Roland Mobile-AC Portable Battery Powered Acoustic Guitar Amplifier

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 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 chorusReverb 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![...]

Let me start by saying that I am very impressed with this unit when used for what it is designed for. You could not play a gig with it unless it was a small room background music kind of environment. It will distort the sound slightly when turned up to full volume, but not much. It could use a feedback eliminator like the Roland AC-33. Also, it only accepts 1/4 inch phone plugs connectors for the microphone input. you wont be able to plug in and standard low impedence mic cable without an tranformer adaptor. I have been able to use a shure SM-58 an SM-57 very successfully with this amp. That being said, it sounds wonderful when kept within it's limits. It great for practice and the vocal eliminator works as well as most I have tried. You could use it for street music as well(Just not loud). It also makes an excellent amp for computer or other multimedia amplification. I am a music teacher so I also like to use it for my metronome, iphone accoustic guitar etc. It's well built, the batteries last a long time and it's very light and easy to carry and a breeze to set up. just don't expect to play a rock concert on it.I would highly recommend and I would buy another if I needed to. If you need a little more power, you might try a roland AC-33.

I use this for ukulele and vocal performing in small to medium venues. It is great that it is battery powered (I also have an AC adapter). I have a mic stand setup with mic, iPad holder, uke holder; I can hang this little amp from another holder, and then I have a self-contained performing rig. The sound is OK. It is loud enough to fill a large sized meeting room, but it is not powerful enough to fill a gym or auditorium. In a group, it is good for reinforcing the sound. Our performance group uses many of these at one time, and together they raise the volume of the entire group. It has three inputs that I use: vocal, instrument and aux. It's kind of old technology (no Bluetooth), but it works great. It's so small that on an overseas trip, I put it in my check-in luggage.Negatives: the mic input is 1/4 inch, not XLR, so remember to bring the right cable! The vocal volume knob has gotten tweaked on mine so it doesn't go low any more. This amp has lived a hard life, so that is acceptable.

I originally got this as a small monitor for my pedalboard. I had the need for a compact stereo unit that had a full range flat response and this was perfect. Surprisingly loud, great stereo imaging. Ive alo found myself using it simply as a portable guitar amp when I'm hanging by the firepit.