Tremoverb vs. 3 Ch DR

[Anonymous]

Okay, I'm about ready to kill myself looking for a Tremoverb. There are seriously none! How does a 3 channel DR compare tone-wise? The lead channel is obviously going to be different, but can you dial it into sounding similar? How are the cleans different?

 

[woody777]

I've only compared a Tremoverb to an older 2 channel dual. If a Tremoverb is what you want... hold out, they pop up quite a bit.

IMO they are pretty similar tones... but the Tremoverb just does it better. It's smoother and less fizzy. I was never a Recto guy until I got my Tremoverb.

 

[jman7272]

I've only compared a Tremoverb to an older 2 channel dual. If a Tremoverb is what you want... hold out, they pop up quite a bit.

IMO they are pretty similar tones... but the Tremoverb just does it better. It's smoother and less fizzy. I was never a Recto guy until I got my Tremoverb.

Exactly what he said. I waited 2 months before finding the perfect deal on my TOV. It will take an act of God now for me to sell it.

 

[Anonymous]

I've only compared a Tremoverb to an older 2 channel dual. If a Tremoverb is what you want... hold out, they pop up quite a bit.

IMO they are pretty similar tones... but the Tremoverb just does it better. It's smoother and less fizzy. I was never a Recto guy until I got my Tremoverb.

Exactly what he said. I waited 2 months before finding the perfect deal on my TOV. It will take an act of God now for me to sell it.

How do you like it compared to the Mark IV? I'm coming from a Mark III that I love, but I'm ready to try something different and less tight.

I really want the lead sound of a 2-channel rectifier with a good clean. I've been considering spending more on a Roadster, but I've been having a hard time finding any of those for under $1500.

 

[jman7272]

I've only compared a Tremoverb to an older 2 channel dual. If a Tremoverb is what you want... hold out, they pop up quite a bit.

IMO they are pretty similar tones... but the Tremoverb just does it better. It's smoother and less fizzy. I was never a Recto guy until I got my Tremoverb.

Exactly what he said. I waited 2 months before finding the perfect deal on my TOV. It will take an act of God now for me to sell it.

How do you like it compared to the Mark IV? I'm coming from a Mark III that I love, but I'm ready to try something different and less tight.

I really want the lead sound of a 2-channel rectifier with a good clean. I've been considering spending more on a Roadster, but I've been having a hard time finding any of those for under $1500.

Don't waste the $$$ on a roadster( puts flame suit on). I had one and the TOV is just a better sounding amp to my ear. It has tons of options and tone and the gain is just so tasteful at all levels. And - it doesn't pop when you switch channels. The Tremolo is very useful and organic sounding, the reverb is very rich and lush. Really fantastic sounding all around and the clean channel is shimmering clean with the option to switch the channel voicing to a grit sound. Really smooth.

With respect to the MK IV vs the TOV: The Mark IV is a great amp, but a totally different beast all together. You have a good idea of what it is like having had a Mark III. The TOV on the other hand is more... how should one say... Authoratative. It just ooozes tone. It can melt your face in a tasteful way.

Think rectifier whoomp and tone with great control minus any buzz or nasal sound. Just a fantastic amp.

 

[Anonymous]

Don't waste the $$$ on a roadster( puts flame suit on). I had one and the TOV is just a better sounding amp to my ear. It has tons of options and tone and the gain is just so tasteful at all levels. And - it doesn't pop when you switch channels. The Tremolo is very useful and organic sounding, the reverb is very rich and lush. Really fantastic sounding all around and the clean channel is shimmering clean with the option to switch the channel voicing to a grit sound. Really smooth.

With respect to the MK IV vs the TOV: The Mark IV is a great amp, but a totally different beast all together. You have a good idea of what it is like having had a Mark III. The TOV on the other hand is more... how should one say... Authoratative. It just ooozes tone. It can melt your face in a tasteful way.

Think rectifier whoomp and tone with great control minus any buzz or nasal sound. Just a fantastic amp.

You basically just described what I'm looking for. The Mark III is a fantastic amp, but the tone is a little too simple sounding to me. It doesn't really have "tone" to me, it's more of just a simply good sounding amp. Hopefully a Rectifier can add some color to my sound. 8)

Is the clean on the TOV equal to the Roadster? The clean channel is basically what's stalling on different Rectifier models right now. I like the Mark III clean channel, but it breaks up too soon.

 

[jman7272]

Don't waste the $$$ on a roadster( puts flame suit on). I had one and the TOV is just a better sounding amp to my ear. It has tons of options and tone and the gain is just so tasteful at all levels. And - it doesn't pop when you switch channels. The Tremolo is very useful and organic sounding, the reverb is very rich and lush. Really fantastic sounding all around and the clean channel is shimmering clean with the option to switch the channel voicing to a grit sound. Really smooth.

With respect to the MK IV vs the TOV: The Mark IV is a great amp, but a totally different beast all together. You have a good idea of what it is like having had a Mark III. The TOV on the other hand is more... how should one say... Authoratative. It just ooozes tone. It can melt your face in a tasteful way.

