help needed for road king

[kissing]

hi,
i am new to the board so hello everybody!
i have read a lot of good stuffs bout the road king in the forum and was definitely dazed by all the coments. now i have finally decided that thats the amp for me. but before that, i need you guys to help me answer some questions. my country has no dealer that carrys mesa so is there a good, trustworthy dealer that anybody knows of online? and my country is using a 240V 60/50hz power supply, do they have mesa built for this kind of supplies?
thanks!!!

 

[CudBucket]

Mesa doesn't sell online. You'll have to find a dealer that will ship overseas.

 

[kissing]

so do they bulid mesa in 240v 60/50hz???

 

[Flavell777]

They do, that's the same as UK voltage.

 

[John Orange]

Kissing,

I am in the same position and been doing a bit of research about this. Please see below some ideas which you may want to consider.

A. Direct sale from Mesa
Firstly, Mesa sells overseas. Just write them and they can arrange a direct sale to you. Try the international custommer support email address on their web page.

Unfortunatelly, depending on your location, the transport costs may be substantial amounting, in my case, to around USD 900 (the RK weights around 28 Kg). For your convenience, I note Mesa uses UPS as transporter.

B. Liaise with a continental dealer

Secondily, assuming you are from Europe, as in my case, there are a few dealers who could also ship the amp to you. In my case, I have developed a good relatinoship with a dealer in Poland (www.lauda-audio.pl). He also ship Rks and, to my knowledge, just now he has few in stock.

This dealer allows you to pick your own transporter.

C. Road King price

Mesa sells to Road King for USD 2500.

The Polish dealer sells it for USD 2800.

D. Additional costs

Depending on your local taxation regime, to the total costs above (price + transport cost) you may have to add customs tax and VAT. This ussually means a 30% to 40% increase of the acqusition cost, depending on the applicable custom rate and VAT rate.

In my case this made the acquisition of a RK a traumatising exercice for my budget. I am hence still saving money.

 

[oz_mike]

,... unless you live in Australia and the Mesa distributer screws you over and charges you over US$6,000 of a Road King,... that's highway robbery :x

 

[kissing]

thanks john orange,
your information was definitely a great help. by the way i am from singapore. there was this guy in my country that used to sell mesa until not long ago. by the way how can i check wat are the taxes due for the purchase? is buying from mesa direct trustworthy and safe?

 

[kissing]

by the way, anybody know wat is the arrival time for each order direct from mesa?

 

[John Orange]

Singapore... Never underestimate the power of the internet. I am from Romania.

Please see below:

How can i check wat are the taxes due for the purchase?

I think you hould check with your local customs authorities. Since a lot of money is involved, the safest way forward is to officially enquire them as to the tax regime applicable to your amp.

It may happen that there are certain incentives you may enjoy when importing goods (i.e. the RK) from USA, so it would help you know about them before placing any order with Mesa.

Is buying from mesa direct trustworthy and safe?

Unfortunately, I do not know. I have not have myself the opportunity to acquire something from them. I would nevertheless assume they are fair and supportive guys, judging from the feedback I see in some of the posts in this forum.

Anybody know wat is the arrival time for each order direct from mesa?

From my previous experience when dealing with shipping issues, arrival timing is a matter which remains exclusively with the transporter. Therefore, it depends on your availability to pay higher carrier fees for less transportation time.

I hope the above helps.

Best regards,
JO

 

[kissing]

thanks john,
i really appreciate the help you offered...
by the way, there arent many chances for me to test drive some of the "boutique" amps, in fact none! therefore, i hope you guys could help answer my questions. as some of these questions might look stupid, so please bear with me...
is the RK a super loud amp? i think my future RK would be at my room 99% of the time(i think it would be my beloved) so i dont think i would be able to crank it full. any comments? thanks...

 

[Troy]

It is a super loud amp! However, you can still get great tone from the amp at lower volume levels by using the 50 watt tube configurations in the spongy mode and using the rectifier tubes instead of the diodes.

*Even at these settings I am still able to play medium sized venues unmiked with the master volume between 12:00 and 1:00.

When I practice with the RK at home I usually have the master volume at 10:00.

 

[John Orange]

No problem. Glad to help.

 

[kissing]

for a head and a 2X12 cab, do they have their own ac supply or do they share? or only the head uses a supply?

 

[Platypus]

for a head and a 2X12 cab, do they have their own ac supply or do they share? or only the head uses a supply?

There is no power supply for a cabinet, just the head

 

[kissing]

i heard there is some kind of anttenuator that is able to push up the gain and yet keeping the volumes down, any comments???