MiSeRY
Well-known member
In my continuing search for the Holy Grail of guitar sounds, I took a trip last night to the nearest Guitar Center. My friend and I spent the better part of 3 hours A/B 'ing different heads/cabs to see if anything really stood out in the crowd. I'm currently the owner of an early 90's Dual Rec that really hasn't knocked my socks off. I like the sound of the gain, I just hate the cleans and it's too flabby on the bottom end when running the gain high.
The first one we tried was an early 90's Tremoverb through a Marshall 2x12. This one sounded to me much like my Dual Rec with regard to the gain. However the clean channel was no comparison..much nicer than any sound I ever got out of my Rec.
Second, was a new Stiletto. This amp wasn't too bad either, but between the two, I would have taken the Tremoverb hands down.
Third was a VHT Pitbull 50W, that my friend was drooling over. Of all the amps, boutique or not, this was my absolute least favorite. In the gain stages, it had this "hiss" about it. Not like electric noise or 60 cycle hum...it was just ugly gain for lack of a better term.
Fourth, came the Diezel Herbert (which I really didn't want to play, for fear I would never want to turn on my Recto, ever again). This amp is truly nasty and for high gain, modern metal...in a class all its own. To date, I have never heard Drop D power chords hit so rock solid. That being said, I thought the clean channel was absolutely nothing to write home about. This amp seems to me almost more of an Uberschall...a one-trick poney. But make no mistake...it does that one trick AMAZINGLY well. Regardless, the price tag is $4300.00, so forget it.
Last, but certainly not least, we plugged in a Mesa Roadster combo and a Roadster head. Right off the bat, I really didn't dig the Roadster head. Maybe that was because of the Mesa cab it was plugged into, maybe not. I really wasn't feeling it. My assumptions were that the Roadster combo would be similar. So we plugged in the combo and holy ****! This amp seemed to have everything that my Recto was missing. The versatility of this thing is beyond belief. The cleans were absolutely pristine and the amount of combinations/features on this thing are great. I almost walked out with one but the store was closing and I thought that I needed at least one more test with this thing, with MY Les Paul. I plan on going back later this week to see if they'll let me take it in a back room or something and let it rip. If it holds the bottom end, when playing high gain, better than my Recto does...then I'm 100% sold.
Can anyone tell me their experience with this amp? It would seem that this combo alone at 100W would kill. I could only imagine if you plugged up to a Mesa 4x12 Traditional. Any comments or thoughts on the Roadster would be much appreciated, since it looks as of now, that it will be my next purchase.
Thanks!
The first one we tried was an early 90's Tremoverb through a Marshall 2x12. This one sounded to me much like my Dual Rec with regard to the gain. However the clean channel was no comparison..much nicer than any sound I ever got out of my Rec.
Second, was a new Stiletto. This amp wasn't too bad either, but between the two, I would have taken the Tremoverb hands down.
Third was a VHT Pitbull 50W, that my friend was drooling over. Of all the amps, boutique or not, this was my absolute least favorite. In the gain stages, it had this "hiss" about it. Not like electric noise or 60 cycle hum...it was just ugly gain for lack of a better term.
Fourth, came the Diezel Herbert (which I really didn't want to play, for fear I would never want to turn on my Recto, ever again). This amp is truly nasty and for high gain, modern metal...in a class all its own. To date, I have never heard Drop D power chords hit so rock solid. That being said, I thought the clean channel was absolutely nothing to write home about. This amp seems to me almost more of an Uberschall...a one-trick poney. But make no mistake...it does that one trick AMAZINGLY well. Regardless, the price tag is $4300.00, so forget it.
Last, but certainly not least, we plugged in a Mesa Roadster combo and a Roadster head. Right off the bat, I really didn't dig the Roadster head. Maybe that was because of the Mesa cab it was plugged into, maybe not. I really wasn't feeling it. My assumptions were that the Roadster combo would be similar. So we plugged in the combo and holy ****! This amp seemed to have everything that my Recto was missing. The versatility of this thing is beyond belief. The cleans were absolutely pristine and the amount of combinations/features on this thing are great. I almost walked out with one but the store was closing and I thought that I needed at least one more test with this thing, with MY Les Paul. I plan on going back later this week to see if they'll let me take it in a back room or something and let it rip. If it holds the bottom end, when playing high gain, better than my Recto does...then I'm 100% sold.
Can anyone tell me their experience with this amp? It would seem that this combo alone at 100W would kill. I could only imagine if you plugged up to a Mesa 4x12 Traditional. Any comments or thoughts on the Roadster would be much appreciated, since it looks as of now, that it will be my next purchase.
Thanks!
