Road king vrs Lone star classic

[ur86d]

What's up everyone,

I'm going to be in the market for a mesa boogie in a few months. As the subject of this thread indicates, I've narrowed my choices down between which two boogies i'm interested in. I've done all the reading of the literature available from mesa boogie, on the two amps in question. But i'm curious about what you guys think about the two amps.

I'm looking for versatility tone wise, which would in theory seem to indicate i should purchase the road king. But in practice, I've heard that the road king didn't do cleans as well as the lone star, nor was the reverb on the road king as good as the one on the lone star is. which would be unacceptable to me... apparently it's unacceptable to mesa as well,,,seeing as how they say they have incorporated the cleans, and reverb from the lone star, into the new version of the road king. Which again in theory ..should also make my choice easier, in favor of the road king. But i'm not interested in theory, i'm intersted in practice.

If the only thing, the lone star is lacking is the ability to do modern high gain tones which the road king can handle. But the lone star does everything below that type tone as well or better then the road king. would the extra cost of the road king be worth it? or could i just push the lone star into comparable gain stages with the use of an over drive pedal like the tube screamer reissue of the ts808 ?

I'm interested in any thoughts you guys might have.

 

[Platypus]

I'd say if you have the cash, get the RKII, from all the clips I've heard on the net of it, it nails the LS tone perfectly. I cannot give you first hand experience but I'm sure someone here can.

My father owned the lone star special for about a year and I really ran that pup to the max. With a pedal you can get some high gain tones out of it but nowhere near in the realm of a rectifier. The RKII seems like a no-brainer if you can afford it and someone here can confirm the reverb/cleans are as good. All the clips I've heard as I said before seem to cement this.

 

[vibeman]

unless you want the recto sound I think the lonestar classic is far superior for the low to mid gain tones and with pedals I get tones that kill. I have a hot british pedal and it smokes with the lonestar. I also have compared the lonestar clean to the rk2 and its close but theres a noticable slight difference probally due to the fact the whole amp in the rk2 is for that amp and the lonestar is dedicated to its own thing. Both are killer and if you like recto tones then yes otherwise I pick the classic

 

[rockhound76s]

I own a Lonestar Classic and have played the new Road King II, at a store. Both are extremely versatile amps, and I don't think you can go wrong with either. The price difference is significant however.

One thing I would STRONGLY recommend though is to ask yourself what type of high gain tones you are looking for. The RKII distortion voicing is heavily based on the Dual Rectifier's Vintage and Modern modes, which is to say a huge, loose feeling, crushing sound--awesome for what it is. The Lonestar's high gain tones are more comparable to the Mark series--smooth, liquidy, more sustaining. It simply FEELS different to play, even when boosted.

If you can, try to demo the Lonestar's gain channel and compare it to the RKII. If you are serious about purchasing, a dealer should even let you try out a boost pedal along with it. The RKII is hard to find in stores, but Dual Recs are usually pretty easy to find and would give you a fairly accurate idea of what to expect with the RKII's high gain voicings.

 

[ur86d]

Thanks for the thoughts guys, it's defintely apreciated. As far as gain type, i defintely would be leaning towards that mark series gain, as long as the LSC, can get dirty enough.

I've been looking around the web for some sound clips of the LSC , and i can't for the life of me find any. I have found some LSS clips, but no LSC clips. does anyone know where i can find any? or would anybody who owns the LSC, be willing to post some of the heavier dirty tones the LSC produces on it's own?

 

[rockhound76s]

Here is a clip of Andy Timmons rockin out on the Lonestar...great stuff.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrHy2o_Q-Fk

 

[ur86d]

Thanks rockhound. After listening to that clip. There's No question at all..the LSC sounds sweet for lead tones. I'm sold on it in that reguard, it's beautiful sounding. I have some final questions, that would make the LSC a sure thing for me. How does the lone star sound for palm muted rhythm playing? Can it get dirty enough to do that 80's metal rhythm sound? like early metallica etc?

 

[rockhound76s]

That Andy Timmons clip rules, no doubt....of course, he could play through ANY amp and make it sound like the greatest amp ever! :wink:

As far as TIGHT palm muting/80's metal/early Metallica tones with the LSC, I wouldn't recommend it as the best choice. At least, not without help from a pedal of some kind. Now keep in mind, my experience is with the LSC 1x12 combo, which has a open back cabinet that doesn't lend itself to the tight crunch that you'd need for metal, IMO. However, I think that with the drive channel engaged (and cranked) on the LSC, 50 watt operation, solid-state rectifier selected, EL34 tubes installed, used with a closed-back cab, and a guitar with high output pickups you could get into Kill 'Em All, Ride the Lightning territory easily. But that would be a lot of steps that pull you away from the beauty of the 6L6 clean and midgain tones that the LSC was specifically designed around.

You'd be better off running a distortion pedal in front of the clean channel, or a Boost/OD/EQ pedal in front of the dirty channel to get your metal tones. That way you can dial in a great clean tone on CH1, a dirty-clean tone on CH2, use the Drive switch to add gain for your classic/hard rock tones, and use the pedal exclusively for metal tones.

Good luck!

 

[ur86d]

Sounds good to me rockhound. Truth is, nowadays..the classic/hard rock tones are probably as heavy as i'd need 80-90% of the time. As i've gotten older i've come to appreciate tone much more, than over the top balls to the wall distortion. I am/was an old school thrasher though, and ya know what they say about old habbits. heh heh Which is why my line of questioning..

As long as the LSC is capable of pulling it off, with a little help from an OD pedal, i'm sold on it. I really do prefer it's distortion type (More like the Mark series), over the recto type distortion. Cleans are just as important to me now. And obviously the lone stars do that the best of all current boogies..other wise there wouldn't have put them in the RK2.

Thanks for you input everyone, it helped me a lot.