Roadster Channel 4 again.........

Me again.......when I plug an 86 LP Custom right into the amp........no pedals....nothing...

100watts/Diode/Modern
Master Output:2 OC
Channel master:11 OC
Gain:2 OC
Mid:11 OC
Treble:3 OC
Bass:9 OC

Ok..............it's overdriven but it's not like Thrash........I dunno. I don't think it's got all that much gain. Or is it just me.
Stock humbuckers.....in the LP. I hope there's not something wrong with the amp. All the other channels work fine.....channel 3's about the same. Tell me I'm not crazy!

Lerxst28 said:

Tell me I'm not crazy!

Click to expand...

you're crazy! :mrgreen:

later edit: i have not found a stated hi gain amp or hi gain channel in an amp not having sufficiant amount of saturation(drive).
either is something wrong with your amp or your playing is so soft on the strings. smack the strings harder and see if that produces results.

I found this to be the case with all the rectifier amps I have played as well. That's why I play my Quad and Studio Pre. I get full on saturation on 6!

There is plenty of gain, just not the saturation, to get this crank it very very loud, or get a booster in front, I use a TS9, keep the gain all the way down on the pedal, but blast the level, it makes thos pre amp tubes scream.

Lerxst28 said:

Me again.......when I plug an 86 LP Custom right into the amp........no pedals....nothing...

100watts/Diode/Modern
Master Output:2 OC
Channel master:11 OC
Gain:2 OC
Mid:11 OC
Treble:3 OC
Bass:9 OC

Ok..............it's overdriven but it's not like Thrash........I dunno. I don't think it's got all that much gain. Or is it just me.
Stock humbuckers.....in the LP. I hope there's not something wrong with the amp. All the other channels work fine.....channel 3's about the same. Tell me I'm not crazy!

Click to expand...

get an eq into the loop quick and youlll get it

or bypass the loop,
use search and find that thread.
it makes a world of difference with the Roadster

Lerxst28 said:

Master Output:2 OC
Channel master:11 OC
Gain:2 OC

Click to expand...

you may have a blown preamp tube or bad power amp tube. at 100 watts and your output and channel master than high you should be getting a thunderously loud, ballzy tone. i have my master at 9 and my output at 10 and it shakes my house. check your tubes

jdurso said:

Lerxst28 said:

Master Output:2 OC
Channel master:11 OC
Gain:2 OC

Click to expand...

you may have a blown preamp tube or bad power amp tube. at 100 watts and your output and channel master than high you should be getting a thunderously loud, ballzy tone. i have my master at 9 and my output at 10 and it shakes my house. check your tubes

Click to expand...

+1

155 said:

get an eq into the loop quick and youlll get it

Click to expand...

oh yeah, when you wake up the world would sound a lot different than before! :mrgreen:

I just put 4 EL34's in it so it ain't that. It's plenty loud....it'll split your ears. It sounds better with the 34's now. When I use the Rectifier and Vintage it sounds good but it still sounds kinda "squishy". The diode/modern setting is the only way I can get really get a Marshall style sound out of this amp.

Lerxst28 said:

I just put 4 EL34's in it so it ain't that. It's plenty loud....it'll split your ears. It sounds better with the 34's now. When I use the Rectifier and Vintage it sounds good but it still sounds kinda "squishy". The diode/modern setting is the only way I can get really get a Marshall style sound out of this amp.

Click to expand...

I think what your thinking of is thick or at least the way i describe the recto high gain. To me its extremely thick which makes it border the line of flubby if you dont dial it in correctly. Amps like the Marshall JVM, VHT CL/UL, Splawn Nitro, Diezel VH4, etc. dont have the same girth as a Boogie which ends up giving you a more crunchy sound than the Rectos BIG, rounder sound. Thats just my take on what i hear... i know others could dive a lot deeper.

None the less I think you could go a couple of routes to get your sound while keeping the Roadster:

1. Already mentioned here and a great suggestion... get an eq in the loop. It will allow you to bring out some of the mids and top end frequencies that will get you into trash heaven. Don't over do the eqs, just slight adjustments here and there can take you a long way. Many Recto users, including myself, use the EQs in the loop to tame the low end and bring out more mids. I think its a great weapon as it allows you to bring out or tame certain frquencies without altering the basic character of the channel/mode/settings of the amp.

2. OD infront of the amp will let you boost the signal to get your preamp tubes cooking a little harder and add a bit of high end before the amp. Many of us will use this in conjuction with the EQ in the loop... between the two pedals you can do just about anything and again you never really lose the characteristics of the amp itself.

3. Different preamp tubes.... I am new to the world of experimenting with different preamp tubes but i will tell you getting the right chemistry going in the preamp section can truly bring you into tonal bliss. I had many convos with Shred who posts on this forum and ended up buying a set of preamp tubes from him that he put together... he dubbed it the metal package as it changes the preamp tone slighty to cater more towards metal sounds. It made a huge difference in my amp and i've been experimenting with many different tubes in different sockets to find my tone... i'm almost there but not quite yet.

Thanks for the input........34's..........that's the ticket in this amp. And "Bold" instead of "Spongy". Took me a few days to figure that out.

Put it on 50w. It will let you push the tubes at a lower volume. You will lose some tube warmth, but get more gain out of the pre-amp tubes.

Also try patching your effects loop with 6" cable, put your "master" volumes on 5 or higher, and put the "output" volume at like 1 or 2.

Presence at 6+ makes a big difference. But as stated before, there's a lot of headroom with the roadster, so if you dime any of the knobs, they'll sound like crap. Well, it's hard to get a mesa to sound like crap, but presence above 8 will ruin your tone.

I had the same problem until i put new EL34's in it. I was like "why do i need an overdrive infront of a MESA FFS!". And then I changed the tubes and was happy. I still use the overdrive for the compression, but i don't use it to push a lot of gain into the amp.

If you STILL can't get the metal sound you want at a reasonable volueme with a tubescreamer and the head alone, look into eq pedals, emg 85/81's, or earplugs.