Roland GC-405

20 W combo (25 W with the additional speaker, GC-405 X).
It has four 5" speakers within a compact housing, it weighs 27.5lbs.
Ideal for your room or a small apartment.
The Tube Logic technology simulates old tube amps.
Clean Channel: Volume
Lead Channel: Pre volume, Post volume
Equalizer: Bass, Middle, Treble
Master: Presence
Connections: Input jack, external speaker jack, headphone output, in/out effects loop (pretty cool for an amp at this price point). Footswitch clean/distortion (optional)
Solid, unbulky amp, well-built, the back is closed.
It isn't manufactured anymore.

UTILIZATION

Very easy to use: One knob per function.
I use it mainly with a Telecaster '72 Deluxe Reissue (with 2 humbuckers) and I love it. A buddy of mine tried it with a Telecaster '52 and it sounds well, too.
Another friend came with his PRS and it was amazing!
I record the guitar by placing a mic in front of the amp, to capture the sound of the four speakers, the sound is warmer than recording with a preamp. Otherwise, for fat sounds I use the Jekyll & Hyde distortion.
The footswitch allows you to toggle between clean and distorted sounds, but I haven't used it.

SOUNDS

Clean sound: Good, rich and warm sound with lots of attack and no noise. Beyond 4 it starts to distort gradually (like a tube amp).
Lead sound: The distortion goes from a bluesy crunch to fat Metal distortions. The Pre and Post volume knobs open up a wide sound palette. The Presence is an effective bonus.
I've had it for six years and it hasn't moved from the studio.
The Tube Logic technology adds a nice "Vintage" touch and the 4 speakers generate more lows than you can imagine.

OVERALL OPINION

Some people compare the GC405 with the JCM Dual Super Lead! That says it all. I make pro recordings for Pop-Rock songs and the sound is excellent for that.
I don't have anything to criticize. I have never had the slightest problem with it, it's simply the best amp I have ever heard at this price point.

(Originally written by SlapKid/translated from Audiofanzine FR)
Interesting concept with two 4 x 5" cabinets. The big sound reminds me of a 4 x 12" cabinet with strong low-mids and a high output power. The illusion is perfect: rock sound with dynamics.

It's the mini version of the 408 which is not conceived for apartment use.

Serial FX loop, phones output, footswitch for channel selection.

Very easy to use. It has Roland's rock sound written all over it, including the back panel: made in R.O.K.!

UTILIZATION



How do you get a bad sound? Not with this amp...

The Tube Logic circuitry is more than a tube simulation, it's the emulation of a rectifier tube whose typical compression is well reproduced. My Roland Blues 60 (3 x 10") has the same circuitry and the sound is great.

The modern digital Cube models produce the same type of sound.

SOUNDS

The response is quite linear except with high output levels, when it turns warm and very dynamic. At first sight, the shared EQ doesn't seem very effective on the distortion channel but you'll change your mind as soon as you turn up the volume. The current Cube 20x has this same particularity.

The clean sound is quite fresh and accurate, and the crunch is progressive. Given that I need a clean sound, I only use the second channel for distortion sounds. And it does a very good job at that. The gain setting is progressive (much better than a Marshall whose distortion goes from nothing to extreme between 0.5 and 1).



OVERALL OPINION

I bought it this year secondhand, it was in a very good shape. The only weak point is a strong AC hum noise (but it's even worse with my brand new Ibanez TBX15R and my previous Marshall MG15).

Interesting amp concept with a high-class sound. The current digital Cube series comes quite close to it. I can fully understand Roland's decision to replace the GC405 and 408, as well as other Bluescube with these small black boxes you currently see everywhere... It's only a matter of speaker configuration.