NAD Roccoforte HG100

[Erock]

I've wanted to try one of Doug's amps since the old HCAF days, but never had the opportunity. His amp gut shots are like works of art. One of my friends told me about a Roccoforte in the classifieds, so I had to check it out. Low and behold, it belonged to my friend Gary. He gave me a great deal, and long story short, I finally got to try one!

It's a really fun amp! Way more aggressive and gainy than I imagined, Marshall flavor but definitely Doug's take. Big lowend, and lots of crunchy gainy chainsaw midrange. Plenty of cut and presence. It's easy to go overboard with the gain, a little goes a long way. It can get that overgained and over saturated sound easy with too much boost and gain. It's a bit round and dark for my tastes straight in, but I love it boosted. Not for more gain, but for tone shaping. Really crazy string separation and clarity, all the notes seem to ring without fighting eachother, even in big chords or staccato riffs. Great feel to this amp too. The biggest con to me, is it doesn't clean up that great with the guitar volume. kind of a bag of dicks clean, lol, luckily the od makes up for it for me.

Overall, a wicked fun amp for the used price IMO. Won't be everyone's taste, but I'm sure there are a few gear heads that would really dig it.

Edit: dialed a bit different boosted with grid slammer

Lp r7, bk abraxas

Neck rolled back clean, lol

 

[fearhk213]

That sounds pretty huge. I dig it.

 

[tonedog]

I have owned several of his HG100s and there is one out there which has a switchable mid boos t on the back as well as a half power switch. I mistakenly sold that for $1250 and have wanted it back since the day after I sold it. GREAT amp.

 

[ibenhad]

Congrats! Great amp but not everyone's cup of tea. For me different speakers make a huge difference with this amp. Mine sounds like absolute S**T through some of my cabinets. Right now I have it going through a Splawn 2x12 loaded with smallblocks and it sounds really great. Haven't really tried boosting it, what are you using to boost? Maybe I will throw my A/C booster in front of it tonight.

 

[DET1973]

Marked for later listen.

 

[311splawndude]

 

[Erock]

So thanks for checking it out guys. I wish I had waited to own it at least a day before posting the clips though. That was about as low as the vol goes, and I think I got it dialed in better Today. It's a super sensitive linear taper, so it takes some getting used to. Wow is this thing loud, lol, but what a difference it sounds like when it winds up. Now if I can make a clip without melting my zoom.

 

[V2a]

So thanks for checking it out guys. I wish I had waited to own it at least a day before posting the clips though. That was about as low as the vol goes, and I think I got it dialed in better Today. It's a super sensitive linear taper, so it takes some getting used to. Wow is this thing loud, lol, but what a difference it sounds like when it winds up. Now if I can make a clip without melting my zoom.

You could always install a PPIMV in place of the Presence control (and replace the linear MV while in there). That would help make the amp more usable.

 

[Shiny_Surface]

Congrats Eric

 

[Erock]

Thanks guys. Made another small clip today. Still couldn't really crank it, but dialed a bit different.

 

[glip22]

Thanks guys. Made another small clip today. Still couldn't really crank it, but dialed a bit different.

Excellent separation and clarity. Your clips do your amps justice E. I can hear every note ringing full under all the gain. Cranking that amp is on 3. Sounds killer and really lets your guitars shine through more than most.

 

[John4021]

Doug makes some of the best single channel heads. I did own a Jenelle as well,but think
my HG100 is my fav Roccaforte.
And yes,just one big loud bastard.
Clips are killer ,Congrats.

 

[fretout]

Congrats Erock! I remember Doug way back in the HCAF days. I remember the guy was a total jackass on that forum, but even though he was a douche, a lot of the guys owned his amps. Since you're from the HCAF, didn't Doug used to say he was Anthony Keidis's brother or cousin or something?

Anyway, sorry to derail. I love how lean and clean that gut shot is! I can't check out the clips you recorded at the moment (looking forward to hearing them!), but how would you compare the tone of the Rocca to some modified-Marshall-type heads (for example Bogner, Friedman, ect.)? From your description, it sounds like the Roccaforte is capable of higher gain than the typical modded Marshall.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Moshaholic]

Those are killer amps... I remember when my friend was a Rippafarte dealer and we use to crank the HG100 through a green back cab with a boost and emgs and it was killer metal up your ass... I played them all the time. Loud as hell too...

