Mesa/Boogie Road King Head

I purchased a used road king in mint condition. It is one of the early model road kings with a early serial number. Because the amp had literally sat in a band's practice shack I decided to clean the dust off inside and out and decided it was worth replacing some tubes. The amp features true Simil Class tube selection. Therefore when you are using any one of the 4 channels you can select different tube configurations and different wattage for the output. Examples: You can select two 6L6 tubes to operate with two EL34, or select four 6L6 tubes plus two more EL34 tubes to run at higher wattage. There are many different tube configs available on each channel which have selectable speaker outs. Yes, you can have one channel use one speaker cab and another channel use a different etc...There are 6 speaker outs in a A/B config. There may be more than 6, so I will say at least 6, the amp's not in front of me. This is the most functional tube amp I have ever owned. I also own a new Mark 5 and I rate this and the Mark 5 as two of the best amps I have. I own Marshall, Bogner, Mesa and Engl amp heads and some smaller lower watt combos. Also own 2 Blackheart 5 watt tube amps. I have played for over 20 years.

The Road King has lots of headroom and surely will be powerful enough for the most gain and wattage desires most people have. The distortion has a very wide range. I haven't coined a Marsahall JCM800 sound out of it yet. It has great mild distortion that is also available on the clean channels and will dirty them up for a reggae feel and then channels 3 and 4 which I use most have gain that saturates nice with full tube distortion and blaze on up to high gain sizzle if that is your thing. Its mine, so I sit quite happy with this sucker on 12'oclock master. Above that and I just can't stay in the room. Its got PLENTY avail if you want LOUD. It has so many speaker outs and different selections its very versitile. Using the diff channels with different speaker cabs set up specifically to switch to when changing channels is a blast. Use this with the Simul Class features of tube selections and its more versitile than any other rock or metal amp I have seen. The only rival being the Mark 5 but its a different type of amp alltogether. This is of course only my personal opinion and someone will disagree. But thats OK, everybodys got one.

The Road King (like most all Mesa Amps) is built like a tank. Even with the many knobs and switches available on the amp, all are built very durable.

Mesa has been excellent with me always taking any problem on and covering it under warranty so I give Mesa a 10 for customer services. I was really pleased with a replacement part they covered for free on my Mark 5 amp recently. No questions, No problems, just, "whats your address" and I got the part in 10 days or so. Love it. I wish all customer service was like theirs. Most friends of mine have had good experience with Mesa. I have never heard of someone having bad experiences with thier cust service but I am sure there are one or two that have. 10 of 10

The Mesa Road King is a amp that is super functional, sounds super great, and is heavy as a *****. This amp is not for everyone however. I wouldn't buy this amp just to be able to switch channels. Get a dual rec or a new Engl for that. If you want lots of different sounds for live performance or for bedroom jammin with out having to switch amps all the time, at a HIGH VOLUME, then its a winner. By the way if you can't even write a complete sentence and can't spell much more than your name, do write a review, please, I love to read them especially when they rate a amp as complex as the Road King as a 2 of 10. Something else you don't understand along with basic Grammer, shocking that you think its a dumb amp design cuz it dowt sound rite...I can see where Road King amps with owners who love them will definately be around for a long time. "Mine kicks ***, and it does it in many different ways, thats what Mesa Road King means to me".

this amp boasts everything ,but in the end leaves much to be desired.

there is no "ONE" end all-be all amp that gets fender cleans, marshall gain, vox or hiwatt chime.
this amp misses the mark other than its own inherent mesa dark tone and crummy gain section.

the instruction manual reads like a flight book..
I suggest you take a hot bath and light some aroma therapy candles as youre in for a long read . if short on time and patience you'll need them as this is not a user friendly amp.

this amp is way to dark with a humbucker..in some cases sounds great with a tele.
overall typical mesa midrange tone....

the marshall gain is insulting to anyone that has a real marshall.

the old boogie marks are bullet proof, if you want fender type cleans with mocked up fender gain. buy an early mark series amp.

mesa has strayed from this since the 90s.

I'll give boogie this...unlike the ****** at marshall, where you wait months if not years for a response to the simplest of questions {I mean querries} [hey they do speak english over there correct?]

you will get a fairly quick and concise response from the guys at mesa.

32 years playing... I started young, real young.I own and have had more amps than memory or the collection pictures will provide space wise in this medium.

