Mobile Cube Battery-Powered Stereo Amplifier

This little thing is a BEAST of an amp for lap steel guitar. It's voiced remarkably well for Hawaiian lap steel. Bobby Ingano is a Hawaiian Lap Steel Master from Hawaii, and he currently tours with Taj Mahal as his steel player and backup electric guitar player. Bobby tours the world with a Roland Mobile Cube for his Rickenbacher Frypan Lap Steel, and a Roland Micro Cube for his stratocaster. Both are powered by 6 AA batteries, and all he does is have them both mic'd with an SM57. Don't knock it till you've tried it. In addition to being very portable, the benefit of gigging with a battery powered amp is that you don't have to plug into the wall. Very many bars, restaurants, venues, etc have dirty power that can introduce noise into your guitar amp. Being Battery powered means you are a completely self sufficient little ecosphere. You can get consistent results, sound, and tone in every playing situation. If the little amp isn't loud enough, then you're likely playing in a band situation where someone can mic your amp with an SM57. IMO, one of the best tones for lap steel guitar, and very serviceable tone for electric and acoustic guitar.

I mention Mickey Rooney, because this little unit enables you to "put on a show" anywhere you like. And like Mickey, despite its small stature, it packs a punch and has some serious skillzzz. I don't think I have ever had any new gear surpass my expectations, as much as this little busker. Definitely voiced for an acoustic guitar and microphone. Separate inputs for each. Separate volume controls. Shared reverb and chorus Reverb is decent. And the chorus, which I normally don't like, is superb. This unit is totally quiet. Even when using both the microphone and guitar. And I don't know how they did it, but it is extremely feedback resistant. Even when you push the 5W to the max. And I have been using this nonstop, in my home because my acoustic guitars sound absolutely fantastic, through this little amp. The only dedicated acoustic amp I ever had was a fender acoustasonic junior. It was pretty good. But my D-28 and J-45's both sound heavenly, through this lunch box sized over-achiever. The best $129 I have ever spent. PS. It also has a 3rd audio input, which also has a separate volume conttol, if you'd like to play along with something from an outside source. The only thing I miss are seperate reverb controls for guitar and mike. But the combined reverb gets the job done. can you say STEREO? Yeah Baby. Roland Beethovan! [...]

Let me start by saying that I am very impressed with this unit when used for what it is designed for. You could not play a gig with it unless it was a small room background music kind of environment. It will distort the sound slightly when turned up to full volume, but not much. It could use a feedback eliminator like the Roland AC-33. Also, it only accepts 1/4 inch phone plugs connectors for the microphone input. you wont be able to plug in and standard low impedence mic cable without an tranformer adaptor. I have been able to use a shure SM-58 an SM-57 very successfully with this amp. That being said, it sounds wonderful when kept within it's limits. It great for practice and the vocal eliminator works as well as most I have tried. You could use it for street music as well(Just not loud). It also makes an excellent amp for computer or other multimedia amplification. I am a music teacher so I also like to use it for my metronome, iphone accoustic guitar etc. It's well built, the batteries last a long time and it's very light and easy to carry and a breeze to set up. just don't expect to play a rock concert on it. I would highly recommend and I would buy another if I needed to. If you need a little more power, you might try a roland AC-33.

I use this for ukulele and vocal performing in small to medium venues. It is great that it is battery powered (I also have an AC adapter). I have a mic stand setup with mic, iPad holder, uke holder; I can hang this little amp from another holder, and then I have a self-contained performing rig. The sound is OK. It is loud enough to fill a large sized meeting room, but it is not powerful enough to fill a gym or auditorium. In a group, it is good for reinforcing the sound. Our performance group uses many of these at one time, and together they raise the volume of the entire group. It has three inputs that I use: vocal, instrument and aux. It's kind of old technology (no Bluetooth), but it works great. It's so small that on an overseas trip, I put it in my check-in luggage. Negatives: the mic input is 1/4 inch, not XLR, so remember to bring the right cable! The vocal volume knob has gotten tweaked on mine so it doesn't go low any more. This amp has lived a hard life, so that is acceptable.

I looked at a LOT of battery powered amps before selecting this one, and even then I had my doubts. If it weren't for Amazon's easy return policy i might have skipped it. I had a Roland Cube Street battery powered amp, which had 2 8" speakers and a long life on battery power, but it was heavy to carry around and I only used it a few times. Then I had an opportunity to get a compact harp with a pickup in it (2 weeks after I sold the amp) and so I needed a battery powered amp again. I chose this one because Roland has a good name and the amp I had before was great. This amp has 5 watts of power just like my Cube Street did. I didn't expect much out of it, and I only needed to sweeten the volume of my harp, not to blast it out. However, when I got the amp and plugged my harp into it, I had to turn the volume down! It is a powerful little amp, compact and light, and would be a great amp for busking and gigging where there is no convenient source of electricity. There are onboard effects too, and another reason I picked the amp is that it has inputs for mic, guitar and keyboard. I figured it could handle the output of the harp, and it does without a problem. I recommend this if you need a small but powerful amp for on-the-go use.

Ho acquistato questo amplificatore stereo per utilizzarlo principalmente come cassa monitor per il notebook, dove svolge egregiamente il suo lavoro. Non ho resistito alla tentazione di provare ad usarlo anche come amplificatore per chitarra classica amplificata e di paragonarlo all'Acus che adopero normalmente: non sfigura neanche poi più che tanto, il suono è solo un poco più metallico e manca della morbidezza che caratterizza i prodotti di quel marchio (che comunque costano assai di più), ma si lascia ascoltare gradevolmente. Unico particolare irritante: la politica della Roland di non inserire nei propri manuali informazioni essenziali come la polarità dell'alimentatore (non fornito di serie) per farlo funzionare su rete elettrica. L'informazione è comunque reperibile altrimenti.

Great little practice amplifier. Love it!

This thing is very portable and powerful for its size as an acoustic guitar amp. There is absolutely no problem in performing for a small crowd such as when there is friend and family gathering during weekends. It requires 6 AA batteries for which I use the famous rechargeable Panasonic Eneloop and that would last for days with one full recharge. Dura cells won't last that long....I am writing a review almost after 10months of use and this thing still works as good as new.....I have absolutely no regret in purchasing this little amp as it gave so much fun and pleasure while using it.

Very nice small speaker for playing any instruments , the sound quality is very good

Miracle little amp. I have two, and use them several times a week. The only tweak I'd love is for an extra tone dial -- at the moment it's one tone dial that adjusts both mic and guitar. So you can't turn up the tone on the vocal and down on the guitar if you have a passive guitar pickup. I've solved this with an extra tone pedal, but would love to be able to do it on the amp itself. Otherwise, this is plenty loud -- I never have it up above half way and I play regularly to 50 or 60 people all singing, dancing and playing hand percussion. Batteries last a couple of hours -- rechargeables mean you can recharge one set while playing with another, so you're always covered. Doesn't come with a power lead, but they're fairly cheap online.