Roadster 2X12 for Fender clean/drive tones

[justfine99]

Hi All

Hopefully some of you skilled guru's can help me (or clear something up for me).

I bought a Roadster 2X12 a couple of years ago and the main purpose of the amp was
for metal (As most players stick to Mesa Rectos for that legendary heavy tone)
I have however started to move away from "insane gain" riffing (Gibson Explorer EMG pups) to more cleaner tones / open chord playing with
some added dirt (Fender AM std strat with FAT50 pups), but I have yet to find some decent settings in the roadster.

I have been experimenting with the Tweed (CH1) and Brit (CH2), but all I get is "flat" lifeless sounds, although
I have to mention that I am not cranking the amp, so I am playing at bedroom level and I do realize that valve amps
needs to be cranked to attain the right tone, but never the less I still wanted to find out if someone out there has some advice for me.

To clarify a bit further, I also own an Orange Dark Terror (7w/15w) which has loads of gain and everyone says not to count on this amp for
cleans, but I actually get such nice, clean/dirt tones from this amp when I roll the gain down to 9 o'clock and the level to 12 o'clock and
I would say I prefer this little amp to the Mesa. Once again could this be due to not being able to crank the Mesa?

Thanks guys, any feedback is apprecitated

 

[mikeweber74]

I've been trying to find some good clean sounds on my roadster as well and managed to dial in a nice clean last night.

channel 1: Tweed; Gain: 12:00; Treble: 2:00; Mids: 9-10:00; Bass: 2:00; Presence: Maxed; Master: 11:00

channel 2: Fat; Gain: 11:00; Treble: 2:00; Mids: 9:00; Bass: 1:00; Presence: Maxed; Master: 11-12:00

Output for me is at 9:00 for bedroom level. I found that cranking the presence all the way up cleans up the tone, making it a little crispier and no so muddy.

 

[jbird]

The mid controls are very integral on these third modes on channels one and two! They work in conjunction with the gain controls! The tweed mode is great, very versatile on channel one! I believe the brit mode is optimized with el34's though, so I usually use channel two for more pristine cleans!

 

[screamingdaisy]

Don't be afraid to scoop the mids on the clean channel, particularily if you're playing it low volume at home.

Fat clean is the Lone Star circuit.

Additionally, the tube rectifiers typically give the cleans more bounce... but you need a bit of volume for that to happen.

Lastly, if you're not going for pristine cleans and want cleans with a bit more dirt to them then use the variac to sag the headroom. I'd sag it anyway at very low volumes.

 

[justfine99]

Hi all

Thanks for the all the advice and it's much appreciated, but I think I am going in circles here and I
need to realize that this amp just cannot give me what I am looking for without using a booster or OD
on the clean channels (Correct me if I am wrong). I have sat for hours and came to the conclusion
that the clean channels have too little gain (and gets to brittle if you push it hard, especially BRIT mode) and the Recto channels
just don't have the highs.

I could just be "stupid" or I just don't have the "know how" to dial it in, but if I am looking for "heavy" it takes me
about 5 secs to dial it in and it's AMAZING and the same goes for just a standard clean sound. This is also when I use
my humbucker fitted guitars and basically every channel is usable and sounds great!

If anyone has any further advice for me I would really appreciate it and I have actually made a short vid
with audio clips of the type of tone I am after
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeQcKVjRxQg

Thanks again

 

[jb's 52]

If anyone has any further advice for me I would really appreciate it and I have actually made a short vid
with audio clips of the type of tone I am after
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeQcKVjRxQg

Hmm...

Maybe try tweed with the neck pick up on your strat.
Also, try starting with gain at noon, then crank the'
presence and treble all the way up. Back the latter two
down to taste.

From the clip, that could be a tele as well.

 

[screamingdaisy]

If anyone has any further advice for me I would really appreciate it and I have actually made a short vid
with audio clips of the type of tone I am after
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeQcKVjRxQg

Thanks again

You're never going to get those sounds out of Vintage 30s. V30s are very percussive with an aggressive midrange and a rounded off top end, hence them being so popular for modern heavy music (and why you're finding heavy so easy to dial in). You're never going to get that old school breakup and top end sizzle out of them.

I'm not a expert on Fender sounds, but I'm going to guess those clips were recorded with a Jensen C12N or P12Q. Maybe someone who knows Fenders better will chime in?

 

[justfine99]

You're never going to get those sounds out of Vintage 30s. V30s are very percussive with an aggressive midrange and a rounded off top end, hence them being so popular for modern heavy music (and why you're finding heavy so easy to dial in). You're never going to get that old school breakup and top end sizzle out of them.

I'm not a expert on Fender sounds, but I'm going to guess those clips were recorded with a Jensen C12N or P12Q. Maybe someone who knows Fenders better will chime in?

Hi Screamingdaisy

One more excellent point from you with regards to the V30's, although I have connected the amp to a 12" cab (Celestion Seventy 80) just
for experimenting and I do get the additional highs, but still not the same break up...... I am starting to think that the FAT 50 pups are just
such low output pups that that could be the issue. So basically I need more drive at the input, but I'm pushing the actual gain on the amp
which is causing a "nasty" treble spike/distortion.

By the way those clips are from a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe iii and American Std Strat (not sure if the Strat had the FAT50's or if it's an older model with the standard singly coils)

Anyway thanks for all your advise

 

[justfine99]

Hmm...

Maybe try tweed with the neck pick up on your strat.
Also, try starting with gain at noon, then crank the'
presence and treble all the way up. Back the latter two
down to taste.

From the clip, that could be a tele as well.

Hi Jb's 52

the Tweed mode is definitely the right mode, so I think I am on the right path there but as
I mentioned to "Screamingdaisy" I think that the FAT50 pups do not drive the gain stage properly
and I am trying to compensate by turning the gain up on the amp which ends up in a screeching
high distorted sound when I hit a chord a bit louder (hence the Tweed sound) so once again
I think I need some sort of a booster at the input.

I'm going to give your advice a try and let you know if it works

By the way, the guitar is definitely a Start, I got those clips from a youtube vid where they doing a demo
on the Fender Hot Rod deluxe iii

Rock on!