Incoming: Black Ross! How to power it??

Heady Jam Fan · March 13, 2013, 12:15:53 AM

Someone just won that Grey Ross for $280. I'm ok with Black, but that is a surprising price - seller's fault for a terrible description.

webephishin · March 13, 2013, 12:36:05 AM

Quote from: Heady Jam Fan on March 11, 2013, 02:52:05 PM
$140 with shipping on eBay

This might hurt my chance of selling my Retro Sonic to one of yall, but...

There is a Black one ending today, auction is at $100

There is a Grey one ending tomorrow, auction is at $200

I almost bought a Black one months ago for $180, so I am pretty happy with $140.

Good deal on the $140....i got mine for $150 if my memory serves me right. Let us know how you like it, what you think of it when you play it. I think it sounds and plays awesome.

Heady Jam Fan · March 16, 2013, 01:03:45 PM

Got the Ross today!

I would say all-in-all, the clones do a good job at approximating the Ross, but as always, there are differences in the real thing.

The differences I notice compared to clones I have owned (ie, Analogman, Retro-Sonic, Barber, Keeley) are:

Attack: the Ross being a bit smoother with less 'bite' at the peak.

Tone: the AM and Barber being darker while the Retro-Sonic and Keeley were maybe a bit sweeter - the Ross is smooth and surprisingly fairly transparent from on to off (obviously still a bit midrange focused and very smooth).

Compression: with the Ross having less across the sweep and a really smooth sweep while the clones had more compression and some added a lot of compression really quickly as the sustain knob was turned up. IIRC, old AM CompROSSor's used a pot that had a really fast uptake on the compression (I think the one I had was one of these) and he changed the pot since then - these might be more similar to the Ross, but my old CompROSSor had the fastest set-in for compression across the dial of any clone.

Noise: hard to compare since the compression kinda sets in differently, but the Ross is pretty quiet for such an old pedal.

Volume: the Ross seemed to have less volume on tap than the Analogman, Barber or Retro-Sonic, but more than the Keeley.

In the end, I think the Ross sounds more natural, but they are increasingly hard to find at a reasonable price. I stuck with a clone until I found a good opportunity to get the real thing (well, black, not grey, but I don't judge by the color of skin

) - I think that was a pretty good approach for those who are waiting for a good deal on an original Ross.

I also played with the internal trim pot and at either extreme, you get a gated decay. Near the middle, the decay was very natural. I left mine slightly to the right of center.

I can also see why some people add an LED - when I had the compression set pretty mild, I found myself adjusting the volume knob to make sure whether the pedal was on or off (kinda embarrassing to admit, lol, but I think that speaks to the transparency of the pedal while a lot of the clones are less subtle even at those lower settings).

Oh yea, and it does take standard power polarity, but a 3.5mm jack (like my old Rat) rather than the standard 'Boss' style power jack (barrel plug).

I will be selling my Retro-Sonic.

Helping Friendly · August 03, 2013, 03:50:22 PM

I also just bought a black ross! After reading this thread and the other one that pointed out Trey's using one from Taiwan, I figured what the hell. I got it for $150 and it seems to be in great shape. It is dead quiet which I was pleasantly surprised about. I am interested in the internal trimpot though. Where is it? Is it on the other side if the board? I kinda wish it had more squish. (Like more of a note bloom) Is there a way to give it a slower squish blossom?

Heady Jam Fan · August 03, 2013, 04:10:35 PM

Not sure I can answer your questions - I kinda forget...

IIRC the trim pot was fairly easy to find if you know what they look like. Also, IIRC, the place where the compression functions best is also the noisiest. Not sure if you'll get more squish or bloom changing the trim - you might just like the sustain knob set higher. But find the trim and play with it - there is, IMO, a 'correct-ish' spot on the dial.

sour d · August 04, 2013, 02:07:41 AM

http://strangedesign.org/forums/index.php?topic=1706.60

TheSeeker · August 04, 2013, 05:02:40 AM

Quote from: Helping Friendly on August 03, 2013, 03:50:22 PM
I also just bought a black ross! After reading this thread and the other one that pointed out Trey's using one from Taiwan, I figured what the hell. I got it for $150 and it seems to be in great shape. It is dead quiet which I was pleasantly surprised about. I am interested in the internal trimpot though. Where is it? Is it on the other side if the board? I kinda wish it had more squish. (Like more of a note bloom) Is there a way to give it a slower squish blossom?

