Blues Cube EJ `tone capsule`

hotpickups

Exactly my thoughts. £50 tops

newi123;496580" said:

ADP said:

Sweetwater in the USA has the capsule listed at $299. The RRP is given as $399. I hope it's a mistake. I like the idea, but if those prices are genuine, I think they'll put everyone off.





Wow! I had thought they might be 75 usd / £50............

On the plus side, if it`s a straight plug in there might be a behringer / ceriatone / clone version in the not too distant future.

I really can`t see them selling many at 200 quid a go, plus 600 quid for the big amp.

thomasw88

That capsule is seriously putting me off. Is it really that fricking difficult for someone to make a versatile great sounding solid state amp without a load of gizmos and flashy things?

FelineGuitars

ROOG said:

Didn't Randall try, (possibly still does) some thing like this, a base amp with plugin preamp modules to change the character, interesting in principle but our local Guitar shop has had one for ages and didn't seem to be able to tempt any one.

  

They did (they licensed the Egnater technology) and it really worked because the circuitry in each module was exactly what you'd find in the amp it was trying to be.

It's sad that it didn't catch on how it should as it was a damn good system ...although there is abig community of players who own them and there are guys who customise the modules to be like other amps.

I have a whole bunch of them and they are brilliant.

hubobulous

boogieman said:

Presumably there'll be 10 different Joe Bonamassa signature plug in modules to come?

Come now. You missed the opportunity of remarking that there's no chance for JB to endorse this since EJ already had that tonal base covered. Shame on you. There's a tried a tested path to JB bashing. Please adhere in the future. ;-)

p90fool

A modelling amp which costs 400 dollars a patch? That could get quite pricey if you're in a covers band...

They seem to have made a pig's tits of this whole Blues Cube thing from start to finish, and it's not even out yet.
It looked like quite a nice, good-sounding simple tranny amp to start with, but they forgot to mention (or have hastily tacked on) some kind of is-it-digital-or-isn't-it "module", which has confused everyone. It's even endorsed by a totally Marmite non-blues guitarist, whose lead tone sounds pretty much the same as leaning a mattress against your amp. Mattresses are a lot cheaper too.

Every other modular amp, good or bad has died an early death. Roland seem to have rebranded built-in obsolescence as Plug-in Obsolescence.

Well done guys, you've gone from creating a genuine stir to everyone walking away shaking their heads, and the bloody thing is not even in the shops yet!

hotpickups

I couldn't agree more. I was full of GAS for one of these now it's becoming something else. They'd better hurry up and release the damn thing or it could turn out to be a non starter

p90fool;497930" said:

A modelling amp which costs 400 dollars a patch? That could get quite pricey if you're in a covers band...



They seem to have made a pig's tits of this whole Blues Cube thing from start to finish, and it's not even out yet.

It looked like quite a nice, good-sounding simple tranny amp to start with, but they forgot to mention (or have hastily tacked on) some kind of is-it-digital-or-isn't-it "module", which has confused everyone. It's even endorsed by a totally Marmite non-blues guitarist, whose lead tone sounds pretty much the same as leaning a mattress against your amp. Mattresses are a lot cheaper too.



Every other modular amp, good or bad has died an early death. Roland seem to have rebranded built-in obsolescence as Plug-in Obsolescence.



Well done guys, you've gone from creating a genuine stir to everyone walking away shaking their heads, and the bloody thing is not even in the shops yet!

Blueingreen

I notice these are getting a lot of adverse comment on TGP, mainly on grounds of price. My impression is that the Americans are much more locked in to the attitude that they are not paying big bucks for a solid state amp.

Not necessarily a reflection on the quality of the product, but it does make me wonder if we might see a launch followed after a short interval by heavy discounting and low re-sale values.

Megii

I think the amps had better sound bloody good to justify the prices being touted. Seems to me 2 advantages of modelling amps (e.g. the Roland Cube series) are low price and versatility. With the blues cube, they seem to have removed much of the versatility, and are charging more as well. I may well try to test one if I can, and it had better knock me out tone-wise, or I won't be investing.

newi123

Blueingreen said:

I notice these are getting a lot of adverse comment on TGP, mainly on grounds of price. My impression is that the Americans are much more locked in to the attitude that they are not paying big bucks for a solid state amp.

Not necessarily a reflection on the quality of the product, but it does make me wonder if we might see a launch followed after a short interval by heavy discounting and low re-sale values.

I think that is true, which is a shame.

I think it also comes down to the marketing and product positioning of solid state amps. I`ve always stayed away from digital modelers as they do so much quite well, but nothing really well. I love the idea of a simple amp like the blues cube that sounds really good - but i`d like to see it built and marketed as a high end amp. Ie in the literature tell us the cab is solid wood / ply not mdf. Don`t use own branded speakers but nice recognized makes  Tell us about solid construction etc etc etc - in fact just what we want from any quality amp.  You`d think at £600 for the stage version, Roland would be in this kind of market. 

I also like the idea that you can run this either as a `straight` solid state amp - or alter the sound with the plugin. But i would have loved to have been in the product meeting where they decided the price...............

These days there is really no reason why solid state amps can`t be absolutely fab - but they are designed and manufactured and marketed to a specific audience and price point.  Someone needs to make a leap of faith, because whilst us guitarists are a wildly conservative bunch gear wise, we do like great sounding stuff that moves the game forward!