I am a vintage fender/marshall snob. super reverb, deluxe's please !.

marshall wise, you can keep the plexis... I am a master volume , jubilee series guy.

hiwatt sa 212's abound here !

vox , hey a vintage AC-30 is wonderful..

I have always kept an open ear to mesa as they for all intents are the united states only real amp builder other than the boutique knuckleheads that continually copy the aforementioned.

however, as mesa evolves I find they deviate from their initial mission statement....

mesa doing marshall, vox ? come one... modeling amps are a frigging joke !

if you tour, you bring more than one one amp for the sounds you need..

that being said... I hate kicking presets and fumbling through them to get lack luster tones simply in the name of convenience . the mesa roadking is an electrical nightmare and a problem waiting to happen on the road.
after hours of monkeying with this amp and its crazy footswitch .
I'll gladly A/B with the vintage amps that this amp misses the mark on.

2 sets of power tubes, and the bypassing/shutting them down is ridiculous in theory !

buy what you are after and you'll be happier in the end.. its only money !

The Road King 2 has four footswitchable channels with three voices each, five channel-assignable power amp selections (combinations including dual EL34 and up to four 6L6's) that allow from fifty to one hundred and twenty watts, tube or diode rectification, a slave out, an onboard variac, per-channel footswitchable tube reverb, a pair of effects loops, and two seperate or combined speaker outputs (4, 8, or 16 ohms). There is also a footswitchable volume booster, the "Solo" function. The included footswitch is longer than a Boomerang pedal or a POD Live!
What this all means is that each channel can be set to a different power amp, with or without effects loop, and sent to one OR two cabinets.
One of the lesser-hyped features is the ability to behave purely as a power amp. Among other configurations, I run a POD Live through the power amp. This is fun cuz I can send, say, a Marshall sound through a pair of EL34's, or even a Mark 2 C+ preamp sound through the dual EL34 and 6L6 power amp. Any preamp can take advantage of this function; one can even footswitch between different channels with different power amps, effectively creating up to four distinct power amps for your one preamp send.
All of this is very simple stuff once you get over the number of dials and switches on the front and back.
Tweakheads may lament the fact that the variac is global and on the rear of the amp, hence not too easy to switch on a dime. I don't mind, so no points off.

This head lives up to the price tag. Plenty of gain, plenty of clean volume. Turn the gain up past three quarters on the Modern voice of the third or fourth channels and yes, it will get noisy. That goes for any amp with a gain knob, right? Now, turn up the master volume and the loop volume to max, and then turn up the output a little; power amp distortion at low volumes. I swear to god, the Road King needs no attenuator. Unbelievable!
Now if someone could just invent a cabinet that produces speaker distortion at low volumes, us heavy guitarists would be truly blessed. And not deaf.
For the price, this amp better sound damned impressive. It certainly does.

The construction is solid. I'd worry about the switches and dials if it took a tumble; I can't say if they are recessed enough to survive. However, the number of tubes you'd have to carry around 'just in case' may be a bit of a drawback: 6 power amp, 5 preamp, 2 rectifiers. Luckily biasing is unnecessary with Mesa amps, so all in all- solid.
One point off for shear number of tubes. Heh.

Mesa is a busy company, so they'll be brief on the phone, but it is a courteous brevity.
The amplifier includes a five-year warranty and a list of authorized service centers.

Since acquiring the King, my Fenders have been collecting dust. I hope very much to never be without my Mesa.
Stacked against the competition, I suppose the Progressive Linkage and reverb drew my attention. Not many heads offer reverb for some reason, and nowhere else is selectable power amp to be found. I have to admit, knowing Master of Puppets was recorded using a Mark2C+ (which uses the power amp section mentioned above in Features) added some desirability. It boiled down to the ultimate Mesa head, or the ultimate Marshall head. The Mesa has so much more going for it, not the least the fixed bias. So it had to be the Mesa.
The one true drawback... the Road King is HEAVY! I wish it could float to the top of the stack. Oh, well. It screams. I love it.

The Road King is a very versatile all tube amp. I wont list all the features since they have been listed and they are on Mesas website. Some of my favorite features include the progressive linkage tube switching (6L6s and EL34s), channel specific effects loop assignment and the list goes on. The amps ranges from 30W (I think) to 120W so it is great for all venues.

