How come i can't get my Roadster to sound as rich as my MKIV

[rpurdue]

Have a Rev A Mark IV and a Roadster head both retubed going through Mesa 2x12 rectifier cabs with the same guitar and i just can't get the roadster to sound "warm". I can get crazy bottom end outta that Roadster in m modern but it still lacks "fullness" if that makes any sense. The Mark F'N ROARS! And i don't use the EQ at all! Am i doing something wrong here people?

 

[ThunderMonkey]

You might want to tweek the EQ on your Roadster a little differently than the Mark, less Bass, more mids, back off the gain if use you use tons and crank the LAM volume and bring up your channel master to taste.

Those two amp combinations should sound killer together but they are two totally different animals in their own right. :wink:

 

[ibanez4life SZ!]

They're completely different beasts...I could never get a tone I really liked out of the Recto, other than "THE RECTO TONE", which I grew tired of very quickly.

My Mark IV should be here in a week or so

 

[rpurdue]

I think the Roadster is going Bye Bye lol

 

[JoeEllison]

I think the Roadster is going Bye Bye lol

Can I have it?

 

[JAZZGEAR]

You might want to tweek the EQ on your Roadster a little differently than the Mark, less Bass, more mids, back off the gain if use you use tons and crank the LAM volume and bring up your channel master to taste.

Those two amp combinations should sound killer together but they are two totally different animals in their own right. :wink:

Forgive my ignorance, but what is "LAM?"

 

[NoGlassNoClass]

Loop Active Master (thats what it was called on the 2-ch recto's)...same as "Output" on 3-ch/RK/RS.

 

[Pyro]

The Recto is a rhythm players heaven but a lead players hell and the roadster is just a big version of that.

Hopefully next year they will change one of the lead channels to be voiced like the Express (blues,burn) cause thats the most affordable serious lead sound Mesa have.

To have two Recto channels on it is rediculas. They must know the Recto has no lead.

 

[ibanez4life SZ!]

Agreed...I can't imagine the point of two recto channels :/

 

[123thefirst]

But why on Earth would you try to get a warm sound out of the Modern mode???

Just curious about why don't get along with the Roadster. Have you ever owned or spent serious time with a Fender tube amp?

 

[twostring]

Although I'm not totally happy with the end result, I can dial in a good rhythm tone on channel 3 and a decent (key word) lead tone on channel 4. I never use modern mode though, always vintage. It take a lot of mid range to push the channel for leads though.

 

[Mr_You]

I have to agree with the original post. My Triaxis Recto mode was pretty warm (as a result of natural compression I think).

But the Roadster still sounds and feels good, just not the same warmth. I use channel 3 for mid-gain recto and channel 4 for high gain recto.

Also the modern mode is way too harsh for me with a V30. With a C90 the modern mode works great and the combination I prefer for the recto channels.

 

[Pyro]

But why on Earth would you try to get a warm sound out of the Modern mode???

Just curious about why don't get along with the Roadster. Have you ever owned or spent serious time with a Fender tube amp?

He would be better off using theer it sounds good or it sounds ****

 

[nathan28]

I could get a great lead tone with my single rect-o-verb and good lead tone out of my triple rec, and a awesome lead with my rKII.
The key to a good lead tone on the rectos is to shape the sound, either with a compressor, chorus etc. I think most players expect to get studio sounding leads with it out of the box. You can with the rkii, my triple i had to shape it. Recs are also very picky on the type of guitar you have and pickups. I know alot of people use a duncan jb with their rectos, and i must say i put a jb in my les paul and hated it through the rec. It was harsh and sloppy, very unfocused. The biggest complaint with rectos is that they are not tight, this is the truth if you play on low-medium-somewhat hot pickups, and not boost correctly. If you want it tight drop emg's in your guitar and i promise that will make it tight.

 

[siggy14]

First, the recto is a recto, the mark is a mark, you will never get the recto to sound like a mark. I use to make the same mistake, I would try to make my recto sound like a marshall, but just never happened. I finally learned to accept the recto for what it is.

But something that might help is try the the modern on channel 3 and try the vintage on channel 4.

Have a Rev A Mark IV and a Roadster head both retubed going through Mesa 2x12 rectifier cabs with the same guitar and i just can't get the roadster to sound "warm". I can get crazy bottom end outta that Roadster in m modern but it still lacks "fullness" if that makes any sense. The Mark F'N ROARS! And i don't use the EQ at all! Am i doing something wrong here people?

 

[Mr_You]

To clarify, we're not comparing the different tones coming from the amps, we're talking about warmth of the preamp tone.

From my limited knowledge with only a few Mesa amps, technically this warmth might be a result of natural tube compression (but two amps with the same tubes don't have the same warmth), a specific circuit design, components, or all or none, I don't know, but I know what he's talking about. I just describe it as "lots of natural compression".

My old Triaxis and 50:50 had it (Petrucci Live tone sold me). Same tubes in the Roadster and the warmth isn't there. I'm going to find out if the Lone Star has it. I still like the Roadstar, but I miss that. The Triaxis Green (Mark I) and Red (Recto for Mine) had it.

It could very well be that this amount of amp compression is only available in certain models.

EDIT: If you haven't, try to find an opportunity to experience the warmth we're talking about, its magical.

 

[jdurso]

Agreed...I can't imagine the point of two recto channels :/

their voiced very different... more gain and bass in channel 4... presence works different..... i find channel 3 to be very tight if you know how to dial it in..... for my playing have 2 high gain channels comes in very handy..... and with the brit mode on channel 2 i have even more gain posibilities and still have a great clean channel on channel 1..... my only complaint about the mark iv's was how channels 1 and 2 share some of the eqs and knobs.... i found myself never using channel 2 because because once i had my cleans dialed in i didnt have as much flexiblity on channel 2 to do what i wanted.... i'm sure if i spend more time with it or discovered using drive pedals in front of the preamp sooner i might not have parted with it.... then again i went to the triaxis which i still regret selling which gave me all the flexibility in the world

as far as the roadtser when i boost channel 3 to add a little compression i can come **** close to the sound of the mark iv and triaxis i had.... then again i play more rhythm than anything else so what sounds great to my ears my not to yours..... and as far as it not being warm, i'm not getting it.... if you spend some time dialing each channel in the warmth is there to be found.... thats just my 2 cents though

 

[123thefirst]

To clarify, we're not comparing the different tones coming from the amps, we're talking about warmth of the preamp tone.

From my limited knowledge with only a few Mesa amps, technically this warmth might be a result of natural tube compression

That's what I was thinking too. A vintage Fender Twin or Super Reverb would be a good reference for tone, feeling and warmth. They're not what I would consider at all compressed, they're very bouncy with much spank and punch. Judging from the Recto Pre, I'd say the Road King/Roadster has a bit more dynamics than such a Fender but is still very much in the same vein. I can imagine a lot of players, especially who haven't grown up with classic tones from the 70's (the decade for experimentation and evolution of the guitar) who don't find that kind of dynamics useful for their playing. And I think you need strong, clear pickups to take advantage of those dynamics.

As you say, compression can radically increase the perception of warmth. I'd guess that a Mark IV, for instance, has a noticably greater amount of compression at an equivalent gain setting. The nice thing about the Road King/Roadster is that each mode (Clean, Tweed, Brit, Raw, etc.,) has its own compression curve so that if you know the amp well and have a good quality outboard compressor you should have the best of all worlds at your disposal.

 

[Artiefufkin10]

FWIW.

On my roadster I love Channel 3, Vintage setting. So far I haven't seen much point in Channel 4, but love the expressiveness I get just by varying the gain on channel 3. Good stuff.