Amp Rotation

[Bogner]

So I was switching around some amps and cab combinations and pulling out some amps I haven't played in a little while just to change things up and felt like I got some new amps. I always loved the amps but not playing them for a bit and then playing them almost felt like I got more new amps..lol. I guess the moral to my story is instead of buying new gear, just pull out the stuff you haven't played in a bit and it will probably feel like you got some new gear! See how much money I saved everybody!

 

[JasonE]

I have 5 amps stacked up in a room in my house that I have been thinking of selling. They are all good tube amps to gig with. I know because I have played gigs with all of them. I am afraid to plug them in and play through them at this point for the fear that I will feel like I need to keep them. I have 3 other amps and two digital units that I plan to be what I use in the future. I would honestly sell one of those three if I could get a fair price for it. I have two for sure keepers for me.

 

[Bogner]

I have 5 amps stacked up in a room in my house that I have been thinking of selling. They are all good tube amps to gig with. I know because I have played gigs with all of them. I am afraid to plug them in and play through them at this point for the fear that I will feel like I need to keep them. I have 3 other amps and two digital units that I plan to be what I use in the future. I would honestly sell one of those three if I could get a fair price for it. I have two for sure keepers for me.

What do you have?

 

[jxe]

i’m guessing the keepers are both macintosh. you can’t even ask about cheeseburgers around here.

 

[JasonE]

What do you have?

In the stack to sell:
1. Peavey JSX 2x12, a very early one.
2. Fender Twin Reverb 65 reissue, I recovered it in snakeskin tolex and a black grill.
3. Fender Hot Rod Deluxe
4. Egnater Tweaker 40 1x12 combo.
5. Peavey Triple XXX 1x12

To keep:
Mesa Roadster with the Roadster 2x12 V30 cabinet I would potentially sell this head and possibly the cabinet with it. I can use the cabinet.
Marsh Springfield 2x10 combo. This is a modified vibrolux circuit. I have played many gigs with this map.
Friedman Twin Sister and a 1x12 Dirty Shirley cabinet.

 

[Bogner]

In the stack to sell:
1. Peavey JSX 2x12, a very early one.
2. Fender Twin Reverb 65 reissue, I recovered it in snakeskin tolex and a black grill.
3. Fender Hot Rod Deluxe
4. Egnater Tweaker 40 1x12 combo.
5. Peavey Triple XXX 1x12

To keep:
Mesa Roadster with the Roadster 2x12 V30 cabinet I would potentially sell this head and possibly the cabinet with it. I can use the cabinet.
Marsh Springfield 2x10 combo. This is a modified vibrolux circuit. I have played many gigs with this map.
Friedman Twin Sister and a 1x12 Dirty Shirley cabinet.

How do you like the Roadster. I don't recall ever playing one. The others you listed I am familiar with and have played. Cool amps!

 

[László]

Amps are the sauce on the spaghetti. One tastes the sauce more than the spaghetti.

Having a few good amps is a nice thing for your eardrum taste buds, to really, really push a metaphor.

"That's a stupid metaphor, Les."

"Well, in a reductionist sense, sure, all metaphors are pretty weird. But stupid?"

"Yes. You're an idiot. A maroon, I know-nothing excuse for an intellectual. Nyah nyah."

 

[Bogner]

Amps are the sauce on the spaghetti. One tastes the sauce more than the spaghetti.

Having a few good amps is a nice thing for your eardrum taste buds, to really, really push a metaphor.

"That's a stupid metaphor, Les."

"Well, in a reductionist sense, sure, all metaphors are pretty weird. But stupid?"

"Yes. You're an idiot. A maroon, I know-nothing excuse for an intellectual. Nyah nyah."

Amps are awesome! I can not deny that!!

 

[Texas_minor_blues]

You can never have enough amps
Well I can because my wallet is crying

 

[Bogner]

You can never have enough amps
Well I can because my wallet is crying

Throw a binky in that wallet and get more amps!!!

 

[jxe]

keep it on spaghetti.

 

[JasonE]

How do you like the Roadster. I don't recall ever playing one. The others you listed I am familiar with and have played. Cool amps!

I have had a bit of a love/hate relationship with it. I bought it new and have owned it for quite a long time. The amp has soooo many options on it. It is a 4 channel amp with a 3 way switch for gain staging on each channel with a full and half power switch on each channel. It also has reverb settings for each channel as well as being able to choose a tube or SS rectifier.

