Rocktron Chameleon 2000
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 24 июл 2024
- ♫ Become a Patron - / leontodd
♫ My music - ragdollrock.bandcamp.com
♫ Join my Discord - / discord
Invite Code - knnMWCsPrS
★ "Weird Guitar Person" Shirts - teespring.com/shop/weirdguita...
★ My cabinet IR's (FREE)
dropbox.com/sh/o6xnvx53x6z1n0...
Follow me online
★ / leontoddmusic
★ / leon_ragdoll
Gear I use
► Fractal Audio Axe-Fx III & FM3
www.fractalaudio.com
► Camera (Affiliate Link)
amzn.to/3bORm0Y
►Footswitch Toppers (Affiliate Link)
thehomemusician.com/shop?olsP...
Use code "Leon2021" to save 10% on your order
► Save 7% on DistroKid (Affiliate Link)
distrokid.com/vip/leontodd
Gear shown on this channel may be either sent by the manufacturer, on loan for review or purchased at a discount - in these cases you will see the "contains paid promotion" icon. The content of the video is entirely my opinion and was not dictated by any third party.
Thanks again for watching and supporting my channel.
00:00 - Intro
01:49 - Clean Channel & Fx
06:30 - Texas Channel
09:47 - British Channel
12:21 - Mega Channel
19:03 - Preset Surfing
22:13 - Speaker Sim
24:43 - Is it worth trying? 
Видеоклипы
Leon tries the Chameleon! What did you think of the tones?
@LeonTodd AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME!!!!!!!! For some reason this reminds of my Tom Scholz Soluist belt mont reverb/chorus I used to have and wish I never gave away because you could plug it into the front or back of an amp!!!
You really know how bring our beloved "Absolute Filth"!!! "D"
There's some good cleans and heavy tones. Which seems to be the norm for most of the stuff in this era. It always seems the low and mid gain sounds were always the problem achieving. Great Video!!
I guess I'm the Devil's advocate here! I'm not sure why, but I'm always disappointed with the sounds out of Rocktron units! I can't put my finger on it, but I think I could get a Fendet and/or a Marshall in a box pedal with a small pedalboard and get more organic and useful sounds from that rig!
There was a really convinving EJ tone.
that reverb was actually pretty awesome! super ambient and yet it didn't clash with what you were playing. impressive!
Agreed, that slotted in quite nicely.
Loved that clean channel to be absolutely honest with you! Especially with the decay at 99.
Pretty awesome right? There's tone to be found in all these things!
My older cousin, who was one of the main reasons I started playing guitar and was my first guitar teacher, had a Chameleon that I got to play through a few times. I had totally forgot that these things existed! Good memories.
Some lovely tones coming out of that unit. Some tasty licks as well. Excellent review
Still got mine paired with a Rocktron midimate and HEX expression pedal on my gear collection! You made it sound great Leon!
I have a chameleon 2000 and midi mate as well (i stopped using 2 years ago). Their manual is garbage and i accidently figured out how to program the midi mate to it then forgot how i did it. I want to try it out again w my new amp so do you have a good grasp on midi programming them together that you could run me through? I'd appreciate it.
I would love to see Todd do a video on the Prophesy as well. Very similar but more advanced effects and a preamp tube. It has a very unique "distant" kind of tone.
I had the Voodu Valve which was pretty good. I generally love Rocktron stuff, still have a number of their stomps and their Black Cat Moan wah. Their Hush noise reduction remains a good choice.
A bit late to the party but, I have an original blackface Chameleon. It had clean, crunch and hi-gain channels, up to 1000ms delay in 4 sec intervals..
For the speaker sim, using it on full range mode while going in to a power amp and cab, you can use the mic and reactance controls for extra eq, reactance at +4 - +6 adds a nice amount of thump depending on the cab
I've only got one Rocktron unit so far, the Replifex, which I love. Always been curious about the Chameleon too but I doubt I'd bother tbh. It sounded good but I probably wouldn't use the preamp tones so as a dedicated effect unit they have better. Another great video. 👍
I have a Chameleon Online (the 2000 is a stripped down version of it) and I scream for it!!!
