Rocktron Chameleon

This is basic ,Just turn the knobs and its so easy.If your mentally deficiant you might stuggle.(drummers!!)

I've read the above reviews and dont understand when people say "it sounds crap "This unit is incredible.I bought this new 10 years ago and have never looked back.You can mimic any thing.You can go from a absolute dirty distortion to a crystal clean chorus to a u2 delay to a satriani mega reverb lead tone, just by stomping your foot switch.Like previous reviews I've owned lots of gear (marshalls,peaveys,fender,zoom,boss etc..).Now this is my final set up.I usea charvel custom (active pickups) rocktron chameleon and a peavey 80s Duece VT valve combo.Thats it! From this setup I can play any style, soft or ear piercing.To switch presets i use a GMC ground control.If you want a valve sound use a valve power amp or a valve combo like I have done ,its sounds as good as any of my marshalls ,all with that valve warmth.To get the sound you like just go through the 128 presets and find something you like or is similar to what your after and tweak it to make it your own!!You can store 128 presets ,I have about 15.Now this is the part I dont understand on previous reviews about getting tone.You have to play with the EQ.You can adjust every single thing to a whisker.Take time play with it and learn.The hush feature is amazing .IT makes no noise or hum at all.You will be satisfied

Used it for 10 years never had a problem,Replaced memory battery only now.

never needed it

My band "Tashez inc." Plays all differt styles in one song sometimes.From dirty to super clean to that old bluesy stlye and the chameleon makes it effortlessly.I cant recall how many times other bands have commented on our fat sound considering were a three piece and we've blown 5 pieces away.This unit with a good amp ROCKS!!If I lost this Unit I would be devastated.I love every thing about it.I'd seach hell and High water for another!!

When I first got the unit I put both pre and post eq to flat to hear the basic distortion on hi-gain mode. I was not impressed. It was mushy, bit like a fuzz pedal. It was not smooth like a Marshall JMP1, or my previous units, my valve amps, or the distortion you hear on CD's. It got mushier when gain was increased. The hi-mids were very prominent and it was digital sounding. There was not balls in the bass end either.

I then took a look at the speaker sim as suggest by other reviewers here. If you set the speaker = FULL the speaker sim is not in effect but the mic position and resonance controls are still active. The mic position works like a global presence for the patch, and the resonance is like a deep/bass control. You can really crank the bass with resonance.

But I still wasnt getting the sounds I'd expect.

I set the posteq to flat and really messed with the pre-eq. You can boost the bass and get more of a mushy (think big-muff, fuzz pedal) distortion. Then I sat and thought about how a HOT input of an amplifier works and how a tubescreamer pedal operates. They cut the bass and boost the mids. So I played with the bass pre-eq around 200-500Hz and cut that frequency to -15db. The distortion character tightened up considerably and the mushy low end distortion was gone. I boosted the preeq mids around 1-2Khz and the distortion tightened it up further. I could hear that the distortion character had gone from being mushy, like a fuzz pedal, to a smoother/modern/compressed gain similar to a Marshall JMP1.

The distortion character was there, but the sound coming out of the speaker was still very digital with hi-mids and fizz being prominent.

Cut instead of boost with the Posteq has a big effect on the tone coming out of the speaker compared to boosting. For example: instead of boosting the LOW I set the frequency to 500Hz and as I cut that frequency I noticed I had control of a very modern mid-scoop and bass increase. I set the Mid and Treb to 2khz and 4khz and started cutting those too. Effectively I was slicing away the parts of the distortion I didn't want. When I used the posteq to boost I was emphasising some good frequencies but stil retaining the unpleasant ones - cutting worked much better. However I still used the Presence to boost around 7-8khz if I want a bit more sizzle/top end.

After all this I created a modern tight distortion tone that is somewhere between a hotrod Marshall and a Boogie. The unit sounds less harsh and digital than the presets do. Once you've found the effective frequencies and Q for each band you can leave them there and and just adjust the bass, mid, treb, presence level controls in future.

I found with the pre-eq is used to shape the *character* of the distortion from tight and focused like a valve preamp, or loose and mushy like a transistor pedal. Then with the posteq you can shape the *overall tone* coming out of the speakers. But at the heart of the unit you just have one type of digital distortion tone.

