Roadster Vs dual rec

[orionz06]

What is the difference between the roadster and the 3ch dual? I love the 4th channel on the roadster, and havent had a chance to play a dual since i tweaked the roadster...? if i get the dual (i can get it sooner) what do i lose from the roadster, other than a 4th channel?

 

[steeldragonjovi]

The biggest thing is versatility. Other than a 4th channel, the Roadster has better cleans, the option to adjust each channel of diodes or rectifier tubes, the wattage, and reverb. It's also a smoother amp than the fierce Dual.

I own a Roadster and love it. I've played the Dual and really like them too, but the Roadster is a better packaged deal in my opinion.

 

[orionz06]

does the dual rec essentially have 4th channel of the roadster, not 4 channels, but the sound of the 4th channel?

 

[steeldragonjovi]

I think you're a little confused on the additional channel. The Roadster 4 channels are two clean and two distorted. The distorted are the same as the Dual but sound a little smoother. The clean channels are more in depth with 3 modes on each channel, and it has the Lonestar's circuitry.

So, essentially, you're getting another clean channel with the option of the Brit mode, where you can get a nice distortion out of it, especially with a tube screamer.

 

[orionz06]

ok, i was essentially wondering where the extra channel came from...


so a dual rectifier head will have the "channel 4" from the roadster is what i gather, and i will lose a clean channel and some smoothness of the sound...

 

[steeldragonjovi]

That's correct. The only difference between channel 3 and 4 is the presence level.

 

[songrider]

I had both the 3 channel dual rec and the Roadster... I sold the Roadster after a few months... The Roadster didnt get as big sounding as the Dual rec to me. It was tighter and thinner sounding.

I thought the Roadster would be a Dual Rec with an extra channel and more bells and whistles but they were MORE different tonewise than I wanted or expected.

The brit channel was cool because it was like having a totally different amp stuck inside a Dual rec but I found it to always be thin and tinny sounding.

And My Dual Rec's clean channel although not as clean as the Roadster it has a warmth that the Roadster seems to lack.

But this is just my opinion and sound is subjective to everyone.

If you can go play both and see which one has the feel and sound your after...

 

[Mark Fore]

I have had a Roadster for two years. I brought it in today and traded it for a Roadster head (plus some cash). The combo was so friggin heavy and it did not sound good. I was always plugging into my other recto cabs and just got sick of picking the thing up if I wasn't going to use the combo speakers. I'm glad I did it. To me the extra bells and whistles are very practical as the Road King has too many options that I would not use. The Roadster is "just right" as far as tone porridge goes.

 

[wolverine]

Hey All !!

Just thought id ring in here ,, have been a Boogie player for many years and just went through the Dual vs the Roadster thing myself ,, when i purchased the Roadster Head I thought it was going to be my "holy grail" of amplifiers ,, I spent alot of time at my dealer and and after a couple hours decided to pull the trigger ,, I really wanted to love this amp and did give it a fair chance through many rehersals and gigs ,, heres the thing ,, i found myself constantly tweaking this thing ,, jumping between 50 and 100 ,, silicon and tube etc etc ,, just seemed to be forever searching and never really quite finding the tone that i was looking for ,, needless to say have returned to my Dually ,, ive come to the conclusion that the Roadster just had way to many options for me ,, it is a great head but its just not for me ,, heres the point ,, i think that we all search for our "nirvana" of tone and sometimes just need to realize that what we already have might just be what we needed all along ,, i went through the same thing with effects and have come to the conclusion that all I really need is a nice chorus and a little delay ,, the K.I.S.S. method seems to work for me !!

Cheers !

 

[domct203]

What sold me on the Roadster (vs. the Dual or Triple) is it's ability to choose SS or Tube Rectifier per channel, and Reverb.

Dom

 

[steeldragonjovi]

Dom,

How are you running your settings on the Roadster?

Thanks.

 

[domct203]

Dom,
How are you running your settings on the Roadster?
Thanks.

I think "Good Tone" with a Rectifier has more to do with the entire rig setup, so here it is:

My main axe is my '73 Les Paul Custom w/BL L-500XL Bridge and L-500R Neck P'ups. The Schecter (EMG's) sees more and more time lately (I LOVE the Floyd), but the Les Pauls wins out for versitility in all 4 channels. Both guitars use 10-42 Slinkys in Standard E or Drop D tunings. The Italia runs 10-52 Slinkys and stays in Drop-D Double-flat (nothing does drop-tuned chugga-chugga like a cranked Rectifier) for two songs in the set list.

