Rocktron Rampage

Simple... chicken-head knobs have a very "CHEAP" feel to them. The manual is wortless. I've got the silver version of this model(not the same one in the picture on this site)

I own a Noisegate(pedal) and a Tsunami (chorus) both made from Rocktron and those are very good quality effects. I bought the Rampage just to add a little "warm-tone" to my set-up. I figured I couldn't go wrong considering the quality of the other two Rocktron stompers. Keep in mind I own the "silver" one that looks like a half-hearted attempt to emulate the housing of the others. The blue one (in the picture on this site) is the exact same housing as my other two Rocktrons. Maybe the "blue one" is good , but this silver piece of shit destroys any tone and hisses and squeals like a snake in heat.Rocktron has a good reputation for putting out quality gear,but I bet they're kicking themselves in the ass for even putting their name on such a worthless (silver one) POS as this. MUSCIANS BEWARE!!!! The silver one sounds worse than a DOD Death Metal Pedal. (PATHETIC!!!) I would like to get my hands on the blue one though, but please be warned this silver piece of shit wouldn't be worth it if someone paid me to take it. (if I could rate this catagory a ZERO I would) I'll give it a 1 for the "Rocktron" logo being the same, but thats the only reason.

My two-year-old could probally chew it in half!! (the SILVER version)

BE WARNED , THE SILVER ONE IS PROBALLY AN UPDATED VERSION AND IS A PIECE OF SHIT. I HAVEN'T DONE ANY RESEARCH ON THE YEAR THIS WAS ISSUED . I'LL BET THE MAJORITY OF THESE REVIEWS ARE FOR THE BLUE ONE. I WISHED THAT SOMEONE WOULD HAVE DESCRIBED THIS BETTER IN THEIR REVIEW, BUT HOPEFULLY I WILL REACH SOMEONE AND KEEP THEM FROM MAKING THE SAME HORRIBLE MISTAKE I MADE. BY THE WAY ANYONE WANNA BUY IT?

Pretty easy to use, might take a few minutes for u to get YOUR tone out of it, but i guatentee u will like it

I run a custom built guitar , and a gibson explorer into it, and a crybaby all into a crate gfx212 with a 4x12 crate cab....sounds unreal
just the least bit noisy, but i use very high output pickups in both of my guitars ,,, its not really a problem though, just roll back the volume knob slightly less than a quator of a turn and u will be ok
i honestly havnt ever heard a stompbox sound this good so im gonna give this a 9

seems solid, ive giged it about 5 times so far and no problem at all

never delt with them myself but my friend who owns a music store and deals rocktron stuff says the rep. for them is an ass

i play hard rock, and full blown metal, it works for this like a dream!!!
ive been playing for almost 4 yrs now,
my favorite thing is the mid scoop,, its the best thing on there, it sucks those nasty mid range freq. right out
i would have to compare this Stompbox to a hotrodedd marshall stack
Please , go check one out, it is worth it

I like the knobs , better than the USA one.

No noise at all, only if you crank it to max. and your amp is also loud there is some feedback.

I got the Korean made version, sounds very good, but there is one problem,there is almost no different between 9 and the max.setting on the sustain knob.I realize that this thing was made by a Korean factory and the people who made it put the wrong pot in the thing.
So I remove the sustain pot and replace it by a 500 Kohm Log.,
a 250 Kohm Log. will , I think,also work great if you have a guitar with high output pick ups.
Now I can get a light overdrive at min and go to extreme and inbetween .BTW the bass and treble control works great , so do the scoop, I found the volume pot a little sensitive, don't use it anyway.
I give it a 8 because of this and a other little problem, the input and output jacks are made of plactic and are mounted on the pcb, DOD
don't do that but there pedals sucks in tone.

Try to mail Rocktron about the sustain knob ,never had a answer, I think they know the problem because the pedal was on a discount at the music store, the salesman explained that they never dealed again with the company.

Any setting at all sounds awesome. Don't worry about it. The level knob is a little touchy. Explaining the scoob knob is simple. There could be a line in the middle (or 12 o'clock position) of the treble and bass knobs there is also al line to the far right of the middle knob. Call the line "zero" as in zero decibels. The treble and bass knobs have 15 decibles on both sides of zero and the middle knob has 30 decibels on one side of zero (meaning -30 at full right postion of the knob). The knobs loose their place really easy (my pedal is still a rocktron rampage, but it doesn't have the deep set knobs). As a result I marked my settings with scratches on the sheet metal, but I do this to every pedal, once I find the perfect settings. Oh, and about the battery having a screw compartment, whoever complains about that shouldn't be playing guitar at all if they don't even know how to turn a screwdriver. What are these people going to do when their guitar shorts?

