Retro Channel RR1 Amp: Claims Wreck Tones from SS Circuit

[karl82]

Has anyone played one of these or know anything about the circuit?

Manufacturer's Site:
http://www.retro-channel.com/RR1-Guitar-Amp.html

Pro Guitar Shop Demo:
http://proguitarshop.com/store/retro-ch ... ead-p-3048

[img:750:500]http://proguitarshop.com/store/images/R ... D_1_03.JPG[/img]

[fretless]

old post resurrection This company is no longer in business and I don't think they made that many however Lance keltner had some ties to the company does still answer emails and is very helpful if you need info on them . I can't say if it sounds like TW , I've never played a real one . I can say it doesn't sound like my Rocket clone really either . But it does sound very nice and considering it is a ss amp it's impressive . I just scored one over the weekend and like it a lot .

[IMG:692:543]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v735/ ... G_0831.jpg[/img]

[geetarpicker]

I've never played one either, however I was just randomly searching for "Trainwreck" on CL and came up with a "Retro Channel" for sale here in the South East>
https://nashville.craigslist.org/msg/4697750963.html

[fretless]

good price , I paid more then that for the one in the pic , it is minty and it is a nice sounding amp , it's also great at lower volumes . Check out some vids of Lance playing it . Lance is a killer player but that amp has that sound out of the box so yeah could be nice to have around .

[fretless]

[IMG:724:543]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v735/ ... G_0847.jpg[/img]
[IMG:724:543]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v735/ ... G_0840.jpg[/img][IMG]http:724:543]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v735/ ... G_0834.jpg[/img][IMG:724:543]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v735/ ... G_0836.jpg[/img][IMG:724:543]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v735/ ... G_0835.jpg[/img]

[RJ Guitars]

Fretless, Great pictures and a very curious amp. I have had numerous requests for a Wreck package to stuff into a donor amp like this one, but it seems like maybe it sounds good enough not to mess with it. Most of those requests involve the reuse of old SS Line-6 amps.

I see from the front panel on your Rocket that it was probably one of the first clones that we made back about 6 or 8 years ago... does that sound right? What output tranny do you have in it?

Thanks, rj

[fretless]

Fretless, Great pictures and a very curious amp. I have had numerous requests for a Wreck package to stuff into a donor amp like this one, but it seems like maybe it sounds good enough not to mess with it. Most of those requests involve the reuse of old SS Line-6 amps.

I see from the front panel on your Rocket that it was probably one of the first clones that we made back about 6 or 8 years ago... does that sound right? What output tranny do you have in it?

Thanks, rj

it does , it was built by one of the lads here in your group build . It's a fantastic amp but crazy loud and I mean loud

Heyboer I believe [IMG:800:600]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v735/ ... G14w_3.jpg[/img]

in a Distortion head shell , what originally caught my eye [IMG768]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v735/ ... t/back.jpg[/img]

[RJ Guitars]

... it was built by one of the lads here in your group build . It's a fantastic amp but crazy loud and I mean loud

Heyboer I believe

Yeah, It's cool to see one of those first ones again. I could probably sort out who built it if I worked at it. That was the original set of Heyboer trannies that we bought for the group build. Initially we took a little flak over them because we didn't clone an original entirely perfect... at the time we couldn't get anyone to give up the details on the transformer set so we went with a set based on notes that Phil at Heyboer had. In the end it turns out it was an excellent set of trannies for a Rocket build... awesome sounding amps!

[Steve in Florida]

Hi,

Back to the RetroChannel amp...

I owned one... I wanted it to be what it claimed to offer... Trainwreck style tones, at bedroom volumes. As added bonuses, it had an effects loop and and a line out.

It is actually a fun amp. Lance's demos are legit.

However, for it's benefits... to me it has some serious shortcomings, that a Trainwreck-style player should be aware of when considering buying it:

-The clean-to-mean doesn't have nearly the range of an Express-style amp.

-Even with the volume (gain) knob on 10, it does not come close to Express amounts of gain. Hit it hard, with humbuckers, and you're getting closer... but still not close.

-It has a unique, artificially created "sag" sound for sustain. Hit it hard, with gain, and you hear a small, belated "dip" in volume, and then the compression hits, the volume goes back up, and it sustains. Some may think it sounds good, I think it's just too extreme.

-The FX loop never sounded good with gain, and gain is why I use an Express type amp. I thought the loop should work with this amp, since it's solid state and you could put the loop after all amp stuff. However, reverbs and delays are distorted. Most effects would basically be unclear to the point of being unusable (for me). Maybe it works better with cleaner sounds.

-Not that it matters, as it doesn't affect the sound at all, and it actually looks good... but the headshell is just window dressing. The amp itself is a tiny and very lightweight solid-state amp inside there. This headshell does give the illusion that it is a "normal" amp.

It is a fun amp. Lance's clips are authentic, they are the amp at its best.

When it arrived, I found it to be lacking in the clean to mean, it's a bit under-gained, the sag thing was off putting, and the FX loop was disappointing.

This wasn't intended to be a negative review. It is a fun amp. Just wanted buyers to be able to go in with open eyes.

Steve

[RJ Guitars]

Seems like a fair review... it's slightly reassuring that it's not all that simple to make a SS Wreck that out performs a real Wreck. Thanks for posting up this info!

[jtn191]

I'm a member of Freestompboxes and the guys over there love to give Lance a hard time about his Tonebender design. That seems to be the idea behind the company: replace germanium with silicon/ICs, tubes with SS and attempt a similar sound.