Royal Atlantic vs. Mark V

[rabies]

just listed my RG1570 and VM2266 on eBay. If I can afford it, I'd like to buy a RA100 or Mark V. I may sell my S120 as well.

I need an amp that can go to lower watts/volume (as I play at home mostly with 112 and sometimes crank at studio with 412).

I haven't tried RA100 so maybe I should hit Mesa hollywood (ugh!) this weekend. Mark V was ok when I tried it quickly but I'd have to spend way more time with it. I'm kinda not into extremely tweeky amps after owning the RK1, Mark IV, for example. Kinda into, grab some beers and play. Is the RA100 very tweeky?

any comments?

I'm a Marshall guy (mostly) and love sounds like RHCP, RATM, Ministry, Led Zep, Floyd, AC/DC, on guitar (yeah, lots of marshall amps?). I play mostly hard rock and some jazz/funk so it's all mixed with distorted jazz chords at times (think John frusciante). artificial harmonics I tend to use a lot. so gain is important. i'm sure all mesas would have no issues here based on my experience. And yes, i need to practice much more...

BTW, the KT66 are very dynamic and complex harmonically when pushed, but really EL34 is my thing. And the Rivera does not crunch like a Marshall JCM 800, for example, but a great amp for the price (used).

 

[YellowJacket]

If you're a Marshall guy try the Royal Atlantic, or even the Electra Dyne. (or Stiletto...)

 

[rabies]

had a new Stiletto Deuce II but returned it, power tubes kept blowing (3 sets!) sounded pretty good but thin.

i like the attenuator feature in the RA as I play at home mostly nowadays...

 

[CoG]

I just got an RA. It is very, very, very Marshallesque, handles complex chords beautifully, and has an open, uncompressed feel that is very different from other modern Mesas. The power soak thing is good for getting lots of power tube clip at sane volumes (but it doesn't come even close to bedroom volumes.) It took me about 5 minutes to dial in sounds I liked and then tweaked a little bit for the next hour, and I have had no urge to tweak more until I start recording stuff and see what it sounds like on tape.

down sides: it is brutally unforgiving of bad technique, especially the blue channel, and (like most Marshalls) it really needs a 4x12 if you want any thump at all.

I would say try one out for sure-- plug in something gibsonish, turn the gain to 1 o'clock, the hi master to 2:00, the lo master to 3:00, put everything else at noon, and put the power soaks on, like, the noon setting. try the blue and red channels and try wiggling the treble back and forth between 11 and 1. and if that sounds like something you can work with you'll probably like it (if you don't like the clean channel your brain is broken.)

my ra is not going to replace my mark iii but it is replacing my jcm800 and probably even my jazz chorus.

 

[rabies]

have you tried running 2xEL34? it doesn't have a 50/100 watt switch like the other heads.

 

[CoG]

yeah, it does, you select either 50 or 100 on the power switch. you can't assign it per channel like on the roadster. EL34 is stock. 50 watts clips a *little* earlier but you really only notice on the clean channel.

basically if you like marshall-y sounds you should just go try it, you'll know within 5 mins if you're going to like it or not.