The "Speaker Sim" is absolutely amazing! You have to spend some time tweaking it and tweaking the EQ as well. I saw the 2000 does not have the full EQ features the Original and the Online versions have: they both sport pre- and post-gain fully parametric 4-band EQ.
Give it a nice try, Leon... it's worth it!
Well done Brother!
Nice piece of gear.
Good tones and effects.
Thanks for sharing Brian.
Always liked Rocktron gear.
Be Well All!
Working man tones!
I think if you had an original Chameleon, you'd enjoy the pre-eq settings; which allow for more subtle EQ curves
Yeap! Have original 1st black chameleon and voodu valve 1st version :)
I still have my Chameleon online. It was fun at the time.
Hey Leon big fan of your channel here, especially when you bring us old preamps that I have to admit they're like a guilty pleasure to me haha... I remember this unit, my guitar teacher back in the day had one of these, it was a rocktron for sure and I'm pretty sure it was this, I'm talking about 1999 I guess.. You know what, back in the day I thought it was super great, for bedroom levels at least, I had like a boss me 30 into a crappy little Yamaha solid state amp and I was dreaming about pre +power amp stuff... me and my guitar teacher were big Dream Theater and Paul Gilbert and Steve Vai etc fans, you know what, this unit sounds like the late 90, it has got this charisma and of course sounds a bit lame now but it gives me a big smile on my face cause I really remember those days and those tones... we only played Ibanez guitars if course, and Les Pauls and Strats were for posers haha, so you had to play covers with a more modern sound, think about Dream Theater covers of that era...
Anyway, I know it's nostalgic but to me it sounds cool, especially the clean and the mega that I super dig it for the Dimebag tones (nobody gave a heck about the "quality" of the sounds even in the professional world, it was still wild)
If you think about keyboards, these units are similar to Korg Trinity or Triton, dated but cool, I used to see them everywhere as well in live stages... Greetings from snowy Italy :)
The Triton analogy is a good one - I wanted a Triton so bad! there's still great tones in all this stuff IMO.
Had a whole Rocktron rack back in the day. Some great sounds to be had from these older units.
What units did you have?
This was so many years ago. I had the Voodu Valve preamp, the Intellefex and their single rack space digital eq. It was all hooked up to a midi switcher and powered by a Yamaha valve power amp going out to two giant PA cabinets loaded with 15's and horns. Also mixed in was a Boss GM70 midi rack synth and it's GK1 controller, stuck onto an old black Telecaster. Three keyboard rack units (Roland and Yamaha) were also patched in as too was a really nice Roland sequencer. It was quite the system, way more than what I could handle at the time. A young kid from down the street that I was friends with came to the house and wanted to play around with it. I turned the system on for him and he proceeded to play note for note an entire side of a Frank Zappa album ... leaving me speechless and in awe. Well, it's 30 years later and all that equipment is gone ... but not my love of music and guitar. No complaints, no regrets. BTW ... that kid, was Mike Keneally.
I'm with you on the Clean and Texas being the best. Serviceable tones there.
Love the Rocktron effects units (Intellifex, Replifex, Intelliverb) but haven't dove into their preamps much. Excellent demo Leon! Thanks for giving me an idea of what the Chameleon sounds like. Maybe it should be now called ChameLEON! (I'm sorry, I had to say it..)
The standalone fx units are awesome hey, they totally have their own sound. You should check out the piranha preamp if you haven't already
Cry of love! Amazing band, singer from second album is now in Warrant.
Sounds great
I have had the Chameleon with the black face and lizard on the face since the late 90s. I moved it into my home studio and bought another one that was newer and looked much like the one you’ve reviewed here. The idea was to have a second one for a live rig. The newer one is a big disappointment. My older one has lot of eq controls, maybe too many, but much more versatile. I just purchased another old lizard model, copied a favorite recording patch and ran it into peavey tone king. I had to redo eq settings but got way closer to my favorite hi gain setting for recording. What I’m getting at is the older lizard model is much more adjustable and pleasing. Back in the 90s and early 2000 s I was very happy using it on stage. The newer one, not so much.
