I find myself in a Pickle.

[animusofabbas]

Ok i cant tell you how a roadster is but im a mesa guy so hear is my two cents.
1. Krankensteins are pretty nice when played alone, They have a steril type feel to it,(almost SS) They have a tendacy to get lost in the mix and sound very very harsh, cold, and thin.
I never played a roadster but i have two 2 channel duel recto's (One pre500 modded). If your amps sound anything like mine the krank really isnt what your looking for. The reason your having this problem is because your other guitarist amp is voiced completly different then yours. His amp is a high mid range kinda amp, Try changing your tubes trying different types out and add some midrange and work the live sound better. I think its obsurd to get rid of an amp that sounds killer for an inferior product like a krank. (I know i had two of them) THey both started to smoke and i got rid of them. Have his sound fill yours better and work with the bassist so everyone can co-exist in the mix. You can have your amp biased differently with totally different types of tubes and it will kick *** without a doubt.

 

[Moot]

I guess another way to go would be to sit down with the other guitar player and decide which frequency range each of you will control, and dial it in that way. Don't forget to consult your bass player, too - he'll have specific frequency needs as well.

 

[gnarwailnmt]

yeah, i know it seems drastic to buy a new amp just because of the mix, and it might just be because the other guitarist is pig headed and wont turn down to help complement a full sound. without the addition of the 2nd guitar i had no trouble.


Since you're a mesa guy, how does a Mark Iv compare to a dual rec?

 

[moguelator]

Seriously,

If getting lost in the mix is the problem, using your EQ an discussing with your band mates on the freqs you are using will solve the problem. Is just a matter of tweking the amps. But...

It sounds like you really want the Krank Amp... if this is the case, man, go for it!

And Siggy14... I do not know how because I'm getting some real good overdrive high gain tones at an extremely low volume, that is something that really intrigues me. All I know is that Uber really rocks!!!

 

[HalfDeaf]

To OP's last question - Mark IV's are MUCH more middy, which helps them cut through the mix. Sometimes they don't sound as "metal" as a recto when played alone, but once you add the bass, drums, and 2nd guitar, the mark sound really shines through.

Obviously, don't sell your amp unless you've tried everything else - adding mids with a GEQ, try a couple different cabs from your friends, boost with a tubescreamer or OD808.

If you feel the need for a new amp, I think there are much better choices than Krank, depending on what kind of tone you're looking for. Here's some of my recommendations (I'm assuming you want something heavy, so there's sort of two categories):

Vintage: Orange Thunderverb 50 (or 200), Laney VH100R, Mesa Mark IV, pre-Fender Sunn Model T, Hiwatt

Modern: Diezel Herbert (or VH4), VHT Pittbull UL (or SigX or Deliverance), Mesa Nomad 100, ENGL Powerball (or Fireball), Bogner Ubershall, Soldano SLO, Splawn Quickrod (or Nitro)

These are some amps that I've been seeing a lot lately in LA and SF, sound great, and are generally well respected by most musicians I know. I'm sure I forgot some, sorry to people who own them and feel left out

 

[jdurso]

mmmmmm splawn... they're yummy

on more serious note, have you brought a friend with you to a gig to hear if your lost in the mix? i ask because i always felt my mesa amps always sounded low in comparison to my friends marshall. but what i soon realized when i had a friend setting up my stuff (i was discussing $$$ with the club owner), was that my mesa was clear as day as was my buddy's marshall. i think part of the problem is that at close range, the mid-heavy amps tend to pop and oer shadow everything.

once you stand back to hear the whole mix, if your amps compliment each other they will blend nicely. if the problem is not hearing yourself and everyone is at reasonible volumes i would first get an opinion of a trusted friend to sit in the crowd and really listen and make sure everything is balanced.

if its a volume issue then you guys need to sit down and find volume settings on each amp that are equal. if its the actual amps and how they compliment each other, then look into the eq and/or OD or another amp if it calls for it.

if the mix is right in the crowd but you still cant hear yourself look into a peronal monitoring system which could be a small powered wedge speaker that sit on the floor in front of you. all you would need to do is run the signal from the slave out of your amp into the power monitor.

