NAD-Roadster, Let the Love/Hate Relationship Begin

[Big_Al]

After months of trying to decide between a Mark V, Roadster, EVH 5150 II or Marshall JVM410H...I finally made up my mind and went with the Roadster. I bought a used Triaxis but it may or may not have issues and I still need to get a 2:90 Simul but I decided to go ahead and get...well, a head while I deal with the Triaxis.
I have been reading everything I could on the forum concerning the Roadster so I knew about the footswitch pop, had a Tung-Sol in waiting for V1, already had a couple of 4x12 Recto cabs ready to go and knew about the reverb lag. I had an early 2000's DR, Single Recto and a Mark III so I know the amp was not completely plug-n-play but I am ready to put my time in. Think I get a channel the way I like it and when I come back to it, it sucks! Man, too many variables for me. Diode or rectifier tracking, 50W or 100W, spongy/bold, effects loop in/hard bypass...I think I need to stick with a 5150.
I just finished tweaking (the amp) for today and I ended on getting channel 3/vintage sounding to my liking. Probably read through the manual for the tenth time before going to bed and plan on tackling channel 4 tomorrow. I can tell I am going to hate this amp before I love it but I can already see there a lot of tones there.

One thing that I feel is throwing me off is the effects loop. Right now I have nothing in the loop but I do want to keep the solo boost so I do not want to use the hard bypass. Where should level control be at? Mid position? Should I plug a cable between the out and in?

Thanks!

 

[KH Guitar Freak]

Just keep the loop level in the middle without a jumper cable plugged into the send and return. That will give you a more "neutral" sound with the loop and reverb not hard bypassed...

 

[Big_Al]

Thanks! That will eliminate one variable.
I would like to pick up a quad of EL34's to see what that will do with the mid range. There just seems to be a certain range that needs more focus that I cannot get to. Do people usually run an eq on these amps? I get that subtle changes to the controls can really impact the sound but for me these are still changes I stumble across. Cannot keep it straight in my head that treble can impact the mids and bass!

Thanks!

 

[KH Guitar Freak]

Thanks! That will eliminate one variable.
I would like to pick up a quad of EL34's to see what that will do with the mid range. There just seems to be a certain range that needs more focus that I cannot get to. Do people usually run an eq on these amps? I get that subtle changes to the controls can really impact the sound but for me these are still changes I stumble across. Cannot keep it straight in my head that treble can impact the mids and bass!

Thanks!

I occasionally run an EQ with mine. I do run a Tubescreamer as well, but mine is a Keeley TS9DX Flexi 4X2. Doesn't seem to have much of a mid bump like the stock ones do, which said more neutral sound is actually what I prefer...

 

[joe web]

i prefer EL34s over 6L6s with the roadster. they bring out some more midrange in the overall sound and the low-end is not as present as with 6L6s.
pickup some EH EL34s, they sound great and aren´t that expensive.
the roadster becomes more a hard-rock amp and looses a bit of this "modern-heavy" character. i love it!
a few weeks ago i put in the original 6L6s and changed it back to the EL34s after 30 minutes.
EL34s are the tubes to go with the roadster in my opinion.

 

[Big_Al]

Thanks for the suggestions.
There is something in the mid range that I cannot dial in. Thanks for suggesting an EL34 to try. I do love the low end chunk but for the stuff our band plays I do not need it as much. I have a couple of boost pedals to try but the TS is the one that always seems to come up.