Roland Mobile-AC Portable Battery Powered Acoustic Guitar Amplifier

This thing is a gem! It’s so convenient, compact and the sound is really good. I used it for busking with my keyboard and microphone for vocals. I was impressed. It gets the job done. So lightweight and easy to carry, easy to use and straightforward. I’ll be using this for a while!

This little thing is a BEAST of an amp for lap steel guitar. It's voiced remarkably well for Hawaiian lap steel. Bobby Ingano is a Hawaiian Lap Steel Master from Hawaii, and he currently tours with Taj Mahal as his steel player and backup electric guitar player. Bobby tours the world with a Roland Mobile Cube for his Rickenbacher Frypan Lap Steel, and a Roland Micro Cube for his stratocaster. Both are powered by 6 AA batteries, and all he does is have them both mic'd with an SM57. Don't knock it till you've tried it. In addition to being very portable, the benefit of gigging with a battery powered amp is that you don't have to plug into the wall. Very many bars, restaurants, venues, etc have dirty power that can introduce noise into your guitar amp. Being Battery powered means you are a completely self sufficient little ecosphere. You can get consistent results, sound, and tone in every playing situation. If the little amp isn't loud enough, then you're likely playing in a band situation where someone can mic your amp with an SM57. IMO, one of the best tones for lap steel guitar, and very serviceable tone for electric and acoustic guitar.

I looked at a LOT of battery powered amps before selecting this one, and even then I had my doubts. If it weren't for Amazon's easy return policy i might have skipped it. I had a Roland Cube Street battery powered amp, which had 2 8" speakers and a long life on battery power, but it was heavy to carry around and I only used it a few times. Then I had an opportunity to get a compact harp with a pickup in it (2 weeks after I sold the amp) and so I needed a battery powered amp again. I chose this one because Roland has a good name and the amp I had before was great. This amp has 5 watts of power just like my Cube Street did. I didn't expect much out of it, and I only needed to sweeten the volume of my harp, not to blast it out. However, when I got the amp and plugged my harp into it, I had to turn the volume down! It is a powerful little amp, compact and light, and would be a great amp for busking and gigging where there is no convenient source of electricity. There are onboard effects too, and another reason I picked the amp is that it has inputs for mic, guitar and keyboard. I figured it could handle the output of the harp, and it does without a problem. I recommend this if you need a small but powerful amp for on-the-go use.

First of all, you should know that what I'm playing through this is somewhat unusual. I make chiptunes and other small-electronic-device-based music. I got this several weeks ago and had been using it at home to get a sense for what my live sets would sound like (composing exclusively with headphones isn't a good way to get a sense of how the music will sound in performance), and also hoping to use it for busking. Very happy with it as a practice amp, but it is just a little tricky to keep it from overdriving and distorting when plugging a device into the electric guitar input. That's no surprise, though, because of the old "plugging an amp into another amp" issue. You just need to watch out for it, and reduce the output volume of your device so it won't overdrive the Mobile Cube. The other option is to plug your device into the stereo RCA ins, but then you can't use the nice FX that are built into the Cube. Finally had a chance to take it out for some street performing with some other musician friends this past weekend, and it performed nicely. Good volume level, good quality sound for outdoors. One of the guys in the group had some songs on his Game Boy that were chiptune covers of pop songs, and he was able to plug a mic into the separate mic input to amplify his vocals. Really nice feature! If you take it out for street performing, make sure to have a spare set of batteries. I'd estimate 4-6 hours on one set, depending on how loud you're running it. Haven't tried it with rechargables yet. The way it shows that it's running low on power is good, too. Instead of just cutting out, it becomes apparent that you can't get it louder than about 40-50% volume, even with the volume knob pinned at 100%. When that happens you can finish the song you're playing and then change the batteries, which is easy to do (no unscrewing of the battery cover or anything time consuming like that). It doesn't take up much space for the power and features that it packs in, which is nice as music equipment can quickly pile up and fill entire rooms in your house if you aren't careful. If you're a hobbyist musician, I'm sure you know what I mean. It does seem a little expensive, but the build-quality is such that I think it will probably last for many many years, and probably also get alot of use by my son who is about to enter his teenage years. It's light enough that I will for sure take it to the beach to plug in my iPod when the occasion arises, so it has that going for it as well.

Update: I've had this little amp for about 8 months and have quite a few hours on it. I've used it with an acoustic guitar (Taylor with ES2) and electrics, in both single-coil and humbucker flavors. The acoustic gets plugged straight into the "Guitar" input. When I use it with my electrics I usually split the signal, run one leg straight into the "Guitar" input and the other through an overdrive pedal into the "Voice" input. That gives me the option of playing clean or with OD. I mostly practice to backing tracks; I plug a my computer or phone into the "Audio" channel via a 3.5 mm cable. I especially appreciate the individual channel volume controls, they make it easy to balance the Guitar, Voice and Audio channels. It's a decent little basic amp with plenty of volume and while it's small speakers can't keep up with my regular, 12" stereo amp setup, I'm totally happy to practice on this little guy. Just remember, it's clean tones only, no distortion unless you stick a pedal in your signal chain. It does have a chorus button for the "Guitar" channel but haven't bonded with that effect. Can't say too much about battery life, it's usually plugged into AC. PS: I ordered the "no handle" version of this amp and was pleasantly surprised to find it shipped with a web carrying strap which I prefer anyhow. I'm pretty sure the hard handle would have been in the way of the knobs.

