G
gregrjones
New member
Now that I've owned my Rebel 30 1x12 combo for about a month, I'm ready to give a review:
What an outstanding amp! I went with a combo over a stack because I don't see the point of carrying around an extra cabinet and making multiple trips. An extra cab doesn't make the tone any better to an audience hearing either a mic on one speaker or better yet the line out (which is outstanding). Granted, it would be nice to experiment with different speaker cabs...
First off, this amp is versatile and proves my theory that you don't need a huge amp to get a huge sound. I can get everything from metal to blues to country to jazz. The tone knobs dramatically effect the tone.
I probably like the hard rock tones I get out of this amp the best. I'm not primarily a high gain guy any more, but I get those Ty Tabor type tones that have a complex mid section, yet don't have a edgey attack like your typical high gain Boogie.
I'm primarily a blues based SRV type player and can get those tones out of the amp as well. My Mesa Lonestar still beats the Rebel in this territory but the Rebel holds it's own.
The power tube knob section is the coolest feature of the amp. There is a significant difference between the EL84 & 6v6 tones with the EL84 getting better crunch tones and the 6v6 smoothing things out. I prefer the EL84's for anything with dirt on it and the 6v6's for clean tones. Mixing the two is interesting as well.
Surprisingly to me, (and Bruce confirms this in writing as well) the variable watt feature doesn't make a huge difference. At 1 watt with the gain dialed in somewhere between 1:30 and 3:00, I still can't get the master above 9:00 without having too loud of stage volume.
We shoot for a 95dB FOH mix. To achieve this the stage monitor mix needs to be 10 DB below in order to allow the audience to hear the FOH speakers over the monitor mix and avoid screwing up the sound with too much monitor bleed. It is within this context that I say that I can't get the amp's master above 9:00.
Of course the gain knob affects how much volume the amp puts out so try this trick if you want cleaner classic tones. With the amp set at 1 watt, dial the gain back to 0 on the drive channel. Bring the master up to your desired volume. You should be able to really crank the master volume without killing the sound man. Now, start dialing in more gain as desired and drop the master to compensate. I find that I can keep the master volume cranked to about 9:00 and the gain perhaps as high as 12:00 to get a power tube saturated tone. Granted the tone is pretty clean. If it is too clean, try an overdrive pedal in front of the amp.
Set right, the OD pedal will NOT raise your volume yet will add the gain you might need.
I've found some of my best tones on this amp by doing as the manual suggests and dropping the treble knob significantly and letting the bright switch take care of the top end by engaging it.
The tight switch does tighten up the bottom end but it seems that the amp loses some bottom end with it engaged. I'm still experimenting with dialing the bass in full but not muddy with the tight switch disengaged. The alternative is to engage the tight switch and be very liberal with the bass tone knob.
The reverb is digital and is fine. I'm glad it has verb for when I don't have an effects unit in the loop, but usually I'm using the verb in my T.C. Nova System instead.
The clean tones are nice on this amp. I only wish it had a mid knob.
Many people will not like the fact that the amp doesn't have a volume boost, but my T.C. Nova System can boost the amp for solos when it is in the loop. A well set OD pedal can do the same thing.....
The direct out of this amp is the best kept secret of the amp in my opinion. I usually do NOT like direct outs of any amp that is not digital modelling. The direct out on this amp is actually simulating a speaker in front of the cab (ala a Sans Amp). It definitely sounds just as good as putting a mic in front of the amp.
Now for the down sides of the amp (not many to speak of
1. The direct out starts to get noisey after I've had the amp on for a few hours and the signal even seems to drop. The remedy is to turn the amp off and back on. Why would this be and how can I remedy this?
2. The amp's chassis had been known to rattle. Granted, I only noticed this on the first day of owning the amp. The rattle is physical and can be stopped by my placing my hand on top of it. I think it's the vent grill for the tubes. The rattle only seems to occur with certain frequencies. I haven't heard the rattle since day 1 but perhaps I haven't been paying close enough attention.
Understand that I'm a praise & worship leader and have been playing 4 services a weekend with this amp since I bought it. I also played a couple of extra Christmas shows with it (TSO style) so I've got a lot of experience with it.
Fantastic amp! I'd sell my Lone Star if I could get it to produce the same quality of SRV tones. It does a good job but the Lone Star still beats it here.
