sharon_malfesi's Reviews
9 reviews Back to sharon_malfesi's Equipboard
145
Perfect practice amp for small spaces
I use this primarily to practice at home with the orange tones that I love. It's the perfect size for my small NYC apartment and has enough versatility to dial in decent sounds. I like that I can use headphones with it as well instead of always playing through my DAW.
145
Great guitar
Play this as my main axe now. I replaced a lot of the hardware with all black hardware. Some planetwaves tuners, Dimarzio Titan pickups. She looks mean and sounds mean with some slight mods. The neck plays super nice and she handles drop tunings well with a good setup. So while off the shelf she wasn't exactly what I was looking for, the mods made her my main performance guitar now.
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145
Swear by these
I have these on every guitar that I gig with and I have never once had a problem. The strap stays sturdy and the installation is very easy. Couldn't ask for better locks.
145
As seen in our music video
I use this mic in our music video for "Drytooth", which can be seen here https://youtu.be/NUBlx9tTa-k . It's a solid mic but the diaphragm is sensitive, in the sense that you need to sing straight into it to get the full quality (unlike a standard performance mic where you can wobble around its perimeter and expect the same sound and volume). The mic belongs to my singer, who can be seen using it from time to time as well.
145
Solid combo
See my review on the PPC112 for more details on my set up. But this combo is great. I used it as a head with the PPC112 for quite a while. It's also a great sounding practice amp. It's loud enough for venues and is super reliable. The class A tubes give it a really hot sound, and it can be used for a variety of different genres. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a good combo amp, practice or live.
41034
the tubes are actually on the A side of class A/B but are in cathode bias, an arrangement referred to as class A by marketing people. The power section DOES work very ahrd all the time to produce its 30 watts as there is no fixed idle current when the tubes are cycling off like when EL34s (or ay tube) are configured in fixed bias for 50 watts. Cathode bais is an unusual arrangement for large bottle tubes these days its very inefficient. Vintage examples of cathode biased EL34s are thing on the ground. Some early 60s selmers ran their EL34s this way, but its really unusual in mass produced amps. Matchless likes to run their EL34s in cathode biase for about 40 watts and its a great sound. I still am baffled as to why Orange discoed the Rocker 30. Its a great amp.
145
Thanks for the extra info! I agree that Orange may have made a mistake by discontinuing the Rocker series; however, I was pleased to see the intro of the Dual Dark series for heavier tones. I'm hanging on to my Rocker for now because I think it's a worthy practice amp none-the-less. I went through the internal battle over whether or not to sell it. I'm still on the fence. It's hard to part ways with good equipment. But storage space isn't in my favor. So we shall see.
145
It's a 1x12 rocker 30 and a 1x12 PPC that I tethered together to form a 2x12, ha.
41034
been there with an old Princeton reverb and a bandmaster cab back in the day... if it were the 2x12 combo of the rocker 30 I was going to offer to buy it from you, but I am not a big 1x12 combo guy.
145
Aghhhh wish I could help you out there man. But I understand, the 1x12 just doesn't cut it for some people.
41034
I am an inveterate speaker mixer. Usually an alnico and a ceramic in each box or a pair of each for a 4x12.I always try to go abck to a 1 speaker setup but it feels so 2D
145
Solid cab
I've always been an Orange fan. For a while I was using one of these along with the Orange Rocker 30 1x12 Combo as the head. It was powerful enough to fill up venues un-miced in conjunction with the Rocker 30. I gigged with that rig for a solid 4 years before switching over to the Mesa 4x12 with the Orange Dual Dark 100 head. It has that hot, British tone and can be used for multiple genres.
41034
I am still baffled as to why orange dicoed the Rocker 30. The clean channel was a bit dark with a Gibson for my taste, but the whole amp was solid sounding and easy to dial in. Less brutal than the rockerverbs and its cool to hear cathode biased EL34s in a modern, non-boutique design. What made you switch over to the dual dark?
145
Tbh, I wanted to upgrade to a stand-alone head with a 4x12. And the dual dark was unmatched in power and grit. I started playing heavier music (also bigger venues) and the dual dark caters to those tones, however it also has the versatility to get really nice clean tones. I still own both, I just gig with the Dual Dark now instead. But I do agree that the Rocker 30 is a GREAT sounding amp. I was very pleased with what I could do with it. And I still use it as a practice amp on the reg.
