Microcube competition?

Gerald Ross · Post by **Gerald Ross** » 19 Jan 2006 10:52 am

Has anyone heard or tried one of these

Vox DA5

5 watts and 6.5" speaker 6 C batteries

$9 more than the Microcube.

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Gerald Ross
'Northwest Ann Arbor, Michigan's King Of The Hawaiian Steel Guitar'

CEO, CIO, CFO - UkeTone Records
Gerald's Fingerstyle Guitar Website
Board of Directors Hawaiian Steel Guitar Association

[This message was edited by Gerald Ross on 19 January 2006 at 10:53 AM.]

George Manno · Post by **George Manno** » 19 Jan 2006 11:17 am

Yeah I have. I sent it back because it had a terrible ground hum right out of the box. One of my lodge brothers sent his back as well. WE both didn't think that we were going to get some sort of pee wee AC30, but we were certainly unimpressed with the one's we purchased. I took my refund as purchased another Microcube.

GM

Gerald Ross · Post by **Gerald Ross** » 19 Jan 2006 1:05 pm

I just had a guy at Elderly Instruments A-B the Vox vs Microcube (they sell both).

I told him I wanted it for it's clean settings, fat bottom end and it's reverb. I told him I played lap steel and hollow body electric fingerstyle guitar. I was not interested in the distorted sounds.

He spent some some time with both and called me back. He said the Vox is definitely louder, has much tighter, cleaner bottom end and similar effects to the Microcube. I told him to listen for a ground hum, he didn't hear one. He would buy the Vox (remember, they sell both).

Hmmm...

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Gerald Ross
'Northwest Ann Arbor, Michigan's King Of The Hawaiian Steel Guitar'

CEO, CIO, CFO - UkeTone Records
Gerald's Fingerstyle Guitar Website
Board of Directors Hawaiian Steel Guitar Association

[This message was edited by Gerald Ross on 19 January 2006 at 01:06 PM.]

Randy Reeves · Post by **Randy Reeves** » 19 Jan 2006 1:18 pm

I swallowed one once. sounds better than it tastes.

I have a small battery amp. it resembles a Fender Twin. my lap steel sounds like an angry bee when played through it.
but I'll tell ya, it s so much fun around a camp fire in the north woods.
it does have a buzzing when the gain is up and the volume turned up high.
at lower volumes it loses alot of its bite and fun.

Ben Jones · Post by **Ben Jones** » 19 Jan 2006 2:08 pm

Pardon my ignorance but do you guys use these primarily because they take batteries? or just to have a small practice or recording amp that you will most likely plug in anyway? Thanks.

Gerald Ross · Post by **Gerald Ross** » 19 Jan 2006 2:15 pm

Size and batteries. The ultimate travel amp. They fit inside your suitcase and you can play anywhere. And the tone is good enough.

For "real" gigs I use a Fender '65 Deluxe Reverb reissue.

------------------
Gerald Ross
'Northwest Ann Arbor, Michigan's King Of The Hawaiian Steel Guitar'

CEO, CIO, CFO - UkeTone Records
Gerald's Fingerstyle Guitar Website
Board of Directors Hawaiian Steel Guitar Association

Donald Ruetenik · Post by **Donald Ruetenik** » 19 Jan 2006 2:22 pm

Looks like Vox is trying to play catch-up with the Microcube popularity. I wonder if other manufacturers are jumping on the 'band wagon'.

Ben Jones · Post by **Ben Jones** » 19 Jan 2006 2:34 pm

Its a shame they cant make a small battery powered tube amp

Bill Creller · Post by **Bill Creller** » 19 Jan 2006 5:38 pm

What Ben said. I love tubes, and to me most solid state amps suck. But I DO like my Micro Cube, for what it was designed for.

Kevin Mincke · Post by **Kevin Mincke** » 19 Jan 2006 8:31 pm

MicroCube it is!

Andy Sandoval · Post by **Andy Sandoval** » 20 Jan 2006 3:22 am

Micro Cube, Micro Cube, Rah Rah Rah! I use mine for practicing all the time and even played my Fender Deluxe 8 through it at a Christmas show last month. I love it.

Gerald Ross · Post by **Gerald Ross** » 20 Jan 2006 6:47 am

Ok, I bit the bullet....

I went out last night and bought a Vox DA5 ($139.99). Here are my preliminary findings after 3 hours of playing. But first let me tell you why I want to replace my Roland Microcube.

