Roadster Brit setting

[alex1fly]

I'm falling more and more in love with my Roadster every time I play it. I had previously dismissed the brit setting, telling myself that I would wait to use it until I got some el-34s and could use it to its fullest potential. But today I turned the gain down to breakup level and wow! It sounds so amazing. Its punchier than the other settings. I like the glassy, CD-like quality that it adds. I am now re-contemplating putting el34s in because I can get the brit crunch without them!

I thought that maybe people could discuss their usage of the Brit setting on their Roadsters and Road kings, what tubes they use, and just how they feel about it in general. I'm loving it!

 

[fredster]

I thought that maybe people could discuss their usage of the Brit setting on their Roadsters and Road kings, what tubes they use, and just how they feel about it in general. I'm loving it!

When I had a Roadster, I had some great results with el34s and a Hotplate to get a bit of power tube breakup. Sounded great with an SG!

 

[jamme61]

i just got the Roadster yesterday and only have a couple of hrs on it. I'm very happy with brit and don't think you need the el34's. I like the brit setting in solid diode and on 50 watts. I have had many Marshalls and still have a Plexi so i know and love the Marshall sound, i think the Roadster is doing a great job of getting me the marshall tones. Remember some of the greatest marshalls tones of all time came from the KT-66 (6l6 family) some people dig 6550's in marshalls too, and don't forget KT88's. I think if you got the cash, check out the el34's but I think it's not going to be that big a difference and i think the other tones will suffer. Still I've only been playing the amp a couple of hours but, i do have the Plexi right next to it, to ab it. I think tweed cranked up has some marshall tones in it to. so far I love Tweed and Brit and Vintage on the 3rd channel. Still have a long way to go with this baby, great amp!

 

[twostring]

For my setup, I really wish Mesa would have put both the tweed and brit settings in channels 1 and 2. The clean setting lacks volume and punch to me, but the Brit setting is the best clean sound I've ever heard. It's got a lot of punch and cut that you normally don't find in clean tones. And the tweed setting makes a great slightly-gritty channel for rhythm. But I really like going back and forth between clean and slightly gritty with the brit setting.

I was having difficulty with this amp for a while, but it's starting to deliver more and more each day.

 

[jamme61]

For my setup, I really wish Mesa would have put both the tweed and brit settings in channels 1 and 2. The clean setting lacks volume and punch to me, but the Brit setting is the best clean sound I've ever heard. It's got a lot of punch and cut that you normally don't find in clean tones. And the tweed setting makes a great slightly-gritty channel for rhythm. But I really like going back and forth between clean and slightly gritty with the brit setting.

I was having difficulty with this amp for a while, but it's starting to deliver more and more each day.

i would have liked another channel with clean and tweed and brit and just one recto channel. I love the tweed and the brit but I would really love to hve clean too. Oh well still cool amp so far.

 

[alex1fly]

I've found that the brit setting does have some treble frequences that seem to jab themselves into my brain, even with the tone knob rolled down, treble down, and presence at 0. I'm betting though, that it will sound a lot better in a full band situation.

I'm in the same situation- had some trouble with the amp at first, but now I'm starting to understand it. I made the classic newb mistake- try playing with too much gain, wonder why its muddy... now I hardly turn the gain above 1 or 2 oclock, and the Modern mode even seems like too much for me. I've also discovered that low output pickups are THE way to go... all of the screamers I've tried have just been bland and flat.

Before I try some different tubes I'm going to get a clean boost pedal (SD pickup booster) and try setting the Brit channel to slightly breakup and then using the pedal to overdrive it. While I don't want my other channels to suffer, I don't see myself playing metal or hardcore or anything that requires a lot of gain with a band anytime soon. I would like to have more crunch in channels 3 and 4- but again, the Brit setting with a booster may be just what I'm looking for.

Jamme61, you say that the tweed mode gets some good Marshall tones? I'll have to play with those some more, I've only used the Tweed setting to cop Fender tones so far.

 

[jamme61]

I've found that the brit setting does have some treble frequences that seem to jab themselves into my brain, even with the tone knob rolled down, treble down, and presence at 0. I'm betting though, that it will sound a lot better in a full band situation.

I'm in the same situation- had some trouble with the amp at first, but now I'm starting to understand it. I made the classic newb mistake- try playing with too much gain, wonder why its muddy... now I hardly turn the gain above 1 or 2 oclock, and the Modern mode even seems like too much for me. I've also discovered that low output pickups are THE way to go... all of the screamers I've tried have just been bland and flat.

