Roland VGA7 V-Guitar Amplifier
The most powerful and complete guitar modeling technology in history.
Overall User Ratings (based on 71 ratings)
Submitted March 31, 2005 by a customer from pacbell.net
"I have a rolnad VGA-3 and VGA-7. They're both awesome amps!"
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Just get the damn thing, you'll be glad you did!
Sound
Great versitility. Great solid state distorion tones. It can get a bit noisy but there is a built in noise suppressor which helps.
Features
Amazing quality effects. roland is A-1 in this are with a combo amp. the effects arfe top flight rack mount quality built in to the amp for simple use. There are many tonal amp and speaker models so READ the instructions on hos to get the different tones from the amp.
Quality
this amp is solid through and through and for $530 bucks for the B-stock you can't go wrong!
Value
Fantastic value. A ton of amp for your buck!
Manufacturer Support
Roland is pretty hard to get a hold of but they seemed helpful when I called them.
The Wow Factor
Fairly nice looking combo amp... some color choices would have been nice but then that's the case with moost amps...
Musical Background:
Hobbyist
Musical Style:
Neo Classical Metal
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Submitted May 12, 2005 by a customer from flinet.com
"I Returned My Crate, it must of been Fate!!!!!"
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If you want a nice giging amp or a nice combo amp to pair up with a JC-120 this is it. I am definatley thinking of selling my Marshall and Pairing up a Jc-120 with this amp. This way i can run acoustic through one side and distortion thu the jc-120. I hope roland evolves on this vga technology, I think in years to come it will become a standard for automatic tunings, 12string and acoustic layering, and choosing your guitar all on the fly. Its getting there year by year, and it getting pretty usable the closer we get. All in all a great amp to get before there all gone, I wont regret it at all.
Sound
I just purchased this amp after purchasing the faulty Crate VTX200s. The effects on the new Crate Model would drop off at anytime, bad design poor quality. I played thru the VGA-7 about three years ago and liked it but at the time the amp was $1,295.00 pluus tax. so it was out of my budget. Plus I own a gt-6 and the gr-33 so I thought the amp was a little redundant to all my equipment. So i returned the crate vtx200s and went online and saw this amp on sale for $525.00 and almost crapped my pants. The cleans on this amp are pristine when used with the chourus, the acoustic models and 12 strings are top notch. The effects are typical boss simple phaser, flanger, comp, slow gear but are simple and effective. I an using this amp with a Brian Moore i2 13 and it tracks very well in the gk input. This amp alone is a JC-120, Fender Twin, and easily an old Marshall tube combo, very nice amp.
Features
I have owned most of the modeling amps out there, I have owned a vox valvetronix, nice on its own but horrible when you add your own floor effects. I had a pod xt live floorboard and hated it, the worst digital sound I have ever heard. This amp amp excells in simplicity. Choose your guitar model, choose your amp, choose your tuning, and then add effects wahhh laaaahhh, no rocket science but nice clean useable tone. The cleans on this amp are special, and they are worth double just for the cleans and acoustic variations. As for the heavey distortion tube sound its not there, but with all roland and boss products, every model they do has a sweet spot, and its a matter of finding which amp model suits you best, and saving its sweet spot and learning thru trial an era. I have owned a boss gt-3, gt-6, and now have the gt-8, and all roland boss and effects have there drawbacks, but they are good tools to use and the parameters are class in achieving any sweet spot, you have to learn the gear. One thing i can say about boss and roland is there equipment last for years if you take care of it, they are definatley work horses.
Quality
Solid at 85lbs. with casters and an extra gk-2 cord. I think Roland has discontinued this model, so they must be releasing there new V-Line pretty soon, Probally new VG-88 and new VGA-amps. They are probally going to introduce there twin cosm amp models like on the gt-8.
Value
At five hundred and change this is the best bang for the buck and blows any modeling combo away hands down, especially Line6 garbage.
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Submitted December 7, 2003 by a customer from softhome.net
"Incredible"
I have been completely satisfied with this product. I did my homework before choosing this amp so I knew what I was buying before hand. If you need versatility in an amp that matches the versatility in your music then this is the holy grail. If you need the absolute best in one style of music then go ahead and invest in the very best for you genre.
