Revsharp777 ( or other Chameleon users )...

Jupiter · #1 10-01-2003, 03:26 AM

Hey!
Do you still have your Rocktron Chameleon preamp? I remember you talking about how great it was a little while back. See, i have an opportunity to buy a used blackface model for a really great price, and i was looking for some input. Do you have any sound samples of the preamp? If you do, i'd really like to hear them. What type of power amp are you running it through? Can you compare the units tones to any particular player?
I'd really appreciate some help!
Ben

Carlo · #2 10-01-2003, 11:11 PM

There was a thread about it a while back...

http://www.jemsite.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=24054

I use one but I haven't played with it enough to get the best sound. Bosch posted some really cool shred tunes in the media section and I think he was using a chameleon on some of them using the cab emulation feature. Ricky Garcia has also been using them for a while now and he usually runs it through a Valvestate and he got some great sounds out of it.

revsharp777 · #3 10-02-2003, 04:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jupiter

Hey!
Do you still have your Rocktron Chameleon preamp? I remember you talking about how great it was a little while back.

Yes, I still have it & it's wonderful.

Quote:

See, i have an opportunity to buy a used blackface model for a really great price, and i was looking for some input. Do you have any sound samples of the preamp? If you do, i'd really like to hear them.

Pick it up now! You won't regret it! Even if you're a novice at midi gear (like me to some extent), you will find great tones by playing with it's user-friendly interface & by checking out some of the tones at rocktron.com's patch library. I don't have any sound samples at the moment, but I will in the coming months once I complete my 7-song demo.

Quote:

What type of power amp are you running it through? Can you compare the units tones to any particular player? I'd really appreciate some help!
Ben

I use a Rocktron Velocity 300 Poweramp. The Chameleon's range of tones are endless. I haven't found a tone yet that I can't emulate.
MY TONES....

Distortion: I play technical metal, so my main sound is a very focused high-gain sound. My distortion tone best emulates Meshuggah's tone on their album, "Destroy Erase Improve," but I use a touch more midrange. I have various presets that used that tone with other effects also. Not to toot my own horn, but I have been told on several occasions that I have the most devastating distortion tone around.

Lead: My lead tone is somewhere between Petrucci, early-Van Halen, & Vai. It's very glassy, but with a bit more edge than the players mentioned (my personal taste).

Clean: I have 2 clean presets I use. The first is SRV & Holdworth-meets-the Roland jazz clean sound. The 2nd is basically the same, but with tons of delay dialed in ala The Edge from U2. I use that preset & play "in time" with the delay (see Nuno Bettencourt's performance on "Flight of the wounded bumblebee" from Extreme for reference).

Synth-like patch: I have a patch that sounds very much like a synth. The sound is gorgeous. I emulated this after a patch I found on the Digitech XP300 Spacestation pedal (preset 5 "String Swells"). It never fails. Everytime I use this patch live, all the guitar geeks come up to me asking me how I got that sound.

Basically, you can get any sound you want. Don't expect to get Eventide-quality harmonies, but the harmonizer in the Chameleon will suffice for live gigs, albeit, you only get parallel harmonies. The other plus is, NO DROPOUTS when changing presets! You can also control up to 8 parameters by using expression pedals. Hope this helps.

Jupiter · #4 10-06-2003, 03:03 AM

Thanks for the info, Rev!
Here's a few more questions i'd like answered...
Is it true that you can run the preamp by itself { no poweramp } into a board for recording? How does this sound???
Would it be possible to plug my guitar into the preamp by itself { again, no power amp }, and listen on headphones?
Does it sound 'tubey'?

Jupiter · #5 10-07-2003, 06:46 PM

Aaaaaaanybody????

Jupiter · #6 10-07-2003, 06:57 PM

Oh, another question i had.....
How does that Rocktron Velocity 300 poweramp sound? Is it loud enough to gig with? We usually have to mic my Line 6 AX212 when we gig, i think it's 120 solid state watts. I play in a heavy progressive metal band, and we're usually pretty damn loud, so it's important for me to be loud enough to keep up with everything else. Would the 300 do the job? I've read some reviews on Harmony Central that stated it wasn't loud enough...

Jupiter · #7 10-10-2003, 12:48 AM

Does nobody really know?

revsharp777 · #8 10-10-2003, 04:52 AM

Just wanted to let you know that I finally saw your posts. I'll answered all this in detail, but right now, it's late. See you in the morning.

Jupiter · #9 10-10-2003, 01:38 PM

Cool, thanks man

!

Jupiter · #10 10-17-2003, 07:06 PM

Not to nag or anything, Rev, but i'd appreciate some info, especially about the power amp. I'd like to use it with a 2x12 cab, by the way. Thanks!

revsharp777 · #11 10-18-2003, 01:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jupiter

Oh, another question i had.....
How does that Rocktron Velocity 300 poweramp sound? Is it loud enough to gig with? We usually have to mic my Line 6 AX212 when we gig, i think it's 120 solid state watts. I play in a heavy progressive metal band, and we're usually pretty damn loud, so it's important for me to be loud enough to keep up with everything else. Would the 300 do the job? I've read some reviews on Harmony Central that stated it wasn't loud enough...

Sorry for the delay. In the past 2 weeks, I've had major computer problems, plus I just plain forgot.

Anyway....

The Velocity sounds AWESOME!!!! It has more power than you'll ever need (150wx2). You can run up to 4 4x12 cabs, if need be. Normally, I run just 1 4x12 in stereo, but at my last gig, I ran 3 4x12 cab comfortably. Before I went to a 4x12, I used it to power a 2x12 GenzBenz cab....great results.

Besides the power, they also have the reactance knob. Basically, the more you use, the more "tube simulated" sound it gives. The Velocity was designed from the ground up as GUITAR poweramp, not as a poweramp for general use. Lots of care was taken in the design...& you'll HEAR the difference.

Jupiter · #12 10-18-2003, 03:21 AM

Awesome, sounds great! So if i ran a single 2x12 cab with it, would it be loud enough to gig with?

revsharp777 · #13 10-18-2003, 03:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jupiter

Awesome, sounds great! So if i ran a single 2x12 cab with it, would it be loud enough to gig with?

Oh yes!!!

dwalsh5150 · #14 10-18-2003, 07:45 AM

I use a rocktron velocity 250 Power Amp, loud enough no probs!!

strat110 · #15 10-18-2003, 06:34 PM

Its a great little unit, since I got mine (coupled with a Marshall Valvestate 120 pro poweramp) I have not gone back to using my DSL100!!

There are a ton of great tones to be found, check out some of the Rocktron patches - which are too wet for my tastes, program it then turn the fx off button to hear the dry sound, this will give you a good basis on which to tweak the distortion/clean itself or adjust the effects accordingly.

Anybody want to trade patches?

Andy

Revsharp777 ( or other Chameleon users )...

Re: Revsharp777 ( or other Chameleon users )...