Before I try some different tubes I'm going to get a clean boost pedal (SD pickup booster) and try setting the Brit channel to slightly breakup and then using the pedal to overdrive it. While I don't want my other channels to suffer, I don't see myself playing metal or hardcore or anything that requires a lot of gain with a band anytime soon. I would like to have more crunch in channels 3 and 4- but again, the Brit setting with a booster may be just what I'm looking for.

Jamme61, you say that the tweed mode gets some good Marshall tones? I'll have to play with those some more, I've only used the Tweed setting to cop Fender tones so far.

+1 with everything you said. Also on the tweed sound: if I push the gain on the tweed(say 2 oclock) easy on the bass and mids(don't remember but no higher then 11 oclock) and 2 oclock on the treble and high presence3 or higher, then I get some JTM45 marshall, which is real close(for good reason ) to a fender bassman sound. Some poster here was lovin the fat setting and I just started digging on that last night. I didn'tdig the fat setting at first. The cool thing is the amp is loaded with all kinds of tones, not just locked into Mesa only. Love this amp.

 

[Skunknugget]

I've had my Roadster for 6 months and only figured out how to properly configure it within the last 2 months. The first time I heard the Brit mode it was overloaded with ear-piercing highs and thought it was made for EL34's, but I eventually found some good settings on it and ended up loving it. My only complaint is that the Brit mode breaks up so early that you have to keep the gain knob way down if you want any light crunch that isn't too saturated. I've actually found a Marshall-ish crunch that I like better now on channel 3 (orange) on Vintage. I keep the gain low and the mids up. This way I actually have more room for low-to-medium-gain tones than the brit channel. Kinda weird since this is one of the high-gain channels! At first I didn't know why they gave us 2 hi-gain channels but channel 3 is nice to use for lower gain lead or crunch sounds so you can save channel 4 for the bowel-moving chunk.

I used to have a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe, which for those who don't know, is a modern pseudo-copy of a Fender Bassman. I never fully appreciated the glassy crystal clean sound of that amp until it fried and I couldn't use it anymore...but I can get VERY CLOSE to the Hot Rod's clean and fat dirty tones with Clean, Fat, and Tweed on my Roadster. I like all 3 of these modes - it depends on how much gain and punch you want. I find all 3 of them to be very useful.

Another thing I've noticed about the amp which I'd like to pass on...the Red channel on Modern - Try lowering the gain, play with the EQ (cut the lows, add mids), and even add a clean boost or eq pedal in your signal chain, and you can get close to every other sound the amp has on all the other channels! This channel and mode is actually what the entire amp is voiced for. To me it sounds the most natural and balanced, though I still save it for the high-gain use. The other 3 channels are still great!

 

[jamme61]

I've had my Roadster for 6 months and only figured out how to properly configure it within the last 2 months. The first time I heard the Brit mode it was overloaded with ear-piercing highs and thought it was made for EL34's, but I eventually found some good settings on it and ended up loving it. My only complaint is that the Brit mode breaks up so early that you have to keep the gain knob way down if you want any light crunch that isn't too saturated. I've actually found a Marshall-ish crunch that I like better now on channel 3 (orange) on Vintage. I keep the gain low and the mids up. This way I actually have more room for low-to-medium-gain tones than the brit channel. Kinda weird since this is one of the high-gain channels! At first I didn't know why they gave us 2 hi-gain channels but channel 3 is nice to use for lower gain lead or crunch sounds so you can save channel 4 for the bowel-moving chunk.

]
I'm with you on chn 3 vintage doing Marshall, to me that Marshall sound is more JCM800 to DSL 2000 type Marshall sound (cool) and chn 2 brit is more Plexi Marshall sound(cool). I also am cutting the bass and cranking the mids (mids all the way up) on chn3 and 4 and also going easy on the gain. I love chn 3 vintage for lead too. A boost pedal would be cool to try with chn1 and 2 for a blues tone lead, have to check that out.

 

[tele_jas]

Before I sold my Roadster, the Brit channel with el34's was probably one of my favorite channels. Actually, I liked el34's better in that amp all the way around. Gave the cleans a bit more chime and the distortion a bit more mid bite and a tighter low end.

Just my $.02 worth

 

[scottkahn]

I never understood keeping the channel mode called "Brit" on the Roadster. On my Road King II, I use the Brit mode in combination with EL-34s.

