...I wasn't as impressed as I thought I'd be. If I'm going to drop 2k on a new amp, the amp better wow me. The tone just seemed .....buzzy to me. Get to about 2 oclock on the Gain control and then dial the Treble in to about 1 oclock......Anything past that and the sound got bad. Plus, Channel 2 on British mode didn't impress me. Now, I don't know if I had high hopes or what, but I really was expecting something killer. Instead, I'm still on a new amp search looking somewhere else. Pretty disappointed about taking a 40 min drive just to get to a Mesa dealer and find out my Triaxis/2:90 rig's rectifier channel(lead1 Red) could do what the roadster can, but better in my opinion.
Played a Roadster today....and
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Spewnz
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what cab were you playing through?
ibanez4life SZ!
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The Roadster is a picky amp, but when you get it right, it is the best in Mesa's lineup right now IMO.
I love the amp with EL-34s. I think it sounds like complete garbage with the stock 6L6s. It also seems to like very unconventional settings, so it takes a bit to get it dialed right.
Run it LOUD through a cab with V30s, and it's just a sick tone.
Eric
I love the amp with EL-34s. I think it sounds like complete garbage with the stock 6L6s. It also seems to like very unconventional settings, so it takes a bit to get it dialed right.
Run it LOUD through a cab with V30s, and it's just a sick tone.
Eric
c.t.d-nicke
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Do you want my opinion? Stay with your rig!tedsticle said:
The Roadster (and the rest of the recs) is as Eric said picky amps and that imply "crap in crap out".
nicke
Heritage Softail
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Mesa is great but it is not the only amp in town. You could try a Soldano and see if you like it, then search for a used deal. My Rectifier and MKV are great, but the SLO is a different voice and different vibe. You may find you like that better.
The Roadster is a great amp. If it didn't impress you it just may not be 'the' amp for you. Recto's are loose and buzzy by nature, it's that 'Recto voice'.
What styles of music do you play? The Mark or Stiletto series may do the trick for you. Also, as Softail said, Mesa is not the only game in town.
Dom
What styles of music do you play? The Mark or Stiletto series may do the trick for you. Also, as Softail said, Mesa is not the only game in town.
Dom
I played it through a recto cab(since I own one of those, plus a guitar that had my exact pickups....Emg 81/85)...I play heavier style music. Tool is my favorite band, I grew up on Metallica. I've had the Triaxis for so long, that I just don't want another amp that has to be tweaked. I want to be able to plug in and go....set the gain reasonable, pump up some bass, and have a nice thick crunchy tone.
Roadster = not a plug and play amp. As others have said you have to spend some time and tweak as it has so many options doing a demo in a store really isn't going to hit all of the possible combos you can use to get whatever it is you are trying to achieve.
ibanez4life SZ!
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Not the amp for you then...definitely not plug and play...unless if you've had A LOT of time with rectos. :wink:
KH Guitar Freak
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I suggest you should go spend more time with it, unless you are a picky Mark series voicing user...
Hi,
Using a Roadster does take time and patience. One of the things that is an absolute shame about the Roadster is the garbage pre-amp 12AX7 tubes that Mesa uses. These make ALL THE DIFFERENCE IN THE WORLD in the tone of the amp. NOS RCA's, Mullards, or Telefunkens in the first and second valve positions really bring out the potential of the amp, which is simply breathtaking when you get it right. The tone that you have described is DEFINITELY caused by the stock 12AX7s. I struggled with that same problem for about a year after I bought the amp until I finally learned what I was doing with tube selection. Also, it takes some time to get a feel for what the tone stack controls are all about. The tone stack has a serial architecture, which means that when you change the position of one of the 'upstream' dials (like gain or treble) you also change the character of all of the others that are 'downstream' (like the mid and bass). Once you get a feel for the way that the controls work, the amp is so versatile that you'll never go back. The reverb is subtle but sweet, and changing output wattage, input voltage, and rectifier selections add even more options. But it takes time, 'cause the beast is very complex!
Definietly NOT a cheap plug-n-play amp, but well worth the money and time spent to learn how it works. To me, this is part of the lifetime fascination of being a guitarist -- you never stop learning if you aren't limited by your equipment choices!
Craig
Using a Roadster does take time and patience. One of the things that is an absolute shame about the Roadster is the garbage pre-amp 12AX7 tubes that Mesa uses. These make ALL THE DIFFERENCE IN THE WORLD in the tone of the amp. NOS RCA's, Mullards, or Telefunkens in the first and second valve positions really bring out the potential of the amp, which is simply breathtaking when you get it right. The tone that you have described is DEFINITELY caused by the stock 12AX7s. I struggled with that same problem for about a year after I bought the amp until I finally learned what I was doing with tube selection. Also, it takes some time to get a feel for what the tone stack controls are all about. The tone stack has a serial architecture, which means that when you change the position of one of the 'upstream' dials (like gain or treble) you also change the character of all of the others that are 'downstream' (like the mid and bass). Once you get a feel for the way that the controls work, the amp is so versatile that you'll never go back. The reverb is subtle but sweet, and changing output wattage, input voltage, and rectifier selections add even more options. But it takes time, 'cause the beast is very complex!
Definietly NOT a cheap plug-n-play amp, but well worth the money and time spent to learn how it works. To me, this is part of the lifetime fascination of being a guitarist -- you never stop learning if you aren't limited by your equipment choices!
