NAD - Rocket 44

I can finally post here again after trading my Mark IV combo a year and a half ago - I missed it a lot.

Yesterday, I picked up this gem for only $400! I love it so far - cleans and lead w/contour are excellent. I even like the reverb which some say isn't good, but I think it sits in the background very nicely. Actually this amp suits me better than the Mk IV, which was a little too complex. So now I've got a Rivera Clubster 25 1x10, and this Rocket 44. I'm really satisfied with that pair.

Great pic and great amp!

I love it! Simple, versatile and loud! Not to mention that it's quite light which makes this amp a keeper. Many other mesa combos are quite heavy, but this gem is light and sounds great!

love it, you sure have a lot of pedals. 8)

I have my eye on one of these. Is the speaker a 10" or 12"? The manual I found on line states 10".

The Rocket 44 has a 12" speaker. I have seen it somewhere in Boogie literature as being a 1x10 but I've never seen a Rocket 44 with a single 10 -- they did a 4x10 Rocket 440 though. There was a Subway Rocket 20 watter with a 10" in it.

Nice! I'm jealous. I sold most of my combo amps (didn't really have anything worth keeping). Now I'm really considering grabbing one of these at some point. Something small to take places where I don't feel like lugging my Roadster and a cab.

kyldh said:

Nice! I'm jealous. I sold most of my combo amps (didn't really have anything worth keeping). Now I'm really considering grabbing one of these at some point. Something small to take places where I don't feel like lugging my Roadster and a cab.

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Dual Calibers are similar, but have two separately-eq'd channels. The preamp tube layout makes it pretty easy to tweak the tone in each channel with tube swaps. I've always been a Mark guy, but the DC-3 I recently bought has made me a DC believer.

Still really enjoying it, it's a keeper! This one came with a UK made Vintage 30 in it. Sounds awesome!

Anyone have tube preferences for this amp (or any Rocket series)? The previous owner put JJ power tubes in, haven't actually looked at the preamp tubes yet, they might be the originals.

deeman said:

love it, you sure have a lot of pedals. 8)

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Definitely a pedal addict, though I used to have more. My fiance always knows that a pedal is the only gift I want for my bday or other occasion haha.

SurfGreenTele said:

Still really enjoying it, it's a keeper! This one came with a UK made Vintage 30 in it. Sounds awesome!

Anyone have tube preferences for this amp (or any Rocket series)? The previous owner put JJ power tubes in, haven't actually looked at the preamp tubes yet, they might be the originals.

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I like the JJ power tubes. They seem to sound good with this amp. As for preamp tubes? I would get some NOS RCA preamp tubes. Make sure they are short plates. If you get any long plates, you will get a bunch of noises. The PI is fine with a long plate.

cradlefish said:

SurfGreenTele said:

Still really enjoying it, it's a keeper! This one came with a UK made Vintage 30 in it. Sounds awesome!

Anyone have tube preferences for this amp (or any Rocket series)? The previous owner put JJ power tubes in, haven't actually looked at the preamp tubes yet, they might be the originals.

Click to expand...

I like the JJ power tubes. They seem to sound good with this amp. As for preamp tubes? I would get some NOS RCA preamp tubes. Make sure they are short plates. If you get any long plates, you will get a bunch of noises. The PI is fine with a long plate.

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Thanks for the recommendation, I'll give the short plates a try!

I've just spent a week cutting a record and really got to use the DI/silent recording feature in my Rocket 44. The results were really great running into the desk and then into Protools. I tracked nearly all my guitar parts this way and it was killer not to have to worry about micing up; and I could also track to monitors rather than have to use the cans. The Contour mode is particularly chunky recorded this way. All that is really needed is some slight adjustments with subtractive EQing in the mix.

Nice! Let's hear it!