Rocktron Chameleon

not an easy thing to handle...
had an hard time finding the right sound for me...
especially... handling pre and post eqs...
but... the main reason I had hard time was due to my travle tour ...
not having my amp with me...

I use gibson les paul + vox wah pedal + (sometimes alesis compressor/limiter) + chameleon + fender twin reverb (pretty old...)
at first my experience with chameleon... it sounded so cold~!
I thought it would be the equipment for only metal head banging guitarist... but... now... it's pretty close to what I want...
but still it sounds alittle cold(?)...
and I don't think I'm getting clean delay... maybe i'm not use to it
wet... anyway... I've got a lot to study about this machine....
like I said... it's not a easy thing to handle....
but... it sounded great with recording... and it worked great in my
very big out-stage concert!!
but at where I practice.... I just can't get the sound I want...(strange... )
(I paly modern rock, classic rock, blues rock...never metal)

I could depend on it... actually I'm depending on it...
and ... yes...I would use it on a gig with out back up...

I don't think anyone in Korea could get a good service on imported
equipments....

I paly modern rock, classic rock, blues rock...never metal...
I use gibson les paul + vox wah pedal + (sometimes alesis compressor/limiter) + chameleon + fender twin reverb (pretty old...)
If it were stolen or lost... well... I would try other pre amps...

I mainly use my old 50 watt marshalls and my old twins with an A/B box but, im am trying to scale down and retain some of my tone.

my Guitars are, lespauls from the early 60's and strats.

So, i have experemented with all of my amps. and i still find it to be a little thin for my liking. if i can clear this up. i would be a very happy camper.

It seems to be a very cool Product. I find it a little thin after using just amps and a few toe bombs over for 20 years. But is appeares to be Suitable for the club thing. One i can get it nice and fat i think i would enjoy it more.

hell, i use it a little and then i get fed up with the thing tone. and drag my big rig in and take the rack back home for more experementing. i think it would be really dependable

the support is great. they have a web page for all kinds of cool patches

well after trying out the digitech stuff and, the Art stuff. i would have to say that this is the best of the bunch for a Pro type rig.

our other guitar player uses the atr stuff and it just isnt very durrable. he has 2 of them as a matter of fact.

i know it is kinda an older product. but, what the heck im kinda old school anyhow:)

AS OTHERS HAVE SAID, THE CHAMELEON HAS A LEARNING CURVE TO BE SURE... I HAVE AN ORIGINAL CHAMELEON ( BRAND NEW OUT OF THE BOX ) WITH THE UPGRADE CHIP INSTALLED WHEN IT WAS AVAILIABLE... AS AN "ALL IN ONE BOX" THE CHAMELEON KNOWS NO EQUAL...BUT MOST USERS MISS THE BOAT BY NOT TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE 4 BAND PARA EQ'S IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE SPEAKER EQ AS A MASTER TONE CONTROL AND TO CONTROL THE CABINATE RESONANCE... THE ONLINE SUPPORT FOR THE CHAMELEON IS OUTSTANDING AS IS ROCKTRONS' SERVICE... MY ONLY PROBLEM IN 6 YRS ( GIGGING AN AVERAGE OF 35 TO 40 WEEKENDS A YR + REHEARSALS) WAS A BLOWN OUTPUT RESISTOR AND A NEW FUSE...AND I GOT IT BACK IN 3 DAYS . WORD TO THE WIZE THOUGH, BACK UP YOUR USER PRESETS ( REMEMBER ALL 256 PRESETS ARE USER OVERWRITABLE ) WITH A MIDI SEQUENCER DEVISE ( OR SCUZZY INTERFACE TO THE COMPUTER )AND ALWAYS... ALWAYS USE A POWER SUPPLY ( RACK POWER ) DESIGNED TO BE USED WITH COMPUTER GEAR ( CLUB POWER CAN BE DEVISTATING TO THE CHAMELEONS' MEMORY ( IT IS AFTER ALL, A COMPUTER ). BUT ALL IN ALL, FROM VAI TO SATCH TO LIFESON, BECK, AND E.JOHNSON, AND ANYTHING ( OR ANYONE, INCLUDING YOURSELF) IN IT'S PRICE RANGE, IT KNOWS NO EQUAL. BY THE WAY, WHEN IT COMES TO PROGRAMMING IT, HAS ANYBODY EVER TRIED NAVIGATING ART'S OR DIGITEC'S PROGRAMS, I ALWAYS FEEL LIKE I'M USING " WINDOWS" WHEN USING THAT GEAR... MUST BE ALL THAT LCD BACKLIGHTING AND SUB MENUES THAT NEVER GO ANYWHERE...

