Is my ROADSTER overheating?

[Purist]

This thing gets hot. WAY hot. I've had this happen before in my practice space, where I'll be really pushing it, and it just starts shorting out until there's no sound. I can stop playing for a few seconds, then it will come back in in spurts.

Yesterday I played an outdoor gig. My Roadster sat in the sun on stage for about 15 minutes before we started, turned on. At the last 20 seconds of the 4th song we played, it cut out so bad that the bass and drums were the only thing on the stage. That was it for the set. The thing felt blazingly hot, which I'm sure the sun had a hand in.. but is this something that typically happens even indoors?

I just had it re-tubed with MESA el34's 2 weeks ago. It's always ran hot, compared to my buddy's triple rec, which is always relatively cool even at high volumes.

Anybody have any ideas about this?

 

[BostonRedSox]

As long as your tubes are normal color, you are fine. Of course, if you did something crazy to your amp, then perhaps there could be an issue. Otherwise, my Roadster gets hot too. It is tough to determine what is "hot" to you, compared to what I would worry over. Realize though that this is the nature of the amp. This is why the Roadster has an additional vent on its top to alleviate excessive heat. Mesa is aware of this, and it shows in their design.

Your amp could be hotter if you have that vent covered. I have actually had that happen to me when I had my Orange Tiny Terror on top of my Roadster when recording.

Good luck.

 

[BostonRedSox]

Also, EL34s do run hotter by the way!

 

[TFridgen]

Were you running your el34's in diode? Mesa advises to use tube rectifiers when using el34's.

 

[BostonRedSox]

They don't advise not using them with the Roadster. Actually, I think that whole concept of "not running EL34s when using tube rectifiers" is an internet-created myth. To be even more concise, Matt's Music shop in Weymouth confirmed this notion.

Just making sure that your amp is switched over to EL34s is enough.

 

[Purist]

Hmmm.. Ok then!

Your amp could be hotter if you have that vent covered. I have actually had that happen to me when I had my Orange Tiny Terror on top of my Roadster when recording.

I'm just glad I'm not the only on who's experiencing the issue, I guess. I was thinking maybe I had a factory defect model or something! It just sucked pretty bad, it was a huge show for us (opening for DISTURBED and AVENGED SEVENFOLD) and all of a sudden I sounded like I had rookie gear. Not ok!

 

[BostonRedSox]

I am sorry to hear that. I find that (and this is in staunch disagreement to many players on here) the EL34s do compromise your tone, and for very little benefit. I will admit that at lower volumes the EL34s do sound nice, but they do quiet down the amp quite a bit and change it subtly for the worse. I have found some very good Mesa factory settings for my Roadster, utilizing just 2 EL34s, from the Road King manual. I often use both manuals for some factory advise and I must admit that Mesa's advice is very good.

I played the Middle East not too long ago (February) and made the switch to EL34s. Wow, was I amazed at how different (for the worse) my amp was overall. I will never, ever do that again. Besides, Mesa themselves even verify that EL34s can add some variety to your tones, but that overall it will also adversely affect most of the channels in your Roadster. This information is all in the Roadster manual. One thing I will say is that with the EL34s, the Skinny Skank setting in the Road King manual is amazing! Very Fendery, very chimey and warm. Also, the Atlantic Blues and Stripped Grind settings from the Road King are factory presets specifically for EL34s and sound amazing!

Someone gave me this advice a while back, and I often incorporate it into my usage with Channel 4/modern: Turn down the Treble (all the way), put the Gain somewhere between 10-2 o'clock, and set the Presence up between 2-3 o'clock. Bass around 11 and Mids around 2ish. The sound is phenomenal and brightens up the Roadster tremendously. With the gain set lower, and through the usage of a boost, I get a very great rock tone that is very versatile with your guitar's volume knob.

Good luck! And don't hate on your Roadster as a result of your experience!

 

[Purist]

Sigh. I don't hate the amp, I totally love the tone. I just don't feel safe with it in the least, at this point. It's not acting reliable at all!

 

[davidfloyd]

Not sure if there's something else going on - should definitely get Boogie on the phone for help - but for what it's worth, I like to keep the amp set to "spongy" vs. "bold" - Not only do I feel it improves the feel and tone overall of the amp, but it also runs the amp cooler all around since it's reducing some of the actual input line voltages. So your tubes will also last longer as well. To me it's a win-win.

 

[UnderJollyRoger]

Just for info, what are your volume settings ?

Have you tried switching power tubes and see if it still happens ?

 

[Purist]

I've always liked the bold setting better, cause I play metal.. The gain seems a bit tighter. Maybe at the right volume spongy would work just as well. It's worth a try I guess!

My master volume is usually between 3 and 5. 5 is pretty loud, I know. I don't see any reason why a MESA shouldn't be able to handle it though! I recently changed my tubes from 6L6 to EL34. I thought the problem might have been solved, but then I had that problem at the show.

I'm pretty ashamed, actually- I've been looking around at other amps Like the ENGL Powerball II or the WIZARD Modern 100.. Any thoughts on those anybody?

 

[UnderJollyRoger]

Well, to your information, I run my master volume at about 5 to 6 and channel 3 volume at about 4.5 on my DR. However, I think the knobs have different characteristics than other amps, cause it is loud, but not ear-deafening loud ...

Anyway, if I were you, and i see you already started two threads ( ), I would switch back to the 6L6 and see what happens. Changings tubes and having problems is probably some kind of hint ... what tubes did you put in ? You know that you should use Mesa's EL34 or find a shop that offers some within the specification range that Mesa allows ?

 

[jbird]

Not sure if there's something else going on - should definitely get Boogie on the phone for help - but for what it's worth, I like to keep the amp set to "spongy" vs. "bold" - Not only do I feel it improves the feel and tone overall of the amp, but it also runs the amp cooler all around since it's reducing some of the actual input line voltages. So your tubes will also last longer as well. To me it's a win-win.

Not sure about this? I may tend to think the opposite! Didn't EVH run a variac to "brown" his sound...And was he not constantly running through power tubes? You sort of starve the tubes, and in compensation raise the volume? Just me thinking aloud? :?

 

[volatileNoise]

yeah, spongy is running through a variac switch I believe...