Road King vs. Mk IV vs. Mk V ... educate me

[rvschulz]

okay. i think i'm ready to 'downsize' back to one amp that i will play rather than several that semi-collect dust. love my Mk IIIs ... and the LSC. have heard the MK IV not as brutal as MK III discussion - i'm not brutal so that would work. Roak King - 4 channels ... ummm ... that would work too. Mk V ... see a few popping up and obviously buyers remorse or the economy are hitting here.

so ... does one do something the others don't ?

what i play ... pop, jazz, basic rock - no metal any more ... see sig for guitar info. thanks.

 

[droptrd]

Id pick your fav out of what you have. Your LSC or one of your Mark IIIs. Id lean more towards a Mark III myself. A little more versatile - meaning you could do metal with it if you ever wanted to in the future.

 

[herrball]

I'm on my second MKIII and have done rock, fusion, jazz, metal, you name it with that amp.

Vol 1 on 6 , treble pushed in and lead gain on 3.5 and you can coax some nice Carlton or Ford tones out with that 335.
Back up to 7 on vol-1, treble pulled and ld gain on 7 and its liquid lead heaven.
Been playing a MKIII since 86 and while I would like a LS for some slightly different tones, I keep coming back to the MKIII. If I had to pick one amp to plug into the rest of my life, it would be my MKIII. Sorry, if I had to PLAY one amp....there's the difference!
Just my 2 pennies.

 

[screamingdaisy]

The Mark IV will be similar to your Mark III Green with the addition of a separate EQ for the LD channel and some extra functions like pentode/triode and the negative feedback loop bypass on the presence push/pull pot.

The Mark V will give you more of what you already have. The Fat mode is similar to your LSC's channel 1 while the Mark 1 mode is similar to your LSC's channel 2. The Mark IIC+ mode will be somewhat similar to the lead channel on your Mark III Purple while the Mark IV mode will be somewhat similar to the lead channel on your Mark III Green.

The RoadKing will be in total left field from what you already have. It can do pop, jazz and basic rock... it'll just do it totally different from how a Mark would do it. When most people think of a Recto, most people think of it's "brutal" tones... however Rectos can do a lot of good low to mid gain tones that are very pop/rock oriented, and if you're into the jazz/fusion thing you'd probably like both the clean channel and the lead channel.

 

[Anonymous]

Post removed.

 

[rvschulz]

yeah, i am about to try a new band adventure which looks like it has wings ... and i probably need some PA equipment to make it work, so downsizing to a single amp in the long run would give me the cash outlay to make the adventure work ...

i think any of the three amps i already have will make it work, but i am trying to wrap my head around not having any GAS - which has been a good thing for several years. my primary thought is that i am not in a position in my area to have the availability to try anything out ... so, i wanted to pass on my thoughts to y'all who have more experience in playing these other amps to tell me if i might be missing something.

i have done the R2 volume mod on both Mk IIIs and really have a good tone with all 3. if i was going to drop down to one ... what one would i stay with ... is really the question i can answer by myself in about 2 hours of hooking eerything up and a/b/c'ing them together. it's those 'other possibilities' that make me wonder sometimes.

thanks to everyone for their responses. i've been one of those MKIII fans for long enough to know i have something very good.

 

[MBJunkie]

rvshultz:

I currently own a MkIV widebody combo (purchased in '95) and a MkV combo (purchased in 2009).
I previously owned a RK head (version 1) and matching 212 cab.
I also previously owned a LSC 112 (early version without the 10W option).
I have never owned or even had the opportunity to play through a MkIII.

There is no question that all of these are great amps and have their individual niche. Yes, I am presuming on the MkIII, but doubt I will get any arguments here!

However, based on your thinking of downsizing to one amp that is most likely capable of providing sounds similar to your LSC and MkIII (and will also offer a lot of other very nice sounds)......is the MkV and here is my reasoning based on the modes offered in the V:

Ch1
Clean Mode: Super clean with max headroom (think MkIV clean in a fairly neutral setting)
Fat Mode: Very nice clean with more girth (LSC)
Tweed Mode: Think nice low to mid gain breakup that reacts well to guitar volume knob

Ch2
Edge Mode: Think super urgent brightly voiced clean with low to mid breakup
Crunch Mode: Think nice high gain crunch sound, but can also be used for nice lead sounds
MkI Mode: Dark voice lead sounds with lots of sustain (LSC Ch2 can be set kinda like it)

Ch3
IIC+ Mode: Can be set similar to an actual IIC+ and offers many sounds of its own
IV Mode: Can be set similar to an actual IV and offers many sounds of its own.
Extreme Mode: Can be set similar to an actual IV with many, many other sounds of its own.

The MkV also offers GEQ, multi power settings, inidividual reverb level per channel and solo boost to name a few. The footswitch is very user friendly in a live situation.

MkIV: While this is also a great sounding amp....its features are more limited...and you would have a difficult time obtaining a LSC clean with this amp.

Road King: This amp is loaded with features and does offer 4 dedicated channels, but the lead channels are based on the recto.....and you would be hard pressed to obtain a MkIII lead sound using this amp.

Folks, these are just my opinions based on my experience with these great amps.

I hope this helps.

 

[fishyfishfish]

I would go with the Mark III, but I am partial to that amp. I used to own a Recto and Lonestar and found that I really like the classic "Boogie" tone suits every band I have played with.
But..It's your rodeo, you have to be the one thats happy.
Cheers.