It is the perfect amp if you enjoy experimenting and haven't yet settled on a specific sound AND/OR if you like the casual playing in a pub or small club or such.
Cube 40XL
Reviewed by:
darkjacket, on march 14, 2012 2 of 2 people found this review helpful
Price paid: $ 250
Purchased from: Yamaha Music Square
Features: I guess it was made in 2010 or 2011. It's a great, versatile amp, at least for me! I mainly play old school/classic rock, blues and a bit of metal. The gain on this amp is excellent and the lower end is extraordinary. It gets the neighbors shouting, but I can't hear them when this amp is on. Well mostly I play with the Power Squeezer on so I can keep the sound low without compromising on the gain. It is undoubtedly one the best features of this amp.
It has 2 channels, one JC Clean, and the other one is the Lead channel. It has 2 types of reverb, 5 effects on the EFX knob, which are chorus, flanger, phaser, tremolo and heavy octave. I use them quite frequently and they are pretty nice! It has a separate delay and also a 80 second Looper. Great for overdubbing and soloing practice. It has a headphone jack, and 6 foot-switchable functions. It also has the SOLO function, in which you can store your favorite settings from each channel. I wish it had a bit better clean, but I totally love few of the amp models. I use it generally for practice at home and for few gigs in schools, other places.
It is a pretty decent amp for a SS amp. Great upgrade over the previous cubes. It also has a very good automatic chromatic tuner and an aux input for backing tracks, iPod and stuff. // 9
Sound: I have a Yamaha Pacifica 112V with HSS config and a coil tap function which splits the bridge into a single coil. It is great for my style, keeping in mind classic rock, blues, and metal. It has two types of reverb, SPRING AND PLATE.
These are the models and the amps accordingly.
NAME AMP
- JC CLEAN Roland JC-120
ACOUSTIC SIM Roland AC-60 w/ Boss AC-3 Acoustic Simulator
- BLACK PANEL Fender Twin Reverb
- BRIT COMBO Vox AC-30TB
- TWEED Fender Bassman 4 x 10
- CLASSIC STACK Marshall Plexi
- METAL STACK Peavey EVH-5150
- R-FIER STACK Boogie Dual Rectifier
- EXTREME Original Roland ultra-gain amp
- DYNA AMP Original Roland dynamic amp (Produces overdrive according to picking strength, AWESOME).
Till Tweed, you can make it either clean, or with a bit of overdrive except in JC clean and acoustic. Only after I turn the volume knob above 7 or 8(which is VERY LOUD), the sound becomes a bit broken. I personally like the Black panel, JC clean, Tweed, R-fier the most.
As I stated it is good for a wide variety of music. The distortion is freaking KILLER! From the Classic model till the Dyna amp(high overdrive at high volume and hard picking). EXTREME is when you come back from school, scolded by a teacher for not doing your homework, and want to make a grunge-metal song about the teacher. CAUTION:- The cat/dog/snake in your house might be scared. // 8
Reliability & Durability: Oh YES, I would use it without ANY backup! It is literally a piece of big heavy rock. I've hit it on walls, dropped it, from a little height though, and once a kid was running and I was taking it back to my car, it hit him on his leg, the amp and that kid fell down, first thing I did, I asked if he was okay? It's so freaking solid, it looks almost bullet-proof. // 10
Impression: Overall, it's pretty nice for people who have a wide variety of music, and also for a first amp(For me it is) it's pretty awesome! I've been playing since almost 2 and a half years. I own an Yamaha Pacifica 112V (which is also pretty great). This is my first rig. I bought them together.
I would surely buy this amp again IF it get's stolen, and will then torture the thief with EXTREME setting by making him put his ears next to the amp speaker. I totally love this amp. I compared it with all the 40 watt range of practice amps in the market. It beat them all, the Spider (which are crappy), Vox VT+, Fender Mustang, etc in this range. An auto-wah would be good, but it has many other things to keep it alive. I hope you like this review. // 9
Cube 40XL
Reviewed by:
unregistered, on december 19, 2011 2 of 2 people found this review helpful
Price paid: € 199
Purchased from: Thomann
Features: This is a new amp I bought at the end of 2011 but I don't know its creation date. I assume recently. It is a solid state modelling amplifier. It has 2 channels (clean and lead). The clean is the basic clean type of sound you'd expect. The fun stuff is found in the lead channel which features the various different amps it models. There are effects built in of course: flanger, phaser, chorus, tremolo, and heavy octave (you can only use one at a time though so that bit sucks). There is also delay and reverb which can be used simultaneously with any effect you choose.
