Roadster ½ stack in - Mark III out...

[Eevil]

Hello everyone

Have been reading these forums like a madman for couple of years already, but never had a reason to write anything... Now it's time to share something about my GAS-building and stuff...

Couple of years ago I bought a used Mark III bluestripe combo and was pretty satisfied with the tones I got out of it, but still there was a some serious lacking in authority when played on-stage. Also I had (still for sale) this hardwood 1x12 Thiele which gave some authority to the sound. Still, the channel switching on Mk III is kinda cumbersome: I just cannot get the "greatest clean ever", "greatest crunch ever" and "greatest lead ever" with same settings.
I found many ways to deal with the problem, but still... I had to focus on fiddling the knobs in the guitar and it was pretty much distracting from the main point. So I built a helluva pedalboard (aka. drum raiser) to remedy this and.. well.. the weight was something about 45kg (~100lbs), so huge PIA to lug around... Sold this setup after half an year just because of the weight. I have some injuries in arms and also in back so... lugging is not the best part...

So I was thinking at getting a new amp also. My options were: Road King (too expensive), Roadster combo (too heavy), JVM 410 combo (too... not Mesa), Mark IV head (Mark-itis, fiddler on the roof), Dual rectifier (No reverb, tried 2ch single recto - not versatile enough same applies to 2ch dual), Lonestar (tried couple of times - clean excellent, lead=not-articulate smudge)

Couple of weeks ago I just bought a Roadster head and 4x12 traditional recto cab and holy smoke... This thing really beats the Mk III with versatility and also in authority. Also I was kinda afraid that the sounds would be shrill and "Black & Decker" -like, but nooo... so creamy and clear sounds that I have been playing more guitar and also more inspired just to play the guitar. I still have couple pedals but I'm too lazy to take them from closet and plug them in ^^

This set was used so the power tubes were kinda dull already - also they were installed in wrong way pairs in AABB (at least in online manual it is stated that the order should be ABBA). So I just put the Yellow Jackets in the A -positions and the not-so-dead pair in B... The brit with EL84 really shines And with "homebrew-SimulClass" poweramp - the "100W" position also has nice thump & clear ping ... I'm enjoying more and more this machine and also learning to cop with too-many-bells-n-whistles

The Brit or Tweed mode with Gain, Treble and Mid at full and others to taste will give REAALLLY biting and cutting lead sound. This kinda sound I could not found from Mk III The Vintage mode is more like classic Mesa territory and Modern... Well let's talk about huge and clear heavy rhythm Also the Clean and Fat are good to my ears. So the Mk III really was lacking versatility compared to this beast. I'm still having the honeymoon -phase But still, this was fantastic - even in stock tubes...

The cabinet sounds good only when cranked - this is the tradeoff for this setup Also I tried the amp with the Thiele cab and I could dial in great tones with lower volume... But what kind of moron buys 100W tube amp and 4x12 for home use well... Me!!.. Sorry neighbors.. I will use this also in gigs so don't worry And for smaller gigs (about 99,99% of them) I can take Palmer 1x12 (Private Jack) with the roadster and have great sounds in smaller package Most of the time my gigs are in church, playing some cleanish-half rive stuff so this setup is overkill.. but oh-boy what an overkill Still, when there's need I can always get to the heavy-land

I'm not completely sure about the english articles but try to get the message... :lol:

Peaches

 

[Given To Fly]

I bought my Roadster 2x12 Combo about 2 years ago and I've had maybe 5 bad days with it, and 4 of them were my fault. :wink:
Congrats on the purchase of one of the best amps Mesa has ever made! :wink:

 

[Chester]

Well done on the Roadster - and there is nothing wrong with your English either ..

Great amp, and I agree that Tweed / Brit are excellent. Huge variety of tones available. I have now settled on =C= EL34's with a Tung Sol in V1 to brighten up the preamp response in CH3 and 4. I also leave an EP boost on low, which improves clarity and "presence" through my set up

Certainly worth trying a new set of power tubes

 

[Eevil]

Yeah. I'm still in a learning process with getting the tones I need out of this setup.

