Roland Blues Cube Artist: kaput and irreparable

xDottore

UPDATE from OP. The Roland died again about a year later, despite the new board. Honestly, cannot recommend. Great while it worked but I have zero confidence after it failed again *in exactly the same way*.

ICBM

Dottore said:

UPDATE from OP. The Roland died again about a year later, despite the new board. Honestly, cannot recommend. Great while it worked but I have zero confidence after it failed again *in exactly the same way*.

I would certainly put these on the ‘do not buy’ list. Two identical failures is indicative of a design fault. Very disappointing from Roland, their stuff always used to be rock solid.

Danny1969

I'm not sure the brand on the box means a lot anymore. Even big companies like EV and Fender are just buying OEM modules and fitting them in their own box and badging them. I see a lot of EV active speakers that are quite a bit cheaper then EV speakers used to be. This is because they aren't really designed or made by EV, internally they contain the same underpowered (compared to rated spec) class D module amps you get in many other cheaper branded active PA speakers and monitors. 
The Fender Tonemasters use the same generic Icepower class D modules the SD Powerstage uses ... which can also be found in surround sound systems and generic Hi Fi stuff. 
This has been going on in the laptop industry for years, with Twinhead, Compal and Quanta models being badged and sold as various Dell's and HP's ... also with mainstream electronics for may years. . The stuff sold as Goodmans and Bush in the nineties was basically any old Chinese OEM cheap crap that was just badged as Goodmans or Bush. 

The newer and more modern tech something is, the less the brand name means unless it's a brand with some serious R&D clout like Apple 

PFAllen2

Danny1969 said:

The Fender Tonemasters use the same generic Icepower class D modules the SD Powerstage uses ... which can also be found in surround sound systems and generic Hi Fi stuff. 

Would this fact make sourcing a replacement easier than the Roland part in the original thread?

Danny1969

PFAllen2 said:

Danny1969 said:

The Fender Tonemasters use the same generic Icepower class D modules the SD Powerstage uses ... which can also be found in surround sound systems and generic Hi Fi stuff. 

Would this fact make sourcing a replacement easier than the Roland part in the original thread?

Yeah, there's a few different versions in terms of power and mono / stereo and  bridgeable but essentially they have mains in, signal in, fan PWR out (if required)  and an enable pin to turn on so easy enough to convert to any use really, be it a guitar amp or a studio monitor or a home cinema surround sound system. 

My worry with these, is they aren't designed for what a typical guitar amp has to go through. Pub gigs are generally fine but I've done loads of festival gigs where the amps been dripping in condensation and the generator power has been fluctuating wildly due to loading. These modules aren't designed for this kind of abuse and they are also prone to damage from vibration due to the tiny multi plate ceramic caps used. 

You can also buy class A/B modules that will do the same job but these will also need a transformer, bridge rectifier and large caps to for a suitable power supply.  Some companies make this as a whole assembly with the A/B amp attached to a rectangle piece of metal that can bolted directly into a wooden cabinet. This is what you see on a power Wharldale monitor or similar. These are generally a lot more hardy but more expensive to make due to the transformer, larger caps and high power transistors and the essential heatsinks.  

Roundwound

I guess the Tonemasters have decent pine cabinets and speakers so when the innards fail irreparably after a few years, the cab can be converted into a “proper” valve combo as nature intended 

Danny1969

Roundwound said:

I guess the Tonemasters have decent pine cabinets and speakers so when the innards fail irreparably after a few years, the cab can be converted into a “proper” valve combo as nature intended 

Funny enough I had 2 Hot Rods in to fix and needed both a mains and a speaker transformer to fix them. So I brought a whole Hot Rod as a donar ... leaving me with a Hot Rod with no guts in it which I've set aside as a stereo SS amp for my Pod Go  ... so kind of the opposite but still re purposed. 

p90fool

Along similar lines I have a pair of old ss Fender combo cabs with Jet City valve heads shoehorned into them.