The Roadster and it's ability

[steeldragonjovi]

I have been in the market for a Roadster for over a year now, but since to moving, buying a new car, and all other factors that went into play over the course of that year, I still haven't been able to get one!

So finally, I have a job at Guitar Center now (which I hate) and am getting a very good deal on a 2x12 combo! I played it on Tuesday at a local Mesa dealer, because the GC I work at doesn't carry Mesa (lame, I know), and I was completely blown away. That thing is perfect! I had to have spent over an hour getting reacquainted with such an art piece. I felt it had everything I needed without having to throw anything through the loop.

I've played a Mark IV, but that was a year ago in Hollywood and wish I had it to compare to the Roadster or at least remember much about it. I've heard a lot of debate of which would be better, but I believe for the style I am playing, the Roadster is the one for me.

Finally, I should be getting this rockin' amp next week! I'm so excited! It's my first Mesa product and hopefully not my last!

 

[jdurso]

congrats man... the roadster is a killer, versitile amp. i find new tones everyday and i've had mine for about a year and a half right now. what kind of music do you play?

 

[steeldragonjovi]

I play rock. My influences would be Alter Bridge and Dream Theater.

 

[jdurso]

I play rock. My influences would be Alter Bridge and Dream Theater.

i think the roadster is a **** fine fit for that style. The Mark IV would also work too, especially for the DT stuff. I find with the right settings and a eq in the loop you can basically achieve almost any tone you want. An OD infront helps too with getting more tones. in no way do i think an eq or OD is absolutely necessary, but i do think it gets you more variety.

For instance for a coheed & cambria type rhythm i use settting 1 and for a more metallica rhythm i use setting 2. Same channel but with the additional pieces of gear i can get 2 very different sounds out of the same channel.

Setting 1: Channel 3, Raw, Diodes, Bass 12, Mid 11, Treble 1, Presence 10, Gain 11
Setting 2: same as setting 1 but i have a Fulltone OCD (OD pedal) boosting the front end of the amp (setting are gain 8, level 4, tone 1) and an eq in the loop where i pull down the 200hz, slightly boost the 100 hz, 800 hz, and 1600 hz.

I use these same settings all the time on the eq and OCD and use them to get 2 sounds out of each channel of the amp... essentially giving me 8 distict tones to work with. Add in all the tones i get out of my PRS and adding reverbs and delays and even some other fun fx and you have endless possibilities if you know how to work the gear and get different tones through yoru fingers. I've thought aout selling the roadster a few times now, but i always come back to the fact it does more for me than any other amp i've played. Consider the fact i have the rg-16 (switching system) and when i upgrade my fx to something like the axe-fx or eventide eclipse, i basically have the functionaility and diversity of a Line 6 amp, but its true tube/pedal tone.

lastly...Welcome to the club If you ever have any questions feel free to ask as there are a lot of brilliant minds on this board who in my eyes are as friendly, helpful and genuine as your going to find on the web.

 

[Machine Gun]

Congratulations!!!

 

[steeldragonjovi]

Hey thanks. Were you talking about the Mark or Roadster?

 

[Nitrobattery]

Hey man, congrats on being able to get a good deal. I'm no stranger to either amp so I hope this helps.

Basically from what you said, the Roadster is the way to. I've had two Rectos, a Mark IV and now have a Roadster and while they're all awesome amps, the Roadster sounds like it will fit your style a little better.

Here's the thing though, there is definitely a lot of studio magic on the Alter Bridge albums, and you're not hearing all Mesa there. There's a lot of Bogner, Marshall, and Diezel in there as well. Rectifiers aren't known for being overly tight, and while the Roadster is MUCH tighter sounding than your average Recto, in my opinion it still needs a little help. The first thing I would do is yank out the stock power tubes and replace them with Tung-Sol EL34b's. They're basically the best of both worlds when it comes to 6L6's and EL34's. They're tight like the 6L6's and have enough headroom where your cleans never break up (unless you want them too) but they crunh enough on the high gain channels to give channels 3 & 4 a lot of sizzle without the typical recto buzzsaw fizz. The other thing I can't stress enough is to use an overdrive in front of the amp. Set your dirty channels so the gain is considerably lower than you'd normally have it, turn the gain knob on the pedal almost all of the way down, and turn the level or volume almost all of the way up. You'll be floored by how much more clarity and definition you get by doing this. It's an old tried and true method, and it definitely works. Mark Tremonti used a Klon Centaur for a while, but eventually switched back to an Ibanez TS-9. In my humble opinion, I'd go with a Maxon OD808.

