Is the Royal Atlantic capable of metal?

[DWAKO]

Just FYI Lamb of God put out an album today called "Resolution" and I believe a majority of the tones on there are the RA. I dig them a lot, others don't, but it's cool to hear the RA on a professional record.

 

[CoG]

I heard "Choke Sermon" on the radio today, with that much post-EQ they could be using Marshall Valvestates and it would sound the same lol. I like LoG's riffs a lot but I have never dug their guitar tones, which is funny...

I should have some decent clips soon, I have the RA in the studio right now. I am about 1/3 Mark III and 2/3 RA. Our other guitarist uses a Roadster so it's all Mesa

Big thing I have discovered so far is that it's sneaky with the bass, though that might be my cab. We were close micing it and found once we got tracks into the mix that we actually had to cut a lot more lows than we expected and even ended up redoing some stuff with different mic positions.

 

[DWAKO]

Actually, the more recent LoG albums are getting more raw with less post EQing (especially Wrath). The tone is fairly different on Resolution than on previous albums. After playing an RA pretty regularly I can tell the RA is the staple tone for the album and performs nicely IMO, otherwise I probably would not have known. LoG has never had your "typical" metal tones (not very scooped, a little more bass response with picking over tones). I'm anxious for Mesa to put out a Mark Morton RA-100 Demo video. Like Don said, the RA and Mark V are both great amps, it depends what flavor you want. I personally like both, it's difficult to pick a favorite.

Don, maybe this calls for an RA/Mark V comparison video?! :wink:

 

[XxDAVIDxX]

Let's not forget that Morton plays the Royal Atlantic and not LOG. Adler still plays the Mark V so I think it's unfair to listen to LOG and judged the RA and assume that everything your hearing is the RA. I did play the RA for awhile at GC and it's a great amp capable of metal BUT you really need to push the amp hard. For me the RA wasn't what I was looking for mainly because I play at reasonable levels at home and for me the Mark V is perfect. At 10w on channel 3, I can dial in a face melting paint pealing metal tone to die for. As much as love the RA, I couldn't be happier with my Mark V and maybe one day I'll buy the RA but for now, it's all Mark V for me.

 

[DWAKO]

The Mark V is a great amp and I'm glad you like it! It's my amp of choice so I share your excitement about the Mark V. Plus you can discover new tones daily!

 

[Scary]

The Mark V is great for metal. I can get amazing sounds at low volumes, much easier than the Mark 4.

 

[DWAKO]

I did a VERY rough comparison between the Mark V and Royal Atlantic at Guitar Center yesterday, both dialed in for an aggressive rhythm sound. It is extremely crude as it was recorded on my IPhone 4 and I was running low on memory (that's why it's so brief), but you at least can hear a difference in the voicing. I didn't label which one is which so people can say if which one they like better. Both were run pretty loud with the master at 10:30-11ish. Forgive the mindless riffing, and guitar string noise.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=maQQ_jhJfgU

 

[fdesalvo]

Don is correct - but the RA does 70's metal just fine and classic rock type distortion. It will not get you into the same ballpark as a JCM 800, my man. And like the JCM 800, it sounds good by the time your ears are bleeding. Even attenuated, I couldn't get what I was looking for. The soak features don't do that much. You are going to get a very uncompressed and open gain structure, which is great for light - hard rock, but you ain't gettin' Whitesnake type gain out of this. You are getting Matchbox 20.

I have played a LP with BB Pros and another with a JB through this amp (at stage volume), so the idea that technique or weaker pickups is to blame is not valid. A high gain amp will sound as such even with PAF type pickups.

While Mortenson might be endorsed by Mesa, I guarantee he's going to be using a boost on stage *if* he uses this at all live. If you are married to the Mesa brand, go MKV. Otherwise, get a Splawn.

