Roadster or roadking I?

[Seanthesheep]

So I have the oppritunity to acquire a raodking series 1 in a trade. Cant find too much info on ine.

And ive always been gassing for a roadster for ever, should i hold out for a roadster or just get the roadking? How similar are they tonally? And is a roadster a stripped down roadking II or I?

 

[rocknroll9225]

So I have the oppritunity to acquire a raodking series 1 in a trade. Cant find too much info on ine.

And ive always been gassing for a roadster for ever, should i hold out for a roadster or just get the roadking? How similar are they tonally? And is a roadster a stripped down roadking II or I?

The roadster is a stripped down version of the road king II. The roadster and road king II are the same besides the progressive linkage (the ability to select different power tubes for each channel), cabinet switching, and second effects loop in the RK.

The only tonal difference between a RK I and II are the improved cleans and reverb in the RK II, which are taken from the lonestar. I've never played a RK I, but from what I've heard the cleans aren't too bad on it either, it's just that they're better on the II. The RK I also has one parallel loop and one series, whereas they're both series in the RK II.

 

[Seanthesheep]

So I have the oppritunity to acquire a raodking series 1 in a trade. Cant find too much info on ine.

And ive always been gassing for a roadster for ever, should i hold out for a roadster or just get the roadking? How similar are they tonally? And is a roadster a stripped down roadking II or I?

The roadster is a stripped down version of the road king II. The roadster and road king II are the same besides the progressive linkage (the ability to select different power tubes for each channel), cabinet switching, and second effects loop in the RK.

The only tonal difference between a RK I and II are the improved cleans and reverb in the RK II, which are taken from the lonestar. I've never played a RK I, but from what I've heard the cleans aren't too bad on it either, it's just that they're better on the II. The RK I also has one parallel loop and one series, whereas they're both series in the RK II.

Well is there another mesa amp I can compare the cleans to? Because cleans are pretty important to me....

 

[ironjose]

that means the roadster has the cleans of the lonestar?

 

[rocknroll9225]

that means the roadster has the cleans of the lonestar?

Kind of. It does have the preamp of the lonestar in its clean and fat modes, but that clean lonestar preamp is then going to be run through a rectifier power amp (which I can only assume isn't identical to the lonestar classic's power amp) and then into whatever cab you're using - which won't sound quite as wonderful as a lonestar combo if it's closed back and has speakers like V30's in it. But that's being pretty nit-picky. I can guarantee you that a roadster head through a recto 4x12 has flat out amazing clean tones, and my setup (mark v into a roadster 2x12) is pretty much my favorite clean sound that I've ever heard. So will a roadster going into a closed back V30 cab sound 100% exactly like a lonestar classic feeding an open back 2x12 with C90's? No. More like 90%. The road king's cabinet switching feature is cool for this because then you can pick a perfect cab for your clean tones and a perfect cab for your dirty tones, with the power amp being the only difference. I wouldn't worry about the power amp not being the same as the lonestar's, though. It'll be only a subtle difference sonically.

Well is there another mesa amp I can compare the cleans to? Because cleans are pretty important to me....

Not really... the first two channels of the RK I were their own thing, not really "taken" from anything, besides maybe an improved version of the older 3-channel's cleans. You're just going to have to try it for yourself before you buy it, or trust the videos you find on youtube :roll:

these two videos are of the RK I. judge the cleans for yourself:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfahRmsLfJU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7R1GXlN_X8

Also check out Dream Theater's album "Train of Thought". That album was all road king I, even the cleans.

 

[MBJunkie]

Yes, there are a lot of Mesa's you can compare clean tones with if you wish.....

Mark V, Lonestar, TA, and even the Mini Rectifier. IMO, all of these amps offer better clean tones than what I was ever able to achieve out of my RKI when I owned it. Maybe that isn't what you were asking?

 

[Seanthesheep]

Ok well heres the current offer:

His roadking head, 6 years old, retubed in 2010 with footswitch and live in road case

For my peavey 6534+ head and mesa metal grill 412.

Im just afraid ill want to trade in the roadking for series II or a roadster if I do this.

 

[domct203]

What has sparked this interest in trading your current amp?

Are you not happy with the Peavey 6534+?

Is it the Clean tones of the Peavey you do not like?

Or is this just the GAS talking?

Dom

 

[Seanthesheep]

What has sparked this interest in trading your current amp?

Are you not happy with the Peavey 6534+?

Is it the Clean tones of the Peavey you do not like?

Or is this just the GAS talking?

Dom

I just plainly dont like the peavey anymore in any sense, cleans or distortion. So Im planning to sell/trade it for a mesa. Because lately more often then not ive been opting to just play my pod hd because I dont like the peavey.

So the peavey and cab are going regardless. Its just a matter of what amp I replace it with

 

[ironjose]

that means the roadster has the cleans of the lonestar?

