If you read the manual you will find that when you turn the preamp volume above half way ( so say 6.5) the amplifier will begin to break up naturally without using any pedals based only on how hard you attack the strings or where you have your volume set at on your guitar. If the preamp volume is below half it will not break up on the clean or even the crunch. It is the same effect you get from a tube amp. Roland / Boss has really done an amazing job with the Blues Cube as well as the Boss Nextone line of amps. I have a 1x12 artist and I love it. I just recently got a Line 6 HX Effects unit to be my pedal board. So far it is working out amazing. Another element that I love about the amp, even though it is solid state, the amount of head room in the power section is impressive. The amplifier is extremely touch sensitive.
As a proud owner I can say this is a very good honest video of the Blues Cube Artist. Even late at night I use the 15w amp for clean sound and only use the 0.5w amp when I want to drive the crunch channel hard late at night.
Shane,really good demo. You didn't miss a thing on the sound of this amp. I was thinking about buying this amp and your demo just convinced me to buy it. Its a little pricey,but well worth the money not having to worry about changing tubes. Some people don't know how to demo a product and do so from a biased point of view. Again, Good demo!!
Great test and demo Shane really in depth and with different pedals gives us a glimpse of what can be achieved also liked the OD820 and the Pony boy and Thanks for all the time and effort you put into your videos really appreciated
Shane, If I may ask: Regarding tone: Would it makes sense a comparison in tone, of this blues cube to the Line6 DT25? I just listened to your review of the Line6 amp demo and I'm impressed. (and confused! was close to buy the roland) the Line6 price is about 100 pounds less, which put them in a good situation for a head to head... thanks mate
Oh man. I've been curious about adding pedals to my blues cube and the 335 has been on my list as well. This makes me want to spend money! 😍 blues cube for the win!!
Hi Shane, thank you for the decent demo. After I've saw the review it I tried one myself using my own De Gier Reflection guitar with TV-Jones pick-ups and was realy surprised about the warm 'tube' response. On every channel, boost and combination it sounded awesome. I directly fell in love with the amp and bought it with the amazing New York Tube Logic of Oz Noy and use it on a gig. It cuts easily through the mix and loves all of my pedals. With an extra Fulltone Drive 2 this amp is a killer. So my doubts of a solid state was blowing away. Surpisingly for me as a tubefan I must admit that the Blues Cube Artist is a great sounding and flexible amp for practice, recording and gigs.
This is a clean amp for cleanish blues. Overdrive and distortion should be used with caution! In this demo we never hear the beautiful ringing, zinging cleans this amp is able to deliver, try a split neck alnico humbucker! And it will not need maintenance and it will always work and it does not weigh a ton and it is easy to use, because the knobs actually work from 1 - 10. I mean you can hear the difference between a setting of 1 and 2 and so on. All you need is a guitar and a cable and many years of practice, because this amp will show everything you do on the guitar. That means it will show all your playing, (mistakes and finger noise too). This amp is a Stradivarius!
Very nice demo, tastefully done. This amp has reams more facets to it, though, notably, HB's vs Single Coils vs Filtertrons. And of course, different guitars themselves, fitted with the various different pickups. Plus, the zero-compensated FX loop, which is very useful with time-based pedals; the Line Out is good for feeding a mixing board, and maintains the amp's character. Plus, the EQ section is passive, and is a good sound shaper, though not particularly dramatic. And, Tone Capsules ARE very useful, and can seriously re-shape the amp's sound and response, though it plays well in its stock form.
This seem to be the ultimate bluesy combo for oldtimers like me: aching back + not enough money for an original tweed. Would fit well to feed my blues addiction ... Great amp, great tones, great demo ... merzi villemals (;-))
Does this amplifier sound better the Boss Nextone, because I really dislike the gain channel on that amplifier. I’ve heard that you mention on another video that this is one of your favorite amplifiers.
The higher outputs (45W and 80W) seem to have more dynamics and, at least live, give a beefier overall tone - probably because there's more current available to drive the speaker.
Regarding tone: Would it makes sense a comparison in tone, of this to the Line6 DT25? I just listened to the Line6 amp demo in this channel and I'm impressed. the Line6 price is about 100 pounds less
+stsgabe Two notable differences are the different size of the cabinet and the fact that both the Stage and the Hot lack the Presence control. Both also lack the Tremolo and effect loop, and the Hot is a single channel amp. I'd buy the Hot, but still am not sure I can do without the Presence control (I use guitars with humbuckers).
