A Fix For People Complaining About The Roadster.

[confused]

I have had my Roadster for about a 2 weeks now

Having owned a Dual rectifier in the past I found the Roadsters Distortion
Channels to be Dark a very Bassy with little to no Mids.

When I had my Dual Rectifier I was crazy enough and curious enough to
want to see what Preamp Tubes were inside.

They were all "Russian 2's" and my Dual Rectifier had plenty of cut much
like a Hotroded Marshall but not quite the same.

When I bought my Roadster I did the same thing.

This time there were 4 "Russian 2"s 1 "Chinese 1" and 1 "Chinese 2"

When I was puting the tubes back in I broke the "Chinese 2" so it had to replaced.

I thought since I am buying a replacement tube.

I will buy and extra Russian 2 and hopefully this will give me back the
sounds that I had with the Dual Rectifier.

When I put the tubes in.

The "Russian 2" in the V3 position blew up.

Lucky I had the "Chinese 1" left over so I put that in the V5 position

Suprised but validated I have my Dual Rectifier sounds back , but now with all the extra goodies that the Roadster has to offer.

This is my Tube Layout

V1 Russian 2
V2 Russian 2
V3 Russian 2
V4 Russian 2
V5 Chinese 1
V6 Russian 2

Just so you guys know and I know most of you do.

The V1 postion is closest to the input jack and the Russian 2's are rebranded Electro Harmonix 12AX7EH's.

I urge you to have a look what tubes you have in your Roadster
and then vote accordingly.

Please be careful when you remove and reinstall your tubes.
I do not want the guilt if you Guys or Gals break a tube or 2 like I did.

 

[ibanez4life SZ!]

So, in summary, EH preamp tubes work well in rectos?!?!

 

[phillr]

I just removed the chinese tubes from V3 and V4, replaced them w Russian 2s and this did help with the clarity on channels 3 n 4 on the roadster. Channels 3 and 4 are almost identical to my RK now. Thanks for the tip!!!

 

[jbird]

Hey! What about the North Korean tubes? I heard they'll blow you away! :shock: :lol:

 

[Storm]

Hey! What about the North Korean tubes? I heard they'll blow you away! :shock: :lol:

LOL :lol: I like that one.

Ciao ...

 

[confused]

I just removed the chinese tubes from V3 and V4, replaced them w Russian 2s and this did help with the clarity on channels 3 n 4 on the roadster. Channels 3 and 4 are almost identical to my RK now. Thanks for the tip!!!

Glad I could help.

 

[Storm]

I'll have to remember this tip for when I get my Roadster.

Ciao ...

 

[scolli]

OK, here are a few stupid questions:

1. How do I tell if I have a Russian or Chinese tube (look at their facial features? :lol: ... i know...pretty lame)?

2. Where would I get a Russian or Chinese tube if I wanted one?

3. What are the functions of V1-V6 in the Roadster (the manual does not provide this info)? :lol:

A final comment is, like others have noticed, the presence control on channel-4 doesn't have much of an effect on tone until you get to around 2:00-3:00 where it kicks in dramatically. Do the tubes affect this behavior? I wouldn't think so.

Also, the manual states on page-4

"the entire range of CHANNEL 3’s PRESENCE control can be found below 10:00 on Channel 4’s PRESENCE control. It plays out like this; using MODERN IN Channel 3 will require a PRESENCE setting at the top of the range and conversely, using RAW and VINTAGE in CHANNEL 4 may require a very low PRESENCE setting"

Well, I not experiencing it! Actually, channel-3 seems to have more presence (range) than channel 4. Maybe this accounts for the darkness in channel-4 which should be behaving, again according to the manual, like this:

"CHANNEL 4 houses a much more powerful PRESENCE
control that has been optimized for the MODERN mode and will go to realms of top end that are frankly ridiculous."

It is almost like the the channels are reversed somehow. maybe like channel-3 ended up with ch-4's presence, and vice-versa.

