Most disappointing amp

  • Thread starter Thread starter Smash
  • Start date Start date
I had an OG Tremoverb 2x12 combo that I loved but sold due to the weight. Many years later the Roadster came out and I decided to dive into the rectifier world again. What a piece of tonal bovine excrement! Couldn't sell it quick enough... This one broke the record for shortest ownership, lasted two weeks... I tried the Road King and it was a similar turn off. I did like the Triple Rectifier though...
 
I had an OG Tremoverb 2x12 combo that I loved but sold due to the weight. Many years later the Roadster came out and I decided to dive into the rectifier world again. What a piece of tonal bovine excrement! Couldn't sell it quick enough... This one broke the record for shortest ownership, lasted two weeks... I tried the Road King and it was a similar turn off. I did like the Triple Rectifier though...

The channel switching relay of doom in roadster and road king amps is one of the most obnoxious repairs i've ever had to do, and I've had to do half a dozen of them

I don't know why the fuck they would design it like that. Just live with the pop when it changes channels instead of having hundreds of amps out in the wild that are "broken" that make no sound whatsoever because people just assumed they were bricked
 
I saw that original ad for the Bogner Helios and thought “finally Bogner made an amp exactly for ME” and sold my beloved 20th Anny XTC 6L6 to finance the purchase.

I knew 5 minutes in I had made a horrible mistake.

The Helios is a very good amp, and I love Bogner, but it was easily the most disappointed I’ve ever been.

It was very metal-panel and contrived with the switching (lack thereof) and I could get some of the way there with the JTM30 mode but that was just a bandaid.
 
There is also the mistake of driving gain too high which makes any recording muddy, especially when double tracking. Hitting just at the point saturation begins will be so much punchier but is also harder to play so have to hit the strings harder. How you attack the strings makes a bigger difference than any amp in reality.
It’s why practice and touch make every amp sound better.
 
Last edited:
I don’t think I’ve owned anything that was massively disappointing. But I do remember the first time I played a Friedman (Small Box) And that was no damn good. I would consider revisiting one, but I don’t have high hopes.
 
Friedman JJjr I was expecting it to be a gain monster, able to rival with my BE100... it was Meh at best ! Also I never was a boogie person, I never managed to get a tone I liked from rectifiers
 
Dual Rectifier Solo Head.

Saved up all summer in 2000 to buy it and was confused and so disappointed. Tried new tubes, different guitars, different pickups, etc. The only way I could make it sound decent was with a Boss SD1. But even with the boost, I just couldn't play leads on it very well. It was like I was always fighting the amp. Every lead I played felt like I was pulling a train with a rope. It was okay for rhythm, but not my thing. The one good thing I can say about the amp was that it had a ton of low end -- I loved that. I traded it for a DSL100 and I was much happier.

The only Mesa amps I've loved are the Mark series. I own a IV and I have tried the V's -- I love them. Every other Mesa amp I have tried, I sold off. Stiletto Ace, Triple Crown, DC3 -- all of them were decent, but they didn't wow me. The Mark series is truly something special and unique that I'm yet to find a better amp from Mesa.
 
I had an OG Tremoverb 2x12 combo that I loved but sold due to the weight. Many years later the Roadster came out and I decided to dive into the rectifier world again. What a piece of tonal bovine excrement! Couldn't sell it quick enough... This one broke the record for shortest ownership, lasted two weeks... I tried the Road King and it was a similar turn off. I did like the Triple Rectifier though...
Why are roadsters bad ? Roasting I here better shit about
 
Back
Top