My setup at the moment is guitar (Washburn BT-3) to DOD FX-66 fuzz, to Ibanez PL-5, to this awesome pedal (the Rocktron Rampage in case you forgot what reveiws you were reading). then I have a DOD FX-10 pre-amp then a Boss HR-2 harmonist. That is everything before the amp. Then from the send in the effects loop I have my Morley PWA wah, and my Danalectro Corned Beef reverb. I plan on getting more distortions b/c that's really what I'm into. This is probably the best distortion pedal ever made. I am really sure that Rocktron tried to mimic the distortion of Metalica's black album and they came as close as possible. If you turn the scoop all the way up (as in sucking all the middle tone out) it gives it that metalica sound. This thing is not noisy when off in fact it made my fuzz pedal less noisy in the off postion as it was b/f I got this thing. To describe the sound best it's not really a heavy metal distortion (like Slipknot, Mudvayne) but a hardcore distortion (like Korn, Rage Against the Machine). The sound is just awesome. The only thing to compare to it is the Signal Flex distortion EQ which I plan on getting eventually.

Reliability has two parts in a pedal, the box and the circuit and this pedal gets a 10 in both. Whoever designed this thing deserves a Nobel prize. I took it apart a couple of times (I like taking things apart) and it's an awesome design. First of all it's made of some heavy guage sheet metal (heavy for pedals any way). Then the way that they put it together is superb the way the top slides into the bottom of it and the sides screw on instead of having a bottom plate. Pure genius. I'm sure if you hit someone with it, you would server hard time for assault with a deadly weapon. As far as the circuit board, like I said I tood it apart and it looks better than any guitar pedal circuit board that I've ever seen.

I haven't dealt with them.

Probably the best distortion pedal ever made and at least tied for first with the signalflex EQ Distortion (don't give that thing a bad rap b/c you haven't heard of the company it blew my mind). The only real problem is that the knobs slide around WAY too easy (it's like they do it by osmosis or something I could have it set one way, put it in the box and have it set different when I take it out. Maybe I should glue the knobs in the position I want, but it sounds good no matter where they are at. Oh and another thing about this pedal, it really doesn't have any distortion control. READ the pedal it says SUSTAIN not gain or distortion level. With the sustain at 0 you still have distortion, but very short notes and with it full blast they don't exactly last forever, but they last longer.

Very easy. I don't know what all the fuss over the "scoop" knob is, it's just a mid knob in reverse. The "sustain" knob is kinda wierd, there seems to be a set level of gain, there is almost no difference between gain 3 and 10.

It's so smooth, it does not sound brittle, cold, and transistor-y like some other pedals i've tried... cough... BOSS... scuse me. I hear people compare this to a metal zone. DON'T!!! Compare it to a DS-1. It doesn't have enough gain for a heavy sound, but i have used other pedals to boost its gain, and then it's heavier than your mom. The EQ works great, they give you a little more treble then you need. Buy this, i am appalled that people who rave about a DS-1 have never tried this.

All metal, i do not hesitate to stomp on it. To give you an idea: it makes a boss pedal look fragile.

I wouldn't know, although i've heard good things from other people

If it had more gain, it would be a perfect "10". But you just have to boost it a little more, and then it's H E A V Y. If it were stolen, i would chase down the theif while crying over the prospect of possibly losing it. This is going to be my main distortion for a LOOONG time.

It is easy to get a good sound out of this pedal, if you are looking for just a hard rock sound. I'll get to that below. Very simple pedal. There is a "manual", but it is not very informative. It really does not need to be though, because the pedal is self-explanatory. I do have a gripe with the battery compartment though. What a pain in the ass! Two screws hold on the battery compartment cover, and they are tiny. After I searched my house up and down, I finally found a screwdriver small enough to allow me access to the battery. With the exception of that flaw, the pedal is easy to use.

