Mark V or Roadster???

[Monsta-Tone]

Given the obvious, one is a Mark and one is a Recto, which one would you choose and why?

I've been using a couple of amps for our band and really am thinking hard about consolidating. I want to take one amp to practice.

I love the tones of my Tremoverb and my DC-10. Gives me the best of both worlds. Mark (sort of) tones and Recto tones.

We play anything from Rush to Sevendust to Flyleaf to Atreyu (drummer's choice, but great guitar lines) to Van Halen.

I love great cleans that are really sparkly.
I also love gobs of gain that doesn't get mushy and every note stands out in a crazy chord.
Great Reverb and a really transparent Loop are a must.

What do you guys think??????

 

[ibanez4life SZ!]

Andy,

Keeping bias out of the picture, I would honestly say Roadster...

The Mark series are great amps, but IMO, the rectifier high gain sound is one that other amps can't touch, no matter what. Three of the five bands you mentioned below are a modern recto sound IMO. The cool thing about the Roadster is that it does that sound, along with every in between sound aswell. Wattage and rectifier assigning is an AWESOME tune for really dialing in each channel aswell.

Also for a musician in a band, the 4 channel setup can not be beat IMO...clean, crunch, lead high gain, and rhythm high gain, with a great loop and reverb...covers ANY main sound I can think of, all at the touch of a button.

In the end, both are great amps...I believe the Roadster is more versatile, but in the end, it comes down to whether you want your gain tones to be Mark flavored or Recto flavored. While the Mark can get sick metal tones, it will never be a Recto.

Eric

 

[ryjan]

I vote Mark V. The recto will sound like a recto no matter what you do. The Mark will get great cleans, classic rock, old school metal, modern metal, and everywhere in between.

 

[KH Guitar Freak]

It still could be either really... :lol:

 

[Heritage Softail]

A MKV and any REC, the perfect combination to cover all bases and songs. But I am biased because that is what I have. :lol:

 

[CoG]

I am just going to say the Roadster is really a hell of an amp, if I was the only guitarist in a band, or if the other guitarist in my band didn't have one (LOL) I'd own one myself. As it is, one just lives in my basement. There's absolutely nothing bad I can say about it.

 

[bpm91]

I have both. I think for one amp consolidation, my vote goes to the Mark V. My roadster is loaded with KT66s, which make it sound amazing, but for clarity across the board, Mark V. The Mark V can get close to recto tones using either Mark I mode on channel 2 or Extreme mode on channel 3.

I think it is easier to dial in the Mark V once you've settled on tone you want. Tone switching from song to song can be easy with a flick of the switch for voicing and/or preset vs. sliders. Just get familiar with each voicing and how the EQ works and you'll be golden.

 

[madryan]

Personally to me it comes down to feel. I can't stand Rectifiers of any stripe because of the way they respond to my playing. That's why I love the Mark's. That's what I'd do. My Mark V sounds so much fuller and nicer than my buddies RK-II did. He sold his RK a week after the Mark V got here and is now playing an Axe FX rig.

 

[igfraso]

A MKV and any REC, the perfect combination to cover all bases and songs. But I am biased because that is what I have. :lol:

Maybe a Mark V and a Tremoverb?

 

[joe web]

never played the Mark V but i own a dual recto and a roadster.
let me say that: don´t compare the roadster with a "regular" rectifier! they sound different. you can dial in the modern dual recto tone on a roadster, but you´ll need totally different settings for the sound as you would use on a dual recto.
the roadster is a more modern rock sounding amp and not as metal as the dual recto.
for me it´s the best amp i have ever played. from ultra clean to modern heavy - everything is possible and it sounds always great. sometimes i hat that "brizz" in the topend you get from a dual recto, but you´ll not get it from the roadster. and the roadster delivers more mids as the dual recto.
you can´t go wrong with it.

 

[Vigo1999]

well, im biased as hell cause im a mark guy since my teens (even in my rack years, the mark modes was the only ones ive used on triaxis), plus the times ive played a recto ive never achieved a good sound. :?

so, the mark V wins my vote: 6 sounds at the tip of your toe (3 channels + 3 channels eq'd), solo function, reverb etc etc etc

 

[b0nkersx]

The difference between the two is basically their high gain stuff. Their cleans, mid gain tones, and reverb are both excellent, and I would imagine the loops are near identical in performance and transparency.

On the V, you get Mark I/IIC+/IV/Extreme. On the Roadster, you get Raw/Vintage/Modern, and you can set up Brit for high gain too (sounds great for Van Halen/shred leads).