The biggest difference is that the Hot's single channel means you don't have the dual tone function, where both channels can be run together. That's the best feature of the Blues Cubes, in my opinion. (I own a Blues Cube Artist, by the way.)
+stsgabe I have the Artist. I recently tried a Hot at the local store. I really like the sound of my Artist, but was very disappointed by the Hot. The sales engineer went along with that. And you can cut the power down on an Artist or Stage. The Stage btw is also a very nice sounding amp. It just has a little less power (still more than enough) and doesn't have a tremolo (the one on the Artist isn't mindblowing anyway) and no presence control (I rarely use mine)
hi shane! its a very good amp for a solid state,to my ears the valve equivelent has a more open sound and more chimey.what do you think?.as usual very good review,have nice evening,michael lefty.
I've checked the impedance of the single input on the Blues Cube Hot on Roland's website and it's -10 dBu (1 M ohm) which is the same as the high impedance input on the artist. Roland say the BC Hot loves pedals, so running them into the high impedance of the Artist or Stage should be ok. Shane is running pedals through the high impedance input on this video!
You need two cables: one from the "Send" output on the back of the amp to the input of the first pedal, and one from the output of the last pedal to the "Return" input on the back of the amp. This works really well for delays and loopers.
Late response as it is November 2021 but I can answer that.....the answer is yes and I do both. Yes I gig with it but I bought it for home use. The fact it takes pedals exceptionally well changes the dynamic of tone outside the borders of "standard solid state".. How? For any modulation (delay, reverb, chorus), I use the FX loop which is set b'ween the preamp and power amp. This way, the tone doesn't get odd when using the amp's Crunch channel. If I'm using any overdrive, preamp pedal, distortion.....I then plug guitar into the pedal and then pedal into the front of the amp. One example is Guitar -> Keeley Aria -> Roland / FX loop then for modulation after. I can nail Stevie Ray with my J. Rockett Blue Note -> Vertex SSS - Roland on clean channel.
How you would compare blues cube cleans to Fender cleans? In this video cube cleans sounds pretty nice. It would have been nice to hear ths amp with strat too.
I have this amp, previously had a Hot Rod Deluxe. This is just better! The clean is very comparable, slightly less aggro ( better speaker), the distortion is much better , but not as extreme. Forget the solid state distortion you have heard before. To me the distortion sounds very complex like a really good dist pedal through a good Fender clean. This is a very usable amp in a band situation. but there is lots to learn about the relationship between channel and master volumes and what that does to the sound. PS I do think this amp was designed for single coils or P90s tho'
Does anyone know how this amp sounds when you crank it? Does it get thin and brittle sounding at the top end of its wattage like traditional SS amps? Or does it get a warm harmonic distortion at the top end of its wattage like the Tube amps its trying to re-create?
On the 80 watt setting your ears will bleed before the amp starts clipping. It gets very loud. To answer your question though - No. It doesn't have the warm 2nd order harmonics of a tube amp.
tdunster2011 Thanks. I was considering what wattage to pick up. No point in picking up a small one with no headroom if I cant get that creamy dirty blues sound you get from pushing power amp tubes. Will probably just get the big boy and put some dirt in front of it. Thank you!
oh wow. i was pretty much set to by a blues jr. but may want to go ahead and get one of these. Shane, how do you think the stage or the HOT model would compare to a Blues Jr?
+matthew stewart Andertons Music released a comparison of the Hot and the Blues Jr a few days ago, in case you weren't aware of this. I was pleasantly surprised.
Hot Rod Deville gets no love, I used to gig with one, it's heavier than this amp but it is 4 10 inch speakers. Fender all day if we're talking about a clean tone, and for that I think it is the better, yet heavier and tube driven as opposed to this a solid state amp. Instead of using the lack luster built in gain stages on the amp, buy a Fulltone OCD or a tube screamer.
I got some, A second speaker is of no advantage unless you're playing live in a big venue directly from amp speaker to crowd which is a very outdated setup. It's not worth the additional weight and cost. The 1x12 should be sufficient.
Hey, Shane. Do you think there's any harm in running effects pedals and/or humbuckers through the High input? The Andertons review reckoned that the Low input was for pedals but I think it makes the tone a bit muddy. What do you think? (Great review, as always!)
+goldtop362 It would be fine for sure. Just experiment around with however you would want to run it. It's just like any other amp except no re-tubing required. :-)
+intheblues Cheers, Shane. I'm certainly loving my BC Artist. The tremolo is a bit disappointing but the reverb is really great and I absolutely love the dual tone feature! Roland have just hiked the price in the UK, though, which is a shame, because they were pretty expensive already. I'm glad I got mine even I did!
