Roland Guitar Combo Amplifiers

The Roland Jazz Chorus 77 is a guitar combo amplifier that is a solid state amp and has two 10" speakers. It delivers 80 watts of power and has a slew of effects and parameters. It also has wheels and two 1/4 inch inputs in the front. UTILIZATION The make up of the Roland Jazz Chorus 77 is pretty easy to follow and there is a lot that can be done with this amp. It has all sorts of parameters including EQ bands for low, mid, treble, and high treble and effects including overdrive, chorus, and spring reverb. It is pretty easy to follow everything that is going on and it only took me a few minutes to get accustomed to it all. Getting a good sound isn't hard as the inherent tone is really nice sounding and all of the effects, but especially the chorus is great. I haven't seen the manual for the Roland Jazz Chorus 77 so I don't know if it is put together well or not or would be helpful while learning this amp. SOUNDS The sound of the Roland Jazz Chorus 77 is pretty awesome overall. I love the straight clean sound as it has a lot of depth to it and the effects are all really good as well. The stereo chorus also has a lot of depth and is quite rich sounding and is probably the best effect that this amp has the offer. The reverb and overdrive are both pretty good as well but the chorus is the best of the three in my opinion. I usually use this amp with a Fender Strat of a Gibson SG for recording and I can get some pretty awesome sounds with this amp. It definitely has its own style and is one of the best amps that Roland has to offer. OVERALL OPINION I've been using the Roland Jazz Chorus 77 for a few years and I've found this to be a great guitar amp. While it works in certain situations better than in others, it will work for just about any type of music as it is pretty versatile. The price of the amp is about right and is what you should pay for an amp of this caliber. If you want a great guitar amp with some cool effects this amp is definitely worth trying out.

I have been playing guitar for thirty years now. Currently I am not in a band I've prefered to work in recording studios because I overdub myself because I also play keyboards, drums and bass guitar. I write my own music. When I do play gigs I play solo. Back in the early eighties I was seeking an amplifier. I knew what I was looking for and was testing out amps in many music stores. Finally I came across an amp that was very versitile, the Jazz Chorus 120. I bought it for something like 3 to 4 hundred dollars at the time. Since then the price has gone up considerably. The JC120 has two channels and a variety of chorus and reverb sounds. It is excellent for gigs. It is medium sized which makes it good for gigs at large and small places. The chorus and reverb channel is excellent for vocals.The tone quality is "rich and full sounding". There is virtually nothing I don't like about the JC, It's a great amp. It is tough and durable. The speakers are a good size. It has removable wheels so it can be stacked up. The JC120 it an all around great amplifier. After I had bought it, I had seen it in many music magazines being used by many serious professionals. It became very popular and it is still available now. I would recommend it for all music both hard and mellow. It would be a good investment for any working guitarist or small gig vocalist. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

Roland struck a gold mine back in the 80s with their JC120 Jazz Chorus amp. To this day it arguably is one of the nicest clean tones available, so why would I expect anything less from the Micro Cube? I wanted a small amp to keep around the house for when I wanted to jam ideas at a low volume. The Micro Cube was perfect and at $130 it was perfect for my budget at well. It can run on batteries or on the supplied power supply. If you choose batteries it takes 6 AA batteries. There is an 1/8' input to plug in an mp3 player or CD player. There is an output that can be used as a headphone jack or an out to a recording device. There are 7 digital amp modeling presets; Acoustic, JC Clean, Black Panel, Brit Combo, Stack; Classic and Rectifier and a Mic preset in case you want to put a mic through this amp. The amp has 6 effects, which I find a little over the top, but here they are: Chorus, Flanger, Tremelo, Phaser, Delay and Reverb. The built in tuning fork is sort of week. A chromatic tuner would have been much more effective in my opinion. The EQ is just one lonesome Tone knob, a 3-band EQ would have been cooler, but hey it's a cheap amp I get it. Well built. It comes with a handy strap. Most of these are black, but I snagged a less popular white finish, there is also pink. The LED light is pretty small too, it is a bit hard to tell if the amp is on or off. A fun little rocker to keep around the house. Sure it isn't perfect, but if your big rig is packed away it is nice to have this to practice on. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I bought this amp in store, from a shop called 'Music Matters' (www.musicmatters.shop) in Lisburn, N.I. I paid £199 GBP. I really love my cube. It has great power for a 30 watt amp. When you turn it up loud, it doesnt buzz. It's also very easy to use, you can get the hang on if in a few mi utes, simply by playing around with the controls. I really like the built in effects, ranging from 'acoustic' which sounds just like the real thing, to 'metal' with heavy distortion and loads of grunge. These effects are good quality, and them being built in means you don't ahve to fork out another $100-200 on an effects pedal. I also like the various controls being on top, allowing maximum speaker size, without bringing up the overall size of the amp up, meaning its a more transportable size. I could keep going on the plus points for quite a while, belive me, theres plenty!! I really can't find much to fault on this unit at all. It sounds great. The clean channel is very clean, the distort is as distorted as you like, and it has nearly everything you would want in between. My only fault is that it is quite heavy for carting around with you, but really, for what you get included, its not really an issue, and to shed some weight, it would have to lose some of the effects, so really its only a small sacrifice to have it heavier. The cube is as sturdy an amp as I have seen in a while. Its tough, solid and well built. I haven't damaged mine in any way yet (nor would I try!) but I would say this amp could withstand quite a bit of rough-and-tumble. Overall- its a great amp. There are few things i can find to fault, and even these aren't too big a deal. It sounds great, and its built in fx means that it saves you money, as you dont need an fx pedal. If anything happened this amp, I would buy a new one. I would recommend this for home practise, band practise sessions and even small gigs, as it can go damn loud without loosing quality-just ask my band mates!! This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