MY SET UP- GTRS: (MONGRELL STRAT W/ DIMARZIO'S AND FRALIN P/U'S---CUSTOM MAPLE BODY KRAMER WITH EMG & ORG. FLOYD)---> MONO VOL----> CHAMELEON( WITH MIDI IN FROM ALL ACCESS + 2 REAL TIME CONTROLERS AND TAP TEMPO )--->PEAVEY 60/60 TUBE ( 6L6GC AUDIO GLASIC OR GROOVE TUBES) PEAVE 4X12 STEREO (4OHM LOAD PER SIDE- CELESTION GM70(2) CELESTION GREENBACK (2) ---> STEREO MIC TO PA---> STEREO RETURN TO PERSONAL STEREO MIXING GEAR ---> 300WT STEREO PWR AMP ---> 2EA YAMAHA 15" MONITORS ( DAMN LOUD!!!)
EFFECTS ARE GREAT IF USED IN MODERATION --- TOO MUCH WASHES OUT YOUR TONE (BUT THIS IS TRUE OF JUST ABOUT ANY GEAR EXCEPTING EVENTIDE OR TC, AND THEY ARE A LOT MORE IN PRICE AND LEARNING CURVE) NOISE IS INAUDIBLE BUT WATCH THE GATE--- HIGH GAIN WILL TEND TO "SPUTTER" AS IT SQUASHES THE NOISE --- CLEAN CHANNELS WILL HAVE A TENDANCY TO DIGITALY CLIP--- THE CHAMELEON IS COMPLETELY DIGITAL ( INCLUDING ITS' MIXER FUNCTIONS) TOO MUCH MIXER OUTPUT ( NOT THE FRONT PANEL VOLUME KNOB OR THE DIRECT OUT VOLUME IN THE BACK - THEY ARE SEPARATE FUNCTIONS) WILL CLIP THE MIXER AND THE FLANGER IS THE WORST CULPRIT ( IT'S ALSO MY FAVORITE EFFECT- ESPECIALY WITH DIFERENT SWEEP AND DELAY TIMES IN STEREO)

ONLY BACK UP I USE IS A ZOOM9000 JUST IN CASE WE HAVE A JAM I DO HAVE A MIDI PLAYER IN THE RACK IN CASE I HAVE IT BACK UP BUT I'VE NEVER USED IT

SENT IT NEXT DAY AIR UPS --- THEY TURNED IT AROUND IN 1 DAY HAD IT BACK A DAY LATER AND GIGGED THAT WEEKEND. I LIVE IN SEATTLE AREA --- ROCTRON IS IN MICHIGAN WHAT DOES THAT TELL YOU???

WHEN I BOUGHT IT, I WAS SERIOUSLY SHOPPING FOR A PIECE OF GEAR WITH IT'S CAPABILITIES, WHEN IT WAS DEMO'D I WALKED ACROSS THE ROOM FROM IT AND SWORE I WAS LISTENING TO THE VINTAGE TWIN I'D BEEN PLAYING THE DAY BEFORE ... THAT SOLD ME THERE AND THEN... ONCE I GOT SOME BASIC SOUNDS WIRED IT BECAME A GODSEND LIVE... NO MORE HOPSCOTCH...IN RECORDING SITUATIONS IT WILL DO ANYTHING WITH ONLY ONE GUITAR IN HAND FROM VINTAGE TELE TO NEW STRAT AND ANY OTHER GUITAR/ AMP COMBINATION IT ROCKS... I HAVE PRESETS ( USER DEFINED)THAT EMULATE ( PERFECTLY, OR AT LEAST PRETTY DAMN CLOSE) JMC900, BOOGIES, FENDER ( I OWN A 63'BASSMAN HEAD- TONE FOR DAYS, REWIRED, FOR STUDIO WORK ), MATCHLESS, DUMBLE, JC120, DIRECT TO A RECORDING BOARD. COUPLE THAT WITH THE ABILITY TO RUN DIRECT AND TO AN AMP AT THE SAME TIME-- THE ULTIMATE IN FLEXIBILITY... FORGET JOHNSON OR ANY OTHER "SOFTWARE BASED" AMP EMULATOR... ROCKTROM IS AMERICAN MADE, SOUNDS KILLER, AND IS PRACTICALLY BULLETPROOF... ROCK ON DUDES.. SHRED TILL YOU'RE DEAD

