NAD: Roadster

[knotts]

Were you guy's able to dial out the "Dark" or blanketed sound? I am really having a hard time deciding to get this or the 3 channel Dual Rectifier. I watched the video by haggardty music and it was kind of a turn off. Is it as aggressive as the Duel Rectifier? is there too much bass in this amp? I tend to have Bass turned to 7:00 Mids to about 4:00 and Treble to about 2:00. I don't like a massive bassy sound. That's what bass guitar is for.

When I got the amp, i did what everyone suggested and put a Tungsol in V1 along with some other preamp tubes that Doug from Dougstubes recommended. It helped make it easier to dial out the "blanket". After a few years the amp stopped sounding awesome. I contacted Eurotubes to see what those guys had to say. I'm not a metal guy and play more classic rock and hard rock. They recommended that swap out my 6L6's with KT66's and swap change tungsol in V1 and my V3 preamp (penta 12AX7) tube with some JJ's (ECC803S and ECC83 respectively). It made a world of difference. My roadster sounds better than ever. To be honest, I think the KT66's had more to do with it than the preamp change.

 

[bandit2013]

My fix for the drone was to remove the EV speakers out of the Recto cab and put the original V30's back in. What a difference that made. I did not like the old cab with the V30's from the start. They were terrible and flubbed out easily when I plugged in my Mark IVb. Moved to the Mark V and could not tolerate the ice pick (reason for the EV but they too are bright but do not have the beaming effect). Roadster sounded great with the EV but palm muting was not pleasing. Before I swapped the speakers I also have another OS Recto cab (less than a year old) and it sounds amazing with the Roadster. Took a bit of effort to restore the cabinet (baffle board was vibrating and sounded like a wooden tuning fork along with other things). WOW, first time I used the old cab with V30's and no flub, no beaming of the highs. Has near perfect balance. Even with the Bass pushed up no issues. The 15yr old cab sounds as good as the new one. (note that I never broke in the V30's in the old cab, never got used very much until I bought my first head: Mark V). Once I got the RA100, the EV just did not sound good so I purchased an inexpensive traditional size cab and installed the old V30's which got plenty of use for breaking in. Now driving both 412 cabs is an amazing experience through the Roadster. Even one cab sounds terrific. I find it hard to believe that I went from hating the V30 to actually loving it. Since the change, I want to play more. I have been exploring the different channel settings, power, diode vs tube, etc... what a difference it makes with the right speaker. I am not against using EV by any means as it seems to be the only speaker I like with the Mark V.

The new cab or the old one (after I fixed it) does not sound like a blanket over the cab. I am using all stock Mesa tubes (except V1 which is the SPAX7 version, actually it helps the tone a bit. Tried the Tung Sol as well as many other preamp tubes and actually prefer the Mesa branded 12AX7. What you get out of your tubes may be subjective just like choice of speakers. The guitar also makes a difference and pickup choice. For the dry chug palm muted hard rock to metal tones I use a Super Strat with single coil sized humbuckers (Seymour Duncan Everything Axe set). Guitar is a Carvin Bolt C (Floyd Rose with standard sustain block, Black Limba body, flamed maple cap, 5 piece maple/walnut neck with maple fret board). This guitar never stops to impress me.

 

[afu]

What modes are being used when you hear the blanket? On my 3CH, it is generally only Channel 2 Vintage. I know the Roadster is darker, so the blanket might be different.

 

[TruthnSound]

I think it was channel 4 that had the blanketed sound more than 3. From what I hear Channel 3 on the Roadster is supposed to mimic channel 3 on the dual, and channel 4 is a completely different sound (more vintage).

 

[bandit2013]

I have experimented with preamp tubes and power tubes in the Roadster. I actually prefer the stock tubes the best. I started off with an EV loaded cab and now prefer the V30 with the Roadster. The only tube change I did stick with (and found this to work well with the Mark V) is a change in V1 to the SPAX7 Mesa tube. I may try one of my TungSol tubes in V1 just for kicks. I also have many others I could use too. As for the Mesa Power tubes, they seem to have that 3D gain swirl I like (similar to SED6L6GC or TAD6L6STR that I have used in my Mark V). I have tried similar tubes in the Roadster but found the Mesa brand as well as the Ruby power tubes to be a better match to the tuning of the Roadster. If you want CH4 to have more brightness, drop the gain a bit.

I have only discovered the blanket effect when switching cabs and using the same channel settings I had used with the other cab. Either my hearing is changing or it is the amp, I am becoming more fond of the V30 tone over the EV. I am even considering a change with the Mark V combo.

 

[screamingdaisy]

Tung-Sol in V1. Brighter than JJ.

 

[bandit2013]

Yes, the tung sol in V1 will brighten things up. If you want a different tone all together, put one in V2 as well. I have also used the Mullard CV4004 in V1 and V2 if you want more of a Marshall tone. I have also found the JAN GE 5751 in V1 or in V2 with stock in V1 to really change things up a bit. Another way to brighten the amp up without altering the overall tone is to use a Sovtek LPS in V6. If you want more brightness out of the amp, change the power tubes as the stock Mesa tubes have more of a low mid grunt to them. SED6L6GC, TAD6L6GC-STR, TungSol 7581 will have more of a brighter tone compared to the Mesa 6L6GC STR440 or Ruby 6L6GCMSTR.


My Roadster is not as dark as it was out of the box with new Mesa tubes. Now it sounds even better after I restored my old Recto cab. I have not tried other preamp tubes since I put the V30's back into the cab. It sounds great as is, but will play around again just for fun. I did try a change in power tubes just to hear the difference though the V30 loaded cab. The SED 6L6GC sounded thin with the V30 compared to the EV. I actually prefer the stock Mesa 6L6GC tubes the best but the Ruby 6L6GCMSTR have a bit more boost in the mids (same tube but different sorting criteria, depending where you get them).