Dual Rectifier Roadking owners chime in

[khingpynn]

I'm buying my first Mesa amp this wednesday. I've owned lots of great amps... Koch, early JCM 800's, Soldano, Randall, and now it's time for a Mesa.

I'm picking uo a Dual Rec RoadKing and would like to hear the pros and cons from owners with experience.

Cheers!

 

[GuitarGuy503]

First off, I own a Roadster which as you may know is basically a Roadking without the progressive linkage. Moving on, they are great amps (with the right settings), however, in my experience they aren't amps for people who generally like "simple" as they are packed with features (can be overwhelming) and can be difficult to dial in. I would strongly encourage you to read the owner's manual right off and educate yourself before you start tweaking the amp as the manual will have alot of good info and things to keep in mind when creating your settings. I can't stress enough how important "good settings" are for these amps as the majority of the clips I've heard have been horrible examples of what these amps are actually capable of.

little tip: to avoid fizzy tone either turn off the presence knobs completely or keep them low (the lower the better).

 

[khingpynn]

Thanks I appreciate you insight.

I downloaded the manual about 2 weeks ago and read it over... there is a lot in there in regards to how to utilize the amps many features.

In the past I've gone thru the simple no frills amps like the JCM 800 and owned more featured amps like the Kock Multitone. I prefer many choices and what attracted me to the Road King was the pregressive linkage.

I was into the Randal MTS stuff for about 4 years... owned two Lynch Box stacks. Had many of the preamp mudules and did a lot of my own mods. It was interesteng and fun but ultimatly I wanted more. I like the Dual rec vintage and modern gain tones and have heard some great cleans from these amps.

One of my concerns is the fixed bias. I've allways liked to "dial in" the bias setting to optimize what I feel are the best tones from an amp. I'd like to talk to owners here who have done the bias pot mod and see what they have found. I've read mixed reviews.

How about the Road King cab... it seems to be an interesting concept!
What do you guys think of this open/closed design?

Cheers

 

[noodles]

Think of it as analog modeling, since that is pretty much what it is. I got rid of mine because two Rectos weren't really fitting in my band, and needed the cash for a Stiletto II. Otherwise, I would have never sold it. Amazing amp. Solo on ch3/modern with 2x6L6/2xEL-34. Freakin' amazing tone.

 

[siggy14]

Is it a RK1 or RK2? The RK1's are no where near the roadster which is a dark amp. The RK1 which I own (noodles old one) is a great amp, sits between the dual recto's and the tremoverbs, it is not as scooped as the dual's but not as much midrange as the tremoverbs.

If you are looking to do the bias mod I would stay away from the roadking, with the progessive liinkage it makes things difficult, besides if you want hotter bias just order tubes from a good company and tell them you have a recto and want a hotter bias, they can send you tubes that will help you get that. Also remember you do not want to go to hot on the recto tubes, the amp is designed around pre-amp distortion and not power tube distortion.

If you want a recto with power tube distortion, do one of two things, either get the mini recto as the EL84's run hot, or get a regular dual, and eurotubes can sell you a set of 6l6's where they can be run in the EL34 mode which brings the bias up. Between us, I have done that and there was not much noticable difference, i actually preferred 6l6's running in 6l6 mode with the bias very warm but not hot.

 

[TremoJem]

I apologize for interrupting, as this is NOT a Tremoverb discussion.

I own two Tremoverbs and would like your opinion about the voicing of these amps.

I have heard they are voiced differently than a traditional recto.

I believe this to be true, but not having owned or played (in years) anything but my two amazing T/Twins, I do not have any real experience.

I only have my cheap tape recordings of these babies and the day to day hands on playing. It is my belief they have great cleans (not Fender) and great lead tones.

Please elaborate extensively as I really want to hear what people have to say about Tremoverbs.

Thanks and sorry for interrupting.

 

[siggy14]

Tremoverbs are great amps, they have alot more upper mid's then there 2 channel counter dual amps, they have better cleans and at the time they were the flagship (top amp) of the recto line.