Think rectifier whoomp and tone with great control minus any buzz or nasal sound. Just a fantastic amp.

You basically just described what I'm looking for. The Mark III is a fantastic amp, but the tone is a little too simple sounding to me. It doesn't really have "tone" to me, it's more of just a simply good sounding amp. Hopefully a Rectifier can add some color to my sound. 8)

Is the clean on the TOV equal to the Roadster? The clean channel is basically what's stalling on different Rectifier models right now. I like the Mark III clean channel, but it breaks up too soon.

The clean is fantqastic. I never AB'd them side by side as iI didn't own them at the same time, but the TOV clean is one of the better ones I have heard. At 100 watts with a bold power setting and silicon rectification running it in full power, you can pretty much crank the **** out of it with gain dialed out and it is just awesome and clean.

In fact, stay right there and listen out your window if you want to hear mine.

 

[Anonymous]

Don't waste the $$$ on a roadster( puts flame suit on). I had one and the TOV is just a better sounding amp to my ear. It has tons of options and tone and the gain is just so tasteful at all levels. And - it doesn't pop when you switch channels. The Tremolo is very useful and organic sounding, the reverb is very rich and lush. Really fantastic sounding all around and the clean channel is shimmering clean with the option to switch the channel voicing to a grit sound. Really smooth.

With respect to the MK IV vs the TOV: The Mark IV is a great amp, but a totally different beast all together. You have a good idea of what it is like having had a Mark III. The TOV on the other hand is more... how should one say... Authoratative. It just ooozes tone. It can melt your face in a tasteful way.

Think rectifier whoomp and tone with great control minus any buzz or nasal sound. Just a fantastic amp.

You basically just described what I'm looking for. The Mark III is a fantastic amp, but the tone is a little too simple sounding to me. It doesn't really have "tone" to me, it's more of just a simply good sounding amp. Hopefully a Rectifier can add some color to my sound. 8)

Is the clean on the TOV equal to the Roadster? The clean channel is basically what's stalling on different Rectifier models right now. I like the Mark III clean channel, but it breaks up too soon.

The clean is fantqastic. I never AB'd them side by side as iI didn't own them at the same time, but the TOV clean is one of the better ones I have heard. At 100 watts with a bold power setting and silicon rectification running it in full power, you can pretty much crank the sh!t out of it with gain dialed out and it is just awesome and clean.

In fact, stay right there and listen out your window if you want to hear mine.

Okay then, Tremoverb it is!

Just out of curiosity, which clean do you like better, the TOV or Mark IV?

 

[EMGguitarist]

TOV combo owner and that thing is a beast. I don't know anything about the Mark IV as I'm quasi new to boogie amps but I am seriously in love with this amp... That huge recto sound is simply unparalleled. I never really played with Mesa rectos before until I played with MesaENGR412's recto and I fell in love with vintage high-gain. I then came home and started looking for rectos and was able to come across this steal. The channel cloning really is a kickass feature. I was a little scared about having the two modes I like on the same channel (clean and vintage on channel org) but once i cloned vintage over to red, this amp hasn't gotten hardly any rest. The reverb feature is super nice too. I like effects but the less effects I use the better so since the reverb and tremy are built into the amp, that took two tone suckers out of line for me and they really do sound great and give you tons of possibility.

 

[woody777]

Everything Jman says is right on.

I actually played a Mark IV for 2 years before getting my Tremoverb. It really depends on what kind of music you play, but anything "modern" the Tremoverb just outshines the Mark IV IMO... and I loved my Mark IV.

The Tremoverb cleans are great... either crystal clean or with a little (or a lot) of bite. Even though it's only two channels... I think it's easily more versatile than the Mark IV... just depends on how you need to set it up.

The Tremoverb is about the only piece of gear I've ever bought that actually lived up to all the hype.

 

[jman7272]

You basically just described what I'm looking for. The Mark III is a fantastic amp, but the tone is a little too simple sounding to me. It doesn't really have "tone" to me, it's more of just a simply good sounding amp. Hopefully a Rectifier can add some color to my sound. 8)

Is the clean on the TOV equal to the Roadster? The clean channel is basically what's stalling on different Rectifier models right now. I like the Mark III clean channel, but it breaks up too soon.

The clean is fantqastic. I never AB'd them side by side as iI didn't own them at the same time, but the TOV clean is one of the better ones I have heard. At 100 watts with a bold power setting and silicon rectification running it in full power, you can pretty much crank the sh!t out of it with gain dialed out and it is just awesome and clean.

In fact, stay right there and listen out your window if you want to hear mine.

Okay then, Tremoverb it is!

Just out of curiosity, which clean do you like better, the TOV or Mark IV?

I think the Mark IV has a slightly better clean. But SLIGHTLY. They are different and both good. The clean on the TOV is absolutely great.

 

[Anonymous]

Man, after reading about the Tremoverb, I want one even more now! I guess there's a reason none are for sale (everybody wants to keep them!).