Prepare to spend some time dialing in your sound. I thought I had great tone until I got with my band and I was in Treble city. After some eq adjustments, I was in tone heaven. The effects take some getting used to as far as mixing an panning, but once you get the hang of it, this is a very good sounding, tweakable, and powerful preamp. Need more mid- pik your frequency and dial it up. Need more flange in the left speaker, mix it in and pan it...etc..... I give it a 6 1/2 because there is a learning curve with this device. Once you get it, its awesome.

Guitars- PV Vandenberg, Fender Strat, Gibson Les Paul Powere Amp - Marshall 50/50 all tube 9000 series Other effects - Rat R2DU The HUSH makes things so quiet it is amazing. Even with maximum gain and both rats on, the HUSH keeps noise in check. The effects are exactly what I want - i can mix in too much effect, just a hint of effect, or the middle of the road, and the preamp tone and guitar tone stays exaclty what I dial in. Very good sound.

Rocktron makes good stuff. I never gig without some sort of backup, but I can depend on this. I bought it used and it was in great shape, so far, so good.

Every email I have sent has been responded to within an hour or two. Very informative with the exact information I needed.

I play mostly rock, progressive rock, and metal but I get bored with the same things easily. The straight preamp tones in this box are good enough and have enough variables to keep me amused for a long time. The effects are excellent and do exactly what i need them to. What I love about this piece is the following - a little background - - I have been playing Marshall JCM 800 amp for a long time. I used to run a boogie studio preamp into the 800's and then bought a dedicated power amp(marshall 9000). I was a tube freak. The chameleon has shattered my impression of digital distortion. I a/b'd this against 3-4 all tube amps and I could not tell the difference. It rules. My rig went from 4-5 stomp boxes on the floor with a 6 space rack stacked with the mesa and marshall with a digitech effects box sitting on top of the rack - to - a six space rack with the rat r2du, chameleon, and marshall power amp. All that is on the floor is a midi controller and switch for the rack. Piece of cake- every sound I need and want.

A pretty easy to use unit if you use it on it's own without external effects. Patches are average in their ease of editing. The manual is fair to poor with tons of schematics and technical mumbo-jumbo that 90% of us don't care about.

Sound quality is very good out of this unit when I'm using it alone without other rack stuff. I'm trying to figure out a way to use the chameleon for it's effects section and a rocktron Piranha preamp for it's preamp sound, and this is where I've run into trouble. The effects are great in the Chameleon, very transparent (meaning they don't "color" the original sound a lot). I used a Quadraverb GT for a while before and this is heads above it in sound quality, but I've found that it's also a very complicated unit to figure out. Some of the features I love in the Chameleon are: 1. A very flexible, and awesome-sounding cabinet-simulator. 2. Super high quality effects when compared with most other multi- effects units (Alesis,etc.) 3. Probably the closest-to-tube sounding solid state preamp I've heard, and it might get even more tubey with some e.q. tweaking, etc. But for now I still like the Piranha for crunch sounds. 4. Good clean sounds, that aren't real "brittle" like 16 bit preamps. Some things I don't like are: 1. Too complicated for me when trying to edit the presets. When you're trying to get this to work with other effects, it's tough to keep track of where you are and what you're doing. It's got too many parameters where you don't need them, and too few where you do need 'em (like on reverbs).

I would imagine it's a good unit for reliability. I haven't had anything go wrong with it yet. Although I could imagine this being a difficult unit to diagnose programming problems with in the middle of a gig.

Have never dealt with the company, although I'm considering contacting them to see if they have any ideas about how to use it more efficiently with the Piranha.

