Rocktron Sidewinder

very easy indeed

the clean is probibly the best ive heard. the crunch is really good for old rock. i can get the exact sound of AC/DC's back in black song. its good. the lead is the best. you can get sound from paul gilbert to michael angelo. its amazing although i think it needs a little tiny bit more gain though. its still amazing. the hush is absolutly amazing. even though i dont get hardly any hissing etc from it with the hush off

bought it second hand. looks well built so hopefully it will last a long time. only thing to probibly go is the adaptor for me but they dont cost that much anyway.

havnt dealt with them yet

a great pre-amp for guitarists who are into classic rock and metal. if you ever see on on ebay or something. deffinatly buy it. its worth every penny

Very easy to understand

Very good sound, I'm running stero out to the mixer, I don't use any effects. The crunch is crunchy, the lead channel is off the scale, had to ease up on the preamp.

Runs great! I had to disassemble the unit and re-soldier the board where the adaptor plugs in, otherwise it's still going after two years.

I deal with the local music store where I bought it, they have taken good care of me.

I'm a rock guitarist, I bounce between crunch and lead. I like the rack look, lots of knobs looks cool. I would buy another if it were stolen or destroyed.

Simple eq, gain and level, so easy a caveman coudl use it! The clean is warm, the brigth switch is awsum, I use it all the time. The gain controls on the crunch and lead channels are great.

It has a great sound to, like a cross between a tube amp and a transtube amp, it is not digital sounding at all!! I love it, high gain settings sound liek high gain, not clipping digital sh*t!!!!

It has not failed me yet and Ive had it for almmost a year, and I bought it used. I still looks great, and I just recently got a rack case for my gear.

Never called em. I dont like using phones so if it breaks Ill take it to Alvis, if that dont work, Ill fix it myself, it that dont work, Ill buy another one, there cheap!!!!!!!!!!!

Great preamp, I use it on a regular basis, gigs and practice. It has never failed me and probably never will. It has great sounds on all channels. If lost or stolen i would buy another the same day and not think twice about it, honestly!!!!!

I bought this Used (cheap) at a Sam Ash. I was looking for a rack preamp to go with a Peavey DPC-1000 Power Amp. Has basic gain and eq controls, nothing that requires a High IQ to understand. Same way with the effects loop, etc.

I'm using it with a Pedal Steel Guitar and the Clean channel is great for the steel. I've even used it for some recording sessions. I'm using a T.C. Electronic G-Major effects processor in the Effects Loop. It is connected to a Peavey DPC-1000 power amp and two 12" Peavey Black Widow speakers.

I've tried the Lead and Crunch channels, and they work good with my Telecaster but since I bought this primarly for the Pedal Steel Guitar they will be rarely used. The Hush circuit (noise gate) also works good but it is only on the Crunch channel.

I haven't had it long enought to rate reliability. Considering it's probably an early 90's unit and still working great, says a lot for reliability. I'd use it on a gig without a backup.

I've e-mailed their support twice, with questions and both were answered promptly.

Great preamp for Pedal Steel Guitar. I play traditional country, and some western swing and jazz. I also have a Peavey Transtube Fex preamp/effects processor and the preamp section of the Transtube Fex is not in the same class as this preamp. I was considering an Evans rack preamp, but when I came across this and the cheap "clear out" price (it had been reduced twice before) it was worth the price to see how it worked and I was pleasantly surprised.

Very easy to get a sound out of, the clea channel is nice and basic, the bright switch is pretty useful to add some edge to the sound. The crunch channel is down to personal taste - I normally have it set to full gain with a full midrange and treble, but with a lower gain and some effects added it sounds real good too. The lead chanel is good for what i want - the gain goes up quite quickly in the second half of the knob's turn, and can get a little tizzy and mushy at high settings, though this might be down to my cheap guitar and pickups! You can get a real good chug out of it with the right settings - again, it sounds quie good either with a full midrange or a scoop sound, but the treble always needs turning down a bit. On lower gains it sounds decent too. The HUSH noise reduction is good if you have any hum coming through, or if aiming for a very tight sound, and works very effectively. It's set only for the lead channel, as the high gain is where the noise, if any, will come through most. The effects loop is also switching, and has a level pad depending on your set up. This has stereo returns, so there are two outputs for stereo power amps, and then a further two stereo outputs for recording. All four can be used at one, which is very useful for gigs, or even just monitoring while recording. There is also a footswitch for the FX loop and channel switching.

I'm using the guitar with a low-end Ibanez, and a rocktron velocity power amp and 1x12" cab. The unit isn't noisy at all, and if any problems come up the HUSH can be switched on anyway. I can get pretty much all the sounds i want out of it, but personally i think the crunch channel could have some more gain, as there only a little distortion when palm-muting, even on full. Almost any metal sound can come out of it, though i also play a variety of lighter styles which the clean channel is also perfect for.

It's a big fat rackmount unit. So no problem there! I'm not sure how old the unit I have is, it being second hand, but it seems to have lasted a while with no problems.

I needed to get a new power supply for it, easy enough, available in-store at the Rocktron dealership.

Overall, a good reliable preamp. I like it because it doesn't have valves, so it's unlikely to give me any problems. Basically it gives me what i want, and theres plenty of choice for anything else on it. If it was stolen, I doubt I would find the same unit again, but as it's fairly hard to find solid-state non digital preamps if I saw it for a decent price I would probably buy again. The best features are the noise reduction and switchable FX loop as they make the unit great for on-stage use, combined with its reliability.

I just plug in and crank it up rocks my hole garage

i play death metal,,, im using 2 marshall cabs and 2 marshall jcm 800
heads linked in sterio,, playing a jackson v with acktive pickups,,,
couldent be happer,,, ive tryed every thing ,, and i always go back to the SIDEWINDER

shit ive done every thing but through it aganst the wall,,, its still works great

no i got it from a friend and loved it i payed $150

i play death metal ive been playing for 15 years and still bashing
im now playing in a band called EXHALE,, and my own projeckt SELFEULOGY cheak me out at www,selfeulogy.com

Just knobs on this unit, 3 channels, clean, crunch and overdrive.

I am using this with a Marshall 9000, a horrible hairy beast of an amp and a Digitech 128. This unit has built in "HUSH" which is about average in functionality, otherwise the distortion is fuzzy, no tight bottom end at all. The clean sound has no body at all, sounds like it passes the signal through to the raw power amp!

Fine, no moving parts!

Needed a power supply (unit was bought used). I went to their web site and emailed them, I got an email back within an hour! Guy said I could order one direct from them, which I did, sent it ground from Michigan, had it in 3 days, followed with an invoice stamped PAID. I would argue that it don't GET any better than that.

I play metal/punk crossover and this unit has enough gain for me, but the overall sound is just a step above a pedal. Also [NOTE] this unit is NOT midi. I have been playing for 15 years and this unit replaces my Carvin Quad-X which sounds GREAT, but not enough tight low end gain for me. I bought this on ebay because it was cheap and will use it until something better comes along, I am not going to pay 600 bucks for a friggin' pihrana. I also have a ART Power Plant and it has much better overall sounds and tightness, but again, not enough gain. This is a good unit for those getting into rack stuff.