I'm really into this amplifier and definitely considering to buy it. I just have a couple questions I am trying to get answers to. Does this amp respond well to pedals? And, if I use my own overdrive pedals could I shape the amp and the drive to anything I want or would it still retain the original overdrive tone that the amp uses on default.
well if i'm you , id take my pedals to a show room and test it , making sure the amp stays clean to be shaped through the pedals ,low input - clean channel- little dial and put as much needed volume from master volume
I find it best with modulation and delay pedals, and have been using the amp's built in gain and boost for dirt... works great for classic rock and blues. With the stock amp you can set it up so it gets louder and crunchier across four settings: clean/boost off, clean/boost on, crunch/boost off, and crunch/boost on. The foot pedal gives independent control of channel and boost for each, so you can jump from clean to heavy distortion by just switching from the clean to the crunch channel.
+Mitch Raith This amp is great for blues and also great if you don't own any pedals. The bandit has a better clean sound and perhaps more versatile too if you're into heavy gain stuff (not really my thing). The Blues Cube is a fair bit lighter too and overall they are both as loud as each other give or take.
+John Doe I agree these companies cant have it both ways. if they want us to buy SS they need the price to be reasonable. this costs about the same as a blues junior or an ac15. not on the same level in my opinion.
+Wadenkrang Guttenberg I think you have to take into account it has power attenuation and a usb out. Not many stage amp amps in this price range have that.
Excellent demo! I'm just wondering whether 0.5W is too quiet and 15W too loud for home playing with a bit of "oomph". Maybe the Hot version is better in that respect, but then I would lose out on some cool features. Hmm.
@intheblues Hi Shane, great video as usual. Can you please tell me how you compare this amp with mustangIII or blues junior ? I want to decide which one to buy . Thank you alot
Blues Juniors have no headroom for loud gigs, this does. I find Blues Juniors okay for small rooms (like at home and very occasional gigs where you're mic'd up and not that loud on stage) where as this will do lower volume gigs, sound louder, and probably take pedals just as good or better. The small cabinet of the blues junior really makes it suffer in my opinion. :-) Some people swear by them but it's just my experience owning one.
I've had loads of tube amps and gagged with just about everything. I have the the blues cube artist and it is by far my favorite. It cuts through the mix better than any amp I've owned with loads of headroom. plus it stays consistent all night whereas tube amps change tone......
Awesome thanks. I bought two. Haven't played live with it yet but I can say it sounds fantastic recorded. Plus you can record at lower volumes and still get a nice punchy tube sound in the end result.
Thanks for nice review. One question. Do you think is posible to use stompboxes in front of the amp? (delays,reverb) I wan to buy hot verision of this amp without a fx loop and use it just for clean amp and made all distortion sound with stomps + use my delays and reverbs pedals.
+Jakub Vank It's certainly possible, but since the amp is designed to break up when you raise the channel's volumes (as opposed to the amp's general master volume), you'd need to make sure to be buying a model that has enough clean headroom for your needs.
+Jakub Vank By the way, to hear the cleanest sound you can get with a BC (don't know which model, though) watch on RUclips a video titled "MAMA Pickups - Classic Set Demo".
Do you have recommendations for pedals that would work well with it based on your experience? my guitar is Gibson LP standard,, together with this amp the sound is dark
Need to brighten up your sound some then unless dark is what you're looking for? LP's are notorious for that deeper sound. Try an EQ, Boss Super Chorus.
Why is that? I know the Anderton's review said that but I can't find anything from any of the Roland Blues Cube online info that confirms that. The Dawson's review said "With regard to external effects pedals you have two choices with the Roland Blues Cube Artist. You can go directly through the High or Low inputs, or make use of the EFX Loop Send and Return connections, so effectively driving what would be the pre-amp tubes or bypassing them and driving the power-amp tubes instead." I find the amp is a little dark and using pedals in the high input brightens the sound.
That's interesting. I've tried my effects through both inputs and just find the low input too dark. Horses for courses, I suppose. Doesn't seem to be a problem to use effects through the high input, though...I think it was the Anderton's comment that made people (me included) think that you had to go through the low....but I've scoured the internet and read the manual cover to cover and can't find anything to confirm what Lee Anderton said. What do you think of the amp, Kevin? Wer you a valve amp player before you got the Artist? Does it live up to your hopes and expectations?
it's Achilles heel is being solid state, I openly admit that I wouldn't even look at a solid state amp, gotta have those glowing tubes and nothing else will do.....great video as ever Shane.