Once the 3 channel recto came out which had all the features of the tremoverb it kind of fell away and was discontinued. But the tremoverb is still one of the best sounding recto's out there. Take it from someone that has owned many two channel dual's and triples, including rackmounts as well as Recto R0005. I have also owned 4 roadkings, played through two different roadsters and owned a 3 channel daul and 3 different tremoverbs. And if I did not have my roadking ver 1, I would own either a tremoverb or a new mini dual.

I apologize for interrupting, as this is NOT a Tremoverb discussion.

I own two Tremoverbs and would like your opinion about the voicing of these amps.

I have heard they are voiced differently than a traditional recto.

I believe this to be true, but not having owned or played (in years) anything but my two amazing T/Twins, I do not have any real experience.

I only have my cheap tape recordings of these babies and the day to day hands on playing. It is my belief they have great cleans (not Fender) and great lead tones.

Please elaborate extensively as I really want to hear what people have to say about Tremoverbs.

Thanks and sorry for interrupting.

 

[TremoJem]

Thanks siggy14.

You certainly have a wealth of experience regarding Mesas'.

It is nice to hear that someone else agrees with me.

I really need to stop listening to posts that deal with Duals and Triples as they are voiced differently and the information may not apply.

I recently posted about that very action and how I decided to experiment to determine best case scenario for singing lead tones.

What is your opinion for this?

Some say Orange/Vintage.

This is what I am experimenting with.

In addition I am experimenting with Spongy/Bold and Silicon/Tube along with the aforementioned Orange/Red settings.

With all this fussing about, tube rolling, EQ settings, EQ in the FXLoop, etc. etc. and so and so and moving from one rehearsal space to another I have changed things so many times it is confusing.

I recently heard one of my recordings from 2008 of both Tremoverbs on clean setting and the tone was so incredible I almost fell out of my seat and wish I could get back to that so that is another grail I am after.

Anyway I am curious to hear about your preferred settings for clean and lead.

If you search my postings you can glean what I have done and what I am looking for. Thanks siggy14...

 

[siggy14]

No problem, honestly still pay attention to the normal dual and triple posts, even though they are voiced slightly different, tremoverbs as well as duals all have the recto tone, the tremoverbs with just more upper mids and the duals with more lower mids, each can be eq'd close to the other.

As to settings, really depends on what type of music I am playing but this was my typical settings, when I owned the tremoverbs I would clone channel one to vintage gain and use that as my lead tone, great soloing channel basically EQ everything around right in the middle of the knobs with gain around 2 oclock. For rythem I would use channel 2 (red)I would cut the mid's to about 11 and keep the gain and every other knob the same as the orange channel.

Thanks siggy14.

You certainly have a wealth of experience regarding Mesas'.

It is nice to hear that someone else agrees with me.

I really need to stop listening to posts that deal with Duals and Triples as they are voiced differently and the information may not apply.

I recently posted about that very action and how I decided to experiment to determine best case scenario for singing lead tones.

What is your opinion for this?

Some say Orange/Vintage.

This is what I am experimenting with.

In addition I am experimenting with Spongy/Bold and Silicon/Tube along with the aforementioned Orange/Red settings.

With all this fussing about, tube rolling, EQ settings, EQ in the FXLoop, etc. etc. and so and so and moving from one rehearsal space to another I have changed things so many times it is confusing.

I recently heard one of my recordings from 2008 of both Tremoverbs on clean setting and the tone was so incredible I almost fell out of my seat and wish I could get back to that so that is another grail I am after.

Anyway I am curious to hear about your preferred settings for clean and lead.

If you search my postings you can glean what I have done and what I am looking for. Thanks siggy14...

 

[tonemonster]

what is the difference between Version 1 and version 2 of the roadking??? when did they switch to version 2?? and why?

 

[BoogieMan_SC]

I've had one for about a year now. It's an insanely versatile amp. I use mine for rock and hard rock (as opposed to total shred-metal) and it has absolutely no problem achieving those voicings. The cleans are awesome and since I have quite a few pedals on my board that include many overdrives (Keeley modded TS9DX Flexi 4x2, Timmy v4, OCD v4...as well as a Analogman Sunface)...I can also use those on the clean channels in addition to channels 3 and 4...it can dial up a huge number of tones.

