Couple of Roadster Questions

[guitarbloke]

2 of my band mates have the newer Dual Recto Reborn and it sounds awesome - but I can't seem to get their tone using my Roadster head and I'm at a loss as to why.

I've got a Tung Sol in V1 and some other nice tubes in the other spots based on recommendations on here, I've also retubed the power section with Winged =C= 6L6 and whilst it sounds good, it's still not quite where I want it to be - I can't seem to get a real singing lead tone for my solos, my sound often sounds too dark and a bit brittle. The Recto Reborns sound exactly as I'd like them to.

Any advice would be hugely appreciated! I'm after a good crunchy hard rock rhythm tone and a singing sustain for leads (think John Petrucci-esque) . I'm using a Les Paul loaded with Suhr Aldrich pickups and a Strat with a PAF Pro and Texas Specials if it helps.

Secondly, is there a smaller footswitch available? I'm a guitar-playing frontman, so space by my mic stand is at a premium - I have the Roadster footswitch, my pedaltrain, plus vocal effects pedals. A smaller Roadster switch would awesome - perhaps 2 rows of switches like the Dual Recto reborn ones. But I've yet to find one anywhere.

Thanks guys

 

[joe web]

the roadster is a darker sounding amp compared to the dual rectos...if you want that reborn sound, you´ll have to go for a reborn.
so you get both problems solved at once - smaller footswitch and the sound you want.
try to turn up the presence control of the amp and you´ll have to set the gain a bit higher as on the dual rectos as well and turn down the mids more as you would do on the dual rectos - maybe this gets you a bit closer to the sound you are looking for.

i love my roadster for the reason that it is sounding darker as a dual recto.

 

[jdurso]

I'd try an OD pedal for those lead tones... I know its just more space on your board but I think the tone would be even better than what your buddies get on their Renorn's precicely because the Roadster is darker.

Also for footswitches, there are a bunch of after market guys that will build custom pedals. You may also want to look into something like an RJM Mini Gizmo paired with a Midi Mouse which would take up even less space than the smaller boogie controllers.

 

[b0nkersx1]

I can get reasonably close to a Petrucci-type solo tone using a guitar with the Petrucci DiMarzio's and a tubescreamer-type overdrive (he used a Road King for a while).

These were supposedly his settings taken from a guitar clinic in Tokyo. They might serve as a good starting point. An overdrive would probably help you as well.

 

[knotts]

I have a roadster and although I hear what you are saying about the darkness of the roadster, I found the T1 change made enough of a difference to work for me. If you're not quite getting the done you want, I would think about a few other preamp tubes. Mess around with some options until you get what you want. All of the versatility you could ever want in an amp is there. It's just a matter of tweaking a little bit to make you're band mates start posting on this to figure out how they can make their dual rec's sound like you're roadster.

With respect to the GIANT footswitch...I looked around for a smaller one too. A long time ago I took my wallet and I decided to minimize the George Costanza problem going on. I took out everything and kept ONLY the things that I need on a day to day. Sometimes you would think you can't live without this card or that one in your wallet, however you'd be surprised at how much you don't miss it. Cutting through all the bull, try it with your pedal board. I took my roadster pedal and put it at the bottom of my pedal train. I need my tuner and my wireless G50 box. After that I only have room for 3 more pedals; compressor / sustain, Xotic AC booster and the third spot is for the flavor of the month (currently a fuzz pedal). It all fits on my pedal train and I just pop it in and out of the case. Shed all of the extra stuff that you "think" you need and let the $2,249 amp behind you make the tone.

I would recommend the Mad Professor Forest Green Compressor (CB version). I leave it on the sustain option and it's on all the time. It just makes everything sound better.

 

[guitarbloke]

Thanks for the advice guys, I'll stick with it nd keep tweaking! I forgot to mention, I'm running my amp into a 2x12 so I don't know if maybe that's not helping matters?

- b0nkersx1, great chart - I'l have a play around with that at rehearsal and see what it sounds like

- jdurso - Yeah I'm running a Keeley SD-1 set up for a clean boost at the moment, although it doesn't really seem to 'add' anything much to the tone

- joe web - Yeah I'm half thinking I should maybe sell the Roadster nd get a Reborn instead, but I really do like this amp a lot and it's not an easy decision haha! I KNOW my tone must be lurking in there somewhere, I just need the patience to find it maybe

- Knotts - "It's just a matter of tweaking a little bit to make you're band mates start posting on this to figure out how they can make their dual rec's sound like you're roadster." Haha now that's where I'd like to get to!

Unfortunately, I've got a Pedaltrain Jnr, so it's about 4" too narrow to take the insanely long Roadster switch. You're right about culling the pedals though, I did that a little while back - it's amazing how many things I actually didn't NEED to have on my board!
I'll take a look at the Mad Prof pedal - I currently don't have a comp on my board

 

[b0nkersx1]

Thanks for the advice guys, I'll stick with it nd keep tweaking! I forgot to mention, I'm running my amp into a 2x12 so I don't know if maybe that's not helping matters?

It very well may be hurting you if they're both running into 4x12s. On a different note, if your sound is too dark and a bit brittle, you might want to try more presence and bass? I run my bass kind of high when I go for lead sounds, and I like the presence in the 9:00 region. If this doesn't work, you can always try boosting with your Keeley SD-1 and backing the tone knob way off. I used to do that with an OCD that I had, and liked the results a lot.

 

[thejay]

Have you tried the roadster via a 4x12? Makes a big difference IMHO

 

[joe web]

and to give you another option, try the roadster with a set of EL34s in the poweramp.
the sound with 6L6s is good, but for my taste the EL34s give that amp a nice mid-crunch and different voicing in low- and top-end, which i really prefer.

for solos i always boost my amp with a mxr zw-44 overdrive - like JP did in the past with the road kings.

the JP settings above may sound a bit too dark right out of your speaker cabinet, but if you hook up a SM57 in front of the speaker and listen to the sound via a PA system, you get this typical SM57 6.1khz top-end back in the sound.

 

[jdurso]

Or better yet, KT77s if you want something that cuts more like an el34 but retains the bottom end of a 6l6

 

[brich]

I can't seem to get a real singing lead tone for my solos, my sound often sounds too dark and a bit brittle.

Have you tried an EQ in the effects loop. I have a Single Rectifier and run a Boss GE7 in the effects loop and a Tubescreamer TS9 in the front of the amp for leads.
I boost the middle frequencies (800 and 1.6) a little on the EQ and run the TS9 with the tone and drive around 9:00 and the level around 1 -2:00. The EQ makes it jump out there and cut through the mix and the TS9 adds the sustain. I also bump the level up a notch on the EQ and the decibel increase acts like the solo button does on the amp and cuts out the step of stomping on the solo button too. The EQ is ultra sensitive in the loop so I only have to put the mid and level sliders to around 2.5 (max is 15).

I also run a Boss DD3 Delay in the loop and it sounds great for leads. The Single Rec doesn't have an Effects Loop on/off switch or footswitch button like the Roadster so I run the pedals in the loop with a Keeley true bypass looper so I can turn them on with one button and have them bypassed when not in use.