Sound
I can't believe the accuracy that these guitar models possess. Truly stunning.
Features
I've been playing with this amp for 9 months now and I still haven't discovered everything that it can do. It has more features than I could dream up.
Quality
Rock solid. Nothing less.
Value
This is totally dependant upon your needs, but I believe it to be worth every penny I paid for it.
Manufacturer Support
I've never had to use it, but from what I've known about Roland in the past I don't think I'd like the misfortune of having to use it.
The Wow Factor
The guitar modeling feature of this amp puts it at an "11" on this scale. That feature is pure genius, and intuitively carried out.
Musical Style:
Rock, Alternative, Country, Jazz, Pop - a little bit of everything
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Submitted June 29, 2004 by a customer from earthlink.net
"OUTSTANDING WORK OF ENGINEERING"
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I HAD THE ROLAND VGA 5 AND JUST HAD TO HAVE THIS . I NOW OWN 3 AMPS AND THIS IS MY MAIN AMP NOW.
Sound
QUITE AN ARRAY OF SOUNDS .
Features
YOU CAN CHOOSE GUITAR , PICK UPS , AMPS , CABS . QUITE IMPRESSIVE .
Quality
THE USUAL ROLAND EXCELLENCE .
Value
THE COMPONET PARTS WOULD COST MEGA BUCKS .
Manufacturer Support
I HAD A QUESTION AND THE PHONE WAS ANSWERED PROMPTLY . THE TECH WAS GREAT . HE ACTUALLY CALLED ME BACK 30 MINUTES LATER TO BE SURE EVERYTHING WAS OK .
The Wow Factor
IRRESISTABLE !!!!!!!
Musical Style:
ROCK
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Submitted March 31, 2013 by Mark Wehner in Austin, TX
"Roland Doesn't Support Their Products !"
First of all, I'm mainly and acoustic player so in the 8 years I've owned my VGA-7, it probably has less than 100 hours of use on it. That's what makes this so painful. The last several times I tried to use my Roland, it produced no sound. All the lights and indicators worked but...no sound so I had a Roland-authorized service tech work on it. After spending many hours on it and consulting with Roland, the service tech told me the flash ROM was bad but unfortunately (for me) it can't be re-burned so the whole mother board needs to be replaced...at a cost (to the service tech) of $560, making the total cost of repair more than I paid for the amp when it was new. Really ? When I tried to talk to the person my service tech consulted with at Roland to see if that's the best they could do, they wouldn't even put me through to him and of course he never returned my call. So basically, I've got a virtually brand new VGA-7 that's now nothing more than a big heavy paper weight. I'll never buy another Roland product and will spend the rest of my life trying to convince the rest of the world not to either. Bitter? You bet. Sorry, but that's not the kind of service I came to expect from the Roland brand.
Musical Background:
Been playing for about 10 years...mainly acoustic
Musical Style:
Wide range including rock, folk, country and classical
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Submitted December 12, 2013 by Michael C in Las Vegas, NV
"I got a bad one"
I bought this amp years ago with a Roland Ready Strat. From the start I knew I had a problem in that the G string would produce NO sound through the 'synth' cable.
I was told at the time it was the guitar.
I put them away for several years.
Yesterday I took my Strat into a store and it played great, all the strings, through the GR-55.
So the problem is in the amp.
I reset the system and tried to tweak the strings in the system software.
It is too late for me but if you are considering buying one be sure to try it out with a guitar with the GK-2A and make sure all strings track!
Now all I have is an over priced 85 pound combo amp with a few new sounds that can be produced when the guitar is plugged in with a normal guitar cable.
Musical Background:
Playing 20 years at home.
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Submitted September 13, 2004 by a customer from online.no
"For this price it's more than a bargain - we're talking about a dosin new guitars - same amount of new amps - standard effect -"
Pros:
1. Its just have tons of variations in the tone.
2. the preset are GOOD - even the NYLON is GOOD (people are complaining about the nylon classic sound - I find it usable, it sounds like a closeup micked classic guitar to me)
3. the accoustic sounds great
4. the heavy les paul in marshall/soldano/vox amps just screams!