Paid $300.00 used (well worth more), and got it at Noteworks in Phoenix, Az. Everything, even without my Boss GT-6, I found the cleanest tone possible, and the true stereo chorus is rich and warm. Every note, and chord sings. I play it thru my Fender US Strat modified with the David Gilmour EMG SA active pickups. Nothing, except that it is a bit too heavy in the case I want to take it here and there to show friends, and make them envy. Very solid, built like a tank. I believe mine is the older one than the ones they sell nowadays..........SOMEONE HELP ME OUT HERE: I believe mine is very old, the power switch is a silver switch, and the effects power (Vibrato, off, and chorus), are not knobs, but another silver switch, and the speakers have the silver tips. I will send a pic upon request if you can estimate the year it was made....j9928@cox.net Legendary sound. True chorus. You will not regret buying this wonderful amp. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I bought this amp about 3 months ago. I needed something smaller to take to gigs and sessions (it was getting rather tedious to drag around a half stack everywhere). I got it from Sam Ash for around $450 with shipping costs. The amp also has quite a bit of amp modeling features and effects built in, along with 11 saveable patches (more with the optional pedal board). I like the quality of roland's effects and the integration of effects and amp in one. The distortions and cab simulators are better than line6 amps at the same price. The knobs and pots are adjustable to very specific settings with no gaps or leaps in level as is common in many modeling amps. The only thing I don't like is that the cab seems a little big. It is more the size of a cab for a 2x10 than a 1x12, but the casters help to compensate for the extra weight when moving it from place to place. The chorus settings are a little too "chorusy" unless the level for that is set pretty low. Other than that it's great! The amp has a single 1x12 with 65w of power, which is plenty enough for the rehearsals and gigs I've been playing. There's no use in having a giant amp if it's just going to mic'd and put thru the house PA anyways. It comes with casters, too. It's a solid, rugged amp, and is definately worth the money. You get many of the same effects you would find in the boss pedals/pedalboards and a great amp at the same time! This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I found myself in need of an inexpensive guitar amp fast when a band member knocked my borrowed Fender Blues Jr. off a chair and it developed a nasty reverb buzz (not to mention an irritated owner). Blues Jrs. have doubled in price in the last three years. I recalled a positive experience I had years ago with a friends little Roland solid state, and so I persued some online reviews of current products. I suspected I was onto something when reviewer after reviewer raved about the BC-30, a little solid state, single 12-inch speaker combo configured much like the Blues Jr. and clearly aimed at the same market, that is, players of blues, 60's rock, country and the like. (That the couple of negative reviews came from shred rockers who felt bitterly decieved by this amp's claim to tube-like sound only confiremed that I was on the right track). At a list price of around $400 dollars and a sale price of $189.00 at Musician's Friend, I felt safe enough to take a chance, and clicked. Four days later my blues cube arrived at the front door. With some trepidation I pulled the sharp looking beigy tolex unit with the brown grille from the box and fired it up with my 1960 Kay F-hole electric. I almost fell over. This amp is unbelievable. It is, first of all, silent (a nice change from tubes and especially so when one uses single-coils pickups, for which the manual says the amp is optimized). The bass is rich, smooth, and natural, and with none of that thin hardness of older solid states. The mids are detailed and natural, and subtleties of pick attack and dynamics are beautifully captured, detailed without being clinical. Ah, the all important highs; clear enough to use the neck pickup of a strat, natural enough to use the bridge pickup with no apologies or adjustments. I took it out to a gig the next night in a medium sized club and discovered that as well as being plenty loud, this amp is considerably more versatile than the blues junior, cutting through especially at the top end with more authority and delicacy. Nothing! Could use a reverb but with my Boss ME-5 I don't care. Solid. Buy one! I play 50's through 2000's rock, lots of chuck berry, beatles, motown, everly's etc. Perfect. Unimpeachable. Haven't gotten to the overdrive channel yet but it produces enough distortion in the normal channel that I doubt I will. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I purchased this unit at Lietz Music in Panama City, FL. I had been lookining for a good quality practice amp that was portable and had a headphone jack (for my wife's benefit during late night practice sessions). I paid about $119.00 for this unit. The major factor that struck me about this amp was the sound quality. This thing is rated at 15 watts but sounds like a huge amp. The "clean" channel sounds very clear and crisp with almost no hiss or hum, but the "lead" channel is where it really gets cool. It comes with four built-in distortion settings:Overdrive, Distortion, Metal, and Metal Stack. You don't need to buy extra pedals because they are built in. The headphone jack is also a recording out jack for direct recording hookup. It comes with an AUX IN jack for playing along with CD or drum machines. The only thing I have a complaint with is the fact there is no volume control for the CD input. The volume must be controled from the input device. This amp seems very well built. The cabinet is very sturdy with high impact, full across corner protectors. The front grill is metal mesh which should protect the 8 inch speaker from any damage. All the controls are top mounted. There is a seperate volume control for each chanel and a gain control for the lead channel. There is three band equilization (bass, mid, treble) that works for both channels. There is a channel select button and a selector knob on the lead channel for the four distortion effects. The built-in effects are supposed to be modeled after several of the BOSS pedals and they all preform very well. The is an AUX IN input and a Recording Out/Headphone output. As for quality, it is built by ROLAND. What more can you say. This is a fun, well built little amp. For the price of about two of the BOSS pedals, you get four quality effects and a great sounding amp thrown in to boot. This amp will be great for personal practice and would be very good as a small recording amp, especially with the built-in effects. Really portable. The Overdrive setting does great blues with my tele and the Metal and Metal Stack should satisfy even the hard core metal players. I would recommend it in a heartbeat and definitely replace it if anything happened to it. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

