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Post by flgearnut on Jul 17, 2010 16:34:05 GMT -5
figearnut the Roadster just like most high gain heads needs to be turned up at least to 9:30-10:00 on the output to get a real feel for the amp. Also yes the recto is normally a looser sounding amp. It's not known for being tight, so like Ksefan said a boost is a must to tighten it up. Or look at a Mark IV/V this is what Lamb of God uses and their tone is very tight. I used a TS9 and it tightens it up a lot. Also Mesas do take some time to dial in if you aren't familiar with how the EQs work. When I got my first Mesa I hated it, because I couldn't dial it in. But now after a few years of experience I love the Mesa's EQ sections. Their are tons of tones in the roadster. But everyone hears things different. Some people like the roadster and some don't. I'm excited but nervous to try a Nitro because I'm really diggin the roadster right now. haha. i havent tried a Mark IV but ive had a Mark V and a 2-channel dual rec. solo head and sold both off cuz they both left alot to be desired with the gain channels..the Mark V sounded especially terrible on the 3rd channel lol...it didnt matter what i did to the EQ, there was no tightening that amp up.. |
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ecsong187
Junior Member
Gassin for a Nitro!
Posts: 56
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Post by ecsong187 on Jul 17, 2010 20:14:31 GMT -5
WOW really?? Hmm we must have diff. definitions of the tightness because I had a Mark IV and found it to be very tight. Oh well you have the Nitro now. Is that the tone you were hunting for??
I should be trying out a Nitro in a few days!
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Post by brian on Jul 18, 2010 6:21:30 GMT -5
Well I'm probably just going to keep the 5150 until I can try a KT88 Nitro in person (if that will ever happen) getting this full re-tube (after 18 years of using the same tubes) should make a nice difference, then hopefully i'll be able to get an overdrive soon. And ya End of heartache was 2 tracks 5150, 2 tracks dragon for every song except for rose of sharyn because it was a last minute addition to the record... and by the time they went to record that the framus dragon sh!t the bed so they just replaced the dragon with the cobra for that track but Adam D did a lot of post EQing to make it sound a lot like the dragon because the dragon strongly complimented the 5150 apparently where the cobra didn't so much  *edit*: Any body in the Windsor Ontario area own a splawn nitro kt88 or super comp kt88 ? you are going to be amazed at what a HUGE difference the new tubes will make..even with very minimal use those tubes were shot a LONG time ago! it will be like a new amp when you do it.trust me. |
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ksefan
Junior Member
Posts: 69
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Post by ksefan on Jul 18, 2010 19:17:40 GMT -5
Well I'm probably just going to keep the 5150 until I can try a KT88 Nitro in person (if that will ever happen) getting this full re-tube (after 18 years of using the same tubes) should make a nice difference, then hopefully i'll be able to get an overdrive soon. And ya End of heartache was 2 tracks 5150, 2 tracks dragon for every song except for rose of sharyn because it was a last minute addition to the record... and by the time they went to record that the framus dragon sh!t the bed so they just replaced the dragon with the cobra for that track but Adam D did a lot of post EQing to make it sound a lot like the dragon because the dragon strongly complimented the 5150 apparently where the cobra didn't so much *edit*: Any body in the Windsor Ontario area own a splawn nitro kt88 or super comp kt88 ? you are going to be amazed at what a HUGE difference the new tubes will make..even with very minimal use those tubes were shot a LONG time ago! it will be like a new amp when you do it.trust me. a quartet of these thetubestore.com/tad6l6gc.html4 of these thetubestore.com/chinese12ax7.htmland 1 of these (for the 5150's phase inverter) thetubestore.com/sovtek12ax7lps.htmlwere ordered by me a few days ago. the TAD were jerry from FJA mods (5150 king) suggestion (actually he prefers these shorter TAD 6l6's...) thetubestore.com/tad-6l6wgc.htmli shoulda probably got them but oh well.. anything's an improvement at this point and the preamp choices were suggested by a "guitarman967" of harmony central I used to talk to frequently. I hear that winged C 6L6's work best in the 5150's from a friend... 3 years from now I'll try those out! |
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Post by flgearnut on Jul 18, 2010 21:11:24 GMT -5
WOW really?? Hmm we must have diff. definitions of the tightness because I had a Mark IV and found it to be very tight. Oh well you have the Nitro now. Is that the tone you were hunting for?? I should be trying out a Nitro in a few days! you mis-read my post...i havent tried a Mark IV, I had a Mark V and didnt like it. I had a feeling i shoulda looked for a used Mark IV instead. |
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ecsong187
Junior Member
Gassin for a Nitro!
