Rocktron Chameleon

Bought in the 2000 new, I've been using it for a 4/5 years even if I went out with different gears in the meanwhile (a voodu valve too)
I can't say it'a a user friendly machine 'cause there are many menu/menu/menu.. Take the manual with you and you'll set it up step by step
I owned the 'on-line' model but I don't think there are important differences with the earlier model

Many guitars, I tried it with Marhsall 9100 and Brunetti Silver Bullet power amplifiers, double Marshall 1912 cabs. I have to point out I used the chameleon exactly as a pre-amplfier, not as a distortion unit connected to heads, combos or whatever.
Not bad as a solid state pre: evident bass response and very clear high ends. The fx section is complete but you get basic stuff, nothing impressive. The pre/post eq sections are really helpfull.
I even tested the DI OUTS trying different speaker/mic simulator combinations: buzzy distortions, forget it.
At the least I can tell not bad clean sounds, so and so distortions and a heavy lack in dynamic. For that you need quality tube circuits, there are no other ways

No problems at all

Never get in touch with rocktron company, no need to do it

I played different music styles: pop / rock / hard rock / disco funk during my 20 years of playing around.
The machine is very versatile so it fits the need of who has to play in a different situations / music genres and changes them quite often but it doesn't shine in any particular situation.
A good point is that you'll never get in trouble on stage 'cause a blown preamp tube..
As I wrote before, I play the VooDu Valve during the same period (being true, the fact I bought both the rocktron preamps was a bit stupid..). The VooDu in my ears sounded little warmer and one step dinamically better but not such a big difference.

Just some settings for shredheads using a chameleon:
pre EQ -7 63hz +12 1000HZ BW 1.1
Post EQ -13 239 bw 2.0 -12 625hz 0.9 +4 6143 0.8 -12 7324 2.0 (some settings may be different because i did this out of my head ,if you set the parameters some what the same it will work)
Gain 38 variac -3 Hush 70
Speaker sim Speaker set; Full, mic placement -10 reactance + 8
Settings may variate depending use of gear.
example: to much lows:lower level reactance or post EQ bas level
to much highs: use speaker sim lower mic placement or post EQ presence level: SUCCES !!!

just got it , petty simple layout, figured my way thru menu without owners manual(do guitar players ever feel the need to read em 1st! Na! we plug in and rip, then GO later when we cant figure something out!) Easier than some of the Digitechs (Ive had em all)

Pretty decent,m although I think it sounds pretty transparent!! Maybe one of you SHRED kings can tell me how to fix that!! I have a Marshall valvestate 100 combo, 3 channel that in a side by side comparison, sound quality wise, it smokes this thing, but then again maybe I need a secret from one of ya to remedy this!! ya think!! Oh well, I use an Ibanez prestige 1570 and it sounds real good thru it but doesn't cut thru when im with the band practicing, If you use the Mega channel and dial in too much gain. ya gotta crank up the noise gate on it or the feedback is annoying.Im sending it into a Marshall MOSFET 100 SUPER LEAD and a 2/12 cabinet with celestions each individually jacked by themselves to get it down to 4 ohms

Haven't had it but a week or so but its ROCTRON so no junk here(I HOPE!!)

Haven't had to use em but manual is easily downloaded. pretty cool!

I play mostly 80's style rock and some chunky CHRISTIAN ORIGINAL music with my band Sheperd's Voice, I think once Ive had it a little longer its gonna be a cool toy, but I still prefer a guitar,cord and a MARSHALL no gadgets, just you the guitar and whatever talent you got to offer Up!!

use the manual & you shouldnt go into left field with the unit..
follow instructions & youll be fine...
I use it in my loop via midi switching...
The only thing its missing is a manual bypass jack...
It does have a jack for something like that but its strictly for the delay & not the unit as a whole...(which I find very odd)

this thing is badass...I had no clue till I got one...
I just got rid of a digitech gsp & alesis quadraverb in favor of the rocktron & hey , its like night & day in comparison...Several presets sound good with my jcm 900..
I think anyone who rates this unit as shit either is a moron & has other shitty equipment to begin with , or is a dumbass moron who doesn't know what they're doing with things to begin with...
I think any negative overall review of this unit reflects other shitty equipment being used (including cables) & plain old stupidity..
Same as some dope giving a negative review of a '59 standard...
You just cant argue with excellence

bought it used & its still kickin

? probably some jackfuck automated phone shit to find a human to talk to..I dunno , you call em & tell me about it..

