New Roadster - first impressions

[Nocki]

Do you have pics of the back of the head? Mesa only has a pic of the combo. and I didnt see anything about the tuner out on it so I'm very curious about the back!


Nocki

 

[Nelg]

There are pictures of the back of the head on the Mesa website, and it shows everything on the back.

How does the Roadster sound at low/medium-loud bedroom volumes? I'm a student, so that is really important to me, but I'd also be cranking it at practices and gigs (I don't think I'd have to ask if it sounds good when it's loud...).

 

[fredster]

****, and I just bought a road case for my DR.

What are the dimensions on the head? I'm GASSING pretty bad.

It's the same height and width as a DR, but about 11 1/2in deep. Sorry, you'll need a new case.

Do you have pics of the back of the head? Mesa only has a pic of the combo. and I didnt see anything about the tuner out on it so I'm very curious about the back!

Nelg is right, the picture on the Mesa site is just what it looks like, only flipped. Looks like they use the same chassis for the head and combo, just upside down (the slave and speaker jacks are on the left on the head). I'll get some more pics (and clips) up this weekend though...

How does the Roadster sound at low/medium-loud bedroom volumes? I'm a student, so that is really important to me, but I'd also be cranking it at practices and gigs (I don't think I'd have to ask if it sounds good when it's loud...).

That's really important to me too - I get to do most of my playing after the kids go to bed. I think it sounds great at low volumes through my 2x12 Recto cab! Of course, there are those that feel no tube amp can sound good unless you're pushing the power tubes. IMO you can get a great tone both ways, and the Roadster hasn't dissapointed yet. It does take 10-15 minutes for the tubes to warm up nice and take the edge off. After that - sweet!

 

[ibanez4life SZ!]

Grrrr! Makes me almost regret buying the recto 3 months ago and not waiting for the raodster.....****!

Oh well....I'll just be patient. Don't get me wrong, I love my recto. But a tuner out would be just what I need right now.....

Have you guys ever heard of getting a recto modded with one?

 

[Chris_Lonerock]

I found the roadster ugly, I would have enjoyed a standard recto diamond plate instead of this wood/black diamond face.

 

[G.I.G.]

Don't get me wrong, I love my recto. But a tuner out would be just what I need right now.....

Have you tried using a BOSS TU-2 tuner? It's a great stomp box that will allow you to mute your guitar signal when it's engaged. I've been using one for years and it has been very beneficial playing live.

 

[4nkam]

Very cool man! I'm hoping to pickup a Roadster sometime this summer. I figure they should be in stock by then

MJ

 

[prs1999]

Congrats Fredster !!!
I see your in Ohio. I am coming over to the Parma Are this weekend and I'l hit the Mayfield Heights and North Olmsted(the best G.C. around) stores. Any of these where you shopped by chance?
Peace,
~ John ~

 

[Nelg]

Very cool man! I'm hoping to pickup a Roadster sometime this summer. I figure they should be in stock by then

MJ

I would think they shuold be. I know the only Mesa dealer where I live has the new Roadster head in stock right now.

By theway, are you in Alaska or Arizona?

 

[fredster]

I found the roadster ugly, I would have enjoyed a standard recto diamond plate instead of this wood/black diamond face.

I was never a fan of the full diamond plate, but I can handle this...

Congrats Fredster !!!
I see your in Ohio. I am coming over to the Parma Are this weekend and I'l hit the Mayfield Heights and North Olmsted(the best G.C. around) stores. Any of these where you shopped by chance?

Thanks! I go to the Mayfield Heights store quite a bit. I didn't buy the Roadster there though, I found it at New York Music.

 

[4nkam]

Very cool man! I'm hoping to pickup a Roadster sometime this summer. I figure they should be in stock by then

MJ

I would think they shuold be. I know the only Mesa dealer where I live has the new Roadster head in stock right now.

By theway, are you in Alaska or Arizona?

Right now I'm in Alaska and it looks like I'll be here until late July or so. But of course, no boogie dealers in my town. I'm almost conviced I'm the only boogie OWNER in this town, haha.

MJ

 

[G.I.G.]

Wow! I just got back from playing the Roadster head at a music store (no, I couldn't afford to have it follow me home ) I am extremely envious of you Frester!

I only played it for about 20-30 minutes so I'll spare everyone the long review. I just got to scratch the surface. With that said, the cleans are all they're hyped up to be. With channels 1 and 2 you can go from Fender clean to Plexi overdrive and just about everything in between. As far as channels 3 and 4 go, they are classic recto all the way. I was able to set those two channels up just like I have channels 2 and 3 on my Dual Recto set up. The Roadster sounds great accross the board!

Now I'm GAS'n even worse for a Roadster!

