RK2....how to get a smooth creamy lead tone?

[boogiewoogie]

Hello i'm new in this forum. I know this question is old but i still want to ask... how to get a smooth creamy lead tone with good sustain with the road king 2? I recently got the road king 2 head ( just a week ago) + 2x12 rectifier cab. my guitar is a rg 2550EX with air norton and steve special (very typical pickups). I am really happy with all the road king sounds...awesome cleans and distortions. I didn't really try to get this kind of sound anyway... maybe i would use a good overdrive pedal but i hate the idea of it adding unwanted coloring to the sound of the amplifier (ala tube screamer mid honk) , i just want more smoothness and sustain.
Or a compression pedal like tone press? (and besides no i don't want to go to 11 to be able to do it). I dont know if spongy or bold configurations have anything to do with this... hahah i'm just fooling around so i'm asking you guys...thanks a lot
sorry about my english

 

[AtownBcat]

Hey welcome to the board! I wont be much help, im running dual recs. There are alot of good people on this board, someone will be able to help you!

 

[boogiewoogie]

Thanks! I see there is quite a lot of experienced people here... i hope that someone can help me with this... my other gear is a tc electronics g-force and i just ordered a ground control pro and amp gizmo. ( i need presets)

 

[AtownBcat]

Well, i am running a g-major with a ground controll pro and i can help with that if you need...but as far as how they work with your amp im not sure. unless it switches like the dual rec does.....

 

[boogiewoogie]

Ok... your setup is similar.... with the amp gizmo i can control up to 8 functions of the road king head with the ground control (minus the tuner mute) and the gizmo plugs to the road king with just one custom cable. I love Petrucci's lead tone ( i know Mark IV yadda yadda) i wanted to order that amp the same month it got discontinued.... funny ah? then i got the road king 2 but now i realized that i'm in love with this glorified rectifier.

 

[jdurso]

i know you said you didnt like the idea but look into something like an OD but one thats a little more transparent. My OCD allows me to do a straight boost type tone which is very transparent as it has no mid hump (LP setting). If i wnat the mid hump i bump it into HP mode and you get a classic tube screamerish type vibe... still more transparent than any other tube screamer. it does have a lot of gain on tap but i only use a little and it works wonders for leads on my roadster. also the maxon OD808 is a great pedal for getting your signal super hot without a lot of coloration. also maybe a good compressor in your loop with do the trick. also play around with different tube configs on each channel.

 

[boogiewoogie]

Hi
So the OCD should do the trick then uh?.... i have no problem using good pedals ( like the bb preamp, OCD and OD 808) as long as these complement the real tone of my amp rather than dominate it and replace it. I've been curious about the tone press too but right now i can afford to buy just 1 pedal to acomplish my goal. I prefer a simple setup so the road king 2 head + tc gforce, one of the above pedals, a good wah and the gizmo and ground control to control it all should be everything i need. Thanks for your help!

 

[kingster911]

Although the RKII does have a lot of aggression and bump to even the lead sounds, I've found channel 3 Vintage to be one of the best. I set it to 2x6L6s 2xEL34s and keep the presence at 3-5. It gets it nice and saturated sounding although it's still really big and brute, I guess this form of Recto is better for my spaced-out solos than speed-picking, for the most part. Try an EQ pedal too, I just got one and it does make quite a difference.

 

[boogiewoogie]

yeah i think that channel 3 vintage with a good pedal is the one for the kind of leads i'm after. I'll dig into that eq thing as well when i have more money lol... My previous amp was a home made head with 2 6l6, three channel (clean, solo, and over the top riffing dist channel) no master volume and i was using it with a home made 2x 12 with g12 75's. The contrast between my old setup and the new road king 2 is abysmal. The road king 2 has a feeling of power and bigness or wathever that is incredible. It has giant balls and cuts thru like laser....and the knobs are really sensitive and dynamic... well i'll give spongy a try too because bold feels a little over the top for my band's music (a sort of pop rock)- i'm a metal head anyway and when i need metal bold setting feels like home.
thanks for your input!