I use it with some rockman modules in my loop section of a jcm900 half stack.
From my guitar , I have a rockman sustainor after my crybaby & a chandler tube driver as well as several graphic eq's , an mxr dist + , ibanez ts9 (more boost) in front of the amp..Rockman modules , a boss rce-10 & the chameleon as well as a parametric in the loop...I just upgraded my sound considerably & by all means the rocktron really adds the color to my tone..so glad I got it..& Id definately replace it if it broke.

I've had mine in my rack for about 8 yrs and would NEVER let it go!!! I have another at home for a back up. This unit is extremely versatile and very easy to use.

I can achieve just about any sound out there.

Very very dependable!!!

Never had to deal with customer support.

I would rate this unit a solid 10+++. Does anyone out there know the diferance between the Voodu Valve and the Voodu Valve Online? Thanks alot!!!

Editing is real easy
Not easy is to adjust the parametric eq.
Its a real powerfull tool:pre eq 2band post eq 4band
You can as easely dial in crap sound as a great sound.

Chameleon is a transistor(digital)preamp it has no tubes but when you
tweak it real well it will sound almost like a tube(pre)amp.
As a fact Chameleon was the first modeling preamp(long before line6 and other modelers)
If you want more tube in your sound(chameleon) try the Voodu Valve(its a chameleon with a tube in front)
For all those who can,t get a good sound out of the chameleon i say
try this: pre eq -4 +12 958 0,9 post eq -7 229 1,0 -12 771 0,9
0 3521 0,9 -7 5569 2,0 Gain 36 variac -6 Hush 66
Speakersim. 12 inch mic pos -15 reactance +6
And don,t forget with passive pickups input dial knob full open.
I use this with Rocktron Velocity poweramp it sounds great.
Of course there is more than only High Gain.
Clean settings are also very nice and crunch(Stevie Ray) for me no problem.
Chameleon sounds are as good as any modeler amp on the market.
And Chameleon versus a real good tubepreamp:
Tubepreamp has more feel an is more organic but has not the wide sonic range the Chameleon has.

Built like a Russian T 34 tank.

Never had to deal with them

i play (hard)Rock, blues, top 100
This device is made for every style(they didn,t gave it name Chameleon because its changes color)
I own also a Voodu Valve, the Chameleon i use as a backup.
But i don,t mind to gig on it, its sounds almost the same.
Chameleon is a great(modeling)preamp but whit a little more work to get the right settings.

It does not seem as difficult as some say, but the number of options means that if you are building from scratch, it will take a while. If you try to explore everything, set aside an afternoon, at least.

Here I differ from the other users. I spent hours trying to dial in any sort of acceptable overdrive/distortion sound, and found that I could not get anything decent - no matter what combination of distortion models, speakers, mike placements, etc. I tried, it sounded like a buzzy 80s fuzz box. Bzzzzt. Next product.

A 3 for the effects, which are quite good.

No opinion.

No support.

It's on craigslist as I type. I have been playing for 35 years and owned a broad spectrum of gear. I guess I must be critical, because I punted most of it searching for a better approximation of what I wanted, something like the moans of a lovesick T-Rex (the Live in Stockholm version of Robin Trower's Daydream). Not everybody's cup of tea, but there you are.

Anyone who has ever used guitar pre-amps and effects units will glide there way into this unit in seconds. If you are unfamiliar then give yourself a little time to flick through the manual and you will be whiping up your own killer tones with ease.
The manual does give a very comprehensive explanation of all aspects of the unit but you should always leave certain things open to experimentation and Rocktron seem to do this in a very musician friendly way.
There really is nothing confusing about this unit.