In saying that, the only guy that seems to have tried this recently is Lance Kettner (?) with his Retro Channel stuff - and that seems to have gone somewhat off the radar......... so what do I really know! :-) 

ROOG

FelineGuitars said:

ROOG said:

Didn't Randall try, (possibly still does) some thing like this, a base amp with plugin preamp modules to change the character, interesting in principle but our local Guitar shop has had one for ages and didn't seem to be able to tempt any one.

  

They did (they licensed the Egnater technology) and it really worked because the circuitry in each module was exactly what you'd find in the amp it was trying to be.

It's sad that it didn't catch on how it should as it was a damn good system ...although there is abig community of players who own them and there are guys who customise the modules to be like other amps.

I have a whole bunch of them and they are brilliant.

That Randall 'project' RM series seems like an interesting idea. Absolute Guitars near Bristol have an amp and a couple of modules, the Amp, a 20W tube combo and two modules for £600 seems reasonable value given the flexibility, but I can see £250 for a single module might put people off, even though they are valve technology. 

Blueingreen

My view is that if they can get as close as makes no practical difference to the tone of a good tube amp with lighter weight and no maintenance issues they'll justify their prices and I will want one.  Quilter seem to have developed a reputation for doing that in the US and their new Mach 2 Micropro (which among other things is a lot less ugly than the original Micropro) looks interesting but they don't have UK distribution.

I doubt I'll be an early adopter but I'll be looking for early feedback about how these amps perform in real gigging situations.

hotpickups

Blueingreen said:

My view is that if they can get as close as makes no practical difference to the tone of a good tube amp with lighter weight and no maintenance issues they'll justify their prices and I will want one.  Quilter seem to have developed a reputation for doing that in the US and their new Mach 2 Micropro (which among other things is a lot less ugly than the original Micropro) looks interesting but they don't have UK distribution.

I doubt I'll be an early adopter but I'll be looking for early feedback about how these amps perform in real gigging situations.

Precisely. This amp for me is only going to be used as a back up amp for my Valve amp. It wouldn't be my first choice taking out but for reliability and portability it ticks all the boxes for me for when the unthinkable happens

matt1973

Seems to be a growing industry trend to charge for what is essentially just data... 

When I bought an Eventide H9, I didn't really get on with the idea of buying algorithms online. And to hide data in a shiny pretty thing so as to justify the price tag, seems pretty cynical. 

HAL9000

Blueingreen;498020" said:

I notice these are getting a lot of adverse comment on TGP, mainly on grounds of price. My impression is that the Americans are much more locked in to the attitude that they are not paying big bucks for a solid state amp.

Not necessarily a reflection on the quality of the product, but it does make me wonder if we might see a launch followed after a short interval by heavy discounting and low re-sale values.

Didn't the Roland GA series amps start at something around the £600 mark and very quickly fell to around £300 - £400. Roland seem to keep coming up with something which is very nearly the ideal SS guitar amp and then somehow manage to mess up and put people off. (With the GA series I seem to recall that the claimed output figures were pretty suspect.)

monquixote

matt1973 said:

Seems to be a growing industry trend to charge for what is essentially just data... 

When I bought an Eventide H9, I didn't really get on with the idea of buying algorithms online. And to hide data in a shiny pretty thing so as to justify the price tag, seems pretty cynical. 

Algorithms cost money to develop. 

The hardware in 90% of digital pedals is virtually identical it's the DSP code that sets them apart.

EricTheWeary

HAL9000 said:

Blueingreen;498020" said:

I notice these are getting a lot of adverse comment on TGP, mainly on grounds of price. My impression is that the Americans are much more locked in to the attitude that they are not paying big bucks for a solid state amp.

Not necessarily a reflection on the quality of the product, but it does make me wonder if we might see a launch followed after a short interval by heavy discounting and low re-sale values.

Didn't the Roland GA series amps start at something around the £600 mark and very quickly fell to around £300 - £400. Roland seem to keep coming up with something which is very nearly the ideal SS guitar amp and then somehow manage to mess up and put people off. (With the GA series I seem to recall that the claimed output figures were pretty suspect.)

yes. They seemed quite smart use of modelling but they looked odd and there was that power rating issue. I'm sure anyone who bought at full price was deeply pissed off.

matt1973

monquixote said:

matt1973 said:

Seems to be a growing industry trend to charge for what is essentially just data... 

When I bought an Eventide H9, I didn't really get on with the idea of buying algorithms online. And to hide data in a shiny pretty thing so as to justify the price tag, seems pretty cynical. 

Algorithms cost money to develop. 

The hardware in 90% of digital pedals is virtually identical it's the DSP code that sets them apart.

I totally agree with that but I didn't like the H9 licensing limitations - the algorithms cannot be sold on with the unit. Boo.

Anyway, with the Tone Capsule it just seems crappier still to put an algorithm in a lightbulb so as to give it tangibility in order to justify an inflated price tag.

Blueingreen

The other potential downside for Roland is people will think:  this is an already quite expensive piece of kit that I won't get full value from unless I'm willing to pay an extra £250 a pop for gimmicky modules;  I'm not; therefore the amp itself is not a good buy.

hotpickups

My thinking is now I won't be buying when they first launch. I too feel they'll be reducing the price soon after launch date

Paul_C

I'm not fussed about the tone capsule, if the amp can get close to a valve amp sound and takes pedals in a similar way then I'd be interested purely because (assuming it's reliable ) it would potentially be a (relatively) cheap alternative to a valve combo.

If not then I'd spend my money on something that does what I want it to.