The Chameleon takes much work. The Chameleon has pre eq (bass, bass freqency, mid, mid frequency) and post eq (mid, bass, treb, pres with frequency and Q controls for each) - thats 16 parameters! While something like a JMP1 has just the basic 5 parameters (bass, mid, treb, pres, gain) and your away. This type of extensive tweaking is a pain.

The reverb/delay/chorus are great quality but I think the overall tone of the ambience fx are a dark in an 80's album kinda way.

To conclude, this unit is dated and it has a signature Rocktron sound which I would describe as digital sounding. The flexibility and control on tap is greater than say PodXT, Tonelab. You can get more 'in your face' tones from the Chameleon for use with an amp compared to current modellers PodXT/Tonelab (units which I do not rate). But theres no denying the digital distortion is harsh from the Chameleon. The Boss GT6 has all the controls, eq's and features but with superior interfac

This was not a very intuitive unit for me, however, once I got my mind wrapped around it, it's simple and well thought out. There are soooo many parameters. This is not a good thing for everyone, but I like being able to tweak every aspect of my sound. No other unit in the world offers this many options except the Rocktron Prophesy.

It simply does not get any better. I was a tube freak, I switched. I go through a KORG rack tuner into a Rocktron 300A compressor/HUSH. This is a good idea because it stopd the noise before it gets there. Then I go to the Chameleon and into a Peavey DECA 528 power amp, and into a 4x10 cabinet that I designed and built. NOISE: comes from the guitar primarily, cheap guitars and pickups are a problem into any amp. I find the unit extremely quiet. If you use too much gain, you get unnecessay noise. I play in a band that covers alternative and classic rock. Works great for me. EFFECTS: are great. I would have preffered more fine tuning in the DELAY section. the delay adjusts in 4 milisecond increments, 0, 4, 8, 12, and so on. Well there are huge differences in sound in the 1-4 millisecond increments. I use this the tweak a sounds "in your face" quality, and to inhance certain frequencies. The pre-EQ adds the ability to mimic certain guitar pickups. For instance, by adding about 6-10 units of Pre Mid EQ at about 1500 hz, adds to the guitas tapping ability in the upper registry. It doesn't add much treble to the soud, it just drives the amp harder at certain frequencies. I don't no another amp that offers this escept the Prophesy. This one thing makes the amp valueable to me. At times I play a Jackson SL-1 with Seymour Duncan pickups. They are not my favorite PUs but I can make up most of their deficiencies with the Pre EQ, by adding the mids that these PUs purposely avoid, that's another story. I use 5 guitars and have different presets for each. With 256 location to store sounds there's no shortage here either. If you are not getting the best distortion you've ever heard out of this amp, it's your own fault. Tweak some more, and don't use more distortion than you need.

I've had it for 10 years, and it went to the shop once for a IC chip that got loose. Not bad for a unit that has been used 3-4 nights a week. It just keeps on keeping on.

well, i haven't called them yet. I haven't need to, and that's the best kind of customer support.

Again I say, It doesn't get any better. I've been playing for 38 years.I cut my teeth on Hendrix and the Yardbirds and such and have played everything in every decade since. There's nothing this unit won't do except Rotary Speaker, I miss that. However, sometimes i use 2 Chameleons and use a tremelo on one of them and a chorus on the other at the same speed and it makes a great rotary speaker sound... also another story. Oh, I control all of this with a Digital Music Corp, Ground Control. With this I put the volume on one pedal and at times comtrol up to 8 parameters by midi to go from, fo example, a pristine clean chorused sound to a Thick overdriven sound... Ala "Eric Johnson", or like in Radiohead's "Creep", clean tremelo to a raspy non-tremelo distortion. Is this unit went out tomorrow, I'd buy another one or get a Prophesy. These units are the best deal in the world right now on Ebay. I'm scared to death they are going to quit making them ;)

Not too hard, really. Of course it really depends on each person, but for me it wasn't too hard, but could have been a tad easier.

Crystal clarity. Huge bone crunching distortion when you tweak it a bit, not a bit of noise, and beautiful spacious cleans. I play a lot of metal, and the Chameleon definately fits the style. The effects are top notch and you have the control over them to lightly touch your sound or completely screw everything up. It's all up to you. Experiement and have fun.

