Good News ** NOT MARK V RELATED**

[pokerrules47]

As most of you may be aware, I have been hunting for a good used roadster head. Being a boogie player for many years, I've always been shopping for my "perfect" amp. After playing several rectifiers, I narrowed the field down to the roadster.

Well, last night, I managed to snap one up on ebay. It hasn't been delivered yet, but I am confident that I'll have it in my hands by this time next week. I have read virtually every posting on the roadster, and I've gotten a lot of great info from them. This board RAWKS for the quality of info available on just about every boogie product made.

I have a few questions for roadster owners.

One, when was the roadster released? As far as I can tell it was either 2005 or 2006.

I find, in most amps, I gravitate towards el34s for the sound that I am looking for. I don't plan on doing that right away with the roadster, I plan on using 6l6's for about a year before I make any decisions like that. I do plan on getting a 2nd set of 6l6 tubes as a backup for now. I am wondering, what 6L6's I should buy.

**edit** I usually run with low master volume, high output volume, so the impact of what power tubes I use is a little more significant that most people that use the master volumes to control their overall volume in each channel. /**edit**

If any of you roadster owners have gone through the tube shopping process lately, let me know what you purchased, and why. How did it effect the sound of the amp, and let me know if I have to be worried about warranty issues if I use 3rd party tubes.

One last question. I have a 16ohm 2x12 that I plan on running with this unit. I can rewire it to parallel for 4 ohms as it has 2 8ohm speakers. Which is preferred and why?

Thanks

Anxiously awaiting the return to the boogie fold.

Mike

 

[Nitrobattery]

Congrats Mike! You're going to be a happy guy

I, like you, like both EL34's as well as 6L6's and about a year ago I found some power tubes that I think are the absolute perfect blend of both tubes. I really recommend that you check out a set of Tung-Sol EL34b's. They have all of the tightness, low end and headroom of 6L6's...but the warmth and crunch of EL34's. I was absolutely floored when I heard my Roadster for the first time with those tubes. The Roadster loaded with those power tubes and mixed set of NOS pre-amp tubes is the sound I've spent the last 12 years looking for. I couldn't be happier. The thing that impresses me is the clean channel is actually CLEANER with the EL34b's (unlike most EL34's) yet you can still get all of the EL34's crunch when you want it. Honestly, I'm puzzled at why they're able to work like this...but I don't question it...I just keep buying them.

 

[MesaENGR412]

Congrats on the amp man! I use the Tung Sol EL-34B's in my Triple Recto (thanks Nitro for the recommendation!) and I really like them. They give the amp a tighter low end, and a little bit more mid range punch. I really like their overall tonal characteristics, they definitely make the amp sound different than any "standard equipped" 6L6 Recto. It seems to really make the amp cut through the mix live as well. They are a very nice power tube. I'm thinking I might try SED's ("winged C") next time....just gotta decide whether I want to stay EL-34 or go flip flop back to 6L6's for a while.....decisions, decisions :lol:

-AJH

 

[cscotto]

Hi,

Congrats on the amp. I love my Roadster. For 6L6s, I am using TAD 6L6-STRs. They are the only 6L6s I will use in any Recto.

 

[KH Guitar Freak]

I tempted to go with them Winged C 6L6s...

 

[domct203]

You really can't go wrong with either the SED =C= SV6L6GC or the TAD 6L6GC-STR. Both sound great in the Roadster. I've had my Roadster 2 years now running 6L6's and have been very happy with the tones, now I'm experimenting with some JJ E34L's, and I'm interested to try the Tung-Sol EL34B as well as the JJ KT-77.

And yes, using non-Mesa branded tubes voids your warranty if Mesa finds out.

Most important, is to make sure the vendor can supply tubes to work in Mesa's bias range. I've had great luck with Doug's Tubes. Eurotubes (JJ's only) is also good, but they like to push "custom bias" tubes that operate outside of Mesa's specs (6L6's that run in EL34 mode etc.). This is not to bash them, many here run hotter JJ's from Eurotubes, but just to inform you. I run proper bias specs between 40-55% Max dissipation with no issues, and my stock STR-440 GRNs ran at 40% also.

Good luck with your Roadster!

Dom