Posts: 56
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Post by ecsong187 on Jul 18, 2010 22:16:35 GMT -5
I didn't misread, but from what I've heard in person, I found the Mark IV and Mark V to sound pretty similar. So that's why I was surprised when you said that you didn't find it tight.
How are you liking the Nitro??
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Post by flgearnut on Jul 19, 2010 12:37:37 GMT -5
I love my Nitro. I think it may be the only amp ive ever owned to this day that I am utterly happy with. My only minor criticism is I wish the clean channel had a little more tonal flexibility but I dont dislike it.
In my old band I ran a Line6 Vetta HD through a Mesa 4x12 and it gave me years of trouble-free service and had TONS of versatility, but it lacked the feel of a real tube amp and that always bugged the sh!t outta me. I made it sound good through tweaking, but it didnt capture the organic quality a real tube head has.
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Post by porkchops on Jul 19, 2010 18:57:05 GMT -5
ecsong, the nitro gives tight a new definition. It is tight!!!!
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Post by matt15f on Jul 24, 2010 9:17:55 GMT -5
I own both of the amps in question (edit: technically its a 6505), here is my .02
They are both really good amps for high gain playing, i think which one you prefer will depend on what style you play the most.
If you are playing mostly modern rock, or classic metal (ie 80s/90s) I would recommend the nitro. It is very warm, def has a lot of gain but not over the top.
If you are looking for a more modern metal or metalcore, new wave american metal kind of thing (ie killswitch, all that remains) i would recommend the 6505/5150. It has more gain/saturation than the nitro and is more aggressive/raw sounding.
I also agree with the first reply in the thread that you should definitely do a retube first before shelling out the cash for a new amp. The 6505/5150 is a great value at the price point, so don't count it out.
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Post by fastredponycar on Jul 29, 2010 11:09:27 GMT -5
Didn't read the rest of the replies but vs the 5150, the nitro has a much bigger and more powerful overall whallop to the sound. It hits you a lot harder and is much cleaner, more articulate and cuts better on stage.
On the other hand, it's not as agressive. Much less saturated. You'll notice a big lack of gain just jamming in the bedroom but on stage, it'll be a lot less evident as you usually don't use nearly as much gain on stage as most guys do just jamming at home.
The Nitro, still to date is the biggest sounding and loudest amp I've ever plugged into.
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ksefan
Junior Member
Posts: 69
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Post by ksefan on Aug 25, 2010 0:02:25 GMT -5
I'm wondering what to buy now... I just got a job and my options are big now... ENGL savage, mesa roadster, nitro, axe fx, some fryettes. doens't help that out of all of those I probably can only try the roadster (which i've already played) but then again I live 10 minutes from the detroit boarder so I could go over to the one place in detroit that sells all of those except splawn and fractal audio!
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ksefan
Junior Member
Posts: 69
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Post by ksefan on Aug 25, 2010 0:10:08 GMT -5
This will make me sound like a big noob but I don't care... I really don't even know what saturation is exactly... I know what high gain sounds like, low gain, and good tone when I hear it.... so the nitro has low saturation and teh 5150 has higher? is it just another word for gain? Scott mentions that it's got some saturation to it in this video and i think it sounds good.. www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFEd342t5Igit just seems like this amp is geared towards artists on stage who need to cut through, and be clear with their sound.. might not be the best amp choice for a bedroom rocker like me... |
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Post by fastredponycar on Aug 30, 2010 10:08:50 GMT -5
The nitro needs a boost to do bedroom brootz. that's about as to the point as can be regarding the saturation (which as you say is in fact the quantity of gain or distortion that comes from the amp)
It's a stage amp to be perfectly honest. If you're not planning on playing live very much, it may not be the best amp. It's gotta be loud to sound good (though a volume pedal in the loop helps tremendously) if you're sticking to the bedroom rocking, I would just keep using the 5150.
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ksefan
Junior Member
Posts: 69
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Post by ksefan on Sept 3, 2010 14:29:09 GMT -5
Ya, I just am going to have to get this thing bias modded... the local guy wants 100 bucks so NAH so I'm going to have a friend who's helped me with the 5150 before do it.
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ksefan
Junior Member
Posts: 69
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Post by ksefan on Sept 3, 2010 14:29:56 GMT -5
I want it so the trim pot for biasing is easy to access and I'll get a 90 degree bias probe so i don't have to take the amp out of the head box.
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