Two Rock amps - unsuitable for medium volume home use?

Chalky

Which is the best model for this? Take pedals well? Over-hyped? Not as good as (insert amp name here)?

tone1

I had a jet 22 combo for home...I found it bland at low volume and the Reverb was noisy at low level playing, which Two Rock said was normal..
I then had a Blackstar Artisan 15 with pedals which was fantastic in comparison 

shaunm

I had an Exo and it sounded good at low levels but then I guess it was meant to

Chester

I have a Coral 22W which is excellent for both home / live use. Interplay between the channel gain / masters allows for a huge range of tones from clean to TR drive. Takes pedals extremely well, although the amp's natural overdrive kicks the butt of any OD or distortion pedals I put through it. Time based FX through the loop are outstanding as is the onboard reverb. Very low noise floor and no hiss n' piss. Bypass function is brilliant and brings the amp to life at lower volumes

Not here to plug a listing, but I have it up for sale in the amp section on this site if you are interested .. 

richardhomer

Every Two Rock I've played has felt 'stiff' dynamically - with none of the 'bounce' I'm used to from a Blackface style amp. 

If you're after something in that ballpark which works well at home levels, I'd look at a 65 Princeton Reverb Reissue. They're relatively cheap used and would sell easily if you ever want to move it on.

ChuckManual

shaunm said:

I had an Exo and it sounded good at low levels but then I guess it was meant to

I bought this amp from Shaun - and I liked it so much I got another. It does not do, "LOUD!", or Gain of any real description, but it does great tones at low volumes and takes overdrive pedals very well in the front end

The Exo doesn't have any onboard reverb but it has an excellent, noiseless FX loop and my battered old Nova Reverb sounds great through it.

Also, a mate of mine has a Two Rock Coral 40 combo that sounds fantastic at both stage and home volumes, it's built like a tank and has a noise floor so low that you can't tell if it's plugged-in until you play something through it.

Over the years, I've also played through at length, had a short demo of, or just listened up close to; a Classic Reverb, a Jet, a Studio Pro, a Studio Pro Plus 35, a Bi-Onyx 100, a first series TS-1 and Matt Schofield's Matt Schofield Signature Model ...and all have them have sounded terrific in their own particular environments.

If I was being hyper-critical, I'd say the Studio Pro sounded a bit boxy in it's small 1x12" combo form, the Studio Pro Plus 35 was a bit noisy (but only compared to other Two Rocks - and this, apparently, was not the case with the 50w model) and the Bi-Onyx was severely, mentally, just too bloody loud.

I've never found a model that's stiff, unforgiving or sterile (as I've heard them described in the past). In fact, I've only ever found them to be bloody lush...

Nerine

The Two Rock Sensor 50 1x12 combo I have is simply one of the best amplifiers I have owned. 

It drips tone. 

I could add loads of buzzwordy hyperbole, and it wouldn't be doing it justice. 

Its a superb amplifier. Made well, reliable, portable, loud, serious tone, works at low volume, huge low end for an open back combo etc etc. 

I'd never part with it. 

My Suhr Classic Pro through it is just a match made in heaven. 

exocet

richardhomer said:

Every Two Rock I've played has felt 'stiff' dynamically - with none of the 'bounce' I'm used to from a Blackface style amp. 

If you're after something in that ballpark which works well at home levels, I'd look at a 65 Princeton Reverb Reissue. They're relatively cheap used and would sell easily if you ever want to move it on.

I've never played through a Two Rock but I know that the vast majority of their amps up until around 4 years ago (Exo, Coral, Sensor stuff marked a change) were all Dumble derrived / clones. Many Dumbles featured power supplies that are "over engineered" which contributed to the stiff dynamics especially at lower volumes.

jellyroll

I have a studio pro 22. Gorgeous clear, dynamic cleans at home volume. No noise, great reveb. Won't go dirty though at those volumes. 

Chester

exocet said:

richardhomer said:

Every Two Rock I've played has felt 'stiff' dynamically - with none of the 'bounce' I'm used to from a Blackface style amp. 

If you're after something in that ballpark which works well at home levels, I'd look at a 65 Princeton Reverb Reissue. They're relatively cheap used and would sell easily if you ever want to move it on.

I've never played through a Two Rock but I know that the vast majority of their amps up until around 4 years ago (Exo, Coral, Sensor stuff marked a change) were all Dumble derrived / clones. Many Dumbles featured power supplies that are "over engineered" which contributed to the stiff dynamics especially at lower volumes.

Agree - nothing stiff or sterile about the Coral at any volume. The rectifier tube enhances a slight bounce and natural compression that doesn't muddy up the tone, and is very well suited for jazz / blues / classic rock. It's not an ideal backline for a metal player IMHO

Chalky

Now thinking of the Jet 35 at Coda. Always worth a visit and have bought guitars from there before.  Any experience of the Jet 35?

Chalky

Hmmmm. Youtube just suggested this video. Controversial...

shaunm

Chalky said:

Hmmmm. Youtube just suggested this video. Controversial...

@Chalky I use one of those Supersonic thingys so I might be biased but I think that the fender sounds better than the Two Rock. 

DougCoda

Chalky said:

Now thinking of the Jet 35 at Coda. Always worth a visit and have bought guitars from there before.  Any experience of the Jet 35?

Jet is too loud for the house, you need to get them up a bit to make the most of the amp. The Studio Pro is the one I'd recommend and you can get it to overdrive by playing around with the loop level on the back as when you're not using the loop it works as a master volume..They're not pure blackface amps, although the original circuit is derived from a Fender amp the typical Two Rock clean is darker, fuller and richer and in my opinion takes pedals better than most Fenders I've ever tried...at the end of the day it's what works for you...If you want vintage blackface Fender the world is your oyster and a Princeton is an excellent place to start 

Chalky

Thanks for the candid response on the Jet @DougCoda ;