41034
how many seats (hypothetical seats if its standing room only) are you playing these days that 30 to 40 watts won't cover you? I always found 50 to 100 watts thru efficient celestions was a bit much for 500 seats or less, not that it stopped me from letting the plexi I toured with rip at full tilt any time I found a sound man who would tolerate it.
145
Oh it's not that it couldn't handle it! It absolutely could, I just prefer a 4x12 with stand-alone head vs 2 112s stacked at this point; better bottom end and sound displacement with the slant. The tone is honestly the differentiating factor for me more-so than volume. You're usually mic-ed regardless of venue size. But we've played in fairly large venues (up to 500-1000 cap max). The good part about the dual dark is that you can set the wattage too. It's versatile in that sense, which is nice.
41034
I like that about my current AC30 and matchless. I use the 1/2 power a lot in small venues so I can throttle the shit out of the power sections. But I know I have 15+ more watts on tap if I wanna get some serious stage volume at a big venue or if I want a bone clean tone (yeah right).
41034
my worry was always having a good amount of stage volume to play the amp without blasting out the back of the room so that the sound guy would bitch or mute my mic channels at the mixer. And yeah, a 4x12 does help, especially a big mesa recto model or a Marshall TV cab or model 1980 like I used to favor before I gauged down a bit.
145
Hell yea. The 4x12 recto that I have is exactly what I was looking for. It works perfectly. And I checked out the AC30 too, that's some good shit.
41034
The Vox AC30 and Matchless C30 helped me get over 100 watt superleads. I am getting way too old to tame those beasts... or to lug one or 2 of them with a bunch of 4x12s around w/o roadies!
41034
The dual dark is very much a high gain Arbiter era ac30, isn't it? I wanna say its 4 cathode biased EL84/6BQ5s, solid state diode bridge rectifier for a few extra watts and more punch stapled to a 2 channel switchable preamp with more gain than a dual terror, 15 watt mode, etc? The whole terror series looks very voxy on paper. More voxy than WEM dominator/Marshall 18&20 watt type EL84 circuit....
145
Favorite guitar
This is a custom built guitar that is one of a kind. This is my primary axe as of early 2016. American Fender Tele body, custom crafted and designed neck with Gibson style inlays, bareknuckle yardbird and gibson firebird pickups, all black hardware.
41034
firebird pickups are so underrated... who made your tele, or did you get warmoth parts and DIY?
145
Actually bought it from someone who had it custom built on Long Island Gear Exchange, so some details of the origin are unknown to me. He was looking to sell it so I nabbed it because it's a beaut. The Bareknuckle and Firebird combo for the pickups is drool-worthy. I can get the nasty djent tones while still keeping that classic clean tone. It's a very dynamic axe and plays like a dream. Glad you like it!
41034
I am a big fan of the FB pickup in a tele neck slot. While I ditched my ender 52 hotrod that had this arrangement it was NOT because the pickup configuration was weak. Its a great setup that kicks rock 'n roll ass in a way a stock tele just doesn't.
145
Oh yeaaa that's the goods. I have a Hot Rod 52 as well but it has the standard setup right now. I have thought about upgrading the pickups in it to something similar to my custom, but I think I'm going to leave it. The classic hot rod sound is unique within its own. I think it's worth preserving. The hot rod remains my backup axe for live shows because of how reliable it's been. I actually really love the tone I get out of it even though it's absolutely not built for heavy music. There's just something about it. And it slays any clean sections. The clarity is unmatched.
145
Own it
I have the blue sunburst version of this. I've had it for about 8 years now. It plays like an electric more so than an acoustic, so it's good for players that usually lean toward the electric side of things. I've had a lot of issues with the electronics though - faulty input jacks, pickup noise, etc. Otherwise it's a decent guitar if you're looking to noodle around, but if you gig on acoustic I wouldn't recommend it.
41034
Metrosexual Guitarist Hulk smash puny 1 sentence reviews written in 3rd person....
41034
Jim make short response in 3rd person to Sharon. Jim thinks review is not a review. Me want cookies now.