V can get nasty but it can't get nearly as brutal as the Roadster. It has the advantage of another channel, too. You can't use six sounds (3 channels with or without EQ) on the V simultaneously unless you switch midi or you don't care about tap dancing lag.

If you get brutal pretty often, I'd get the Roadster. If old school is your thing and you have no use for the modern mode, get the V.

 

[mdortona]

Andy,

I used to have a Roadster. Loved the the clean channel (Lonestar CLEAN, sparklely, pristine, and warm)!! The 2nd channel was a bust for me - no matter what I did it, had a painful ice pic quality to it. The 3rd channel was usable for old school/big hair metal (on vintage voicing), 4th channel - Recto, Recto, Recto! My problem at the time was that no matter what you did, you couldn't dial out the Recto tone. The ODs were Recto based and that was that, which pushed me to trade it to Adam (musicman JP6) for his MKIV, which was more to my liking (for about 6 months when GAS struck - you know the story from there :roll: :lol: ).

FWIW, I messed around with a MKV at GC around Christmas and I liked the cleans much better than on my MKIV. The OD channels, well, sound like a Mark series amp. Channel 2 sounded much more usable to me. I really wasn't looking for the stereotype "Metallica-MK sound on steroids" so channels 3 & 4 didn't do much for me (but sounded pretty good). I did not look to pull the trigger due to the price tag and the vast amount of switches, options, and bells and whistles. Too much tweeking potential/tempatation which could distract me from good playing time. I'm with you that dragging the multiple amps to practice and gigs gets to be a real PIA :evil: Hope that this helps!

Matt

 

[CoG]

Andy,

The 2nd channel was a bust for me - no matter what I did it, had a painful ice pic quality to it.

yeah channel 2 is weird, most modern mesas want you to keep the knobs between 10 and 2 or even 11 and 1 but ch2 on the roadster requires Mark-esque weird settings. It's also the only Mesa channel ever where "treble" does not mean "gain". On my bandmate's roadster we get a great half-Vox half-Plexi sound with his SG by running the treble at like 8:30, the presence a little bit higher, and the gain and mids at like 3:30. It's a 'bright', Brian May or screaming hot blues kinda sound and volume balance with the other 3 channels can take some tweaking because you're running the preamp higher than you will on any of the other channels, but it's worth it for a lower gain rock solo tone. If you want to use it for a bright crunchy rhythm back off the gain a little and inch up the treble.

 

[Monsta-Tone]

I never got to use mine with a band and I sold it to raise money for a music store that was only open for 6 months before this recession crap hit.
I liked channel 2 for gritty cleans, but didn't use it much.

I keep coming back to this....
I love the Tremoverb, and I love the DC-10.
I love the loop on the DC, but I hate the loop on the TOV.
I want both tones without having to lug 2 amps around.


Have any of the newer Roadsters had the channel switching pop noise?
Can this always be fixed by cycling through the buttons while the amp is on Standby?
Can channel 3 get anywhere near the DC-10 sound? Sort of like a Mark IV, but with more growl, crunch, and sustain.

 

[mdortona]

On my Roadster, cycling thru the FS buttons took care of the popping issue.
No dice on channel 3 sounding like a DC - it was Recto DNA thru and thru.

Matt

 

[Monsta-Tone]

Well.....poop!

I'm still torn though. Like I said, I only want to take 1 amp to practice and gigs. Leaving a spare behind the stage (not in the car) just in case!


I've read a lot about using an OD808 or TS8 in front of a Roadster to tighten it up a bit though. Wonder if that will get me the rest of the way there?

 

[CoG]

On my Roadster, cycling thru the FS buttons took care of the popping issue.
No dice on channel 3 sounding like a DC - it was Recto DNA thru and thru.

Matt

ditto on the button cycle.

Not with EL34s in it. I have never played a DC, so I don't know if it sounds like that, but it sure doesn't sound like a Recto. It actually sounds a lot like a Mark with more "complexity" and nuance but not as smooth or sustain-y. We use a very gentle OD in front of my bandmate's Roadster but that's just because he likes the response of having lower gain on the preamp.

 

[Monsta-Tone]

Man I wish I lived in a city where I could just go and try everything out for myself!
Looks like I'm ditching work on Tuesday and driving to Tucson!!!!!!! :lol:

 

[mdortona]

That's the spirit! Blow off work to go hunt for new toys (but don't tell your wife)! A man after my own heart :wink:.

Matt

P.S. See if they have a Mav for sale for me while you're there! :lol: