Mesa/Boogie Head Shootout - Road King, Royal Atlantic and Stiletto

At Zilla we have quite a few test amps. We thought we would go through three of our favourite Mesa Boogie heads, The Road King (Mk1), Royal Atlantic and the Stiletto.
All three are really fun amps but there are two definite sides to Boogie here so we thought you guys and girls may be interested in our thoughts. As always let us know what you think, tell us if you like the new format and don't forget to join the team by subscribing and hitting the bell.
Playing samples:
Clean: 0:49
Dirty: 9:57
Heavy: 17:49
Lead: 29:05
Gear Used:
Zilla standard 4x12, loaded with M Creambacks
Gibson Les Paul Studio (mid 90's)
Beyerdynamic M160 mic
www.zillacabs....
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[@charlesrocks]

The Road King is my absolute favorite Rectifier, but I am absolutely loving the Stiletto right now.

[@HiredGoonage]

Love the Stiletto clean channel. Haven't figured out the dirty channel yet.

[@michelmoe]

Hello guys. This is the best Stiletto demo I could find! I just escaped quarantine to get me one since I love this amp but I'm struggling a bit to get the tone I want at a lower volume but this sure inspired me to try some settings and get some work done. Tks for sharing this =)

[@ZillaCabs]

Thanks, I'm glad you like it, I think it's one of the only amps to turn my head a little away from my favourite Marshall JMP. One trouble with valve amps is that they do tend to sound better cranked up a little. I also found the Stiletto does sound better when not using a 16ohm cab.... I know they only have a 4 and 8ohm output but you can use some 16ohm cabs with some Mesas. I did find quite a difference though. Thanks for tuning in and for the feedback.

[@michelmoe]

@@ZillaCabs yeah, cranking always helps both because of the amp working harder and our perception of tone with volume. anyway, I push it a bit every now and then lol I'm using a 4ohms 4x12 now but also a 8ohms 1x12 and love the amp. can't wait to record some new stuff with it =D

[@Fredbederver]

I learbed that keeping the volume of the channel as low as possible helps the tone a lot on these stilettos. You really want the power section to color the sound as much as possible

[@michelmoe]

@@Fredbederver that's great!!! Same direction I'm going. You're right on the money, pal. I guess most of us that gravitate towards the EL-powered Boogies will like it better that way :)

[@ZillaCabs]

@@Fredbederver that is a great tip!

[@1974zah]

Glad to see some love for the Stiletto. One of the most underrated amps out there. It's a hot rod Marshall in Mesa clothes. I gigged with one for 5 years before scaling down to Mini Recto or Rectoverb 25 for most things, and it never broke on me. I always got compliments on my tone.You just have to know how to set it. With Mesa, it's 100% adjust with your ears, not your eyes. At home I run my Lonestar with the bass off most of the time, after I saw Andy Timmons do the same thing.

[@ZillaCabs]

That is great advice there... definitely use your ears! The Stiletto really turned me on to Mesas.... I had a few and appreciated them but never loved the amps but the Stiletto I dare say is one of the only amps to turn my head from my trusty old JMP... The Lonestar is a great amp too! Thanks for tuning in and for the feedback, it's always great to hear how players are dialling in their sound.

[@1974zah]

@@ZillaCabs thanks for putting out the pro quality videos to help tone chasers like me find the next thing to try.

[@1974zah]

@@ZillaCabs BTW, which version of the Deuce do you have, Stage I or II? What's your favorite speaker and cab combination to run with it?

[@marxug1]

I thought the Stiletto distinguished itself from the other two, in that it had toughness and throb without a lot of buzz. Definitely my favorite. That power, though! I’d never be able to use one! 😂

[@Skoora]

What’s great about the RK is the speaker switching so you could have stacked 2x12’s. One closed back for gain tones and one open back, with clean/tweed friendly speakers, even alnico’s if you want. Also with the tube layout, you can have 6L6’s for your clean/tweed and EL34’s for dirt or vice versa. Also the tweed setting makes a great hard rock tone as well.

[@ianguest2011]

Would love to hear the road king through several of your cabs

[@ZillaCabs]

You've just given me an excuse to do that ;) Thanks for the encouragement Ian.

[@OmarJulianTawil]

Love the Royal Atlantic to death, but I have to give it to the Rectos, they are insanely gratifying to chug on. They are all fantastic amps.

[@ZillaCabs]

haha yeah they are total chug machines! Thanks for watching.

[@andrewrobson689]

You put a GE7 boss in the fx loop of the RA100, and scoop it. Them you'll get the chug.

[@alexreis3615]

Stiletto ROCKS!

[@ZillaCabs]

Yeah it's a beast isn;t it. We use it for a lot of recording here.

[@napfusion]

Royal all the way :D

[@ZillaCabs]

Yeah its a great amp, I love it.

[@kheaudio]

the royal atlantics Lo channel sounds amazing! perfect balance and break-up imho. great comparison!