I have gigged with it and loved it and some nights can't stand the sound of it. The last band I gigged it with I was liking the sound of it but one night I got out in front of the stage and was in front of my amp and the drive of the amp sounded really grainy and a bit fuzzy to me. I stopped gigging it after that and pulled a different amp out.

The Roadster is definitely a different beast from my other amps. You can go all the way from very clean to very saturated with it across the 4 channels. I used it in incrementing levels of gain. I had one channel for clean, then a slightly broken tone then a classic rock tone then a hard rock tone.

You need to be patient with an amp like this due to how many switches and knobs are on it. Some knobs feed off of others in a way that is a little different than most amps. Mesa likes to build them like that. It can be a bit of the same option paralysis that you get with modelers but in a tube amp. That may be the think I like the least about it. It can belt out so many different tones but it takes some tweaking time to find the ones that you want from it.

 

[Bogner]

I have had a bit of a love/hate relationship with it. I bought it new and have owned it for quite a long time. The amp has soooo many options on it. It is a 4 channel amp with a 3 way switch for gain staging on each channel with a full and half power switch on each channel. It also has reverb settings for each channel as well as being able to choose a tube or SS rectifier.

I have gigged with it and loved it and some nights can't stand the sound of it. The last band I gigged it with I was liking the sound of it but one night I got out in front of the stage and was in front of my amp and the drive of the amp sounded really grainy and a bit fuzzy to me. I stopped gigging it after that and pulled a different amp out.

The Roadster is definitely a different beast from my other amps. You can go all the way from very clean to very saturated with it across the 4 channels. I used it in incrementing levels of gain. I had one channel for clean, then a slightly broken tone then a classic rock tone then a hard rock tone.

You need to be patient with an amp like this due to how many switches and knobs are on it. Some knobs feed off of others in a way that is a little different than most amps. Mesa likes to build them like that. It can be a bit of the same option paralysis that you get with modelers but in a tube amp. That may be the think I like the least about it. It can belt out so many different tones but it takes some tweaking time to find the ones that you want from it.

Thanks for the feedback on the Roadster. I am very familiar with mesa and their "unique" controls and how they blend and influence other controls. I wasn't sure if it was simply more versions of rectifiers or a little bit of everything up to that point thrown in (Mark series vibes and Recto Vibes) or something else? Maybe this was the seed amp to the Road King? Talk about a lot of stuff shoved into an amp..lol. I always had good sounds with the Rectos and a boost to tighten the low end and help shape some things a bit. The Peper's Dirty Tree is an incredible pedal for that if you are into the high gain tight responsive stuff. Several other pedals do the job nicely as well in other applications. You now have me curious about it.

 

[JasonE]

Thanks for the feedback on the Roadster. I am very familiar with mesa and their "unique" controls and how they blend and influence other controls. I wasn't sure if it was simply more versions of rectifiers or a little bit of everything up to that point thrown in (Mark series vibes and Recto Vibes) or something else? Maybe this was the seed amp to the Road King? Talk about a lot of stuff shoved into an amp..lol. I always had good sounds with the Rectos and a boost to tighten the low end and help shape some things a bit. The Peper's Dirty Tree is an incredible pedal for that if you are into the high gain tight responsive stuff. Several other pedals do the job nicely as well in other applications. You now have me curious about it.

They made the Roadster and the Road King in the same period of time. The major difference is that the Road King had both 6L6 and EL34 power tubes in it. You could run one or the other or mix them. The roadster came with 6L6 tubes but can be changed over to EL34s. I ran EL34s in my Roadster for a while. It seemed to tighten in up a bit in the low end and seemed to brighten up the top end a bit. Of course the you still have plenty of room in the knobs to adjust it. I thought the bottom end being a little tighter was good. All it takes is flipping a switch on the back of the amp and swapping the tubes.

 

[RickP]

I’ve played several Road Kings, and currently have a 2x12 RKII combo. It’s a beast of an amp, and easily the most versatile tube amp I’ve ever owned… everything from Deluxe Reverb to Recto sounds in there. The RKII version used the Lone Star clean channel, and it’s one of Mesa’s better clean circuits. The options are a bit mind-boggling, but if you just think of it like you have a roadie and 4 tube amps for him to carry, it makes sense. You have to take the time to get it right, like setting up 4 amps, but once you do it’s pretty snazzy. I added two Altec 417-8H speakers because the combo weighed less than my truck, and they’re about even now. Wheels are mandatory.

