Roland Blues Cube Artist VS. Boss Nextone Artist
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- Опубліковано 12 вер 2024
- Before buying these amps I looked all over UA-cam trying to find a video comparing them, unfortunately I don't think it exists! That simply would not do, so I decided to make a video myself. This isn't sponsored by Roland/Boss. I bought both amps with my own money and love them both.
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One day they will make a tube amp that sounds as good as the Blues Cube
Haha right on man!
I own a Blues Cube Artist and a Nextone Special. At the end of the day the Nextone is going up for sale. The Blues Cube, as a clean pedal platform, has some mojo the Nextone's just can't seem to replicate despite having more features.
Love my blues cube. It’s a wonderful amp! In my opinion lacks nothing a tube amp delivers.
This
Cool and thanks. Will look up to try blues cube!
nice to hear, cause I bought the Roland Blues Cube Stage...
Nextone Special owner here… I looked at the Blues Cube… but chose the Boss due to power amp tube selection… I can go from a take no prisoners Marshal sound to a sweet Fender by flipping a switch….
I liked the Nextone as it was way more clear although the blues cubes clean was warmer and rounder. I actually have owned a 40w nextone stage since 2018 and it's a killer all-around amp. I've gigged and recorded and it's bedroom beast, I'll never sell it, though I've seriously pondered the special model.
Let's face it though... these are both Roland productions.
They’re great amps! I actually have the nextone special as well. I think my next video will be talking about the differences between it and the nextone artist.
Ive had a Blues Cube Hot for about 6 years now and all of the amps I've since bought, I've sold. Its just so good. Great natural compression, sag, and bounce and it sounds so so good at all volumes. Its a legit plug straight in type of amp but also takes pedals so well. It has wonderful cleans and edge of break up tones especially with lower output pickups. I really really wish they would add the effects loop to the Hot model tho - its all its missing. I would love to see an 8" version too
Nice video thanks. I have owned and gigged the Blues Cube Stage and artist, the Nextone Stage and Artist, and various Katanas. I don't do heavy rock or metal, but most other styles. Here's my take- the Blues Cube is a nice sounding amp, very tube-like in reaction, but the cleans are grainy and generally the overall sound was a little mushy for me, probably due to it being a tweed voiced amp. The Nextones are better on cleans, though for some reason I could never get a sweet spot tone-wise with them, although they too are top amps, and cover a lot of ground in tones. I actually preferred the Katana 50 and 100 over the Blues Cube and Nextone on stage, but all these amps are really good, and are all gig-worthy.
The Blues Cube's clean sound is fantastic in your video. I did not care for any of the other sounds from either amp. Would be interested in seeing a follow-up to see if the advantage can be expanded upon with external effects, though you are of course not obligated.
Thanks for the feedback! The blues cube in the room sounds really fantastic all the way up to max gain. I’d definitely do some more to expand on the blues cube in the future.
Interesting. I have a cream BC Artist. The manual states that the tone buttons on both channels are for boosting highs and mids. My cabinet is made from poplar plywood.
Interesting comparison so thanks for doing that. I have the Roland Blues Cube as well as a Fender Deluxe Reverb reissue and a Marshall combo. I do prefer my valve amps however the Roland is very close. I have tested against the new Fender Deluxe Reverb Tonemaster and like to honesty and simplicity of the Roland better. The Roland is closer to the actual Fender sound on the clean channel. The Roland is the easiest to take to a gig because of its lower weight and when teamed with my Fender Floor is indistinguishable from my Deluxe Reverb as far as audience is concerned. I wasn't convinced by the Nextone overdrive sounds. They were a bit too fizzy and lacked the valve warmth I would have expected from an amp with a range of power valve settings available.
I’m such a big fan of the blues cube. I’ve got a few tube amps as well: fender concert, Mesa dual rec, fender bassbreaker 30r, etc. I really love the blues cube just as much as any of those amps. You can definitely get the nextone to sound less fizzy. In hindsight I think I had the presence and treble up a bit too high. I’ve got the nextone artist and the nextone special, the speaker in the special makes a quality difference as well.