On the Roadster, you get some Brit-like behavior, but not really the pure British sound with a 6L6 power section behind it. I'm certainly not saying that it sounds bad -- obviously it's a great sounding voicing for the channel. Just think it should have been called something else on the Roadster.

 

[jamme61]

I never understood keeping the channel mode called "Brit" on the Roadster. On my Road King II, I use the Brit mode in combination with EL-34s.

On the Roadster, you get some Brit-like behavior, but not really the pure British sound with a 6L6 power section behind it. I'm certainly not saying that it sounds bad -- obviously it's a great sounding voicing for the channel. Just think it should have been called something else on the Roadster.

I'm starting to use the tweed sound as my Marshall crunch rythm sound and instead of brit I'm going with fat clean. I just got the amp and who knows down the road but i like chn3 vintage for my JCM800 Marshall tone and tweed for JTM45, and fat clean is growing on me for my clean rythm stuff. I also just dialed in a blues setting(from the manual) for channel 4 and it sounds really good.

 

[jamme61]

it's only been a week but the more I play the brit setting, the more i don't like it. You need the presence and highs to get the marshall thing going, but then get harsh high end hitting you(and you can't dial it out). this is the sound that kept me a way from the stilleto. I'm getting better marshall tones from the tweed setting. I wish i had two channels of tweed.

 

[123thefirst]

You need the presence and highs to get the marshall thing going, but then get harsh high end hitting you(and you can't dial it out). this is the sound that kept me a way from the stilleto.

I've found the same thing as I recently posted about the Road King where I'm using 2 EL34's. It helps to have the C90 Open Back cabinet but even there you still get the shrill highs. Also I'd like the Brit mode to have more gain on tap. I still have high hopes for it and using a boost/compression/overdrive such as the BB Preamp should make it very usable along with an EQ pedal.

 

[jamme61]

You need the presence and highs to get the marshall thing going, but then get harsh high end hitting you(and you can't dial it out). this is the sound that kept me a way from the stilleto.

I've found the same thing as I recently posted about the Road King where I'm using 2 EL34's. It helps to have the C90 Open Back cabinet but even there you still get the shrill highs. Also I'd like the Brit mode to have more gain on tap. I still have high hopes for it and using a boost/compression/overdrive such as the BB Preamp should make it very usable along with an EQ pedal.

I agree it needs more gain too. I've heard great things about the bb, I was going to get one and then read about the bb+, http://www.prosoundcommunications.com/english/xotic/effects/ac_bb_plus/index.html should be out in September.

 

[123thefirst]

I absolutely take back what I said about the reverb and now I absolutely love the Brit mode too! See my other post for details.

 

[alex1fly]

I have an SD pickup booster on the way and I'm looking forward to using it with the Tweed/Brit modes to really add some fire.

 

[Skunknugget]

I am now a huge fan of the Tweed mode with the gain and treble cranked. (Somehow the treble adds crunch.) I still like the Brit mode, but it seems like the Tweed mode gives you more options between clean and crunchy, whereas the Brit mode breaks up almost immediately. I would have to say that the Tweed mode crunch sound is the most natural sounding non-recto tone I've heard from this amp so far!

 

[123thefirst]

Phew! I spent the weekend recording with the Road King (primarily lead work) and am even more amazed at how it sounds and responds. Once again I loved Tweed, both in low gain and max gain settings. But Brit totally blew my mind. For hard rock rhythm playing it lacks the gain needed to play everything from the 70's by itself but for playing leads it's incredible!

With the EL34's there's definitely a Marshall hiding somewhere inside the RK. I had to focus intently to keep from sounding too much like John McLaughlin from the Mahavishnu Orchestra days. In Brit mode even! That completely surprised me. But I'm happy. Very happy.

Using 6L6's in the RK, I found that the Recto Preamp with a speaker simulator just nails the RK rectified and miked sound. It would be hard to tell the difference I think though the miked cabinet and power amp have a bit more of a complex harmonic haze. Very exceptional job done in the design of the Recto Preamp. Of course the RK is a different beast with EL34's and the Recto Preamp can't simulate that.

 

[francric]

To me tweed and brit kinda sound the same. I like tweed alot. Still playing with brit. I would like to get a nice brit sound but I'm thinking I may use channel 2 on fat or clean. I have channel 3 on vintage for a nice crunch and 4 on modern for that recto sound.