I have owned this pre-amp for some years. Other units have come and gone around it. I even bought a Rocktron Prophesy off the back of how I was impressed with the chameleon. The Prophesy got a little tiresome and had to be turned back into cash but the Chameleon lives on as the root of every sound I ever use.
I have used almost every type of guitar through this unit and accepting the obvious need to tweek your input gain and occassionally re EQ slightly, it copes with every guitar and every output option.
The dry pre-amp sounds are uncomplecated and vary a great deal depending on how you tweak the relevant perameters. The effects are full and clear and do not in any way take away from the basic guitar pre-amp sound.
Both in Live and Studio situations, this unit remains my absolute favourite piece of kit.
To put things into perspective, I have worked in guitar shops for 15 years. I have swapped gear like some kind of junky in that time. I have owned units that I have liked for a certain sound or effect and then dumped them because something else came along that did a little more. Getting a good guitar sound is widely understood to be somewhat of a holy grail thing.
I will not! Not ever! Sell my Rocktron Chameleon.
For the price you can pick these things up for, there is literally nothing to compare. You would have to spend 10 times the money, literally.!
I did when I bought the Prophesy. But honestly, for all of its fandangled buttons, it is no better than the Chameleon.

As regards noise. Everything that processes your sound generates noise. The HUSH system that comes built into the unit is the most intuitive and subtle noise gate I have ever heard (or not!)

I can tell you one thing here.

Rocktron should build military hardware. Its about as solid as anything I can imagine ever buying. It is fair to say that they didnt do this with the current Prophesy unit which I had in the rack with the Chameleon for a time.

This is one issue you should just forget. Its a really well built piece of kit. I can imagine even the knobs at the front of the unit would take a whack! Just dont whack mine!

I have only ever contacted Rocktron once. They responded and were helful. I dont think that anyone can ask for more than that on a unit of this age.
The thing to avoid, and this goes for any unit, is asking questions of a manufacturer that you could have had answered through a forum or this type of site.
Thats when you get ignored!

If this unit was stolen, I would pick myself up from the crying mess I would have become and go searching for another one. I would forever be bitter though.
I have recently bought a Rocktron Taboo which is apparently almost a Chameleon in a floor format. I havent done as much with it as the trusty chameleon but may be a consideration for anyone that is only buying rack because its a good sound. (remember you have to get a controller if you want to use the Chameleon live so a taboo may suite you better and seems to be just as capable)

As regards playing style compatibility. I have done almost everything with the Chameleon. An earlier review says something about not sounding like SRV and I agree with him completely. Getting the sound you want is about approach. No unit, current or future, will ever make anyone a better player. But there is a motivating satisfaction to having something that gives enough variables to be versitile and is capable of going to extremes if needed.
I honestly believe after many years of my own personal 'Guitar Tone Holy Grail' that the Rocktron Chameleon is truly deserving of a place in guitar amplifications hall of fame. It is sturdy, stands up to any other unit ive tried in terms of raw sound capability and has a set of functions which work for guitarists.
I would doubt that anyone could ever say "I got a Chameleon and it was crap!"
Ive heard people say this so may times over the years about other units. If you are considering one of these pre-amps and you are genuinely looking for a good basic pallete of real guitar tones and effects, you need look no further.
This really is a guitar tone generator that many other units have claimed to be over the years and failed. The Chameleon delivers. Its not full of fancy silly effects that you play in the shop and are wowed by. Its a guitar pre-amp with all of the sounds built in that you would actually use as a guitar player.
The built in presets are usable, but what you can do beyond those is awesome. If you are country, it will work for you. If you play death Metal, it will work for you. If you plug into heaphones and play along to Rush in you bedroom, it will work for you.

Find one. Have a play. But be sure to take some cash!

This unit is very easy to use. It might be difficult for those who have never owned a similar product, but most people should not have any problems with it
The manual is ok, again, Rocktron knew that morons were not going to use it anyway, so they wrote a decent manual that explains everything the unit does in a very precise manner

I have read almost all reviews on this site for this beast, and I still don't get it why people keep referring to tube amps, stomp boxes etc.
This is a digital processing unit, and has all the advantages of the technology
I love the sound of it. Of course you have to tweak it, Rocktron cannot think of your guitar, your power amp and your speaker cabinet, so you have to tweak it to match the characteristics of the rest of your gear
Yes, it is true that you cannot get an exact replica of SRV tone, but try 0.13 strings and you might be closer
All in all, I believe that 90% of the sound comes from the fingers, not the gear
After all, why the fuck would you want to sound like someone else anyway?