Interesting and well presented comparison, but I think it is distorted by the out DI; I say this because the tone of the Blues Cube seems really too dark and compressed compared to recording through a microphone. Likewise the crunch channel of the Nextone is very muddy although better balanced. It might be interesting to test it by recording the two amplifiers through a microphone and using a loop station to exclude the human factor as much as possible.
The Blues cube is way muddier and muffled than expected. So I automatically lean Nextone.
You can definitely make it less bassy, but that’s max gain in the video. I had the bass mid and treble all at 1 o clock.
The Blues Cube pumps out a lot of bass. You can dial it way back with the bass control if you want.
I have 2 blues cubes, an Artista and a Stage, and a Katana 100. I sold my Blues Jr to buy the second Blues cube and I have different speakers in both, I think I got it right. I had a Nextone and returned it in 1 week, it didn't adapt and I think it has loose drives and a clean one with a plastic feeling. I prefer the Katana over the Nextone, and the Blues Cube is still unbeatable in my opinion, I have all the capsules, I use the NY one more.
Awesome comparison! I got to play nextone artist at my local guitar store. If you turn down Master knob and crank up gain knob, it gets a sweet crunch lead tone. But I prefer Roland Cube overall.
My take, you get what you pay for. Own the Katana, Nextone Stage, BC Hot and BC Artist. All have their plus points but if you break it down to which has the best amp like feel and tone then the BC Hot and BC Artist win out. However that does not mean that you won't prefer the base tone of the other offerings... I think actually the Kat and and Nextone make really good pedal platforms but the BC Artist with the Ultimate Blues Tone Capsule is vastly superior in this capacity. Lastly I have gigged the BC Artist since 2017, that plastic handle is as good as the day I got the amp. Great review glad you pulled this together.
I’d really love to try the tone capsules! They are a bit pricey, are they worth it? Also what’s your favorite one?
@@RickyReillyMusic I think you will find they are out of production. But you can pick them up used for half the price. The best one? tricky, just gone back to using the BCA as a pedal platform so it has to be the ultimate Blues. As a straight up amp with perhaps just an OD in front then it's the New York Blues, but I love the sound of the stock amp in that capacity.
I've had a BC Hot EL84 for about 5 years now. I will put it away in favor of something else for a while (I only have space to have one amp out at a time) and I will convince myself that it's OK, but not great. Then I pull it out and plug it in and I'm reminded how great it sounds with everything - single coils, P90s and humbuckers, they all sound like they should. It's just a great all around amp, and a freat pedal platform.
I've never tried a Nextone, but I'd like to.
I have a Blues Cube Artist and a Katana 50ex. Both very good for gigging. BCA sounds best but the Katana is not bad at all and it's lighter. I use the line outs into the pa and it's worth bearing in mind that the level of the line out only depends on the channel volumes and not the master output level. This means you can use the amp as a monitor and if you need to turn up the volume it won't affect the level to the pa.
Except for the digital reverb and power selection, the old red knob Fender Deluxe 85 literally has and does everything the blues cube artist does including the dual channel thing but has a real spring reverb, and sounds awesome. Fender always ahead of its time.
Interesting. I’ve had a few red knob fender amps and though I do enjoy them, I find the high end to be a lot harder to tame. They are cool amps though!
Agree on the 80's and 90's Fender solid states. I've got a Deluxe 112 90 watt that just captures that Fender Clean as well as any of these newer solid state amps. I also have Nextone Stage that is way more versatile, and sounds and feels really good. I should have gotten the Artist, 'cause the Stage doesnt quite have the guts for un-miced gigging.
