Roadster vs MKIV

[RG6EX]

Hello Boogie Boarders,

I have a small dilemma that I was hopeing you guys could help shed some light on.
I have an Elmwood Modena M90 up for trade and a guy emailed me today offering a MKIV or possibly a Roadster if he could bare to part with it. Now I have no clue what to opt for. I have never played either and won't have the possibility to do that either. I play modern high-gain metal in the veins of Killswitch Engage, In Flames and Soilwork and I need an amp that is tight and really aggressive and pairs well with my other guitarist's 6505+.

I might be wrong but from what I've read and heard it seems the Recto line if amps are revered as great aggressive rythm amps while the mark series are more or less about the liquid lead tones.

Being the rythm player in our band what would you recon be the best choice in this situation?
I realise no amp will be wrong for me I'm just torn between both as I know little to nothing about the MarkIV.
Hopefully some of you experienced users can help a fellow man out

Cheers!

 

[YellowJacket]

Hmmmmm.
A guy here was up against a 6505+ playing metalcore as well. He said that his Roadster just didn't have quite enough oomph to compete with the other amp. He ended up selling the Roadster and getting a 2 Channel Triple Recto, an amp he reported was more edgy and aggressive, better for those tones.

Most guys who run Rectos for extreme styles prefer to use boost pedals for a tighter and richer tone.

If you want to compare some Iconic sounds, Dream Theater ran Mark IVs. The Mark IV is a tighter and more precise amp with a 'grainier' quality to the tone. Rectos, by comparison, have a more scooped, crunchier, and saggier tone. I guess it all depends on what you need.

 

[ryjan]

Either amp will be a win. I played rhythm guitar in a metal band with my Mark IV for a while. It sounded really good and the occasional lead I'd play really stood out. They're not as huge sounding as a Roadster but they sit in a band mix much better. Tight and articulate is an understatement.
I've jammed on Roadsters and Rectos but I don't have much experience playing them with a full band. The couple times I did I noticed that the bassist ate me up even with the mids set really high and to get to the sweet "Recto" spot I had to crank the volume up a lot. Two rules of thumb for live tone:
1. Don't fight a bassist with your low end. You will loose.
2. Don't tell the soundguy to f off when he tells you that you need to turn down. He WILL make your amp sound like a Bugera in the mains.
I'm sure the Recto crew will be by soon to contradict me but as I said, I've only fiddled with the Rectos a couple times but I owned a Mark IV for a long time so I'm biased a little.

 

[YellowJacket]

Either amp will be a win. I played rhythm guitar in a metal band with my Mark IV for a while. It sounded really good and the occasional lead I'd play really stood out. They're not as huge sounding as a Roadster but they sit in a band mix much better. Tight and articulate is an understatement.
I've jammed on Roadsters and Rectos but I don't have much experience playing them with a full band. The couple times I did I noticed that the bassist ate me up even with the mids set really high and to get to the sweet "Recto" spot I had to crank the volume up a lot. Two rules of thumb for live tone:
1. Don't fight a bassist with your low end. You will loose.
2. Don't tell the soundguy to f off when he tells you that you need to turn down. He WILL make your amp sound like a Bugera in the mains.
I'm sure the Recto crew will be by soon to contradict me but as I said, I've only fiddled with the Rectos a couple times but I owned a Mark IV for a long time so I'm biased a little.

Hey, it's true. With a Recto you dial back the bass and dial up the mids for live! IF you can fight the bassist for low end, the result is a soupy mess that sounds bad anyway. The recto ROAR has a lot to do with v30s being good little bitches which requires quite a bit of volume to accomplish with a 4 x 12. You can get better tones at lower volumes with a suitable 2 x 12.

That being said, I never had any trouble being heard live with my Recto. Back in the day, my band was all about co-operation and not competition when it came to tone. Live we'd run less gain, less bass, and more mids. The idea was so that the tone was thick and articulate when both guitars were going at once.

 

[BostonRedSox]

Either amp will be a win. I played rhythm guitar in a metal band with my Mark IV for a while. It sounded really good and the occasional lead I'd play really stood out. They're not as huge sounding as a Roadster but they sit in a band mix much better. Tight and articulate is an understatement.
I've jammed on Roadsters and Rectos but I don't have much experience playing them with a full band. The couple times I did I noticed that the bassist ate me up even with the mids set really high and to get to the sweet "Recto" spot I had to crank the volume up a lot. Two rules of thumb for live tone:
1. Don't fight a bassist with your low end. You will loose.
2. Don't tell the soundguy to f off when he tells you that you need to turn down. He WILL make your amp sound like a Bugera in the mains.
I'm sure the Recto crew will be by soon to contradict me but as I said, I've only fiddled with the Rectos a couple times but I owned a Mark IV for a long time so I'm biased a little.

I miss my Roadster everyday, but this is precisely why I left the Recto behind. Honestly, I just couldn't take where I stood in the mix. I tried everything to stand out more, upping the mids, dialing up treble, etc. I agree with you 100%. This is why I'm now rocking a RA-100.

 

[BostonRedSox]

The Roadster is a REALLY good amp though. While it didn't work for me in a band situation or for the music I was playing, that doesn't mean it can't work for you. It is a real SMOOTH amp in every way.

