Bought a RoadKing, few issues...

[Az]

Hi!
Today i went for a drive and came back with a roadking head and 4x12 rectifier cab.
Took it home, and noticed a couple of things.
First, the channel switching via footcontroller.. is it supposet to have a delay while switching channels? I didn't try it out at the store (stupid me, although i would have bought it anyway) Not that it would bother me, but i'm just hesitant because my lonestar doesn't do the same.

And the second issue would be a rattle/resonant sound that occured while i took the amp home. Didn't notice it at the store (would have heard it for sure there), but when i set it up at home the irritating noise was there..
Is there some spots known to loosen up or something? wouldn't want to take it back to the store since it's a 3 hour drive to there.

Afterall i'm very pleased with the amp, as i've been with my lonestar.
That rattle just irritates me, as i was so anxious to get it home and rock the hell out of it.

-Andy

 

[Littlewing91]

sounds like the rattling could be from the spring reverb but i dont have a road king so its just a gues...

 

[petrucci111]

mine works perfectly :?

 

[jdurso]

sounds like the rattling could be from the spring reverb but i dont have a road king so its just a gues...

thats the first thing i thought but i believe the road king like the roadster is tube reverb..... as for the rattling:

this is a long shot but i just went through the same issue when i got my halfback.... is your setup at home near baseboard heat? i never had this issue before with my basson cab because its closed back, but since the halfback is throwing a lot of sound out the back it was rattling the baseboard heat covering.... once i moved the half stack back from the wall there was no rattling.... its a long shot but not out of the question

another thing i thought of is maybe those metal things at the base of the tubes.... if its touching the tube it may rattle.... as for the channel switching.... nothing wrong with your amp its just a mediocre design.... my roadster does the same thing... also if you dont filter through the channels when your amp is warming up in standby, youll get a pop sound when going to channel 3.... its just an issue these amps have because with 4 channels and all the switching options, there comes some inherent flaws

 

[FLCLcowdude]

On my Road King II, there is no delay or anything like that. But, the amp is a great buy. Can't go wrong with a Mesa Road King...

 

[nathan28]

No delay when switching on mine either, as for the rattling, mine does not do this, check and make sure all the tubes are tight in place.

 

[Az]

Yea I'm gonna take the back cover off and try the tubes today.

It is road king II so it's tube revervb.

Well... guess i'll have to phone the store about that delay problem, it obviously shouldn't be there.
Or could it be the footswitch causing it.

at my pedal the first four buttons which controls the channels has very loose feeling. other buttons feel firm and ridig as i believe they should be..
I first thought that it was supposed to be that way, but now i'm thinking if the channel switch delay would be caused by the pedal button not operating correctly?

 

[Az]

Ok, took the backgrill off and the resonating sound seems to be coming off the echo-tank, could there be a spring loose or something? does anyone have a picture/schematic inside the tank before i rip it off?

 

[eventide_awakening]

no, those first four channel switches are supposed to feel like that.

 

[Machine Gun]

The springs in the reverb tank always rattle if you jar the head enough. Nothing to worry about.

 

[Az]

Yea but they rattle like hell (a light knock on the top grill makes it very audible, and while playing, the rattle clearly jumps out of the ambient sound) well.. called the dealer, they've got another head there so i'm going to change mine to it.
Good thing that it worked out so easily, only sucks driving 6 hours to there and back.
The guy at the shop tested out the head completely and said that couldn't find any rattle in it.

And as for the channel switching. Guess it just seemed laggy compared to my other amps because of the relay switching mesa uses.
The guy demoed the other amp through the phone and it was alike.

 

[Herbie the Rad Dorklift]

Wow, sounds like a shitty expensive head :lol:

 

[Az]

The guy at the shop tested out the head completely and said that couldn't find any rattle in it.

with this i meant the other head at the shop.. so tomorrow i should be smiling with a non-rattling amp

btw. i noticed while playing today that most of the reverb was gone.. so definitely some major issue at the reverb tank.. a broken spring perhaps?

I'll ask the guy to inform me when that head is fixed about the problem it had.. could be helpful for someone having same symptoms in the future.

 

[jdurso]

Yea I'm gonna take the back cover off and try the tubes today.

It is road king II so it's tube revervb.

Well... guess i'll have to phone the store about that delay problem, it obviously shouldn't be there.
Or could it be the footswitch causing it.

at my pedal the first four buttons which controls the channels has very loose feeling. other buttons feel firm and ridig as i believe they should be..
I first thought that it was supposed to be that way, but now i'm thinking if the channel switch delay would be caused by the pedal button not operating correctly?

no your pedal is right... the channel switching buttons on mine are looser than say the fx, solo, or reverb switches.... its just a less than perfect switching design

 

[jdurso]

And as for the channel switching. Guess it just seemed laggy compared to my other amps because of the relay switching mesa uses.
The guy demoed the other amp through the phone and it was alike.

that's exactly what i was going to mention..... the switching on my roadster has a slight lag thats not too noticiable until you compare it with an amp with faster switching capabilities..... some of the higher end companies like engl and diezel have addressed this issue with better relays..... i'm sure mesa will catch on soon enough

 

[Az]

some of the higher end companies like engl and diezel have addressed this issue with better relays..... i'm sure mesa will catch on soon enough

Speaking of which, i used to have a engl head, and been playing with diezel quite a few times lately

Picked up the other head today, no rattling and everythings perfect!
i'm loving it!

 

[jdurso]

some of the higher end companies like engl and diezel have addressed this issue with better relays..... i'm sure mesa will catch on soon enough

Speaking of which, i used to have a engl head, and been playing with diezel quite a few times lately

Picked up the other head today, no rattling and everythings perfect!
i'm loving it!

awesome... good to hear they took care of you because when your throwing down that much dime on an amp even the little issues seem big

 

[kissing]

Hi Az,

I was thinking of getting the Road King too.
are you using it at home or for shows?
are you able to get bedroom level for your RK?

 

[Az]

Hi Az,

I was thinking of getting the Road King too.
are you using it at home or for shows?
are you able to get bedroom level for your RK?

Hi, I use it for shows and for playing at home loud.
There's no sense to turn the amp down to bedroom level, it needs to breath out loud to show it's true essence.

Of course you could use some power attenuator like THD hotplate to eat the load, so you can turn the amp up while the volume stays at some reasonable level.. but it's all a hazzle with the external things, so i'm strictly using this amo for what it was bred for.

 

[jdurso]

there really is no such thing as "bedroom level" with a mesa.

that's why I have a jmp-1 w/ headphone jack.

you're paying a lot extra for a bunch of features you probly won't use (like midi trigger and different cabs per channel, etc.)

keep in mind you can't run 4xel34 with RK.

midi trigger??