December 23rd, 2008 by Andres Gallo

$125

Design

Pure genius. Well, if those two words described my entire review, I would not be too far from the truth. This amp is in my opinion probably the best practice amp for most guitarists who like to have a simple, but decent setup for home use where volume is kept constrained to avoid having “killer” neighbors.
Growing up I always wanted a big tube amp even though it would be used in my “lonesome bedroom gigs”. Turns out, for low volumes, it is better to avoid tube amps, especially huge loud ones. Tube amps will sound very tinny and fizzy at low volumes, which is why I feel this solid state amp is the greatest bedroom amp I have tried so far. For this application, the design is almost flawless. This Roland is really small, it’s built like a tank, has various effects already built in, and performs rather well. This Roland also runs batteries which makes ideal for small jams out in the park with some friends, especially if they got the same amp.

Sound

While not the best sounding amp I have ever heard, nor anywhere close, this amp sounds very very good. The amp is very small, yet it has plenty of volume for the bedroom practice application, and yet more. While I feel this amp would probably sound much more powerful with a bigger speaker, I feel the size of it is such an important feature that I feel I can’t take points away for not having a bigger speaker. With it’s small speaker unfortunately the sound lacks warmth, sounds bright, but maintains a pretty decent amount of clarity which is what I like about it.
Being a modeling amp you can get various tones with it all which may be completely different. You can go all the way from clean, to overdriven tones, to metal distortion. It also has some effects built in, which makes it a great amp for the usual bedroom guitarist who is just starting to experiment with effects. I personally think the effects are good, but lack control of their tone. I wish there was some kind of tap tempo button for the delay for example. That is just me being nitpicky, however. This amp sounds great, and has lots of useful tones, in a small package, making it very versatile.

Reliability

I have enough experience with Roland equipment to feel confident purchasing their products. The construction of their products is always top notch. This amp looks like it is built like a tank.
Who knows…with all the features it has for the price, it may have a hidden “turn to tank” button.

Customer Support

Roland has great customer support as long as you are within their warranty period. Their customer support is one of the best I have experienced.