I bought my Dream Amp [15 years too late] - Mesa Boogie Road King

For my Presets visit: johnnathancord... I had never played a Mesa Recto before, (except the Blue Angel, which doesn't really count) - so I've had my eyes on Singles, Duals but not Triples for a while. The Road King is sort of the most expensive and dumbest Recto that Mesa ever made, and as a kid I would have loved to try something like this - especially during my Dream Theater phase. Here's my first time plugging it in!
www.buymeacoff... - if you like what I do and
only if you wanted, you could buy me a coffee!
Get my PADs bundle here: www.paypal.com... (this folder will grow, and I'd encourage you to ask for different keys/songs and stuff that might suit this type of preset?)
I've decided to make it possible to grab both my Helix/HX Stomp bundles (the expression bundle with freeze presets has always been separate) together for £5 - www.paypal.com... - I will then email you a link to both bundles!
Try my general patches for Helix or HX Stomp in this bundle for £3 using this link - I will then send out the patches! www.paypal.com...
You can get my EXPRESSION patches in this bundle using this link - I will then send out the patches! www.paypal.com...
Try my patches for Pod GO for £3 using this link - I will then send out the patches! www.paypal.com...
/ johnnathancordy get my backing tracks here
www.buymeacoff... - if you like what I do and
only if you wanted, you could buy me a coffee!

[@mickylicky5265]

I love my Road King.....a little intimidating at first but once you use it it all makes sense....& such a versatile Jack of All Trades!.....but a fortune in tubes....

[@markymark-2]

Yea I feel you. I’m about to replace everything. I’m looking at around 800ish in tubes…

[@felinekaiju4517]

Its great to see someone do a Roadking justice in a review. I'll finally have one this year. The versatility of this beast is rarely recognised on YT. I already know how I'm going to set each channel. Ch1 - Fat for cleans low gain tones - tube rectification. Ch2 - Brit for those plexi tones - diode rectification Ch3 - modern - Rhythm high gain - diode Ch4 - modern - high gain insanity - diode

[@ruffestneckaround]

What power tubes will you assign to each channel? Which side of the cab will you assign to each channel? Or will you use both sides?

[@paperhanger29]

Ah yes Sir Cordy....I do recall the great tube shortage of 2022. It was at this time in history I thought it a grand idea to trade my helix floor for a Mesa Triple Rectifier. I enjoy living life on the wild side. (Side note: I have an HX Stomp that more then suites my needs.)

[@0megalul309]

good trade

[@wingee]

Brilliant to see somebody show how versatile a Dual Rectifier can be!

[@candypeanut9927]

Yes they are! Even Alan Holdsworth used the original 2ch at times, other non metal Recto players are/were Bernard Allison, the great Captain Kirk Douglas of the Roots and I believe also Fred Frith.

[@ruffestneckaround]

While it's technically in the Dual Rec Family, a Road King is a Spaceship compared to a DR. -4 Channel -3 sets of 2 power tubes: 2xEL84 and 2x 2x6L6. You can assign any combo of pairs of tubes, per channel. The 6L6 pairs are 50w each, the EL84 is 30. All 6 on a channel is 130w for example. - 412 RK cab is actually 2x 212s: A closed 212 with V30s, and an open 212 with Mesa Black Shadows. You can assign either side, or both, per channel. - Gain and presence on channel 4 go to about 15 compared to a DR, Channel 3 is a direct copy.

[@chubpaizs6763]

I have a Mesa Roadster which is the brother of the Roadking. You mention the footswitch as the size of a skateboard and say "What were they thinking?". The answer is ... EVERYTHING!. The Roadking and Roadster have everything any guitarist needs in an amp. The footswitch operates all those features of the amp without you accidentally pressing the wrong switch due to a cramped footswitch layout. From the sounds of a Fender style to the Tweed, to the VOX AC30 (Brit mode) to the Mesa Mark series (Ch 3) to Marshally and Recto soaring lead tones (Ch 4) they have it all. As for the weight at 25Kgs for the Roadking and 23Kgs for the Roadster, I don't hear people complaining about the weight of Fender or Marshall combos at those weights (and heavier) so I don't have any problems with the weight and I am a gigging musician at age 63.

[@prsmantse1]

I wanted this amp so badly when it came out. I still want an old school dual rectifier too. This would probably give me option paralysis. Really cool to see your take on it. It sounds great

[@ruffestneckaround]

The Road King is a Dual Rec. Says right on it. Channel 3 is dead on a Dual Rec when using 4x6L6 tubes, same with channel 4 except the presence goes way higher.