It's Achilles heel is that it's solid state??? Have you even played through one of these amps? I've had every kind of valve amp known to man and I can assure, these. Blues Cube amps are freaking awesome!!
Ok, good people! I am always amazed when reading some of the responses. I would say that most of you do not perform on stage, much less have any technical idea as to the why's and how's. Not stepping on any toes I hope. But here's the bottom line and a bit of help... solid amps are great in many ways, but what happens is after a while you'll get sick of the steely sounding tone that the solid state gain makes - hint, don't turn the volume on your guitar all the way up. It's just the nature of the thing. Next, Tube amps are fantastic and do require maintenance. But they will make you sound authentic in the sense that they let your fingers do the talking. What does that mean? It means that the tubes will make you sound like you, every nuance, every touch, every mistake, will eventually register to make you a better player. Trust me. But don't get me wrong, this Roland Blues Amp is an amazing amp. Oh wait, one more thing, stay away from pedals.
Still, I get good compliments on my tone with this in outdoor settings, and we play a range of rock and blues. Not having to worry about a tube going bad in the middle of a two hour continuous set or a four hour gig with three long sets is worth a lot.
If you read the manual you will find that when you turn the preamp volume above half way ( so say 6.5) the amplifier will begin to break up naturally without using any pedals based only on how hard you attack the strings or where you have your volume set at on your guitar. If the preamp volume is below half it will not break up on the clean or even the crunch. It is the same effect you get from a tube amp. Roland / Boss has really done an amazing job with the Blues Cube as well as the Boss Nextone line of amps. I have a 1x12 artist and I love it. I just recently got a Line 6 HX Effects unit to be my pedal board. So far it is working out amazing. Another element that I love about the amp, even though it is solid state, the amount of head room in the power section is impressive. The amplifier is extremely touch sensitive.
Christopher Buzzell cool bro
I"m a fender blues deluxe man with a back problem , I've acquired this amp, and I'm a happy blues man!
As a proud owner I can say this is a very good honest video of the Blues Cube Artist. Even late at night I use the 15w amp for clean sound and only use the 0.5w amp when I want to drive the crunch channel hard late at night.
It's always good when a gear reviewer can actually play properly....subscribed
Shane,really good demo. You didn't miss a thing on the sound of this amp. I was thinking about buying this amp and your demo just convinced me to buy it. Its a little pricey,but well worth the money not having to worry about changing tubes. Some people don't know how to demo a product and do so from a biased point of view. Again, Good demo!!
roland blues cube artist are much better and sounds much better than a lot of tube amp 10/10 for blues artist
Great test and demo Shane really in depth and with different pedals gives us a glimpse of what can be achieved also liked the OD820 and the Pony boy and Thanks for all the time and effort you put into your videos really appreciated
+Doug J Thank you Doug :-)
Shane, If I may ask: Regarding tone: Would it makes sense a comparison in tone, of this blues cube to the Line6 DT25? I just listened to your review of the Line6 amp demo and I'm impressed. (and confused! was close to buy the roland) the Line6 price is about 100 pounds less, which put them in a good situation for a head to head... thanks mate
Just got this amp to day artist 80w lovely clean a good allrounder thanks, Shane
Played one of these today and didn’t even realize it wasn’t tube until I looked up a video on it.
Oh man. I've been curious about adding pedals to my blues cube and the 335 has been on my list as well. This makes me want to spend money! 😍 blues cube for the win!!
Hi Shane, thank you for the decent demo. After I've saw the review it I tried one myself using my own De Gier Reflection guitar with TV-Jones pick-ups and was realy surprised about the warm 'tube' response. On every channel, boost and combination it sounded awesome. I directly fell in love with the amp and bought it with the amazing New York Tube Logic of Oz Noy and use it on a gig. It cuts easily through the mix and loves all of my pedals. With an extra Fulltone Drive 2 this amp is a killer. So my doubts of a solid state was blowing away. Surpisingly for me as a tubefan I must admit that the Blues Cube Artist is a great sounding and flexible amp for practice, recording and gigs.
Great tones and playing. I can feel a GAS relapse coming on!
Nice playing, great review. I've ordered a used one.
For info I have one of these. Note when using pedals you should be plugged into the LOW INPUT.
I think you are supposed to plug into the low input for pedal platform
I love my Blues Cube Artist. I think it's a better version of the famous Deluxe Reverb. Period.
Great sounding amp. The best solid state in my opinion.
