Rockerverb in da house .... a little honeymoon review: Got the R-verb yesterday and got to mess about with it after rehearsal last night. I must say I'm really pleased. Leonc's reviews seem to be on the money. I can almost live in the drive channel alone. With the dual pot controlling two stages of gain simultaneously, it can go from a darn near pristine clean at 9:00, to a bluesy pushed clean at 9:30, to SRV blues with a Strat at 10:00, to a Marshall-esque ZZ Top (think Tush) or Zep crunch with a Paul at 12:00, to Gary Moore/Santana sustain at 2:00 (and beyond I guess). Covers LOTS of bases in this channel. Incredible tone at low volumes too for quiet "please the wife/don't wake the baby" playing - better than anything I've tried and of course it just gets better when cranked. Tones are similar to Marshall but with a bit less upper mids and more lower mids. I think it's even better than my Block 45 (when it's cranked) and that's a pretty darn good amp. This R-verb has more definition in the lows whereas the Block is looser. Time will tell - you know how it is with a new amp. If the amp has any concern for me at all it's on the clean channel. My first impression is that its very good, but not a lot of sparkle available. I'm running the treble just about all the way up with fairly hot humbucker (bridge pup is about 13K). There is no Presence control to dial in more highs. Single coils are better in this channel but it doesn't have say, a Matchless DC30 like chime available in the clean channel. Still very good clean sounds but IMHO could benefit from a Fender style bright cap/switch, which is very easy to do - a 47 or 100pf cap across the volume control like a BF Fender. That would give it plenty of high end in (at least) the first half of the volume control rotation. I don't know why they didn't do that. Anyway, there seems to be ample treble available in the OD channel and it can be set to sound kind of Vox-y. Maybe with a Celestion blue it would get pretty close. But you're still limited by the EL-34's, they're not going to chime as nice as El-84's for that type of thang. The amp will run 6L6, KT88, or 6550's (KT88's will put out 140W RMS - ouch!) So far I've only tried it with my Carvin 12" speaker in a Mesa open back cab and a pair of cheap Celestion 10's in a Jenkins cab. The Carvin is a sort of neutral sounding 100W of Eminence manufacture. Seems like this amp will like a speaker with a bit of an edge to it. I have a Classic Lead 80 that I'll try too, it's been a little harsh with other amps I've tried but may be nice with this amp. I'm going to try it with my Avatar 2x12 w/Celestion Greenbacks tonight and see how they sound. The reverb is rich and juicy and sounds close to Fender type verb. It's a small tank but I think it has three springs (didn't open that up). I like it and it works great for both channels but it'll get washy if turned up too far like most spring 'verbs do. I love a touch of verb to add a little ambiance. You can footswitch the verb and channels and switch channels on the front panel switch. There's a tube driven loop too but no send return control. I popped the hood and although it is PCB it's built like a Brick S-H. I'd compare it to the Bogner Shiva as far as build quality. I definitely like it better than the Shiva as far as overall sound but I'd give an edge to Shiva clean channel though. Very elegant design and layout. The guy who designed this (Adrian somebody) did a wonderful job. Extremely quiet operating/idle noise. I love that. Leon, if you see this what speaks are you using?
Your review sounds very similar to the one I did for my RV50 on the HCAF. It's a great amp that I'm totally digging, and I get to use it tonight for the first time in a band setting,...so this will be the true test. Congrats on your purchase! Also, I just bought the matching 2x12 cab to got with it: V30's,...huge bass response. I owned an Orange 4x12 and 2x12 previous to this one and to this day I kick myself for ever selling them,...especially the 4x12,...AAARRRGH!
Try playing it through some good Celestions (it LOVES V30s and does really well with G12H30s too). I think you'll get some sparkle back...but it will NEVER sound like a DC30. Anyway, congrats and enjoy!
It works great in a full band setting for rehearsal, and it has also kicked some exceptional ass for recording. I'm currently doing rhythm tracks (most of them pretty heavy hard rock stuff) for our bands cd and it has seriously won me over,..it just sits in the mix so well. I even used the new cab on some of the tracks and the stiffness of the newer V30's doesn't really hurting things, but I will probably use my Bogner OS 2x12 for the majority of the tracks. V30's seem to always work for me.
My neighbor across the cul-de-sac has a Rocketverb 50 2x12" combo that I got to try last weekend. Honestly, I was unimpressed. I've never said this before, but I'm going to say it now: The amp had that "blanket over the speakers" sound. Just kind of muffled sounding - this was the cleans. The overdrive tones were pretty nice "rock" tones as you turned it up, but really nothing special to my ear. Right next to that amp he had a Mesa Lonestar (100 watt), which I didn't like either. It does not compare favorably to my Two Rock. Not even close. But it is cool to have another gear slut living 200 yards away from me.
I love my Rockerverb 100... I went to try a Shiva, and walked away with Orange thoughts. The clean I typically run with the treble @ 4:00 and the bass @ 1:00 - sounds pretty damn fendery to me. I'm using a LP with SD '59's in it. For the dirty channel, I run the EQ @ 1:00, gain @ 2:00 - but, I play with the gain knob the most. - and, it reacts VERY well to guitar volume adjustments.
Rockerverb 50 Head. Probably the best amp I've ever owned. I'm using it for recording (alt. pop/rock stuff). I run it through a Marshall 1936 w/ 2 Vintage 30's, throw a 57 on it through a Universal Audio tube mic pre. It really does sit well in the track. No more running back between the control room and and the main room to change settings/move the mic around for two hours. It sounds great on crunchy rhythm stuff, great clean, and wonderful for leads. It's also really quiet. I had a Soldano SLO for awhile that sounded like a wind tunnel. Now, if I just had a really good delay pedal...
I played that amp at the LA Amp Show and fell in love with the tone. That is gonna be my next amp for sure!!
I have an RV50 arriving this week. Been looking to try one, have a hunch it won't be my thing, but at least I can say I've tried it! Maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised???
As much as I love my RV50 I'd love to give the 100 a test drive. I want to see how different the tone is between the two,...probably not much. I'm sure the 100 thumps a bit more.
Mickey, How many amps are you owning these days. i have been wanting to try the Orange myself. Let me know how you like it. When are you in town again. O
I'll be home Thursday, but we're heading to Tampa for most of the weekend.... I have 5 amps, the RV will be 6....