Had the og model for years. Great piece of gear.
What a coincidence you mentioned Cry of Love. Been a favorite of mine for years and have been listening to them a lot lately. Saw them live back in the day. Audley Freed is such a great, great player.
They took Free, Zep, southern rock and blues and put out some real special records.
When you were playing the Texas preamp with that Strat, you were very Eric Johnson sounding!
I didn't have the Cham 2K myself, but back when my two best friends and I started guitar in the mid-90s, we had Peavey Bandit 65s (way too much amp for a bedroom!). One of the friends, Jeff, was and is a total extreme metalhead, and when he would play live in church, he wanted to be able to change sounds quickly from song to song. The Guitar Center salesman pretty much went and grabbed the Cham 2k and said "This is what you're looking for." He used this for years, first with the Bandit, and then eventually he got a Marshall JCM2000 and would switch between just the amp and running the Cham into the power amp input. He let me play through it at times and some of those presets were very memorable!
legends...just say what you mean-QUEENS
You are right dude, that is dimebag, even sounds like the noise gate he used(pre prank era) and that is a nice looking and sounding les paul.
I used to have one of those and I loved it.
Thanks Todd for the video, I am a lifelong owner of a Cahameleon 2000 I also had the first Chameleon and the Voodoo valve but this sounds better and I have been trying to imitate the sounds of the chameleon 2000 with my Helix for a long time. However beautiful machines.
Thanks for sharing!
The Chameleon forgot about this Very nice Thanks Great sound
Glad you like it!
I was 20 when Cry of Love emerged in 92/93 and thought 'these guys are better than their influencies'.Never forgot them-listening on regular basis their first album to this day.
Audley Freed has "it"
Cry of Love, WOW, loved Peace Pipe off of the Brother album! Now you need to get ahold of the Voodu Valve and give that a spin.
Yeah peace pipe SLAPS! What a riff. Total FREE vibe
Is a great classic piece of gear.
Did you ever use one?
I got the Intellifex as per your recommendation as an intro to rack units and it's great for what it is. The 8v chorus and the gated reverb sound awesome. I recently got an xpression for $100 and daisy chained them together to get plenty of sounds on the cheap. Thanks again. BTW... would you be willing to do the Tone Talk podcast? I think that would be rad. Rock on 🤘🏻
I'm buddies with Marc and we've talked about it!
I have this unit and really enjoyed the video! You didn’t mention the entire reason these were so great… the hush!! Only unit back then that could be totally silent then 💥 bam.. full volume… Rocktron hush was a game changer. Would love a side by side vs. new gear
great point - easy to overlook things like that now that it's considered a standard feature
Cry of Love..Hell yeah…I was just listening to that first record today…
Peace pipe!!!!
@@LeonTodd great song!!…Turn it up!!
I always wanted to try one of these after finding out Dark Tranquillity used them
great band!
It's always amazed me that the Rockman sound is often mentioned but no company has tried to make a Rockman clone of ANY Rockman product. Million dollar idea, no? Imagine a updated Rockman XPR! Pure gold.
Nobels did some Rockman style stuff for a while but otherwise the cupboard is bare!
Hey hermano from way down south
I had an original Rocktron Chameleon, sold it when I got a Yamaha DG-1000 preamp, when they 1st came out
When your able, do a video on the Yamaha DG-1000 preamp, that Allan Holdsworth liked so much ( probably a good reason to do the video)
I have it and used it for probably 10 years. Still have one. They sound awesome, (clean, crunch & lead) very, very tube like. With the right boost In front of it on the lead channel the lead sound is glorious., ( I would call it almost a perfected lead tube tone). I’m very fortunate, If I didn’t have a number of crem d La crem tube pres that I go back and forth with………I could be very happily with the DG-1000. They never break down ( I had 3, 2 extras just for backup, ended up selling 2 ) There $300 to $450 on eBay, a true steal, a secret ( AH “Secrets”) that the community should know about
Many thanks for all your great videos
My kindest regards, also from down under “Mexico “
Michael
So cool you referenced Cry of Love. Audley Freed is a phenomenal player, extremely underrated.