Great sounding amp! Thanks Shane!
+Paddling 16 thanks mate :)
I play in a cover band covering a little bit of everything top 40 would this be a good amplifier for that. I need crystal clear and dirt with pedals
still my favourite solid state amp.
Incredible tone!
very very great tone !!! like the groove sound and smooth together ;)
This is a clean amp for cleanish blues. Overdrive and distortion should be used with caution! In this demo we never hear the beautiful ringing, zinging cleans this amp is able to deliver, try a split neck alnico humbucker!
And it will not need maintenance and it will always work and it does not weigh a ton and it is easy to use, because the knobs actually work from 1 - 10. I mean you can hear the difference between a setting of 1 and 2 and so on. All you need is a guitar and a cable and many years of practice, because this amp will show everything you do on the guitar. That means it will show all your playing, (mistakes and finger noise too).
This amp is a Stradivarius!
will buy one
The crunch channel gets some great tones for classic rock and blues (Allman Brothers, etc.), but not huge sustain and not for metal.
@@SRHMusic012 Throw a super distortion peddle on and watch out :)!
Very nice demo, tastefully done. This amp has reams more facets to it, though, notably, HB's vs Single Coils vs Filtertrons. And of course, different guitars themselves, fitted with the various different pickups. Plus, the zero-compensated FX loop, which is very useful with time-based pedals; the Line Out is good for feeding a mixing board, and maintains the amp's character. Plus, the EQ section is passive, and is a good sound shaper, though not particularly dramatic. And, Tone Capsules ARE very useful, and can seriously re-shape the amp's sound and response, though it plays well in its stock form.
I have the 60w Stage version, great tone!!! Got it for $300 less than retail too :)!
Good blues rock sound ! 👍I have the same combo and I enjoy it...
This seem to be the ultimate bluesy combo for oldtimers like me: aching back + not enough money for an original tweed. Would fit well to feed my blues addiction ...
Great amp, great tones, great demo ... merzi villemals (;-))
well....this thing is not cheap at all!
+Ces McMyth or light if I'm not mistaken
Stevaux 16 Kg. which makes it actually quite light
+Ces McMyth I must have read somewhere else that it was just as heavy as a tube amp. Hmm, I was mistaken!
Does this amplifier sound better the Boss Nextone, because I really dislike the gain channel on that amplifier. I’ve heard that you mention on another video that this is one of your favorite amplifiers.
Hi, i would have liked to hear the drive channel with overdrive pedals, how does it sound? Thanks
Nice demo!!
I was hoping someone could tell me what is the difference in sound between attenuating with the Master volume control or the Power Control
The higher outputs (45W and 80W) seem to have more dynamics and, at least live, give a beefier overall tone - probably because there's more current available to drive the speaker.
Nice sounding amp. Would love to get my hands on one...
Regarding tone: Would it makes sense a comparison in tone, of this to the Line6 DT25? I just listened to the Line6 amp demo in this channel and I'm impressed. the Line6 price is about 100 pounds less
wondering if the stage & cube hot sound about the same?
+stsgabe Two notable differences are the different size of the cabinet and the fact that both the Stage and the Hot lack the Presence control. Both also lack the Tremolo and effect loop, and the Hot is a single channel amp. I'd buy the Hot, but still am not sure I can do without the Presence control (I use guitars with humbuckers).
very good point, there is an artist on ebay for 4 and change-very tempting
The biggest difference is that the Hot's single channel means you don't have the dual tone function, where both channels can be run together. That's the best feature of the Blues Cubes, in my opinion. (I own a Blues Cube Artist, by the way.)
+stsgabe I heard that the Hot is based on a 6V6 circuit but the Artist and Stage are the same.
+stsgabe I have the Artist. I recently tried a Hot at the local store. I really like the sound of my Artist, but was very disappointed by the Hot. The sales engineer went along with that. And you can cut the power down on an Artist or Stage. The Stage btw is also a very nice sounding amp. It just has a little less power (still more than enough) and doesn't have a tremolo (the one on the Artist isn't mindblowing anyway) and no presence control (I rarely use mine)
hi shane! its a very good amp for a solid state,to my ears the valve equivelent has a more open sound and more chimey.what do you think?.as usual very good review,have nice evening,michael lefty.
I thought when you used pedals you were supposed to use the low input.
I've checked the impedance of the single input on the Blues Cube Hot on Roland's website and it's -10 dBu (1 M ohm) which is the same as the high impedance input on the artist. Roland say the BC Hot loves pedals, so running them into the high impedance of the Artist or Stage should be ok. Shane is running pedals through the high impedance input on this video!
