Roland Cube 30 vs SuperChamp XD?

[66musicmaster]

Okay, here's my question - anyone have experience with these two amps a/b? We have a roland Cube 30, which is mine, and my son wants a new amp. Unless we get lucky and find a Blues Jr for around $300 - $400, the next best thing is a Superchamp XD new for $299.

The Roland does fine for what he needs right now. Power is fine, voulme is fine and I love the tone of my Roland, especially on the Fender models. Will the SCXD deliver in terms of volume output? I know the SC is 15 w but tube amps are supposed to be about 2x louder than same SS rating.

We'll go check em out soon, but til then, I thought I'd ask you guys.

Thanks
Randy

 

[66musicmaster]

WEll, the boy decided it was good enough for him and he owns his first "fender" amp of his own. Although they had a used Crate 50 w tube amp with 2-12's for same money and it really sounded sweet. But he wanted a Fender amp. He'll probably wear it out today at home. So far sounds good to me.

Randy

 

[TwoMartinMan]

My SCXD is great. Definately louder than any solid state 15 watt amp I have ever had. You can't go wrong with the SCXD. Unless you're playing out somewhere, I can't imagine having a 50 watt amp in a home. It just seems to be impractical. Unless you live on a large farm, you can't really turn the thing up to get the full effects of what it can do. I see 50, 75 and 100 watt amps all the time on Craigslist going for cheap because people have to get rid of them living in apartments and urban homes. I can't imagine what they were thinking when they bought them.

 

[edandis]

My SCXD is great. Definately louder than any solid state 15 watt amp I have ever had. You can't go wrong with the SCXD. Unless you're playing out somewhere, I can't imagine having a 50 watt amp in a home. It just seems to be impractical. Unless you live on a large farm, you can't really turn the thing up to get the full effects of what it can do. I see 50, 75 and 100 watt amps all the time on Craigslist going for cheap because people have to get rid of them living in apartments and urban homes. I can't imagine what they were thinking when they bought them.

Well, that just explains the ad. " I'm moving, need to sell fast " kind of ad.

 

[66musicmaster]

I had just explained to the boy last week that you don't necessarily NEED a big amp if you're not playing BIG places. That the tubes etc, won't be used properly. But teh 50w Crate was a good deal and sounded good at lower levels.

The gtr player in the boy's band has a 65 w Fender Frontman and we always end up turning him down to about 2 on his master. And he never turns his gtr above 4, but that's a whole other weird story. Apparently afraid he'll wear something out?

At anyrate, I do like that he made a good, practical decision, even negotiated the price down to $269 + tax, so it was still less than $300 OTD. He is only 10, after all.

Randy

 

[66musicmaster]

Went home at lunch and the boy was gone to Nana's. And he didn't take his amp. Hehe. Plugged in my strat. NICE. Plugged in my musicmaster. WOO HOO! 43 yr old wood and electrics. Guitar and Amp both were alive. I used to not like the MM because it didn't have enough treble with just a neck pup thru my old Peavey decade. Now the gtr just needs some real strings, not those "angel hairs" the boy likes. oh wait, I did more or less give it over to him.... : )

With the SCXD, I was turning the tone down on the gtr and the treble down on the amp to get it to suit my 43 yr old ears and it was total candy.

I think it compares nicely to my Roland, though. Will have to A/B them to see for sure.

Randy

 

[Bangbang]

I love my Roland

 

[VintageTweed]

I love that SCXD, my good friend has one and he and I played through it the other night, what an amazing little combo, I would love to try the blues jr as well, from what I gather its basicly the same with a 12" instead of 10" speaker, and you dont get the fx which i really dont care about anyway.

 

[66musicmaster]

I love my Roland, too. My son bought himself an SCXD. His first "real" amp and he's likeing it a lot. I do too. Sounds good and the effects are there when he wants them. Plus he can fiddle with the settings to get different voicings to suit the song.

It was either going to be that or a used Blues Jr.

Randy

 

[PC8591]

I recently purchased a GDEC 15, took it back, exchanged for a VOX VT30, took it back and exchsnged for the SCXD. The sounds between the three were all completely different.

The G-DEC was ok to play with. I found myself fiddling with software more than playing, and it crashed all the time.

The VOX was OK. It had some really good modeling sounds, but just not quite right for me.

The SCXD, on the otherhand, is a keeper. It has some really nice clean sounds, and overdrive is not bad until it gets REALLY loud. I play in my home office so I tend to keep it at a lower volume. It also has output jack to external speakers/amps. I would recommend this amp to anyone.

PC

 

[Strat-toter]

my vote is SCXD only because I own one and love it! I upgraded the speaker to a Jensen and it is suhweet!

 

[bluesking55]

If u have a SCXD, u have to replace the tubes w/ JJ's and these amps are biased so cold........ So as I biased mine up and I got a Jensen, It was a whole different amp.
If u like it now, imagine 100% better
I have since taken my chassis and put it in a old Solid State 1x12 cab, princeton 65 with a new gt celestion, waiting on speaker to break in

 

[peskypesky]

i played my brother's Roland and then a SCXD at GC. So not a true A/B comparison. I preferred the Roland, but mostly for the delicious "acoustic" setting. almost perfect for a clean strat sound.

 

[Bangbang]

I like my Roland. It gets more playing time than all 4 of my amps.