RKII, Roadster & MKIV

[kissing]

Geetings to all,

I am an average guitar player, mainly as an hobbist. Like listening to Dream theather, Metallica, Korn, Foo Fighters, Linkin Park and occasionally a bit of blues and jazz here and there.
I have heard the wonders of tube amps and of cos the Boogie is the natural choice (All my heros owned them). but i have never owned any tube amps b4.
I do not like to upgrade. So i was definitely thinking to getting the "one" amp.
My choices are RKII, Roadster or MK4.
This is my question.
I have heard that the difference between RKII and Roadster is only progressive linkage. How true is that?
I know nuts about tubes therefore i dont think i will be able to utilise the function. And of cos, it will save me a few hundreds dollars if i only get the Roadster that can buy me an attenuator and power supply(BTW, my country uses 240V)
As for the MK4, only reason: it made John Petrucci signature tone! I really like how it sound in Scenes Form a Memory. And i dont really have idea how versatile that amp is.
I am starting to think RKII is too much for me and Roadster will seem to be a down to earth choice (i still think its a luxurious choice though )
Anyway, i will not get to try out any of them, there arent any Mesa dealers in my country. So i am asking as much as i can here cos i think this is the place that i can have the best answers
Please Help!

 

[mcsdude]

I checked out the road king and the mark iv before making my purchase. The other guitarist in our band uses the mark iv and it's a sweet amp. Still though I went with the road king. It's just so versitile, has great cleans and warms and growls like bear for the modern gain stuff.

And Yes, the roadster is basically the rk without the progressive linkage. Also a killer amp. I fool around with changing the tube settings on my rk and honestly don't find very dramatic differences, at least not at the volume levels I generally play.

 

[visualrocker69]

MARK IV!!!!!!!

I'm actually selling one now 8) read my description!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270142739007

For practical reasons, I need a head instead of a combo, so that I can have a cab at college and a cab at home.

 

[Living_justice]

why dont you just rack the mark4?, never mind its the wide one.

 

[mrd]

The progressive linkage on the Road King isn't something that you can only do if you "understand tubes". It's just a rotating dial on the back of the amp that selects which tubes are being powered, a dead dog could do it.

For your purposes though, I think I'd go with a Roadster. The RK is a bit expensive if you're just a hobbyist (but if you got the cash, then go for it, it's a SWEET amp). The MKIV is to specialized to be the "one" amp I think. Roadkings have better cleans and a bigger tone palette to choose from. MKIV's are still pretty amazing though...

 

[srf399]

It sucks that you can't try them out beforehand... I did and when I heard the MKIV lead tone compared to the Rectifier lead the decision was made. If you're a rhythm player you'll love the recto chunkyness but you'll pull your hair out in frustration trying to get the MK lead tone on one. If I was starting over this is what I'd do....

I'd by a used MKIII and a Recto 50 head with a 2x 12 rectifier cabinet off of ebay for less than a new Road Kind.

 

[nathan28]

If you got the cash go with the Roadking, I love mine and never have a use for another amp, it can cover anything. As far as switching between the tube types, blending el34's with 6l6's is awesome.

 

[visualrocker69]

If you're a rhythm player you'll love the recto chunkyness but you'll pull your hair out in frustration trying to get the MK lead tone on one.

I have to disagree. I've experience no problem getting a vicious scooped rhythm tone using the classic V shape on the graphic EQ. LOG uses Mark IV's, after all. Metallica's used them too.

If you got the cash go with the Roadking, I love mine and never have a use for another amp, it can cover anything. As far as switching between the tube types, blending el34's with 6l6's is awesome.

The Mark IV can ALSO blend 6L6's with EL-34's in simul-class mode.

 

[ToneAddictJon]

That's a tough decision. Mark IV has the lead tone, but the roadster and road king are amazingly good amps as well. That one's a toss up, I would go either roadster or mark IV (as much as I like the roadking I think its a bit overkill especially if your a hobbiest). I would pull out my hair trying to make that decision. I would second the finding a used Mark III (fully loaded eq, simul, reverb, 60/100) and a rectoverb (maybe even tremoverb if you can find one) and a nice amp switcher.

 

[kissing]

Thank you to you guys for providing such wonderful suggestions.

I guess now i am leaning more towards the Roadster. I figured out the price i pay for a Roadking combo, i could probably get a Roadster head with a 2X12 cab (which will definitely make me drool!) and i could probably throw in a Hot Plate as well.

However i am still waivering between a Roadking and Roadster. (Well Roadking... needless to say)

So guys please feel free to comment. Maybe i left out some important points looking for an amp.

 

[visualrocker69]

another one lost to the dark side....

 

[ibanez4life SZ!]

I'll chime in, as this is yet another "Rectifer vs. Mark" situation.

I owned a dual rectifier solo head for a year....towards the end of this time, it started sounding sterile to me....boring.....very loose, undefined, and overally forgiving with it's "messy" gain. I did all I could to fix this...tube swaps, cabs, etc....but it was still the same recto.

