Roland Micro Cube Bass RX

[bbrich]

Here's an interesting one for you. I've had a Roland Micro Cube Bass RX mini combo for close to fifteen years. I bought it new from a Roland dealer when I was working in the Middle East. I'm now in the UK. From day one the amp would distort after 10 or 15 minutes of playing. The attack part of the note would distort. I took it back to the dealer twice. First time they said there was nothing wrong with it. Second time, some years later, they told me the same thing. Or at least that's what they said in the shop...

They were closing up for the day and as I was leaving the shop the technician followed me out of the door and as he passed me he said, "Its the power supply" then promptly disappeared in his car. Strange behaviour but... its the Middle East, strange things do happen. When he said 'power supply' I assumed he was referring to something on the power supply side inside the amp. I assumed it was something they couldn't or wouldn't fix.

So for years I've had this combo lying about gathering dust. Every now and again I'd give it another try but always distortion, even at the lowest of volumes. I wouldn't sell it because I knew it wasn't working right. Then recently I had a beer-fuelled gear chat with my electronics engineer friend and he suggested it could be the external power supply causing the problem. I know almost nothing about electronics but I do trust Roland gear. Its normally bullet proof. My mate had suggested that distortion can happen when there's not enough juice going though the amp. Could the PSU itself be under performing? Its a 9V 2Amp brick and easily replaceable but at Roland prices. And still I continued to wonder why. Its bugged me for years that it doesn't work right. I've even seen YouTube reviews that say "its a great little amp" but there is also at least one review that says "buyer beware, this thing distorts." So what's going on?

Then I find myself online buying a PSU for another device and I stumble across a 9V 3Amp PSU for £13. I'd never seen a 3Amp one before and at that price I figured I'd chance it. And... success! It no longer distorts. In fact it sounds fantastic. Its an amazing little unit with amp modelling, rhythm unit, tuner, chorus, flanger, wah, delay, reverb, compressor. Brilliant.

So if you happen to have one of these and you've given up with it due to distortion, try a new uprated 3 Amp external PSU. It fixed mine.