Kind of. It does have the preamp of the lonestar in its clean and fat modes, but that clean lonestar preamp is then going to be run through a rectifier power amp (which I can only assume isn't identical to the lonestar classic's power amp) and then into whatever cab you're using - which won't sound quite as wonderful as a lonestar combo if it's closed back and has speakers like V30's in it. But that's being pretty nit-picky. I can guarantee you that a roadster head through a recto 4x12 has flat out amazing clean tones, and my setup (mark v into a roadster 2x12) is pretty much my favorite clean sound that I've ever heard. So will a roadster going into a closed back V30 cab sound 100% exactly like a lonestar classic feeding an open back 2x12 with C90's? No. More like 90%. The road king's cabinet switching feature is cool for this because then you can pick a perfect cab for your clean tones and a perfect cab for your dirty tones, with the power amp being the only difference. I wouldn't worry about the power amp not being the same as the lonestar's, though. It'll be only a subtle difference sonically.

well actually i'm not that concern i've heard the cleans of the roadster and i like them !!! and for being a high gain amp they are pretty darn great !!! better than most amps out there...

anyways i was just asking because when you look at the mesa boogie website they mention this on the RK2 but they dont mention it on the Roadster... just a comment

 

[rocknroll9225]

well actually i'm not that concern i've heard the cleans of the roadster and i like them !!! and for being a high gain amp they are pretty darn great !!! better than most amps out there...

anyways i was just asking because when you look at the mesa boogie website they mention this on the RK2 but they dont mention it on the Roadster... just a comment

Well then, my more direct answer to that question would be: yes, the roadster is like the road king 2 in that the clean modes are taken from from the lonestar. :mrgreen:

 

[Seanthesheep]

I guess the question is which of the 2 is the most practical for home use because I just my band and am going to university soon as well so I need something manageable volume and size wise which is why my most ideal options are a mesa roadster 212 combo or a mesa mini rectofier and 212 cab. More portable is better for the occasional small shows and jams ill do

The roadking seems kinda overkill and doesnt have whats important to me.....

Well luckily ill be able to test drive the mini rec and roadster side bu side. Just need to drive there

 

[ironjose]

well actually i'm not that concern i've heard the cleans of the roadster and i like them !!! and for being a high gain amp they are pretty darn great !!! better than most amps out there...

anyways i was just asking because when you look at the mesa boogie website they mention this on the RK2 but they dont mention it on the Roadster... just a comment

Well then, my more direct answer to that question would be: yes, the roadster is like the road king 2 in that the clean modes are taken from from the lonestar. :mrgreen:

Thanks !!! hahaha :lol:

 

[ironjose]

and returning to the initial subject... i would go for the roadster or at least wait for it... i know the roadking seems and is awesome...
but like someone said before if you need all of its features then go ahead... but if you need a straight amp wait for the roadster...

 

[UnderJollyRoger]

Well, if you're concerned about volume and size, it's probably not a bad idea to think about the Mini Recto twice ... most folks here seem to be pretty impressed about it

 

[Seanthesheep]

Yea, I got to play the mini rec today. Completly blew me away, for the most part I played it through a PRS 2x12 and together the 2 sounded monsterous.

Then later for the lolz the guy at the store wanted to plug me into 2 bogner 412s. :twisted:

Deff gonna give that amp another run, the cleans were great too.

Also played a PRS 2 channel H head theough the same cabinet. It was nice but the high gain was fizzier and couldnt be dialed our.

The mini rec was fizzy at first but then I dropped it to 10w and gave it some juice and it just became a monster. Kind of funny how much my opinion has changed on it since I first heard of it. But yea I think rec need volume to open up and the mini seems like the best bet for now, so hopefully Ill own one soon.

The pRS 212 was nice too, very well rounded with a nice defined bottom end and highs, great all arounder that can easily get the floor shaking for high gain

 

[siggy14]

I havent played the roadking II but I have played many Roadking 1's and roadsters. I can tell you now, no way do the roadsters distortion and the roadking 1's distortion are the same. The roadking 1 is brighter and more of a mix of a tremoverb and a 3 channel dual recto. The roadster is very dark, way to dark for me, I never did mesh with that amp well, not that it is a bad amp, but if you eventually play with another guitarist who has a bright amp he will eat you up.

If you like the cleans on the mini recto, you were be perfectly fine with the cleans on the RK 1 as they are better then the mini.

PS I think you are getting a great trade deal, I would go with it in a minute.

So I have the oppritunity to acquire a raodking series 1 in a trade. Cant find too much info on ine.

And ive always been gassing for a roadster for ever, should i hold out for a roadster or just get the roadking? How similar are they tonally? And is a roadster a stripped down roadking II or I?

The roadster is a stripped down version of the road king II. The roadster and road king II are the same besides the progressive linkage (the ability to select different power tubes for each channel), cabinet switching, and second effects loop in the RK.

The only tonal difference between a RK I and II are the improved cleans and reverb in the RK II, which are taken from the lonestar. I've never played a RK I, but from what I've heard the cleans aren't too bad on it either, it's just that they're better on the II. The RK I also has one parallel loop and one series, whereas they're both series in the RK II.

 

[Seanthesheep]

Have you played the mini rec?

And how would the roadster/roadking handle for home use?

 

[Rctifr]

I'd say Roadking

 

[BoogieMan_SC]

I'd say Roadking

+1
insanely good amp