[@theericbeaty]

When I interviewed Marco Sfogli on my channel back in the summer of 2020, he said that in his early days of playing for James Labrie he used a Triple Rectifier. I’ve recently replicated his settings for the Cali Rectifire on my Helix LT and it sounds amazing.

[@nlego5153]

I never looked into Mesa as I thought it was for big-haired rockers... but man, these cleans are the very best i've heard in a while. I'm looking for a Mesa now :)

[@ruffestneckaround]

The Road King V2 Channel 1 is straight off the Lonestar, its glorious.

[@kingpants8764]

I agree with dusty yo. I got my roadking 2 and he's right. If you want everything roadking 2 is where it's at. If your looking for mainly clean tones with Mesa with great break up too, the lonestar is the best for that "mesa clean tone" or the Mesa Fillmore for more of that sparkly "fender" tone. Can't go wrong.

[@Turboy65]

Mesa has amps for every style. They always have. And their quality is first rate. Only BAD amp techs say otherwise.

[@Tiger1016.]

Seems like the clean channel options are as good on the Mark VII. Basing this on owning a Roadster and and a Mark V 90W. Just depends on what you prefer on the higher gain voicing. The Roadkind and Roadster are darker and smoother compared to the newer Multiwatt Rectifiers.

[@ontherocks1026]

Congrats on the dream Boogie . I know the feeling . I was too young to afford my Tremoverb back in the day . Or any MESA for that matter . But now having it years later in my 30’s I feel it’s better this way . A younger more unpredictable self would have sold it and regretted it haha. Hold onto that gem . It should last you a long while . My Tremoverb is from 1994 and still going STRONG 💪🏼!! Cheers !!

[@hughmcevoy4119]

Gosh - that sounds marvellous, John. I briefly owned a Road King II in 2009. Tried it. Loved it. Bought it. Brought it home. Far too loud; flubby at sane volumes. Sold it back to the shop. This was in the days before decent load boxes. Your playing was great.

[@sacredgeometry]

These are definitely up there as some of the few amps I truely love.

[@thedeadcanwait5099]

Great demo mate nice playing too

[@joegalford2319]

I have the 2x12 Roadking. Love it.

[@SOUNDCONTROLFLA]

Best amp ever. I had my first one customized with the hot white tolex and white croc front, but I ended up selling for a stock. You’ll have many fun years ahead of you and this very well may be the last amp you’ll ever need! Ps share those settings 😏

[@ruffestneckaround]

I ordered one with Red Croc, Head and RK 4x12. Still rock it to this day with no issues. My only issue I've had is even on the lowest power settings, and 2x12, it's still LOUD😂🤘🏻

[@jasonkucharski7411]

Sounds of my early 20s. Had a mark 3 for a short time in those days. Very nice machines any of those mesa amps.

[@johnnathancordy]

Yeh they've done some cracking stuff!!

[@chrismundayguitar]

Hi John, the performance piece at the beginning was worth the price of admission alone… cheers

[@-jk-2580]

Cool tones! Makes me miss my Roadster.

[@tappistrt]

I'm 99% sure John Petrucci used a Road King around the mid-2000s when DT released the Train of Thought album. *Edit: just saw that you had a Dream Theater phase like I did. :)

[@scottboepple7903]

sounds great !!!

[@expressyourselfist]

Some people love that throaty sound ,and sagging feel of Mesa.

[@NickIverson]

Used to have a Roadster I gigged often back in the day. Mostly when I was playing music that wasn’t well composed so required I switched between every possible tone I couldn’t decide on 😂 amazing sounding amp, so unnecessary but so pleasurable. If nothing else I got a great workout

[@dannyboyblue1111]

I’ve just had a 2x12 combo come up for sale round the corner from me, so overkill for home use but can’t help thinking I’m going to end up buying it anyway for the pure nostalgia of my youth 😂. I might need to get in the gym to get it in the car though!

[@Tiger1016.]

My first tube amp was a Roadster (effectively a RK at the end of the day) that i got from GC ~13 years ago for >50% off when they were dropping Mesa a clearing out inventory. Wish I could have kept it for nostalgia purposes, but the Badlander might have been the one thing that would have kept me in the Mesa family after a long affair with a number of Mark series amps. But Wizard amps have turned out to be the end game solution for me.