I love the portability and versatility of this amp and will keep it for years to come!
What an outstanding amp! I went with a combo over a stack because I don't see the point of carrying around an extra cabinet and making multiple trips. An extra cab doesn't make the tone any better to an audience hearing either a mic on one speaker or better yet the line out (which is outstanding). Granted, it would be nice to experiment with different speaker cabs...
First off, this amp is versatile and proves my theory that you don't need a huge amp to get a huge sound. I can get everything from metal to blues to country to jazz. The tone knobs dramatically effect the tone.
I probably like the hard rock tones I get out of this amp the best. I'm not primarily a high gain guy any more, but I get those Ty Tabor type tones that have a complex mid section, yet don't have a edgey attack like your typical high gain Boogie.
I'm primarily a blues based SRV type player and can get those tones out of the amp as well. My Mesa Lonestar still beats the Rebel in this territory but the Rebel holds it's own.
The power tube knob section is the coolest feature of the amp. There is a significant difference between the EL84 & 6v6 tones with the EL84 getting better crunch tones and the 6v6 smoothing things out. I prefer the EL84's for anything with dirt on it and the 6v6's for clean tones. Mixing the two is interesting as well.
Surprisingly to me, (and Bruce confirms this in writing as well) the variable watt feature doesn't make a huge difference. At 1 watt with the gain dialed in somewhere between 1:30 and 3:00, I still can't get the master above 9:00 without having too loud of stage volume.
We shoot for a 95dB FOH mix. To achieve this the stage monitor mix needs to be 10 DB below in order to allow the audience to hear the FOH speakers over the monitor mix and avoid screwing up the sound with too much monitor bleed. It is within this context that I say that I can't get the amp's master above 9:00.
Of course the gain knob affects how much volume the amp puts out so try this trick if you want cleaner classic tones. With the amp set at 1 watt, dial the gain back to 0 on the drive channel. Bring the master up to your desired volume. You should be able to really crank the master volume without killing the sound man. Now, start dialing in more gain as desired and drop the master to compensate. I find that I can keep the master volume cranked to about 9:00 and the gain perhaps as high as 12:00 to get a power tube saturated tone. Granted the tone is pretty clean. If it is too clean, try an overdrive pedal in front of the amp.
Set right, the OD pedal will NOT raise your volume yet will add the gain you might need.
I've found some of my best tones on this amp by doing as the manual suggests and dropping the treble knob significantly and letting the bright switch take care of the top end by engaging it.
The tight switch does tighten up the bottom end but it seems that the amp loses some bottom end with it engaged. I'm still experimenting with dialing the bass in full but not muddy with the tight switch disengaged. The alternative is to engage the tight switch and be very liberal with the bass tone knob.
The reverb is digital and is fine. I'm glad it has verb for when I don't have an effects unit in the loop, but usually I'm using the verb in my T.C. Nova System instead.
The clean tones are nice on this amp. I only wish it had a mid knob.
Many people will not like the fact that the amp doesn't have a volume boost, but my T.C. Nova System can boost the amp for solos when it is in the loop. A well set OD pedal can do the same thing.....
The direct out of this amp is the best kept secret of the amp in my opinion. I usually do NOT like direct outs of any amp that is not digital modelling. The direct out on this amp is actually simulating a speaker in front of the cab (ala a Sans Amp). It definitely sounds just as good as putting a mic in front of the amp.
Now for the down sides of the amp (not many to speak of
1. The direct out starts to get noisey after I've had the amp on for a few hours and the signal even seems to drop. The remedy is to turn the amp off and back on. Why would this be and how can I remedy this?
2. The amp's chassis had been known to rattle. Granted, I only noticed this on the first day of owning the amp. The rattle is physical and can be stopped by my placing my hand on top of it. I think it's the vent grill for the tubes. The rattle only seems to occur with certain frequencies. I haven't heard the rattle since day 1 but perhaps I haven't been paying close enough attention.
Understand that I'm a praise & worship leader and have been playing 4 services a weekend with this amp since I bought it. I also played a couple of extra Christmas shows with it (TSO style) so I've got a lot of experience with it.
Fantastic amp! I'd sell my Lone Star if I could get it to produce the same quality of SRV tones. It does a good job but the Lone Star still beats it here.
I love the portability and versatility of this amp and will keep it for years to come!
