Trem-O-Verb Cleans vs Roadster Cleans?

[TremoJem]

I just recently put a 12AT7 in V6.

I love what it did for the cleans.

Focused and more musical with what might be called cleaner sounding, I guess.

I do not have my manual with me and am wondering what V5 is and how the 12AT7 can work there.

I do not question it, just that I can't remember what V5 is and sort of remember some posts saying not to place a 12AT7 in any spot other than PI.

I am kinda new to rolling tubes so I am sure I am mistaken.

My experience with the gain is that it is definitely different using a 12AT7.

I can't really put my finger on it.

It is not less gain, but more focused. I have to really play around with the controls now, to dial in the tone, as it is so new to me.

I also placed a Tung-Sol 12AX7 in V1 so this plays into the whole tone and change in sound reference too and it is really nice I must admit.

But as far as the 12AT7...it is a hit in my Tremoverbs.

So here is another observation.

I would like to be able to use more of my Treble (little more) and actually use my Presence (hardly even use it).

The thing is, is that, although my two Tremoverbs sound good, I can't really turn up the Presence past 1 because it is really harsh and brash.

This was not the case before all the tube rolling. With stock Mesa Tubes I was able to use the Presence at a level of maybe 4.

According to the manual the tone stack works together and for example, if you raise the Treble it delivers more Bass too (I guess, as I don't really hear it).

Anyhow, my Treble settings for the =C= EL34 is about 5 and for the =C= 6L6 it is about 4.5.

The sound is good, but maybe a tube change from Tung-Sol would sweep out my tone stack so that I would have the opportunity to dial in some Presence.

By the way, this is all regarding my channel two in modern mode.

Channel one in clean mode is great and no problems.

Let me know what you think and thanks.

 

[kick6]

I just recently put a 12AT7 in V6.

I love what it did for the cleans.

Focused and more musical with what might be called cleaner sounding, I guess.

I do not have my manual with me and am wondering what V5 is and how the 12AT7 can work there.

I do not question it, just that I can't remember what V5 is and sort of remember some posts saying not to place a 12AT7 in any spot other than PI.

I am kinda new to rolling tubes so I am sure I am mistaken.

My experience with the gain is that it is definitely different using a 12AT7.

I can't really put my finger on it.

It is not less gain, but more focused. I have to really play around with the controls now, to dial in the tone, as it is so new to me.

I also placed a Tung-Sol 12AX7 in V1 so this plays into the whole tone and change in sound reference too and it is really nice I must admit.

But as far as the 12AT7...it is a hit in my Tremoverbs.

So here is another observation.

I would like to be able to use more of my Treble (little more) and actually use my Presence (hardly even use it).

The thing is, is that, although my two Tremoverbs sound good, I can't really turn up the Presence past 1 because it is really harsh and brash.

This was not the case before all the tube rolling. With stock Mesa Tubes I was able to use the Presence at a level of maybe 4.

According to the manual the tone stack works together and for example, if you raise the Treble it delivers more Bass too (I guess, as I don't really hear it).

Anyhow, my Treble settings for the =C= EL34 is about 5 and for the =C= 6L6 it is about 4.5.

The sound is good, but maybe a tube change from Tung-Sol would sweep out my tone stack so that I would have the opportunity to dial in some Presence.

By the way, this is all regarding my channel two in modern mode.

Channel one in clean mode is great and no problems.

Let me know what you think and thanks.

If I understand my roadster manual correctly the presence knob is really an EQ filter that is for frequences above the treble. So yea...turning it up does make it more harsh and brash as you're introducing tones at the top of and above the range of human hearing that may or may not be musical at all.

 

[TremoJem]

Interesting.

I did not know that.

I read a couple posts in here where some guys are talking about how it opens up and adds to the tone...more open.

You never really know what the hell is going on unless you try.

We all have different ears and rigs...so MANY variables.

Just thought I would ask, thanks.

 

[kick6]

Interesting.

I did not know that.

I read a couple posts in here where some guys are talking about how it opens up and adds to the tone...more open.

You never really know what the hell is going on unless you try.

We all have different ears and rigs...so MANY variables.

Just thought I would ask, thanks.

you've hit on what, to me, is a problem with the way we describe tone. Everyone percieves it differently, and there's no sort of "examples" so that we're all on the same page. If you listen to a low bitrate mp3. Say...a 192 kbps one. Then listen to the same track at 320 kbps you could describe th higher bitrate mp3 has adding to the tone, and being more open as you've suggested. What'd you find out is that part of how an mp3 is made smaller is by lopping off the really high and really low frequencies (and more of these the lower you want the bitrate).