Before I get into this too deep, I want to mention that I was looking for a metal pedal. Something along the lines of the smashbox, metal zone, etc. This pedal is good, but it falls slightly short in the gain department. The EQ sections of the pedal were great. The bass sounded good, the treble was nice, and the scoop knob gave it that "sound". The problem was the "sustain" knob, which is basically a gain knob. I had the knob all the way up, and the gain didn't have that over the top, ultra gain kind of sound like other "metal" type pedals have. I have a Marshall AVT 150 combo, and just to give you an idea of how the Rampage sounds, it was comparable with gain 2 on my amp. I wanted a pedal to give me a "death metal" type of sound, and obviously if it sounds just like my amp's distortion, then I don't need it. I don't want to slam this pedal, because if you need a rock to hard rock, and some metal kind of pedal, then you will like this. If you are looking for a Slayer, Slipknot type of sound, this is not it. I have heard a Metal Zone, and was using that as a base. The gain on the Rampage never gets to that kind of level. The footswitch is quiet, and the pedal is not noisy at all, so I have to give ROCKTRON a pat on the back for that. If they would have added another 2-3 notches of gain I would be very pleased with this pedal.

This thing is like a tank. If you dropped it on your foot you would be hurting. Built solid. Would probably never give anyone trouble.

I have never tried and never will. I don't want to rate this section because I don't know much about them.

Overall, this is a nice pedal, but just not for me. They ought to change the name from "Rampage" to "Pretty Angry". It has a nice thick distortion, but is just lacking a bit. The name made me think "Gain For Days!", but I was missing some. If you want a nice rock pedal though, you will be happy with this.

Its as easy to use as any other analogue pedal!

Amazing metal, very smooth. The best distortion pedal i've ever heard!

This shit design blows up regularly, after half a year it gave up
and i sent it of to be repaired. 2 months later i got it back and all seemed well untill a couple of hours of use, damn.
The design is flawed, and i've heard of similar cases. Soho soundhouse in the UK sell all rocktron pedals apart from this one, and
i think thats the reason.

Don't buy it!!!!

Great sounding, unreliable. If u buy it u'll regret it after a half a year and use it as a door stop like i have!!!!!!!

It's really easy to use. What you see is what you get.

I have a es-335 and play through a Vox AC30. The Rampage sounds awesome. It can go from a garage punk sound to a almost clean scream. Sustain is incredible. Perfect for lead lines and solos.

This is where I have a tiny problem. It looks indestuctable, but it recently "crapped out" on me. I bought the rampage 3 years ago for $109. I only use it for the studio and took great care of it. At first I thought it was the battery or mabye a tube in my amp. I was surprised to find out it was the rampage. I recently e-mailed Rocktron to see what the warrenty is like. Thank God I have the receipt.

I recently e-mailed them and am awaiting a repsonse.........

Despite my recent trouble I was very happy with the Rampage. I hope Rocktron stands by it's product and fixes the problem. I also own a Pirahna Pre-Amp, but I barely use it.

Rocktron Fix my Pedal!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Very easy to use, the controlls do what it says. Bass, Scoop (controlls the "fuzz" and type of), trebel, level (works beautifully, match the level of your amp and pedal, no drop off on or off), sustain.

Using a '99 G&L S-500 and an '83 Squire Strat, no mods. Fender Vibro Champ from about '75. Absolutely silent switching and the effect has a real presence, from growly TS-808 type to something that would make Ramstein nervous. Great range of effect.

Built like a Brick Sh!t-House. All metal extrusion and deep set knobs that are not likely to get knocked about. Doesn't slide around the floor easily either. Battery compartment requires a screw driver, but go to Radio Shak and get a AC-DC power adapter for about $12.00 and never replace a battery again.

Never had to call about it, because 1 year latter, it's still working just fine.

I play mostly blues and hard-rock, ocassionally playing some metal. I bought this one after testing pretty much everything that they had at Guitar Center, and this won hands down. The switching is noisless, it doesn't alter the sound or level of your amp when you switch. The attack is detailed and you can get a great variety of tone and distortion from this. Add to that that ther is no plastic (except for the knobs) and that it is made in the USA, it's a great effect. The only downer is that not too many dealers carry them. But they are worth searching for. Now hunting for an Austin Gold Overdrive...

very easy to use with five knobs: high low scoop (mid) level and gain

i got the rampage since it came out at 96.nothing comes near to its sound quelity. very clear distortion. with cranking the mid up you can get that metallica black album tone.my friend had the BOSS metal zone and rampage kicked the shit out of it! it goes without saying that this pedal goes well with an humbacker

built as an armored vhicle....nuff said?

never dealt with tham.didnt had to

as i said nothing come to the sound qualty of this baby a lot of low end but without making your amp fart. a lot of gain without being noisy.i reccomend cutting a little bit on the treble it screams like hell! it works very well with other effects. this pedal is great for playing those metal riffs. altough i found it very good for playing punk or hard rock