[@ZillaCabs]

Hey thanks guys, as soon as we get the virus out of the way and build the channel a bit I'd love to get one of your switching systems... and yeah the Royal Atlantic was a great find for me. We had a load of Mesa's come in to the workshop and being a Marshall man myself this one was right up my street. Such a fun amp to play.

[@kheaudio]

@@ZillaCabs such a great amp! awesome, let's have a chat soon... :) (i have something cooking you guys will love as cab-builders)

[@ZillaCabs]

@@kheaudio hahaha I like the sound of that!

[@ChrisBuonoGuitar]

Great stuff guys as per usual. Were they all 100 watt heads?

[@ZillaCabs]

Thanks Chris, I think so.... I'm not sure what output the Roadking was on, that may have been four 6L6 which I'm guessing would be 120 watts.

[@electricsuitbatman]

You gotta use a tube screamer with the RA then its fair.

[@neepathius7]

what in the bluhee helw is he wearin'! a sweat'ah wifout knickas?! lolol nah but fr ur legs look cold man lol

[@DaveThurstonMusic]

I noticed that there's a label on the back of the Stiletto that says "Mk 2" but it doesn't have the "II" silk screened on the front near the input jack. Is this a Stage 1 or Stage 2 Stiletto?

[@ZillaCabs]

ooh good spot I'll take a look... we've got a couple of the stilettos.

[@TheJimty]

It’s been a long time, but wanted to say that the amp that was played here was a Stage I - the giveaway is the red power light. The Stage II has a green power light.

[@Starch1b2c3d4a]

EPIC

[@ZillaCabs]

Thanks. Which one did you prefer?

[@headkickko609]

Kinda confused here guys. Were you doing a "drywall installation" before that one 😜 Awesome tones nonetheless and playing...

[@petericho71]

Headkick Ko ....I'm guessing they spent the day building ZILLA cabs... 🤘😀

[@ZillaCabs]

How do you mean? We there so noise in the background?

[@headkickko609]

@@ZillaCabs busting your chops guys, no sweat 😘 But I am eyeing your 2x12's

[@petericho71]

@@ZillaCabs No noise in the background. I was responding to Headkick Ko's joke about you guys doing a "drywall installation". I think he was referring to what looks like white glue on your clothes?

[@ilikebacon860]

Dude on the right has a tool pouch on lmao...

[@nelsonmaciel7611]

Any tips for choice a 2x12 for a mesa mark V:25 and a roadking 1, I would like the option of open and close cabs, but chose one it not really easy

[@ZillaCabs]

No problem Nelson. We have a Mark V here too. It depoends what you play but if you want a bit fat sound but a bit of versatility then I would say a Super Fatboy 2x12. I like a 30/H creamback mix normally, but I have to say I was really liking the M creambacks with the Roadking in this video.... I normally play around with the setup Joe filmed for the next few evenings. The Studio Pro is a good cab too but it wont give you as much of a thud as the Super Fatboy will.

[@ZillaCabs]

We have a couple of old videos on the Super Fatboy from our Riverside Studios sessions.

[@nelsonmaciel7611]

​@@ZillaCabs thanks a lot, and I will see right now :)

[@ZillaCabs]

@@nelsonmaciel7611 if you have any questions just give us a shout.

[@nelsonmaciel7611]

@@ZillaCabs thanks :)

[@JodyParsons]

I’m torn between the royal Atlantic and the road king in terms of the heavy tones.

[@ZillaCabs]

Well I think most Boogie players would say the Road king but I'm Royal Atlantic all the way, its a more simple amp.. that said if you are in Europe I'm selling one of my Roadkings ;)

[@petericho71]

Looks like you guys need to crank the heater in that room like you did with these amps 😨

[@ZillaCabs]

Yeah it was chilly..... better than the old studio though ;) .... at the moment it is almost too hot.

[@capitanvonchickenpants8492]

What about cabs for boss katanas,

[@deanallen927]

Royal Atlantic clean had more mids which is better in a band context and loud on a stage. Scoopier tones take away your notes.

[@deanallen927]

Crunch on RA sounded like Bad Company or Zeppelin. Others, too much nose. Think I'm hearing diodes too. RA wins so far.

[@ZillaCabs]

Hi Dean, I really like the Stiletto, it's one of my favourite amps but the Royal Atlantic is a great amp too, I was really surprised when I first played it, I didn;t know what to expect. Thanks for watching.

[@2255223388]

[Puts Road King in the worst clean mode]: "I prefer the other amps" 😵

[@jakebenigni]

roadking 1 or Roadking 2 ?

[@ZillaCabs]

It's the Roadking 1

[@ianguest2011]

I own a Road King ll love the cleans on it.

[@jakebenigni]

@@ianguest2011 yeah, i really want a RKII. but i think this RKI sounds really good. esp the Channel 2 brit, which would probably be my main tone.

[@ianguest2011]

@@jakebenigni suprisingly a lot of players find no use for channel 2 whereas I think of it more as a great platform for overdrive/distortion pedals

[@stephenchow5161]

world of difference between road king one a and two

[@jspinks2388]

we got a bullshit plug tho lol...hot side is labeled as neutral and shit lol.