So in essence, the less "open" sounding mp3 is chracterized by having really high frequency sounds missing. The presence knob seems to do the exact same thing.

 

[TremoJem]

Very true.

Another thing is perception based on past experiences and mistakes.

For me, I did not have a real rig my entire career as a musician.

It was all crap.

At the end of my career (just means I played in cover bands for 20 plus years and got paid, not that I have cds and am a professional, just a freak'n weekend warrior) I actually started to get some half way decent gear, but still not what I would call real.

After selling all road equipment and essentially everything else to the point where i had only an acoustic guitar, I realized (after five years with nothing to play) that my life was missing something.

After I made the decision to include music back into my life I was not going to settle for crap.

I remember playing a Tremoverb with a JemFP back in 90-91 and in 08 revisited this using a Jem7VW.

I started there and moved on.

I am still learning about what it takes to really play well using real gear, as it is completely different than digital preamp or modeling gear.

I never knew what the hell saturation was when it came to preamp vs. output stages.

Now I want a freak'n Mark V, why, because it is the only way I can get real output stage saturation and I love output saturation.

Still learning everyday and loving it.

Oh and another thing, playing in front of your amps live, whether in a studio, bedroom or club has a completely different sound than when you listen to that session as you recorded it.

Just my opinion, not gospel, just sharing ideas and conclusions based on my own experiences that are not based on science or controlled testing.

 

[kick6]

I'm actually not that good of a player. I've been playing off and on for 15 years, but never got serious because I never liked my sound. I, like you, had **** gear and continually tried to make inexpensive changes (new tubes here, a pickup change there, etc) hoping I'd stumble across something I liked. Finally I make enough money that I can afford to buy nice stuff, and consequentially decided to find a good amp. I began to research the gear used by all of guitarists I like their tone, and found out that 75% of them use something in the mesa boogie rectifier series. So I bought myself a roadster, and I play more now than I ever have.

 

[tele_jas]

What do you guys think? Anyone have experience with both amps? I feel like I have a pretty good idea of how both amps compare under high gain but am interested as to how they compare in the cleans department. I'm looking specifally for input from people that either own both or have experienced both.

I've had a Roadster and 3 Tremoverbs.....

The Roadster has a very lush, full 3D clean tone that the reverb just melts around. It's one of my favorite clean amps I've ever had!

The Tremoverb has a really good clean tone as well, but it's much different. It's a stiffer feeling tone with not as much depth and the reverb just kind of sits on the note and doesn't really blend with it. I was playing country music when I had my last Tremoverb and it worked out pretty well for that!

Here's my Tremoverb doing a Rockabilly thing to a backing track I found.... http://soundcloud.com/tele_jas/stray-cats (I'm not a rockabilly player, so I don't quite have the chops to be trying this, LOL)

Here's some Roadster clips on my website with a few clean clips: http://guitartest.moonfruit.com/#/roadster/4520580927

 

[Nitrobattery]

Yea, Im intersted to hear what it does to the gain tones as well....hopefully it doesn't give it less gain

The quality of this really sucks, but it's the only thing I've recorded since I got the Tremoverb. You can hear though that the Recto flub and fizz is gone. I can post higher quality clips of my old Roadster with a 12AT7 in the phase inverter boosted with a Maxon OD if you're interested. It sort of gives you the liquidy gain of a Mark series amp, but with the roundness of a Recto.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzKRPJB8BiM

 

[lespaulguy32]

Interesting.

I did not know that.

I read a couple posts in here where some guys are talking about how it opens up and adds to the tone...more open.

You never really know what the hell is going on unless you try.

We all have different ears and rigs...so MANY variables.

Just thought I would ask, thanks.

Hit it right on the spot, man! I plan to get a Tremoverb combo to run w/ my Road King combo, to use for clean. People rip on me for that... I have a lot of gear and use every feature on it all. I love it, and "ain't nobody gonna tell me how to change up mah gear"!

 

[TremoJem]

I want to get a LoneStar combo...the 100 watt flavor.

At least I think I want one.

First I have to demo it.

Good luck.

 

[lespaulguy32]

When I tried the Lonestar, the cleans were like Fender-y cleans. It had a really nice spank to it.