@@goldtop362 I run my pedals through both and I like the High input more. It will do both nicely though.
Hi Shane, sounds great. Compared with the peavy bandit, what's your thought? Thanks
Hi,could you show me how to connect my pedal board from the back and not the input on the front of the amp please.
Kind Regards
Phil Strat
You need two cables: one from the "Send" output on the back of the amp to the input of the first pedal, and one from the output of the last pedal to the "Return" input on the back of the amp. This works really well for delays and loopers.
I like his wooden studio with wooden acoustic panels.
Shane, I have the Blues Cube Hot 30 and love it, is the Artist worth the extra bucks? Also, can't find any Peavey Bandits before you mention that 😂
Have you put the blues cube against your peavey bandit? Great video. Cheers.
Shane, would you still buy a BCA in 2020 for home use and only blues or would you prefer sth else?
Late response as it is November 2021 but I can answer that.....the answer is yes and I do both. Yes I gig with it but I bought it for home use. The fact it takes pedals exceptionally well changes the dynamic of tone outside the borders of "standard solid state".. How? For any modulation (delay, reverb, chorus), I use the FX loop which is set b'ween the preamp and power amp. This way, the tone doesn't get odd when using the amp's Crunch channel. If I'm using any overdrive, preamp pedal, distortion.....I then plug guitar into the pedal and then pedal into the front of the amp. One example is Guitar -> Keeley Aria -> Roland / FX loop then for modulation after. I can nail Stevie Ray with my J. Rockett Blue Note -> Vertex SSS - Roland on clean channel.
@@davidsisto7694 Thanks my man.
How you would compare blues cube cleans to Fender cleans? In this video cube cleans sounds pretty nice. It would have been nice to hear ths amp with strat too.
Fairly similar. Kind of similar to a Deluxe Reverb but not quite as nice.
I have this amp, previously had a Hot Rod Deluxe. This is just better! The clean is very comparable, slightly less aggro ( better speaker), the distortion is much better , but not as extreme. Forget the solid state distortion you have heard before. To me the distortion sounds very complex like a really good dist pedal through a good Fender clean. This is a very usable amp in a band situation. but there is lots to learn about the relationship between channel and master volumes and what that does to the sound. PS I do think this amp was designed for single coils or P90s tho'
Great Video!Do you prefer this or the Peavey Bandit [I know that was/is a favorite of yours]?
Does anyone know how this amp sounds when you crank it? Does it get thin and brittle sounding at the top end of its wattage like traditional SS amps? Or does it get a warm harmonic distortion at the top end of its wattage like the Tube amps its trying to re-create?
On the 80 watt setting your ears will bleed before the amp starts clipping. It gets very loud.
To answer your question though - No. It doesn't have the warm 2nd order harmonics of a tube amp.
tdunster2011 Thanks. I was considering what wattage to pick up. No point in picking up a small one with no headroom if I cant get that creamy dirty blues sound you get from pushing power amp tubes. Will probably just get the big boy and put some dirt in front of it.
Thank you!
oh wow. i was pretty much set to by a blues jr. but may want to go ahead and get one of these.
Shane, how do you think the stage or the HOT model would compare to a Blues Jr?
+matthew stewart Andertons Music released a comparison of the Hot and the Blues Jr a few days ago, in case you weren't aware of this. I was pleasantly surprised.
God that's a killer amp, Shane! I was gonna get one, but I'm happy with my Blackstar HT Club 40.
+bentertainment115 Cheers Ben. it's pretty cool :) It was my first proper time using one and I really enjoyed it.
intheblues Yeah, man, sounded killer! That 335 is incredible.
Thanks mate :-)
How would you rate this amp compared to a hot rod deville??
Hot Rod Deville gets no love, I used to gig with one, it's heavier than this amp but it is 4 10 inch speakers. Fender all day if we're talking about a clean tone, and for that I think it is the better, yet heavier and tube driven as opposed to this a solid state amp. Instead of using the lack luster built in gain stages on the amp, buy a Fulltone OCD or a tube screamer.
Can't decide between the 1x12 or the 2x12 Blues Cube Artist! Any opinions on this Shane? Awesome video.
I got some, A second speaker is of no advantage unless you're playing live in a big venue directly from amp speaker to crowd which is a very outdated setup. It's not worth the additional weight and cost. The 1x12 should be sufficient.
I disagree. I have a 2x12 and also several single 12" speaker amps and the 2x12 sounds more full and deep, in every situation.
