Street Rod Drive Channel Flexibility?

[ebes]

Hi there,

I'm considering getting a Street Rod combo and would like some input from those who own one.

I'm looking at the SR and also considering an Egnater Renegade. I currently have a Mesa Road King. Love the four channels, tube selections, clean channels, etc. but not so much the rectifier channels for overdrive. Too compressed and not enough bite without hitting the from end with an EQ or gain box. Plenty of gain, just not the kind I'm looking for. I have realized over time that I much prefer the mid grind and responsiveness of el34-based Marshall-type amps.

My question is;
How far of a gap is there between the drive channels and settings if you didn't touch anything on the amp? E.g. can I get a mildly overdriven sound and a full-on driven brown sound just by foot switching. (I would be using a midi system to switch (amp gizmo)and I am aware that you can engage OD1 and OD2 and the gears via midi switching. Though only two gears close together. From 1-2 or 2-3, not 1-3) Put another way, is there enough of difference in gain to go from Plexi OD1 to Modded 800 OD2 if the gain knob stays in the same position? This would give me 3 distinct sounds without any gain boxes or having to manually turn knobs. Thinking from a live use perspective.

Interested to hear any feedback on this. And also any thoughts on the Egnater Renegade and if/how it would compare. Is it worthy of any kind of comparison at all from those that have used both? Not interested in Bogner.

thanks
Ebes

[sasquatch]

Don't know if you'd be able to get all the sounds w/o using a clean boost or Tube Screamer or some other device. There is more gain in 2nd Gear than 1st, and still more in 3rd vs. 2nd and you still have OD2 to add to the mix. I have a QR and midi switcher and use 1st Gear/OD2 for nearly all crunch rhythm and have it set to jump to 2nd Gear/OD2 for leads. I also run a Lovepedal Amp-50 clean boost that's on pretty much all the time. I have a Keeley TS9DX that I'll kick in while in the Clean Channel for less distorted or more bluesy sounds, but rolling back my guitar volume while in the Gain Channel also gives me some useable less distorted sounds. It's a versatile amp, and lime you... I was a Bogie guy and found myself tiring of the compressed nature and sound of the gain channel(s). Got tired of getting lost in the mix in a two guitar band. Love my QR and don't get lost in the mix anymore!

[ebes]

thanks for the reply. Much appreciated. It sounds like I might have to rely on my OD9 and the clean channel to get me that mild overdriven sound. That's cool. I'm always looking to minimize switching and pedal hits where I can.

Any thoughts/experiences with gain boxes on the clean channel with these amps? Do they work well with pedals?

[sasquatch]

I've only used the Amp-50 (clean boost) and TS9DX. Never tried a full on distortion pedal. When I bought the TS9 it was with the intent to use it as a solo boost, but I didn't like the way it changed the gain sound of the QR. I think with most high gain amps if you have the gain cranked up pretty high, say 70% or so, there's just not much more most distortion or high high gain pedals can add. However, if you dial the amp's gain back some, say below 1/2, you can find some decent sounds with gain pedals. That's just my experience, but I've always preferred tube driven gain to pedal driven anyhow.

[richedie]

Apr 6, 2011 10:16:41 GMT -5 sasquatch said:

Don't know if you'd be able to get all the sounds w/o using a clean boost or Tube Screamer or some other device. There is more gain in 2nd Gear than 1st, and still more in 3rd vs. 2nd and you still have OD2 to add to the mix. I have a QR and midi switcher and use 1st Gear/OD2 for nearly all crunch rhythm and have it set to jump to 2nd Gear/OD2 for leads. I also run a Lovepedal Amp-50 clean boost that's on pretty much all the time. I have a Keeley TS9DX that I'll kick in while in the Clean Channel for less distorted or more bluesy sounds, but rolling back my guitar volume while in the Gain Channel also gives me some useable less distorted sounds. It's a versatile amp, and lime you... I was a Bogie guy and found myself tiring of the compressed nature and sound of the gain channel(s). Got tired of getting lost in the mix in a two guitar band. Love my QR and don't get lost in the mix anymore!

WOWWWW, to me boogies are the opposite of compressed! To me Marshall style amps are more compressed, partly due to the circuit and part is the EL-34s. I have a 2011 Reborn Dual Rectifier as my "another flavor" amp i pull out once in a while and because it is so big and open and uncompressed, it sounds enourmous in the mix. I use a boost up front to get the compression I like for leads. It has lots of saturation in the preamp but not much of the Marshall style compression I hear in the Splawn.

[ronmail65]

No, you can't go from gear to gear without turning gain up or down and cover the full gain spectrum. At some point, you'll have to twist the gain knob on the amp or leave the amp at low gain settings and use an O/D pedal to push you to the top. The volume knob on your guitar will work too -- in terms of cutting the gain without sucking too much tone.

I think the SR will deliver the tone you're looking for. In my opinion, the SR will be a little more articulate, warmer, and less compressed than most Mesa high gain amp models.