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Well, it appears mine has kicked the bucket. Thought it was dead batteries, but switched 'em out, nothing. Tried with a power supply-- nothing.
So I guess I'll be wanting a new battery powered classroom amp. What's on the market these days? Looks like the Cube is sadly discontinued...
criteria would be small, preferably battery powered, modeling amp, durable build,Last edited by mr. beaumont; 05-01-2023 at 03:19 PM.
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05-01-2023 02:21 PM
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I have a Boss Katana Mini in my office. In many ways it seems to be the replacement for the Cube.
Originally Posted by mr. beaumont
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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I saw those, but I noticed no reverb, just a delay/echo? Originally Posted by ThatRhythmMan
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Back in the day I would have said a Lunchbox Jr, though no idea if they're still produced. Certainly sounded good when I played through one. You could probably pick up a used Micro Cube for next to nothing. That's all I got.
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Ah, those are cool, but I need the modeling-- it's primary use will be for my after school guitar club... Originally Posted by Peter C
I'm seeing this Mooer Hornet on the 'Zon...not battery powered, but lots of bells and whistles...might be too cheap not to try
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The Spark stuff is good, I have the Mini. All programming is done via phone app tho. No batteries, it's a USB charger.
If I wanted one to replace my Microcube, batteries, and had all the controls right on it (like the Microcube), I'd go with the Yamaha. It's not cheap, but it's very good.
I tried a Katana head (capable of 50W), and I hated it- I couldn't get a decent sound out of it.
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The Spark is cool, but I think the phone is a no go for me... Originally Posted by ruger9
I have a Yamaha THR for home...I love it, but I don't feel like it's "school built." I need tolex and reinforced corners It's also probably more than I want to spend...
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I agree that the Microcube gets a nice jazz tone, for it's size (I remember your settings from a thread awhile ago). Used microcube perhaps? Originally Posted by mr. beaumont
The Spark is cool, but I think the phone is a no go for me...
I have a Yamaha THR for home...I love it, but I don't feel like it's "school built." I need tolex and reinforced corners It's also probably more than I want to spend...
Or move "up" to the 10GX? It's not heavy modeling, but it's got 3 gain levels and a 3-band EQ...
Amazon.com
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I just watched some demos of that Mooer, and wow! If it really sounds that good, *I* might order one!! And I love the old-world-radio styling. Wish they still made the white one.
Amazon has them for 109, even the white one. Just ordered. Will be here Wednesday! I'll put it next to my white Microcube and see what happens...
It does not take batteries tho I don't think... 15W would probably eat them up too fast. That's a bit of a shame. It would be nice if it had a rechargeable battery inside like the Spark stuff, at least. (I'm thinking of playing outside on the patio without having to plug in... something the MC and Spark can both do)
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Oh, that's pretty cool....you know, I thought they got rid of all the Cubes. Originally Posted by ruger9
Used microcube is definitely a possibility too...I guess I just wanted to see what else was out there. The Mooer is definitely tempting...I know nothing of the company...they make pedals and stuff too, right?
I looks like each of the different colors of Mooer has different models to pick from. I'm gonna guess this is like Queen's Greatest Hits where all the best tunes are on volume 1 but you gotta buy volume 2 to get "Bohemian Rhapsody"
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I think the black & white are the 2 originals, they cover ALL the sounds. The 3 colors (blue, green, and pink) have apparently been "tailored" to music style/higher-or-lower gain needs. I just bought the white one because I like the tolex. I really do wish they took batteries, if they had a 5W version that did, I would have bought it. But demos sound great, so I'll check it out. And from Amazon, the returns are painless. Originally Posted by mr. beaumont
Mooer makes pedals, yes. They seem to have a reasonably good reputation. Nothing like Roland. Wouldn't surprise me a bit if the 10GX Cube was far more rugged and reliable than the Mooer... and it's only $179, not bad!! The Mooer demos convinced me instantly that I had to at least TRY it.