I bought this unit second hand. Actually I swapped it for my shitty Boss GT-6 and I never looked back. GT-6 was the last Boss product I have ever bought. They are amateurs compared to Rocktron
I would definitely use it without backup, and I have already done so

I have dealt with the customer support once, I wanted to know if it was possible to dump MIDI from the Chameleon to the MIDI Mate...I got a quick response..it is not possible, just in case you might need this piece of information

I play heavy stuff, but I can play soft as well, and this unit is a very good match. I have been playing for 10 years. I own an Ibanez RG350ex-bk with a Seymour Duncan SH-4 Jeff Beck model humbucker.
I would definitely buy it again if it got stolen or lost, especially because you can buy them pretty cheap today
All in all, an amazing piece of equipment
Definitely pro, compared to ZOOM, Boss and some cheaper Digitech stuff

OK, first of all your sound is as good as the weakest link of your equipment.My setup is a Prestige Ibanez rg with Di Marzio Evolutions,
a Rocktron chameleon, a bbe sonic maximizer 482i and a Mesa 2:90 in a 4u rackbox, and a midi controller + 2 Mesa cabs.I have never heard better gitar sounds in my entire life, granted, that the bbe adds a crystal clarity, definition and a tremendous bite, the 2:90 brings the rig "alive" with it`s
superb tube magic and tonality, and the Black shadow speakers in the cabs finish up the sound.So everything relates to each other,
but once you get your Chameleon in a proper setup, trust me, the souns are phenomenal and awe inspiring.

Rocktron chameleon version 1.4, USA. This is a very versatile preamp.You can get a vast amount of professional quality sounds from it,it is a professional quality preamp you know, check the manual.
it needs to be studied well though.Some people underrate it, because they
dont know how to use it.It is a matter of finesse, when it comes to
sound creation with this thing.I mean thre are SO many parameters
here, that all interact together, that it is very hard to get the most out of it, if you dont know what you are doing.....
How do you rate this? The features are very good, but very hard to get familiar with.

It is operationally perfectly reliable and it stays in a rack.

I have no experience about that.

I have been playing for 23 years now, I`ve owned a load of gear, Fender, Marshall, Carvin, Mesa/boogie amps + all the other equipment and instruments, but I have ended up with this setup.
It is my dream sound come true, you know the one you hear in your
head.....

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.

I am using my two best guitars Jackson King V2 and Gibson Gothic Explorer and for amps i use the Crate GFX1200h head and two blue voodoo cabs great combo. Clean sounds good even at higher volumes. The distortion is everything I have needed,

I got my Rocktron Chameleon about 6 months ago and this thing really cranks. I play mostly metal with influences of Iron Maiden, Megaeth, Iced Earth etc... and I can get the perfect sound of it. It has all the features I have ever needed, pitch, delay, reverb, chorus, flanger, phaser etc... I use this rack with my stack and for my band. Has plenty of crunch that I can get out of it.

Never had a problem with it and dont see any coming.

I had questions about the product before I ought it and I got answer right away they really know how to help their customers

I have been playing guitar for about 6/7 years and this is a one of akind rack unit. I would suggest this unit to anyone who doesnt want to spend like thousands of dollars on units, this one for he $ is the best I have personally found, although some may argue. Compared to many other products this is the one for me with my metal music career. The only thing I ever found confusing was setting up the MIDI formats and channels but once you figure it out its easy.

As almost everyone else has mentioned, this things is extremely tweakable and, therefore, can get tedious to a point that you may throw up your hands and just play it clean. However, the effects are amazing if a little digital. Overall, the pre-sets give you a lot but on the original version at least, I have had to add titles for Metalica, Van Halen type distortion as well as clean channels for SRV type boogeying. OVerall, despite the technical nature of things like the speaker sims (varies from full stack to 8", 10", 12" and 15" as well as mike positions...) the Pre-EQ and Post-EQ's, the editing functions are very easy to work with and can be modified quickly. My biggest complaint with the Chameleon is that its difficult if not impossible to get a good clean bluesy tone out of it (ala SRV tube sound) and the unit really requires an additional foot board AND a real-time foot pedal for the Wah-Wah function. These (when I bought this in 1994) cost and additional $300. Otherwise, this thing DEFINITELY improved the quality of sound coming out of my Fender Ultra-Chorus.

I practice with a Korean-Strat and Greco Les Paul Custom (who needs the real thing) with a Fender Ultra-Chorus amp. I made a big break through when I finally utilized the effects loop of my amp...The sound is REALLY nice. NO HISSING, CRACKLING, or POPPING. Very quiet.