I am using a variety of Ibanez guitars and a Gibson Lucille with a Boss DD-3 in effects loop 2 and a Boss GE-7 in effects loop 1. I play rock, blues, classic rock, heavy metal, hard rock and such. The sound quality of this amp is excellent! Mesa amps are not plug and play, they need to be played with for a while to get the sound you are looking for. And yes, the sound you want does exist in this amplifier, just need to be patient. The best way to approach the Road King is to determine what you want out of each channel and dial it in in terms of tube selection, rectifier, voicing, eq and etc. Reading the owners manual is highly recommended since it explains in great detail how adjusting one knob will effect others. Mesa offers great suggestions to get you started.

Great product with no problems. The tubes have been very reliable with no problems. The amp is very solid and as others have said, it is built like a tank.

I have contacted Mesa a couple of times with various questions. They are very helpful and stand by their products. They are very passionate about their products as most of us are about our music. With that kind of pairing, you cant go wrong!

I have been playing for 15 years. I have owned a Fender, Marshall, Peavey, and Vox and this is by far the best amp. If it were ever stolen, I would buy it again! Although, I may flirt with a Mark IV. I love countless tones I can get out of this amp. It should be the last amp I ever need to buy since it can cover all styles of music. This amp has the ability to grow with me over the years. The weight of the amp is a downside but helps keep my arms in shape! The cost is high, but worth it due versatility of the amp. I purchased my Road King with out ever having played one. I read the catalog over and over and I was finally sold on it. I ordered it, waited about 4 months and have been very happy ever since (5 years now). I tried an F series and a Mark IV (wasnt sure how to adjust it then). The F series was nice but lacked the features of the Road King. One thing I would have done differently would be to get the gold grill with the standard black covering. But the extra options add more money and at the time, the standard cost was enough. Someday, I plan to place the Road King chassis of my 2x12 combo into a beautiful hand made wooden cabinet!!

If you are looking at this amp review, then you already know what it is and its features. If not, visit MesaBoogie.com for specs and details

Typical Mesa sounding amp. Really, who needs four channels? I found channels 1-3 to be excellent and have great versatility and molding features, but channel four seemed weak compared to the dual and triple rectifier models I have owned. Channel four needs to be beefed up if you are looking for that Petrucci tone...I used a Tube Screamer and that seemed to do the trick...but it sill didnt feel right.

Lots of noise right out of the box....I guess that is typical for most mesa amps

Built like a tank....

Awesome support and customer service. Always return your calls within the hour.

I have been a pro musician for almost 20 years and tour with various major recording artists from rock to country. I own/owned several Mesa's, Bogners, Marshalls, 5150's (I, II, III), Engl and BadCat amps...If this amp were stolen or lost I would run the other way so whomever stole it didtn try to bring it back. I would suggest a 5150 III for anyone looking for a solid rock amp or the new Marshall JCM 410. Both KILLER amps with outstanding versatility in the same price range or cheaper. if you can swing a few dollars more, go for the Bogner Uberschall for rock or the Bogner 101B for overall perfection.

Dont get me wrong, its a great amp; just not for the pro player. Too many features, fragile sounding 4th channel, bad tube life, noisy and most of all, termpermental.

Ok lets get strait to the point this amp has More features than a deizel VH4 and other amp in it's class that also has four channels, but the road king has 2 effects loops, 3 different modes per channel, 50-120 watts , fixed biased amp which means plug and play with tubes. I could keep on going on and on, or you could just go to www.mesaboogie.com, but mine was made in 2002,but what sucks is when you dail in your tone for each channel you will probaly never use any other mode or any other feature on the amp, but this amp can cover any genre of music, and covers metal very well. Ans Im only giving it a 8 because you will never use all the options on this amp

I run this amp through a rectifier cab with v30's in it. And for the style of Metal that I play it sounds amazing. as for my guitar I have a ESP EC1000 satin black with EMG ACTIVE PICK UPS WITH a 81 in the bridge and a 60 in the neck, and for my other ESP IS A VIPER 301 WITH ZACK WYDLE PICKUPS IN IT with a 85 in the bridge and a 81 in the neck. So both of my guitars push this amp to the max with its potential sound barrier. But what I noticed is that if you keep the crappy Mesa tubes in it the sound is kinda muddy and buzz saw sounding but if you change the tubes to JJ BRAND TUBES AND BUY A HIGH GAIN KIT FROM EUROTUBES.COM. THIS AMP WILL DESTROY A LOT OF AMPS WITH TONE AND CLARITY. But the only other that I have heard that is just as powerful that has just little better clarity is a RIVERA K TRE HEAD, but the gain and power is the same because both amps have volume boost, and any ways the road king has so many more options than the K TRE HEAD. AND also I forgot to mention this head is a beast for Metal.