I walked into my GC one day and saw a Mark IV combo....finally had a chance to give it a shot, so i plugged in right away! Tight, articulate, and a definition in high gain that I have never heard before. WOW! After some quick EQing, and throwing a classic "V" on the GEQ, I was quickly getting some brutal rythmn tones....they were different than a rectifier, but I can confidently say that they were much better. In an odd way...they seemed "cleaner"....it had TONS of gain, but it was clear...I could hear all the notes....

It was funny...that day, I had gone in with a friend, HUGE Metallica fan...he's been playing guitar longer than me, but not nearly as much, and he still plays a cheap crate amp...he's not a gear head....we plug into a rectifier, and he likes it, but he says it sounds to "messy" to him....we plug into the Mark IV, and he instantly finds his preference....like I was thinking, he immediatly says it is simply "clearer" than the other...like a bunch of fuzz and noise was removed from the tone.

I think that is why some people think the Mark IV isn't as heavy as the recto...because the gain is more defined and cleaner....for an experienced guitarist, this is a huge plus, but I believe that others get used to the messy and covering gain we find on many amps today.

Remember...you are playing a guitar....not a huge dirt box.....I really belive that the Mark series excenuates this...even at brutal settings, it still sounds like a guitar....not a digital bee hive.

In summary, I would like to say that it is much easier to mimic a heavy rythmn sound (ala rectifier) with the Mark IV (I think it is better, but tone is also preference :wink: ), than it is to mimic the Mark for lead and cleans sounds with a rectifer. If you're also doing jazz and blues, the Mark IV takes the cake HANDS DOWN! Metallica and DT is definitely Mark IV...the remainder are rectifier tones, which I believe a Mark can do with a better twist.

Hope that helps!

 

[visualrocker69]

^ LISTEN to the man!!! :twisted:

 

[ToneAddictJon]

Welcome to the darkside :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:
We play louder and faster here
Oh crap my Mark IV is calling me, hold on I got to take this
"yes dear?"
(she doesn't know I still spend time with DR) 8)

 

[visualrocker69]

Bah, have fun with your loose, harsh, fizzy, overcompressed recto tone that can be demo'd in any guitar store in the nation, while the rest of us are in our esoteric, elitist world of focused, creamy, smooth TONE HEAVEN with our Mark IV's. :evil:

And all it takes is a GEQ mid scoop to get as brutal as you guys, so don't flatter yourselves. :wink:

 

[NuSkoolTone]

FWIW, I love my mark IV because it's so honest with me. I've NEVER had an amp make it so obvious to me what I needed to clean up to be a better player. I'm getting better tone just because of that!

It also really seems to let the guitar's true voice through. It does so in a way that I can hear which guitars aren't cutting the mustard, and not just because it doesn't mate well with this particular amp, but because it REALLY lets me hear the wood and just how clear/vibrant the instrument is.

To me the recto stuff is more instantly gratifying, but the mark is more refined.

 

[visualrocker69]

To me the recto stuff is more instantly gratifying, but the mark is more refined.

+10^10^100

 

[phillyred79]

Ibanez4life sums it up pretty perfectly. I own BOTH and I'm a 'hobbyist' at the moment.. I've owned two Mk IVs including my current one and after I sold my first one I felt lonely for a couple years.. SO.. I bought a RK II thinking I could get those Mk IV tones + the dual rect. stuff.. Well, I've only owned the RK II for about 10 days and the Mk IV 5 days, but I can honestly say I can't get the RK to do Mark-like leads. The RK does a lot of SWEET SWEET stuff though. If you want Metallica crunch/leads go with Mk IV. If you want more Tool/Korn distortions go RK. The RK does have its own unique lead voice, but it is different from the Mk IV.

If your choices come down to the Roadster or RK II, I'd go RK II all the way. Sure it's more $$$, but the progressive-linkage feature and cab. selection is awesome.

The other question you have to ask is, head or combo? I think heads are the better way to go, but if you're thinking combo go for the Mark IV. I have a Mk IV combo, but I run it through my 2x12 recto cab for a change every so often and it is like going from a Harley to a Ninja! The combo sounds good by itself, but adding a 2x12 cab. some day is a nice idea.

Good luck!

 

[pierre-olivier]

If you're also doing jazz and blues, the Mark IV takes the cake HANDS DOWN!

It's not as much 'hands down' as it used to be with the original Road King, in my book the the new ch. 1 & 2 in the RK II and Roadster are really great for jazz and blues.

That's a tough decision. Mark IV has the lead tone, but the roadster and road king are amazingly good amps as well. That one's a toss up, I would go either roadster or mark IV (as much as I like the roadking I think its a bit overkill especially if your a hobbiest). I would pull out my hair trying to make that decision.

**** right it's a though one, I spent the last few weeks trying to decide between the same amps, and...

another one lost to the dark side....

well I finally settled on the Mark IV myself, so all is not lost visualrocker69 :wink:

 

[visualrocker69]

pierre made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside