Tremoverb versus older Rectos versus Roadster

[thiswaythatway]

I always see guys claim the Tremoverb as one of the best Rectos. But I see The early Rectos fetching decent money on the used market while Tremoverbs sell for under 1k sometimes. So who's compared? I wish James Lugo had a Tremoverb to compare to his Rev G Recto because that amp sounds killer.

Also does the Roadster come close if it were boosted an eq'd. I played a Roadster and was surprised that I liked it. The thing I really found cool was the 4 channels and all the options.

 

[severinsteel]

I have an old pre 500 Rev C and a Tremoverb. I believe the Tremoverb is supposed to sound more like a rev F or G. I'm a little rusty on my later revisions, so I can't remember if the G is before the 3 channel or if it is the 3 channel. I can tell you the the rev C sounds quite different than the Tremoverb. The Rev C is much tighter and better for leads, while the Tremoverb is a little bigger sounding. I prefer the C.

 

[Shiny_Surface]

Never had a Tremoverb but miss my old Roadster sometimes.

My Roadster had a darker tone and slightly less aggression to the standard models (imo), nothing a boost pedal couldn't fix though. Loved the cleans, I struggled hardest with the brit mode on channel 2.

I was in Guitar Center on Friday checking out the remaining Mesa Inventory blowout and there were two Roadster heads at discounted pricing.

 

[Burn]

The cleans on the roadster is by far the best among Mesa high-gain heads IMO. I felt it even rivaled my Lonestar sometimes.

 

[stephen sawall]

I have played on a lot of DR over the years ..... each individual amp sounds different. I had two other Tremoverbs with mine and 6 other various DR's in a room for several days.... everyone of them sounded different. I mean pretty big differences. Personally I do not think the model makes a huge difference ..... It is just finding one that fit's your taste. They vary as much as old Marshall's. I feel the same about all amps regardless of who or when it was made. But some makes & models it is much more apparent.

 

[glpg80]

I have an old pre 500 Rev C and a Tremoverb. I believe the Tremoverb is supposed to sound more like a rev F or G. I'm a little rusty on my later revisions, so I can't remember if the G is before the 3 channel or if it is the 3 channel. I can tell you the the rev C sounds quite different than the Tremoverb. The Rev C is much tighter and better for leads, while the Tremoverb is a little bigger sounding. I prefer the C.

I played a single rectifier many years ago and wanted a 120W capable dual rectifier, but was looking at other options at the time. When i was searching for a mesa to pair with my 5150 II, the number one thing i wanted was a tight amplifier for rhythm tracking. After speaking to a few people and on a few other forums i personally narrowed it down to either a Tremoverb or a multiwatt recto. The reason? They seemed to sound warmer to my ears and a few others who have owned them both.

To the OP, as quoted from the mesa forum:

All the pcb changes evident on the REV.G rectifier pcb are on the tremoverb pcb. Looking at the development of the modern mode switching from the rev.c pcb to the rev.g pcb, the tremoverb is the next logical step after the revision G board.

I do know that the chokes used in Tremoverbs are identical to chokes used on Mark III's. But there was no actual revision history or lettering system used for Tremoverb models. All models share the same PCB board. The number one problem you have to be careful with on Tremoverbs would be very early models that have LDR's susceptible to overvoltage or lower quality/wear out quicker. Mine is a 94 and does not have the defective LDR's - but earlier models will require a full replacement. Be sure to research this small detail.

 

[Little B]

I absolutely love my 95 tremoverb..its had the mesa updates and upgrades and in bout 7 minutes I converted the parrallel loop to serial-- huge improvement... very nice tremolo and reverb too.I can take this amp to any kind of gig..metal to country...

 

[stratotone]

I didn't like my roadster or road king... too many bells and whistles, overdrive sounded like paper tearing to me. Lots of features, but the tone suffered. IMHO, YMMY, etc.

 

[Mattfig]

roadster is awesome

 

[rupe]

I found the Tremoverb to be a bit more refined sounding than the early 2-channel Dual Rectos...more suited to classic/hard rock (although it can get very heavy) whereas the DR was much happier doing metal. That said, I've heard DRs doing an awesome job of kicking out classic rock and blues so they certainly aren't limited to metal. As was mentioned, there can be a lot of variance even in the exact same model so there are really no hard, fast rules...try them out and see what does it for you.

 

[thiswaythatway]

I didn't like my roadster or road king... too many bells and whistles, overdrive sounded like paper tearing to me. Lots of features, but the tone suffered. IMHO, YMMY, etc.

There's a few used Roadsters I've been playing in some GC's close by. I've always disliked Recto's but I've come to appreciate the for what they are. With a simple boost they do heavy better than anything really. I think the Roadster can be made to sound like shit pretty easy but I found a few tones I liked, I do think it needs tweaking to get gain liked that sound good, I like vintage and still dislike modern.

This kid gets the combo to sound good. And the very heaviest and best demo's Ola has done have been the Roadking and Roadster IMHO.

 

[SFW]

I have had a 97 Trem-O-Verb, a 2001 Dual and a 2005 Dual. The only one I miss is the Trem-O-Verb. There was just something about that amp.

 

[fishyfishfish]

There was a pretty good interview posted on the boogie
board from Doug West or Mike B. about all the tremo and recto revisions and
why they did them. They also explain the "pre-500" serial debate in
Good detail. Might be sticky'd in the recto section. Personally I like the older
Tremo's and early Dual' (look for an attached power cord)
I love em, but that's just me

 

[skoora]

Tremoverb's are OK. I find the tremolo un-useable and I think they far surpassed the Blues mode on ch 2 with what they now call Tweed for the Mark IV and Roadster/Roadking. For Recto's If I was going for cleans and in-between gains I would much rather find a good deal on a used Roadking or Roadster. If I wanted the heavy I would just look for a 2 or 3 channel DR.

 

[James Lugo]

Personally I had a buddies tremoverb for a while at my studio in Hollywood and then got one myself. And while it was a good amp IMO my Rev G triple kills it. Way more everything.

 

[rocknrolla]

http://web-beta.archive.org/web/2009021 ... recto.html