What do you have?

The addict‘s opening phrase. I know it well!

To the original post, I couldn’t agree more. On several I thought I was going to sell, getting the amp out to test before listing reminds me why I bought it in the first place and I end up playing on it for several hours and putting it back… safe from the sale. I have many more than I need, but I really enjoy them so here they’ve stayed. It’s a great problem to have.

 

[Bogner]

They made the Roadster and the Road King in the same period of time. The major difference is that the Road King had both 6L6 and EL34 power tubes in it. You could run one or the other or mix them. The roadster came with 6L6 tubes but can be changed over to EL34s. I ran EL34s in my Roadster for a while. It seemed to tighten in up a bit in the low end and seemed to brighten up the top end a bit. Of course the you still have plenty of room in the knobs to adjust it. I thought the bottom end being a little tighter was good. All it takes is flipping a switch on the back of the amp and swapping the tubes.

Great! Now I want more amps..lol.

 

[Bogner]

I’ve played several Road Kings, and currently have a 2x12 RKII combo. It’s a beast of an amp, and easily the most versatile tube amp I’ve ever owned… everything from Deluxe Reverb to Recto sounds in there. The RKII version used the Lone Star clean channel, and it’s one of Mesa’s better clean circuits. The options are a bit mind-boggling, but if you just think of it like you have a roadie and 4 tube amps for him to carry, it makes sense. You have to take the time to get it right, like setting up 4 amps, but once you do it’s pretty snazzy. I added two Altec 417-8H speakers because the combo weighed less than my truck, and they’re about even now. Wheels are mandatory.



The addict‘s opening phrase. I know it well!

To the original post, I couldn’t agree more. On several I thought I was going to sell, getting the amp out to test before listing reminds me why I bought it in the first place and I end up playing on it for several hours and putting it back… safe from the sale. I have many more than I need, but I really enjoy them so here they’ve stayed. It’s a great problem to have.

 

[JasonE]

To the original post, I couldn’t agree more. On several I thought I was going to sell, getting the amp out to test before listing reminds me why I bought it in the first place and I end up playing on it for several hours and putting it back… safe from the sale. I have many more than I need, but I really enjoy them so here they’ve stayed. It’s a great problem to have.

This is what happens to me with guitars. Every time I think I need to move some of these because I have way more than I will ever need I go through this. I think of ones that I haven't had out for a while then I pull them out and look them over for condition. Then I start playing them and remember the reasons that I bought it in the first place then remember times of playing at gigs then it goes back in the closet. I know that when I do this again, I CAN'T PLAY THEM. If I do, I will NEVER sell them. I have a few identified that I would be willing to sell. I haven't pulled them out yet. We shall see...

 

[Bogner]

This is what happens to me with guitars. Every time I think I need to move some of these because I have way more than I will ever need I go through this. I think of ones that I haven't had out for a while then I pull them out and look them over for condition. Then I start playing them and remember the reasons that I bought it in the first place then remember times of playing at gigs then it goes back in the closet. I know that when I do this again, I CAN'T PLAY THEM. If I do, I will NEVER sell them. I have a few identified that I would be willing to sell. I haven't pulled them out yet. We shall see...

Yes but IF they are great players and sound amazing why would you sell them unless you have to? If you don't have to see and the item in question is truly fantastic you may be making a mistake in letting it go. I have a lot of guitars and to me they are all "players" or else I wouldn't have bought them. That aside, within my collection I also know I have some that I know without a doubt I couldn't get another guitar like it that would be that good. Those are my absolute lifetime guitars. Anything I have bought that is not in those categories I have moved along if and when I found something better and even then, it took time in many instances. YMMV

 

[JasonE]

Yes but IF they are great players and sound amazing why would you sell them unless you have to? If you don't have to see and the item in question is truly fantastic you may be making a mistake in letting it go. I have a lot of guitars and to me they are all "players" or else I wouldn't have bought them. That aside, within my collection I also know I have some that I know without a doubt I couldn't get another guitar like it that would be that good. Those are my absolute lifetime guitars. Anything I have bought that is not in those categories I have moved along if and when I found something better and even then, it took time in many instances. YMMV

Honestly, the thing driving it is that I have literally run out of places to put them. I converted a closet into shelving to store them and I have more than what fits in there. I have them stashed under beds and propped up in another closet. I am not getting any younger and someday someone will have to deal with this. Nobody else in the immediate family is as into guitars as I am so they won't see them the same way I do.