Craig
I'm going to call up the dealer and see if they'll let me throw some pre-amp tubes in next time I visit. Has anybody done that before? I'm going to be trying out a lot of amps and want to go back and try the Roadster plus Stilleto one more time before making any final decisions.
davidfloyd
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Great point about preamp tubes. Really can be said about ANY modern high-gain amp as the preamp stage is the critical voice of the gain stages and tone stack before the output tubes have anything to do with the rest of the tone...
I'm surprised to hear others talk of the Roadster not being "plug and play". I really feel it's the opposite. Yes, it takes SOME time simply due to quantities of knobs/switches, but certainly not to the level of a MK series.
Especially if you set it for "hard bypass" of the loop on the back, then when you go to the front, you'll have four separate amplifiers and four master volumes. And it will sound better/purer IMO.
I mean this is one of those amps that can be dialed in for ANY tone. Really. I've owned some of the greatest classic amps in the past (vintage '63 Vox AC30 top boost, '57 tweed Twin, Fender '64 Pro Reverb, '66 Super Reverb, various years of Marshall JTM45, Marshall plexi '68 and '69 100 watt, early '70s JMP series 50 and 100 watt, Soldano SLO, Mesa MK I,MK II, IV). I don't own any of them anymore and I don't miss them.
So if the Roadster is not sounding good, all tastes aside, I wonder if there's something wrong with it. Do note that any low-level in-store playing is going to emphasize the preamp buzzing with the gain turned up unless you change the e.q. a bit. That's just what preamp tubes do. Compensate for it by adding more bass and reducing presence at lower volumes or turn it up to get the amp in full bloom.
Now with all this gloating on the Roadster, it wasn't the perfect amp for me until I ditched the V30's. I know others have heard my argument about this before, but my "core" interest of tone is more of a quality Marshall style rock tone. Switching to G12K100's (which is what Diezel has done with thier amps too, so it's not just me), voices the amp perfectly where the cleans are sparkling Fender like, and the distortion has crunch with less V30 buzz and nasal midrange.
If there's a Marshall 1960B "bottom" 4 x 12 cabinet in the store to check it out with, you may find that you prefer that over the Mesa cabinet. The 1960B uses the 75 watt Celestions, not the 100's, but it is fairly close and can at least give you an idea. I don't like the slant cabs (not enough air volume for one thing and directional issues), which is why I say try it in a B-cab if you can.
But back to the original point, if they'll let you swap tubes (doubtful), then that would be a first thing to do. That and hard bypass it on the back. Good luck.
The Roadster's still on a two year honeymoon with me. That doesn't often happen with gear. I have a clip of a gained up Roadster sound with the 100's on my site under the Charvel review I recently did BTW you can check out if you'd like.
David
I'm surprised to hear others talk of the Roadster not being "plug and play". I really feel it's the opposite. Yes, it takes SOME time simply due to quantities of knobs/switches, but certainly not to the level of a MK series.
Especially if you set it for "hard bypass" of the loop on the back, then when you go to the front, you'll have four separate amplifiers and four master volumes. And it will sound better/purer IMO.
I mean this is one of those amps that can be dialed in for ANY tone. Really. I've owned some of the greatest classic amps in the past (vintage '63 Vox AC30 top boost, '57 tweed Twin, Fender '64 Pro Reverb, '66 Super Reverb, various years of Marshall JTM45, Marshall plexi '68 and '69 100 watt, early '70s JMP series 50 and 100 watt, Soldano SLO, Mesa MK I,MK II, IV). I don't own any of them anymore and I don't miss them.
So if the Roadster is not sounding good, all tastes aside, I wonder if there's something wrong with it. Do note that any low-level in-store playing is going to emphasize the preamp buzzing with the gain turned up unless you change the e.q. a bit. That's just what preamp tubes do. Compensate for it by adding more bass and reducing presence at lower volumes or turn it up to get the amp in full bloom.
Now with all this gloating on the Roadster, it wasn't the perfect amp for me until I ditched the V30's. I know others have heard my argument about this before, but my "core" interest of tone is more of a quality Marshall style rock tone. Switching to G12K100's (which is what Diezel has done with thier amps too, so it's not just me), voices the amp perfectly where the cleans are sparkling Fender like, and the distortion has crunch with less V30 buzz and nasal midrange.
If there's a Marshall 1960B "bottom" 4 x 12 cabinet in the store to check it out with, you may find that you prefer that over the Mesa cabinet. The 1960B uses the 75 watt Celestions, not the 100's, but it is fairly close and can at least give you an idea. I don't like the slant cabs (not enough air volume for one thing and directional issues), which is why I say try it in a B-cab if you can.
But back to the original point, if they'll let you swap tubes (doubtful), then that would be a first thing to do. That and hard bypass it on the back. Good luck.
The Roadster's still on a two year honeymoon with me. That doesn't often happen with gear. I have a clip of a gained up Roadster sound with the 100's on my site under the Charvel review I recently did BTW you can check out if you'd like.
David
Yeah, the V30s are absolutely horrible with the Roadster. If you like good tone, stay away from them with that amp. Try to find a Roadster that has already been re-tubed and play that. And it's really not that hard to find a beautiful quickly when you have those two creatures out of the way.
ibanez4life SZ!
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I love my Roadster with V30s...I'm a little confused by that statement aswell.
KH Guitar Freak
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