 

[gnarwailnmt]

right on, it seems al ot of you dislike kranks...that's surprising. I did play an engl and it was tight and i dug the noise gate, but didnt really dig it..
I'm still considering trading my roadster for the mark IV...

lets focus on that now, Roadster compared to Mark IV...

I have enough ideas to try with the 2 other string players too, thanks to everybody for throwing their voice out there

 

[andrewstcyr]

This thread is helping me out big time cause I'm in the same boat. I've owned a roadster for over a year now and was digging the sound in the beginning but for some reason I just can't get the tone I want out of it right now. I have a set of electro-harmonix el34s on the way to try out to get more bite out of the amp and there are a few other things I've thought about trying such as getting an eq but I don't know if it's worth it. I had the chance to play a Krank Rev amp for a little bit awhile back when I was out of town and I remember every setting sounded pretty wicked but there aren't any dealers in my area so I'm stuck in a bit of a dilemma myself.

 

[gnarwailnmt]

well After accessing the situation I'm really thinking more towards the mark IV, maybe even a combo. I live at college and need a small kick *** amp for practice and then something that can power a half stack. So a mark Iv combo would almost seem perfect for me. Apparently krank is not the way to go and I don't think I could play live without that mesa logo backing me up. So right now I'm keeping the roadster..unless I can find a good deal on a mark IV head or combo.

 

[chriz_batman]

I disagree! i played the krankenstein + and sold my revolution + due to the fact it sucked!!!!!!!!!!! the new amp that replace the Krapy Krank is my Mesa Boogie Road King I found that krank amps tone stays the same no matter how much you eq the amp. I love my Road king head and the tone! i wouldn't trade it in for another amp unless its a Road king series 3.

 

[jdurso]

right on, it seems al ot of you dislike kranks...that's surprising. I did play an engl and it was tight and i dug the noise gate, but didnt really dig it..
I'm still considering trading my roadster for the mark IV...

lets focus on that now, Roadster compared to Mark IV...

I have enough ideas to try with the 2 other string players too, thanks to everybody for throwing their voice out there

do you play primarily lead or rhythm? i do think both amps can pull off both roles but each is definitely set up more for one than the other. My love of the roadster comes from me being mostly a rhythm player. the only leads i write or have played in bands were more melodic to counter the vocals or to create textures. So the roadster really fits the bill for me... now my best friend (also ex-bandmate) was primarily the lead/solo player so as much as he tried to get into the rectos, what he needed for our mix to sound right was his Marshall DSL. i eventually got a Mark IV and for our band it ended up killing the mix because now instead of complimenting each other we were battling, especially when i took a lead and he was playing rhythm.

So again both amps can do both rhythm and lead well, but the mark is definitely more catered to the lead/solo guy, the rectos more towards the rhythm guys. The middle ground i would say might be a stiletto. Other amps that come to mind are the VHT Sig X, Splawn Nitro or the Mesa DC10. If you know the Roadster just isnt cutting it (no pun intended) for you, i would suggest looking at every amp out there and not just limiting yourself to Mesa.

 

[gnarwailnmt]

I play both, we're a two guitar band but there is no difference is who is who, we just both play guitar and both take solos...equal opportunity guitar playing haha. But just to close this thread, I'm selling or trading my roadster for a Mark IV.

 

[jdurso]

I play both, we're a two guitar band but there is no difference is who is who, we just both play guitar and both take solos...equal opportunity guitar playing haha. But just to close this thread, I'm selling or trading my roadster for a Mark IV.

hope it works out for you man. the Mark IV is a killer amp, a legend in fact. if that trade doesnt go through on this forum let me know and i'll see if my buddy's GC still has the used one that was there a couple of days ago.