[@Tiger1016.]

I recall Foo Fighters used Roadkings or Roadsters live for a long time. Mike Enzinger from Incubus was and still is a Tremoverb player. Jeff Buckley was also a Tremoverb player.

[@MeanMaoriMean555]

Plenty of meat to last for years! It’s a beautiful thing.

[@chiricm]

Man I wanted one of these so bad back in the day. Watching early aughts DT live vids etc. Don’t think I’d care for it at all today. (But as usual Jonathan makes it sing.)

[@ksharpe10]

Fabulous demo on this amp. Would have made great presets for Tonex, Super Mesa AMP.

[@Zwidawurzn]

Crazy. I have a Engl Invader 1 (which i got for a really good price) but i think this Mesa amp offers even more tone options. It certainly provides nice sounds for all styles of music.

[@Tiger1016.]

I recall Foo Fighters used Roadkings or Roadsters live for a long time. Mike Enzinger from Incubus was and still is a Tremoverb player. Jeff Buckley was also a Tremoverb player, and Blue Stones has been using a Roadster for a long time. You should experiment with using a TS style boost or eq pedal in front for focusing in the higher gain tones.

[@SharpEdgeStandardOfficial]

That thing sounds fn awesome!!

[@levimulkey2844]

Yeah, let's just say you inspired me to make more money so I can go buy this amp. These are the tones of my youth.

[@22ChampagneSupernova]

Favourite player of mine to use a dual rectifier is Nick McCabe of The Verve. He mostly used Marshalls and Voxes in the 90s, but he switched to Tremoverbs after the Urban Hymns album, then to Road Kings as well. He’s a criminally underrated genius of atmosphere and texture, just a complete and utter visionary, totally not your stereotypical rectifier tones!

[@saintannsbeach]

Great playing and commentary on one of my favorite amps. I still have a Road King I 2 x 12 combo. I got it as a part time gig amp after using a Mark IIC+ as a full time gigging musician many years prior. I liked the multiple options for dialing in tones. I never found a clean tone that felt right. I liked the channel 2 and 3 middle gain crunch tones. . .but the best was the channel 4 lead tone with middle to heavy gain and just the two EL34’s in 50 watt mode. This way I could really push the power section and actually open it up without blowing out the venue. I ran it with a Tremoverb 2 x 12 combo as a stereo slave and it sounded huge! But in the end it all just weighed too much. I’m considering moving to a much smaller and lighter Boogie setup. Any recommendations?

[@Tiger1016.]

If you want light weight with great tones and the ultimate versatility, the Axe Fx with a power amp into a cab is the obviousl solution. Coming from someone who has owned a Roadster, a few Mark series, and now owna 4 Wizard amps and is shifting back to using an Axe Fx III instead.

[@rockstarjazzcat]

You funny. Just say no to looting Mesa Boogie Road Kings kids! Congrats on the acquisition of a magnificent monster, John Cordy!

[@voxpathfinder15r]

It appears to have a few more options than my Vox Pathfinder 15R amplifier. But heck, that’s what pedals are for!

[@fightingtwozeroone]

Beginning at 17:16, somewhere both Andy Timmons and Eric Johnson are smiling!

[@ianguest2011]

Channels 1 and 2 are the lonestar channels which was a staple for Timmons for a long time.

[@pfmusic1636]

I was lucky enough to grow up in a town that had nearly every Mesa available, in its shop since they were made in northern California. Most of them didn't move much tho and the shop closed. I prefered the straight up tone of most any fender amp. The shear mass of options always seemed to kill the clean tone since I really want a great clean tone, first. The Stiletto is a great Marshall alternative. The dual rec, in the 4 or 5 versions I tried to me was always a meh sounding amp. Try it with active pickups. The lone star is actually pretty special, imo. Andy Timmons uses the lonestar. I think NU-metal made Mesa famous again and killed their chances of being anything but a tread plate brand. My fav player of Mesa is Santana. Great playing as always

[@haezeematera7671]

I went to the shop ordered one (head and 4x12 cab) and 5 minutes later walking away from it, don't ask me why ... I changed my mind and canceled my order, certainly because i already was more in that Fender vibe subconsciously ... I honestly don't regret my choice and went with Fender amps which i love more than any amps for obvious reasons but i think every John Petrucci fans dreamt of it at some point, got older since then lol

[@soulSaysHi]

Those tread plated pigeonholes are the worst 😆

[@kenburkard]

It’s a wonderful wonderful Amp .... until you need to fix it 😬 good luck sir, sounds amazing

[@skubadoobie]

I got a singe rectifier rectoverb combo, I love it, super versatile, it’s not a double rectifier but mesa put it in the family

[@kalkidasofficial]

Holy smokes!