5. fender strat sound in fender amps...
6. nice clean sounds (of cource roland JC-120) - but also machless just kicks
7. if you had a bad day - just switch over to does droped tuned metalized killer zone...
Cons:
1.The volume seems a bit low -since I most of the time has it at around '2' or '3' o clcok - but this is moe related to that the master volume is a bit linear - you have to tweak all the pre-amp settings to get it to play load.
2.The cable gets to easily twisted
3. you will need a separate volume control EV-5 in the back of the unit to make sure you have the volume under control while shifting presets - and of course an extra midi footswitch - ex behringer fcb-1010
4. its HEAVY - it could be chopped off with a saw, making it a amp + cabinet with a decent amp-connector in between...
Sound
All what you will ever need...Actually you can use ALL the presets
Features
Incl. GK-2a
Quality
This will last forever
Value
For this price it's just...priceless
Manufacturer Support
Excellent...got a midi implementation sheet from the support dept in no time
The Wow Factor
If u like the Roland Jazz Chorus look - this one got it
Musical Background:
hobbyist
Musical Style:
classic rock
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Submitted February 17, 2004 by a customer from aol.com
"I bought two VGA-7's because they are so awesome."
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I really don't know how Roland could improve upon this amp. It literally does it all. I know of no product on the market the even comes close.
Sound
This amp is awesome. You can almost sound like any guitar part you are trying to emulate because this amp is so flexible.
Features
Tons of flexibility. But a few expensive accessories are required.
I also own 2 Roland guitar synths so I had to buy the Roland GPK-4
parallel box (about $120), also bought the FC-200 midi foot controller (about $350). I also bought a Fender/Roland Ready Strat (about $600).
Quality
This amp is made very well. I own 2 of these amps and I piggyback them together. They are heavy though. You can't be cheap (because of the accessories) or a sissy (they weigh 83 lbs each) to own and use these amps on the road.
Value
Depending on how flexible you are as a musician, this amp will do it all. I've owned mine for 2 years now and I to this day still get excited at the thought of playing through this amp.
Manufacturer Support
Roland is a great company to deal with. I upgraded to a newer operating system (a new sound board) on the amp and Roland paid for everything.
The Wow Factor
This amp looks like something out of a computer room but it really is easy to use.
Musical Style:
Classic rock.
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Submitted May 10, 2010 by a customer from hotmail.com
"Nice try!"
Sound
bad sounds the emulator really sucks, I tried using it with other effects processors through the power amp to make it worth while but still had problems with dirty sounds
Features
Can only really be used with the VGA system so if you dont own it the amp is useless.
Ease of Use
Pretty complicated to work if you dont have the correct hardware to use it with.
Quality
Its a roland so its tough but digital is not their best trade.
Value
you can pick one up for less than 100 if you look well enough.
Musical Background:
Active Musician
Musical Style:
Rock, fusin, Progressive
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Submitted June 5, 2007 by a customer from AOL.COM
"finally i bought somthing thats worth the price"
i cant imagine looking to get more out of any amp
Sound
ive been in the biz for 38 years,thats alot of gigs and alot of gear ,ive used every amp known to man and a few that were custom made but when i played through the vga7 it blew me away,one amp one pedel controller and done the sound is there if i was a strat i got it a sg,tele ,paul its there the effects are very nice and its not rocket science,buy one and its the only amp youll ever have to buy, thats no bull.Roland you outdid yourself with this one.Im a happy camper.it gets a 9.5
Features
programing the pedel controller can be tricky but once you have it down its great
Ease of Use
you plug it in one line to your effects if you want more one to the board and one to the guitar done!
Value
the amp is worth every penny and id buy 5 more just to keep them in different studios i work out of
Manufacturer Support
they are verybusy i think they could get some more people to handel the workload
The Wow Factor
very schiek
Musical Background:
ACTIVE MUSICIAN
Musical Style:
ALL STYLES
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