roadster complaints and praises

[JAZZGEAR]

Does the Road King II also have this?

Nope....instant switching, albeit with an occasional pop.

 

[jbird]

I'm sure every amp has its drawbacks.. and now that I think of it 1899 isn't overpriced for an amp with 4 great channels and only a couple flaws..

Huh?

Think again!

 

[Strat N My Stuff]

As of now I own an LSS. (the duration may be short lived) It appears that the "pop" which occurs when oving the Standby, and unpredictably I might add, in that it doesn't do it every time, only when you really wish it wouldn't, is characterized by my dealer as "typical to boutique amps" and something you just gotta live with.

I'm getting noise when I move the watt switch, the thick/thicker switch, it doesn't matter. But something has to be out of the ordinary in mine, given the strange combination of problems. Thats another story.

 

[Rocky]

A friend of mine had the delay when switching channels issue. Couldnt be rectified in his case.

He went with a Lonestar Classic and is living happily ever after.

 

[barneyc4]

But is it really bad? I will be thrown out of the song if I need to do a quick switch from a clean verse to a channel 4 recto chorus?!

 

[domct203]

Well I've had my Roadster a couple of weeks now and have ZERO complaints. The channel pop has completely dissappeared, and there is no latency when switching channels. (My ser# is in the 1500's)

Dom

 

[twostring]

I've had my Roadster now for a few months and I haven't seen any of those problems in my amp. Every now and again, I'll get a pop when switching to channel 3. The reverb fade in isn't really a big problem because I don't use much reverb...I use a delay in the loop and that's always on. Changing channels is instant with no gap. I also use a GT-8 every now and again, and with the proper setup, I don't have any issues with that rig as well. I have yet to try the noise supressor on it though.

 

[lockbody]

After comparing the two, my Roadster has no more delay switching channels than this Stiletto II I just got.

 

[barneyc4]

rainsong, you said that you were able to get channel 4 modern to sound exactly like your 2 channel dual rectifier?

 

[siggy14]

There is a reason for the reverb fade, it happens to be if you dont you get a nasty sound when switching from Drity to clean with reverb, it shakes the springs and does not sound good.

I've had my Roadster now for a few months and I haven't seen any of those problems in my amp. Every now and again, I'll get a pop when switching to channel 3. The reverb fade in isn't really a big problem because I don't use much reverb...I use a delay in the loop and that's always on. Changing channels is instant with no gap. I also use a GT-8 every now and again, and with the proper setup, I don't have any issues with that rig as well. I have yet to try the noise supressor on it though.

 

[siggy14]

If you like the JSX, try getting an old peavey ultra head, will give you that hot rod marshall sound at a great price.

I picked a 1x12 combo up for $200 and i think they usually go for about $350, but even at that price, they are worth it.

 

[koolaid]

Yes the peavey ultra is an awesome amp...the rhythm guitarist in my band has an old one with the light up peavey logo...its way better than newer peavey amps imo. This thread scared me a little bit because im wanna of those on the fence roadster buyers...but im pretty sure i still want it. I just cant justify buying the dual rec when i can get so much more for just 200 bucks with the roadster...

 

[rainsong86]

There is a reason for the reverb fade, it happens to be if you dont you get a nasty sound when switching from Drity to clean with reverb, it shakes the springs and does not sound good.

I've had my Roadster now for a few months and I haven't seen any of those problems in my amp. Every now and again, I'll get a pop when switching to channel 3. The reverb fade in isn't really a big problem because I don't use much reverb...I use a delay in the loop and that's always on. Changing channels is instant with no gap. I also use a GT-8 every now and again, and with the proper setup, I don't have any issues with that rig as well. I have yet to try the noise supressor on it though.

yea.. I AM used to digital effects.. now that I think of it I do prefer the subtle, ambient spring reverb.. still on the fence whether it's worth the fade-in delay.. and after reading the manual I see what you're saying about the fade in being necessary.. does it really need to last a good 3 seconds though?.. I can imagine switching from a dry channel 3 signal instantly to a lush reverb clean channel would result in some unfavorable noise

and yes I plugged a Yamaha AES920 into an A/B pedal using the same make of instrument cable straight into each amp.. the roadster was on one side of my mesa traditional (at 4 ohms of course) and the 2 channel was on the other (it has a detachable power cable and parallel effects loop to give you any idea of the year.. it wasn't an earlier model and it did have pretty good cleans).. the 2 channel tubes had some playing wear on them (but I'm sure some goofs left the Guitar Center Roadster floor model tubes engaged all day at one point anyways).. I don't remember the settings but I do remember setting my IDEAL 2 channel high gain red channel setting and trying my best to match the roadster up with it at the same decibel level.. I truely got nearly the exact same tightness, responsiveness (if that's a word) and tone.. now this doesn't say that I know how to dial in the perfect recto tone but I've been playing them for a while I'm and surely not one of the baggy-pants idiots who scoops his mids on a mesa or anything ridiculous like that.. also I keep the gain around 1-2 o clock

 

[rainsong86]

one more thing.. I can't believe some of you are saying your roadsters don't have even a short switching delay.. color me green.. btw my roadster is vr0010**

 

[domct203]

one more thing.. I can't believe some of you are saying your roadsters don't have even a short switching delay.. color me green.. btw my roadster is vr0010**

I'm using the external (MIDI) switching. I wouldn't say there is ZERO latency ALL the time, but it's so little that most times I think it's just me switching a little late once an a while.

Also, after one cycle of channel switching, the "pop" is gone all night.

And yes, those old Ultra's with the light up logo is one of Peavey's best rock heads IMO.

Dom

 

[Iwar]

I've never had problems with the delay when switching channels, and I usually go from clean to channel 3 or 4 in several songs with my band. The "pop" sound when switching channels only occurs once after the amp is turned on, if at all, atleast in my case.

I was kinda dissappointed with the modern setting on channels 3 and 4 by the way, but a week ago I switched tubes to EL-34's, and now I couldn't be happier with my overdrive sounds.

 

[Rocco Stiletto]

I think the Stiletto Ace has plenty of gain. On the Fluid Drive mode I only have the gain around 1:00 and it's ripping. Checkout the Guitar One CD-ROM with Gilbert/Petrucci on the cover (a few months back). Petrucci plays through the Stiletto Ace Combo during his lesson, and it sounds awesome. Gain is not an issue.

The JSX does have more gain, but I found I wasn't using it anyways. In contrast, the Stiletto can do the vintage Marshall types tones much better (IMHO).

In the Guitar World G3 interview (out now), Satriani says that the modeling amps still suck. I wouldn't rely on a POD to provide your Recto tones. It's just not going to be the same. Petrucci even agreed. Check out the interview.