favorite pedal for mesa boogie but road king in particular

[rocker43]

Hi group, I guess you will be seeing me around here. I just got my brand new 5 year old road king l today. It takes some getting used to that is for sure. I haven't found my dream tone in it yet. But there is alot to research and adjust. I am also limited on how loud I can turn it which is always not good for a 100 watt tube amp. I have always had el34 amps so finding that tone that I am accustomed to is a challange at the momement. I have to say the longer I messed around with this amp the better it sounded. It appears the 2.50 wall mart casters will work in a pinch, they are 11.00 or 120.00 apiece on mesa's site. I got the 2x12 and this mother is heavy, not quite as bad as I thought it would be though, the handles on the side and top help alot and now with my cheap wheels it should be somewhat managable. Are all mesa's this loud. I have a jvm and a traynor 100 watt amp and they don't seem to have the same bite at a lower volume as this beast. But good tone is what I am after. Tomorrow I will try a bbe green screamer and sonic maximizer. I will also try my gt-10 in a limited capacity. What pedal goes well with a dual rectifier or the road king. I have had really good luck with the maximizer and my marshall, I also have a kerry king eq I will give a try. Anyway if you think of anything that may be useful to me let me know. I like metalica, ac/dc, stones, creed, black crows type rock as well. But I like to have a well rounded amp ready to tackle alot of different sounds.

 

[leblanc74]

I use a kerry king EQ in the front, but it still lack that distortion... I am going to try the Zakk pedal from MXR next week...Already tried the Maxon OD808 and was not enought distortion for me...

 

[Steve73]

If you like the Black Crowes and classic type of rock, I couldn't recommend the Fulltone Fulldrive 2 enough. It sounds great through any amp. It doesn't grind but it does do a fantastic breakup type distortion.

 

[styphon]

The Zakk wylde OD rocks...

Its suppose to be used on the distortioin channels, on clean it sounds like a blues over drive =O

 

[seymourstiletto]

fulltone ocd is the greatest overdrive pedal ever made!

 

[siggy14]

If you are not getting enough distortion then.
1. something is wrong with the amp
2. Maybe you want that solid state sounding distortion.

Because I never put my gain past 2 oclock and that is plenty of gain for most any style of music i have heard with the exception of people that use solid state amps.

You have to remember in a band situation the heavines of music is a mixture of things, the combination of the bass and the guitar is a very imporant mix. I have seen many bands that use jcm800's sound super heavy because the bass guitar makes up where the 800 lacks.

Example, slayer heavy as hell, guitarists use JCM800's which do not have close to the amount of gain a recto has.

I use a kerry king EQ in the front, but it still lack that distortion... I am going to try the Zakk pedal from MXR next week...Already tried the Maxon OD808 and was not enought distortion for me...

 

[konstantine RK]

Yep...I feel the same as the post above this one. There is simpley no reason to add any overdrive or distortion pedal to the Roadking 1. This is the best of the roadkings IMO and it is at your own pleasure to discover what you can do with one of the best amps on the market.

If you cannot turn up your roadking then find a place and time where you can get a few hours of quality time with it.

I used to use a BBL Boosta Grande with my lead playing but I haven't used it for a while.


kon RK

 

[rocker43]

thanks for the replies group. I have had my amp for about a week now. This think is just plain sick. I am able to get so many great tones out of it. It takes alot of tweeking on each channel to get the flavor your looking for but once you get close, bamm, it sounds great. Channels 1 3 and 4 all sound exactly how I want them, I am using channel 2 with 4 6l6's for some of my pedals, today I played around with the metal muff, that pedal has never sounded good. siggy14 brought up the point my amp may not be working, I don't think that is the case, I have narrowed down my problem, it was me. It took me a good three days to get the tones I was looking for, but what a rewarding experience it has been. I can't imagine how the clean on the ll are so much better but I will take everyones word for it that they are. I am really happy all the way around with the rkl. I really do appreciate your feedback. Your right about the gain on this amp, there is really enough for two amps, I think I will be tweeking on this thing for months before I am fully versed at all the sounds that can come out if it. This amp really is the king.

 

[hamer_fan]

I used a GT-6 on my Randall amp till I bought my RK1. Then the processor left here in a hurry. The only thing I really missed was the delay. So I bought the E.H. #1 echo. I don't think it would have mattered which delay I bought, but that's the one I have. The point is that it really added a new dimension to my amps character. I run it in my signal path right beside my wah. I haven't used it in the FX loop, mainly cause I like it where it is.

I know it's not exactly what this thread is about, but that one pedal made a big difference in overall satisfaction for me.

 

[leblanc74]

Got the MXR Zakk OD and got to say: I am going to keep it. If used in moderation, the pedal kept the amp's tone the same, but it just adds those harmonic pitch which is easier to acheive a la Zakk style, I also got some Satriani tone from this pedal....

MXR Zakk OD reminds me of a Modified Boss SD1, It really shines in front of the JCM800, but not as much on the RK2...This pedal has bumped my Maxon OD808 off my board