Well it's hard to tell Because I have only owned mine for a few months, the Road king that I was previous owned By Clint Lowery that use to play guitar for Seven Dust, SO that shows you just how rugged this amp is that is was toured with and the thing is still ripping out sounds just fine. And it still has the red marker on the channels where he had his presets at for each channel.

well this has everything that you could ever dream of having in a amp with features. Because you could pay well more than what I did for less features than the Road king has to offer. I have been playing guitar for 5 yrs and have played through a lot of amps, Rivera, Mesa, Peavey, Marshall, Randall, VHT. I have owned a Peavey Jsx before I got this and In my opinion it sounded so much fuller than the Jsx, After I changed the tubes in it to JJ tubes. But Also another reminder the older mesa heads sound a lot better than the series two and this one does not make popping noises while switching channels like the new ones. you either love a Mesa or you hate them I personally love them.

The features are deffinitally the great thing about this head, I have spent litterally 2 to 3 years trying out different ways to run this thing.And I am still working on it. There are thousands of different things you can do to change and fine tune the tone. 4 channels, 3 settings for each channel, 5 different tube variations for each channel, diode or rectifier selection, bold or spungy, pnetode or triode. and the list goes on.... everything you could ever want as far as features go.

I use a Gibson Les Paul custom, with alnico 490 humbuckers, I also use the roadking cab. For my style of music I am finding out that this amp just has too much. yeah, the features are nice but, even with all the options I still havent gotten a distortion tone that I am trully happy with. It's just too muddy and crackly and extremly icy. Dont get me wrong if you are looking for a great high gain metal sound... this is your amp. if your looking for a crisp and clean sound... go with a marshall... The clean channel is pretty close to perfect however. Just not exactly what I need for the style I am going for.

I have owned this head since 2004 and It has been through 2 tours and countless gigs,It has been very reliable. I did have a small problem with this amp because It was one of the first ones out of the factory and mesa added a mod to the later ones. So it would sometimes go to half power when the 6L6s were selected. But Mesa fixed it for free. So it has been very reliable

Very good customer support, I sent my amp to mesa and they fixed it for free what else could you want?

I have been playing for about 8 or 9 years. I have been through tons of amps and when I purchased this I thought I had struck gold. That I finnally had the perfect head. But 2 years later I am just plain sick of this thing. yeah the features are awesome. but the tone is just not that great. It's all about the tone.The roadking is just too much amp for me I guess. Like I said tho, anyone looking for a super beefy ultra high gain, meaty amp with unlimited possibilities this is your baby... but as for me, I am coming to terms with the fact that I like marshall tone more than mesa. thats just one mans opinion though.

It's a 50/100/120 watts switching amp. Lots of nice features like cabs switching, 2 different rectifier etc etc.. but they seem to not be very friendly to handle. The amp has 4 channels and it's versatile enough for the styles I play, blues, jazz, rock, funk, metal.

I play Suhr, PRS, EBMM. Totally the amp sounds kinda modern. Though the clean channel has 3 modes and sounds really nice and has enough headroom, it's not blackface style clean.
The overdriven(ch2) sounds warm, but lacks dynamic IMO. And you need
need to tweak the treble knob all the way up in order to get some overdriven sound. If you tweak more, it sounds too compressed and muddy, if you tweak less, it lacks dynamic and does't have enough drive.
If you are into Sanata, Larry Carlton's clean and drive, maybe you can't go wrong with this amp.
The high gain sounds more like a dual rectifier with more dynamic, bite and highs.

I use it on a gig with the dual rectifier as a backup because the amp sometimes(random) barely audioable after 30-60 minutes playing. Everything is good except the above I talked.

They will answer your question by phone and reply your email but seems not very helpful. They just ask me to take the amp to the local dealer. After I took the amp to the local dealer, they needed a test with the amp. After the whole afternoon test, they just gave me two words, no problem.
I still can't figure the issue out.

I have been playing almost 10 years. I own a couple of nice gears such as cae od100, boogie mark4 etc.
If it were stolen, I willnot buy it again. The dual recto is enough, if you think it doesn't clean up well, just to get a fender super reverb than A/B them.
I bought it because of John Petrucci's tone. For sure I love the tone of the roadking , but I can't love any issues and their customer support! Lots of roadking users from the boogie board have the same issue, not figure out yet!

this amp is simply amazing. It really can sound perfect for about anything you need. The power linkage is just profound flexibility at your fingertips. The only thing that could be improved in my opinion is the reverb...it sounds good but not great. I'm just used to fender reverb and this while good and usable seems to saturate differently. But overall feature wise, out of this world. You really have to play with these for a while to discover all the cool things you can do.

