Roland Blues Cube Hot

Real valve amp tone from transistors – has Roland fi nally cracked it?
ROLAND BLUES CUBE HOT £409
ROLAND BLUES CUBE HOT
REVIEW
THE
long-running Cube
series of guitar amps
has always represented great
value; they’re compact, portable
and the Roland badge means
excellent quality and reliability.
While Roland is one of the most
popular solid-state amp brands,
there’s a still a general opinion
that even good solid-state amps
never have quite the same feel
and response as valves. However,
the Blues Cube could change that,
thanks to something Roland calls
Tube Logic.
More than just modelling,
Tube Logic is Roland’s new
design philosophy, and a radical
development from the Blues Cubes
of the 1990s – a philosophy that
starts at the input socket and
extends all the way to the speaker.
In between, Roland has duplicated
not just the tone, but the organic
response and dynamic envelope
of a vintage tweed valve amp,
using a clever mix of analogue
and digital circuits.
The Blues Cube Hot is a
single-channel design with
footswitchable boost and EQ, as
well as four output levels, from 30
watts down to around 0.5 watts, to
properly reproduce the sound of a
valve power stage driven into
cut-off at any volume level. The
smart control panel is easily
understood: there’s a single input
jack, with knobs for volume, bass,
mid and treble, reverb and
master output level. Two small
illuminated buttons control the
Cube’s boost and tone features.
Next to the shielded power switch
is the four-position pointer knob
that selects 0.5, 5, 15 or 30 watts
of output power. On the rear, there
are sockets for a two-button
footswitch, together with a
It needs no tweaking – the
sonic gratification is instant
FEATURES
SOUND QUALITY
VALUE FOR MONEY
BUILD QUALITY
USABILITY
OVERALL RATING
SUMMARY
headphones socket, line out and a
handy USB recording outlet.
The Blues Cube Hot needs no
tweaking to fi nd a great tone;
the sonic gratifi cation is instant.
Punchy mid-biased cleans
combined with snappy treble and
tight bass shift to a warm, highly
responsive tweed-inspired
overdrive as the volume is wound
up. The Tone feature returns the
Cube to its Jazz Chorus roots with
a crystal-clear modern EQ, while
Boost adds an extra dose of gain
and volume for a truly great solo
voice. It’s not just the tone that
impressed us, though; the Blues
Cube Hot has that dynamic
squashy response that you expect
from valves, fl attering single coils
and humbuckers alike. At full
power, it’s loud enough for small
gigs, while at the other extreme,
the 0.5-watt setting is perfect for
home practice and recording,
with no loss of tone or feel.
Solid-state has come a long way
in the last decade, and when amps
as good as this one come along,
it’s hard to deny the benefi ts.
Portability, reliability, consistency
and affordability are a given, but
great tone is what really counts.
But this sounds and responds like a
top boutique valve amp, with none
of the valve drawbacks. The Blues
Cube Hot is perfect for players at
any level, from keen amateurs to
the most demanding professionals.
Tube Logic is a winner.
Nick Guppy
88 APRIL 2016
TYPE: Solid-state preamp and
power amp, using analogue and
digital circuits
OUTPUT: 30W, switchable to
15, 5 and 0.5W
SPEAKER: 1x12” Roland
V 80 custom design
CONTROLS: Volume, bass, mid,
treble, reverb, master volume,
output power switch, boost and
tone switches
SOCKETS: Input, headphones,
line out, USB recording out,
footswitch jack (toggles boost
and tone)
WEIGHT: 12.6kg
DIMENSIONS: [HxWxD]
413x433x239mm
CONTACT: Roland UK
01792 702701 www.roland.co.uk
AT A GLANCE
POWER
THE four-position
power switch lets you
drive the output stage
hard, just like a real
valve power amp, and it
responds uncannily
like one, too
SPEAKER
A 12-inch loudspeaker
with a massive magnet
delivers the tone; it’s
enhanced by the clever use
of lightweight poplar ply in
the cabinet for extra zing
USB RECORDING
A handy USB output
records the Blues Cube
Hot’s scintillating tones
direct to your DAW
TGR278.gear_roland.indd 88 23/02/2016 18:21