Finally, Roland’s Micro Cube Has a Real Tuner (Also: Presets, iPhone Connectivity, and more)

I’ve played a lot of tiny, tiny amps but the one I own and bring on the road is a Roland Micro Cube. Sure, I’d never actually mic one up and use it on a recording, but for the size, price, and portability Micro Cubes sound surprisingly good. Pro tip: even if you’re playing metal, the “classic” amp model sounds better. Just crank the gain, and the treble if necessary.

Now the Cube has been redesigned as the Micro Cube GX, and they’ve put the Boss name on their instead of Roland–and I’m actually surprised it wasn’t branded Boss in the first place since most of their guitar products are released under that moniker. The best “oh thank you lord” improvement is an actual chromatic tuner. The original micro cube would simply play you a 440 A note (or an A b or # if you prefer) which was completely useless if you were attempting to change strings and tune up before a gig in a loud venue. So now in this regard the Cube has feature parity with most of its competition.

The other improvements include preset storage, COSM amp modelling output that will work with certain iPhone music apps (including Roland’s new and free Cube Jam app), a new “spring” reverb, and more. Head to Roland’s website for additional info.