 

[Gia]

Got a 2x12 combo roadster yesterday.I still got my other 1x12 cab as an extension cab. I agree with everything Fredster sez in his original post.

By choosing a few factory presets, I got a totally convincing setup for what I do. I do not feel the urgency of tweaking further, though I know I will.

It was the first time I was exposed to the bold / spongy approach, and I found that the tones I'm after are mostly on the spongy side. I wonder if my rectoverb is spongy or bold...

Channel one: spanky clean. My rat in front kicks it pretty convincingly into cranked tweed territory

Channel two: A nice gainy crunch on the brit mode

Three: The Big Fuzz thing.

Four: Hot liquid lead.

There is nothing so far I miss from my rectoverb. I did not like the loop on the rov, but I liked the blend switch. Putting my whole signal thru a memory man? Dunno...

Tuner out is pretty cool though it emits a rather loud POP when tuner mut is engaged.

I am very happy so far

 

[fredster]

Wow! I just got back from playing the Roadster head at a music store (no, I couldn't afford to have it follow me home ) I am extremely envious of you Frester!

Hehe... don't be too envious, now I have to sell some stuff to really be able to afford this.

Got a 2x12 combo roadster yesterday. I still got my other 1x12 cab as an extension cab. I agree with everything Fredster sez in his original post.

By choosing a few factory presets, I got a totally convincing setup for what I do. I do not feel the urgency of tweaking further, though I know I will.

It was the first time I was exposed to the bold / spongy approach, and I found that the tones I'm after are mostly on the spongy side. I wonder if my rectoverb is spongy or bold...

Tuner out is pretty cool though it emits a rather loud POP when tuner mut is engaged.

The ROV is definately bold. I'm going back and forth on bold/spongy. BTW - according to Mesa, you can just pop back and forth between those modes on the power switch. No need to stop on "off".

The tuner out pops a bit on mine too - in fact they all do for a coupla stomps then they quiet down.

Hey how heavy is the combo? I was thinking about the combo originally, but I figured it would be very heavy. Did you get a cover for your combo? I was told the head covers were not done yet and I should get it in a month or so. Which 1x12 cab do you have? How does it compare to the closed back combo speakers?

I know what you mean about tweaking! It seems a lot easier to dial in tones on this amp than my DR or previous Rectoverb.

 

[Gia]

Thanks for the tips about the spongy/bold switch. I wondered about that.

If my muscles remember properly, its by far the heaviest piece of equipement I had to lug around. Cleverly, the clerk at the music store insisted of moving it himself. Thanks to the casters, I was able to move it a kilometer from the shop to my house.

I got a cover, yes.

My other cab is a Mesa 3/4 opened back 1x12. I compared them, and I started with the cleans. I got pretty worried, because I mean prefer the cleans on the 1x12 : the closed 2x12 sonds nasal in comparison. But the more I added gain, the more found the 2x12 sounded focused and 'real'. The low end is a lot more defined.

Something I severely dislike about any heavy combo is that it shoots sound at you feet. I am thinking of buying a sturdy shelf and lift the combo so the speakers aim at my head and chest. I used to tilt my 1x12.

 

[Nelg]

Any clips yet?

EDIT: Just saw them in Rigs & Tones

 

[fredster]

Something I severely dislike about any heavy combo is that it shoots sound at you feet. I am thinking of buying a sturdy shelf and lift the combo so the speakers aim at my head and chest. I used to tilt my 1x12.

I have the same problem, I've always used combos (now I have a 2x12 cab) so that's where the sound goes. I get it sounding good to me sitting in front of the amp, then when I put a mic in front of the speaker, it's completely different! I like your idea, I may do something similar to get the cab and head up a bit.

 

[lifsebcbien]

Hello fredster and other roadster owners

this is my first post here so greetings all

My question concerns the roadster channels changes:

Is there any CLANK !! when you change channels as it sometimes appears on some dual rectifier?

I have to say I wanted to buy a dual rectifier but finaly bought a single rectifier cause of this CLANK !! I heard on all dual rectifier I tried.

Thanks

Seb

 

[fredster]

Is there any CLANK !! when you change channels as it sometimes appears on some dual rectifier?

Hello and welcome!

Mine has a pop when I first go into channel three, but not every time. Actually, If I come out of standby while on channel three, there's no pop at all. You can also switch around the channels while in standby when you first power it up to prevent popping. I wouldn't let that stop you from getting a great, great amp!

 

[lifsebcbien]

Thanks Fredster
In my opinion this is particulary annoying, if you don't think about the ways u founde to avoid the problem it could break way you are playing, i think it's a bit annoying on such great amps to have this kind of problem, as on the 4 dual rectifer I tried