Rockitt Retro '68 spec 1987

[langmurf]

Did a search and found no posts so...

There's a dude selling handwired '68 spec 1987 clones on ebay. High quality components... I bought a used one from TGP amp emporium and it's a smokin' hot amp.

The builder's name is Kevin Heibreder and his email is rockittretro@gmail.com.

There are two threads over on TGP about these amps... the first thread is locked (TGP locks threads that hit 1,000 posts) and is here:

rockitt retro/ Marshall plexi - The Gear Page

The current thread is: Rockitt Retro Plexi Part II - The Gear Page

Standard cost is $1,099 with $59 shipping. He'll add a PPIMV for another $100.

Most owners appear to love their Rockitt Retro's. There are a few who didn't like them. And there are a couple of guys who think Kevin is undercutting other builders by charging so much less than the competition. Personally, I was thrilled to get my hands on one of his amps.

Posting this because I thought there might be some interest here. Spreading the word, so to speak.

I don't know Kevin... not affiliated in any way.

gut shot:

Front of amp:

 

[chuckelator]

Looks spiffy.

 

[langmurf]

Indeed... it is a spiffy, well constructed amp using high quality parts for a seriously affordable price. Just thought I'd throw this up for those gigging "the real deal" who might not want to continue to move those amps any more than needed.

I'm in Lawrenceville, GA... gladly welcome guys who'd like to hear the amp first hand. (Unless, of course, one comes off as a serial killer... then, naw, won't be inviting you over to the house.)

 

[50WPLEXI]

I have one from Kevin. They are fantastic amps, see my sig!

 

[Billyblades]

More power to him! I am building my own line of custom amps and doing it for the love is better than the people doing it solely for the profit. This guy must love what he does and his amps are a steal at that price!
This guy is clearly makin his stamp the way people have for generations.

You give a great product and beat the compeditors price. This is what the market needs!
imho,,, (Imho) nobodys amp should be over 2 grand.
Even with the best components!
I applaud him for creating a nice product at a Realistic price!
I paid a g for a used metro plexi in 08. Back before then metro kits were a grand or so and you could pay them 400 to put it together for you.
Now,,, its like a thousand more. :/
Just being realistic,,, this guy is still making money. His amps look solid.
Its simply a great deal!
Competition is great for the consumer as well as the guy selling his work at a "down to earth" price point!

 

[langmurf]

I have one from Kevin. They are fantastic amps, see my sig!

What # do you have? Mine's #30.

Competition is great for the consumer as well as the guy selling his work at a "down to earth" price point!

From what I've read, Kevin makes these amps because he wants affordable high quality amps to be available for the working musician. Since I am not a working musician, I feel honored to have one of his amps that matches, or sails right up next to, the quality of amps costing hundreds, if not a grand, more.

Put another way... I don't think Kevin's pricing on his amps is going to cause other builders to drop their prices.

And... I am in no way intimating that other builders charge too much for their amps. No, no, no... worth every penny to those that buy them, no doubt.

I do know this: Rockitt Retro #30 has ended my search for "the" amp. I've found "it" and am overjoyed. Took me a couple of years of flipping amps to figure out I am a "Marshall" guy and now I'm in amp heaven.

Woo-hoo!

 

[50WPLEXI]

What # do you have? Mine's #30.



From what I've read, Kevin makes these amps because he wants affordable high quality amps to be available for the working musician. Since I am not a working musician, I feel honored to have one of his amps that matches, or sails right up next to, the quality of amps costing hundreds, if not a grand, more.

Put another way... I don't think Kevin's pricing on his amps is going to cause other builders to drop their prices.

And... I am in no way intimating that other builders charge too much for their amps. No, no, no... worth every penny to those that buy them, no doubt.

I do know this: Rockitt Retro #30 has ended my search for "the" amp. I've found "it" and am overjoyed. Took me a couple of years of flipping amps to figure out I am a "Marshall" guy and now I'm in amp heaven.

Woo-hoo!