OVerall, the Chameleon and Fender amp seemed like they were made for each other. Although the amp doesn't need much help, the Chameleon definitely gives it a smoother tone. However, it does quiet the sound noticeably even to the point that it can be difficult to jam with.

However, I really enjoy playing Clapton, Buddy Guy and SRV and this thing does well with Clapton sounds but does nothing to get me to SRV type tube sounds. Still looking...

Never had a problem. VERY reliable.

Never needed it.

The Chameleon is best utilized by techno-wizards that like the extra clean sound with really sharp effects. I play mostly blues (Buddy Guy, Clapton, SRV, etc.) and really don't need it for that. However, it is fun for my Metallica and Van Halen whims and can be tweaked for some different sounds and definitely delivers a high-qualty tone. Once you customize your own pre-sets (comes with 256? pre-sets, most of which are quirky) you are on your way. I did have problems figuring out the optional foot switch (another $250?) plus the unit needs another real-time foot pedal for the volume control or WAH-WAH options. The sounds that this thing puts out are amazing but are more fun to play in your room by yourself instead of jamming with.

Overall, if you like a clean sound and play Blues, stay away or go for a tube head. If you like to fart around with funky sounds and experiment with digital effects, this is one of the best.

Well... The only thing i don't like is the fact that it doesn't have any tube in it. The distortion is great, but with high gain settings you can't roll down the volume pot to get a clean sound, like in a real tube amp (DG series amp's, from Yamaha really do that, despite being modeling amp's. too).

I have just bought a Rocktron Chameleon On-line. Actually, it was a Chameleon, but its prevoius owner updated it to be a Chameleon On-line. Pre and post parametric EQ; Hush; effects... it's great! It could be easier to deal with... all the menus and stuff... it's a bit complicated...

I had no problems... It seems ok, but it's too soon to tell anything...

The other guitarrist in my band also owns one (for about 5 years). He had a few problems, but he asked Rocktron how to solve it, and they had him connect his pre-amp to the PC (via MIDI) and by ICQ they solved the problem. I think it's that's great! They really care!!!

I used to play through a ZOOM-505... of course the sound changed drasticlally!!! I thing it's much better then some tube pre-amps (such as Marshall JMP-1). The pre and post distortion EQ really pumps all the sound though my Vantage VG-50R.

Editing can be a bit confusing, you can get lost and mess thing sup if you don't pay attention. It sounds really good, about as close to a natural tube sound you can get without have tubes!

I used my Chameleon with a Mesa Boogie 2:90, a Marshall 1960 4x12 and for guitars I usually use Washburn PS500's ESP LTD H-200's, or occassionally, a Parker Deluxe. It is extremely quite. The effects are a little bit too difficult to tweak, I played with the delay for a good couple hours before I got something CLOSE to what I wanted. Reverb and delay is good once you get it set.

I think I could of used the Chameleon without any worry. Seemed like a reliabe unit. The Chameleon was my back up.

I email rocktron frequetly about products. They always reply, and sometimes I get "hurried" answers, but I usually get the idea. Not sure if I'd want to deal with them to get an upgrade or repair. I'd probably just sell it and let someone else deal with it.

I play industrial music, KMFDM, Orgy. I sold my Chameleon because even though the tube replication was convincing, I still knew in my mind that is wasn't a tube amp. I now have a VooDu Valve Online for my back up instead of the Chameleon. There are about the same thing, except the Voodu has a tube, and sounds just a wee bit better. My main preamp is a Triaxis...get one, when you do you won't want to play through anything else! I thought the Chameleon, as alot of Rocktron products, looked a bit like a toy. They could do a better job on the face panel to make them look less cheesy. They look like "budget gear" instead of pro equuipment, which I believe they are. I think this unit would be better with a real tube as well as the tube replication device.

I'll give it a 6 but it's pretty damn hard to get it where you want it. You almost need a computer degree to do it.

This thing sounds fucking awsome!

Always have a back up but i haven't had a problem yet.

haven't had to use them yet.

This thing is killer but i have one problem. I have a ART X-15 multifoot midi pedal and i can't figure out how the hell to program the little buttons to what i want. Each button has it's own number for programming but i don't know what they are. IF YOU KNOW,PLEASE HELP ME OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!