MKV and RA100 owner considering getting a DR Roadser

[bandit2013]

I have had the Mark V for nearly 2 years and the RA100 for about 4 or 5 months.
I love both amps as they have their own characteristics. However, I fell I am missing something. My original quest was for a roadster head but came home with the Mark V (since it was familiar to me and much easier to dial in a tone I liked). The RA100 is a no brainer and not very difficult to dial in a awesome tone. After getting used to the differences between the two amps, I am now considering adding another amp to my small collection. Will I have any regrets on getting the Roadster? I like what I have heard in videos and on the Mesa Web site. Although my first experience with the amp at GC 2 years ago was not what I had expected and immediately found the Mark V to be more than what I had expected (actually did not like the demos on the amp on the mesa web site). Does the Roadster Deliver the goods once you get familiar with it or do you need extra gain through pedals to make it sound decent? (I prefer amp only with no effects other than delay on rare occasions or crybaby with a strat type guitar).

 

[Chester]

IMO the Roadster is an excellent choice if you want a different feel to the MKV

I use mine set for light crunch / blues / classic rock, keeping master vols high and gain relatively low in CH3 / 4 set to Raw mode. Gets rid of the fizz which DR's can produce if preamps are set high, and the power section is not in balance. Brit is great in CH2 with mids high, and Tweed (whilst similar) has a different response than any of my settings on the MKV. CH4 can be dark, but put in the mileage to learn how EQ interacts, and it becomes very rewarding. Less open and polite than the MKV, and excellent for drive

I favour single coils through the Roadster (HBs through the MKV mostly) for a more open, less compressed vibe, so your approach could be similar. I've also tuned the preamp to what makes sense for me - a more open, dynamic soundstage, so it is worth tweaking with until it get you where you want to be. It's a Mesa, and hugely versatile - slightly more forgiving than the MKV, and also very sensitive to small tweaks in the preamp

To me the Mesa Youtube clip is one of the better out there, and representative of what the map can do. You won't go far wrong with a Roadster

 

[bandit2013]

Thank you for the reply Chester. It is good to see you have both the Roadster and the MKV.

I was really interested in the new born Dual Rectifier but it lacks reverb. I may still consider it if there are suitable pedals out there that sound good. I am not ready to jump on it just yet.

 

[knotts]

I don't have a MKV. I've tried them out on numerous occasions but we never got along, much for the reasons that Chester mentioned. I use my roadster for low gain rock / classic rock and I didn't find those tones easily to find or appeasing on the MKV. The roadster is an extraordinarily versatile amp. I did a preamp swap and couldn't be happier with the change. I think your choice will ultimately depend on your style of music. I think there are somethings that you'll get from a Roadster that you won't get from your MKV, but your MKV will be able to cover some territory that your Roadster might be missing. You owe it to yourself to try one out.

 

[LesPaul70]

Does the Roadster Deliver the goods once you get familiar with it or do you need extra gain through pedals to make it sound decent?

Really depends on what kind of sound you want from it.
Coming from the Mark world, your initial impression could be that the Roadster is a relatively dark and loose-sounding amp, and while it is also a very versatile amp (comparable to your Mark V in that respect), it can be hard to get rid of that fundamental character of the amp. Some people use OD pedals, not to increase the gain, but to tighten up the gain structure, esp. for leads, just like with other Rectifiers. Some people don't. YMMV.

That said...

The Roadster is an awesome amp and I don't think you would be disappointed in one.

 

[bandit2013]

I was considering getting the Flux drive with EQ for use with the RA100. That should get me some more variety. However, getting away from the 5 band Eq has given me more opportunity to explore the RA100. I think I could adapt to a DR or Roadster. Just wondering how SED =C= would sound in them. As for EV or V30, have that covered.

It is tempting but yet, which way to go? I saw some great video comparing the Roadster to the Mark V, Roadster to the Dual Rectifier. If the New DR had a reverb like the Roadster I would jump on it. I heard some similar tones out of both the Roadster and the DR but also heard the differences too. Once I saw the Blacked out diamond plate DR, that was too much eye candy to look away.

 

[Chester]

The difference between youtube tones and playing the amp is night & day - I have always found them to be a ballpark guide, but prove a poor comparative once an amp is in your own signal chain

I use both SED =C= or TAD 6L6's in the Roadster (TAD's currently under the hood), which are excellent. Open up the sound stage nicely and are more dynamic and less muddy / flubby than Mesa 6L6's, which is important to me - I crank channel masters at lowish gain levels to get the power section cooking, and ride guitar volume to get the response I need. Works really well witht the Roadster

 

[bandit2013]

Thanks a lot Chester.

I have been watching or shall I say listening to many various UTUBE and other resources on the Roadster, DR, including the Mark V. Hearing side by side comparisons helps since I know what the Mark V sounds like. I did not give the Roadster a chance as we all know many of the Mesa amps are difficult to dial in at times (One exception is the RA100).

