Road King 1 VS Road King 2

[lennartbar]

so the RK2 features the clean channel from the lone star...
can anyone explain to me please what exactly is the difference...
maybe some clips???

thanks

 

[lennartbar]

come on i know you guys know the difference in detail

 

[scottkahn]

The difference is the tone, silly! (Couldn't resist that one)

It's a "better" sounding clean circuit. The Lone Star has perhaps the finest sounding clean tones ever produced in a Mesa/Boogie amp, so that circuit was implemented in the RK II, along with the outstanding Reverb circut. You can learn about all of the differences in the amp revisions (RK I, RK II, and RK II v2) from my review here:

http://www.musicplayers.com/reviews/guitars/2006/0906_MesaBoogieRoadKing.php

 

[tele_jas]

Yep, channels 1 and 2 are "improved" over the RK1. I'd still love to hear a direct, in person comparison of the two to see if it's worth the hassle to sell my current RK1 and upgrade to a series II or not? I really like my RK1, but since I got my AC30 and A/B it with my RK I don't use the RK's clean channel any more..... it's not bad, but the AC30 has the cleans I want and the RK has everything else I want.

Channel 2 set to Brit running 2 EL34's on the RK1 is probably one of the channels I have the most fun with, especially with a hot humbucker guitar. It sounds like an old Marshall about to explode if you set it up right. Turn the Gain to 100% and the Trebble to 100% and set the rest of the EQ to taste. Very "Old school" sounding and feeling (not a lot of low end, more of a top end bite). I'd hate to loose this channel if the RKII doesn't have that sound in it.

 

[scottkahn]

I don't think the difference between RK I and II is enough to justify switching amps unless you have a ton of money to spare.

If you were going to also get rid of the Vox, it might be worth it to get the best clean channels you could, but the RK I still had great cleans -- it's just "better" now so you're really splitting hairs.

I agree -- the EL34s on clean are fun... they're just so un-Boogie like. Get the gain up past 3:00 and it's vintage Marshall all the way.