The Steel Guitar Forum

Just was considering buying a Cube 80 GX and out side of the built in effects the Cube offers can you get a good sound out of them for pedal steel guitar as compared to a Nashville 112 ? I would appreciate some tried and true opinions on this . thanks in advance

I've had both amps and much prefer the NV112 for steel.

I have owned both... the Cube is long gone, the Nash 112 is still here.The Cube wasn't bad, but for steel, I'll take the 112 any day. The Cube also had a built in noise gate that you couldn't turn off... it did weird stuff on fade outs.

I have both. The Cube 80GX is acceptable for pedal steel, but in my opinion, the Nash.112 is much better. I do like the Cube for lap steel, and the built in effects are OK, but a Nash. 112 with the upgraded reverb pan or a reverb pedal would be my choice with pedal steel. [A couple of months ago I bought back one of my Nash. 112s from my Brother in Law.] ha

I have owned both and A/B'd between the two. I liked the tone of the Roland better, sold the Nashville 112. But the Peavey is a good amp and lots of guys use them. Both are light and easy to haul around.

I just ordered one of the new light weight speakers for my Nashville 112 . Hope that cuts the weight down as for me every pound counts . If that dont work guess I might look into the new Peavey 115 Sessions that's coming out .

I tried three Eminence EPS 12C's and another different 12" in my NV112 and didn't like any of them. The local Peavey dealer says he has a 115 on order but Peavey tells him they don't know when they will be available. "Don't hold your breath waiting for it".

Iv owned 2 cubes and 3 nash 112s, the cubes are gone cause there is no soul in their sound. JMO

I borrowed a Nashville 112 for a few days. I never did find a sound I liked.

I own two Cube 80XL amps and love them.

As was pointed out, the Cubes have a noise gate that does mess with the fade outs; however, I never notice that on the bandstand. I only hear it when I'm using one at home, which I don't do!

I've noticed on this Forum that you can ask the question of which is best on anything and you will get a split decision. Nevertheless the Forum is a great sounding board. It's a pity there aren't more local steel stores where we can test drive items before we buy.

Well.... the decision is somewhat of a toss up.

I still don't love the 112, and still can't dial it in exactly, but it is close enough. The Roland sounded better, but I couldn't stand the noise gate issue.... as Lee mentioned, it isn't a problem on the bandstand, but useless (to me) as a practice/recording, or low volume gig amp.

For my purposes, they are both OK, but both have issues.

FWIW.... My Deluxe Reverbs, my Vibroverb, and Milkman Mini are all fabulous. They are also way out of the ballpark in a number of ways compared to the 2 amps in question.

I'm with Lee on this....I've 2 Cube 80XL's I just use one and go from the extension socket into a 15inch Neo B/W speaker in a Nashville 400 cabinet. Personally I hated the Nashville 112 I had. The New Cube 80's don't make the extension out...wrong move there many think. I don't play out much now but I did a gig with a 6 piece "Loud" band on an outdoor gig and not miced up into a P.A either......I was only 1/2 on on my amp. Those Cubes are Damn LOUD.


Micky "scars" Byrne U.K.

I own and gig with both. Here's some side by side differences:
112 warm sound, plenty of low end, open back, XLR output, 43 lbs
80XL "cold" sound, not much low lend, 35 lbs, closed back, removable power cord with no place to store it, built in effects

Hi Tony....by using the speaker out feature on the earlier 80Xl into the open backed Nashville 400 makes a great difference. On the Cube which is a straight throw direction, I've used the "CD" on the front grill trick which adds as a sound disperser....The Nashville 400 cab "without" the head with the Neo-magnet, is pretty light Gone are my days of the Session 500's....GREAT amps but..........Poor back!!

Micky "scars" Byrne U.K.


Sho-Bud and Carter Universals
www.micky-byrne.co.uk

I had a gig last Friday on a stage with limited room so I took my Roland 80XL, which I believe is an older model as it doesn't have the word "Cube" on the grill. Could not mike any of the instruments and the Roland was still not only loud enough but had a good tone, maybe not the tone I would have got with my Nashville 400 or my Milkman but considering the space and the distance I had to carry it to the stage, it was fine. I used outboard Reverb and Delay but what's on the amp isn't too bad either.

When you consider what these amps cost, I gave just over $400 for mine new, versus the Nashville 112, it's not a bad deal.