Don't hold me to this but I believe mine is #41, or 42. I called Kevin before, during, after the build. He's a very down to earth guy, clearly into making a great amp most of us can afford. I told him what I was looking for (being new to Marshall as well) and he delivered in spades.

I did try to contact some of the (big builders) before I saw Kevin's amps. I couldn't even get a return email. Now to me that's just piss poor. If you have a buisness intent on making a profit, you'd better get with the customer relation skills or someone else will.

Now I'm not attacking anyone's character here, but this "under cutting thing" is a joke. Small builders still need to buy the components, pay for shipping etc. This is putting money into their pockets/contributing to the economy.

People that throw money away because of a name are well, just plain ignorant. I love the amp Kevin built for me, and really can't see how $1,000 more could make it any better.

Sorry for the long rant, now back to my coffee.

 

[langmurf]

Don't hold me to this but I believe mine is #41, or 42. I called Kevin before, during, after the build. He's a very down to earth guy, clearly into making a great amp most of us can afford. I told him what I was looking for (being new to Marshall as well) and he delivered in spades.

I did try to contact some of the (big builders) before I saw Kevin's amps. I couldn't even get a return email. Now to me that's just piss poor. If you have a buisness intent on making a profit, you'd better get with the customer relation skills or someone else will.

I've heard nothing but good stuff about Kevin. I've only had a single email conversation with him. Sent him an email telling him I'd bought #30 used on TGP and he responded saying, pretty much, "you need ANYTHING, let me know." Pretty happy Rockitt owner right now.

Surprised other builders did not even respond. I guess there could be valid reasons... but my wife does window treatments and bedspreads and stuff like that and when she "gets a call", she's all over it.

Now I'm not attacking anyone's character here, but this "under cutting thing" is a joke. Small builders still need to buy the components, pay for shipping etc. This is putting money into their pockets/contributing to the economy.

People that throw money away because of a name are well, just plain ignorant. I love the amp Kevin built for me, and really can't see how $1,000 more could make it any better.

Sorry for the long rant, now back to my coffee.

Yeah... I didn't jump into the "undercut" thread entries over on TGP... as a consumer... I really couldn't even afford a $2K amp head. I could swing the $1,100 I paid for the RR. Kind of a no brainer for me.

 

[Billyblades]

Value is value. Kevin and I seem to have the same philosophy.
I guess whatever people buy is worth the price the paid.
When i had my 911 the porsche mantra at the dealer was pay the price or do without. To Date,,best car I ever owned. The quality, engineering,,, handling,,, and the way everyone in the fast lane would get outta my way was priceless! The feel of the light front end and sticky rear along with blinding acceleration and eyeball popping g's thru hard turns is a def must on anyones bucketlist!
You can "feel " its racetrack breeding!

1/2 price of a lambo or ferrari.

Still expensive but not crazy expensive.

Now amps,,, you got the plexi,,, this thing is like a classic car and now they make kits for these like how they make ford cobra and porsche 550 kits that are as good or "better " than the original.
If someone puts it together and claims to be the builder its ok!
If its worth the money and its a pro looking build then its a no brainer.

Now you got the guys out there with their own ampline like diezel and soldano, mesa and cae with great offerings but some are very pricey. I guess they are the "sportscars" of amps. The porsche, ferrari and bentley of the amp world. They are custom designed offerings,,, not just a kit.
These would command a premium but where does that number lay between "worth it " and "fuck that "?

The guys that collect signatures feel its worth supporting those who have crazy pricing but i cant see spending a thousand more for a comparable amp.
Especially one that everyone can get the parts and diy?

The undercutting thing is sales 101.

 

[langmurf]

... If its worth the money and its a pro looking build then its a no brainer.

That pretty much sums the whole deal up... no brainer for me!

Now I'm trying to get my hands on an old Marshall 4x12 with GB's to take it over the top... fingers crossed!