The MC is fine with my Bakelite Rick. It has a nice full fat tone at low volumes. The MC falls apart when I try to play fingerstyle on my D'Angelico Arch-Top hollow body or any hollow body electric. There is no bass whatsoever. Whatever bass there is, is just a low level speaker rattling buzz. I need a battery powered amp that can handle both the arch-top and the steel.

Findings:
Vox speaker - 6.5" MC speaker - 4.5"
Vox has more cleaner and usable bottom end than the MC.
Vox is a bit noisier (hiss) than the MC.
Vox has much more headroom and is much louder(clean volume) than the MC.
MC looks cooler than the Vox.
Vox logo/shield and speaker grill is cheap looking.
Vox has more effects (compression, auto wah, rotary speaker).
Vox has selectable wattage (.5, 1.5 and 5). Five is the cleanest and loudest.
MC "seems" built better (durability).
Vox does NOT have a ground hum (mentioned earlier).
Vox is programmable (although a confusing manual on how to do this).
Vox and MC have about the same reverb tone.

Conclusion:
The Vox does what I want it to do. Fat round bass for my arch-top. Full sound for my steel. Louder and cleaner than the Microcube.

So far... I think I'll keep it.

My friend's Klezmer band is coming to Ann Arbor tomorrow night and is in concert. I'm sitting in with them with both my Rick and the arch-top. I'll see what the Vox sounds like on the bandstand.

Film at 11.

------------------
Gerald Ross
'Northwest Ann Arbor, Michigan's King Of The Hawaiian Steel Guitar'

CEO, CIO, CFO - UkeTone Records
Gerald's Fingerstyle Guitar Website
Board of Directors Hawaiian Steel Guitar Association
[This message was edited by Gerald Ross on 20 January 2006 at 06:49 AM.]

Jeff Au Hoy · Post by **Jeff Au Hoy** » 20 Jan 2006 8:13 am

Film at 11.

lol Gerald... remember "Kentucky Fried Movie"?

Todd Weger · Post by **Todd Weger** » 20 Jan 2006 11:00 am

I love my MC. For me, the ease of portability factor is a huge plus. I really dig the Brit Combo setting for either Hawaiian playing, or with a bit more grit for more bluesy stuff. I used it on an open mic acoustic thing the other night (sans mic), and it was just right. Of course, it's a small room, low volume acoustic gig, so that helped.

I don't care for the line-out tone, though, but if I need a little more volume, I just mic it, and it works/sounds fine for my needs.

------------------
Todd James Weger --
1956 Fender Stringmaster T-8 (C6, A6, B11); 1960 Fender Stringmaster D-8 (C6, B11/A6); Regal resonator (C6)

Gerald Ross · Post by **Gerald Ross** » 20 Jan 2006 11:04 am

BTW - The Vox is an inch taller and an inch wider than the MC. So, pretty close in size. They weigh about the same as well - 8 lbs.

------------------
Gerald Ross
'Northwest Ann Arbor, Michigan's King Of The Hawaiian Steel Guitar'

CEO, CIO, CFO - UkeTone Records
Gerald's Fingerstyle Guitar Website
Board of Directors Hawaiian Steel Guitar Association

Stephan Miller · Post by **Stephan Miller** » 20 Jan 2006 2:57 pm

I'll have to check out the Vox. The Microcube was OK for a while as a rehearsal amp, but the band is 6 pieces including drums, and our practice volume has inched past the capacity of the li'l Cube. 5 watts should get the job done, plus the DA-5 is only slightly bigger & heavier, so it'll probably pass the duffel bag test as a travel amp.

I'm a "Brit Combo" fan myself, but that's a Vox-based sound anyway...hmm.

--Steve

[This message was edited by Stephan Miller on 20 January 2006 at 02:59 PM.]

Donald Ruetenik · Post by **Donald Ruetenik** » 20 Jan 2006 3:39 pm

I wonder how that Vox will make my black Artisan sound?

Derrick Mau · Post by **Derrick Mau** » 21 Jan 2006 9:25 am

Gerald,
Just curious, but how does the Vox match up against the Micro Cube for ukulele?
I've used all three of my ukes with the Micro Cube in outdoor situations (with the Acoustic setting sounding the best) and they all sound horrible through this amp.

Todd Weger · Post by **Todd Weger** » 21 Jan 2006 11:02 am

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>Just curious, but how does the Vox match up against the Micro Cube for ukulele?
I've used all three of my ukes with the Micro Cube in outdoor situations (with the Acoustic setting sounding the best) and they all sound horrible through this amp.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Derrick -- what kind of pickups are in your ukes? My drummer has one with a K&K uke pickup in it (passive), and through the MC, with the tone knob all the way down, and using the acoustic setting, it actually sounds OK.