My revolving door of amp purchases have all but ceased after finding the RK. And like a poster above mentioned...channel 3 is sublime! My previous (Mesa) amps have been an Express 5:50 2x12 and a Dual Caliber 30. I happen to think after the RK is no longer produced, it will be a truly coveted amp. One of the greats.

Also worth mentioning....this amp really can get some great tones, even at lower volumes too, so your neighbors will appreciate it as well!

 

[tonemonster]

Yes, I agree.........channel 3 is bar far my favorite. I dont play any "nu metal" or really heavy stuff, so I find channel 4 is a bit too much for me, but I do admit I havent spent a huge amount of time trying to dial in greatness on it. Chan 3 fits my needs so well that I just never seem to be motivated to spend time on chan 4. maybe a good winter project for me. :mrgreen:

Chan 1 is obvious.....good cleans
chan2 is my blues channel, works great for that.
chan3 is pure rock & roll

 

[GuitarGuy503]

channel 3 is bar far my favorite. I dont play any "nu metal" or really heavy stuff, so I find channel 4 is a bit too much for me, but I do admit I havent spent a huge amount of time trying to dial in greatness on it. Chan 3 fits my needs so well that I just never seem to be motivated to spend time on chan 4. maybe a good winter project for me. :mrgreen:

chan3 is pure rock & roll

+1. I'm also not currently using Channel 4 because I can get everything I want in the first 3 channels. Channel 1 is a mix of a british/pushed flavor (tweed mode), Channel 2 is a full bodied and chimy clean (brit mode), and Channel 3 is a girthy hardrock flavor (modern mode). Perhaps someday I will find a use for Channel 4 but for now I have absolutely no need for it. In my experience with the cleans I have found the clean and fat modes to be to dry sounding even with reverb.

 

[khingpynn]

I picked up the Road King on Saturday and rehearsed with it on Sunday.

So far I've found it eats a bowl full of Marshalls with Diezel every morning for breakfast... wipes it's ass with a Randall! Pisses on Peavey's... hangs nice with Bogner and Soldano :wink:

From crystal clean to sparkle clean, barely breaking up to AC/DC crunch, 70's mid gain to 80's high gain, 90's high gain to modern high gain and beyond. After a 4 year stint with the Randall Lynch Box and hearing first hand how bad Marshall amps have become, and a stint with Soldano and Koch. I searched high and low and ended up right hear with the Mesa Road King... a cool journey to a Stellar destination!!!

AS you can see I'm pretty happy so far. I've really only had about 2 good hours of tweek time with it and am looking for ppl to help me find a great 80's metal tone from this amp for both leads an rhythm.

Anyone care to share settings?

or now of a link to exsisting settings?

I'm using a PRS SC245 with set of SD Slash pickups as my main gtr.

I also have a GMP Korina V with Custom in bridge and 59 in the neck, a Music Man Silhouette Special and a Gibson SG with SD JB in the bridge.

Cheers!

 

[khingpynn]

I'm looking for the same types of sounds... not metal so much but rock... classic rock... hard rock... new rock.

Care to share some settings?

Cheers

I've had one for about a year now. It's an insanely versatile amp. I use mine for rock and hard rock (as opposed to total shred-metal) and it has absolutely no problem achieving those voicings. The cleans are awesome and since I have quite a few pedals on my board that include many overdrives (Keeley modded TS9DX Flexi 4x2, Timmy v4, OCD v4...as well as a Analogman Sunface)...I can also use those on the clean channels in addition to channels 3 and 4...it can dial up a huge number of tones.

My revolving door of amp purchases have all but ceased after finding the RK. And like a poster above mentioned...channel 3 is sublime! My previous (Mesa) amps have been an Express 5:50 2x12 and a Dual Caliber 30. I happen to think after the RK is no longer produced, it will be a truly coveted amp. One of the greats.

Also worth mentioning....this amp really can get some great tones, even at lower volumes too, so your neighbors will appreciate it as well!

 

[BoogieMan_SC]

I'm looking for the same types of sounds... not metal so much but rock... classic rock... hard rock... new rock.

Care to share some settings?