My overall opinion of the Chameleon is mixed....It's a super-powerful multi-effects preamp that has a lot of complexities to control and shape it's power. If you're needing a single-unit to try to do it all, this may be as close as you come to that. I buy and sell a lot of used gear, and haven't quite decided whether to keep this one. It seems to be pretty versatile, with better-than-average-rack-unit clean sounds. This would be a good preamp for any kind of rock music. I wish it was easier to use with other rack stuff. It's almost like this was supposed to be a stand-alone unit, with just the Chameleon and a power amp. For what I paid for it ($300.00), it was a good deal.

i use mainly jackson with stock pickups and seymour duncan full shred. i also have a peavey vandenberg, which has the most killer humbucker pickup i have ever used. the sound of the amp is killer! i play metal, hard rock. you have to put a BBE sonic maximizer between this unit and the power amp! oh my God! i'm sure once i do more editing, i'll get even better tone, but the sounds are decent out of the box.

this preamp is versatile enough for me and it has just the right amount of FX...not too much! i have had a lot of rack gear and this is my favorite so far! it sounds good through the headphone jack on the back also. very easy to use. input and output volume on the front and 3 large knobs controlling the FX and parameters.

i can totally depend on it and would use it on a gig for a backup. it has never broken down and i bought it used.

i have dealt with Rocktron many times, not for servicing the gear, but just for questions and they were beyond great! i just bought the Rocktron voodoo valve brand new. there was no manual. i called them to get one and it was at my door in 2 days. Great company! someday i would love for them to endorse me.

i've been playing for 12 years and have a lot of other gear and have went through a lot of racks...this one is my fav! i would definitely buy it again! i loved it so much that i went out and bought a voodoo valve by rocktron so i have one at home for the studio when i'm away from band practice (where the chameleon is.) i wish it had more variety in killer distortion. you can create them but it would be cooler if they were there out of the box.

It depends on how you define "ease of use", I suppose. Compared to a combo amp, where every control is on the front panel, it's not easy to use. However, if you compare the control layout to other DSP units, it's pretty ingenious, and a lot easier. You turn the Function Select knob to the function (delay, reverb, etc.) that you want to edit, turn the Parameter Select knob to the parameter you want to edit, then turn Parameter Adjust to edit the setting. When you're done, you press the Store button. There are a lot of parameters, but getting to them and adjusting them is quick and easy. The Compare button is kind of weird... I like what it does, which is to show you the stored value of the parameter you're on, but it would also be nice to have a "compare sound" button so I could see how my edits had changed the patch I'm working on.
Here's a big plus: All of the program changes, MIDI CCs, etc. WORK LIKE THEY SHOULD. Some FX units drop out for up to a half second when changing patches, which is an eternity when you're in the middle of a song. This one doesn't do that at all. The only thing it doesn't do is let your reverb and delay tails spill over into the next preset, which would be pretty cool.
For MIDI control, you can set up a MIDI CC to control ANYTHING in the patch, everything from reverb level to the type of distortion you're using. Pretty cool. Also, you can turn individual effects in the chain on and off using a foot controller. This is something EVERY unit like this should do, but amazingly, some don't.
A word about the display. I didn't think I'd like having a one-line LED display with all capital letters to display the patch name. Not hip, ya know. I like it. The display is easy to read, and (important) doesn't "lag" behind what you're editing.
For an FX unit, it's extremely easy to use.

I'm using this with a Warmoth Strat with Carvin pickups (HSH), and I primarily record direct. It's extremely quiet, thanks to the HUSH. It has all of the ingredients you need for a good,flexible preamp: pre-gain parametric EQ, a gain stage with a variety of controls for gain, voicing (tube mode, etc.), and fully-parametric post-gain EQ. There's a TON of flexibility with a set-up like that. Having said that, however, it can't do everything. My theory is that, in order to make sure this all-digital device sounds like it has a tube in it, they've rolled off some high end somewhere in the signal path, so it always sounds pretty smooth. I have an EL84-powered combo amp that gets a great high-end "sparkle" on mildly distorted/clean sounds. I haven't been able to reproduce that with the Chameleon, but I'm getting closer. It does a great imitation of a Fender Twin. It gets a great low-end crunch sound, which is really modern. And for lead sounds, it's fantastic. I haven't played through any amp, preamp, FX unit, etc. that does what this does for lead sounds. You can hear the pick sliding off the string, high notes just sustain for days, and the sound is smooth. Yee haw. It's one of those sounds where you can play really fast, and still have every note sound like you really mean it.
What I like about the preamp section is that you can really change the basic character of the sound. I had a tube-based FX unit (Peavey Tube-Fex) that, no matter how you tweaked it, always sounded like different versions of the same sound.
As far as the digital effects go, the phaser is pretty cool, the wah is good enough to keep me from buying a separate wah pedal, but the pitch shifter is only good for mild pitch shifts or chipmunk effects.
The chorus is a 2-voice type, and each chorused sound can be panned around, which is handy. You can get a really lush sound out of it.
The delay is pretty good, offering a lot of control as well.
I'm not crazy about the reverb, but it seems to do the job.
Using the chorus, delay, and reverb, I can build up huge layers of ambient sound, which is something I really like.
I only give it a 9 for the lack of high-end sparkle.

