What to look for when you're buying a Road King?

[John Orange]

Hello, there.

Firstly, I would like to salute you all. Amazing forum and huge efforts to share a lot of useful information. I have been reading restlessly through the forum the last few days.

Secondly, I myself want to buy a Road King. Unfortunately, where I live (South Eastern Europe) there is no way I can hear or test one. I will most likely order it to a dealer in Germany or Poland and then go get it.

Is with a lot of enthousiasm that I have been reading a lot of topics on how great the Road King is. It happens that I've also noticed bad experiences with this amp, lack of gain, malfunctions and others.

Although I am 99% decided to get me the RK series II, I have grown a bit concerned that I have absolutely no rules of thumb to apply when checking if the amp is indeed working perfectly once at the dealer.

I do not know how you react when buying expensive equipment, such as the RK, but for myself, I am usually so happy that I just want to get the package and go home to play with it.

Having said this, and having read the RK Manual several times, I was wondering whether we can put toghether a set of rules that one should follow when acquiring a Road King. Like what tests you ran when getting an amp, and the RK in particular, or even sample of sounds that reflect a perfectly working RK.

I figure you all have a lot of experience with this type of amp, and this post could help anyone who is interested in acquiring an amp.

Thanks in advance, guys, and much appreciated.

 

[J.R.B.]

I bought the RK for the 4 channels. There's lots of cool options like rectifier,cabinet and tube switching but I think I would have rather had the new Roadster. It seems to be the brother to the RK and has less of the stuff you don't need. Check it out. Either one would be an excelent choise.
As for what can go wrong and what to look for......I think you will have to get it first then ask questions. I'm betting it will have no problems at all. I think most problems I've read about are user error.
I think Mesa dealers are required to have some knowledge about their amps so I would think the dealer should be able to give the amp a once over.
It's a lot of money to drop on an amp but I wouldn't worry too much!
J.B.

 

[jbird]

Just like a new amp, when auditioning an amp, I like to approach it from a minimalist view. In stock form, it should probably be in the tube rectifier position, and bold variac. I don't care for the footswitch, rather, manually going through the channels, setting-up each one to your liking. Disengage the effects loop, you don't need it to set-up the channels. Experiment (of course) with the different modes via toggles. Try the different power/tube settings (progressive linkages). The manual is actually pretty good at walking you through the steps and diagnosing any possible problems, but I think you'll be fine!

 

[goneloco]

sealed in a box is the way i went and ive no problems!!!!!!!!!
awesomw amp and yes there is plenty of gain

 

[tele_jas]

You mentioned you haven't heard some of the settings, I have some posted on my guitar test site...... www.guitartest.moonfruit.com some semi high-gain stuff and some less gainy stuff.

I heard someone say in regards to the price versus the tone, and I think this sums up the Road King the best; "Cost thousands, sounds like a million" :wink:

 

[John Orange]

Thanks, tele_jas for the link

Very helpful sneak preview of the Road King sound. And... I hope your son will soon start playing guitar ))

 

[ylo]

My concern with the RK is the number of tubes. Tubes fail. If you are prepared for this, the RK has an unbeatable number of sounds for one amp, and sounds a helluva lot better than digital modelling amps. But you know the saying, no free lunch.

 

[CudBucket]

My concern with the RK is the number of tubes. Tubes fail.

I don't think this is an issue. Tubes don't fail all that often. Especially not 10 or 12 at a time.

 

[pjrhd28]

IMHO, the louder you play ( up to certain levels), the better the RK sounds. The magic tones in channels 1 and 2 don't seem to me to blossom until you get up to medium to large venue club volume. But boy, the tone is truly outstanding at those volumes.

I am having some trouble with my footswitch but my sense is that this is a problem that can be fixed.

Costs thousands, sounds like millions indeed.

 

[brianf]

I did not even test drive one when I bought mine. I had read great reports, got some good info from several forums and just went in an bought it. (In a box).

I really did know what to expect and was not disappointed.
If you are going to test it just use some of the factory sample settings. Download the owners manual from the Mesa Web site.

If you are getting a combo just give it a good test to make sure none of the tubes have rattle.

Buy with confidence!!!!!


brianf

 

[Brewski]

Hey John Orange, You are already taking an informed approach by having read the manual. You will at least go in with a fair amount of confidence that you will know the basic layout and controls. Use the suggested switch settings for starters to get your tones. I went a little riskier route and bought a Road King off of E-bay. It had arrived in one piece and all seems to be well with it. If there is anything wrong with it, I have yet to find it. The tones do liven up with volume.

You may want to re-read the section on the effects loops and bring a stomp box or whatever effect you use to test the loops. I am still working with them, but for ease of operation, I've been running the few that I use straight to input.

I don't anticipate that you'll experience any problems. As said above, many issues are pilot errors (myself included) or tube issues. If you are buying new, you shouldn't have any diode or fan issues which were more common with the older series 1 amps.

All the best to you and I hope you find many years of enjoyment with that amp, once it arrives.

 

[Dersu Uzala]

I just looked up Mesa dealers in Southeast Europe. Boy, I do not envy you folks. There's just no excuse to these prices in this day and age. I guess the local dealers are ripping people of and not so much Mesa.

These should all be RK-1's.

Greek dealer:
http://www.stollas.com/search.asp?strSearch=mesa

RK Head with a straight RK 4x12 cabinet= 7500$.


