I was in your shoes not all that long ago. I'm a huge fan of the real Rockerverb clean tones, they're fantastic. But, I also love their mid and high gain tones (guess I just like em in general). And, given the fact that I have only three slots, I didn't want to fill 'em up with Rockerverb mods, lol. So, I waited for a used Stonerverb to appear, but that never happened. So, I grabbed an R'Verb after everyone told me it doesn't do cleans. Well, they were pretty much all right, lol. There is a gain boost switch in the 'bright switch' spot. And, as has already been stated, if you drop the gain enough to clean up the tone, you lose all bottom end and it gets thin and weak.
So, after consulting with Rob, I sent it to him for a '3-way Tight Switch', which effectively acts as a hefty bass boost. Now, I can get some hairy cleans and great mid-gain tones while retaining the significant bottom end of the mod. Also, it'll clean up really nice if you lower the volume on the guitar. So this is what I did; I just have an 'R'Verb clean' setting/patch on my effects processor (Vox Tonelab) where I lowered the output level of the processor to the amp (mimicking lowering the volume on my guitar, which I don't have the time or wherewithal to deal with while playing/singing at the same time), and it does a very nice clean when on my neck pickup (a Duncan '59). I have the mod set at only about 9 o'clock on the gain, and when it gets the bridge PU (Duncan JB), it's a very nice, southern-rock-y, harmonic rich mid-gain. My other R'Verb patch, at full output volume, gives a very British, chunky, harmonic rich, high gain (gain still at 9 o'clock). Then, if you hit it with an OD pedal or Tube Screamer it pushes it right into SLO territory. So much so that I got rid of my SL-OD100, simply because when I A-B'd the SLO and the overdriven R'Verb, the tones were literally undistinguishable. Therefore, I can get by with only my R'Verb if it were necessary, since I get 4 very useable tones out of it without touching the mod.
I did try pre-amp tube swapping to lower gain tubes (12AU7, etc) with no real change in how the mod works (just have to push the gain higher to compensate for the volume loss, since I run my mods at at least 2 o'clock on the volume).
I've got a Stonerverb on the way, because I really do want the Rockerverb clean tone... So when I get it I'll report back with what I see as the similarities and differences. And, if I prefer the Stonerverb, I'll sell my bass-boosted R'Verb, or vice-versa...
So, hope that helps you here...
I'd record some clips, but I don't currently have the right gear to do so handy.
