1st student jazz amp - Roland Cube 30x/80x?

[Richard Whitehouse]

I'm a beginner jazz guitar student, looking at buying my first amp. Some
of my criteria:

- Light weight, small
- Good jazz tone
- Low cost
- Use it as a practice amp for now, but may want to gig with it at some
point, perhaps in a year or two

Even though I would probably prefer the tone of something like a polytone
or henriksen, it doesn't make sense to me to spend a lot of money on an
amp, not yet, since I'm not doing gigs. I may never get good enough to
gig, or who knows, I might get sick of this whole endeavor, and just stick
to piano (which I've been playing for about 50 yrs). I hope not, but you
never know.

I'm playing a Squier Standard Telecaster at the moment. I'm going to stick
to a tele for the time being, I like the simplicity of it. I might get a
slightly better one, probably a MIM, pretty soon. I'll think about other
guitars later, if and when I can play.

So, for a starter amp, I'm considering a Roland Cube 30x or maybe a 80x.
The 30x seems like a good plan, but if I ever gig, the 80x seems like it
would be more suitable - more power, more connection options (ext speaker,
line out, etc.). On the negative side, it's 35 lbs, which is a bit heavier
than I'd like. The 30x is 21 lbs, perfect.

I already own amps that I use for piano gigs: a pair of JBL Eon 10 G2's.
These are small, 10" powered p.a. speakers. They have a line-level input.
One option for me is to use a guitar preamp, like a Sansamp Blonde, and
plug that into the Eon. If I did that, I wouldn't have to buy a guitar
amp. I tried that, it sounds pretty good. But, I like the convenience of
having a guitar practice amp that just sits in my living room, ready to
just plug in and play. If I used my Eons, I'd have to set them up before
and after every piano gig.

Looking for advice here. Is the Cube 30x a good choice? Is the 80x a
better one? Are there other good starter amps? What do you guys
recommend?

Thanks,
Richard

[Dave]

Post by Richard Whitehouse
I'm a beginner jazz guitar student, looking at buying my first amp.
- Light weight, small
- Good jazz tone
- Low cost
- Use it as a practice amp for now, but may want to gig with it at
some point, perhaps in a year or two
Even though I would probably prefer the tone of something like a
polytone or henriksen

Not necessarily. Polytone has a good jazz tone, but it's pretty much a
one-trick pony. The Henriksen is POS, IMO. I know a kid who bought one to
bring to school. Not only did he not like it much, in general (I tried it
myself; very unimpressed. Very "small" sounding.) it couldn't cut it in
some of the larger (louder) ensemble settings. He picked up a used P-tone
that he likes.

You could go that route, or look for a used Roland Cube 60. I got one
near-mint for $200. Yeah, it's a tad heavy, but it'll easily handle any
playing situation. Plus it has more than one sound and some useful effects.

[Keith Freeman]

Post by Richard Whitehouse
- Light weight, small
- Good jazz tone
- Low cost
- Use it as a practice amp for now, but may want to gig with it at some
point, perhaps in a year or two

Check out the ZT Lunchbox. I love mine!

-Keith

Clips, Portable Changes, tips etc.: www.keithfreemantrio.nl
e-mail: info AT keithfreemantrio DOT nl

[335]

I'm a beginner jazz guitar student, looking at buying my first amp.  Some
- Light weight, small
- Good jazz tone
- Low cost
- Use it as a practice amp for now, but may want to gig with it at some
point, perhaps in a year or two
Even though I would probably prefer the tone of something like a polytone
or henriksen, it doesn't make sense to me to spend a lot of money on an
amp, not yet, since I'm not doing gigs.  I may never get good enough to
gig, or who knows, I might get sick of this whole endeavor, and just stick
to piano (which I've been playing for about 50 yrs).  I hope not, but you
never know.
I'm playing a Squier Standard Telecaster at the moment.  I'm going to stick
to a tele for the time being, I like the simplicity of it.  I might get a
slightly better one, probably a MIM, pretty soon.  I'll think about other
guitars later, if and when I can play.
So, for a starter amp, I'm considering a Roland Cube 30x or maybe a 80x.  
The 30x seems like a good plan, but if I ever gig, the 80x seems like it
would be more suitable - more power, more connection options (ext speaker,
line out, etc.).  On the negative side, it's 35 lbs, which is a bit heavier
than I'd like.  The 30x is 21 lbs, perfect.
I already own amps that I use for piano gigs: a pair of JBL Eon 10 G2's.
These are small, 10" powered p.a. speakers.  They have a line-level input.  
One option for me is to use a guitar preamp, like a Sansamp Blonde, and
plug that into the Eon.  If I did that, I wouldn't have to buy a guitar  
amp.  I tried that, it sounds pretty good.  But, I like the convenience of
having a guitar practice amp that just sits in my living room, ready to
just plug in and play.  If I used my Eons, I'd have to set them up before
and after every piano gig.
Looking for advice here.  Is the Cube 30x a good choice?  Is the 80x a
better one?  Are there other good starter amps?  What do you guys
recommend?
Thanks,
Richard

