Rockerverb mk2 vs mk3

[dheim]

Hello!
I already own a TH30 and an OR15, and I’m dead serious about selling an ENGL retro tube 100 (a very cool and jcm800ish amp, but for some reason it never really grew on me) to buy a rockerverb 50 (mainly because I’m sick of carrying around extremely heavy heads that I NEVER play above 3 of master volume... the price difference with the 100W model is surprisingly tiny).
Now the problem is that the mk3 on paper is better, but costs almost twice as the mk2.
Given that:

1) I don’t need an attenuator because I never use heads at home
2) I don’t need chimey cleans and actually like my cleans on the verge of break up
3) I use a pedalboard in the fx loop and I’d use the built in reverb to get a bit of ambience on “dry”tones, so i don’t plan to use it above - say - a 10-15%

is the mk3 REALLY worth the difference? How do their clean channels actually differ without mentioning other amps/brands? Which is the dirtier and which the brighter?

Thanks!

[afjungemann]

I am not sure how heavy the ENGL is but the RV is no light head. I think mine is 54lbs or something like that. Also, I am not sure you will get much difference with usable volume. These are powerful heads so you would likely be in the "nothing about 3" volume area.

The MK II is awesome. I played on several quite a bit and it sounds amazing. The MK III to me is just slightly better in every way. I use the attenuator a lot and for different reasons. I use it live as a solo boost, I use it at home to give me manageable volume and I use it on the clean channel if I want to get some really great breakup at manageable volumes.

Either head is fantastic so it is really up to you.

[Ronnie Robinson]

I've not used the mkiii but have owned a mkii. The reverb on the mkii sounds utterly superb....as is the effects loop which works fantastically.

Also you maybe don't need an attenuator with the mkii. Despite being a 50 valve amp it had incredibly good overdrive tones at house friendly ish volumes ( loud TV volume say)....much better than the 30 watt amps I have now.

The clean channel is ok quite lush and warm sounding and quite different from what I've seen on the net to the mkiii.

The main issue I had with it was was that the clean channel does not play well with overdrives and the overdrive channel struggles to cut through a band mix when the gain is over 1pm.

Completely agree with what's been said about the weight and loudness of the amp.

[dheim]

thanks for the replies

just let me elaborate: i'm not looking for a light head (the OR15 and the TH30 are both extremely comfortable to carry) nor for a bedroom friendly one (i use vst stuff to play at home, and i've already got a superb BlackStar HT5 combo). i was just saying that i'm largely reconsidering my old fetish for 100W heads because in the end i realized i don't need the extra wattage (and weight) at all!

going back to the main RV related question...

what do you mean exactly when you say that the mkIII is slightly better in every way? does the OD channel sound different?

[dheim]

i think i've solved my problem the hardcore way.

i found an offer payable in 6 months and finally ordered a 50W mkIII !

[Fars]

i think i've solved my problem the hardcore way.

i found an offer payable in 6 months and finally ordered a 50W mkIII !

Congratulations!

It's a great amp. Sounds best with the master set at 9 or above

[afjungemann]

going back to the main RV related question...

what do you mean exactly when you say that the mkIII is slightly better in every way? does the OD channel sound different?

I guess the things that made it better was the improved clean channel, the attenuator, and the power scaling.

I feel like the mkiii has a little bit crunchier gain but that is just from my experience. The attenuator is one of my favorite features so that tips the scale right away for me.

Both kick butt and I am sure you will live your mkiii! Excited to hear what you think of it.

[Les Paul Lover]

Congrats!!!!!

Well done - I'm sure you'll love it! Report back to us when you get it!!!

[dheim]

here i am!
so, today i've received my RV50 mkIII, and i've got some (very) preliminary impression to share...

1) the clean channel sounds very similar to the TH30's (i suppose it's more or less identical, actually), but somehow i find it a bit nicer. that could be entirely due to psychoacoutics, though. or to the different poweramp section.
2) the drive channel is insane around 1-3 o clock, less focused and tight compared to the TH30, with more mids and an overall more open and aggressive tone. i'm pretty sure it will sound very different at studio volumes (at the moment i've just tried it at home, way louder than i normally would, but still way quieter than i actually will... my first impression was a bit disconcerting, because most of the low end oomph of the TH30 was missing, but still there was a very pleasing thump on palm muted notes, and i bet that some more lows will appear once i'll manage to play it at decent volumes. more importantly, all the frequencies that really count in a mix are there.
3) unlike on the TH30 the drive channel clears very nicely below 12 o clock, and there's a wide range of usable 'vintagey' tones - without any need to tweak the EQ
4) it sounds great on my Orange PPC112, and damn ugly on my Palmer 212, that's a mixed cab loaded with a V30 and a Swamp Thang. (at the time it looked like a good idea, but i found out that just two of my heads sound really good on it, while the rest range from meh to terrible. the RV50 is on the awful side of the spectrum, but the Swamp Thang is going away in a matter of days). i couldn't test it on my Blackstar Series One 412 (V30s) but i will soon...
5) the reverb is veeery nice
6) a very small flaw: the EQ knobs are not exactly in line with the stops of the potentiometers, so the white dots on all three knobs rest between the lines. it's a half step deviation and who cares, in the end, but it was a disappointing discovery nonetheless (i didn't expect such sloppy craftsmanship from a 1700 € amp made in UK... damn, the rest of my Orange gear is made in China and the knobs look better than this!)
7) the fixed steps are a nice idea on every control except on volume. it's still possible to move the knob by half steps, but still i would have liked a free moving potentiometer.

[murkofaeons]

Sounds like you're enjoying it overall. I can tell you that when I got my mkiii 100, I thought it wasn't very loud or thumpy at first but what I discovered is that it really opens up at like 3:00 on the master. I was used to an '84 jcm 800 2204 before the RV, which is pretty much full volume around 9:00. Hopefully you'll get to crank it up soon and see for yourself!