Roland BluesCube BC-60 Owner's Manual

Roland
© 1995 Roland Corporation. All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced in any
form without the written permission of Roland Corporation.
ALL MANUALS ARE
NOT THE SAME
Congratulations!
You've made the right choice. The
Blues Cube 60 is the happy result of
using Roland's technological expertise
to obtain the best possible sound from
your electric guitar. But to get the
most out of your Blues Cube 60, you
should go through this manual.
You don't need to keep most amp
manuals. But this one will explain
important stuff about what makes a
great sounding amp and how to get
that killer tone.
OUR DESIGN
PHILOSOPHY
An electric guitar doesn't come alive
until it's plugged in. Your amp can
actually be considered part of the
instrument. In fact, it's almost like the
body of a great acoustic, contributing
greatly to the final sound. Even a vin-
tage guitar can't give you all it's gat if
you use a mediocre amp.
We wanted to produce an amp that
would simply sound great, so we went
back to amplifier basics to rediscover
exactly what great guitar sound is and
what a great guitar amp is all about.
We analyzed vintage amps from the
50's and 60's, from tweeds to blondes
(white tolex-covered beauties) to black-
face panels as well as a slew of blues-
breaking British amps, all of them high-
ly desirable. Results conclusively
showed that a great amp not only has
distinctive warm tones but must also
be super-responsive to sound and dis-
tortion variations according to a play-
er's picking dynamics and/or guitar
volume control.
Many people were involved in our
research. Studio pros, vintage amp col-
lectors, semipros and general electric
guitar enthusiasts all were part of our
listening panels. Then our engineers
and amp designers used leading-edge
analog technology to get all the best
qualities we were hearing from these
amps into the Blues Cube 60, spurring
a new development like the Tube Logic
Technology (*).
This includes a unique RECTIFEX cir-
cuit that simulates two rectifier types
— the classic tube rectifier and the
modern diode rectifier. It also simu-
lates their effects on attack and picking
nuances.
The Blues Cube 60 brings out every
aspect of your guitar.
* Tube Logic Technology
Tube Logic Technology repro-
duces the sound of various well-
known vintage amps, based on
scientific analysis and repeated
hearing sessions. Not only the
typical tube amp characteristics
such as warm tones and a creamy
overdriven sound, but also practi-
cal factors that make it possible to
recreate other tube-like character-
istics such as playing feel. These
"feel factors" were logically ana-
lyzed and found to include, for
instance, that an 8 ohm speaker's
impedance fluctuates according to
the volume and voice range,
affecting the frequency response of
a tube's power amp stage as well
as a pre-amp stage having high-
impedance signal path and nonlin-
ear amplitude curve. Tube Logic
technology can faithfully emulate
such characteristics that are impor-
tant in producing good guitar
sounds, but previously didn't have
much attention paid to them.
il Owner's Manual
FEATURES
¥ Two-channel configuration — NOR-
MAL channel and LEAD channel, each
with a dedicated circuit for indepen-
dent sound characteristics. Switching
channels can also be done using an
optional footswitch.
V The NORMAL channel delivers clean
sound perfect for traditional jazz or
country or a warm, crunch sound opti-
mized for blues and rock by switching
on CRUNCH.
v The LEAD channel features two volume
knobs (PRE VOL and POST VOL) along
with a BOOST switch for screaming
high gain that is well-suited for rock
blues and metal.
V Each channel has its own three-band
tone control that is tuned to comple-
ment that channel's sound character.
V The active PRESENCE knob — usually
available only on high-end units —
works on the signal within the power
section and adds lustrous highs to the
sound even at maximum distortion.
w The newly developed RECTIFEX circuit
emulates two different power amp rec-
tifiers to offer a choice of rectification
characteristics, very desirable when
using distorted sound.
V Just like in vintage amps with reverb, an
"Accutronics" spring reverb unit offers
that authentic twangy reverb that's so
much a part of a classic guitar sound.
w The built-in heavy-duty 12" speaker is a
direct result of intensive research into
famous guitar amp speaker units, such
as the "Blue" and British "Greenback"
speakers. And with the power amplifier
section going into soft clipping, the
speaker will deliver an SPL much high-
er than its rated 60W R.M.S.
V For external effects, a versatile effects
loop lets you connect anything from
effects pedals to professional studio
rack units. The LEVEL select switch and
effect/dry ratio control offer incredible
versatility.