I used to run a Dual Rectifier along with a Mark IV to get the sounds I wanted, and after I found the Roadster I knew I'd found what I'd always been looking for. You name it, I've either owned it or put a lot of hours on it. Mesa, Bogner, Framus, Marshall, Peavey, Krank, Randall, Diezel, VHT etc etc. After all of the amps I've gone through, I always keep coming back to Mesa...and after buying a Roadster, now I know I'll never stray again.



My old rig

All I need

Now I do want to say though that the Mark IV is an absolutely INCREDIBLE amp. I had one for a long time, and I definitely will own another one in the near future. As anyone who's been on the board for a while knows, I'm a huge Metallica fan. Even though I don't listen to them as much as I used to, James Hetfield was/is a huge inspiration to me and his guitar tone is next to none. I'll never forget the fist time I plugged into a Mark IV and realized that it was basically Metallica in a box. Not only that, but the cleans are amazing, it had gobs of usable gain, and it's hands down the most versatile amp I've ever played though. I was a big fan of running both EL34's and 6L6's at the same time, and the thing was a slamming amp. The Mark IV can do anything, but at least for me, I wanted a little more of that Recto thump. I had a Recto and a Mark IV, sold them both for an ENGL, sold the ENGL and picked up a DC-5, then sold the DC-5 and got a Framus Cobra, then eventually came back to the Mesa family and am in heaven with the Roadster.

I've played a lot of shows, in a lot of different sized venues...sometimes with good sound guys, sometimes not....and it's only been with the Roadster that every single show I'm thinking to myself, "My god, my guitar sounds amazing".

 

[steeldragonjovi]

Hey, thanks a bunch man. That really helped me into feeling very confident about this amp (not saying I wasn't before). However, do you run an eq through your loop or anything? I've read about a lot of people doing that and how it makes a big difference.

 

[Nitrobattery]

I'm more anal about pickups, speakers, tubes, pedals etc. Your tubes play a HUGE roll on your sound, and the more I learn the less actual gear I use. I eventually stripped my old Boogie rig down from the other picture I posted to this.

Then the more I experimented I brought it down to just the Mark IV and a boss NS-2. An EQ in the loop will definitely help, and is a very easy solution to the quest for the perfect guitar sound. One of the things I try to do though is keep my rig as simple as possible. That means there's less that can go wrong live and set up and tear down time gets cut in half. I'm in a metal band, and if there's 5 bands on the bill and you're not the headliner or the opener, you have to get your *** up there fast, play, and then get your *** right off. Plus, I don't think anyone will argue that bypassing an effects loop and keeping the signal as simple as possible just about always sounds better. If you pick up a Roadster you'll be floored by how much of a difference there is between using the solo and master volume feature, or just running it in hard bypass. I tried a bunch of different tubes in the Roadster and found ones that get me the sound I want, without having to run an EQ in the loop, and it allows me to run the amp in hard bypass.

In reference to the pic above, I ran the bigger rig with two heads, brought it down to the Mark IV with some other goodies, then tried a bunch of different tubes, and run the Mark IV totally dry. Here's a pretty good example of what the Mark IV sounds like on its own. Mind you I was 17 so the playing wasn't where it is now, but you get the idea


http://soundclick.com/share?songid=5475523

 

[PineappleBrains]

If your changing the power tubes from 6l6's to el34's, is that when it is required to change the bias switch? I have never changed tubes myself, is it easy enough to do, or should i bring it to an amp tech?

 

[steeldragonjovi]

Yeah, you'll flip that switch over to the EL34 setting.

 

[Nitrobattery]

If your changing the power tubes from 6l6's to el34's, is that when it is required to change the bias switch? I have never changed tubes myself, is it easy enough to do, or should i bring it to an amp tech?

No tech needed that's one of the cool things about Mesa amps. Just flip the switch to EL34, pop in the tubes, and you're good to go.