Rockerverb 100 for hardcore? (+which tubes?)

[ironlung40]

I would think the tightest you could get the rv100 would be with kt88's or 6550's, with the kt88's being a bit warmer...depending on the brands....these tubes are pricey though.

as far as tight, I don't really think the oranges are known as being "tight" amps. I certainly have problems with them being too loose for some applications. The only band I can think of at the moment that is a hardcore band that uses/used the rv100's is slipknot. but i think they may have used them in conjunction with other amps instead of as a stand alone.

Just out of curiosity what applications did you find it too loose for? Don't get me wrong I'm not looking for a super tight sounds, just something a little tighter than the Mesa. I think I'll definitely be getting KT88s for it but you're right they are rather pricey!

It's interesting that people in the Orange boards are saying they're quite loose amps whereas people on the Mesa boards who have also experience of Oranges are saying it'll be tighter than the Mesa.

Well, for me at one point I played a lot of 90's, 80's metal. I could never get the orange to do this tones as good as my Marshalls. It's not just a tightness issue, but a brightness issue to. The oranges are heavy on bass and lower mids which makes them a lot darker sounding than the marshalls which are much more trebly and have higher upper mids.

as for tighter than a Mesa, I just don't see it. Metallica uses Mesa's and marshalls...You'll never see them with an Orange as long as they stick to the core sound we expect from them. I've never owned a mesa though, so i've never a/b'd them. I'm just going by my experiences with the oranges as compared to my marshalls which I do play side by side regularly. I've heard a lot of mesa amps though in live performances as well as orange, so I've got it figured out for me anyway.

One thing to think about is, if you get an amp like the RV100, you at least have multiple tube options to try and dial in your sound. You won't get that with most other amps. That's the only way you're really going to know if it suits you.

[botch]

I would think the tightest you could get the rv100 would be with kt88's or 6550's, with the kt88's being a bit warmer...depending on the brands....these tubes are pricey though.

as far as tight, I don't really think the oranges are known as being "tight" amps. I certainly have problems with them being too loose for some applications. The only band I can think of at the moment that is a hardcore band that uses/used the rv100's is slipknot. but i think they may have used them in conjunction with other amps instead of as a stand alone.

Just out of curiosity what applications did you find it too loose for? Don't get me wrong I'm not looking for a super tight sounds, just something a little tighter than the Mesa. I think I'll definitely be getting KT88s for it but you're right they are rather pricey!

It's interesting that people in the Orange boards are saying they're quite loose amps whereas people on the Mesa boards who have also experience of Oranges are saying it'll be tighter than the Mesa.

Well, for me at one point I played a lot of 90's, 80's metal. I could never get the orange to do this tones as good as my Marshalls. It's not just a tightness issue, but a brightness issue to. The oranges are heavy on bass and lower mids which makes them a lot darker sounding than the marshalls which are much more trebly and have higher upper mids.

as for tighter than a Mesa, I just don't see it. Metallica uses Mesa's and marshalls...You'll never see them with an Orange as long as they stick to the core sound we expect from them. I've never owned a mesa though, so i've never a/b'd them. I'm just going by my experiences with the oranges as compared to my marshalls which I do play side by side regularly. I've heard a lot of mesa amps though in live performances as well as orange, so I've got it figured out for me anyway.

One thing to think about is, if you get an amp like the RV100, you at least have multiple tube options to try and dial in your sound. You won't get that with most other amps. That's the only way you're really going to know if it suits you.

Thanks for the reply!

I think the tighter Mesa sounds they had were the Mark series which are tight amps, I know Metallica dabbled with Dual Recs but I think back in the day the tighter Mesa sounds were from the Marks.

Thing is I don't need a super tight sound, it would just be nice to have an amp that wasn't as loose as the Recto. I've heard plenty of people saying Rectos are loose, which is true, but I've had't heard anything about the Rockerverbs being loose until I joined here! However, you guys are the experts on Orange so I guess I'll just have to wait and see until I compare them side by side when I get it later this week and see what I think then.

[botch]

This is probably my favourite guitar tone at the moment, I urge you to check it out, even if you don't like the band the tone is awesome.

Amp used is a Splawn Pro Mod with KT88. I'm hoping the RV with KT88s would get me closer to this tone than the Recto.

http://www.myspace.com/inhaleexhale

[ironlung40]

This is probably my favourite guitar tone at the moment, I urge you to check it out, even if you don't like the band the tone is awesome.

Amp used is a Splawn Pro Mod with KT88. I'm hoping the RV with KT88s would get me closer to this tone than the Recto.

http://www.myspace.com/inhaleexhale

Dude, I checked out that band. I really think you should try a Marshall TSL for that. You may think I'm crazy, but try it.

[botch]

A TSL? What makes you say that? I owned a TSL 60 years ago and to be honest I hated it (although it was my first valve amp and admittedly I knew very little then compared to now). A guitarist in one of my old bands had a TSL 100 and I really disliked that aswell. We plugged a Valvestate into his 4x12 and it sounded pretty much like the TSL, no joke!

I'm not really shopping for a new amp as the only reason I'll be getting the Orange is because my friend wants to swap it for one of my guitars, money is tight at the mo!

I'd be interested to hear if anyone thinks the Orange would get close to the sound in the clip.
Thanks!

[ironlung40]

A TSL? What makes you say that? I owned a TSL 60 years ago and to be honest I hated it (although it was my first valve amp and admittedly I knew very little then compared to now). A guitarist in one of my old bands had a TSL 100 and I really disliked that aswell. We plugged a Valvestate into his 4x12 and it sounded pretty much like the TSL, no joke!

I'm not really shopping for a new amp as the only reason I'll be getting the Orange is because my friend wants to swap it for one of my guitars, money is tight at the mo!

