Tremoverb vs Roadster/Road King

[Monsta-Tone]

After drooling over the Roadster picture and listing on Mesa's website, I am wondering if I shouldn't just save my money and get the Roadster instead of a Tremoverb.



How do the channels work on the Road King? Can you have 2 channels (3 & 4) with brutal distortion, but with different EQ settings?

Can the channels be externally switched with an Axess or similar product?

How reliable is the Road King?

Are there too many bells & whistles on the Road King?






Basically, the Tremoverb has everything that I need except a Solo boost.

 

[RR]

I'm pleased with my Trem-o-Verb. If I were in a regular gigging band, I would probably get a Road King II. Matter of fact I got a raised at work at the beginning of the year, not to mention working fulltime so I could afford a Road King II but ...

How reliable is the Road King?

I'm waiting for the first batch of Road King IIs and see how they pan out.

How do the channels work on the Road King? Can you have 2 channels (3 & 4) with brutal distortion, but with different EQ settings?

From the manual, there's 4 channel all we independent tone controls. Channel 3 and 4 are identical with their 3 modes.

Are there too many bells & whistles on the Road King?
Basically, the Tremoverb has everything that I need except a Solo boost.

I get the impression the Trem-o-Verb was the flag ship for the Road King. Trem-o-Verbs's channel cloning was a bit confusing so MESA did away with it and instead have 4 independant channels. Of course this is all in my opinion 8)


Personally I'm not the type of person who has to be the first to get something new in the neighborhood. I'm the type that wait until the product prove itself. But that just me. Someone has to be the guinea pig :?

Monsta-Tone you do realize the Trem-o-Verb is discontinued[?]

Good luck on your choice. ( and especially that weather on the Island). :wink:

 

[tele_jas]

As a previous T-Verb owner, I can honestly say the RK kicks the T-verbs butt. Not that the T-verb is now an obsolete amp, it still rocks and I'd love to have one some day again just to have one. The RK just expands on the T-verb and puts several more options for sound control at your finger tips (or foots press).

No, I dont feel the RK has too many bells and whistles, it's pretty self explanatory to tell the truth :wink: , and is just fun to sit around and hear all the different tonal options available on each channel.

They are 4 independant channels, each with it's own dedicated EQ and choice tubes to run on each channel.

As far as reliability, the first couple of batches of the RK had an issue with some diodes going out on them (on ch 3 & 4), but they are an easy fix. Other than that, I haven't heard of ANY other issues.

It's a great amp, and I dont' think you'd regret saving a little more money and going with either the Roadster or a RK (series I or II) if you're thinking of a T-verb.

I'm disappointed in the fact I bought my RK about 2 months ago and now there's a Series II with very tempting features.... but my series I is a major tone machine and I'm really debating which one I'd rather have?? This is going to be one of those choices that I'll really have to hear it to believe it (since I still think my series I RK is my "dream come true" amp).

Thats my $.02 worth..... go spend it

 

[Red Barchetta]

As usual, I find myself agreeing with tele_jas....(scary for you, eh, jas?)

I don't think the RK has too many bells and whistles at all...it's by far the best and most versatile amp I've ever heard or owned.

The 4 channels are all independant on the RK, right down to even choosing your power amp tube configuration. Channel 3 and 4 do have identical voicing choices, but channel 3 has a warmer presence range. You have to turn the presence almost all the way up on channel 3 to get close to the lower end of the presence range of channel 4.

Reliability...I had the diode problem, but it was a quick fix, and the amp has been flawless ever since.

Now, especially considering the cooooool features of the RK version 2, I would jump on it. Tele_jas is right, the amp is awesome...and surprisingly, once you read the manual and work with it for a day or two, it is very intuative.


All hail the RK....


RB

 

[Flavell777]

I have to also agree with these guys. The amps are amazing and lets face it GAS should never be a problem cause it's all down hill from the RK at the minute!

Each channel is completely independant, from EQ, Power, Reverb and even cabinet choice!

I too had the Diode issue, which should have been easy enough but the techs in the UK don't seem to have the full mesa resources.

Buy it if you can, you won't regret it.

 

[Monsta-Tone]

Everything I see from Mesa leads me to believe that the Roadster is the choice for me.

I looked at a Series I Rectoverb today. The Series II has some serious upgrades. I don't think that I could settle for the Series I without a great discount.



I looked at a Nomad 100. Lots of features. 3 channels, Solo Boost, Reverb, and a Graphic EQ. I didn't try it out though.



I also looked at a Heatbreaker combo, but couldn't get to the back of it. There were 2 other amps stacked on it. What a way to run a store.