Great video! Can you review the Peavey Vypyr VIP 3?
+Andrés Velázquez I'll see if I can do it at some point :)
Thank you very much Shane :)
Cheers!
Sounds low end heavy. Got a treble knob?
Hey, Shane. Do you think there's any harm in running effects pedals and/or humbuckers through the High input? The Andertons review reckoned that the Low input was for pedals but I think it makes the tone a bit muddy. What do you think? (Great review, as always!)
+goldtop362 It would be fine for sure. Just experiment around with however you would want to run it. It's just like any other amp except no re-tubing required. :-)
+intheblues Cheers, Shane. I'm certainly loving my BC Artist. The tremolo is a bit disappointing but the reverb is really great and I absolutely love the dual tone feature! Roland have just hiked the price in the UK, though, which is a shame, because they were pretty expensive already. I'm glad I got mine even I did!
I'm really into this amplifier and definitely considering to buy it. I just have a couple questions I am trying to get answers to.
Does this amp respond well to pedals? And, if I use my own overdrive pedals could I shape the amp and the drive to anything I want or would it still retain the original overdrive tone that the amp uses on default.
well if i'm you , id take my pedals to a show room and test it , making sure the amp stays clean to be shaped through the pedals ,low input - clean channel- little dial and put as much needed volume from master volume
I find it best with modulation and delay pedals, and have been using the amp's built in gain and boost for dirt... works great for classic rock and blues. With the stock amp you can set it up so it gets louder and crunchier across four settings: clean/boost off, clean/boost on, crunch/boost off, and crunch/boost on. The foot pedal gives independent control of channel and boost for each, so you can jump from clean to heavy distortion by just switching from the clean to the crunch channel.
How would you compare this to the bandit?
+Mitch Raith This amp is great for blues and also great if you don't own any pedals. The bandit has a better clean sound and perhaps more versatile too if you're into heavy gain stuff (not really my thing). The Blues Cube is a fair bit lighter too and overall they are both as loud as each other give or take.
+John Doe I agree these companies cant have it both ways. if they want us to buy SS they need the price to be reasonable. this costs about the same as a blues junior or an ac15. not on the same level in my opinion.
I think this amp kills a blues junior to be honest. :)
+Wadenkrang Guttenberg I think you have to take into account it has power attenuation and a usb out. Not many stage amp amps in this price range have that.
+John Doe I think you can hear in this very demo that the power attenuator makes a lot of volume/tonal difference in this amp!
Excellent demo! I'm just wondering whether 0.5W is too quiet and 15W too loud for home playing with a bit of "oomph". Maybe the Hot version is better in that respect, but then I would lose out on some cool features. Hmm.
15w isn't too loud , i use it most of the time , even the 45w sometimes. the master volume still gives u abit of a dial
+Tamer anwar thanks, I went for the Hot in the end and I'm loving it.
Congratz man
These are nice 👍
Nice amp.
@intheblues Hi Shane, great video as usual. Can you please tell me how you compare this amp with mustangIII or blues junior ? I want to decide which one to buy . Thank you alot
More straight forward than the Mustang and I would take this over a blues junior any day of the week.
Hi Shane, may I ask why you would take this over a blues jr? I'm also contemplating on this matter (30W HOT version), and a Bassbreaker 007. Thanks!
Blues Juniors have no headroom for loud gigs, this does. I find Blues Juniors okay for small rooms (like at home and very occasional gigs where you're mic'd up and not that loud on stage) where as this will do lower volume gigs, sound louder, and probably take pedals just as good or better. The small cabinet of the blues junior really makes it suffer in my opinion. :-) Some people swear by them but it's just my experience owning one.
My concern with any SS amp is that they tend to drown into the live mix. Have you played this with a full band? Does it cut through?
I've had loads of tube amps and gagged with just about everything. I have the the blues cube artist and it is by far my favorite. It cuts through the mix better than any amp I've owned with loads of headroom. plus it stays consistent all night whereas tube amps change tone......
Jason Rogers I had a stage and it cut through beautifully. I love them.
Awesome thanks. I bought two. Haven't played live with it yet but I can say it sounds fantastic recorded. Plus you can record at lower volumes and still get a nice punchy tube sound in the end result.
the amp sound we hear is the sm57 capture only ? or you mixing some of the NT1 as well?
Both but less of the room mic than the close mic.
+intheblues thanks, I got the amp and considering buying rode m3 for recording
are you happy with it ? does it feel like a tube amp :) ?