There are 9 different guitar amp styles you can choose from ranging from an acoustic simulator to blues/jazz stuff, to 60s surf rock, to old Fender types to Mesa Boogie and extreme Metal style amps. They all are quite accurate and combined with the effects its amazing the number of sound styles you can create. Other features include a looper which allows you to record for 80 seconds your guitar playing and you can then overdub your recordings with more guitar playing 3 times I think. There is also a "solo" function which allows to save a specific sound set-up you like and can be turned on even if you're using different settings at the time.
Besides this you can play music through the amp if you have the right cable so you can play along with it, a headphone jack for quiet practicing. Finally it has a great feature called the power squeezer which limits the power to something like 2 watts BUT without making the amp lose tone or quality of its sound or effects - perfect for quiet practicing.
I play at home strictly but I've turned up the volume to about 25% and it is certainly loud enough to play in pubs, clubs, smallish venues. Probably not in a large crowded gig but it wasn't made for that anyway. If you buy a controller pedal then you can activate the looper recording function and all the other functions on this guitar which I'd recommend if you plan on recording or playing live so you don't have to stop playing to edit the settings. // 9
Sound: I play an Epiphone Goth Explorer with alnico classic humbuckers which I was planning to change but when I tried it with the amp it was clear I didn't need to. Metal is my thing, specifically the harsh aggressive types. There's 3 amp styles you can use including the Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier but I prefer the Extreme setting. Add some effects, fiddle with the tone knobs and it really hits the spot, no disappointment. The distortion is probably this amp's strong point. I've tried some of the more jazzy/classic sounds but I've not enough experience with it to know if what it's making is a good jazzy sound so I won't comment but nontheless it is certainly great that this amp has so much variety and range. It can get a bit buzzy if you go to the most extreme metal setting with 10 gain - nothing that will be noticed when playing. Another thing I like is that when you add all the effects and fiddle with the tone it can make a futuristic, electro sampler sound... Great for Industrial Metal or Aggrotech if you like that. The clean is basic stuff. Boring I think unless you add some effects but good enough. The acoustic simulator isn't that great but passable. // 9
Reliability & Durability: I would use this without fear of it breaking. The body of the amp is very strong - hard plastic frame with hard rubber along the edges and a metal frame over the speakers... Has this whole industrial look going. The knobs are all on tight and the few buttons there are are firm rubber. It hasn't broken down (I just got it) but it came with a guarantee so I'm not worried. // 10
Impression: I play Metal so that was the first thing I tested and even if you just look at the Metal aspects you will be able to get a diverse and interesting sound out of this amp. I can't really comment on the other styles but what I've tested there's definitely some rock, bluesy, jazzy sounds in here. If I lost it I would definitely buy it again. I compared it to other modelling amps in the 30w-40w range (Peavey, Spider, Line 6, Behringer, etc) and this one had the best features and unique ones too like that power squeezer and solo function. It also lacked the negativity people seem to have towards Line 6 Spiders.
My favourite thing is the range and diversity of the sound. I like techno/industrial sound and it really made these cool sounds. The power squeezer is really nice too. I didn't like the fact that you can only use one effect at a time though.
In short it is the perfect amp if you enjoy experimenting and haven't yet settled on a specific sound AND/OR if you like the casual playing in a pub or small club or such. Don't buy it if you're set one one specific sound though - you'd be better off going for amps/effects that cater specifically to that style. No regrets! // 9
Most cheap tube amps sound pretty poor. And no baby tube amps come close to the versatility and power of this thing in the price range. After you buy the looper, attenuator, fx pedals , and multiple amps for band performance/practice/solo gigs and replacement tubes there is really no comparison.
The 40 is good for practice (the power squeezer helps a lot, living in an apartment and all),and it can handle a small venue set....they also make an 80....
This! This amp is a practice amp and it's made for those who are looking for their style and sound . And of course it doesn't compare to amps that cost twice or three times as much.
