Mesa Rect-O-Verb vs. Roadster For Jazz & Death Metal!?

[Grindjazz]

Hi i'm looking for Mesa amp that can give me Brutal Meshuggah/Behemoth type distortion yet clean, dark, and a warm sound of Pat Martino/Metheny
Which Amp could give something along those lines. Also has anyone tried 4X12 Road King Cab with a Roadster, and use V30 for Death Metal and C90 for cleans. I have noticed alot of people think the Roadster can not do a Jazz sound at all. The clean and reverb is from the Lone Star right? Hmm anyone.

 

[katsumura78]

I watched some making of videos of behemoths latest album and some of those tones came from a roadster. If you search through youtube theres a video of Nergal(I think thats the name) in the studio with it and like 3 other amps so I think that answers half of your question. I dont think I have seen anyone post saying it cant do jazz either. I can't speak for the rect o verb. Never tired one but you cant go wrong with the roadster. It was my second choice.

 

[Grindjazz]

If you type Jazz and Mesa roadster in google. A bunch of posts on some forums, and on Harmony Central says you can't get a soft sound. But I would imagine they don't know how to EQ properly on Roadster to get that sound?

 

[katsumura78]

Yeah I would say those people didn't spend enough time with the amp. If you have a chance to go to a dealer and play a roadster. Do it. Maybe someone on the board could answer his soft jazz sound question. No matter what that amp is smokin and worth every penny and I only messed around with it for maybe 20 mins.

 

[PC Biz]

Both amps will do jazz cleans very well. The Roadster will give you louder cleans, and has an incredible Fender Bassman clean on the Tweed setting.

 

[Grindjazz]

I agree! I tried both the combos with my own guitar today. I got amazing Jazz tone for chords and leads everything sounded perfect on Roadster.
The leads sound fat, and smooth with a vocal like quality. Of coarse it rips for Death metal thick and dark. It was really focused and defined NO BUZZ at all.I played the Rectoverb first then tried the Roadster well just say I quickly changed amps, and ended spending an hour and half on the Roadster. I"m on the waiting list for one.
Oh yeaaa IT CAN DO JAZZ AND DEATH METAL)

 

[Grindjazz]

I agree! I tried both the combos with my own guitar today. I got an* amazing Jazz tone for chords and leads everything sounded perfect on the* Roadster. The leads sound fat, and smooth with a vocal like quality. Of coarse it rips for Death metal thick and dark. It was really focused, and defined NO BUZZ at all.I played the Rectoverb first then tried the Roadster. well just say I quickly changed amps, and ended spending an hour and half on the Roadster. I"m on the waiting list for one.
Oh yeaaa IT CAN DO JAZZ AND DEATH METAL)

 

[primal]

Basically, both are great amps.

You would do well to get either one.

That said,

For Death Metal, the Roadster gets the nod.

But for Jazz,

It's the Roadster again.

The Roadster pretty much does everything the the Rectoverb does, and then sum.

Which is basically why it is considerably more expensive.

Either way, you'll love either amp IMO.

 

[dtrax]

I just traded my F-30 for a Rectoverb last week. It sounds godly, but if I had the $$$ I'd certainly go for a Roadster. Simply because there are more channels and tone options, not because the tone is lacking with my RoV.

Straight out of the box, I personally feel neither amp is tight enough for death metal, but that isn't something a boost with a TS couldn't fix. Both have retarded amounts of gain and a very dynamic feel (so long as the Gain is below 2:00 or so - above that it gets really fizzy and compressed). So to that end, pushing the front end may be necessary for you for fast/technical type metal riffs.

On the jazz front, I'm no expert, but I see that as more of a function of the guitar primarily; e.g. a jazzbox. IMO, the clean channel on my RoV is very sweet and can be dialed in many different ways. Glassy to warm to furry. It's all there.

 

[Griz]

The ROV would definitely get the job done, but if you can afford the Roadster why wouldn't you go there? Comparing the ROV to the Roadster? Well, that's kinda like comparing a Corvette to a Lamborghini.

 

[boogiemon]

i don't play metal, but my rov w/an ev classic & el34's sounds pretty tight to me...

I just traded my F-30 for a Rectoverb last week. It sounds godly, but if I had the $$$ I'd certainly go for a Roadster. Simply because there are more channels and tone options, not because the tone is lacking with my RoV.

Straight out of the box, I personally feel neither amp is tight enough for death metal, but that isn't something a boost with a TS couldn't fix. Both have retarded amounts of gain and a very dynamic feel (so long as the Gain is below 2:00 or so - above that it gets really fizzy and compressed). So to that end, pushing the front end may be necessary for you for fast/technical type metal riffs.

On the jazz front, I'm no expert, but I see that as more of a function of the guitar primarily; e.g. a jazzbox. IMO, the clean channel on my RoV is very sweet and can be dialed in many different ways. Glassy to warm to furry. It's all there.

 

[JT_Marshmallow]

Also consider that a versatile amp will not get you all the sounds you want with just one guitar. If you get a versatile amp like the Roadster, consider using separate guitars for your metal and jazz sounds. When I owned a Roadster, my Jackson DKMG and I spent hours trying to dial in a Fender-ish clean sound that doesn't break up at high volumes...to no avail. But once I switched to my strat, put it on the neck pickup and rolled off the tone knob a bit, it was fabulous.