I recently tried the cube 80 which has replaced the cube 60 in
roland's line. I liked the clean sound and imo it would be usable but
not ideal for a jazz gig. I found it just a little but harsh but you
could probably fix that with some eq. The Rolands have a lot of
different modeling effects built in, some of which sound okay and
others which sound like crap.

For smaller, quiet jazz gigs you could probably get by with the 30 but
for a just a little more money you could get the 80 and have plenty of
headroom. It's a decent amp for the money although somewhat bloated
with effects.

As an alternative you might want to look for a used polytone which
might be in a similar price range to the cubes.

[hw]

Post by Richard Whitehouse
I'm a beginner jazz guitar student, looking at buying my first amp. Some
- Light weight, small
- Good jazz tone
- Low cost
- Use it as a practice amp for now, but may want to gig with it at some
point, perhaps in a year or two
Even though I would probably prefer the tone of something like a polytone
or henriksen, it doesn't make sense to me to spend a lot of money on an
amp, not yet, since I'm not doing gigs. I may never get good enough to
gig, or who knows, I might get sick of this whole endeavor, and just stick
to piano (which I've been playing for about 50 yrs). I hope not, but you
never know.
I'm playing a Squier Standard Telecaster at the moment. I'm going to stick
to a tele for the time being, I like the simplicity of it. I might get a
slightly better one, probably a MIM, pretty soon. I'll think about other
guitars later, if and when I can play.
So, for a starter amp, I'm considering a Roland Cube 30x or maybe a 80x.
The 30x seems like a good plan, but if I ever gig, the 80x seems like it
would be more suitable - more power, more connection options (ext speaker,
line out, etc.). On the negative side, it's 35 lbs, which is a bit heavier
than I'd like. The 30x is 21 lbs, perfect.
I already own amps that I use for piano gigs: a pair of JBL Eon 10 G2's.
These are small, 10" powered p.a. speakers. They have a line-level input.
One option for me is to use a guitar preamp, like a Sansamp Blonde, and
plug that into the Eon. If I did that, I wouldn't have to buy a guitar
amp. I tried that, it sounds pretty good. But, I like the convenience of
having a guitar practice amp that just sits in my living room, ready to
just plug in and play. If I used my Eons, I'd have to set them up before
and after every piano gig.
Looking for advice here. Is the Cube 30x a good choice? Is the 80x a
better one? Are there other good starter amps? What do you guys
recommend?
Thanks,
Richard

you can get a used orange cube 60 for under 200$. best amp for jazzy
telecaster. two words: ed bickert. search this group.

[Dave]

Post by hw
you can get a used orange cube 60 for under 200$. best amp for jazzy
telecaster.

That's my setup these days....cheap Cube, cheap Tele...love 'em.

[rpjazzguitar]

