Roland Blues Cube Hot
ToTal GuiTar november 2016
104
Head To Head
How our four amps stack
up against each other…
W
hile there are no dogs when it
comes to build quality here,
the sturdily-conceived Fender
and Blackstar combos are the
pick of the litter. The compact,
lightweight Roland and the more imposing
Peavey feel a bit more ‘budget’ in comparison.
Tonally however, the Bassbreaker 15 gives us
the biggest surprise. Clean, it has that famous
glassy tone you expect from a Fender valve
amp but the overdrive has a distinctive throaty
tone that’s more classic British rock than
American pie. The three-step Gain Structure
escalates in large increments taking you from
mid-60s Brit blues to punk blues blasts to
Angus Young level overdrive.
While the Roland has the highest wattage
here, it’s the 20-watt Peavey that pumps out
the most volume. Valve-powered output kicks
solid state ass every time. While the Peavey is
more of a versatile rock amp with a wide tonal
palette, the Blues Cube Hot is obviously
designed to capture the sound and vibe of a
vintage Fender tweed amp. Not only is that
old-school DNA present in its tone, we like the
fact that this compact amp doesn’t turn into
a slavering rock beast (unlike our Peavey and
Fender contenders) when you crank it up.
When you hit your strings hard you get a
realistic boost in compression and a sizzling
light overdrive with plenty of sustain.
Ultimately, it’s the Blackstar that responds
most like a classic British blues amp should.
It cherishes the natural sound of your guitar,
better than the other amps here, and produces
a sweet sustain and transparent overdrive.
We like that the gain on oer is quite
restrained. Bottom line: you have to put in
some of the work to get the best out of this amp
and that makes for a more enjoyable playing
experience than just having the dynamics,
gain and sustain handed to you. That’s what
a great blues amp is all about.
All three amps here
have a single
12-inch speaker
Build quality is solid
on all three amps
tonally, It’s the
bassmaster 15
that gIves us the
bIggest surprIse
the tg test
TGR286.gear_test.indd 106 10/10/2016 11:02