Roland BC-HOT-VB Blues Cube Hot Guitar Combo Amplifier with Tube Tone, 30-Watt Amp with 12-Inch Speaker, Vintage Blond

This amp is a special piece of technology. Without sounding like a knock off, it duplicates the "break up" sound of a tube amp without the hassle of tubes. Very sturdy, powerful and loud but easy to regulate. It has an attenuator which allows for maximum effects without super loud volume but if you want loud, just set it on 30 watts and stand back. I have never used it on anything more than 5 watts. A little gain brings you crunch but I actually use a Blues Drive pedal with it and keep the gain down. With the blues driver it is the only amp I have ever heard to give you the break up sound without ear splitting volume. If you like the "tweed" sound and love great reverb which it also has, take a look at it. It also has a boost feature that by itself gives amazing and unique distortion. Definitely worth a look and you might not even need a pedal.

Great tone, light weight and very gigable.

I’ve been a die-hard tube amp guy for my entire career: Mesa Boogie, Fender being my main squeezes. I now mainly play jazz, and my Fender Superchamp X2 has been the perfect tone for me, with the head/cabinet combo upgraded to JJ tubes and an Eminence 12” speaker. Recent power supply issues forced me to purchase another amp, and I was beginning to lose my faith in tubes due to their unreliability.All that as a caveat to say I could not be more pleased with the Roland Blues Cube Hot! All the sweet clean tone I need, and even greater tonal flexibility. I see no need to upgrade the stock speaker, as it seems perfectly matched to this amp. Most surprising is the tube like sag and compression with the boost engaged. There is no need for an overdrive or Tube Screamer type pedal with this baby! I rarely use overdrive, but this Blues Cube has a very sweet tone when pushed: clear and articulate, but a nice bite!I had no trouble dialing in a perfect jazz tone on my arch top, and I’m even exploring new clean tones I never found on my previous amps. Roland, you have a winner here! And VM Express shipped quickly with excellent packaging. The unit arrived flawless and the blonde fit and finish are quite lovely. I love this amp! I’m selling the tube amps.... can’t believe I’m saying that!

Bought for practice but have used it at a couple small gigs and it had plenty of power. I use a foot switch to turn on the boost and it is a perfect increase for solos. The amp is very touch responsive and cleans up when turning my guitar down. I have had tube amps from Fender, Marshall, Peavey, Mesa and Orange and have not enjoyed them nearly as much as I do this amp. I usually ended up sticking a transistor pedal in from of my tube amps to get the sound I wanted. Another factor for me was the weight. I have no desire to luck a heavy tube amp around anymore. For larger gigs I uses a Blues Cube Artist and am just as thrilled with that. I have one tube amp left in the house only because it hasn't sold yet. If I need extra gain I use a Rat pedal into either amp and it sounds great.

I have owned many tube amps (Fender, Mesa, Marshall) and currently own a Hughes & Kettner. This amp is truly wonderful. It is loud enough to gig with, quiet enough to practice with and the tone range/EQ controls give a plethora of range. Is it expensive for a solid state amp? Yes it is. But the quality is there and matches the price. I also have a Katana 50 which I love but this amp provides that buttery sweet mid tube like tone the Katana just doesn't match."Lush" would be the best one word description. It's just lovely.

This amp is amazing! Where do I start....even though it is a 30 watt solid state amp, it gives any 40 watt tube amp a run for its money! Speaking of tube amp, with the tube logic technology this amp sounds VERY close to a tube amp. I put a 40 watt tube amp against it, and it was difficult to tell the difference between tones. This amp is also lightweight, great for gigging, plus with the Line-out, you're ready to go for those venues that require you to plug directly into the board (or if you can't you're stuck micing the amp and running the mic into the board). Also, this amp is fantastic for studio work, and even when turned up at the highest volume and level settings, the frame of the amp does not vibrate and so you will not catch any vibration noise if using a dry mic to double against the wet mic. If you're looking for a powerful, versatile and lightweight amp for gigging and recording, this amp is it!

Very light. Sound is great.

Great amp. Warm overdriven sound. Responds well to subtleties so it's easy to make individual notes cut through. I replaced a roland micro cube and the difference in responsiveness has changed the way I play. Minimal effects but you can stick some low cost copy pedals in front of this and still get a way better sound than through a do everything digital modelling amp. In my opinion...