Help me choose the right Rockerverb mkIII for me!

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leeowensoas1
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Joined: Mon Jul 15, 2019 3:12 am

Help me choose the right Rockerverb mkIII for me!

Post by leeowensoas1 » Wed Jul 24, 2019 10:27 pm

Hey all,

So the RVIII has been my dream amp for a while now, and now that I'm finally about to pull the trigger, I have a couple questions.

1. Is there any reason (besides weight or price tag) to pick the 50 watt head over the 100 watt? As far as I can see the 100 can quite literally do everything the 50 can do, since it has the half power option. To me it would seem even if I never needed the 100 watt option, there's no disadvantage to choosing that over the 50 head. Is there anything I'm not thinking of in terms of reliability or features or anything?

2. I'm planning on using whichever head I pick with an Orange PPC212OB. Is there any compelling reason to consider the 50watt combo? Only advantages I could think of would be due to the nature of the combo having an open back, but since I'd already be using a separate open back cab, would the combo have anything to offer me? I've also heard combos are harder on tubes and more noise/rattle, and more of a pain to service, plus I hate the top mounted knobs and the speaker/loop/fs plugs being on the underside of the amp. Anything I'm forgetting or not taking into consideration?

So basically long story short, if I could get a RVIII 100 head with a PPC212OB, would I basically be getting the best of all worlds, containing all the potential benefits of the lower watt head and sonic pros of the combo format?

P.S. I heard on an old thread that the head and combo may contain different reverb units, anyone able to confirm or deny?

groundmeat
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Re: Help me choose the right Rockerverb mkIII for me!

Post by groundmeat » Fri Jul 26, 2019 8:34 am

Have you actually played a Rockerverb mk3 in a store yet? The store vs in-home experience might differ.

My experience with that: The ones that I played in stores sounded beautiful and flawless, but when I got a brand new one home and played it all alone in silence, I noticed the dirty channel had a peculiar background buzz to it at higher gain settings. At first, I thought there was something wrong with the amp. But multiple people assured me it was normal. And I've contemplated replacing the 12ax7's in the preamp in hopes it would quiet it down some. I've yet to do that though.

But... over time, as I've played the amp more, that noise seems to be diminishing on it's own, so perhaps it's just from brand new tubes, like they need to be "worn in" or something, I dunno. And I assume any new Rockerverb mk3 you buy lately will have those same PM brand tubes and you'll likely have the same experience.

Personally, I've tried the 50 and the 100 side by side, and I loved both equally. I couldn't tell a difference in the sound at all. With the 50 watter, that's 2 fewer EL34's, which would save you money on replacing tubes when the time comes. If you're just running a 2x12, a 50 watter should be plenty to drive that and rattle some testicles. I'm running a RV mk3 100 into a single 4x12, and honestly, it's overkill. But I get to say... "100 WATTS"... and that's worth the extra money... I think? LOL!

The difference in volume isn't much. The difference in sound... there isn't one. The difference in tubes... 2 fewer. The difference in price... a couple hundred maybe, not a lot. The 50 watter weighs about 45 pounds, the 100 weighs 55 pounds.

Lizzie Top
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Re: Help me choose the right Rockerverb mkIII for me!

Post by Lizzie Top » Tue Jul 30, 2019 3:09 am

groundmeat wrote:
Fri Jul 26, 2019 8:34 am

But... over time, as I've played the amp more, that noise seems to be diminishing on it's own, so perhaps it's just from brand new tubes, like they need to be "worn in" or something, I dunno. And I assume any new Rockerverb mk3 you buy lately will have those same PM brand tubes and you'll likely have the same experience.
I understand what you're talking about. When I replaced the EL34s with 6L6s, yes, I had the same experience.

As for the OP's question: 100>50, you can't argue with math :mrgreen:

afjungemann
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Posts: 241
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Location: South Dakota

Re: Help me choose the right Rockerverb mkIII for me!

Post by afjungemann » Thu Aug 01, 2019 9:03 pm

I have the 50 watt combo and the 100 watt head as well as 212OB, 212CB and used to have 412CB. It depends on your genre and what you like but my experience is that that 50 watt combo is the best sounding to my ear. I have never used a 50 watt head version but I have played the combo through a closed back as well and the "issue" I find with the 100 watt is too much low end. I usually have my bass control around 9 o'clock or lower on the 100 watt where as the combo, I usually keep between 10-12 o'clock. The RV having 3 band eq isn't AS big of thing but I also had the Dual Dark 100 and that only had a shaped knob on the channel B so there was no real way to lower just the bass. I heard the DD50 was much better given the smaller transformer.

I personally love the top facing controls and the aesthetics of a combo so my opinion might not be a great one to listen to. Even as I described the 100 watt of having too much bass, it is very very usable and who cares where the eq is set at as long as it sounds good, right?

In my world, the worst RV is still better than many of the other "Best" amps I have tried for my uses.
Rockerverb 100 MKIII
Rockerverb 50 MKIII combo
AD30TC combo
TH30c
Fender Bassman
Fender Princeton
gibson explorer custom
gibson es355
gibson es359
gibson sg custom
gibson les paul custom
gibson les paul standard
gibson les paul studio
gibson melody maker

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