The first 2 albums are smokin'
Glad you got around to checking one out. I have two of the blackface USA made ones.
the originals had balanced outputs and were better in the studio with more EQ options pre and post. The 2000 despite its simplified EQ settings and no balanced outputs were good for playing live with a dedicated power amp.
Yeah this one really seems streamlined, for use of a better term
I got a chameleon 2000 in a bulk deal 6 years ago, the main piece i wanted was the Mesa 5050 which turned out to be a lemon. I just sent that to mesa yesterday to be repaired. The chameleon has sat unused for two years now but i might hook it back up. Bought a midi mate to go w it but i suck at programming midi and their manual is garbage. I accidently got it programmed a little but quickly forgot what i was doing.
Setup really similar to the Rocktron Utopia. If I use it, I also turn off the speaker sim and run IR's.
I guess my inner kid came out - because I kinda dug the mega
Cry of Love, Peace Pipe, oh yeah!
Just got a Vooduu Valve from Rocktron and it nails the Marshall type sounds very well, way better than this one ! IT is as good (different) as the MP1!
Now you've got me interested!
@@LeonTodd Yeah I've been really enjoying your vids the past few days with all of the different older preamps and equipment, but I was surprised when I searched your channel and didn't see anything for the Voodu Valve. I just pulled out my VV that I bought in 1999 and last played probably 2002, so I was just looking up some vids because I haven't had a chance to sit down with it yet, which is how I found your great channel in the first place.
Hey brother. Not been online a lot because of this broken leg.
I woke up early tonight and was checking out older preamps online at Reverb, and they used this video to show off this rack unit they have for sale. It's been reconditioned and although I don't need it, it is very tempting..
Hope you're well brother. It will be a couple months before I am back to normal. Doing some physical rehab that is torture and praying I don't have to have my knee replaced. I'll catch up later. Hope all is well my friend and be safe and well sir . ❤
I have a chameleon 2000 through a velocity 100 into a stereo 12" 2 speaker cab.I find the Texas setting the most workable.You really need to dial in each guitar to the sound you want.I mainly use a couple of starts,Tele,and SG.
The setting for any one of them does not readily work for the others.Really need to preset for each guitar,kind of a pain in the Ass to use live,because every venue has it's own different adjustments.
There are some interesting sounds in there though.
yes, but was is your preamp and simul cab ?
Have you ever tried the zoom 9150 it has tons of usable effects and the preamp is not half bad you can adjust the frequency of the EQ giving you a lot of different tones I bet someone who knows about frequency could dial in a sick tone
Also it has a tube
only the 9030 and that was pretty fun
Max delay time on the Intellifex LTD in 2 Tap (longest) is 1500ms. Alot to process in that unit. I bet they unlocked the whole 40Mhz CPU speed like they did on the Replifex as opposed to the downclocked 20Mhz of the Intellifex's 40Mhz CPU.
You do a fantastic piece of work reviewing musical gear - appreciate you - how about the Rocktron Voodu Valve
Side note-I really like your playing.
Thanks mate!
Favorite channel👍👍
Wow, thanks!
Ever try out the Rocktron Utopia floor units? That would be interesting.
No but I remember reading the manual for the utopia rack back in the day!
Leon. I have a floor version of this. This is simular to the TC electronics
I still have the Blue faced Chameleon Online. Bought it around "96 when it came out. $800 if I remember correctly. If you get a hold od the original 1st gen or the Blur Online model I would love to see a comparison with them and the 2000. Most people that used these considered the 2000 a step down in tone compared to the first and 2nd gen.
