Absolutely in love with the Rocker 30

tremolo arm · Post by **tremolo arm** » Thu Oct 10, 2013 9:34 pm

Let me begin by saying that I already own a Dual Terror and an AD30 (as well as a Marshall Vintage Modern 50).
I had never played a Rocker 30, but have always been intrigued by it, watched youtube videos and viewed opinions.

Well, I saw one advertised on a well known auction site the other day and took the plunge.
As soon as I plugged in, I knew this was my amp. There is something quite magically simple about the tone on the dirty channel. You dial in a great crunch instantly and it sounds great for both rhythm and solo work. I only tried it for 30 minutes before going out, but it sounded fantastic with both my 69 CS Strat and my PRS 305.

I love the Dual Terror, which I think I'll keep but I have to admit I never really got on with the AD30 and its sizzling tone. I really wanted to love that amp and tried all sort of combination to obtain a good crunch, including running a TS-808 and a Lovepedal Kalamazoo in front of it, but I could never get a tone which I would fall in love with it. I guess one thing that I would miss about the AD30 is its clean tone, something which the Rocker can't really do very convincingly...

Anyway, just wanted to share my opinion...

Jondog · Post by **Jondog** » Thu Oct 10, 2013 9:52 pm

Rocker fan right here! Enjoy!

misterfolkertsma · Post by **misterfolkertsma** » Thu Oct 10, 2013 10:05 pm

Try this if you ever get the chance:
- Play with natural channel at 3pm/dimed. Really, I used to exclusively use the Dirty Channel but this setting absolutely rocks when you're playing in a rockband.
- Dirty channel volume dimed, adjust gain to taste. Gain around noon is close to a dimed Natural Channel sound, in my opinion. I've only tried this at my last rehearsal and found it quite nice, it gives you back some tonal control.

Beah, love this amp!

BTW: not sure if this is allowed but if there's anyone looking for a Rocker 30 in the Benelux region, I just saw someone on facebook selling a R30H in Antwerpen.

Dave666 · Post by **Dave666** » Fri Oct 11, 2013 3:18 pm

Rocker30 fan right here!
Last week I changed the V30 for a Creamback65 in the combo and right now it sounds promising, still beating the pile of poop out of it 'till it's broken in. Gain sounds a bit more raw with the creamback which I like! A plus is that the creamback weighs 1.1kg less than a V30...

tremolo arm · Post by **tremolo arm** » Wed Oct 16, 2013 7:31 pm

Last night I had my first band rehearsal with the Rocker. What a joy!
The guitar cut through the mix like a hot knife through butter, even on the lower frequencies (Gibson LP neck pickup).

My only concern was that i had to dime the volume on the Natural channel to get a loud enough sound. But doing that introduced a bit of power tube distortion, which was very pleasant and harmonically rich, but I needed a cleaner tone.

Ironically, i found that I could achieve a cleaner tone on the dirty channel, by turning the volume up and keeping the gain low. Still not perfectly clean at that volume but cleaner than the natural channel...

baytamusic · Post by **baytamusic** » Wed Oct 16, 2013 8:22 pm

You'll get more headroom on the natural channel with single coils. You can also use a clean boost to also get a little more. More speakers help too. It's definitely borderline no matter what you do, for sure won't do the Fender thing but sounds good.

JimmyOhio75 · Post by **JimmyOhio75** » Wed Oct 16, 2013 9:49 pm

Love my Rocker 30. Plug straight in with a Les Paul and get the most glorious hard rock crunch ever!!!!!!!

Great friggin' amp!!!

Jondog · Post by **Jondog** » Wed Oct 16, 2013 10:01 pm

Looking back over your original post. If it were me, I'd be more inclined to move the Dual Terror along than the AD30. I owned the Dual Terror alongside my Rocker and they are more the same than the AD30 is. I had my Rocker and Dual Terror A/B'ed and dialed in sounding just about the same other than the different power section characteristics. Rocker was fuller sounding. The AD30 is a different beast than both those amps.

tremolo arm · Post by **tremolo arm** » Thu Oct 17, 2013 9:17 am

Jondog wrote:Looking back over your original post. If it were me, I'd be more inclined to move the Dual Terror along than the AD30. I owned the Dual Terror alongside my Rocker and they are more the same than the AD30 is. I had my Rocker and Dual Terror A/B'ed and dialed in sounding just about the same other than the different power section characteristics. Rocker was fuller sounding. The AD30 is a different beast than both those amps.

You'r absolutely right, I also find them very similar. The Rocker is just ballsier and obviously there are more options to tweak the sound. I thought I would keep the DT for the sheer portability and because it has a sentimental value (having been used to record a recent EP....

tiki · Post by **tiki** » Sat Oct 19, 2013 12:18 pm

JimmyOhio75 wrote: Love my Rocker 30. Plug straight in with a Les Paul and get the most glorious hard rock crunch ever!!!!!!!

Great friggin' amp!!!

ditto that! I have a 10 year old Standard outfitted with S Duncan 'Seth Lovers' (unpotted)

what an amazing tone!

Orangesoda · Post by **Orangesoda** » Tue Oct 22, 2013 8:39 pm

The Rocker is the best! I fell in love with Orange when I was looking for a practice amp and stumbled onto a TT. Enjoyed the raw gritty sound of the TT. I tried out an AD30, bought a TH30 and a TV50. Wasn't too convinced. Got a hold of a Rocker 30 and wow! Ain't never letting that one go!

Absolutely in love with the Rocker 30

Absolutely in love with the Rocker 30

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