Who's got / played a Rocktron Vendetta?

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bduersch

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Someone just offered a Rocktron Vendetta head to me in trade... while I wasn't really in the market for another amp, after spending time reading the manual and some magazine/HC reviews, I'm really intrigued by this amp.

On paper, at least, it sounds like a TOL100 on steroids. Since I once owned a Rocktron TOL100 combo and thought it was one of the coolest amps ever, I'm now giving serious consideration to picking up the Vendetta, since it looks like it has a few improvements over the TOL (dual FX loops, self-biasing, more voicing switches).

So the question(s):
- Does anybody here own a Vendetta? Anybody even played one?
- If so, anything you can compare it to tonally?
- Better yet, can you compare it to a TOL100?


As for me, I'm not in a gigging band right now... I do home recording of original rock & instrumental tunes. I also jam around with friends on a bunch of guitar-oriented covers from the 60's through today. Since I've still got my Randall MTS rig, I've got a lot of variety covered there, so in the Vendetta I'd be looking for something that sounds a little more unique.

Thanks in advance for any perspective you can provide!
--B
 
Hey bduersch,

I just bought a used Rocktron Vendetta amp head yesterday afternoon. It's a great sounding amp head, but I'm trying to find settings that I like that will fit well with the sound I'm thinking of. Concerning your questions:

1) Yes, I have a Rocktron Vendetta amp head. I'm a new owner so I'm trying to find the right setting for my amp. Call me a newbie. :)

2) Channel 1 clean has good clean tube tone that breaks up when pushed hard. The bright switch and voicing switch alters the amp's channel. I like it with the bright switch off and undecided about the vintage or modern voicing.

Channel 2 has a good Vox/Bassman type of sound about it. It has nice low gain snarl and when pushed hard can nail AC/DC tone. Good for blues or dirty rhythm playing.

Both channels 1 & 2 and 3 & 4 share the same EQ and voicing switch. Each channel has its own bright switch.

Channel 3 is total crunch. Has a good modded Marshall tone with good gain. I like this channel with the bright switch on and the voicing switch set to modern.

Channel 4 is gain city!!! The previous owner before me had Bruce Egnater mod Channel 4 to be like channel 3 since he thought channel 4 sounded very different. Channel 4 is like channel 3 now except it has more mids to it. I also like the bright switch on and I'm not sure which setting I like on the voicing switch yet.

The amp also has a master volume, presence, mix control and density knobs. The density really pushes up the low end. It reminds me of the Peavey 5150's resonance control. It reminds me of the Bogner Ectsasy tone with that growling low end. I like to run my Rocktron Replifex in the parallel effects loop, run my effects 100% wet and mix in some dry signal for punch.

3) I've never played or have seen an Egnater TOL 100 amp head except from pictures in a magazine or the Internet.

Anybody else who owns one of these amps is welcome to give input.

Guitar George
 
Hey Guitar George! Is this the amp that Kurtsstuff was selling? If so, you got a smokin' deal!

Welcome to the forum!
-Don
 
Scooter said:
Hey Guitar George! Is this the amp that Kurtsstuff was selling? If so, you got a smokin' deal!

Welcome to the forum!
-Don

Hey Scooter,

Thanks for the welcome!!! Yes, this is the same Rocktron Vendetta amp head that Kurtsstuff sold me. Thanks dude. I've been wanting to buy an amp head for awhile and wanted the multiple channel high gain amp head. The price was right and when I tried it out, the sound of that amp spoke to me & curled my toes. I know that a few of the folks on the HFC wanted the amp and I hope that they're not upset about it. It's my first good amp head that I bought in over 10 years considering I'm a long time modded ADA MP-1 preamp/ Marshall 30th Anniversary 1x12 combo amp user. The last amp head I used to own was a Peavey VTM 120 amp head and it sounded horrible. That's when I switched over to the ADA MP-1 preamps. I'm happy with the Vendetta. I'm going to take the time to play through the amp and really get to know the tonalities it can produce.

Guitar George
 
So it only took 7 months :) but I finally ended up pulling the trigger on a Vendetta. I think the 100w Vendettas are being discontinued--someone is closing out new ones on ebay for $900, which feels like a heck of a bargain considering the features and tone (oh, the tone!). The new Vendettas look like a tube preamp coupled with a solid state power amp... what good is that?!?

Anyway, I don't have my TOL100 anymore for direct comparison, but based on what I can remember, the Vendetta seems to have more gain on tap (most noticable on channel 2) and is a bit throatier sounding... kinda like a class-A EL84-driven amp. Overall, I thought it required a lot less tweaking to find "my tone" with the Vendetta than with the TOL100... of course, "your tone" may be a different story altogether.

Last night I put the stock Vendetta through the paces with the band using two Avatar cabs (one open 2x12 with G12T75's, one closed 2x12 with V30's). Overall, the amp had great clarity and presence. Out of sheer curiosity, today I replaced the stock GT EL34's with SED 6L6's. Now the amp sounds like a cross between a modded Marshall and a Mesa Mark series amp--it rounded out the tone just a bit. So far I'm liking the 6L6's, and we'll see how it holds up at a gig tonight. It also accepts 5881's, KT66's, and 6550's should I get so inclined.

--B
 
Hey bduersch,

Someone finally answered this thread after 6 months. :lol: Congratulations on getting your Rocktron Vendetta. I'm sure you will have fun rocking out on your amp. That bad boy is loud!! Be sure to bias the amp with a multimeter using the bias points on the back of the amp so you don't fry the transformers. The owners manual will indicate where you should set the voltage.

Guitar George
 
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