I'm a beginner jazz guitar student, looking at buying my first amp.  Some
- Light weight, small
- Good jazz tone
- Low cost
- Use it as a practice amp for now, but may want to gig with it at some
point, perhaps in a year or two
Even though I would probably prefer the tone of something like a polytone
or henriksen, it doesn't make sense to me to spend a lot of money on an
amp, not yet, since I'm not doing gigs.  I may never get good enough to
gig, or who knows, I might get sick of this whole endeavor, and just stick
to piano (which I've been playing for about 50 yrs).  I hope not, but you
never know.
I'm playing a Squier Standard Telecaster at the moment.  I'm going to stick
to a tele for the time being, I like the simplicity of it.  I might get a
slightly better one, probably a MIM, pretty soon.  I'll think about other
guitars later, if and when I can play.
So, for a starter amp, I'm considering a Roland Cube 30x or maybe a 80x.  
The 30x seems like a good plan, but if I ever gig, the 80x seems like it
would be more suitable - more power, more connection options (ext speaker,
line out, etc.).  On the negative side, it's 35 lbs, which is a bit heavier
than I'd like.  The 30x is 21 lbs, perfect.
I already own amps that I use for piano gigs: a pair of JBL Eon 10 G2's.
These are small, 10" powered p.a. speakers.  They have a line-level input.  
One option for me is to use a guitar preamp, like a Sansamp Blonde, and
plug that into the Eon.  If I did that, I wouldn't have to buy a guitar  
amp.  I tried that, it sounds pretty good.  But, I like the convenience of
having a guitar practice amp that just sits in my living room, ready to
just plug in and play.  If I used my Eons, I'd have to set them up before
and after every piano gig.
Looking for advice here.  Is the Cube 30x a good choice?  Is the 80x a
better one?  Are there other good starter amps?  What do you guys
recommend?
Thanks,
Richard

I'd buy a practice amp for under $100. There are many to choose from.
I have a Crate GFX15 which sounds great (although it isn't reliable.
They sold new for under $100 and sell used for under $50. As long as
you don't run them too loud, chances are they'll all sound fine for
practice, or even mic'ed on a gig.

Then, I'd consider an amp simulator and use it with your JBL's for
gigs. The Digitech RP50 is only $50 or so and there are some pro
players that use it in exactly this way.

[Michael L Kankiewicz]

Post by Richard Whitehouse
I'm playing a Squier Standard Telecaster at the moment. I'm going to stick
to a tele for the time being, I like the simplicity of it. I might get a
slightly better one, probably a MIM, pretty soon. I'll think about other
guitars later, if and when I can play.
So, for a starter amp, I'm considering a Roland Cube 30x or maybe a 80x.
The 30x seems like a good plan, but if I ever gig, the 80x seems like it
would be more suitable - more power, more connection options (ext speaker,
line out, etc.). On the negative side, it's 35 lbs, which is a bit heavier
than I'd like. The 30x is 21 lbs, perfect.

Get a Cube 60. The prices are dropping because they released the 80, and
the 60 is 3 lbs lighter. Besides, if you won't be playing out for a
couple of years, don't worry about carrying it. I doubt there's much
volume difference. And at home you'll appreciate the deeper tone than the 30
has. There's one on ebay right now for just $225, *free shipping* and
includes a Voodoo channel switch. Keep in mind that with any of the Cubes
you normally have to pay quite a bit extra for the footswitches.

Also, the guy who mentioned the old orange Cube 60 is right, if all you
want is a clean jazz tone. They're nice and light, but the dirty channel is
awful - the worst. Just stay away from the orange Cube 100 - they weigh a
ton.

MK

[Tim McNamara]

Post by Richard Whitehouse
I'm a beginner jazz guitar student, looking at buying my first amp. Some
- Light weight, small
- Good jazz tone
- Low cost
- Use it as a practice amp for now, but may want to gig with it at some
point, perhaps in a year or two
Even though I would probably prefer the tone of something like a
polytone or henriksen, it doesn't make sense to me to spend a lot of
money on an amp, not yet, since I'm not doing gigs. I may never get
good enough to gig, or who knows, I might get sick of this whole
endeavor, and just stick to piano (which I've been playing for about
50 yrs). I hope not, but you never know.

I bought my Polytone MiniBrute II for $200 used. Sounds great (but it
is 30 years old...). I bought my Cube 60 for used for $200; I usually
take that one places because it's newer and at least theoretically more
reliable. It seems louder than the PT, too.

Post by Richard Whitehouse
I'm playing a Squier Standard Telecaster at the moment. I'm going to
stick to a tele for the time being, I like the simplicity of it. I
might get a slightly better one, probably a MIM, pretty soon. I'll
think about other guitars later, if and when I can play.

Last summer I bought a Squier Affinity Tele and it has become one of my
main guitars. Sounds decent, plays great. I may play with swapping
pickups and pots a bit. It's amazingly good for less than $200.

Post by Richard Whitehouse
So, for a starter amp, I'm considering a Roland Cube 30x or maybe a
80x. The 30x seems like a good plan, but if I ever gig, the 80x
seems like it would be more suitable - more power, more connection
options (ext speaker, line out, etc.). On the negative side, it's 35
lbs, which is a bit heavier than I'd like. The 30x is 21 lbs,
perfect.