I'd be interested to hear if anyone thinks the Orange would get close to the sound in the clip.
Thanks!

I was waiting for that! I'm screwing with you man.

I honestly think a RV100 will get you close to that tone. You may not even need the kt88's, but I would buy em' just to try out. One tip, I'd give you is to invest in an eq as well. Rackmounts are good, but I use a MXR 108 10 band with my rocker 30 and used to use it with my RV100 when I owned it. I've found that on the rocker 30 I can make it more sparkly on the clean channel. With the RV 100 you can run it through the loop which works even better for tone shaping.

[botch]

Hahaha you got me!

I was trying, in the nicest possible way, to tell you how bad I thought they were without offending you! hehe

Thanks for the EQ tip. I've actually been considering getting of these for my Mesa to tweak the low end so if it would be advantageous for the RV as well, I'll probably get one soon depending on what I think of the stock tone.

That's good you think the RV will get close to the tone on the clip I posted, my Mesa is simply too 'brutal' to get close that tone.

When I get some cash together I'll definitely be investing in the KT88s but I'll stick with the EL34s for now to see how I get on with them, it's been a while since I've owned an EL34 loaded amp.

I think the pre amp valves are stock, does anyone know what brands these are likely to be.

ironlung40 - thanks for all your help.

[ironlung40]

Hahaha you got me!

I was trying, in the nicest possible way, to tell you how bad I thought they were without offending you! hehe

Thanks for the EQ tip. I've actually been considering getting of these for my Mesa to tweak the low end so if it would be advantageous for the RV as well, I'll probably get one soon depending on what I think of the stock tone.

That's good you think the RV will get close to the tone on the clip I posted, my Mesa is simply too 'brutal' to get close that tone.

When I get some cash together I'll definitely be investing in the KT88s but I'll stick with the EL34s for now to see how I get on with them, it's been a while since I've owned an EL34 loaded amp.

I think the pre amp valves are stock, does anyone know what brands these are likely to be.

ironlung40 - thanks for all your help.

I don't know how much help I've been, but thanks. I hope the amp does indeed do what you want it to do. In my opinion, it should, but only your ears can decide. It would be cool if you could do a trial period on the amp before making your mind up. What kind of guitar are you going to trade for it?

Eq's can really transform some amps. I used one with a JCM 900 marshall before, and it made a huge difference. You might try one on your mesa 1st and see if you can tweak the tone you seek.

[Nork]

I think the pre amp valves are stock, does anyone know what brands these are likely to be.

not sure. it seems either orange is putting chinese tubes in'em or JJ's stock.

[ironlung40]

I think the pre amp valves are stock, does anyone know what brands these are likely to be.

not sure. it seems either orange is putting chinese tubes in'em or JJ's stock.

Both my RV100 and Rocker 30 are 2009 models. They each had JJ EL34's and the preamp tubes were not branded and just had white lettering "Ecc83". Whatever the preamps are, I liked them. I did not get on with the JJ EL34's though. I switched to Winged C's in my rocker and I thought it made a big difference for the better. In my RV100, I would've gone with a kt88 or 6550, but I sold it.

[Bentfinger]

My Rv100 has the original el34's, but I've swapped the pre's several times. I been using mine like a single ch amp through the clean channel lately like this. Gtr, wah, ts808 or tc boost/dist set clean, Distortion or OD set to nasty, flange or chorus, analog delay or dd20, amp.. seems to sound better with a tele, strat single coil gtr, but I also like the 72 thinline teles also. Just takes a little time and patience tweaking your set up, but it was worth it for me. Last week I stuck an Aphex compressor 1st in line and loved the clean tone.. Alot!!

[botch]

Hahaha you got me!

I was trying, in the nicest possible way, to tell you how bad I thought they were without offending you! hehe

Thanks for the EQ tip. I've actually been considering getting of these for my Mesa to tweak the low end so if it would be advantageous for the RV as well, I'll probably get one soon depending on what I think of the stock tone.

That's good you think the RV will get close to the tone on the clip I posted, my Mesa is simply too 'brutal' to get close that tone.

When I get some cash together I'll definitely be investing in the KT88s but I'll stick with the EL34s for now to see how I get on with them, it's been a while since I've owned an EL34 loaded amp.

I think the pre amp valves are stock, does anyone know what brands these are likely to be.

ironlung40 - thanks for all your help.

I don't know how much help I've been, but thanks. I hope the amp does indeed do what you want it to do. In my opinion, it should, but only your ears can decide. It would be cool if you could do a trial period on the amp before making your mind up. What kind of guitar are you going to trade for it?

EQ's can really transform some amps. I used one with a JCM 900 marshall before, and it made a huge difference. You might try one on your mesa 1st and see if you can tweak the tone you seek.

Yeah, I've got a Boss EQ pedal lying around somewhere so I'll give it a shot and if I like it I'll upgrade to the MXR 10 band EQ. However, I got the amp a couple of days ago and must say I love it as it is! Haven't had chance to play it really loud as yet - that's happening at practice in a couple of days

I'm still unsure what valves are in there, they're just labeled 'Orange'. They do sound nice so I'll keep them in for while.

It also does feel a bit tighter than the Mesa but I wont truly know until I play it with my band this week and see how it copes in a band setting.

[Sethery]

I just bought a sonic maximizer pedal to put in the effects loop of my rockerverb 50 head because i'm trying to get a bit of a tighter tone of it. It worked! Made a very noticeable difference in the tone and feel of the amp without changing it completely.

[botch]

What kind of guitar are you going to trade for it?

An ESP LTD EC1000 VB.

[jord123]

if you really, really, really wan't that tone find a soldano avenger. relativly cheep compared to an slo(relativly) I saw UNWOUND play w/them back at the turn of the century. holy cow if that was the kinda music I was playin', thats what I'd be using.