I have played strats, and teles on it but primarily my LP standard and my explorer. It always sounds fantastic no matter which guitar I use. The sounds are amazing everything from vintage Fender and Marshall tone all the way through to Mesa rectifier metal tone. the only thing that is a bit disapointing is that it is very easy to distort the clean channels (1&2) when trying to balance the output against the much higher gain channels (3&4). I will play around a bit more and probably find a solution though.

this is a hard question, because this is actually the third RK in my posession. I originally bought a floor model @ guitar center and it would randomly not work so I exchanged it for a new one in the box but since they didn't have one on hand, it was going to take 3 months to get one from mesa. In the meantime I had shows so they let me have a loaner. The loaner was reliable but the fx loops were messed up. When my amp came in and I traded it back, I have never been happier. Each one sounded great, but slightly different as well. the only problem I ever had with my new one was the main power switch went out. But no biggie because Mesa fixed it for free. I do have a back-up amp, but I really don't need it and it can't even begin to do what my RK can.

never used customer support.

I have been playing guitar for 14 years and this amp for 8 months and am still learning new things and love it to death. I've played blues, classic rock, country, pop-punk, emo, death metal and Hardcore on this amp and all of it sounds simply amazing.

This amp was made in 2005.
I play mostly melodic rock which varies from soft clean style to heavy distorted metalcore style. This amp does everything I need and then some. With 4 channels to choose from, I have been able to dial in the exact sounds I need for every song. On top of having 4 channels, you have 12 separate combinations of preamp and poweramp modes to choose from. I use the Rectifier-Tracking mode to assign a set of 12AX7's for use with 2 6L6's for my clean channel. This sound is absolutely amazingly clean when set to the 'clean' mode for the channel. I use a Rocktron Intellifx processor for all my clean tones and this amp has THE best feature for you effects lovers. EACH channel has a switch to enable/disable FX loop 1, and loop 2. So when I switch from my distorted channel (no effects) to my clean channel it automatically enables the effects loop without the need to press the FX loop button on the footswitch. To me this is by far the best feature this amp has. No more tap dancing on stage. Additionally for you tone nuts, the cab switching feature is awesome. Set your clean channels to run through a 3/4 back Road King cab and your distorted channels to come through a closed back Recto Standard. Best of both worlds... no sacrificing tonal clarity in either mode!

I currently use a Godin LG with the stock Tetrad style pickups. These pickups aren't the greatest and seem to pickup a lot more ambient light buzzing than others. Despite that, the sound that this amp delivers is nothing short of amazing. I play lead so my distorted channels are slightly less chunky than you would normally hear from a Dual Rec. Although I have set it up just to see how it handled a rhythm task. INSANE. As always it delivers true over the top Dual Rec style crunch. With diodes enabled and 4x6L6's with 2xEL34's selected you get a total of 150 bone crushing watts on tap. This is my channel 4 'chorus' setup. For my lead riffs I have Rectifier-Tracking with 2xEL34's. Not only does every single note come through clearly even when hitting sweeping arpeggios, but strummed chords and palm muting sounds fat and solid as well.

I haven't had a chance to take this amp out to a show yet as I just received it roughly 3 weeks ago. So far it has behaved quite nicely in our practice space. I've used it to lay down some tracks and everything went without incident. I have a feeling (from talking to other RK and Dual Rec Solo owners) that this amp can be used without a backup... providing you don't toss it around carelessly. As I don't have another 1700USD (got it on sale BRAND NEW) the first time out this will be the only amp in the truck.

I haven't had to contact Mesa for anything regarding this yet. Let's hope it stays that way.

First off, I paid 1700USD for this brand new on a rare Mesa authorized sale. Even for the full 2700USD price tag this amp is a bargain. I have played quite a few amps in search of the tone and feature set I want, and this wins hands down. I even had an Ashdown Fallen Angel 180 shipped just to play test. I've played Bogners, Marshalls, Crates, Peaveys, B52s, Fenders, Riveras... you name it, I've played it. I can safely say that for the music we play and the method in which I personally play, this amp will never leave my gear list. If it breaks I would go out the very same day and buy another one.