This was purchased primarily to use as a portable PA system, with an inexpensive mic and it works well. I tested it versus the Roland Street Cube, and although not as loud as the Street Cube, this sounds much better for vocals as it does not have the harsh guitar amp sound that the Street Cube has when using a mic. (When using a guitar, the Street Cube is terrific). The secondary use is backyard guitar or guitar/vocals for barbecues, parties, and get togethers and for this use, it also works well. The acoustic guitar sounds nice through it, and for sing a-long situations, or the 'street performer', it is perfect. It is smaller than the photo shows, and very light weight, but appears well made. It can fit in a back pack or carry bag. The batteries last long, as advertised, with Eneloops working well (recharging AA's). The amp can be used in coffee cafe settings for a soloist who might do solo acoustic, or even vocals with strum. It can add just enough reverb to sound natural, and with the tone button set high, carries a nice bass sound from the vocals. A 5 Star product for what it does; rather than the expectation of a full blasting guitar amp. It is great for the small settings described above, or for living room practice.

I mention Mickey Rooney, because this little unit enables you to "put on a show" anywhere you like. And like Mickey, despite its small stature, it packs a punch and has some serious skillzzz. I don't think I have ever had any new gear surpass my expectations, as much as this little busker. Definitely voiced for an acoustic guitar and microphone. Separate inputs for each. Separate volume controls. Shared reverb and chorus Reverb is decent. And the chorus, which I normally don't like, is superb. This unit is totally quiet. Even when using both the microphone and guitar. And I don't know how they did it, but it is extremely feedback resistant. Even when you push the 5W to the max. And I have been using this nonstop, in my home because my acoustic guitars sound absolutely fantastic, through this little amp. The only dedicated acoustic amp I ever had was a fender acoustasonic junior. It was pretty good. But my D-28 and J-45's both sound heavenly, through this lunch box sized over-achiever. The best $129 I have ever spent. PS. It also has a 3rd audio input, which also has a separate volume conttol, if you'd like to play along with something from an outside source. The only thing I miss are seperate reverb controls for guitar and mike. But the combined reverb gets the job done. can you say STEREO? Yeah Baby. Roland Beethovan! [...]

Got this as a b-day present for girlfriend who plays keyboard and sings several shows a month in small intimate settings. She is tiny and most often leaves her heavy Korg piano at home and uses lightweight keyboards. She wanted something to beef up the sound of her el cheapo light keyboards. She had been using a $300 keyboard amp on wheels till it failed. She says this little Roland has better sound. I agree. It will not sound as good as a first rate amp combo or PA, But it's so much better than the speakers on the cheap keyboards. The vocal sounds pretty decent through a Senn 835. I think that this unit would be great as a monitor. Despite the significant limitations with EQ, when I ran a signal out the 1/8 inch head phone jack and split out to 2 1/4 inch mono and into both inputs of my Alto TR212 powered speaker, the results were astounding. Truly jaw dropping. Apparently, here are some nice pre amps in this tiny unit. Used this way, vocals sounded better than my Soundcraft board. With thoughtful speaker placement, I suspect a duo could have great sound using these en lieu of a board and monitors. I'm getting one for myself. Always seem to appreciate Roland quality and designs. Incidentally, I paid only $109 on Amazon for the unit. (open box)

Ho acquistato questo amplificatore stereo per utilizzarlo principalmente come cassa monitor per il notebook, dove svolge egregiamente il suo lavoro. Non ho resistito alla tentazione di provare ad usarlo anche come amplificatore per chitarra classica amplificata e di paragonarlo all'Acus che adopero normalmente: non sfigura neanche poi più che tanto, il suono è solo un poco più metallico e manca della morbidezza che caratterizza i prodotti di quel marchio (che comunque costano assai di più), ma si lascia ascoltare gradevolmente. Unico particolare irritante: la politica della Roland di non inserire nei propri manuali informazioni essenziali come la polarità dell'alimentatore (non fornito di serie) per farlo funzionare su rete elettrica. L'informazione è comunque reperibile altrimenti.

Great little practice amplifier. Love it!

This thing is very portable and powerful for its size as an acoustic guitar amp. There is absolutely no problem in performing for a small crowd such as when there is friend and family gathering during weekends. It requires 6 AA batteries for which I use the famous rechargeable Panasonic Eneloop and that would last for days with one full recharge. Dura cells won't last that long....I am writing a review almost after 10months of use and this thing still works as good as new.....I have absolutely no regret in purchasing this little amp as it gave so much fun and pleasure while using it.

Very nice small speaker for playing any instruments , the sound quality is very good

Miracle little amp. I have two, and use them several times a week. The only tweak I'd love is for an extra tone dial -- at the moment it's one tone dial that adjusts both mic and guitar. So you can't turn up the tone on the vocal and down on the guitar if you have a passive guitar pickup. I've solved this with an extra tone pedal, but would love to be able to do it on the amp itself. Otherwise, this is plenty loud -- I never have it up above half way and I play regularly to 50 or 60 people all singing, dancing and playing hand percussion. Batteries last a couple of hours -- rechargeables mean you can recharge one set while playing with another, so you're always covered. Doesn't come with a power lead, but they're fairly cheap online.