Hi Ricky, Thanks for the comparison, Not sure if it's YT compression or your recording, both amps sounded muffled in the low mids and bass frequency. Did you try playing without reverb and tremolo or is there post processing being added to the signal. I own Both of these amps, playing live the BCA in a band mix sounds great closer to a valve amp in sound and response, possibly two key factors we like to mention. The Nextone at stage volume a bit flabby Possibly due to the MDF cabinet while the BCA is ply construction. If you have some time run the speaker connector wires obviously you'll need to extend them from the Nextone to the speaker connectors of the BCA. Please no reverb no delay no tremolo your listening to frequency response and projection? I use my nextone as a head now with a 2 x 12 v30's closed back and what a difference to my ears a better sound. My style of music Rock Blues 60's 70's 80's running both amps in dual mono happy days. Have a great time playing and keep your comparisons coming. Cheers mate.
blues cube artist sounded like it was under water. Would have been better to mike them both up plus a room mike to get a real sound. Plus more chords and rhythm rather than droning strings. Stuff people would more likely play while gigging.
Many thanks Ricky. Personally I own a Boss Nextone Artist which I think is considerably cheaper than the Roland Blues Cube Artist here in the UK. For me and my ears, and I am no expert, the BCA sounded tweedy, darker, than the NA and personally I play a P90 pick up guitar which nature is quite dark, and with all the tweeks of the Editor I feel I made probably the right choice. Cheers. Subjectively I would not mind a speaker upgrade comparison for these amps, especially some lightweight neo magnet comparisons. Many, many, thanks.
The first demo with clean channel..the Roland sounded more warm and fuller. Is it possible with a different tube setting on the Boss to get a closer tone to the Roland?
It was disappointing that you didn’t mic the speakers. They both sounded pretty Meh with the line out. The speaker is so much of an amps sound. And the cab. You’ve taken them both out of the equation here.
Hi Ricky, really appreciate you doing this video. Thanks truly there's not been much, anything comparing these amps. Can I ask: is the Blues Cube louder in practice, or would you say pretty much the same perceived loudness. Also does the cabinet difference make any difference. Once again many thanks.
No problem Ian! They sound equally loud in the room. You’ve got more clean headroom on the nextone though. The blues cube starts to break up at about noon on the clean channel. I’m not entirely sure if the cabinet construction makes a difference. I also own the nextone special which has a pine cabinet as well and I do prefer the sound of the special, but that could also just be the upgraded speaker. Regardless both of these amps are titans of solid state. You can’t go wrong with either.
@@RickyReillyMusic Many thanks Rick keep the solid state info coming.
I think i preferred the Nextone.
How do both compare to an actual valve amp, in comparison?
My guitar amp is a Katana 50 original series. 👍🎸🎶
They’re pretty comparable to tube amps honestly. Not exactly the same, but by no means worse. They feel more like a tube amp that the Katana does to me, but the katana is great in its own way too!
Thanks man - wouldn't it be sweet if you could add IRs to the nextone preamp/power amp sounds when recording? I wish they would update it again, though I suspect V3 will be last.
Any tips for recording with these amps via USB?
That would be pretty sweet! I’ve only recorded with the line out myself, but I imagine it’s pretty straightforward to set the amp as your interface to record with.
@@RickyReillyMusic thanks man - I'll need to try line out, USB recording is kind of buggy
own both, love both . . .
I think the next tone has has a sharper cleaner tone off the top and even sounds louder ❤❤❤❤nextone❤
Hmmm....
Coming back to this video again, latet on, i prefer the overall tone/sound of the Nextone.
The Nextone sounds better on Clean...More Fendery .....The rest of the sounds..ie crunch,,,gain etc... Sounded like something I wouldnt be interested in..
If you want a crystal clean nextone is the way to go!
Frankly I thought the BC sounded like crap.. Everybody has an opinion as it should be.
To each their own for sure! I’m not sure if the recording did it justice. I really love the clean tone one that amp in the room.
Nextone
Nextone sounds clean on all three
It’s definitely doesn’t have anywhere near as much gain. But I love the tone of that clean channel so much.
I read a review saying the nextone has way more gain... so which is it?