Russian dealer:
http://new.attrade.ru/str/search?query=mesa

RK 2x12 Combo - Green Croq Leather = 5535$;
RK Head with a straight Recto 4x12 = 6300$ (way cheaper then Greece but with Recto cabinet instead RK)


Polish dealer:
http://lauda-audio.pl/static/cenniki.htm

RK 2x12 Combo = 4135$;
RK Head with a straight RK 4x12 = 5248$
RK Head (diamond plate) with a straight RK 4x12 = 5488$

Croatian dealer:
no online info available

Czech dealer:
http://www.pmc.cz/

no online data available

Italian dealer:
http://www.mogarmusic.it/products_list.php?page=1&f_generic=mesa&sez=

RK 2x12 Combo = 5757$;
RK Head with a RK 4x12 cabinet= 7231$.


Conclusion...go to Poland indeed :lol: .

 

[John Orange]

Thanks to all for all replies up to now. It's a pleasurable experience to see people so opened to help and share their experiences.

As far as for the prices issue... that's a disaster indeed. I wanted to buy one RK from the States or Canada, but I am concerned about voltage.

We operate here in an 220V environment. Per my knowledge, US and Canada operate in a 110V environment. This means I would need to use a step down convertor from 220V to 110V or invest in some line regulator (probably Furman).

In absence of such line regulator, according to Mesa I would need around 1000A to make sure the sound does not get coloured. This would require me to tag along to my amp a 7 kilos transformer :x

Coming back to the price which is indeed higher than accros the ocean, you have to consider I still have to go probably 2000 km to the nearest dealer to get the amp. This means almost 200 liters of gasoline and around EUR200 on accomodation. This is what I did when I got my JP MusicMan.

So I am looking at a budget of about EUR 4000, i.e., amp EUR 3600, tax inclusive, and EUR 400 additional expenses. which means around one year of saving.

Since, due to my geographical location, I will probably have no access to proffesional advice if something goes wrong... I need to make sure the amp works perfectly from the first moment.

Best regards and look forward to future advice.

 

[Brewski]

Wow! That's not just a trip to the local store, that's a journey! Yeah, if you bought an amp out of the U.S., you would at least need a power converter. There are a few folks who use them. You can do a search on this site and you may find some info. For small issues, there is a wealth of information on this site, along with some very knowledgeable people, who regualarly give good advice. For hard failures, should you experience any, you will need to have access to a technician locally or you may need to ship the unit back to Mesa, if none are available.

Is there any way that you can have your closest dealer ship your amp to you directly in the original sealed box to save you the trip? It might be more cost effective for you with the price of gas and all. If you are getting an amp new, the chances of having any issues are few, barring a really rough ride to your doorstep.

The RK head that I had won off of E-Bay was not packed as well as I would've liked, and it still arrived in one piece and works fine. (I spent a good half an hour cleaning styrofoam popcorn out of it. Ugh!) With factory packaging, the shippng risks would not be as high.

 

[Dersu Uzala]

What country exactly are you from? As noted, the cheapest Mesa delaer located in proximity to Eastern Europe is in Poland. For Southeastern Europeans, Greece would be way closer and perhaps Italy. But prices are skyhigh in Greece and less so in Italy. I couldn't figure Swiss prices (kinda close to Southeast Europe). CHF or Euros or what. If it was CHF then it's close to Polish prices, but I'm thinking Euros maybe. $$ ? Can't tell.

Anyway, I'm kinda thinking you could order an export version from Mesa if there's no delaer in your country. They would perhaps refer you to the closest dealer, but in your case this may be cheaper even with shipping and handling (it'll take couple of months for package to get there once shipped; God knows how long would it take for order to be processed with these RK2 waiting lists).

Did anyone do that just yet? Order directly from Mesa from a country that doesn't have an official dealer?

P.S. For 3600 Euros you can barely buy just a RK head in Poland at that store listed above (3800+ $ just for head). What are you going to do about the cabinet?

 

[Dersu Uzala]

Since, due to my geographical location, I will probably have no access to proffesional advice if something goes wrong... I need to make sure the amp works perfectly from the first moment.

I'm pretty sure a bunch of regulars patrol this board nite'n'day, eh :lol: .
Just let the board know when you take off on your Odyssey. If you're gonna be at destination for a day or two, someone might be able to point a thing or two in case you have any doubts about RK you're looking into buying.

When you hit the road, might as well open a temporary topic, 'RK European Dawn Patrol 2006'. :wink:

 

[John Orange]

Dersu Uzala, the part with the "Odyssey" it's absolutly hilarious . I will let you know when I hit the road. Thanks for the encouragments and kind words.

To answer your first question, on my location, I am from Romania. I don't think a mesa boogie amp ever "set foot" in these places. :lol:

About the cabinets. They will follow shortly after the amp. A lot of money being involved, I may need to break the process into two, get the amp first, and the cabs later. I will most likely go for a 2 or 4 speaker Roadking cabinets.

About shipping. I was a bit concerned about geting the amp delivered here. Given the absence of technical service, if something goes wrong, I prefer to be at the dealer, rather than at my house. I am still thinking of this, of course, but... my first option is to go get it.

Nevertheless, I will liaise with Mesa to see if they can help me.

Thanks again for kind words and best regards.