The Roland range of Cube amplifiers were greeted with open arms when they were first introduced into the UK around four years ago. Bass players and keyboard players alike flocked to the call, and very soon afterwards the guitar world came around and took them to their hearts. The boon is that they are small, they are loud, and they have a myriad of controls, inputs, outputs and sounds to suit almost all tastes.

The Roland Cube Chorus 60 is 43H x 37W x23D (cm approx) making it a very small amp for the power rating indeed. The speaker is Roland's own - a 30cm model on a staggered mount that is recessed from the cloth front panel giving added protection should the unit fall facewards. The construction of the cabinet is the usual Roland robustness, with 1.5cm thick board used throughout, with panel blocks supporting the construction. The board is covered with lightly grained grey Vynide with hard plastic corner pieces and feet, and a folding (comfortable!) carrying handle atop. The beautiful silver/black speaker grilles used add much to the cosmetic approach to the Chorus 60, and the controls are recessed into the back of the top panel - a design that should prevent most accidents. The back of the cabinet is formed half from the amplifiers' metal backplate (with massive logo), the patching sockets, and a removable section of board that gives access to the speaker section.

Taking it from the top, the controls are (seen from back, L to R) two inputs, marked Overdrive and Normal, then seven rotary controls for Overdrive, Volume (pull Bright), Master Volume, Bass, Mid, Treble and Reverb. Two switches are placed on the right: Reverb (three position), and Chorus (two position).

While the printing of the legends is bright and clear (though they can be easily scratched) they are, seemingly, the wrong way round. When the amp is viewed from the front, as it would be in performance, the legends are upside down. A minor point - but a niggle nevertheless considering the attention to details on the rest of the Cube.

The socket bank on the rear panel consists of: three footswitch jacks for Overdrive, Chorus and Reverb, an output for Chorus/Reverb to an external amplifier, a Pre out for connection to a tape deck or PA system, a Main In jack which allows an effects unit to be set up between Pre Out and Main In, an External Speaker jack (for connection to an impedance of more than 8 ohms and, finally, a headphone jack which cuts out the main sound - ideal for mid gig tuning, or for private listening.

And so to the sounds. The two inputs offer high and low impedance as well as the choice of distorted or clean sound. Using the normal input, the overdrive cannot be induced - but conversely, using the overdrive input and the footswitch, the effect can be removed. The sound from the overdrive, while it sustains very well, isn't really a valve sound. It has some of the qualities certainly, but there is a certain harshness here that sets the teeth on edge. The soft overdrive is a warm rich sound, but any attempt to harden this up seems to increase the harshness. But, and it is a big but, when the Pre Out jack was taken to a PA system the overdrive sound was far better than most miked up cabinets - no spill or howl there - just an excellent distorted sound that allows for long, sweet sustain.

The Volume control varies the input levels (and it can be pulled up for an added treble sound), this is thoughtful and, when used with the Master Vol, gives a greater level of control over the sound that is usual. The three tone controls are quite forceful in their ratio to the sound - the treble especially needs a light fingered approach or the sound can change quite dramatically, while the middle and bass controls added the richness that the Cube range is known for. (Though it is worth trying to put the overdrive on half up and taking the bass and mid out - instant Clapton!).

The reverb sound can be switched three ways, when the Chorus/Reverb out is connected to another amp. This gives you Dual sound (reverb to both), Off and Extension Only. Giving a pseudo stereo reverb, you can then place the Pre Out and the Chorus/Reverb out to the two sides of a stereo PA. Nice. The chorus is less versatile. Basically it can be on or off. With no depth or rate controls, this sound can become monotonous (no matter how beautiful it sounds at first). The only real answer is to use an external chorus if you want any level of control - but then that's not really what you bought the amp for. The simple addition of one control for the depth of the chorus would rectify this easily. The chorus sound itself is very rich, a Roland trademark really, and can't be faulted, and of course it records very well indeed. The level of shift is unobtrusive, and used in conjunction with the Reverb control gives a powerful rhythm sound that is a real alternative to using a soft distortion or sustain to fill it up to the required level.

The real boon of the Cube Chorus 60 is the number of sounds that can be created using the various systems that can be patched in the backpanel. In the studio, the sounds that the Chorus makes can be taken from the cab itself, the pre out, or, if you like playing around a bit, try putting the extension speaker out into a 15" bass cabinet - like a certain vodka, the effect is shattering.

The different external amplifier sounds are thoroughly explained in the owner's information sheet, and basically, they mean that the external amplifier will be available to play the chorus and reverb sounds, while the acoustic sounds from the cabinet are clean.

To niggle again, the addition of an Overdrive Out, or even a three-way switchable Reverb/Chorus/Overdrive out (with an overdrive on/off) would be a great boon, allowing the same versatility on the overdrive that is available on the other two effects.

Gripes apart, both in performance, and in the studio, the Roland Cube Chorus 60 is amazing. It has the power to cut through the stage sound adequately, while giving signals of sufficient quality for studio work. If you are going to buy just one amp for your studio, or if you currently use a number of effects and/or different amplifiers to get various sounds, try this one alone - it could save you a lot of money.

To conclude, we tested the amp with a Gibson SG, a Yamaha 2000 and a cheap strat-type copy, in all cases, the sounds from the unit eclipsed the constraints of the instruments themselves, and opened up a wealth of new sounds. Basically, you are not only playing the instrument, you're playing the amp too.

The Roland Chorus Cube 60 is available no w in most Roland stockists in the UK with a price of £285 inc. Information is from (Contact Details).