Road King II Players - Smooth Lead Tone?

[crestwood1972]

I have listened to a LOT of clips of the RK II and the only lead tone I likes (smooth like a Mark series rather than harsh) was made by John Petrucci.

I believe he uses the 6L6s. CAN you dial in a Mark-like lead with the RK II (i.e. smooth and creamy - not necessarily an exact copy)? Or is the lead more like the clips I'm hearing (sharper and harsher)?

Maybe it's just a function of the tubes employed and that's fine as long as I can get a nice lead tone out of it.

 

[recto-robbie]

I dont really know anything about petrucci but owning a rectifier myself it helps tremendously using some sort of overdrive in front of your amp for leads. It helps smooth the sound out, add more gain and sustain and even adds some compression which makes everything a bit tighter.
I would assume petrucci being a pro would also be using some sort of added effects to his sound. Otherwise maybe he had something moded on his amp. More than likely though, it would be a great benefit for someone to be able to play like a pro. Good luck

 

[crestwood1972]

Here's a video of what Petrucci is using on his RK II :

http://youtube.com/watch?v=e2uklZ7_C5s

He doesn't put an overdrive pedal in the chain (neither would I), but uses delay to thicken his sound a bit. Sounds good to me.

 

[trem]

Here's a video of what Petrucci is using on his RK II :

http://youtube.com/watch?v=e2uklZ7_C5s

He doesn't put an overdrive pedal in the chain (neither would I), but uses delay to thicken his sound a bit. Sounds good to me.

For all we know, he could be placing the od pedal somewhere inside the drawer on his rack, and use the pedalboard to turn it on or off. Not that I'm certain whether he was using one or not.

~trem

 

[Aramism]

vintage mode. tueb rectified. with passive pups and the right settings you can get a very very smooth and creamy tone. its not gonna be as rich and saturated as as mark series amp but it is still good. look at dream theater live at budokan dvd. 100% road king. no boost.

 

[123thefirst]

+1

Pickups, as well as pickup volume and tone settings, have a large effect on your tone with a sophisticated amp like the Road King. I really don't know why so many want to use an overdrive because if anything Rectifier amps tend to make you want to use too much gain already. The major thing in my opinion is that Rectos are strongly mid-scooped and tend to need a mid-boost (or low/high drop) to give you guitaristic lead tones. Sharp violin-like tones are easier to evoke otherwise.

 

[RoadsterAbuser]

+1

Pickups, as well as pickup volume and tone settings, have a large effect on your tone with a sophisticated amp like the Road King. I really don't know why so many want to use an overdrive because if anything Rectifier amps tend to make you want to use too much gain already. The major thing in my opinion is that Rectos are strongly mid-scooped and tend to need a mid-boost (or low/high drop) to give you guitaristic lead tones. Sharp violin-like tones are easier to evoke otherwise.

Because distortion or overdrive pedals are not really used for that with tube amps. It's for a boost and slight compression and to give you that edge that only one amp in existence can give you. Not a Mesa, not a $4000 Diezel or SuperSonic or the mighty SLO100 but an Egnater Mod50. It's the extra kick that we use the pedals for nothing else. Specially with killer amps like these that have more than enough gain. So much that if you're using all the gain then you don't know how to play or you're not playing music. You're playing bubblegum **** 182, or korn.

You can defenitely get great lead tones out of the Road King and Roadster just tweak, tweak, tweak and don't use the Modern settings. They're cool to mess with for rythmn but go to vintage for leads and possibly channel 3 instead of 4. That's how I got to fall in love with my Roadster.

 

[papersoul]

I agree, I have been able to get thick, screaming lead tones on a Rectifier with the Vintage setting! What did you mean about the MOD 50 being the only amp...to do what???

Anyway, people say the Rectifiers are so scooped. I don't hear that at all. In fact, I found them to cut better than most amps.....nice mid snarl.

Now, I know some guys who say Marshalls have the clear, thick midrange, which Boogies have the low end and low mid girth but lack the midrange clarity. I know one guy who said he found a happy medium in the H&K Triamp, but honestly when I gigged with a Dual Rec, I thought it sounded great.

 

[CudBucket]

Actually JP has OFTEN used an OD/Boost with his rig.

 

[CudBucket]

Here's a video of what Petrucci is using on his RK II :

http://youtube.com/watch?v=e2uklZ7_C5s

He doesn't put an overdrive pedal in the chain (neither would I), but uses delay to thicken his sound a bit. Sounds good to me.

When John was using this rig, there was a Fulltone FullDrive 2 OD shelved in his rack. There are pics of it on his site.

 

[Rocky]

Actually JP has OFTEN used an OD/Boost with his rig.

Lately he has been using an MXR Zakk Wylde pedal.

 

[pierre-olivier]

I'm joining this thread cause I have the same question as crestwood.

I'm having a hard time deciding between a RK II v2 and a Mark IV. When I tested both at the store I really loved ch. 1 & 2 on the RK and kinda prefered the layout of the RK. However, to me, during these 3 hours at the store, the RK lacked in the lead department (even on ch. 3 Vintage) compared to the Mark.

Aramism mentionned tube rectification. Could switching the RK to 50W and spongy help as well ?