I would imagine I could depend on it. Rocktron stuff is supposed to be pretty sturdy. I would gig without a backup. It's certainly going to be as reliable as anything else in my rack.

I've only dealt with them a few times. Once, I bought a used Velocity power amp that was missing a knob, and e-mailed them to find out where to order a new one. They asked for my address, and then just sent me a knob for free. I was impressed with that. My next step was to e-mail them and tell them I had just bought a front-panel knob for a Voodu Valve, but the Voodu Valve was missing off the back of it, could they please send me a new one. I didn't get a response. Every other time I've e-mailed them, they've responded within a day. I give them a "9", because they didn't send me the replacement Voodu Valve for my knob.

I play lots of different kinds of music, and have been for about 21 years. I'm told that I'm very picky about my amp's sound, and I would agree with that. I tend to get bored with a piece of gear after a while, especially guitar amps, but I'm really liking this one right now. It's flexible, and very practical and user-friendly. If it were lost or stolen, I'd definitely get out there and scrounge up another one, or a Voodu Valve, since it's about the same thing as a Chameleon.
I wish it had a tuner and an FX loop, but other than that, I'm happy.

the chameleon has a simple interface, once you get used to it. There is an abundance of presets, most of which are pretty cheesy. But if you like that glam rock sound, you'll never have to delve into the complicated editing parameters. I find myself spending a lot of time twisting knobs and squinting into the minute display, and oftentimes, get frustrated and give up. The chameleon has a lot of options, almost too many. It takes me about 30 minutes to perfect a setting. The manual sucks, offering almost no help at all.

It is absolutly amazing!! The HUSH system cuts out all the noise. The delay is ammazing, as well as the phaser. It takes long time to set up the EQ according to the effect that you want to use, the delay needs more treble than the other presets. Once you get all your sounds set up right, the chameleon is awsome. I don't use distortion, so I can't really tell you how good or bad it is. Sorry.

I use it in my home studio, so I don't have an opinion.

I don't know.

I've been playing for five years, and use my studio to make sort of acid jazz kind of music. The chameleon offers me all the spacy sounds and reverb that I need. I love the sounds, but it takes to damn long to set up. But, if you have a lot of time, the chameleon should serve you well.

At first I thought that it had no low end umph, but with a little tweaking with the parameters you can get some pretty bassy chunk. I run this thing with a Velocity 300 and I always keep the reactance up so It gets pretty chunky sounding. As for the clean stuff, you can get a wide variety of sounds, I got my 3 personal favorites, all with chorus. The clean stuff distorts only when you either drive it to hard or you spank the strings too hard. I use an Ibanez 7-String with this, so my pick ups are pretty hot, but I'd have to say I don't distort the clean channel. I know the low end crunch will probably scare most people off (cause it's really hard to find it), but I'm still trying to emulate my Randall XP200.

This preamp is so versitile, you can get anything from a nice jazz tone, to a very Megadeth type distorion. About the only thing I don't like about it is probably the pitch shifter, of course I would own an Eventide way before I would anything else. It has HUSH which is totally awesome, and the High Gain is something to look forward too.

No problems

I've called them asking who was using this pre-amp, and If I could get some of there own preset patches and they were vary friendly and helpful.

I would probably buy it again, seeing that I'm always finding out new things on it everyday. At first I wished I bought an ADA-MP2 but now I'm kinda glad have this.

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