I am the Rockmaster!!

[pro-fusion]

Just kidding!!

My new Peavey preamp is the Rockmaster...I'm just the ugly bastard that plays through it.

I got a used RM in very good condition today. Paid $150, which is probably a bit much, but it is in very good shape. I had been playing through Rocktron preamps, but I just wasn't getting the right sound. Juicy, but still able to be tweaked into a tight rhythm guitar chunk. The RM totally has that ability. You do have to play around with the midsweep function on the Ultra channel to get into total death mode, though--and a parametric pre-EQ probably wouldn't hurt to tighten up the bass a bit, but it's not too bad that way, as is.

At the moment, I'm plugging it into the front of a Chameleon 2000 to use the Rocktron speaker sim--and from there into my mixing board--until I get around to acquiring a Rocktron effects unit (Xpression, Replifex or Multivalve) that has the speaker sim in it. The Intellifex may have better fx, but it doesn't have the speaker sim.

The Rockmaster has great sustain and really sings. It's almost criminal how cheap they are. I'm sure that some of the high end pre's are better, but I bet if you put a Mesa badge on the RM, there are people who would pay high dollar for it. When I played it through a power amp/4x12 cab at the store today, it absolutely rocked--totally the sound I've been looking for. My direct-recording setup doesn't get quite that sound, but good enough now.

[Cleveland Metal]

Re: I am the Rockmaster!!

As much as I've heard about them, I have yet to try one of those. Would you say it is 5150-ish?

[wyldefan]

Re: I am the Rockmaster!!

The rockmaster is a great preamp. It was always one of those models that never got the credit they deserved. Gret rock preamp!

[pro-fusion]

Re: I am the Rockmaster!!

At the store, I played the Rockmaster through the fx return of a Peavey Ultra 60 head, through an unknown, but nice, cabinet. It is EXACTLY the same sound as the Ultra head itself--not surprising, because it's the same preamp. Probably more like the XXX than the 5150, I'd guess, since the XXX is an updated version of the Ultra. However, I've played both the XXX and the 5150, and I say that the Ultra/Rockmaster "sings" a lot more at high gain than either of those, while not being quite as brutal--but still with a lot of gain. The XXX has kind of a squashed sound that is more intense, but not as 'musical' to me. I've only played the 5150 combo, which I liked, but I found that it is better for scooped mid stuff, while not quite having as nice a voice for leads as the Ultra/Rockmaster, in my opinion. On the other hand, the low end on the Rockmaster is not as tight as the 5150. I think a pre-EQ is a very good investment for the Rockmaster.

The Rockmaster has a LOT of gain, don't get me wrong. At low volumes, diming the pre and post gain doesn't go over the top, but I tend to think that you wouldn't need to go that high if you pushed a power amp high. When I put the Rockmaster through the power amp simulator section of my ADA Ampulator (and then into the Rocktron Chameleon for its speaker sims), I have all the gain I can handle on the Rockmaster at about halfway. However, I'm sure that the Rockmaster doesn't have as much gain as the 5150. Even at low volume, going over about 10 o'clock turns that sucker into a wall of fuzz.

Bottom line--I would say that the Rockmaster is better for shred or '80s metal than the 5150, but not as good for thrash or recent downtuned stuff. Though you can probably tweeze it and get pretty close.

[Cleveland Metal]

Re: I am the Rockmaster!!

Something you might try it to use the distortion low on the Rockmaster, and hit the front end with a clean boost like an EMG PA-2 preamp, a wireless that can slam the front end with more volume than a cord or a pedal that does something like that.

My CAE3+se gets mighty fuzzed out at high gain settings. So, I lower the gain, and I slam it with the PA-2, and it gets a different kind of distortion that I find very pleasing. Much tighter, yet over the top edge and crunch that the CAE does not have on its own.

[Twisteramps]

Re: I am the Rockmaster!!

I had one of those in the mid 90s - grabbed it at at pawn shop for cheap. Sounded pretty damned good... for awhile I had one of those and a Kitty Hawk Quattro in my rack.

Pete

[pro-fusion]

Re: I am the Rockmaster!!

If you factor in the Rockmaster, Ultra, and 5150, Peavey makes some pretty cool amps. Even the XXX is decent, though I give it some demerits because I'm not a real fan of the Dual Rectifier sound that it is trying to imitate.

Even their cheaper stuff, like the Trans-Tube era Bandits, can be pretty good for the money.

[P I K A]

Re: I am the Rockmaster!!

Hey can you switch channels via buttons on the preamp or is it strictly footswitchable only?

[pro-fusion]

Re: I am the Rockmaster!!

You have to use the footswitch on the Rockmaster to switch channels--which sucks for home studio use. That's an odd thing, too, because the Ultra head has buttons for all the channels--why couldn't they have just left those on the Rockmaster preamp? It's the exact same preamp.

[catzodellamarina]

Re: I am the Rockmaster!!

Hey Pro - I sent you a PM.

[lerxstcat]

Re: I am the Rockmaster!!

The Rockmasters came and went before the Ultras. The Rockmaster is an improvement
and descendant of the Triumph amps wich were also 3-cannel, but didn't have separate EQs for the clean and drive channels. I have a Triumph P.A.G., the last Triumph before they became Ultras.
It has a button to switch from Clean to Ultra, but if you want the Crunch you have to have the footswitch. What better
way to sell the "optional" footswitch, when you think about it? Still, I guess enough people bitched that they put the buttonws on later amps.

I got my Rockmaster after the Triumph because I liked its 3 channels, and the Rockmaster is just great for the stupid cheap money it sells for (I paid $116 shipped!). With 5 effects loops it can be a switching system too; one loop for each channel, a loop for the drive channels, and a common loop for all channels. A lot of possibilities that I'm not using! I run it into an Intellifex, a IPS33 harmonizer, then into an ADA B200S power amp and 2 Carvin vertical 212s (they look like the ADA vertical slant 212s) for a compact stereo rack rig. It's a bang for the buck rig, but not bad. I'd like a tube power amp, but the ADA isn't bad.

[pro-fusion]

Re: I am the Rockmaster!!

I've managed to get an amazing array of sounds out of just the ultra channel on my Rockmaster, so far. The active tone controls for the crunch/ultra channels are VERY sensitive, and the mid pulls out to become a sweepable notch filter, so between those and the pre and post gain controls, I've managed to conjure up Marshall, Mesa, and something very screaming and scary. Not quite the same as having an actual Marshall, Mesa, and Soldano, but pretty damn good for $150.

As far as the tubey thick low end, I've found that you can back off a lot on the pre-gain, and still have more than enough gain for death metal rhythm guitar, while still improving clarity. A pre-EQ would still be a good idea, though. I'll bring one into the house on a day when the wife isn't looking... [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img] She's on a "no new gear" kick at the moment.