Have you tried using a mic and the mic setting? More hassle, to be sure, with mic/stand and needing a mic cable with a 1/4" transformer, but it might be one solution. Of course, feedback can be an issue with that, too.

Loni Specter · Post by **Loni Specter** » 21 Jan 2006 7:47 pm

I have a question regarding the hum. Does the vox hum when it's running on bateries or just on it's AC adapter?
My boss drum machine hums on AC, but not on batteries.

Ben Jones · Post by **Ben Jones** » 21 Jan 2006 8:35 pm

Loni, could that be a ground problem where you live? Have you been able to try the machine outside your home with the AC adapter? The ground in the house I rent is kinda old and screwy. I cannot play guitars with humbuckers and one of my amps hums here but is fine outside the house. Alot of nearby electronic devices can also cause hum in AC power, esp computer monitors, I think?

Loni Specter · Post by **Loni Specter** » 21 Jan 2006 11:44 pm

Neb, That's Ben spelled backwards. Hey it's Saturday night and all...
Yes It could well be the wiring in the house. Lord knows enough amateurs have screwed around with it.
Then again it could be haunted!

Derrick Mau · Post by **Derrick Mau** » 22 Jan 2006 1:34 am

Hi Todd,

The Kamaka Ukulele factory custom installed the pickups for my ukes. I'll have to ask them what brand they used. I paid about $200.00 for each so it's not one of those cheapy stick-on ones.

The MIC setting was the only one I didn't try yet for the reasons you mentioned. I'll give it a try. Thanks!

Gary Boyett · Post by **Gary Boyett** » 22 Jan 2006 9:34 am

Well Gerald, how was the amp at the gig?

By the way, have you tried this one yet?

Electro-Harmonix

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JCFSGC,RMSGC,HSGA member
Do it with "Glass"
Boyett's Glass Bars

Gerald Ross · Post by **Gerald Ross** » 22 Jan 2006 10:20 am

Last night I sat in with the Yiddishe Cup Klezmer band from Cleveland. They were in concert here in Ann Arbor. It was a perfect opportunity to try out the Vox in a real world setting.

For those of you who don't know, Klezmer music is often called Jewish Jazz, the type of music you would hear at Jewish weddings, bar mitzvahs etc. 50 years ago. A horn based music. Clarinet is king in Klezmer. The 5 piece band was comprised of Clarinet, Sax, Trombone, Piano and Drums. I've known the clarinet player Bert for about 8 years.

I sat in on two numbers during their second set and two tunes for their encore. The tunes... on archtop I played "Bei Mir Bist Du Shoen", the Andrews sisters had a big hit with this one. On Bakelite Rick I played "Haleluyah" a Steve Lawrence & Edie Gorme hit from the early 60's. Encore tunes on the Bakelite were "Sholom Aleichem" and of course "Hava Nagila".

The Vox was perched on a stool with a Shure SM-57 feeding it into the sound system. I went battery powered. My wife and brother were in the audience. They don't lie to me about how I play or what I sound like.

The amp performed great. I could hear myself above the drums and horns and the tone was as good as I hoped for in a live setting where you swoop in for two songs and then swoop out and don't really settle in. I was not part of the early evening sound check.

In a loud setting like this I feel the Vox beats out the Microcube. My volume was clean and I still felt the amp could give more. I only had the volume up to around 5.

My wife said the steel sounded great. She said it was clean and fat sounding. She also said the other musicians were looking at me and smiling during my solos... so that says something too about the tone (smiling-at is better than laughing-at). She said my tone on the arch-top was too distorted sounding. She was right. During that number I inadvertantly flipped the amp setting to "Blues" which is a bit more distorted. I reset the amp to "Clean" for the steel numbers.

This morning there was a jam session/brunch at a person's house with the band and I played the arch-top on the clean setting and I was happy.

I'm going to keep the amp.

I still feel the Microcube looks cooler.

------------------
Gerald Ross
'Northwest Ann Arbor, Michigan's King Of The Hawaiian Steel Guitar'

CEO, CIO, CFO - UkeTone Records
Gerald's Fingerstyle Guitar Website
Board of Directors Hawaiian Steel Guitar Association
[This message was edited by Gerald Ross on 22 January 2006 at 10:33 AM.]