All of which helped me focus on DR or the Roadster, looks like the Roadster still sticks out. There is a guy who did a two part demo on UTUBE, Matt I believe (matt-TV) what was good about it was the use of SSS strat vrs HH strat. He explored the channels in some detail in a different approach to what was on the Mesa site. Also Hagarty's Music was also helpful. Odd enough I was unable to dial in any tones like I heard when I gave it a test drive, more than likely due to the different switch settings on the back panel, and too much familiarity with the Mark IV. Having my own guitar would have helped matters too. So what works well with the Mark IV does not always work with other amps, including the Mark V. The RA100 on the other hand, totally different. I believe the Roadster is the way to go and now I know there is far more to this amp than what meets the eye. I guess I will wait and see what I decide to do, for now I will let it rest and come back to it later.

 

[YellowJacket]

Everyone says to use a Tung Sol in V1.

Any flavour of recto is an awesome amp. I think with the right guitar / pickup combination, you can get a setup that would be a lot of fun to play. The tone isn't as gain saturated and thick as a Mark V but it crunches more. It's a really complex tone and it records extremely well. Definitely worth thinking about.

Try the Recto Reborn heads as well as the Roadster. They're a brighter tighter version of the same flavour.

 

[bandit2013]

If I could fine a place in NC on the east coast that has both I will do just that.
I did notice that the Reborn DR was brighter. I sort of like the darker side of the Roadster, as the Mark V is on the bright side and takes some effort and tube rolling to remedy brittleness but yet retain the character of the amp without getting muddy. What is great about the RA100, the high gain channel preamp section is not shared with the Clean channel. So what ends up in V1 will not effect the tone of the clean channel. In essence it has two primaries, V1 and V4. Not sure about the DR series amps, perhaps not that much different from the Mark Series in terms of cascading ladder style design.

If and when I make the jump, I really need to get a good rack, (pull the heads off of the cabinets to reduce vibration in the power tubes). I can hear the EL34's rattling in the RA100 when I am playing through the Mark V and a different cabinet. At least I have two 412 cabs with different speakers so that will not be a problem deciding which to use with either amp.

One of my Must haves is a spring reverb. I could settle with a pedal but the spring reverb lacks the digital artifacts that end up in the signal path (unless you spend some money on a really good one if that exists). I have moved away from pedals and rack units, at most I will use a crybaby and sometimes I may use the Line 6 Delay that I have. I have had some digital multi effects rack units like an Alesis Midiverb, was not bad for a 16-24 bit processor but could not beat the spring reverb. Sure there are better products out there now than what was available 14 years ago. The only other pedal that I may get is the Mesa 5 band EQ with the Flux Drive feature.

 

[bandit2013]

If I did not state it already or in another thread (could not find it if I did), I ordered a Roadster. Bummer is they are on backorder, the wait is about one month. I can live with that, it takes a little over 2 months to get a guitar from Carvin which is usually worth the wait. I ordered the one with the Jute face since it had a vent on the front around the logo as well as a vent on top above the tubes. Style is more or less like the Road King. When it comes in I will post a NAD. It will be interesting to hear the difference between the standard 412 slanted rectifier cab with EVM12L compared to the smaller sized traditional cab with V30's. I would agree with most that the construction of the cabinet is important. My traditional sized cabinet is an Egnator 412 that came with 16 ohm Celestion Elite speakers. I recycled the England made V30's that were removed from the Mesa cab. Even though the Rectifier cab I have is over 14 years in age, the V30's were never fully broken in since I did not use it often (the V30's did not sound all that great in the larger cab through ether my Mark IV or the Mark III. Things got worse when I added the Mark V head which is the reason for the EV's.) Why the second cab and reuse of the V30's, the RA100 Head seemed a bit too deep through the EV and it sounds awesome through V30's in the smaller cabinet. Once the roadster comes in, I guess I need a rack for all three heads. At least that way I can choose which cabinet to use or both which I have done several times with the Mark V and RA100. I have not tried the Mark IV through both 412 yet.

 

[Chadd]

Congrats on the order, hope you end up liking the Roadster as much as I do. I've never owned an amp this versatile before and it has made things so much easier for me. I barely have to use pedals anymore thanks to the Roadster.

 

[bandit2013]

I could easily say the same about the Mark V, RA100 and Mark IV. I have gotten away from effects long ago. All I need is rich reverb and I am set. Okay, a wah pedal is also a great tool to use as well. I may dust off the Delay pedal I have once in a while. The delay comes in handy sometimes for lead style. I do hang out with some friends who also play guitar, one also plays drums. At least once a month we get together and the delay sometimes helps, depends on what we are playing. Unfortunately I do not bring my Mesa's to the meet since they are too heavy to move. That is where the micro amp comes in. At home, I let it rip, no bedroom level for me, funny the amps are in one of the spare bedrooms so I guess what ever the volume is set to, that will be bedroom level (loud enough to feel it ).

Once the Roadster arrives, I will not be jumping in to change tubes right away. I will give the STR440 6L6 GC a chance. Hopefully they will last longer than they did in the Mark V (bought that one new, tubes redplated within 2 months of minimal use, never had issue with SED or the NOS Svetlana (Groove Tubes GT6L6R-2 Gold Series, not the ones made by Sovtek/Tung Sol/ Reflektor = new sensor). The TAD 6L6GC STR are not bad either. As for tubes, I have plenty to try out but I can wait to do so.