Seems dependable so far.

Haven't needed them yet.

I've been playing for 12 years and have been through A LOT of gear. The Chameleon is a very good unit, especially for it's price. Of course it's not tube, but if you wanted a tube sound why would you be looking at digital equipment? The Chameleon does exactly what it sets out to do: It gives you the power to shape your sound the way you want it, and it does it quite well and very affordably.

Good 'Mega' crunch setting. Excellent gain. Good clean sounds as well. However, the Hush feature cuts off the guitar when playing subtle, high-gain notes. The noise-to-signal ration in this unit is not acceptable with me. Nor is the 'roaring' sound coming out the speakers when not playing. This unit relies heavily on the Hush feature to keep quiet. I'm taking the unit back.

I just bought the Chameleon the other day to check it out. It's a versatile pre-amp. Easy to figure out when setting up. 24 bit, stereo unit with the necessary effects (chorus, delay, tremelo, etc.) Full control over modulation for chorus effect.
The first downfall was when I opened the box and saw the huge, bulky power adapter. Not good when you plan on putting it into a rack. The second thing I didn't like is the 'Scoop' setting is fixed. You can't vary the frequency.

Just bought it. No comment.

Just bought it. No comment.

I can't use it due to it's excessive noise.

I play a custom Warmoth w/ a emg81 and a HM strat w/a JB. I run it through a sonic maximizer(read reviews on these)and into a velocity 120. The clean tones are pretty cool but you need to tweek for a while. The British setting can be O.K. but it's hard to get that without tubes. The Mega channel is where it shines(suprise!)Smooth dirt but probably not as good as it gets.Effects-a lot. delay is great, verb o.k. the rest are just there.I am purchasing a soldano sp-77 can anyone tell me about these-email me.

Very simple to operate. The pre-sets are a bit over the top.The quick scroll knob makes it easy to go from pre-set to pre-set. I recomend moving pre-sets around so like ones are closer.It has 128 pre-set-256 with speaker sim on. You really only need to customize 20-30 and that's all you'll need

No problem at all. I have had it for 3 years.

NA

Would I replace it? yes with something else. After a while the digital tone starts to sound uh--digital. That might be hard to explain but some will understand that. The Mega sounds good but doesn't have that Hair on the distortion.A little helpfull hint. Dial in a nice thick distortion w/ a little delay and verb. Next engage the speaker sim for half your cab if you go stereo. Dial up full stack mode. Then turn both mic placement patches all the way to 15. This will give you a much more alive sound with some extra hair.

The important part! I like it. I use it on gig's about 20 times a year and I use it alone!! No amp's, right in the PA! It may be a little week with the dist. sound's but it's perfect with clean sound's. I play pop and soft rock so I don't mind about that.

Never had any problem.

Never used it.

It's good, but I like it more in the studio than on the field. (Maybe I should use my H&K live instead) It's perfect when you're recording and have the time to "finetune" the sound's as you go. But I would by it as used if I wanted good sound for small buck's

Well, as much as I love this unit, one can hardly call this one easy to use. Though relatively sober in its tweaking options, it takes some attention to clearly understand how the signal chain is set up (e.g. for some of the effects routing options), and the EQ's, though the heart of this unit and the source of it's amazing and versatile sound palette, is very daunting initially. Getting a good grip on this latter, which is critical to uncovering its sonic treasures, is bound to take quite some time, patience and trial-and-error - expect to gradually develop your sounds over a period of time instead of dialling in the perfect tone straight away. The fact that most of the presets are - *err* - not that super doesn't help either and doesn't give one much of a starting point - you'll have to work to uncover this baby's secret gems. Fortunately there are quite some artist presets that can be downloaded from the Rocktron website, and over time (if you persist) you'll get the hang of creating your sounds from scratch. If you don't mind spending some time working on your tone and you consider 17 EQ parameters that must be tweaked (not to mention some gain and/or variac settings) as an opportunity rather than a challenge, get set for some great sounds....