 

[TheBlackman]

+1 for the OCD....I use it with my roadster on ch2 brit and ch3 vintage for a lead enhancement...volume maxed, gain off, tone at 11:00 hp mode...very transparent but gives more of your tone

 

[wastoid]

+1 for the OCD....I use it with my roadster on ch2 brit and ch3 vintage for a lead enhancement...volume maxed, gain off, tone at 11:00 hp mode...very transparent but gives more of your tone

I'm using an OCD with Ch3 vintage on my Roadster as well for that kind of sound.

I think it says this in the manual, but the presence knob really seemed like the key to unlocking liquidy leads, but you need to turn it down, not up. I had been using it around 3:00 and having issues with it sounding to sharp but I dialed it back to around 9:00 now and it's right where I want it.

 

[jab]

smoothness & sustain = Barber Tone Press. Those are the exact words I use to describe what the Tone Press does for me, and happens to be the same thing you're looking for.

 

[wastoid]

+1 for the OCD....I use it with my roadster on ch2 brit and ch3 vintage for a lead enhancement...volume maxed, gain off, tone at 11:00 hp mode...very transparent but gives more of your tone

I'm using an OCD with Ch3 vintage on my Roadster as well for that kind of sound.

I think it says this in the manual, but the presence knob really seemed like the key to unlocking liquidy leads, but you need to turn it down, not up. I had been using it around 3:00 and having issues with it sounding to sharp but I dialed it back to around 9:00 now and it's right where I want it.

 

[nathan28]

+1 OCD. I run it in front of my rkII and it tightens and helps with sustain. Its transparent when you use it as a clean boost.

 

[boogiewoogie]

hey thanks a lot everybody for your help!...
the OCD looks like the real deal for an overdrive pedal... but i'm still curious about the barber tone press and that is a different kind of pedal
(a compressor). Wich one should i use first? haha imposible to find out if i don't buy both.... Regarding the Mark IV kind of liquidity...everybody says that it's sound is really compressed.... maybe this thing has anything to do with the fact that people loves Mark IV for leads? or i'm confusing things? lol

 

[jdurso]

hey thanks a lot everybody for your help!...
the OCD looks like the real deal for an overdrive pedal... but i'm still curious about the barber tone press and that is a different kind of pedal
(a compressor). Wich one should i use first? haha imposible to find out if i don't buy both.... Regarding the Mark IV kind of liquidity...everybody says that it's sound is really compressed.... maybe this thing has anything to do with the fact that people loves Mark IV for leads? or i'm confusing things? lol

if you can give them all a whirl even though a lot are hard to find in stores. it took me about 2 months to be able to play the ocd and th maxon od808 at a store and it was really hearing it in person that sold me on the ocd. i never did get to try the barber stuff though... point is either find a store that carries a bunch of boutique pedals or order them through a GC or Sam Ash so if it doesnt work you can return it.

 

[Laskyman]

but i'm still curious about the barber tone press and that is a different kind of pedal
(a compressor). Wich one should i use first

If you primarily play dirty- I would recommend a drive pedal, if clean is your main tone, then check out a compressor.
I would also like to check out a OCD and a BB pre or BBplus....

Laskyman

 

[jab]

I use both OD and Tone Press practically all of the time. If I could only choose one, I'd probably take the OD for the versatility factor and the fact it does create some sustain. OCD always gets high marks, I really like Xotic AC/BB, and I've heard nothing but good things about Barber's OD pedals too just to confuse you. Too bad you can't find a store with everything in it. Smooth + sustain though still = Tone Press if you're not interested in gain.

 

[boogiewoogie]

"Tone press if i'm not interested in gain"... ok
Well i started this thread because the main focus was to achieve a smooth lead sound with sustain a la Petrucci, Sfogli (Andromeda) like sound with the RK2.
It's imposible to replicate that exact sound because it's a Mark kind of sound, other voicing, etc. but if i can get something similar with RK2's character i'll be happy. The Mark IV was really tempting for me because of the lead sound but the RK2 offers much more to me than just that.
I don't live in USA (i'm from South America) and to taste the real good stuff i have to buy without trying first. Thanks again for your input guys.

 

[rizboog]

here we go! ch. 3, vintage, presence 9:00, bass, 9:00, mid, 9:00, treble 1:00, gain 1-2:00, spongy setting, recto tube tracking, closed back speakers. two 6l6's. As mesa put's it this tube configuration produces"the creamiest tone soup we have ever heard."