Rectifier vs Roadster

[Devon8822]

So I am wondering about the basic rectifiers (dual and triple) vs the roadster rect. From the clips I have heard the roadster seems to sound less "typical mesa sponge tone" and seems to have more usable lead tone. I dont know if these observations are at all worthy but I was hoping to get some info from someone who has or has played both amps. We all know that the triple rect has more headroom, tighter, and cleans break up later than the dual rect... how does the roadster compare to the dual rect?

 

[joe web]

i use both amps and i must say the roadster is the better "over all" amp.
the roadster isn´t as much "metal" sounding as the dual recto, but you can get the same sounds out of it, but with different eq settings.
the cleans are better and you have more posibility with them (clean, fat, tweed) - i love the tweed mode!
what i think is the most advantage of the roadster: one extra channel, selecting 50/100 watt per channel, and tubetracking or silicon diodes for each channel.

 

[Bullen]

I do prefer the Roadster to the 3 ch Dual/Triple rectos. It just sounds more organic and warm to me. The cleans are much better. And it can get just as heavy as it´s chrome plated siblings. It´s a slightly darker amp so the presence and treble knobs are more useful and less "icepicky". Great amp!

I like it as much as I did my old 2ch dual recto. It´s not quite the same, but a lot closer to the old 2 ch tone than the 3 ch versions are.

 

[Devon8822]

One of the big deciding factors will be heaviness... one of you said the dual/triple rects can be heavier/more metal sounding and one of you said that the roadster can get just as heavy/metal sounding as the dual/triple rects. Can it? from the clips, the roadster sound great but I haven't heard one get as metal as most of the triple rects I have heard.

 

[Metaltastic]

Roadster can definitely get as heavy and saturated as you will EVER need, trust me on that (and of course a Tube Screamer-type pedal is mandatory IMO, not for adding any extra drive but just for thinning some of the lows before the input signal to tighten them up) - I've played them and heard them (both live and in clips) multiple times to be quite certain of this, and I up until recently owned 2 ch. Dual Rec that was sweet except for the amount of fizz it would have at gain levels sufficient for metal (meaning, when the palm mutes actually had sustain beyond the initial attack, and I'm talking more fizz than would be present in comparable high-gain amps, because of course some fizz is expected). Here's a clip demonstrating what I mean, I eq'ed out as much of the fizz as I thought I could get away with, but some still remains (however, I don't like the sound of overly processed tones, so I didn't want to cut any more)

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/332050/AoF%20Rough%20GTRS.mp3

And according to owners and a guy I spoke to at Mesa, the Roadster is voiced slightly darker than the standard Dual/Triple recs, and actually, the reason I sold my 2 ch. was to buy one! (though once I had the money, a bunch of car expenses reared their heads, so it'll be awhile yet :evil: )

 

[Nitrobattery]

The Roadster can get plenty heavy enough. Here's a rough cut from one of my band's songs.

http://soundclick.com/share?songid=7786475

 

[fjk1138]

For my 2 cents, I had a Triple that I loved, but I love the Roadster better. The tone and dynamics are smoother overall, and it has built in reverb and a series FX loop. You really can't go wrong with either though.

 

[fluff191]

Roadster is a cool amp. Still prefer my modded 3 Channel though. And my 2 Channel smokes both of them. MWHAHA!