Hmmm, need versatility ? Need a *lot* of gain ? Soaring, saturated lead sounds, slightly scooped out riffin' sound, with a big *CHUNK* factor for both ? And some crystal cleans thrown in as well, maybe pushing them to the point of a bluesy overdrive ? Then this is your ticket... before anything else, this is a very versatile and simply great-sounding preamp (even being all digital!), not particularily simulating anything but giving you a wide pallette of usable sounds all the way from Jazzchorus-style clean to recto-style gain. Although making the unit slightly challenging to configure, the different EQ's (2-band pre, 4 band post distortion) in addition to the different low-gain modes enable you to colour the sound to your liking - making it as tight, fuzzy, booming, biting, crystal or smooth as you like. Though it requires some patience to tweak and the great sounds are not always that trivial to access, coupled with a good power amp and cabinet this unit can give some of the classic amps a run for their money, primarily in the clean, light overdrive and high-gain territories - while still keeping it's own little character.

On top of this, you get the effects set... now this is not the hyper-flexible any-wacko-fx-config-you-like unit that is more a tweaker's toy than a musician's tool. What you get is exactly what you'd typically need - the preamp section, the Hush noise gate, delay, reverb, and an effect (chorus, flanger, phaser, pitch-shift or wah) of choice. The routing and tweaking options that are available are well thought-out and offer everything you need (e.g. you can select high frequency damping on the delay making in sound like a vintage unit, or route the pitch shift so that the shifted signal is delayed allowing an Ygnwie-style "canon" effect), and nothing you don't. Though not supporting the more adventurous over-the-top tweakers, the effects that are offered are really top quality - the Alesis Quadraverb I used to use comes nowhere near the Chameleon on this. Combining a great clean sound from the preamp section with this baby's chorus sound is simply spectacular, kicking in the phazer over a lead sound will have you noodling Satch licks for hours, and the reverbs, though sober in terms of settings, nevertheless will create as much or as little breathing space as you like, in the most natural way. The twin delays are just perfect and can be used as a two-tap delay, a stereo delay, or a ping-pong (though this latter is a rather well-hidden feature). As this unit is fully digital, it's dead quiet - even in the most fierce gain setting (and this unit can melt some metal, trust me) it's very silent, the built-in Hush really cuts off any noise without draining your tone or killing your sustain (Hush is not by accident Rocktron's most popular product), and the effects mixer will make your final signal as wet or dry as you like. In short: sober, not extravagant, but smart, well thought-out, very musical and highly functional - it doesn't offer every conceivable effects chain, but (unlike some of the more flexible units) everything it offers is top notch and very usable.

I'm using this one with an Ibanez RG with DiMarzio pups. It's hooked up to a Marshall 9200 tube power amp, and this latter certainly does add to the quality of the sound in a live situation - I do recommend a good tube power amp to add this bit of tube magic to this great preamp - this really makes it shine (though you'll obviously need to tweak your settings to match your power amp). In addition, the cool thing is that with the tweakable cabinet emulator, it's pretty easy to keep your "live" sounds but run them straight to the desk (through the two XLR jacks) as well without killing the tone - no need to re-edit your live patches for making some home recordings! Simply tune the two cab sim parameters, store them with the patch, and turn the global cab sim parameter on or off (for all presets) when required. Or use the unit's ste

Have been using this for 6 years now, and shows no sign of wear and tear - not surprising given the fact it's built to last. Have had no reason at all to doubt its reliability.

Asked Rocktron a couple of questions and got a prompt reply - so pretty happy, though I've had no "major" interaction with them.

This has been my number one preamp and effects units for 6 years, and despite the recent revolutions in MIDI-controlled units and amp modellers, this unit still rocks with the best of'em. It's really got some splendid sounds that will shine even more when hooked up to a quality power amp - but you'll have to work the non-trivial EQ to get them out. It's nevertheless a very complete package, with the tasty, top-quality effects packed in this box you won't need too much more in terms of processing, and the effects and noise gate won't kill your tone either. Though boys always like new toys, I have yet to find something to take the Chameleon's place, and this is after having looked at the Digitech 2xxx family units, the ADA MP-1 and the Pod Pro. Even having played very different styles of music througout the years - from soft and mellow to head-on rock to heavy ripping and tearing - this unit has consistently given me every tone I've ever wanted and a couple more as well, so what more can one want from a musical tool ?

I love this unit! I had one back in the mid 90s and now I bought another one just recently. The chameleon is very easy to use. Atleast for me it is. I will say it was at first overwhelming but once I started to mess with it.........I can punch in just about any tone and any effects I want.