Sounds really good! As I type this there is one for sale in the US on Reverb for $150. Tempting... but I already have a few old preamps from the early 90's.
What do you have?
@@LeonTodd ADA MP-2 (since new); Boss SE50; Yamaha FX500; ART DST4 (sort of works); Digitech GSP21 Legend (bought thanks to you!)
@@ianfurqueron5850 FX500/SE50 is a lot of tone in a single rack space!
@@LeonTodd those were in the loop of my MP-2 back in the day, feeding into an ADA Microtube 200 power amp (that I also still have).
DST4 has got Marshall roar inside... some fx is usable.
It lacks the chameleon figure :'( ...the reason I tested it in the first place, back when it came out, but found it to flat sounding compared to a combination of Peavey turquoise stripe amps and the Digitech DSP256 Not as fun as the KORG A3 either :D
I still have a Digi128, really fun old unit! The A3 is a gem too :D
I see you coming back to the mega i wonder why.?😂😂😂
You have demoed a number of Rocktron preamps, do you think you will ever do the Prophesy ?
I'd love to try one - used prices are still quite high and availability down here is always an issue
how does this stack up from the Gallien Kruger
I'd love to try some of the GK stuff that lifeson and Maiden used back in the day
@@LeonTodd And Def Leppard some
I have the Rocktron Prophesy, had the voodoo valve, sold it for the prophesy...You might want to try the Rocktron prophesy..? Cheers...!!!
I want to try both now!
Rocktron Fractal oder Kemper? Which one is your favorit?
The original blackface Chameleon has the pre eq which the 2000 doesn't have and is useful. Still, the 2000 can deliver some cool sounds.
My memory is a bit fuzzy, is the Prophesy came after the Chameleon series?
So by order of best to worst is it: Voodo Valve>Prophesy>Chameleon?
Where does Piranha fall into this place?
20:06 Boston tone
How about the Rocktron Powerplay Deluxe?
Now they're a unit I'd never heard of until now!
I like your cat!
Played the original Chameleon for a long time with a Mesa 50/50 - not that bad of a sound!
Those Boogie power amps were awesome!
I bought a bulk deal 6 years ago and the main piece was a Mesa 50/50, the chameleon 2000 was an afterthought but got used a lot more than the mesa. The mesa turned out to be a lemon that died on me shortly after. I just sent the mesa to petaluma yesterday for repair.
I had an earlier model Chameleon back in the day. Wish I hadn't sold it...
They're still cheap if you can find them used!
@@LeonTodd maybe the next step in your tests would be the Rocktron Prophecy?
6:07 whats the tune ?
Similar thing to what I play on Ragdoll "Self Censored"
Leon, you should try a Boss GT-Pro ;-)
Yes! Been trying to find one
Interesting. Are you familiar with the Rocktron Prophecy 2? If so, would you consider it “dated” as well?
that's on my list of units I'm keen to try
@@LeonTodd Great, I’ll be looking forward to it.
Cry of Love = Two Thumbs Up!!
So good!
Cool, this is one of those gym class last picked kids. You always see various Chameleons listed for sale and nobody buys them.
Also can you explain how to set too much reverb and delay? I haven't figured it out yet for any gear. There's never too much.
Hahahaha yeah that's the vibe for sure.
Agree there's no such thing :D
Leon can you try a Voodu Valve?
I'd love to, it's on the list!
for sure if you you can please do it
What happened to Rocktron. Can't find them anymore. Did they quit business?
I believe they were owned by GHS - they did a run of Voodoo Valve's last year but I've heard nothing else from them since.
Didn't the guy from Rocktron start up ISP Technologies? ie The Theta Pro?
MAGA channel? That unit was way ahead of it's time!
😂
I had the voodu valve online- worst preamp ever. It didn't sound good, and the encoders were especially horrible. If you turn the encoder, it would jump 3 or 4 presets or whatever you were doing.
Rocktron reverbs always suck. Rocktron is rather known for very good digital chorus and hush noise gates.