$439 plus tax and shipping from Musician's Friend. I was looking for a responsive and flexible amp, big enough to do club dates but not so heavy as to throw my back out. I think I found it. I think the Blues Cube is the best kept secret in guitar amps. Though this is solid state, it is easily as responsive as most tube units. Better than many. Dig in with your pick and it SPEAKS, back off and it croons. Two channels - each w/ 3 bands of EQ - global reverb and presence, effects loop and switchable rectifier sounds. Nice. It's name says it, this is a BLUES amp. It'll clean up to do jazz and country. Crank the "lead" channel distortion and easily do classic shred rock. You want death metal distortion - buy a pedal. But Texas road house blues? Now we're talkin'. I had to buy a Boss FS-5L foot pedal and cable seperately for hands free channel swtiching. Should be included. Also would like to have a cover at least available, if not included. Any serious roadworker is going to drop it in an Anvil or SKB case for travel but say you have a two week sit down gig - you're going to want to put a cover over it during the day. Solid! No loose screws or nuts. No gaps in the joints or Tolex. Crank it up - no rattles. Roland has a great reputation for quality. This amp is true to that rep. People rhapsodize about how great tube amps sound. Not always! I've either played, or had sidemen that played, Fenders (including Deluxe, Princeton, Twin, Bassman, Dual Showman, Concert Reverb) Ampeg (sweet), Sunn, Marshall, Supra and Vox (wretch!). Some sounded good, some sucked. Your sound is a combination of THE AMP, THE GUITAR AND THE PLAYER! An over-priced tube amp is no guarantee of great sound. Tube amps require maintenance. Ever broken a tube on load-out and had to scramble for a 6L6GC in Moscow, Idaho on a Sunday morning? Or had your last 12AX7 crap out in mid set? Not fun. The Blues Cube is a well built, practical, versatile amp for a working (or would-be working) picker. It excells in a variety of blues sounds but serves well in other styles. A good investment. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