I don't know if any of you listen to Porcupine Tree, but ever since I saw them a couple months back, I've been DYING to get a tone like that. It just sat perfectly in the mix. Well, I found a clip on the board of someones Roadster in vintage mode. I hope he doesn't mind me posting it:

http://www.respectthebubble.com/RSClips/LPch4Vintage.mp3

That NAILS PT's tone, dead on! Would you guys say that this is a pretty achievable tone with a Tremoverb? That's pretty much the perfect tone to me.

 

[Commander Coo1]

yeah you can probobly get that pretty easily. i know how hard it is to find a tov, i bought one on ebay and ended up having to get it fixed, and there was a month that went by and none came up on ebay... but i got mine fixed and i love it, it was worth the trouble to upgrade from a normal 2 channel

 

[jman7272]

I actually lucked out. It is a funny story, butI actually had almost given up.

I watched Ebay for 2 months and kept doing craigslist searches countrywide. I had a few bites from craigslist but no one wanted to ship - hence - craigslist.

I was getting frustrated and happened to call Eric at Wilcutt guitars. I asked him if he had any used TOV's (having called all the local stores and GC's also) and he said no. As we were about to hang up from the call, he said WAIT. Someone was in last week talking about putting one up on consignment. He looked up the guys info in his store database and gave me his number.

I called the guy and he had already changed his mind and said it was a moment of weakness that he had even thought about it. I left him my number and a week went by. Nothing.

Knowing that this was a highly sought after classic amp and that they were rare, I called him back and made him a high ball offer. I couldnt get him to budge. (keep in mind, I researched the serial number he gave me and it was the most recent version with a R-017xxx serial number that was the last production month they were made n 2001. It was FLAWLESS and he was the original owner that just collected it)...

One day, a week later, I get a call. He has had a turn of poor luck and needs to dump it, his Dr. Z, his Badcat and some other stuff. He asked me if my offer was still good and I told him if he weren't 9 states away, I'd get it that night.

The rest is history. They are hard to find and when people do, they hold em. In my conversation with Marcus at Mesa, he indicated that it was one of the few amps that even Boogie folks hold on to when they find them.

IT IS WORTH THE WAIT. Get one in good shape - a version 2 format as they corrected some cirsuit issues in v2.

 

[woody777]

IT IS WORTH THE WAIT. Get one in good shape - a version 2 format as they corrected some cirsuit issues in v2.

What is the difference and how can you tell which one you have?

 

[jman7272]

IT IS WORTH THE WAIT. Get one in good shape - a version 2 format as they corrected some cirsuit issues in v2.

What is the difference and how can you tell which one you have?

Version 1: Fixed power cable that cannot be detached.

Version 2: Power cable unpluggs from back of amp and is a standard computer looking power cable.

In version 2, they worked out some electrical circuit issues regarding switching channels. That is not to say a version 1 is inferior, but Mesa went through a low profile recall and were repairing these free of charge. If you have a V1 and it works fine, it's all good. If you want, you can send it to Mesa or an authorized repair station and get it fixed. I am sure they will charge for this work since they have been out of production since 2001.

 

[gooberizer]

I can't compare to the 3 ch DR or the Roadster since I haven't played either, but I did own a 2 ch DR I bought brand new in 1993. I thought that was it until I tried the T-Verb a couple years later. To me it was way more versatile and could still do the DR thing.

I sold the DR and bought a T-Verb combo. It's a long story but that amp got destroyed about 10 years ago. I went without a Mesa until I saw a T-Verb head on CL at a good price last year.

Called the guy and it turned out to be in flawless condition. I am SOOO glad I have one again, and since I got it I sold my other amps. They were just collecting dust. 8)

 

[woody777]

IT IS WORTH THE WAIT. Get one in good shape - a version 2 format as they corrected some cirsuit issues in v2.

What is the difference and how can you tell which one you have?

Version 1: Fixed power cable that cannot be detached.

Version 2: Power cable unpluggs from back of amp and is a standard computer looking power cable.

In version 2, they worked out some electrical circuit issues regarding switching channels. That is not to say a version 1 is inferior, but Mesa went through a low profile recall and were repairing these free of charge. If you have a V1 and it works fine, it's all good. If you want, you can send it to Mesa or an authorized repair station and get it fixed. I am sure they will charge for this work since they have been out of production since 2001.

Interesting... guess I've got a version 1 with attached power cable. I wonder if mine went back to Mesa at some point... I don't have any issues with channel switching.

 

[Anonymous]

siggy14 is offering me his earlier version. He said that it has been repaired and has the attached power cable. Should I go for it? Is there a difference in tone between version 1 and 2?

 

[jman7272]

siggy14 is offering me his earlier version. He said that it has been repaired and has the attached power cable. Should I go for it? Is there a difference in tone between version 1 and 2?

There is no difference in tone as per Marcus at Mesa. The rev difference is strictly to address the previous issues that were identified with the channel switching circuitry.

If this has been resolved and the price is right, go for it!