A good player can make just about any amp or guitar sound good. I was at a Jeff Newman seminar and saw him do it! He took my guitar, which was a beginner model, and made it talk. Tone is in your hands and technique.

Garry, you're right...the "older" model doesn't say Cube on the front. But many prefer it to the GX because the GX doesn't have the "speaker out" facility....which is great.

Your last paragaph below is bang on the buck too.

A good player can make just about any amp or guitar sound good. Tone is in your hands and technique.[/quote]


Micky "scars" Byrne U.K.

80XL "cold" sound, not much low lend, 35 lbs, closed back, removable power cord with no place to store it, built in effects

Whoa! Both of my guitars sound great through a Cube 80XL. Plenty of warmth. On the stage, I have to set the bass at 12 o'clock or so. If not, the bass is way, way too much.

Also, I have two Cube 80XL amps. Neither has a removable power cord. There are two "hooks" on the back of the amp, near the top, to wrap the power cord around when transporting. Very handy.

Lee.....for the money, they can't be beat.....good tone, Very loud, lots of inbuilt effects, and most of all the reliability of being made by ROLAND!!!!


Micky "scars" Byrne U.K....."latest update" page on my website now filled in.

I own 2 80xl's and one 80gx. I play daily through them and I set all 3 exactly the same and I can't tell any difference in them at all with their sound. My ears and back really like them. Just this week I ran two xl's together, real nice to my ears, no difference to anyone else listening really.
Question one...has anyone wired in an external jack output on the gx? If so could you share a how to do it for dummies? It certainly can't be very difficult.
I'd prefer to hear from someone who has actually really done this to a gx just in case there is something unique to the 80gx.
Question 2...I really would like to add an external speaker to a cube 80 for weights sake. What is a good low down low cost good quality external cab to use? I'm thinking an amp with the head removed, but what to use I don't know. I see reference to Nashville 400 box with speaker, etc.
so for those of you who like to scrounge, on a tight budget but still have decent sound what do you recommend?
thanks loads...sure hope to see some help here.


Dick

My Roland 80XL has a builtin external speaker jack. If yours does not, I'm not the one to explain how to connect one.

Hi Jim:
I wasn't clear on that I guess. Yes both my xl's are external speaker capable. What I am hoping is that there isn't some dark reason Roland decided to do away with the ext. spkr jack on the GX.
If for no dark reason I just hope to see a diagram showing how to add that jack to the GX.
I really hope the frugal among us will have a low cost quality option for an external speaker for these cube 80's without breaking the bank and without settling for some cheap plastic outfit with a worthless speaker that they will share.

Hi Lee, here's me popping in again. I'm still pleased as Punch with my 2 Cube 80 xl's. One is standing as a spare, so I only use one with speaker out to a Nashville 400 cab with a Neo B/W speaker. The 12" and 15" speaker has a big sound. I think I mentioned somewhere that I did a gig with a 6 piece "LOUD" band and we were not miced up to a Big P.A. It performed really well, did not distort in any way...I wonder does XL stand for Extra Loud??? I've had all the "Big Boys" over the years, but these Rolands are so good ..to my back too. There are so many tones you can dial in and the inbuilt effects are as good as they get. I did initially use 2 of them on a gig...I had an old ZB volume pedal with 1 in and 2 outs. Really glad Roland are in existance ....Lee my Bass is set on 12 0'clock like you....so lots of bottom end on those amps

Micky "more scars" Byrne U.K.

Hi Micky:
I made mention of you post.If I could find a nashville 400, remove the amp, and just leave the 15" speaker in it I would have the same as you have for an external speaker for my cube xl's then? Or as you n=mentioned a neo speaker. I assume that is not the stock speaker in the nashville 400 cab?
I'd like to copy what you did with your setup.
Dick

Hi Dick....the speaker in the Nashville 400 cab is the Original Black/widow....all I did was get a Neo Magnet from Peaveys U.K and removed the old heavy magnet. You even get the shorter bolts to fit the spider. It cuts some of the weight of the cab. It was all done in about 10 minutes or less to change the magnet

Micky "scars" Byrne U.K.

Would I just order a neo magnet to fit a BW 15" speaker then?
what would you guess your 400 to weigh now?
Thanks, I really am leaning towards a 400 cab then.