Mesa Road King ... Slept On? Insanely Good!

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Stone Heavy Sound

Stone Heavy Sound

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I just got my hands on a road king for about as much as a two channel dual-rec. Didn't know what to expect, but two sessions of messing with it and I can safely say this is the nicest amp I've ever played :worship: If you don't know exactly what it's capable of, let me break it down.

4 channels, each with 3 voicings
5 power amp options, each channel can have it's own combination (6L6 and/or EL34)
Each channel can assign its own rectifier flavor
Series and parallel loops, assignable per channel each with w/d mix for par. loop
Slave out for W/D setups
Two speaker cab outs, but selectable for each channel (A, B, A+B)
Built in Variac

This is the most configurable amp ever. And it's not in vain. The settings actually do change the sound and feel, and always in musical ways. The EQ's are effective, the different tube settings are awesome, and the voicings on the clean channels (tweed and brit) and amazing. At smoking hot high gain settings on the classic Modern mode, it's almost silent when I stop playing, sounds like I have a noise gate on it.

These can be had for crazy low prices, hence I say slept on. It is a tone monster, built to exceptional standards, and seeing them moving regularly for 1500 makes it by far the best value in the amp world as far as I can tell.
 
Intrigued. Since selling my Tremoverb a year or so ago, I have often thought of taking a Road King MKII for a spin...

BTW: Clips? :confused:
 
road king is a BEAST. I forget what they call it but being able to blend EL34s and 6l6s at the same time is killer.
 
chrisrocksusa":2e6dh8wd said:
I forget what they call it but being able to blend EL34s and 6l6s at the same time is killer.
Click to expand...

Simul-Class?

Dual Linkage?

Gang Banging?
 
rlord1974":1o3tuovk said:
chrisrocksusa":1o3tuovk said:
I forget what they call it but being able to blend EL34s and 6l6s at the same time is killer.
Click to expand...

Simul-Class?

Dual Linkage?

Gang Banging?
Click to expand...

I think it was progressive linkage, but all of the above are great
 
I have the Roadster (RKII minus prog. linkage, speaker select, and loops) and I concur. It's the perfect amp. It doesn't have a bad sound in it.
 
rocknrolla":14u7nh55 said:
I have the Roadster (RKII minus prog. linkage, speaker select, and loops) and I concur. It's the perfect amp. It doesn't have a bad sound in it.
Click to expand...

what is the speaker select? I don't remember that function on the RK.
 
I knew clips would be demanded, I will get to it at some point. :doh:

The power amp is Progressive Linkage.

Regarding speaker selection, each channel has a switch for A, B, A+B. The speaker outs have 16, 8, and dual 4 ohm options. I currently use two celestion loaded cabs, one with K100's, one with V30's, and now rather than use a cab-bone the head just does it, in this case the Modern diode rectified channel rips through both cabs with the 4-6l6 + 2-el34 power out. But then I can just run the Brit dirty channel through the el34's and the v30 cabinet only for a rockin JTM type of sound.
 
One of my favorite hard rock sounds in that amp is the tweed setting on Ch 1. Keep the bass fairly low and get the gain and treble up and especially with a hot humbucker it smokes. But if you bring up the bass you can get some great old school, swampy, finger style, dirt tones. I personally prefer tube rec and spongy / 50 watt 6L6, but any and all settings are worth trying.
 
Stone Heavy Sound":1dw20q2z said:
I knew clips would be demanded, I will get to it at some point. :doh:

The power amp is Progressive Linkage.

Regarding speaker selection, each channel has a switch for A, B, A+B. The speaker outs have 16, 8, and dual 4 ohm options. I currently use two celestion loaded cabs, one with K100's, one with V30's, and now rather than use a cab-bone the head just does it, in this case the Modern diode rectified channel rips through both cabs with the 4-6l6 + 2-el34 power out. But then I can just run the Brit dirty channel through the el34's and the v30 cabinet only for a rockin JTM type of sound.
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Is that your rig in the photo? If so, where did you get that rack case? I'm interested in something similar and haven't seen any off the shelf that are side-by-side like that. Not trying to derail the thread - just curious :yes:
 
Do you have a road crew to move such a case around for you? It would likely weigh over 250 lbs.......
 
rlord1974":yc7a8kql said:
Do you have a road crew to move such a case around for you? It would likely weigh over 250 lbs.......
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Nope - we trailer our gear to the gigs and roll-in/roll-out. My current rack rig is close to 150 lbs.

Most likely, this would stay in my "studio"...
 
I too have a Roadster, and aside from the VH4, its the best amp I've played out of, so versatile!
 
chrisrocksusa":1qpgrjgm said:
rocknrolla":1qpgrjgm said:
I have the Roadster (RKII minus prog. linkage, speaker select, and loops) and I concur. It's the perfect amp. It doesn't have a bad sound in it.
Click to expand...

what is the speaker select? I don't remember that function on the RK.
Click to expand...
I was referring to the selection of speaker out A, B, or A+B.
 
IndyWS6":30hctsr1 said:
Is that your rig in the photo? If so, where did you get that rack case? I'm interested in something similar and haven't seen any off the shelf that are side-by-side like that. Not trying to derail the thread - just curious :yes:
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's my large rig, and it's actually about 350 lbs. !!!! You definitely need a crew and/or forklift if you want to tour with this. I don't so it basically lives in the studio, but I was hoping I would someday. It's still been a treat having everything neatly wired up and ready to go at all times though and it has a real presence. Because of its size, I actually built a smaller rig for gigging. It's a 10-space shockmount rack and that's a handful as it is.

The case is from A&S here in Los Angeles. Talk to Jim, he's their sales guy and very nice and knowledgeable, he's built everyone's cases! This one is actually based off a picture I saw of Jerry Cantrell's rig, so I'm describing it to him over the phone and he says, "Jerry, oh let me go pull out his file" and a minute later has the schematic in his hand, all we had to do was measure my heads for the foam.

In light of the Road King, I'm considering foregoing the two head setup. PM me if you're near L.A. and want to see the case, I'm considering selling it, and for a hell of a lot less than a new one will cost.
 
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