Roadster vs. NEW Dual Recto...

[Hendog]

I was about to pull the trigger on a Roadster when the new Dual Rectifier came out.

The new Dual Recto has much better cleans than the old and to my ear has better high gain riffing than the Roadster. Unfortunately I cannot play both in my own band setting so I would be taking a leap of faith either way.

I do own a Mark V also.



Has anyone played both? What are the Pro's and Con's of each one?

 

[Steve@Russo]

I like the new dual's my self, I feel like they do all the stuff the roadster can do plus more!

 

[jbird]

I'm not sure if the new Rectos feature the Lonestar's cleans as the Roadster does. And the Roadster seems to have a darker tone to the gain channels, dare I say smoother.

 

[b0nkersx]

Never actually played a new Dual, but I've heard one in person. Cleans are better than the old Dual, gain channels seem brighter than both the old Dual and the Roadster. The difference was most noticeable at low volumes.. playing the high gain channels in particular at low volumes usually sounds muffled. When you really start to crack the amps open, though, the difference is a lot less noticeable.

I thought the cleans and low-mid gains lost to the Roadster. The fat/tweed/brit modes are a lot of fun.

As far as high gain riffing, I've never thought the Roadster/Road King needed to be any brighter, especially on channel 4 modern. It's fair to mention however that I have a full stack sitting in my basement and having a cabinet that close to your ears definitely slams the highs in your face.

With that said, at high volumes I think the high gain sounds are pretty **** near identical. Both will give you the Recto sound. I'm sure you could get them extremely close with a few adjustments.

 

[Steve@Russo]

I thought this was a great demo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82trOdwh3-I

 

[scottkahn]

We just published our very extensive review of the new Dual Rectifier.

The amps are very similar, but I think you get more tonal variety from the Roadster. Which clean channel you prefer will be a matter of taste, but you should find them to be nearly the same for high headroom, glassy clean tones. For overdriven clean with a little dirt you may notice differences in the voicing between the new recto clean and the lone star clean.

http://www.musicplayers.com/reviews/guitars/2010/1210_MesaBoogieDualRecto.php

Scott

 

[MesaENGR412]

We just published our very extensive review of the new Dual Rectifier.

The amps are very similar, but I think you get more tonal variety from the Roadster. Which clean channel you prefer will be a matter of taste, but you should find them to be nearly the same for high headroom, glassy clean tones. For overdriven clean with a little dirt you may notice differences in the voicing between the new recto clean and the lone star clean.

http://www.musicplayers.com/reviews/guitars/2010/1210_MesaBoogieDualRecto.php

Scott

Was the "older reference model" a 2 channel or an older 3 channel? Just wondering. Great review. I love my new Multi-watts!

-AJH

 

[LesPaul70]

If you can afford a Roadster, get one. End of story.

However, seeing that you already have a Mark V, a Dual Rectifier would be more than enough for your needs. The extras that a Roadster can offer over a "Reborn" Dual Rectifier are pretty marginal for someone who has a Mark V.

I was facing a similar choice and was already heading towards a Road King II or a Roadster but ended up buying a second-hand 2-channel Dual. And haven't regretted my choice a day. There's absolutely no overlap between it and my Mark V, and most of the time, I need it just for the Vintage/Modern sounds anyway. The Mark V can cater all my other needs.

 

[scottkahn]

Was the "older reference model" a 2 channel or an older 3 channel? Just wondering. Great review. I love my new Multi-watts!

-AJH

It was a 2-channel recto, built April 1999 to be specific . Glad you liked the review. If you want real insanity, read the Road King II review .

 

[domct203]

If you can afford a Roadster, get one. End of story.

I would look for a used Roadster. If you are not in a rush I'll bet you can find a mint one with remaining warranty for less $$ than a new Multi-Watt Dual.

But of course I'm already biased towards a Roadster ! :twisted: (It sounds great with a MKV BTW !)

Dom

 

[screamingdaisy]

I was facing a similar choice and was already heading towards a Road King II or a Roadster but ended up buying a second-hand 2-channel Dual. And haven't regretted my choice a day. There's absolutely no overlap between it and my Mark V, and most of the time, I need it just for the Vintage/Modern sounds anyway. The Mark V can cater all my other needs.

I did it the other way around as I already owned a 2 channel Dual when I bought my Mark V, and I agree that there's zero overlap in terms of sound between the two amps. They're about as different as possible while somehow managing to produce the signature Boogie sound.

The only thing is that I've always found my 2ch Recto somewhat limiting... not having a true clean channel holds it back. I used to really like the clean tone of that amp, but after getting used to the cleans on the Mark V I find my Recto's clean nearly unworkable. I still love the amp and won't sell it, but I do think about buying a Roadster on a fairly regular basis as I feel it would be a far more flexible gigging option.

To the OP... as I've been thinking back and forth between the new Dual and the Roadster my question to myself has been whether I would miss not having the second clean channel.

 

[scottkahn]

That's a great point... The Recto series is a different tone than the Mark series, yet both deliver signature Boogie tone.

The new Dual Recto really solves the bad clean channel issue, and thus makes it an interesting choice between the DR and the Roadster.

 

[iceman]

Are the new dual rec's still more aggressive than the roadster (or is/was that a misnomer)? At least he DR's were brigher than the roadster, if anything from the videos the new DR's sound brighter than the old DR's.

 

[mikey383]

I was facing a similar choice and was already heading towards a Road King II or a Roadster but ended up buying a second-hand 2-channel Dual. And haven't regretted my choice a day. There's absolutely no overlap between it and my Mark V, and most of the time, I need it just for the Vintage/Modern sounds anyway. The Mark V can cater all my other needs.

I did it the other way around as I already owned a 2 channel Dual when I bought my Mark V, and I agree that there's zero overlap in terms of sound between the two amps. They're about as different as possible while somehow managing to produce the signature Boogie sound.

The only thing is that I've always found my 2ch Recto somewhat limiting... not having a true clean channel holds it back. I used to really like the clean tone of that amp, but after getting used to the cleans on the Mark V I find my Recto's clean nearly unworkable. I still love the amp and won't sell it, but I do think about buying a Roadster on a fairly regular basis as I feel it would be a far more flexible gigging option.

To the OP... as I've been thinking back and forth between the new Dual and the Roadster my question to myself has been whether I would miss not having the second clean channel.

One of the things I found to help with the 2 channel's clean sound is to get an effects processor that has an EQ. I used a Digitech GSP2101 in my Recto's loop via the 4 cable method, and the cleans were great while not changing the sound of the distortion channel.

 

[screamingdaisy]

One of the things I found to help with the 2 channel's clean sound is to get an effects processor that has an EQ. I used a Digitech GSP2101 in my Recto's loop via the 4 cable method, and the cleans were great while not changing the sound of the distortion channel.

I was using the cleans on my Recto just yesterday and they aren't nearly as bad as I remember. Guess I was having an off day the last time I used them.