Out front is a Barber Tone Press for the cleans and mid-gain tones, An 808-Modded TS-9 to tighten up high gain tones, an MXR 10-Band GEQ for 'cut' if needed, and an ISP Decimator. In the loop is a G-Major, used for delays, chorus, noise gate, etc and to control the FX Loop and Solo External Triggers, which allows me to boost the cleans with Solo, and switch out the FX Loop when not needed.

The preamp is a mix of NOS, Vintage and current production tubes. The output section runs SED =C= SV6L6GC's and Mesa 5U4GB's.

All this comes out a Recto 4X12 Slant, V30's with Beam Blockers on 3 speakers (I left one open to make it easier to mic up)

These are just basic settings that I will tweak depending on the gig, but only once or twice at the beginning of the set.

All settings used in Bold power.

OUTPUT = 10:00-11:30 (the closer to 12:00 the better)

Channel 1 Green - Clean (I use SOLO to bring up the volume)
Mode = Fat ; 100W ; Diode Rectifier
Reverb = 9:00
Gain = 9:00 ; Treble = 2:00 ; Mid = 11:00
Bass = 1:30 ; Presence = 10:30 ; Master = 11:00

Channel 2 Yellow - Dirty (I use the guitar volume and GEQ alot in this channel)
Mode = Brit ; 50W ; Diode Rectifier
Reverb = 9:30
Gain = 1:30 ; Treble = 1:00 ; Mid = 2:00
Bass = 1:00 ; Presence = 9:30 ; Master = 9:30

Channel 3 Orange - Lead/Solo
Mode = Vintage ; 100W ; Tube Rectifier
Reverb = 10:00
Gain = 2:00 ; Treble = 1:30 ; Mid = 11:30
Bass = 11:00 ; Presence = 8:30 ; Master = 11:30

Channel 4 Red - High Gain Rhythm
Mode = Modern ; 100W ; Diode Rectifier
Reverb = 9:30
Gain = 2:00 ; Treble = 1:00 ; Mid = 12:00
Bass = 10:00 ; Presence = 9:30 ; Master = 9:30


Dom

 

[steeldragonjovi]

Wow, that was great! It looks like you spent a lot of time on that, thanks again!

 

[155]

nice dom, Im gonna try some of your settings, do you play in a band ? Im in the new haven area, where are you jamming?

 

[domct203]

nice dom, Im gonna try some of your settings, do you play in a band ? Im in the new haven area, where are you jamming?

PM sent......

Dom

 

[joe web]

i use both amps in a stereo setup where i select the preamp-section i want to use.
first of all, both amps have different characters at all.
the dual recto is the more heavy sounding amp, the roadster is the better allround amp.
but the biggest different is the sound of the poweramp sections of the amps. the roadster poweramp produces more mids as the recto poweramp and this must be the reason why everybody says that the roadster is smoother.

in my setup the 4th channel of the roadster (modern mode) sounds 90% like the 2nd channel on the dual recto (modern mode).
i run the amps like this:
roadster 1st: tweed, 2nd: brit, 3rd: vintage, 4th: modern (all 100 watt and silicon diodes)
dual recto: 1st: normal, 2nd: modern, 3rd: vintage (silicon diodes)

as mentioned befor, i select the preamp-section, run thru stereo effects and go back to both amps power-section.
we do a lot of recordings and so i can hear the sound of both amps on different channels on my DAW. the roadster allways sounds like a roadster, even when the dual recto preamp is active and the roadster preamp is out. the same is with the dual recto.
the power-amp is the main difference, but there is another difference between both amps and that´s the amount of gain they have. to become the same amount of gain on the roadster as on the dual recto, i´ll have to turn up the gain on the roadster. e.g. the dual recto gain is set to 1 o´clock - the roadster must set towards 3 o´clock

 

[wildrat666]

i just love my Roadster. better sounding than the dual recto. more tight and yet more options.boost it with a maxon od808 and you re in metal heaven. had a dual recto before but sold it to get a roadster. no regrets so far. the clean channel is awesome