crazy problem with roadster

[jdurso]

Wow man...sounds like you a pretty bad go at it with them.

Your volume problem is odd, I have the exact opposite problem. Channels 1 and 2 are almost not even there. To match volumes, you have to max out the volume and nearly max out the gain on channels 1 and 2 to get close to the volume of channels 3 and 4, with mid gain and the levels between 2 and 10 o'clock. And then the clean channels break up and sound like they have a very harsh edge to them. The amp still have good cleans at low volumes, but I'm looking for something a bit warmer with a lot more volume.

Another complaint I have is with the relationship between Mesa and their vendors. You know you can't really get Mesa's at every guitar store. Pretty much the only option that's not an hour drive away for me is Guitar Center. The only amps I ever see in there are rectifiers and maybe a long lost (and beat to hell) Lone Star. I have yet to see a Mark IV in store. Same goes for the Mark I, Stiletto, any of their rack gear and even the Roadster. I had to put a very large chunk of money down just to get one in the store to try out. When it finally came in 3 months later, I just took it home to try out. It sounded nice. The amp does have it's great tones, but after spending several months with it, the awe factor starts to wear off and you start to see where Mesa fell short on their promises. Lone Star cleans...not even close. I would like to try a Mark IV, but since they don't keep a demo model in store, I would have to put down a very large sum of money again just to get one in the store to try out. Is Mesa trying to be like Carvin? I could see Carvin selling guitars without having examples available to play...they do an amazing job on their guitars and the cost is very low. But if Mesa is going to make it's product exclusive to certain stores, I feel like they should have at least one example of every amp in store at all times that cannot be sold. This would do wonders for their business I'm sure. I can see a large rack of Mesa heads and speaker cabs with a MIDI speaker and channel switching system so you can try out the product, make the cabinet/speaker/head combination you want, and go ahead and make your custom order. Hell, even go as far as having swatches available so you can see and feel the actual material that will be on your amp. That is about 65% of making a sale. The rest is customer service and word of mouth.

Sorry for the rant, but I hate seeing companies that make great products fall into this way of doing business.

As far as your problems with chennel 1 ans 2 it may have to do with the way use the volumes on each channel..... 1 and 2 will be inherently lower in volume because your comparing 2 of the amp lower gain channels to two of the higher gain..... you might want to consider first balancing the channels so that first 1 and 2 sit where you like them then adjust the volumes on 3 and 4... then use the output as your volume control..... this may or may not help as i do not know what your settings are and how familiar you are with the rectos settings.... it works for me and it also helps keep channels 3 and 4 tight as your using your power amp section to drive the **** out of your cab...... my volume settings are as followed: channel 1 (clean): 12 oclock channel 2 (brit): 11 oclock channel 3 (vintage): 9:30 channel 4 (modern): 9........ my output when i'm playing is around 9:30-10 where the amp hits its sweet spot..... to make the channel 1 more chimey i add a little solo boost at like 10:30 which is programmed to come one when i select my channel 1 via my amp gizmo..... also i believe the problem men tioned early with channel 3 and 4 being lower only happens in spongy mode.... thats what happens to mine

as for mesa throwing out all their products to these stores..... although mesa really cant be considered boutique anymore they still dont put out the amount of amps as your marshall's and fender's..... not even close in fact..... right now they're barely getting enough roadsters/roadkings/stilettos out to meet the demands of the customers, and now throw the express line on top of that and their production is backed up for a while until they can settle in and make some surplus for their dealers..... this is because all the amps are still hand built in the US and without sacrificing some of that quality they can't meet all the demands out there... as far as finding a mark iv a store i dont think your going to, especially since the mark series is a little older and they're trying to push newer designs.... it sucks but it the reality of a company thats big in the industry but isn't as big in size as say a Marshall or Fender..... persoanlly i like the fact they never made that jump because as far as marshall's go all their newer ones are garbage in terms of quality..... they dont last like their older amps.... while mesa does have some issues here and there, i dont think those issues make or break their company or product.... your still getting a killer amp..... anyway if you want to go try any mesa you can think of, next time your near hollywood head over to mesa hollywood.... the guys in there are really cool and are always willing to help and talk mesa with you unlike the jerks at sam ash and GC..... i had a bad experience yesterday at both stores so i''m still kind of bitter

 

[twostring]

^I get what you're saying.

You mind PM'ing me your settings. I used to set up rigs, and I've set up a lot of DRs and TRs before. I know how to balance levels (a major concern when using digital effects devices), but I'm always curious to see how others have theirs set. My channels are balanced in terms of perceived volume though, but I would like to get a little more warmth out of my clean channel.

 

[domct203]

Bump-

Vertigo, any ideas on that petetion yet? I'm still in.

BTW- Played a gig last Saturday at a good size venue (had the MV @ 12:30 all night :twisted: ) and the Roadster was flawless. I'm sure it was popping into ch3, but nobody noticed, and she sounded so good (Great Monitors) I didn't care! NO problem with sustain at that volume.

Dom

 

[Arjan]

Hey guys,

I just got a Roadster head and I'm reading this discussion, because I have the strange pops too.
After trying it next to the Marshall JVM. I decided to go for the Mesa since I like the sound of the high gain channels much more, but the Marshall has much smarter electronics.

A technician of the dutch imported told me that Marshall uses optocouplers and mesa old school relay switching. This pops as a result of the mechanical switching. This way though they can maintain a pure tube sound as in the Marshall they put transistors in the path. Also there seem to be some condensors in the circuit that load up and relase load at switching.

This same thing I also hear on my 2:90 poweramp when swithing from full to half power.

I also tried a dual rectifier and it had the same phenomena. The clean channels on the Roadster are much better plus the tube reverb sounds very nice.

In my opinion this feature cannot be solved without altering the tone of your amp.

I certainly would want to hear an official statement from mesa.
Plus maybe some designer tips of how to keep it to a minimum.
Switching in standby is a good tip. 8)

Anyway would rather hear this out of the mouth of Randall Smith.
Or rather mr John M (his name is on all the Roadster circuitdiagram sheets). :wink:

How can we set up this petition?

 

[barneyc4]

this thread is a dream come true for me.

 

[vertigo_]

http://www.petitiononline.com/mesa2007/petition.html

The petition is up. Please sign it and spread the word. If someone wants to rewrite the petition, please feel free to do it and I can update the petition .

We need to take this petition to MESA, such great amps cannot have something like this!

Sincerely,

V

 

[domct203]

Now if we can get this to be a "sticky" up top.

Dom

 

[vertigo_]

thats a good suggestion!

 

[domct203]

Maybe even start a new topic so the link is not buried 4 pages deep in a topic?

Dom

 

[barneyc4]

vertigo, you made my day with the petition

My Roadster also pops on channel 3 vintage. I plan on buying another Mesa in the future and it better NOT POP.