The 30 is pretty loud and some other folks here use them for gigs. Jazz
gigs rarely come anywhere near rock or blues volume, so you don't need a
big stonkin' amp. I think it'd be a great choice for your needs.

[Dave]

The (Cube) 30 is pretty loud and some other folks here use them for gigs.
Jazz gigs rarely come anywhere near rock or blues volume, so you
don't need a big stonkin' amp. I think it'd be a great choice for
your needs.

But there's more to the sound than just volume. The smaller Cubes
sound...well, smaller; not as full as the models with a 12" spkr.

[jazzgeetar]

IMHO, it's hard to go wrong with the Cube line (given realistic
expectations). I have a 30 (not the 30x) and the 80x. I've also owned
a 60 in the past. I use the 30 alot for jazz gigs (mostly restaurant
gigs) and rehearsals. For the price, they get really good clean tones
(don't expect too much from the dirty tones though). But for jazz,
they're great because they are portable, solid sounding, and offer a
couple different types of cleans: clear JC, clear to pushed Blackface-
like, pushed tweed-like.

-Dan S

[Lawrie]

I've been enjoying my Cube 60 for several years now. I think it's a
great all around amp. There are features in the new Cuba 80X that I
wish my 60 had. One being an Aux input so you could plug in a mp3
player and practice to jam tracks. All the Cubes have it except for
the 60. Check this thread out for some other comparisons between the
60 and 80;

http://www.jazzguitar.be/forum/guitar-amps-gizmos/5149-roland-cube-60-vs-80x.html

Hope this helps,

Lawrie

[i***@gmail.com]

Post by Richard Whitehouse
I'm a beginner jazz guitar student, looking at buying my first amp. Some
- Light weight, small
- Good jazz tone
- Low cost
- Use it as a practice amp for now, but may want to gig with it at some
point, perhaps in a year or two
Even though I would probably prefer the tone of something like a polytone
or henriksen, it doesn't make sense to me to spend a lot of money on an
amp, not yet, since I'm not doing gigs. I may never get good enough to
gig, or who knows, I might get sick of this whole endeavor, and just stick
to piano (which I've been playing for about 50 yrs). I hope not, but you
never know.
I'm playing a Squier Standard Telecaster at the moment. I'm going to stick
to a tele for the time being, I like the simplicity of it. I might get a
slightly better one, probably a MIM, pretty soon. I'll think about other
guitars later, if and when I can play.
So, for a starter amp, I'm considering a Roland Cube 30x or maybe a 80x.
The 30x seems like a good plan, but if I ever gig, the 80x seems like it
would be more suitable - more power, more connection options (ext speaker,
line out, etc.). On the negative side, it's 35 lbs, which is a bit heavier
than I'd like. The 30x is 21 lbs, perfect.
I already own amps that I use for piano gigs: a pair of JBL Eon 10 G2's.
These are small, 10" powered p.a. speakers. They have a line-level input.
One option for me is to use a guitar preamp, like a Sansamp Blonde, and
plug that into the Eon. If I did that, I wouldn't have to buy a guitar
amp. I tried that, it sounds pretty good. But, I like the convenience of
having a guitar practice amp that just sits in my living room, ready to
just plug in and play. If I used my Eons, I'd have to set them up before
and after every piano gig.
Looking for advice here. Is the Cube 30x a good choice? Is the 80x a
better one? Are there other good starter amps? What do you guys
recommend?
Thanks,
Richard

I have a cube 15 and and a 30 both good for my solo finger style jazz, using a loar guitar with a floating Kent Armstrong pickup ( a crude bargain), mellow sounding guitar. However when I have to go loud I bring my Behringer k1800FX keyboard amp. This is the cleanest combo amp I every heard,after I got it I sold my Roland KC amp, and it's got jazz tone that you can dial in with the eq and a good subtle reverb when used tastefully. Really good for faking the bass on the guitar too. I bought this amp used for $70, but it weights about 50 pounds. It also takes a mic, cause I sing too. Really a great amp. I've also had the acoustic guitar version of this amp the 1800 and it sounds bad, the 15" speaker version also sounds bad (too bassy and honking_, but I have the K900FX version as a backup and it sounds as good as the K1800FX.