Raodster vs. Road King II

[waylay00]

First off, sorry if this topic has been covered before.

Anyways, I tried out a Roadster 100w head today with an EBMM Petrucci signature. I was BLOWN away. The cleans were amazing, especially for a Rectifier (I've played Recto's before, but was never impressed that much). Then when I switched to the higher gain channels, I was equally impressed. The gain was top notch, especially tight.

Now I have a dilemma. Since $1800 is no small amount for an amp, I was wondering if it would be worth it to put a little more money down for a Road King II. Is it that much better? What exactly are the benefits of Progressive Linkage? etc

Basically, should I just pay more for a Road King, or settle for a Roadster?

A Boogie is definitely my next amp though, that's for sure

Thanks,
Wade

 

[JAZZGEAR]

It depends on if you like the EL34 sound...and/or if you want a more authentic Brit sound out of Channel 2 Brit Mode.

Personally, I like the sound of 2 6L6 + 2 El34s

So my vote would go for the RK II....plus the the RK II has the dual effects loops.

 

[waylay00]

I'm thinking RKII as well. Can it venture into Marshall/Stiletto land? I've played a Stiletto as well, and loved it too.

 

[dennq45]

Since my new Roadster crapped out in me I am also thinking about the RK II. We will see on Jan 2.

 

[nathan28]

I just recently got my RKII, defintely the best amp ive played. You get more options since you can assign what power tubes you want to run, you can get pretty much any sound you are looking for. Go with the roadking series 2.

 

[psychogentoo]

I'm digging on the roadster combo but I'm also considering moving up to the Road King II head with the 2x12 cab.

Progressive Linkage is a very cool feature on top of that you can assign different cabs per channel. The road king cab has both v30 (closed) and c90 (open) so not only do you get tonal variations from the tubes via the Prog. Link, you also get variations from the cab.

I should really stop going to the music store....

Welcome to Grailtone, Sorry about your wallet...

 

[BENNY]

RKII. i am so sorry to say. i am an addict. i have to have assignable wattage, i have to have dedicated loops, and now i have to say i need progressive linkage. there is no better tube for soloing than El34. my oppinon, but i like them also for raw as well. 6l6 for clean and for modern channel 4.

+1 for speaker differntial. i even go as far to say 2x12 c90's for cleans.

 

[tele_jas]

Tough call.... If I had the extra money, I'd get the RK II.

I currently have a Roadster, but I sold my RK (series I) to get it and I couldn't be happier!! I do miss the progressive linkage though , but the Roadster is still a tone MONSTER!! The only channel, IMO, that the progressive linkage comes in handy for is the "Brit" mode.... I can get by with 6L6's for the rest of the channels but you really need them on the Brit channel to get the "real" meaning of this channel..... I'd also use EL34's & 6L6's for my heavy channel if I had a RK, I did on my RKI and it sounded pretty tough.

 

[BENNY]

+1 to that Ja.. kinda what i tried to say, but dude your roadster clips rock man. Roadster is sweet for less. just sometimes i wish...

 

[chris_bechtel]

Tough call.... If I had the extra money, I'd get the RK II.

I currently have a Roadster, but I sold my RK (series I) to get it and I couldn't be happier!! I do miss the progressive linkage though , but the Roadster is still a tone MONSTER!! The only channel, IMO, that the progressive linkage comes in handy for is the "Brit" mode.... I can get by with 6L6's for the rest of the channels but you really need them on the Brit channel to get the "real" meaning of this channel..... I'd also use EL34's & 6L6's for my heavy channel if I had a RK, I did on my RKI and it sounded pretty tough.

If you don't mind me asking, why did you decide you wanted the roadster more than the RK I?

 

[JAZZGEAR]

I can answer that for Tele.....

He did it for the Lonestar Cleans!!!!!

Most RK I owners won't openly admit it, but the cleans & Reverb on the RK I, are flat out awful.

 

[tele_jas]

I can answer that for Tele.....

He did it for the Lonestar Cleans!!!!!

Most RK I owners won't openly admit it, but the cleans & Reverb on the RK I, are flat out awful.

Exactly!! I did it for the better, GREAT cleans!

But that 2nd comment, I won't totally agree with... maybe 50% agree with though, they aren't the best cleans I've ever heard but they are better than the rest of the Rectifier line.

The only thing I miss out of the RKI is the Brit mode was much nicer!! I don't know what they did in the series II and the Roadster, but the Brit mode isn't quite as good - IMO.

 

[JAZZGEAR]

"The only thing I miss out of the RKI is the Brit mode was much nicer!! I don't know what they did in the series II and the Roadster, but the Brit mode isn't quite as good - IMO."

Hey Tele, could that be due to the lack of El34s? Let's face it, they are crucial to the Brit sound.

BTW, I didn't mean to be too hard on the RK I cleans...as you can see by my name...I am a Jazz musician at the core, therefore -- more critical of clean tones; and the RK I cleans just didn't cut it for me.

 

[tele_jas]

Hey Tele, could that be due to the lack of El34s? Let's face it, they are crucial to the Brit sound.

I tried EL34's in it and it is better, but just not as good as the RKI. On my RKI, I would run the brit mode like this and it was fantastic!!
* Gain 100%
* Treb 100%
* Mids 11:00
* Bass 11:00-12:00
* pres 10:00 - 11:00

I tried that first thing on my Roadster and it was so brittle it about bit my head off. If you turn the treble up past noon on the Roadster (using 6L6's or EL34's) it just tears your head off with high end. It does have more low end, but it makes that channel "flubby" sounding. To get the Brit mode close to the RK1's, I use my Seymour Duncan pickup booster up about 16-18db pushing the front end of the amp in to overdrive quicker. It's still usable on the Roadster, but just not like the RK series 1........ Heck, even with a stock telecaster you could get the RK1's brit mode to hit "Marshall" tone pretty easily, but the Roadster will hardly break up on stock single coils.

I do agree that the cleans aren't that good on a RK1, after-all, that's why I got the Roadster...... I play lots of country, so we both need/like great sounding clean amps but just for different styles. FYI: I'd love to get a Dr. Z Stangray someday and my dream rig will be compete.... (don't tell anyone else on the boogie board, but I almost traded my boogie stuff for a Stangray a few weeks ago, but I just couldn't do it.... But it still haunts me).

 

[waylay00]

Thanks for the help guys!

I'm still contemplating on whether or not to get the Roadster. I also want a Marshall JCM800 2203, and my ideal rig would be complete. Since the JCM is a Marshall, I can stick to that for the EL-34 Brit sound. I'm thinking that the Progressive Linkage might be somewhat useless if I'm using both amps. How much more is a RKII than a Roadster typically?

 

[ursinus]

Th RKII 2x12 combo is 2699.00, the Roadster 2x12 combo is 2099.00, hence, I got the Roadster. currently I'm running EL34's in it , but I think I am going to go back to the 6l6's and run my Mark IV in the Simulclass mode with El34's in the outer sockets...or maybe I'll trade both for a Roadking II head and a Roadking 2x12 cab, or maybe I'll just save my pennies and get a Ace 2x12 combo and call it a day..... Mesa has ruined my wallet.....argh...

 

[JAZZGEAR]

about $600 for the combo

 

[waylay00]

Same price difference for the heads? I'm mainly interested in heads, not combos.

 

[adamdesoto]

i think the rk II is runnin 2499 for the head and the roadster is goin for around 1899. at least i saw them at rudy's in nyc for those prices.