Well, I read a lot of reviews for this thing before I got it, but I'm a skeptic until I get a hand’s-on. I expected it to be a bit thin with 6.5" drivers, but was very pleased with the sound coming out of it. I normally use the onboard effects of a SpiderIII or an RP-1000 through a keyboard amp so I am used to synthesized tone. The Street Cube for its obvious limitation, delivers a good variety of sound in a very small and powerful package. UTILIZATION I am definitely impressed with the sound this puts out. And even more surprising is the weight. The thing is about the size of a cinder block, but weighs in a just a few pounds. It is truly hard to believe that 6 AAA batteries puts out this volume. I've played it a lot since I got it last week, and have yet to run down the juice. I'm sure the "15 hours" of play time is optimistic, but it easily lasts several hours at loud volume. SOUNDS The FX are good. There are three basic flavors - several amp styles, chorus/delays and reverb. These plus the gain control gives you a pretty wide palette to play with. It wasn't too long ago that these FX alone would have cost more than this amp. You can get as clean as you want or crank it to the max. It's just a very versatile box. OVERALL OPINION I bought this to play some light blues for an outdoor wedding, where A/C was not available. Jack in an MP3 and you're good to play along with tracks. Truly the most fun piece of gear I've gotten in a long time. I don't expect to get rid of it, and with Roland quality, that means it'll be with my gear for a long time. Street Musician? - Don't bother looking anywhere else.

This is the 55 watt version of the most popular clean amp in existence. You don't have 120 watts of power but only 55 which makes it a lot cheaper and a lower priced as well. These are harder to find then the JC120, but equally as good. The Jazz Chorus probably the most recognizable Roland amp ever created. Also probably the most highly sought after solid state amp on the planet. And maybe the most highly used clean tone that has ever been created! From studios to stages this amp has seen a number of uses and major users, such as Metallica and many others. This amp has a clean tone that is perfect for recording as well as running a pedals in front of. UTILIZATION * The classic and most popular "JC" since 1975 * 60W 12" x 2 speakers * Distinctive "JC" stereo chorus * Vibrato with rate and depth control * Two input channels (normal/effect); 3-band EQ per channel * Stereo effect loop * Three footswitch jacks for chorus/vibrato, reverb and distortion SOUNDS The tone from this amp is so legendary! You get 55 watts rather than 120 which is much more usable. The clean is really the reason you buy this amp but the ability to take distortion pedals is a huge bonus. The amp takes on your favorite pedal quite well and amplifies the natural harmonics of your guitar and playing style. For me there is only one reason to own this amp...and that is to use it on a recording for clean tone. The chorus is very lush and smooth! It sounds great with just about any guitar you throw at it. If you have listened to any Metallica album then you have heard this amp. OVERALL OPINION If you really want to gig with this amp then it is a good purchase, but if you just want to use it for recording a particularly the clean then save several hundred dollars and get a Cube amp from Roland that has the JC Clean. But this amp is so classic anyway that it is a must own! I would recommend this amp to anyone who needs the best clean tone you could get out of an amp. I am partial to solid state cleans as I feel that they have a sparkle that tubes cannot match. Distortion is a whole different ball game but the cleans will get you the best chimey sparkle you have ever heard.

For the price there really isn't anything better. This amp sound so good for being a solid state amplifier that it makes you just bring this thing into the studio to record with. The amp has a tremendously usable and sparkly clean channel. Then you go to the overdrive channel for four different distortion voicings. Roland CUBE-15XL 15-watt Combo Amplifier Features: * 15 watts * 8" high-performance speaker * 2 channels: independent Clean and Lead * 3 authentic Boss Lead tones, including Metal Zone and Extreme * Power Squeezer for full gain at low volume * Aux In jack to connect portable music players UTILIZATION Detail Type Solid State Number of Channels 2 Power 15W Speakers 1 x 8" Effects No Effects Reverb No Reverb EQ Bass, Middle, Treble Amp Modeling Yes Number of Models 3 Number of Tubes 0 Preamp Tubes No Tubes Power Tubes No Tubes Inputs 1 x Instrument, 1 x Aux (1/8") Outputs 1 x Record Out/Headphones (1/4") Footswitch I/O No Footswitch I/O Effects Loop No Effects Loop Height 13.19" Width 13.19" Depth 9.5" Weight 15.87 lbs. SOUNDS What I really love about this amplifier is the ability to plug in your ipod, Mp3 player, or cd player to jam along with your favorite songs. This makes practicing at home so much more fun because it then teaches you to play in time with your favorite bands. I like playing this amp with a Fender Strat or a Charvel guitar. Since the majority of this amp is based off of high gain channels I like to get a lower to medium bodied wood like ash or alder to gt that sizzling grind that is so familiar with 80's metal rock. Another cool thing is how good the effects processor is in this amp. The flanger and delays sound superb. They mix quite well with the metal distortions and extreme distortion. OVERALL OPINION One thing that I absolutely love about this this amp is the recording output. This enables you to go direct with headphones or run straight into a sound mixer. At new these units come in at around $99 which is a steal of a price. I would recommend this amp to anyone who needs a solid practice amp and doesn't want to break the budget. The ability to have a tuber and all the effects you want to go along wit a clean and dirty channel makes it an all in one amp.