 

[Billyblades]

Marshall clone,,, im dying to get some wgs greenback clones. Why not?
Its a clone party lol ")
This place gives me g.a.s. hahaha

 

[langmurf]

Marshall clone,,, im dying to get some wgs greenback clones. Why not?
Its a clone party lol ")
This place gives me g.a.s. hahaha

Oh, yeah... I've been looking at the WGS GB style speakers. A lot cheaper than the "real deal" and, probably, "close enough for baseball" for me...

 

[50WPLEXI]

Oh, yeah... I've been looking at the WGS GB style speakers. A lot cheaper than the "real deal" and, probably, "close enough for baseball" for me...

I have the 50 watt invaders which are a beefed up greenback. I really like the sound of them and they keep getting better as they break in. For the price/quality you just can't beat them.

I'm more of the cobra kinda crowd. Give me the brute power, my club, and a bone to gnaw on and I'm good. Billy makes some good points, throwing more money at something does not always mean it will be a "better" thing.

 

[langmurf]

I recently picked up a Marshall 1933 1x12 cab. I prefer 2x12's and 4x12's, but I needed a cab to run the Rockitt through and didn't want to wait for the right 4x12 to come around. Pretty sure the stock speaker is a G12M-70 rated at 70 watts. The cab is closed back and ported. I think the G12M-70 is not a very highly regarded speaker, but it sounds fine to me. I have to open the cab and see what's in there...

I emailed WGS asking if the Invader would work and they initially replied probably not, but then they came back and said yes.

I know all about how everyone says you need a higher rated speaker than the amp's rating because blah, blah, blah. I asked a highly regarded tech here in ATL, who's been working with Marshall amps for 30 years if he thought a cab with 4 25w speakers could handle a 100w amp and he looked at me like I was a few bricks shy of a load and said "Of course!" Even so... I guess if I did have an old Marshall cab with vintage 25 watters I might be leery of diming a 100w amp through it.

I might go ahead an get an Invader... I will rarely, if ever, dime the Rockitt. I know ya hit 50w way sooner than dimed... but, what the heck... it's not a $250 speaker.

 

[Billyblades]

Put a ppimv in it.
I could do you the mod 5 spec, or you can go wilder to get that huge marshall cranked tone at talking volumes. Best sound would be getting the speaker really working. About 4-6 on the volume. A good mod or master volume would kick ass.
A greenback cab would easily get flubby with a hundred watter. Probably super with the 50

 

[langmurf]

Put a ppimv in it.
I could do you the mod 5 spec, or you can go wilder to get that huge marshall cranked tone at talking volumes. Best sound would be getting the speaker really working. About 4-6 on the volume. A good mod or master volume would kick ass.
A greenback cab would easily get flubby with a hundred watter. Probably super with the 50

It has the LAR/MAR PPIMV already. Ready to rawk!

 

[50WPLEXI]

Rule of thumb is to get/build a cab that will handle close to twice what the amp will put out. This is just to be on the safe side of things. The PPIMV master works great on those amps, I have one installed.

It helps on the nights when the wife turns into a three headed beast, flicks the lights on and off. It took me a while to figure out that means please turn it down.

Simply asking nicely would produce the same result

 

[langmurf]

... It helps on the nights when the wife turns into a three headed beast, flicks the lights on and off. It took me a while to figure out that means please turn it down.

Simply asking nicely would produce the same result

Har! I won't even attempt to play if the wife's around. She doesn't like hearing me play because I "play the same thing over and over." yeah, that's called practicing, dear... whatEVAH!

 

[50WPLEXI]

Har! I won't even attempt to play if the wife's around. She doesn't like hearing me play because I "play the same thing over and over." yeah, that's called practicing, dear... whatEVAH!

Women get pissed no matter what you do. I just play loud enough that it drives her away. Ah, peace at last. Just you and me Bernadette (my amp)

 

[langmurf]

Women get pissed no matter what you do. I just play loud enough that it drives her away. Ah, peace at last. Just you and me Bernadette (my amp)

Yeah... true dat, man. I was telling my son (26) just last night that sometimes there is no "right" answer... damned if you do... damned if you don't. In the context of the conversation, it got a good laugh out of him.

I got to crank the Rockitt a little bit today while she was out on a job. Fun!