like you are paying really good in this video. 🤔But to me it sounds still pretty good to be a Practicing Amplifier😉👍.So you really should make another video playing Acoustic. guitar through this Yamaha THR5A 10 watt and then let us know just what you think about it!
I received this as a Christmas gift. I tend to play with a lot of gain since I enjoy metal and I've been rather disappointed with this.
Sorry to hear.
Tubescreamer always in front.
i bet thats a great amp ,cheers