Basically I've found this layout to be best:
- ch1 tweed set to glassy clean
- ch2 brit with the Crunch
- ch3 vintage lead
- ch4 modern crunchy rhythm

There's still some problem with cleans. The lower notes have some kind of overlaying noise over the fundamental note. And no it's not overdriven sound that I can tell maybe the tubes needs to be changed.. Later when I have the funds again to buy something guitar-oriented... I have a lots of JJ preamp tubes laying around but I really don't get along the tone I get from those: the brightness is gone and hi-mid mayhem it is ...

 

[Eevil]

Great amp, and I agree that Tweed / Brit are excellent. Huge variety of tones available. I have now settled on =C= EL34's with a Tung Sol in V1 to brighten up the preamp response in CH3 and 4. I also leave an EP boost on low, which improves clarity and "presence" through my set up

Well my plan was to get couple of tung-sols and some balanced PI tube, maybe some other tubes also ... The el34s are in my must-try list, but not the first one. The winged C 6L6s were great in MK III so those tubes could lend some "mazik" to the roadster

But the roadster has seduced me to play more guitar and to fiddle the knobs less this also gives more inspiration than the old setup playing technique is the next thing to focus on as this new setup reveals some problems in my picking the biggest problem being too pronounced picking on lower strings.

I don't know if anyone has noticed differences in different strings? Couple of years ago I was pretty uninspired by the feel of the guitar with my Mk III and by some twist of thought I bought a set of DR strings and it changed the response and feel of the guitar completely. I had been using GHS strings for a long time already and this was a revelation to me. With the MK III the GHS strings were really stiff and the wound strings were somehow muddy and dull - the DR strings on the other hand were glassy and had more piano-like tone in them with more overtones than GHS.

I bought my Roadster 2x12 Combo about 2 years ago and I've had maybe 5 bad days with it, and 4 of them were my fault. :wink:
Congrats on the purchase of one of the best amps Mesa has ever made! :wink:

I was also considering the combo but the gravity kept me thinking... But this head + cab rocks more than I can play.

About year ago I tested the spanking new combo. But I did not enjoy the combo when I tried to lift it as I have already pretty much broken back and also my hands are injured some time ago..

 

[Given To Fly]

But the roadster has seduced me to play more guitar and to fiddle the knobs less this also gives more inspiration than the old setup playing technique is the next thing to focus on as this new setup reveals some problems in my picking the biggest problem being too pronounced picking on lower strings.

I bought my Roadster 2x12 Combo about 2 years ago and I've had maybe 5 bad days with it, and 4 of them were my fault. :wink:
Congrats on the purchase of one of the best amps Mesa has ever made! :wink:

I was also considering the combo but the gravity kept me thinking... But this head + cab rocks more than I can play.

About year ago I tested the spanking new combo. But I did not enjoy the combo when I tried to lift it as I have already pretty much broken back and also my hands are injured some time ago..

My first thought when I plugged into the Roadster after the UPS man dropped it off (it was like styrofoam to him :shock: ) was "Wow! This amp sounds great, but I kinda suck!" It certainly does not hide flaws in your technique; nor does it hide your talent. :wink:

 

[Eevil]

Well done on the Roadster - and there is nothing wrong with your English either ..

Great amp, and I agree that Tweed / Brit are excellent. Huge variety of tones available. I have now settled on =C= EL34's with a Tung Sol in V1 to brighten up the preamp response in CH3 and 4. I also leave an EP boost on low, which improves clarity and "presence" through my set up

Certainly worth trying a new set of power tubes

Well here's a clip from the noise I mentioned earlier: click here
Recorded with iPhone so you can hear the octonauts in background

Signal flow: LP goldtop with JB/Jazz -> cable -> roadster -> 1x12 thiele

Roadster was on ch2 Brit, gain cranked, t13:00, m cranked, b cranked, p 16:00, master 8:00, 50watt diode - fx loop bypassed. I can hear that noise in recto cab also but thiele has wider freq.response so it is easier to hear.

I'm assuming this is most likely tube related issue. But I just want to be sure before buying whole set of tubes

I'm considering this kind of set:
V1 tung-sol or Mesa, other preamp tubes from Mesa.
Power tubes from Mesa or JJ... JJs are cheaper and dealer can select tubes with proper rating for Mesa.

Still I want this amp to be plug-n-play, not the "tube rolling is my hobby"-amp.

Eevil