 

[RG6EX]

So in your guy's humble opinions should I give the Mark IV a go?
I recon if I don't like the way it sounds or whatever I have an amp that has great resale value if I wanted to give the roadster or any of the rectifiers a go. Also the rectifiers are a bit easier to find too.

The thing that the roadster have going for me is the versatility when it comes to the FX loop. Being able to set it for each channel that is. I don't like tap-dancing in order to switch from a dry gain sound to a wet clean sound for example. The roadster would let me skip that part by setting the channel's FX status on the back and just flip the channels as usual with the footswitch. Need to do some research on this part for the MKIV.

Cheers!

 

[BostonRedSox]

Tinie Tempah's guitarist is rocking a Road King!

 

[ryjan]

You can select the channel that the loop will automatically engage in on the Mark IV as well. The only thing the Roadster has on it as far as switching options is the reverb on the Mark IV isn't assignable.

 

[b0nkersx]

The Roadster is a great amp for Killswitch Engage tones.. in fact, I'm pretty sure Killswitch used a Roadster boosted by a Maxon OD808 to record The End of Heartache.

I think it pairs up great with a 6505+ also, but you and the other guitarist will have to work out your settings so you don't step all over each other. Also, for metalcore, you'll probably want to get some kind of a boost for it. It's not the tightest amplifier around on its own.

The Mark IV is a great amp also though. Either way you really can't lose.

 

[Neptical]

I play modern high-gain metal in the veins of Killswitch Engage, In Flames and Soilwork and I need an amp that is tight and really aggressive and pairs well with my other guitarist's 6505+.

Being the rythm player in our band what would you recon be the best choice in this situation?

I think you've already answered your own question.
This one would be easy...the Roadster.
If you ever wanted the option for some nice smooth leads, add a BB Preamp.

 

[RG6EX]

Thanks for all the replies guys. I think I am going to opt for the Roadster and see if he wants to let go of it. That was my initial choice when I read his email and I think I'll go with my gut-feeling on this one. Though I've been reading some horror-stories about Roadsters having that awful lag when switching through channels when it gets "hot". Though most of those posts where from '09 that might have been an old issue?

Anyways, will post back when/if the deal goes through and let you all know what I think of my choice

 

[b0nkersx]

The Roadster has no lag in switching if you leave the reverb engaged the entire time.

 

[YellowJacket]

I miss my Roadster everyday, but this is precisely why I left the Recto behind. Honestly, I just couldn't take where I stood in the mix. I tried everything to stand out more, upping the mids, dialing up treble, etc. I agree with you 100%. This is why I'm now rocking a RA-100.

Did you ever fiddle with cabinetry / pickups? All my bridge pickups on my guitars are mid heavy with a bass rolloff. Best for use with most flavours of mesa I also happen to think the Stiletto 4 x 12 is much better for mid punch, especially compared to the scooped character of the rectocab.

 

[BostonRedSox]

I miss my Roadster everyday, but this is precisely why I left the Recto behind. Honestly, I just couldn't take where I stood in the mix. I tried everything to stand out more, upping the mids, dialing up treble, etc. I agree with you 100%. This is why I'm now rocking a RA-100.

Did you ever fiddle with cabinetry / pickups? All my bridge pickups on my guitars are mid heavy with a bass rolloff. Best for use with most flavours of mesa I also happen to think the Stiletto 4 x 12 is much better for mid punch, especially compared to the scooped character of the rectocab.

Heck yeah I did. I messed with pickups on my Strat and SG, including height. I went through a ton of cabs as well. I went from a B-52 4x12, to a Orange PPC212, to a Port City Wave 212, to a Mesa Recto 212. In the end, I just couldn't hang with my sound in the mix. I have recordings of myself in the mix from videos and recordings that some clubs offer. I am just not that prominent. When you sit back like that in the mix and you add effects to it, as I like to do, it just doesn't really work.

Don't get me wrong. I love the Roadster and I really do miss it every day. At the same time though I like my new RA-100 a lot. It cuts nicely, doesn't have overly harsh highs (like the Stiletto), and is very uncompressed. And my effects really cut through as well and don't sound as strange in the background. I think a lot of my problems with the Roadster had to do with more or less my other guitarists gear. He uses a Victoria Tweed amp, which is very bright and uncompressed. When you mix that with the Roadster it just doesn't sound right. No knock on the Roadster -- it just didn't work for me in the mix. At home, I could play that thing all day long.

I love the ED a lot too, but what turned me off is the fact that it also is voiced a little darker than what my sound calls for. Great fricken amp though. I am just all about upper midrangey amps nowadays.

 

[espboogie123]

My roadster sits great in the mix, but when micing more mids are needed on the PA. There are many factors to not mixing well. Pickups, cabinets, amp settings, guitar settings, bass player settings, pa settings, tubes, etc...

 

[Neptical]

I agree with you espboogie123...once it gets past the stage, it's up to the soundman for the rest of the tweaking. Also agree, everything adds up tonally right from the pups,guitar,cords,speakers,cabs,etc right to the players hands. I haven't really heard any Roadsters not sit in the mix well. But that majority is mostly from professional touring acts and pro sound guys.