Hello everyone. First time poster and I'm excited to be part of this forum. I'm looking for some guidance to help me make my first and long overdue Mesa/Boogie purchase. So, I've been going back and forth for weeks trying to decide on which amp is right for me. The Royal Atlantic or the good ol Mark V. I currently own a Marshall DSL100 and A Peavey 6534+. My first attraction to the RA-100 was I thought maybe it would bridge what my two current amps can't. My Peavey has crushing hi-gain but garbage cleans and my Marshall has awesome cleans and crunch but (IMO) garbage fizzy hi-gain.. So I called Don from Haggertys Music after watching his demonstrations on YouTube and after I told him whichever amp I choose it has to be able to play metal-ish type hi-gain tones in addition to beautiful cleans, he suggested that I go with the Mark V and said the Royal Atlantic's gain isnt really ideal for metal. Now I'm really scratching my head because after reading my latest issue of Guitar World and seeing the Royal Atlantic's ad with the guy from L.O.G. Using it, I figured - perfect! Also I would like to add that the RA-100 attenuators are a major selling point for me as I have a wife and a 20 month old son. So I guess my ultimate question is - can the RA-100 handle metal? And I don't mean crazy off the wall stuff but rather the typical Metallica thrash stuff. Tight palm muted metal riff'n. Thanks for any input.

 

[JOEY B.]

Don is correct - but the RA does 70's metal just fine and classic rock type distortion. It will not get you into the same ballpark as a JCM 800, my man. And like the JCM 800, it sounds good by the time your ears are bleeding. Even attenuated, I couldn't get what I was looking for. The soak features don't do that much. You are going to get a very uncompressed and open gain structure, which is great for light - hard rock, but you ain't gettin' Whitesnake type gain out of this. You are getting Matchbox 20.

I have played a LP with BB Pros and another with a JB through this amp (at stage volume), so the idea that technique or weaker pickups is to blame is not valid. A high gain amp will sound as such even with PAF type pickups.

You are correct, the RA-100 is not a 3-channel amp by most peoples' standards. If it were, the channels would be named- '60s Fender, '70s Marshall, and '80s non-modified Marshall. I remember all too well the early 1980's JCM 800 amps. They were loaded with 3-12AX7's and 6550 power tubes for the US models. Great for powerful rhythms, absolutely sucked for leads. This is what drove me to the Boogie Mark series. Most of the Marshalls that were heard in the 1980's were HEAVILY modified, including the ones owned by John Sykes(Whitesnake). To me, the RA-100, when equipped with the right tubes, is much better than any stock JCM 800 that I have ever played.

 

[SonVolt]

I remember all too well the early 1980's JCM 800 amps. They were loaded with 3-12AX7's and 6550 power tubes for the US models. Great for powerful rhythms, absolutely sucked for leads. This is what drove me to the Boogie Mark series. Most of the Marshalls that were heard in the 1980's were HEAVILY modified, including the ones owned by John Sykes(Whitesnake). To me, the RA-100, when equipped with the right tubes, is much better than any stock JCM 800 that I have ever played.

I finally parted with my stock JCM 800 w/6550's. Everything you said is true. I could get a good ACDC sound with a boost but that was about it. People always said it was the hard rock amp of choice in the 80s but I never could get a tone anything like that. Just too much clean headroom. It didn't break up until the walls were shaking but even then it was a light crunch. Palm mutes sounded kind of muddy, nothing like wylde, poison, Whitesnake or whoever. I could nail smashing pumpkins though with a big muff out front.

 

[CoG]

fdesalvo, how quiet do you need your amp to be, man? I actually have the opposite problem with the RA-- if I dial in a "modern high-gain sound" on the red channel, meaning a bit of a scoop and mainly preamp gain with little power tube breakup, I find the amp isn't loud *enough* for a moderately athletic drummer. Certainly I am thinking "100 watts? Seriously?"

Also, were you honestly not getting enough gain on the Hi channel? I would say it's not structured for extreme gain plus super-tight riffing, because the high gain sounds are pretty fat, but lack of gain is not the problem. You can't play Meshuggah with it, because it doesn't track fast enough, and more nu-metal-y stuff like KSE is better played on a Recto because you need monstrous tight bass, but the RA can do Mastodon or similar for days on Hi with the gain just past noon.

I had my old JCM800 2204 side by side with the RA for weeks and I felt Lo was the JCM800 channel. The big difference was I could get a lot of crunch at sane (not quiet, but normal) volumes with the RA, and the JCM800 liked pedals and the RA didn't, but it didn't need them either.

I'm able to dial in decent sounds at volume levels I would consider not bedroom, but well below "usable with a band." The only problem with high-gain sounds at those levels is that they are pretty compressed, and I can mitigate that by using a smaller cab.

I have some complaints about the RA, especially with the reverb circuit (seriously-- listen to the amp with the reverb disengaged and without. You will never want to turn the reverb back on. It's like the Output and Loop on the Roadster.) But lack of gain or "too loud" are definitely not what comes to mind.