[@SeeLeeJay]

Awesome intro, the amp collection is starting to expand again no?

[@KuhKronus]

I almost bought one of these used, and I still wonder if it was the one that got away

[@Art-zs6sl]

I like it. It's fuzzy and clean at the same time. Seems to have a thing of its own on recording, I'd bet in the room it's amazing. Is this your favorite Mesa/boogie?

[@johnnathancordy]

I've just found the wildest lead tone on channel 3....It's certainly a unique thing! Not sure if it's my favourite and it must lose points for being the size of Luxembourg?

[@Art-zs6sl]

@@johnnathancordy It is the Road King, built for the stage to be carried by roadies. 0 point deduction!

[@kingpants8764]

Keep the mid just below 9oclock to get it scooped. States in the manual putting it above that the mid control will ad gain. Happy tone chasing, this thing is a monster. I mean that as a compliment . I have one, never getting rid of it

[@cardbored_]

That first guitar/song..? What style of music is that? Sounded like a mix of midwest emo and modern pop/djent. Great playing brother.

[@johnnyd63]

Never heard an amplifier repairman say, "Great! Another Mesa to work on" The JFET switching transistors in the Road King WILL fail and good luck finding a tech to work on any Mesa. I am the original owner of a Boogie Mark III from 1986. NO TECH would touch it for service.I had to send it back to Mesa($$$) for servicing.

[@dracul74]

I love Mesa amps. Buying a nice tube head and pairing it with a Torpedo Cab is still a very popular approach (a wine drinker vs beer, lol). Now just buy (and review) some pedals for us :) I owned and still regret selling a Mesa RectoVerb. I still own a bunch of small combo’s. One of my favs is a 1 watt JTM 50th anniversary Marshal. Records beautifully, not heavy, not too loud, but surprisingly loud. Get one used :)

[@skubadoobie]

Just got me a torpedo earlier this year, best purchase, can play my tube amps, can get a recording signal and not blow my face off, tube amp feel modern digital technology

[@randallr8038]

Can you do all the same with an HX stomp?

[@Arch_Stanton.]

All the bells and whistles

[@jamesgrobertson8024]

The options on that amp are off the scale 🐈🤣

[@Consigliere089]

try this: Overdrive channel 2 in BRIT mode gain max with presense and treble prety high, ⚠with EL34 triode (diode or rectifiere) and spongy ⚠

[@西木月月鸟]

What's the difference between one and two?

[@johnnathancordy]

I think there were quite a few differences...there's probably a boogie chad somewhere who has done a blog on it? I think the cleans were improved on v2?

[@西木月月鸟]

@@johnnathancordy Thank you, there are relatively few introductions. Currently, only the second generation is available, and the first generation is very few, and there is no one to compare.

[@Ontariosound]

Is this Road King 1 or Road King 2 ?

[@ZediBaptista]

Didn't Pat Metheny also play a recto. Or maybe still does

[@paulcaton7093]

Hope this is worth the sacrifice of the Mark 3 😬

[@johnnathancordy]

Don't you worry about that....The purple stripe lives to see another day

[@AndreiGrozea]

i'd hate to work on these

[@picksalot1]

Does it have any tones that can't be emulated by other Amps or Modelers?

[@johnnathancordy]

I think the Rectifier is probably one of the most underrepresented Amps in the Helix - they have only modeled the 3rd Channel, with the Bold/Spongy set to Bold, and the Raw/Vintage/Modern set to Modern. To the extent that any of this matters, the Road King has the ability to switch every channel between 2x6l6/2xEl34/4x6l6/4x6l6+2EL34 tube output, Bold/Spongy, and each channel has 3 voicings. It's definitely overkill but in terms of versatility of Recto tones I don't think any modeler really scratches the surface of what's in there (BUT probably one Recto model is too many already for most folks?!)

[@picksalot1]

@@johnnathancordy I like the dynamic sound of Rectifiers, particularly the clean tones.

[@johnnathancordy]

For some reason, no-one models the Dual Rec cleans at all?