BTW, the serial number on mine is in the mid 80's. It's a roadster head.

thanks

 

[confused]

OK, here are a few stupid questions:

1. How do I tell if I have a Russian or Chinese tube (look at their facial features? :lol: ... i know...pretty lame)?

It is written on the face of the Preamp Tube

2. Where would I get a Russian or Chinese tube if I wanted one?

Any music shop that deals with Mesa Boogie.
Most of the time the place you bought your Mesa Boogie , or
You could try Ebay or many of the Online Webstores.

3. What are the functions of V1-V6 in the Roadster (the manual does not provide this info)? :lol:

These are the Gain Stages.

A final comment is, like others have noticed, the presence control on channel-4 doesn't have much of an effect on tone until you get to around 2:00-3:00 where it kicks in dramatically. Do the tubes affect this behavior? I wouldn't think so.

Actually I think they do.

Also, the manual states on page-4

"the entire range of CHANNEL 3’s PRESENCE control can be found below 10:00 on Channel 4’s PRESENCE control. It plays out like this; using MODERN IN Channel 3 will require a PRESENCE setting at the top of the range and conversely, using RAW and VINTAGE in CHANNEL 4 may require a very low PRESENCE setting"

Well, I not experiencing it! Actually, channel-3 seems to have more presence (range) than channel 4. Maybe this accounts for the darkness in channel-4 which should be behaving, again according to the manual, like this:

"CHANNEL 4 houses a much more powerful PRESENCE
control that has been optimized for the MODERN mode and will go to realms of top end that are frankly ridiculous."

It is almost like the the channels are reversed somehow. maybe like channel-3 ended up with ch-4's presence, and vice-versa.

If you have a Dark Sounding Tube in the V4 position ala Chinese 2 the modern channel will sound less bright.

BTW, the serial number on mine is in the mid 80's. It's a roadster head.

thanks

 

[scolli]

Hi confused (i probably deserve that login :lol: ),

thanks for the info.

Do you have the head or the combo?

Does your roadster now have more presence on Ch-4 (like the manual describes)?


thanks again

 

[scolli]

I talked to a Tech at Mesa today and explained to him how the presence behaved on ch-4 compared to ch-3 (see my post above). He told me that it was designed to behave that way (i.e., no significant tone change until you reach ~2-3 oClock). :shock: . Helluva design! :roll:

 

[francric]

I noticed that on channel four, if I don't have the gain at 2 or higher, I get no crunch. Is that normal? Is that what MB meant by significant change?

 

[scolli]

I noticed that on channel four, if I don't have the gain at 2 or higher, I get no crunch. Is that normal? Is that what MB meant by significant change?

He was refering to the presence control not the gain.

How do you like the Roadster 2x12cab?

 

[francric]

I noticed that on channel four, if I don't have the gain at 2 or higher, I get no crunch. Is that normal? Is that what MB meant by significant change?

He was refering to the presence control not the gain.

How do you like the Roadster 2x12cab?

oops, your right but could anyone answer my question anyway......so far I like the cab alot.

 

[scolli]

I noticed that on channel four, if I don't have the gain at 2 or higher, I get no crunch. Is that normal? Is that what MB meant by significant change?

He was refering to the presence control not the gain.

How do you like the Roadster 2x12cab?

oops, your right but could anyone answer my question anyway......so far I like the cab alot.

What mode are you running the channel in? Give some settings and i'll test them on mine tonight.

 

[francric]

Scolli, try the factory sample, channel 4, #4......

 

[francric]

I must be crazy because it's sounding ok now............I thought I had a problem...........weird. Sorry for the hijack......chinese mixed as follows

v1 - chin 1
v2 - chin 1
v3 - chin 2
v4 - chin 2
v5 - chin 1
v6 - chin 2

 

[scolli]

He francric,

just wanted to let you know I tried the Ch4 #4 settings and with the gain at 12 I get pretty good crunch. I see your getting the same now!