Anyone move from a rocker 30 to an AD30?

[cica1066]

Hi Im giving serious thought to move from my Rocker30 combo to an AD30 and cab system. I play in a alternative rock 3 piece now kinda like the joy formidable and silver sun pickups hybrid type sound. Im very happy with my rocker atm but im using more and more clean sounds and as much as i like the rockers i feel there is definitely something better. So to those who have both how do the cleans compare? And to those who made the move to change did you miss anything about the rocker?

[irish_admiral]

You gain some control over the clean EQ, but that's about it... if you like your existing cleans, i'd probably stick with them.

The AD cleans are nice, though there's not boatloads of headroom if you have a loud stage. It's plenty for me though...

[Ronnie Robinson]

Ive got both.

Both I think sound quite different

If u use humbuckers the ad30 does not have much clean headroom - but using single coils does increase headroom a fair bit although not totally clean .....but if you like using the dynamics in your playing then that is where the AD30 excels...fairly clean to light crunch just with how hard you play

Both channels on AD£0htc can be dirty but dirty, both sound quite different

Rocker has more gain and is more punky/ less polite some how

I would save a pick up a second hand ad30

[a.hun]

The main difference between these two amps IMO is not so much tone but their dynamics. One is a very compressed amp the other very uncompressed.
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[jason41224]

I did. And I switched back to the rocker 30 just a few months after.

It's just a totally different flavor. R30s cleans remind me of a clean jtm45. Ad30 to me is like a vox with more low midrange and less headroom. IMO, the perfect amp if you're after light breakup tones, but if you need loud cleans, the ad won't deliver.

Maybe try something like an or50? I've heard nothing but good things about their cleans, and tonally they seem to be closer to your amp than the ad30 would be.

If you end up keeping your rocker...here's a few tips to try. One, if you haven't already, get a good clean boost to leave on all the time (especially on the natural channel). You have no idea what a difference this makes.

Second, get a good transparent low gain overdrive pedal if you want to cop some of the tones the ad30 can do. I use a JHS Morning Glory, which sounds like might be up your alley considering the type of music you play. Some other good examples would include a walrus voyager, a barber gain changer/ltd, or a Klone of some type.

[cica1066]

Thanks guys for the replies. I dont necessarily need anymore clean head room on the rocker and I don't mind gritty cleans. Im running single coils and use a zvex superduper-2in-one that's always got one side on to really open up the natural channel. Its more the core clean tone just seems slightly off, id prefer it to be a wee bit more jangley and brighter. I don't know if i could go back to a more compressed amp though, I kinda assumed all oranges were like the rocker in that respect, its forced me to be a better player definitely. I guess the real acid test would be to play both at the same time.

[jason41224]

Thanks guys for the replies. I dont necessarily need anymore clean head room on the rocker and I don't mind gritty cleans. Im running single coils and use a zvex superduper-2in-one that's always got one side on to really open up the natural channel. Its more the core clean tone just seems slightly off, id prefer it to be a wee bit more jangley and brighter. I don't know if i could go back to a more compressed amp though, I kinda assumed all oranges were like the rocker in that respect, its forced me to be a better player definitely. I guess the real acid test would be to play both at the same time.

great choice, that's what i use on mine too

also, one more tip would be to try setting up the dirty channel as clean. i play a tele (shown below) and depending on what i need, i sometimes do this. gain around 9-10 o'clock, volume anywhere above 9-10 o'clock, treble at noon, bass and midrange at 3 o'clock. sounds pretty jangly to me.

otherwise, maybe the vox sound is for you (and i actually consider the AD30 to be closer to a vox than an Orange...though i'm sure plenty disagree with me). just be aware that it's very different.