Road King 1 VS Road King 2

[paulg2uk]

Hi all,

I have a road king 1 that i've been using for a few years now, but really like some of the new features in the road king 2 like the updated channels 1 and 2,better fx loop and reverb. Does anyone have any experience sound wise of the 2 road kings? are there any major differences? I am really considering updating to the road king 2.

Many Thanks

Paul

 

[droptrd]

I had a RK I and my other guitarist had a II. His was way better in every aspect. obviously the cleans where better. But the high gain modes where better on the II also. Less fizz, not overly dark and just more "in your face". Closer to the rev F DR that I traded for the RK I( I did this because everyone I know was saying that the RK's are the ultimate Recto's - I now totally disagree) We both where using LP's and recto std cabs. We spent many hours experimenting with the 2 heads and our conclusion is that the RK II is completly superior to the RK I. But Im not trying to bag the RK I. I really enjoyed the time I spent with mine. This is just my 2 cents

 

[paulg2uk]

Hi,

Thanks for the response. That's actually helped me to decide what to do. i think I'm gonna trade in my road king 1 and get a 2 It's only money right lol You can't take it with u lol. I really like the lonestar clean sound they've put in the rk it sounds much better than my rk 1

Thanks again

Paul

 

[primal]

I had a RK I and my other guitarist had a II. His was way better in every aspect. obviously the cleans where better. But the high gain modes where better on the II also. Less fizz, not overly dark and just more "in your face". Closer to the rev F DR that I traded for the RK I( I did this because everyone I know was saying that the RK's are the ultimate Recto's - I now totally disagree) We both where using LP's and recto std cabs. We spent many hours experimenting with the 2 heads and our conclusion is that the RK II is completly superior to the RK I. But Im not trying to bag the RK I. I really enjoyed the time I spent with mine. This is just my 2 cents

Hmm.

I had considered switching at one point (was actually going to go to a Roadster).

I spoke with mesa Customer support about the differences between the two and they told me the high gain channels on the RK1 and RK2 were identical.

I can't remember if it was Marcus or the other guy I spoke to.

Perhaps it was the tubes that made them sound different?

 

[powerhouse]

I used to own a RK II ver.2, (Dimond plate option) and currently use RK1 (early production serial, without metal grill in the front plate).

And I noticed the significant difference in gain channels (ch. 3&4)
Maybe you can check out my post, which I posted when I was using RKII-2,
the gain in RKII-2 was very weak and thin without punch. It was working properly, none of the parts nor tubes were out of order, but I couldn't find sound that is close to the original 'Recto growl' in former RKII-2.

But now, with my RK1, I can easily make the thing sound evil/warm/thick
which is closer to original 'Recto' sound. I also used to own a 2 Ch DR revision G which had aggressive bites and feel like RK1 has more definition and density in Ch3&4 than the 2 channel DR.

Definately, the clean channel and Ch2 in RKII-2 sounded better than RK1, but for Ch.3&4, RK1 was my choice.

I don't know why, but it seems to me that the sounds of RKII-2 differ by models. Another one, which I tried in local store, sounded great though..

 

[Areola]

damn that cheap mexican labour

 

[paulg2uk]

Well I finally traded in my RK 1 for a RK 2, I must say I'm quite impressed with the RK 2. The FX loop is much better you can control the mix level a lot easier. Channel 1 and 2 are greatly improved especially channel 2 I use that a lot now especially on some blues stuff I do in the band and i just kick in my bb pre amp for solos. A bit of reverb doesn't hurt either from the nova system I use in the fx loop sounds really awesome.

Reverb has been improved a lot, although I don't use i as i have a tc nova system with an RJM Amp Gizmo. I did try it and it sounds a lot better than the previous version. Channel 3 and 4 also sound a lot better you can control the volume of each channel a lot easier, before you had to just move the master volume knob a touch which proved a bit hard to find the right balance in volume no matter where i played. Now I can quite happily set my desired volume and not have to mess about with it too much and a you get a really good balance in volume from all 4 channels I've noticed it seems a lot lighter too don't know if its me but i find it a lot easier to take to gigs and rehearsals.

Overall I would say its definitely worth the upgrade I was in 2 minds I must admit but now i wouldn't think twice.

 

[konstantine RK]

Ok here is my beef with switching to the RK 2...first off Im not into losing 1200.00 of worth on the RK1. Second...I think the parellel loop is essential to anyone with quality effects and third....I traded a triple rectifier for a Randal RM 100 and I am currently looking for a tone bone since I have everything a picker could want in a rig.


I heard the RK2 has two series loops...arent those better suited for noise gates, eq and such?

 

[paulg2uk]

I'm not sure I agree. I've owned the RK 1 and always struggled to get a decent level mix from the parallel fx loop. Now with the RK 2 I have no problems at all, I literally just set it straight up and and it sounds awesome.

Who knows maybe I had a dodgy FX Loop.

 

[konstantine RK]

Hey dont worry about that, Mesa's are like long journeys....you take on a quest to find the tone lol

 

[siggy14]

I think alot of it comes down to what you are looking for in an amp soundwise.

First the RK1 has both a series and Parallel loop, since i never use the loops anyway not a big deal for me. Truly effects should be even after the power section on am amp for true tonal bliss.

Now I havent played a RK2 however I have owned a roadster, my friend has a roadster and another friend also has a roadster. Anyway I find the Roadsters better for metal, to dark for me though. I like my RK1 because it sounds great for hard rock, plenty of mid's and not that dark.