Will the Roadster give me the same sounds as the Roadking?

[Karl Hungus]

Basically, I love the tone on Dream Theater's Train Of Thought, and the Live At Budokan DVD. The Road King is what Petrucci's used there, but it is a bit expensive.

So I was wondering, is the Roadster going to be able to get the same sounds, or would I really have to go the Road King route?

 

[JPIndustrie]

Keep in mind alot that had to do with Petrucci's tone on those albums we're the fact that he tuned down almost 2 whole steps (to C I believe) and used 12 gauge strings.

That being said, I suppose you could achieve his tone with a roadster, but not so much if Petrucci employed Progressive linkage and linked the 6L6's with the EL34s.

 

[reuveu]

normally It should

before buying my roadster I asked mesa for difference about the roadster and the roadking. They told me that the roadster and the roadking II have both the same preamp section. the difference is in the power section
and the effect loop. The road king has 2 loops and the progressive linkage which allowed to mix EL34 and 6L6.

I have already read that many people think that the roadking sounds better that a roadster. is it the truth or is it because it is just written roadking on the head ... ?

good test would be to try both heads in the same time ...

now on these tours JP played on 2 two roadkings in stereo with something like 7ms delay between both :wink:

in my opinion the sound with only a roadster is not far

 

[ToneAddictJon]

I remember reading somewhere that Petrucci said he only used the 6L6's on his roadking, that he never messed with the progressive linkage. I could be wrong, but I'm sure I read that in an interview with him, so the Roadster should get you close, but like reuveu said, he offsets his stereo rig by about 7ms and also has racks full of effects, but the roadster should be a good start.

 

[Mr_You]

I picked up my new Mesa 3/4 tuned back cabinet with a Celestion 90 last weekend (other one has v30).

I think the Roadster/RoadKing was designed with this speaker in mind. Mesa probably assumed right that most Roadster owners would want a V30. This also might be why some think the RoadKing sounds better.

The modern modes are too harsh with a V30, the V30s mid-range spike doesn't work for me with this amp, with the C90 it works great. And the rear ported 1x12 Roadster cabinets are too directional for me.

Channels 1 and 2 also sound better and an interesting surprise: For all channels, my EQ is generally flat (12 o'clock) except for a little more treble and presence, the C90 and cabinet(s) do the rest.

After getting the combo I'm moving to a head and I recommend a head + stacked 1x12 cabinets. The thiele 1x12s might be better for punchy rock (haven't tried them), I love my 3/4 tuned back for my hard blues style.

Will post more on my setup sometime soon.

 

[lockbody]

I dunno, I didn't really like my Roadster with my 2x EV loaded Thieles for "harder" rock. The guys in band kept saying "I thought you said that amp had a lot of ***."

 

[Matterra]

To the response on what tubes Petrucci used:

I'm pretty sure you are right about him just using the 6l6 settings, but I vaguely remember reading that he would use the kick in the EL-34's for Solos.

I could be wrong, but its just a thought.

 

[Karl Hungus]

Thanks for the help guys.

 

[CudBucket]

Not all of the songs on Train Of Thought or Live at Budokan were in C or played with 12 gauge strings. There were all kinds of tunings and gauges. In fact by the time LAB was recorded, JP may have been using 9 gauge strings on standard tuned guitars.

Also, the preamps on the RK and RKII are NOT the same. The RKII's clean channels are that of the Lone Star and I believe the reverb is updated in the RKII as well. I mean, if you need to know read the mesaboogie.com website. The differences are listed there.

The Roadster is roughly $700 less than the RKII when you throw in tax but it's still a $2000 head. At that price it's worth it IMO to get the progressive linkage. That's what drove me to buy the RKII.

 

[JAZZGEAR]

I have already read that many people think that the roadking sounds better that a roadster. is it the truth or is it because it is just written roadking on the head ... ?

That is true if we're talking about the Lonestar cleans in the combo format of each amp. Then it is true that the RK II sounds better if only because it's an open back

the rest of that claim may be do to the ability to mix power sections...and trust me it makes a huge difference in tone -- to me, well worth the extra $600 or so

 

[JAZZGEAR]

I dunno, I didn't really like my Roadster with my 2x EV loaded Thieles for "harder" rock. The guys in band kept saying "I thought you said that amp had a lot of ***."

+2, I didn't like the thieles with my RK II either (though I never tried gigging with them).