I run the chameleon with a mosvalve 1600 power amp. (eventually will get a Mesa 2:90). I run them through two Mesa boogie 1x12 thiele cabinets loaded with EVM speakers. I play a PRS goldtop with seymore duncan jb pickups and 10 gauge strings. (Blue Steele) The unit is extremely quiet thanks to the hush option built in. I can create tones of my own plus I can create tones of my favorite guitar heros. Angus Young to Eric Johnson to Lynard Skynard. ( Gary Moore my favorite) Both his blues tones and hard Rock tones.) Whitesnake, Scorpions......ETC.

Distortions are great. The high gain has a tendency to get a little buzzy but with tweaking and patience you can get a good high gain tone. The low gain is awesome. Very close to tube tone. And the clean tones are as sparkly and crisp and warm as any original Fender tube amp. Rocktron really new what they were doing when they created this processor preamp. ( I also use a Fender super strat deluxe too ) It has single coil pickups and I can get Richie Blackmores tones from Deep Purple no prob.....:)

This unit is dependable. Very road worthy. I gig with this unit and the old one. both are still in like new condition. really it is like anything you take care of will last. I take care of my gear.

Rocktron company has excellent customer relations. I had advive on parametric EQing and they got right back to me via email with help.
I don't fore see this unit needing a repair job. But if it did I know Rocktron would take care of it!

I play Rock, Hard Rock and blues. I don't do alternative or Metal. I have been playing for 10+ yrs. If this unit was stolen or lost I would buy another in a second at used or new price.
I love the effects and parametric EQing that is available. this units hush is awesome. And I love the speaker simulators in it. The effects are top notch. Rever, delay, and chorus are killer effects. The phasers trems, and flange, as well as pitch shift and phaser are awesome as well. the global function is a great option too. ( I suggest you get the midimate footcontroller with it. It is a must!).
I had no dislikes about it at all. Some people say oh it should have a tube in it or it sucks because it isn't a tube amp. Screw that! I have played with lots of musicians and bands. This unit is more versitile and easier to use than any tube amp! Once it is set it is good to go.

This unit has brought the fun back in my playing. And it also has inspired me to write music that I did not know was in me. I could never reproduce the tones I have gotten with any tube amp.!
I say let your ears be the judge. If you want to haul heavey tube amps around and cable all over that run to battery operated pedals...That is up to you. But this unit is stable, easy to haul, always set up,once you programed it! It stays! Give it a try and see what you think! But if you heard my set up you would without a doubt be impressed. I have recorded my tones on CD and sent them to many people who play through tube amps. They all thought it was a combination of several tube amps and effects pedals as well as several guitars....NOT! It is a convincing unit!! I love it!

This unit is pretty difficult to program, maybe not so difficult- but TIME CONSUMING.

The clean sounds I got from this thing were awesome! The choruses and reverbs were crystal clear.The distorted sounds were great-in the store and at bedroom levels, but once I hit the stage my nightmares began. It was very shrill sounding-thin and crappy. The thing was quiet once the hush kicked in, but there was a lot of noise for a second or two while that happened, no matter how I set the hush. The unit also made a terrible noise when I used a wireless with it.It would go from volume level 3 say to 0 and chop the sound off. Over all, the clean sounds were great and the distorted ones were not acceptable for stage volume use.

I had this thing hooked up to a rocktron Velocity power amp, and between the two of them they gave me so many problems on stage, like a terrible distorted hiss which was louder than the guitar sound-to pops and crackles when I changed presets. I also had a Patchmate that gave me terrible squeling noises when I tried to run my preamps through it, which Rocktron never did fix even after I sent the unit back to them.

As I said above, I sent a unit back to them aqnd they did not fix it, and tried to tell me there was nothing wrong with it. I have since sold all my Rocktron stuf and would not buy anything from them again.

This thing would be good to use as a clean sounding amp only-if it worked right all the time. I would not and did not replace it. I have been playing for 15 years, and after the nightmare I had with that stuff I have gone to using a Crate Blue voodoo head and cab, and just using boss pedals for seperate effects. I have found that the more stuff you try to crame into a cingle rack space, usually the crappier the sound. I'm sure there are units that are awesome, I just don't want to pay an arm and a leg for.