Just out of curiosity, did you by it off ebay? If you did, did it have a little note in the picture with the letter A or B? Did it get shipped from Ocala, FL? If so, that compressor used to be mine...haha. I sold that guy 2 of them. One he had marked A and the other marked B. That would be pretty funny. Anyway, if it was.... it works great! I had sprayed some contact cleaner on the pots to get rid of the scratchiness. I wish I knew you were in the market for a Ross, I would've given you a much better deal. I sold it to him for $100. If you're ever looking for any other gear, let me know. I'll hook you guys up!!

Helping Friendly · August 04, 2013, 06:44:24 AM

Yes it was me! I got the letter A. lol. I played more with it last nite and really enjoyed it! I'm actually wanting to buy a D-Style type pedal for a second OD. I'm just using 1 TS9 right now. If you have anything available like that, or some 6L6's, 6V6's.. Then I have to get a trem pedal and last, some type of Mutron clone. That should complete my set-up. Who's kidding who, I'll probably never stop buying new gear. I should probably go to New Gear Anonymous

That is funny about the Ross. Well At least it was from you who I'm sure took good care of it. The Inside looks very clean. I am very happy with it after playing around with it more last nite. So much that I think I'm going to sell my Fea Labs Opti-FET comp. That is by far the best comp I've ever played as well as the Ross. That wasn't a plug, or was it?

Thanks Sour! I see where it is now

TheSeeker · August 05, 2013, 04:29:44 AM

Quote from: Helping Friendly on August 04, 2013, 06:44:24 AM
Yes it was me! I got the letter A. lol. I played more with it last nite and really enjoyed it! I'm actually wanting to buy a D-Style type pedal for a second OD. I'm just using 1 TS9 right now. If you have anything available like that, or some 6L6's, 6V6's.. Then I have to get a trem pedal and last, some type of Mutron clone. That should complete my set-up. Who's kidding who, I'll probably never stop buying new gear. I should probably go to New Gear Anonymous

That is funny about the Ross. Well At least it was from you who I'm sure took good care of it. The Inside looks very clean. I am very happy with it after playing around with it more last nite. So much that I think I'm going to sell my Fea Labs Opti-FET comp. That is by far the best comp I've ever played as well as the Ross. That wasn't a plug, or was it?

Thanks Sour! I see where it is now

That is funny about the Ross, and yes I did take very good care of it. I cleaned it all out, and gave a shot of contact cleaner before I sold it to the guy who sold it to you. I do have a set of Groove Tube 6L6's if you're interested in those. I'm actually gonna be in the market for a trem myself pretty soon. I also need a good wah.

Helping Friendly · August 05, 2013, 04:45:24 PM

Right on brotha.. I PM'd you bout da tubes

strangedesign · April 14, 2016, 10:16:10 AM

ha! So, after years of not playing guitar I finally started to slowly clean off the dust and see if I can get my rig working again. In doing so I found that my DM2000 delay wasn't working right, so I just bought another since they are only $100 and I finally got tired of all the Ross clones and bought a grey Ross. The only problem is that it didn't come with a power supply. I googled to see what I could find and this thread was one of the first to come up. I got a laugh out of that and was pretty proud as well. Anyway, I'm sure everyone else already knows, but the 1/8" adapter that comes with the PP2+ works just fine.

peace,
Scott

Happyorange27 · April 14, 2016, 10:21:42 AM

He lives!

strangedesign · April 14, 2016, 11:23:23 AM

I'm still kickin', but these 2 kids of mine pretty much take up any free time I might have. I'ts good to see this place keeps growing and growing and providing great content as I just found out

Heady Jam Fan · April 15, 2016, 02:23:10 PM

Congrats on the Ross! I am still using mine as well, love that pedal.

afountas · April 15, 2016, 03:55:25 PM

What is so special about the circuit that nobody has been able to create a clone that is near indistinguishable from the originals?