Roland Blues Cube Stage

VINTAGE PAST MEETS THE INNOVATIVE FUTURE

Eric reflected on the audio sessions as they came to a close, “I’m a bit shocked at the solid state nature of the Blues Cube. This is probably the best solid state guitar sound I’ve heard.” The sky is the limit; it seems to me the potential is excellent.” The outcome of this incredible journey is, in Eric’s words, “only the beginning.” He continues, “The way people have been getting tone hasn’t really changed that much over the years. With Blues Cube, now there’s a way to produce tone with a much different method producing incredible possibilities. I’m excited to explore those paths.”

REVERB, FOOT CONTROL, AND DIRECT RECORDING VIA USB

The Blues Cube Stage features onboard reverb, and the rear panel is equipped with a footswitch jack for remote switching of channel selection and Dual Tone mode. And with the USB jack, it’s simple to capture the Blues Cube’s rich tones directly into your favorite computer recording applications.

With its modern approach, the Blues Cube eliminates the big drawbacks found in all tube amps powerful enough for stage playing—they’re extremely heavy, prone to damage through vibration, and require frequent tube replacement and other costly maintenance to keep them going strong. In contrast, the Blues Cube is basically maintenance-free, and has been carefully designed to reduce weight in every area that doesn’t affect the tone. With the Blues Cube, you’re able to enjoy great tube sound at every gig, but with much easier load-in and no actual tubes to worry about!

EJ TONE CAPSULE

The plan was set. Blues Cube amplifiers would ship with a sweet vintage tone right out of the box. Eric’s custom Blues Cube tone, however, would be made available in a new and exciting product: the Eric Johnson Tone Capsule. The Tone Capsule is a modification circuit unit that changes the tube circuit characteristic of the original Blues Cube and attaches under the amp chassis. Once connected, the circuit modification on the Tone Capsule changes the tuning of the amp giving you custom tones and responses. The Tube Logic design physically amplifies the analog discrete circuit with characteristics produced by DSP circuits. Blues Cube’s basic sound quality is built upon the physical preamp and power amp. The analog discrete circuit and DSP circuit working together produce a very advanced path to tone.

CLEAN, CRUNCH, AND DUAL TONE

The Blues Cube Stage has two independent channels—one voiced for cleaner tones, and the other for crunch. Each channel has its own Boost and Tone switches to shape the character. The Clean channel’s single volume control dials in natural tube fullness and bite as the volume is cranked, while the Crunch channel’s variable gain control provides a range of grit flavors from mild to aggressive. With the press of a switch, the unique Dual Tone mode lets you blend both channels together for an endless array of rich tones. And just like a vintage tube amp, the Blues Cube loves stompboxes, allowing you to further shape your personal sound by hitting the amp’s front end with your favorite gain pedals.

Every tube-amp player knows that you really need to turn up the volume and push the output tubes to get the amp to sing at its best. The downside is that the sound simply becomes too loud for playing anywhere but the biggest stages—though that’s certainly never stopped guitarists from trying!