The best HG100 were the first ones. Later my friend sent his HG 100 back to Doug for the preamp mod upgrade he later did to did to the design and I did not care for the amp as much as I did before. But the first HG100 preamp design was the shit!

 

[Laura]

Thanks guys. Made another small clip today. Still couldn't really crank it, but dialed a bit different.

That sounds awesome. Is it boosted??

 

[Les Zombie]

sounds nice, i like it.

 

[JTyson]

Sounds killer Bet it will cut in a mix nicely
Looks great on the inside too

 

[FourT6and2]

Sounds really good! Kind of like the Chupacabra but a little tighter and maybe slightly more saturation. But it has that same angry mid-range grind.

 

[Erock]

Thanks for checking it out guys!

Thanks guys. Made another small clip today. Still couldn't really crank it, but dialed a bit different.

Excellent separation and clarity. Your clips do your amps justice E. I can hear every note ringing full under all the gain. Cranking that amp is on 3. Sounds killer and really lets your guitars shine through more than most.

thanks brother, and thanks again for this beast. It's every bit as good as you said it was.

So thanks for checking it out guys. I wish I had waited to own it at least a day before posting the clips though. That was about as low as the vol goes, and I think I got it dialed in better Today. It's a super sensitive linear taper, so it takes some getting used to. Wow is this thing loud, lol, but what a difference it sounds like when it winds up. Now if I can make a clip without melting my zoom.

You could always install a PPIMV in place of the Presence control (and replace the linear MV while in there). That would help make the amp more usable.

ya know, I think I'm getting the hang of it. It's wicked sensitive, but I'm getting some very usable lower vol tones. Not bedroom volume, but my teeth dont hurt!

Doug makes some of the best single channel heads. I did own a Jenelle as well,but think
my HG100 is my fav Roccaforte.
And yes,just one big loud bastard.
Clips are killer ,Congrats.

thanks fellow Rocco owner! I'm kind of surprised to start seeing so many owners, I feel like I'm real late to the party, lol.

Congrats Erock! I remember Doug way back in the HCAF days. I remember the guy was a total jackass on that forum, but even though he was a douche, a lot of the guys owned his amps. Since you're from the HCAF, didn't Doug used to say he was Anthony Keidis's brother or cousin or something?

Anyway, sorry to derail. I love how lean and clean that gut shot is! I can't check out the clips you recorded at the moment (looking forward to hearing them!), but how would you compare the tone of the Rocca to some modified-Marshall-type heads (for example Bogner, Friedman, ect.)? From your description, it sounds like the Roccaforte is capable of higher gain than the typical modded Marshall.

Thanks in advance!

haha, Social Collision jeans or something, lol, that's all I remember.
Hard to really compare it honestly. It's definitely not like any of the Cameron or Friedman stuff, and different from Bogner. It's got a big big punchy low, more like a JCM, but lots more gain. I won't compare it to a Wizard, but it kind of reminds me of the girth and rawness it had. Its got way more gain that I would ever use, but I'm sure that would be more for solo stuff or approaching fuzz tones. That last clip was with the gain at 11:00, lol. I'm boosting it, but the grid slammer level is under 12:00, and the gain is under 9:00, which is pretty anemic on most amps.

Those are killer amps... I remember when my friend was a Rippafarte dealer and we use to crank the HG100 through a green back cab with a boost and emgs and it was killer metal up your ass... I played them all the time. Loud as hell too...

The best HG100 were the first ones. Later my friend sent his HG 100 back to Doug for the preamp mod upgrade he later did to did to the design and I did not care for the amp as much as I did before. But the first HG100 preamp design was the shit!

thanks brother! According to Gary, this is one of the first ones, so I guess I scored!

Thanks guys. Made another small clip today. Still couldn't really crank it, but dialed a bit different.

That sounds awesome. Is it boosted??

Hey Laura! Yeah, it's boosted with a Mesa Gridslammer, but very conservatively. Is it similar to the Ultra? I tried to find some kind of description of Dougs designs, but his website is pretty under cover. It looks like he completely shut himself off.

 

[glip22]

2003. Pre 2005 is the original preamp. Post 05 has some tweaks and gives it 30% more gain. Why one would need that is beyond me. It's known among Rocca guys that the earlier version is just better. It's a killer amp Feels great and is easy to play. No fighting it needed.