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Vox Mini 3. Very similar to the MicroCube.
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My battery amp is a Lunchbox jr. The wonderful thing about Lunchbox jr. is that it's got a built-in 9V power output for pedals. I use it with a splitter pedal cable to power a Tech 21 blonde and a Small Clone chorus pedal. It sounds wonderful in that set up and still extremely portable. It's also very loud for its size when plugged in.
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Yes, Jeff, check out the VOX Mini's - There's a couple of models I think. Originally Posted by John A.
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....Are those Microcube sized amps better against feedback ? I've had a Peavey w/ 10 in. speaker ( Envoy ) for a while, small practice room, tired of fighting feedback even at really low volume.....
Thx
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Electro Harmonix won a lawsuit against Mooer for copying the software code from their digital pedals. Chinese Pirates of Electro-Harmonix Software Walk the Plank! - Electro-Harmonix Originally Posted by mr. beaumont
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I had a Vox DA5, it was great! It was the Microcube's equal for sure. Not sure why I sold it...
I then tried the Vox Mini3, but didn't like it anywhere near as much as the DA5.
The Spark Mini is super powerful and sounds GREAT- it beats all these others on sound, IMO- but all the tweaking must be done by phone app. No batteries, but it's rechargeable so it's basically the same thing.
I told myself, if I ever want another small/portable practice amp, it would be the Yamaha... but I think the price keeps me away, as great as it sounds... because since saying that, I have purchased the Spark Mini, I have pre-ordered the Spark GO, and I ordered the Mooer Hornet, LOL... at 15W, I expect it to sound more like a "real amp" than a practice amp, even with the 6.5" speaker. We'll see, I should have it Wednesday...
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The Yamaha is definitely the best practice amp I've ever owned, and it's my "go to" at home. It's just odd to me, though, while it seems well built I just don't see it doing well in a classroom...I feel like one fall and it would be curtains. It's heavy, it's mostly metal in construction...
The Vox mini go looks good, bummer to hear it's not as good as the DA-5. Though I'm leaning more and more Mooer...I'm looking forward to hear what you think of it.
The Sparks sound really good, but I don't think I could get used to doing all of my tone tweaks from my phone. Sounds annoying.
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It is. The "upside" is you have 4 presets, so you could set them to 4 different styles (jazz, blues, rock, etc.) OR you could set them to individual guitars (archtop, tele, etc)... it's very usable that way, and it's why I bought it. If I decide I'm taking my tele on vacation, I just tweak the presets (using my phone) to the tele, and then never need the app while on vacation. It works pretty well in that way. Originally Posted by mr. beaumont
But I can't deny still preferring WYSIWYG, like with the Microcube (and the Hornet is also capable of this).
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Oh, that's interesting... Originally Posted by ruger9
Although the Yamaha has presets too and every time I make one, the next time I use it I want to tweak it. My ears are different day to day.
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Yes, this remains a constant problem, which is why I still prefer WYSIWYG. Originally Posted by mr. beaumont
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I'm enjoying my Spark Mini
Rechargeable using a USB phone charger is a bonus
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See, there's that convenience too... Originally Posted by ohlcv
What a dilemma
I'm trying to think of how important battery power/rechargability is to me...It's definitely a convenience...but I also have 8 outlets and 2 extension cords with power strips in my classroom...
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Jeff, your conundrum has been intriguing me (and it looks like VOX has dropped the ball), so ...
If battery power isn't that big a deal to you, why not a Fender Champion 20 Guitar Combo Amp ($130):
https://www.fender.com/en-US/guitar-amplifiers/contemporary-digital/champion-20/2330200000.html
- 20 watts
- 8” Fender Special Design speaker
- Single channel and input
- Reverb, delay/echo, chorus, tremolo, Vibratone and other effects
- Different amp voicings and distortion types
- 1/8” auxiliary input and headphone output jacks
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That's definitely a viable option. Maybe a little bigger than I wanted, but not by much. Originally Posted by Tom Karol
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