Eli Joseph Doummar if this message for me then yes man to a good extent. Still didn't try it with a band yet
Thanks for nice review. One question. Do you think is posible to use stompboxes in front of the amp? (delays,reverb) I wan to buy hot verision of this amp without a fx loop and use it just for clean amp and made all distortion sound with stomps + use my delays and reverbs pedals.
+Jakub Vank
Hm ... maybe you are better off with a JC-40 or JC-120 ... or a Bandit (;-))
+Jakub Vank It's certainly possible, but since the amp is designed to break up when you raise the channel's volumes (as opposed to the amp's general master volume), you'd need to make sure to be buying a model that has enough clean headroom for your needs.
+MrFidelcaster Thanks!
+Jakub Vank You're welcome!
+Jakub Vank By the way, to hear the cleanest sound you can get with a BC (don't know which model, though) watch on RUclips a video titled "MAMA Pickups - Classic Set Demo".
Do you have recommendations for pedals that would work well with it based on your experience? my guitar is Gibson LP standard,, together with this amp the sound is dark
Need to brighten up your sound some then unless dark is what you're looking for? LP's are notorious for that deeper sound. Try an EQ, Boss Super Chorus.
Bridge pickup!
Using pedals you should be in the LOW input mate
Why is that? I know the Anderton's review said that but I can't find anything from any of the Roland Blues Cube online info that confirms that. The Dawson's review said "With regard to external effects pedals you have two choices with the Roland Blues Cube Artist. You can go directly through the High or Low inputs, or make use of the EFX Loop Send and Return connections, so effectively driving what would be the pre-amp tubes or bypassing them and driving the power-amp tubes instead." I find the amp is a little dark and using pedals in the high input brightens the sound.
Well I have the Artist Model and my Pedals work better in the Low Imput for Sure
That's interesting. I've tried my effects through both inputs and just find the low input too dark. Horses for courses, I suppose. Doesn't seem to be a problem to use effects through the high input, though...I think it was the Anderton's comment that made people (me included) think that you had to go through the low....but I've scoured the internet and read the manual cover to cover and can't find anything to confirm what Lee Anderton said. What do you think of the amp, Kevin? Wer you a valve amp player before you got the Artist? Does it live up to your hopes and expectations?
does it feel the same with pedals as tube amp ? ie with boost and overdriven pedal ?
It's very Close ..they did a good job good quality Clean boost & overdrive pedal Perfect
Good review but this is an amp that it's works much better with a single coil guitar. Cheers from Chile.
Just bought one, so it’s all your fault if it does not live up to all my expectations 😂👍😂
Ps can I borrow your 335 to test it out 👍
how touch sensitive is it?
+Mister Knight Owl It felt great to play. This solid state amp holds its own with some of the valve amps out there for sure.
the Shaky Jimmi is back!!! :D
suena estupendo el cuble blues de 80w
With gain about 5 sounds amazing
All Gibson ES335 sound examples sound the same. Try using a Fender strat or Tele!
it's Achilles heel is being solid state, I openly admit that I wouldn't even look at a solid state amp, gotta have those glowing tubes and nothing else will do.....great video as ever Shane.
It's Achilles heel is that it's solid state??? Have you even played through one of these amps? I've had every kind of valve amp known to man and I can assure, these. Blues Cube amps are freaking awesome!!
Ok, good people! I am always amazed when reading some of the responses. I would say that most of you do not perform on stage, much less have any technical idea as to the why's and how's. Not stepping on any toes I hope. But here's the bottom line and a bit of help... solid amps are great in many ways, but what happens is after a while you'll get sick of the steely sounding tone that the solid state gain makes - hint, don't turn the volume on your guitar all the way up. It's just the nature of the thing. Next, Tube amps are fantastic and do require maintenance. But they will make you sound authentic in the sense that they let your fingers do the talking. What does that mean? It means that the tubes will make you sound like you, every nuance, every touch, every mistake, will eventually register to make you a better player. Trust me. But don't get me wrong, this Roland Blues Amp is an amazing amp. Oh wait, one more thing, stay away from pedals.
Still, I get good compliments on my tone with this in outdoor settings, and we play a range of rock and blues. Not having to worry about a tube going bad in the middle of a two hour continuous set or a four hour gig with three long sets is worth a lot.
Its too expensive! Out of the question.
Tremolo is useless,didn't hear the amps reverb ?
He didn't adjust it very well... It has a very usable depth control and the rate is set with the tap button.
If you play the blues you need a Strat... SRV.... MAN