NAD: Mesa Dual Rec Roadster.... Tube Suggestions fellow Roadster/Dual Rec owners?

[PhloridaMan]

Played one of these in a music store local to where I was living at the time back in about 2007 and fell in love. Unfortunately at that point in life I wasn't in a position to spend the money to grab one. Always kept an eye out as the years passed, but could never seem to find one when I had some spare funds to get one.

Last week this one popped up locally and I instantly jumped and reached out to the guy. Made a deal to trade even for my JCM800 2210 that I had been trying to move and today finally after 17 years of lusting after these, I was able to grab one. The best part is I have $250 total in it.

A couple years ago I found a block letter 5150 that was in someone's garage when I had gone to buy my Ampeg 8x10. The guy didn't know if it worked so I lowballed him and he took it. Brought that amp home, retubed it and it worked fantastic. Eventually traded that up to a JVM and then to the JCM800 and now this. I've never owned another Dual Rec and only have had a .50Cal and DC10 by Mesa otherwise so have no real reference to compare it to in the Rectifier Realm, but I love it.

Pretty damn stoked to have it as part of my little home studio collection. Only spent about 10 minutes with it so far but man it's everything I remembered.

Any other Roadster owners out there? Curious what tubes you run. This thing seems to have the original MESA tubes in it and before I just throw JJs in it, I'm curious what y'all like. I expect to keep this one in my collection for a long long time.

 

[Dale B]

I like Sovtek or EH 6L6GC's in the power section for a little more of gooey feel. Preamp... NOS GE in V1, chinese in the rest of the slots.

 

[stephen sawall]

What tubes are actually in it ?

Mesa sold a lot of different tubes.

 

[PhloridaMan]

What tubes are actually in it ?

Mesa sold a lot of different tub

It's just all MESA tubes and a lot of the lettering on them is worn off or chipped off. They physically look like they are probably whatever the amp originally shipped with. 6L6GC, 5U4GB and 12AX7.

 

[ZEEGLER]

Congrats! I love my Roadster. It's the first Rectifier I've had that I really loved. Mine also has Mesa branded tubes. I have no idea if they are original or replacements, but the seller did also give me another set of new mesa power tubes with it. Yours looks minty like mine.

Mine even still has the little round "Made in USA" sticker on it.

 

[TotallyRadGuitars]

Made a deal to trade even for my JCM800 2210

Damn, I'd have taken that trade in a second from the other side. I've been trying to find an early (82-84) split channel 800 to do some comparisons with the later version of the circuit. Seems like it was a win-win for both of you.

---

Mesa tubes are pretty damn good. I'd be hesitant to replace them with some generic JJ's or whatever. STR-440 6L6's are some of the best available, and that's why my Roadster came with when I had it. Don't get me wrong, roll the tubes, have some fun trying them out, it's all personal taste - but I think you'd be hard pressed to find anything better than what's already in it.

As a side note, this is one of the few Mesas I got rid of pretty quickly. I loved the versatility but didn't think it could really keep up with my older 2 channel recto. I did really love the concept of setting up two crunch and two lead channels, or a clean+crunch+lead+solo tone, and with that awesome footswitch and really nice spring reverb... great amp all around that covers a lot of ground. Reminds me somewhat of the JVM410 in features (but in a different tonal region of course).

Enjoy!

 

[BSRIAudio]

The Roadster is sick. Its a little darker than the other Rectifiers and has a ton of sounds without being as over the top as the Road King. I have one just for the classic modern mode on Channel 4 and its so fun to play. The only thing I dislike about it is there is little cohesion between the channels. Each channel sounds like a completely different amp rather than a continuation of what was happening at lower gain.

 

[angelspade]

As a side note, this is one of the few Mesas I got rid of pretty quickly. I loved the versatility but didn't think it could really keep up with my older 2 channel recto. I did really love the concept of setting up two crunch and two lead channels, or a clean+crunch+lead+solo tone, and with that awesome footswitch and really nice spring reverb... great amp all around that covers a lot of ground. Reminds me somewhat of the JVM410 in features (but in a different tonal region of course).

Enjoy!

I typically run a bi-amp set up. Always though that it might be interesting to run a JVM410 with a Mesa Roadster because thay are so different. 4 channels with great blending possibilities.

 

[Texsunburst59]

I have a Roadster combo I picked up at a pawnshop a few years ago for $400.

It lives in my home studio a rarely gets played.

From what remember, it’s a great sounding amp.

I’m o
pretty sure it has the original tubes in it, but I’m not spending the money to have it retuned.

Here’s a pic

 

[PhloridaMan]

The Roadster is sick. Its a little darker than the other Rectifiers and has a ton of sounds without being as over the top as the Road King. I have one just for the classic modern mode on Channel 4 and its so fun to play. The only thing I dislike about it is there is little cohesion between the channels. Each channel sounds like a completely different amp rather than a continuation of what was happening at lower gain.

To be honest I think the difference between each channel is what I like about it the most.

I have an extremely diverse musical pallet. I play mainly drop tuned 7 string deathcore, but I love to play around with old 90s grunge and rock, classic rock stuff, blues stuff and even country stuff at times. My AxeFx Ultra does all of that but sometimes it's nice to actually feel the air move.