Road King Series II review is now online

[scottkahn]

For those of you who were waiting to see what we had to say about the RK II, and also differences between it and the Roadster, see:

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

Bottom line -- I sold my TriAxis rig and switched to the Road King for myself.

Enjoy,

Scott

 

[fredster]

Thanks Scott, nice review! Wish I could've bought one, but I'm happy with my Roadster. Speaking of which, your review states the Roadster only has one rectifier tube but it does in fact have two. See this thread for the gory details...

 

[scottkahn]

That comment was removed from the review after a late fact-check session with Mesa/Boogie. Yes, it does in fact have two, and they work in both 50W and 100W modes when in recto tracking mode.

I think I would be just as happy with a Roadster, too. I am only using an EL34 sound on one of my 4 channels -- but it does sound quite nice .

 

[Brewski]

Hi Scott, nice review! Glad to read that you liked it enough to switch to one!

You should've mentioned weight in Other Comments section. They're no light weight to move around and could be an issue with folks who have a bad back. I have an early RK series 1 head, and enjoy it a lot. It'd be interesting to see a shoot out between the series 1 and series 2 amps to see if the tone is really that much better and that the new features do really stand out from the original or if it's subtle enough to help stave off G.A.S. :wink:

 

[scottkahn]

Hi Brewski.

Look at this way... the RK I was/is an outstanding amp, one of the best Boogie has ever made. So making something great even greater shouldn't be enough to make you want this costly of an upgrade. You could look at it and say that making the clean channels even better is splitting hairs... if you've already got great clean tone that you love, then in the words of Fleetwood Mac, love the one you're with .

I don't really think it's overly heavy compared to other 100W tube heads, but in general, M/B amps are on the heavy side, particularly the combo units because of the solid woods they use in the cabinets and the large speaker drivers. I remember when I had a Nomad 55 1x12 combo first thinking "how nice -- a small little combo with tubes and 3 channels"... until I went to move it anywhere! Yikes!

There's nothing worse than a bad case of G.A.S. The tone differences are only in the clean channels and then of course with the Reverb unit. But if you've got your FX situation covered, then there's really no need for G.A.S. at this time .

 

[Brewski]

You make good points. I'm very happy with my amp and have had a lot of fun finding different tones with it. No GAS here.

I had just thought that some guys out there might actually like to split hairs on the new features and see if there really was an audible difference between the two, even if it's just for fun. When the series 2 was first shipping a lot of guys were looking for comparisons between the old and new. Maybe the interest in that is fading as, by now, many of them have had a chance to try a series 2 or a Roadster at their nearest dealer.

Keep the reviews coming! It's an interesting read. All the best.

 

[scottkahn]

Thanks for the comments, Brewski.

If you don't have access to a RK in your local store but they have a Lone Star, listen to its clean tones and its reverb and compare/contrast them to your current clean tones and you'll get the idea. A Lone Star player would feel right at home with the new RK II clean channels.

Scott

 

[earachemyeye]

Thanks for the review Scott. I want your job.

Joe

 

[MasterTrax]

Great review. Thank you for posting it. I appreciate the effort which went into reviewing the amp.

There's an RK head down at my local dealer which looks at me, watches me, every time I go in the store. It's knobs follow me wherever I turn. I think it wants to go home with me. After reading your review, I think the feeling is becoming mutual.

Hm...the store is OPEN today, and it's Labor Day Weekend.....hmmmm

:twisted:

M

P.S. Not Fleetwood....Stills :shock:

 

[scottkahn]

MasterTrax,

I have to admit, when we started MusicPlayers.com, it was pretty cool knowing that our focus was going to be exclusively on the needs of pro-level musicians -- no time spent reviewing $100 solid state amps and entry-level instruments. Ironically, people ask us all the time for advice on buying gear for kids, neices, nephews etc... "what's the best guitar for under $200?" Makes you want to answer "the one that stays in tune and looks the coolest."

As for that RK at the local dealer... you know you want it. And it wants you. But if you're going to take her home, be good to her and play responsibly .

Enjoy!

Scott

 

[xscottx9]

Scott .. How do you like the Brit setting on channel 2 with the mesa EL34's? I have a Roadster, and am very disapointed with the Brit setting on it. I did swap out the 6l6's for some EL34's to see if it improved, but it did not improve that much. I found it very woofy, and very muddy with any gain added. .. It did sound ok at a very clean setting, but was more tweed/bassman sounding than Marshall sounding.

thanks

 

[HappyStrat]

Gee, these improvements seem nice but I don't think they're significant enough to trade in a RK I for a RK II. As for me, I haven't played anything clean for 35+ years and I don't use reverb & loops. So I'll continue slaying dragons with the RK I, it works rather well at it.

 

[scottkahn]

xscottx9 --

The Brit setting was really made for EL34s and sounds very marshall-esque if things are set accordingly... you definitely want to roll off the bass on that setting, and I would try the presence somewhere in the 10:00-11:00 range. If I had a Roadster, though, I would only use 6L6 as it's more of the traditional Mesa/Boogie sound (which is what I love about Mesa/Boogie), and then I wouldn't bother with the Brit setting at all.

For myself now that I've been dialing the amp into my sound for use in my own band, Days Before Tomorrow, on my Road King II, I actually use the Tweed setting with 6L6 on the first channel and the clean setting with EL34 on the second one. But ask me again next week -- I might change my mind .

HappyStrat -- if I had the RK I, I wouldn't trade it for an RK II unless I had a ton of spare cash to burn. The RK I is a very nice sounding amp. The updates are great refinements, but it's not like your amp doesn't sound fantastic in the first place.

 

[tele_jas]

On the RK1 Brit mode, I found if you set the trebble up all the way and then the mids and bass around noon or less that it sounds VERY British sounding. Use the presence to take the nasty highs out of it, like run it about 10:00 to 11:00.