And the thing I like in this review is that he's honest. The ratings are pretty high but he admits that it's not the best amp in the world. So it's not one of the "It's SOOOO amazing and better than [insert whatever better and more expensive amp here]" reviews.
In short it is the perfect amp if you enjoy experimenting and haven't yet settled on a specific sound AND/OR if you like the casual playing in a pub or small club or such. Don't buy it if you're set one one specific sound though - you'd be better off going for amps/effects that cater specifically to that style. No regrets!
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I have this amp and personally i think the distortion is not up to standard and am wanting a fendeer mustang III as its distortion is much better plus i need more noise.
All these people who constantly bring up tube amps during all of these reviews are 1000 times more boring than any digital sound could ever make.Not everyone can afford tube amps plus the maintenance costs.If someone says its a good practice amp these solid states are fine for that IMO.If you want to sound like an idiot go to an apple review and talk about oranges.I have one of these and I think there actually really good especially the clean.
ive tried out the cube 40 and 80 they have the looper which is so handy to play along with. to be able to use a function like this and not have to but a separate looper and the 40w for £185 you cant go wrong for your first proper amp. if anyone out there can tell me they can get a better amp new or second hand with as good features id be very surprised
I just go this amp to replace the Peavey tube 120 I hated. I got the tones i was looking for right out of the box
And i dont need to drop another 200 bucks for a pedal so I can use the Looper function Like the Peavey Vycrapper
Its Loud It sounds good The price is right
I am done trying to be a Tube snob
There's a point in your comment because now when I have bought my second amp, a Laney VC30 tube amp, I have noticed how much better it sounds compared to my old Microcube that I sold. But you must remember that this is a practice amp and not meant to sound as good as tube amp. When you have found The Sound, you don't need to have 100 different amp models. Two sounds are enough for me: clean and overdrive/distortion. And that's what my new amp can do pretty well. But I disagree with the scoring thing. I would still give my old Microcube a 7 or something. It served well and had a decent Marshall model (that sounded better than the drive channel on Marshall MG).
Man, to everybody that comments "Oh man, you should try a tube amp", go try the amp out. It's really a fantastic piece of equipment, and for how versatile it is, it doesn't really have any competition for the next batch of price ranges. Seeing this amp at Guitar Center for 130 bucks, and knowing that it'll take pedals for any kind of music, it's practically perfect for a cover band. Not to mention it doesn't weigh eight million pounds like most tube amps...
No, you're probably not going to sound like Van Halen. But if you're doing it right, you can probably make some money with it while you try to become the next rock god.
Have one of these and are excellent value for the cost. The cleans are amazing and the acoustic simulator does simulate rather well. The distortion on this amp isn't too bad, not any better or worse than the vox valvetronix 30w i owned prior to this.
The 40 won't do it by itself.....I have a line 6 floor pod + that I shape the distortion with and use the 40xl to make it nasty.....I use an Ibanez S-series on it and it is SO sick.....
all are rubbish cant even recommend any of these trans amps there all shit and break down after a couple of years.....anyway i ended up with a blackheart b15 valve combo 2nd hand for $150 its basic no headphones no effects so i bought a digitech 155 that is ok i guess? not the best but cheap as a starter $120 for my drums and effects should have got the boss rc3 but its twice as much and no drums but is much better
trans amps don't all suck. Transistors are more reliable than tubes for sure. Ever heard of a Roland JC? Tubes can distort signals more pleasantly sometimes but there are a whole bunch of tube amps out there that sound like shit. And a heap of clean channels on tube amps especially at low volumes are lifeless poorly voiced jokes of instruments.
I do get really sick and tired of hearing rubbish comments from "tube amp snobs". This particular Cube 40XL is an excellent amp, period.
I own a "tube amp" and an SS modelling amp, both of which I really enjoy.
I used to won this model amp, and stupidly sold it. I will buy one again. They are that good in my opinion.
I've been playing for nearly 50 years, and have owned more amps, both tube and SS, than I can remember, so have a pretty good idea about quality tone. I think this is a very good amp for a new guitar player, or someone quite experienced. I also think they are excellent value for money.
Just me 2.78 cents worth (+gst)
A Spider is Line 6. Just saying.....