Cheers

I've had one for about a year now. It's an insanely versatile amp. I use mine for rock and hard rock (as opposed to total shred-metal) and it has absolutely no problem achieving those voicings. The cleans are awesome and since I have quite a few pedals on my board that include many overdrives (Keeley modded TS9DX Flexi 4x2, Timmy v4, OCD v4...as well as a Analogman Sunface)...I can also use those on the clean channels in addition to channels 3 and 4...it can dial up a huge number of tones.

My revolving door of amp purchases have all but ceased after finding the RK. And like a poster above mentioned...channel 3 is sublime! My previous (Mesa) amps have been an Express 5:50 2x12 and a Dual Caliber 30. I happen to think after the RK is no longer produced, it will be a truly coveted amp. One of the greats.

Also worth mentioning....this amp really can get some great tones, even at lower volumes too, so your neighbors will appreciate it as well!

Hey there...sorry about the delayed-response. I haven't been to the board since last week.
Sure, I'm off today, so let me take some time to write down my settings. It's probably a good thing for me to do anyway, just to document my baseline settings. As you know, it could get involved w/all the tube/linkage settings, etc. I'll report back as soon as I can.

 

[khingpynn]

Sounds good... I look forward to it.

I'll also post the setting I have so far.

Cheers!

 

[Stratocaster]

Here's something I just PM'd to khingpynn in a side conversation. May as well share it here...


Sounds good... hope all is working out well.

FYI...
Something to consider that seems to escape a lot of people when they get a RK and see 'Brit' in channel 2...
Brit = Plexi, Brit DOES NOT = JCM 800.

Here's an setting I use for Bowie's "Moonage Daydream"...

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xqlo3_david-bowie-moonage-daydream-live_music
(Dailymotion is being glitchy. You may have to refresh a couple of time to get the vid to work if it says 'not found')

Brit mode (channel 2)
2 x el34
RK 2 x 12, Open back side only
Recto tracking
Bold (not spongy)
Gain = 5:30 (cranked)
Treble = 1:30
Mid = 5:30 (cranked)
Bass = 11:00
Presence = 10:00

Using PAF style pickups. Yours may have more gain.

 

[khingpynn]

Thanks Toby I appreciate all your help... cheers!

 

[BoogieMan_SC]

OK, I finally got around to documenting my baseline settings over the weekend. I use HSS Strats, Les Pauls and Teles, so I might fiddle with a knob here and there depending on the guitar (usually the treble...sometimes the presence).

I also run a BOSS GE-7 Monte Allum modded EQ pedal that's always on and shaped for a slightly elevated high-mids and no level-boost. I have about 15 or so pedals on my board, but the EQ is the one that's always on. Again...more "rock" than any metal, etc.

The RK is the v2 and is always on "BOLD" on the Variac setting. As you'll see...I'm more of a 6L6 kind of dude.
The RK v2 is a combo w/C90's and it sits atop a Mesa 2x12 Recto cabinet with V30's. I really love the combo of the 2 speaker types together. I don't use any of the selective cabinet outputs, etc...although I do use both cabinets simultaneously for each channel.

CHANNEL 1:
Tweed
Gain: 7:00
Treble: 2:00
Mid: 10:30
Bass: 10:00
Presence: 10:00
Master: 11:00

Diode/Tube Recto: Diode
Reverb: 3:00
Tubes: Four 6L6's
****************
CHANNEL 2:
FAT mode
Gain: 2:00
Treble: 2:30
Mid: 1:00
Bass: 10:00
Presence: 8:00
Master: 10:00

Diode/Tube Recto: Tube Recto
Reverb: 11:00
Tubes: Four 6L6's
****************
CHANNEL 3:
VINTAGE mode
Gain: 2:00
Treble: 2:30
Mid: 11:00
Bass: 8:00
Presence: 9:00
Master: 10:00

Diode/Tube Recto: Tube Recto
Reverb: 12:00
Tubes: Four 6L6's
****************
CHANNEL 4:
RAW mode
Gain: 3:30
Treble: 3:30
Mid: 12:00
Bass: 7:00
Presence: 9:00
Master: 10:00

Diode/Tube Recto: Diode
Reverb: 1:00
Tubes: Two EL34's