[@PhilipJoyceMusician]

I hope you make your money back breaking it for parts 😂

[@shaneblock6926]

....has more knobs than the local volleyball team. haha

[@TheCyberMantis]

You better hope it never breaks. These are expensive to fix. I'm not a fan of MESA, but I think the best things they make are their speaker cabs.

[@SHOWWHITE]

I agree. To repair it would be a nightmare. That's the main reason I did not go for it.

[@TheCyberMantis]

@@SHOWWHITE Smart.

[@MiguelSantos-qm9oz]

I’ve had a Mark V 90w for over 10 years, gig with it 2-3 times a week, and it has never needed repair. To not get an amp you like “just in case it may be expensive to fix” feels a bit like self defeat. Give it a chance, you may just really enjoy it! On a different note, I think Petrucci recorded the album “Train of Thought” with a Road King, if I recall. Great videos! Cheers!

[@TheCyberMantis]

@@MiguelSantos-qm9oz Petrucci is rich, and he gets his stuff for free because he is an endorsed artist. Yes, if you get a brand-new amp, and it survives shipping to you, sure it can last 10 years. A new JP-2c is $3k now. Which is crazy. But I was mostly talking about buying used tube amps. You never know what condition they are in, unless a tech opens them up and looks inside them. Gotta test everything, too. Also: stuff inside tube amps wears-out over time. Pots get scratchy, caps need to be replaced. Solder joints get loose. Tubes need to be replaced and properly biased. MESA amps have fixed bias, but you have to buy the tubes from MESA, and they cost more. Tube amps generate a lot of heat, and most of them are made with crappy PCB's. You see plastic tube sockets directly mounted on a PCB. Some amps even hang the tubes upside-down, so the heat goes right up into the board and the solder joints. And they charge a fortune for this crap. MESA is notorious for cramming a ton of components into a small space. I think they do this on purpose, to make them hard to repair. ENGL amps mount their boards component-side down. And the boards are hard to get out. If your Mark-V is 10 years old, you need new tubes, and you need all the pots cleaned. You need all the jacks cleaned too.

[@maximilianl4453]

The question is… Could anybody afford a mesa (with reasonable income - spending habits) who couldn’t afford to repair it? I mean… These beasts are crazy expensive. You can get some boutique amps for that price. But I totally understand where you come from… It’s just like people and their cars. They think „Huh… I make 70k a year… I can easily afford a 60k BMW“ and then they struggle with the first service… just in smaller scale.

[@basildog007]

John, go get the 7 strings 👉👈

[@parilwongbunyakon5032]

🤯🤯

[@3mstudiospalmdesert]

I bought one when they first came out. I don't know exactly what I was expecting but with the hype that accompanied with it, it seemed like an all in one solution. During the first gig, I knew it wasn't for me. I'm not tempted in the least to revisit it. I don't get along w Mesa amps, unfortunately.

[@3mstudiospalmdesert]

@@robh1780 I know guys that get great tones through Mesa products. Just not me. MV amps just were never my thing.

[@coldsteelprogressive]

Are you using the stock speakers? I partly hated the amp until I realized that the stock speakers sabotage the amp's major capabilities. I also completely re-tubed to vintage style preamp and power amp tubes and that helped bring it alive and more into the vintage tone realm where it may be one of the world's best. The 2 heavy gain channels are garbage in my opinion. The strange low pass filtered negative feedback circuit does weird things to the tone and keeps you from getting outstanding tone and sustain. Mesa managed to sell that sound to a whole generation or two though and maybe some are still hooked on it. I have been planning to modify those circuit paths so that they really sing. With humbuckers the Tweed and Brit channels can sound really amazing - allowing you to tailor the right amount of gain and EQ for superb tone and dynamics. If there is something dumb there, it is probably not getting familiar with the user manual in detail so that you know what Mesa was attempting to achieve and how their playing specialists ended up using the rig.

[@robertbossart]

I don’t like it. Not really clean on one hand and too fuzzy and compressed on the other. I stick with my Mark III Simul Class and the FM3.

[@johnnathancordy]

Totally fair - I think there's a whole bunch of tones in there but the Mark 3 is a totally awesome amp!

[@hansgruenweg294]

dumbest? ...dumblest sounds nicer

[@jake13b]

wow...great job making that amp sound absolutely awful

[@jimorgain63]

Meth is bad

[@johnnathancordy]

Moreish though