Mods for a Roland Cube 30

[Rev. Andy]

Hi folks,

I get on very well with my little Cube but the nights are drawing in and
I'm thinking of a little tinkering. The possibilities include:

Taking the amp out and putting it into it's own box, then getting a
proper speaker cab to run it through. I've heard that the supplied
speaker is 'tuned' to give the best match for the modelled amps but I'm
not fussed about getting close to particular 'authentic' sounds. Would a
good quality speaker (I'm thinking 1x12) be a good match or is it likely
to just mess up a carefully selected pairing?

The FX section of the amp is a single pot that gives different
modulations and depths through its range. I was thinking of building a
multi-button floor switch with an associated (matching value) pot for
each, allowing me to switch between preset values (if you see what I
mean). Any reason why this won't work? I might do a similar job on the
reverb/delay control.

Has anyone tried anything like this? Or has comments or suggestions?

Rev. Andy

[icarusi]

Post by Rev. Andy
I've heard that the supplied
speaker is 'tuned' to give the best match for the modelled amps but I'm
not fussed about getting close to particular 'authentic' sounds.

The 'Cube' cabinets all appear to be reflex designs to get increased
'apparent' bass response from a small cab. The sounds are likely to be
tailored to that cab's response, so using a different speaker may show up
more peaks and troughs in the sound, than you may expect replacing the
speaker and cab from a conventional combo, when compared to using the
integral speaker and cab.

Icarusi
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[Stewart Ward]

If you're making your own cab, then I would suggest that a 50-55 litre
internal volume is optimum for guitar use (a Vox AC30 is 49 ltrs and a
Fender Blues Deluxe is about 53 ltrs).

If you make it open backed, then the response will be 'flat' at the bass
end. The resonance of the cab will be equal to the free air resonance of
the speaker, regardless of cab size.

If you want a lot more character, then putting a back on the cab will change
its characteristics dramatically. All sealed speaker cabs have a resonance.
It will tune the speaker/cab resonance 'up' to around 110-120 Hz. It will
also affect the way the speaker works and sound. But you can alter this by
cutting small 1" holes in the back until you get a nice resonance. But
please don't confuse this with tuning for more bass.

But 110-120 Hz resonance is fab for guitar as it gives that honky bass on
open A. This is the sound that those Line 6 cab emulations seem to 'over'
exagerate somewhat. I have a cab like this and it is the ultimate Marshall
sound, which as we engineers know, is mostly created by the Marshall cabs.
Geoff Whitehorn asked me to make him some to replace his Marshall 1x12"
cabs.

Hey... making cabs sure beats stuffing yourself with turkey?
--
Stewart Ward
*** Session amps = great noisseS ***
Crash-Out prices on Celestion speakers and more!
http://www.award-session.com/special_offers.html

Post by Rev. Andy
Hi folks,
I get on very well with my little Cube but the nights are drawing in and
Taking the amp out and putting it into it's own box, then getting a
proper speaker cab to run it through. I've heard that the supplied
speaker is 'tuned' to give the best match for the modelled amps but I'm
not fussed about getting close to particular 'authentic' sounds. Would a
good quality speaker (I'm thinking 1x12) be a good match or is it likely
to just mess up a carefully selected pairing?
The FX section of the amp is a single pot that gives different
modulations and depths through its range. I was thinking of building a
multi-button floor switch with an associated (matching value) pot for
each, allowing me to switch between preset values (if you see what I
mean). Any reason why this won't work? I might do a similar job on the
reverb/delay control.
Has anyone tried anything like this? Or has comments or suggestions?
Rev. Andy

[JNugent]

Stewart Ward wrote:

[ ... ]

... 110-120 Hz resonance is fab for guitar as it gives that honky
bass on open A. This is the sound that those Line 6 cab emulations
seem to 'over' exagerate somewhat. I have a cab like this and it is
the ultimate Marshall sound, which as we engineers know, is mostly
created by the Marshall cabs.

Amen to that. Although I have never owned (and rarely played on) a Marshall
amp, there was a time when I owned an Orange 120watt valve half-stack - with
a straight-fronted 4x12" cabinet. That amp opened my eyes, or rather, my
ears (until then, I had been a firmly committed "combo" fan) - even at very
modest volume in the living room of my house (with a concrete floor under
the carpet), the "sound" of that cabinet was something you felt as much as
"heard". On stage, it was a monster, especially with the LP Custom.

Don't really know why I got rid of it.

Oh, hang on... yes I do... I found it impossible to lift the cabinet into or
out of the car without assistance :-(

[icarusi]

Post by JNugent
That amp opened my eyes, or rather, my
ears (until then, I had been a firmly committed "combo" fan) - even at very
modest volume in the living room of my house (with a concrete floor under
the carpet), the "sound" of that cabinet was something you felt as much as
"heard". On stage, it was a monster, especially with the LP Custom.

Have you tried one of the new Orange 'Rockerverb' half stacks yet Jim?

Icarusi
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[Al]

Post by Rev. Andy
The FX section of the amp is a single pot that gives different
modulations and depths through its range.

Is it definitely a pot rather than a rotary encoder?

Post by Rev. Andy
multi-button floor switch with an associated (matching value) pot for
each, allowing me to switch between preset values (if you see what I
mean). Any reason why this won't work?

I guess you'd need to switch from one pot to another with a single press,
so you'd need one of the old style 'am radio' switches that makes one
contact while breaking the other. Or you could switch relays with different
pots with a single switches.

The problem I can see is the time between the make and break, or any
overlap between make and break. There would be an audible glitch.

Al.

[icarusi]

Post by Al

Post by Rev. Andy
The FX section of the amp is a single pot that gives different
modulations and depths through its range.

Is it definitely a pot rather than a rotary encoder?

IIRC that pot only controls the FX speed and not depth which is my main
criticism of the FX section. If you don't like the FX preset depth there's
nothing you can do to alter it. For the sake of a second control it's
typical Roland idiocy not to include both 'speed' *and* 'depth' on a
modulated FX.

Icarusi
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