Advanced Tone-shaping Capabilities
Rivera's RockCrusher Recording power attenuator and load box could be your gateway to epic tube-amp tonal bliss. Building on the already popular RockCrusher power attenuator, RockCrusher Recording adds a built-in cabinet emulator with an 11-band EQ, so you can dial-in your tone perfectly — at any volume. If you're not cranking up your tube amp you're not really hearing its full tone! Unfortunately, whether you're at home, onstage, or in the studio, it's not always possible (or comfortable!) to turn up your tube amp to its tonal sweet spot. The solution? Rivera's RockCrusher Recording.
Related Videos: RockCrusher Recording Power Attenuator with 11-Band EQ Speaker Emulator
Total tonal control with cabinet emulation
The RockCrusher Recording gives you all the features that made its forerunner an essential tool for tone-savvy guitarists worldwide while adding even greater versatility with all-analog cabinet emulation. An active, 11-band graphic EQ section reflects the typical frequency response range where guitar cabinet speakers live. This allows you to quickly zero-in on virtually any sound you're going after — at any volume! And unlike digital modeling amps and software, the RockCrusher Recording doesn't use DSP to emulate speaker cabinets, it's all analog, so there's no loss of the tonal warmth you love in your tube amp tone.
How do they do it, you ask? Rivera graphs the frequency response of popular classic guitar speakers using real-world microphones and translates that information into a custom graphic EQ curve for your RockCrusher Recording. These graph shape suggestions are intended to give you the tonal nuances of some of your favorite speakers, or they can serve as starting points for nailing a custom tone that's all-your-own.
Take this shape for classic rock 'n' roll tone
Deep cuts and sharp boosts put you in metal mode
Versatile contour for R&B, country, and everything in between
Perfect for stages and studios of any size
Tube amps interact with the impedance load that a speaker cabinet puts on the amp's output — if you plug your amp's direct output into a recording device, you won't get the tone you expect. By hooking up the RockCrusher Recording to your amp's speaker outputs, it interacts with all of the tubes in your amp — not just the preamp tubes you hear from your amp's direct output. Doing this provides the true articulate and responsive tone you're looking for.
What does this mean for you? You can harness every tiny bit of tone your tubes have been designed to put out, and you get the sound of your amp and pedals, all without worrying about volume. Onstage, the decreased stage volume allows for better monitoring situations and lets your front of house engineer mix your signal without fighting your stage levels. In the studio this means you get to lay down no-compromise guitar tone without bleeding sound into other mics. You paid for every last tube in your amp, use them!
Rugged inside and out for years of use
The RockCrusher Recording is constructed of 16-gauge welded steel that's perforated on the top and bottom of the unit, allowing for convection-type cooling to dissipate heat. Large, heavy-duty knobs and switches are easy to use and super durable. Inside, Rivera uses industrial grade components that stand up to the heat as well as the rigors of the road, making it as capable on a world tour as it is in your studio. Imagine your guitar rig transport whittled down to your favorite amp head and a RockCrusher Recording — not only do you get to play the tone you want, the speaker emulation means you can leave the speaker cabinet at home!
Rivera RockCrusher Recording Features:
- Power attenuator helps keep your volume down without killing tone
- Built-in active 11-band EQ gives you an analog speaker emulator
- 8-ohm and 16-ohm modes let you use the RockCrusher with almost any amp/speaker combination
- Lets you hear your tube amp's tone like you've never heard it before
- Tonally transparent so you hear your amp, not the RockCrusher
- Bombproof construction lets you take it to even the wildest gigs
- Balanced XLR and unbalanced 1/4" outputs let you easily interface with your recording gear
