Mesa/Boogie Road King Head

This RK Head was made in 2004.
4 channels with twelve modes

I used Fender guitar for all music style. At the first week I purchased this amp, I don't like the sound and I am about to sell it. After that I met a professional guitar player at Guitar Center in Hollywood CA. He is a Teacher at Musician's Institude, he told me that he also own this RK head too. This head is very good but you have to spend time to dial-up to get good sound, Not easy as other amp. So I do what he told me, after that this amp is the best sound and is the killer tone.

The Road King Head of the year 2000-2002 have to do some update mode. But mine don't have to update. Because it was the new model.

I have no problems with it.

I been playing guitar for 17 years.

I bought the Roadking when it first came out. I play mostly hard rock and this amp is good for that. This amp has a ton of features---4 channels, 100 watts, reverb, cabinet switching and power tube switching for each channel, parallel and series effects loops, etc. It would have been better to have a MIDI connection and memory instead of the external jacks for each channel. The Diezel VH4 I recently bought has this and it is a world of difference. I just hit the Midiboard and select the amp channel and hit "store" and it would switch to that channel whenever I was on that preset. The RoadKing on the other hand is a nightmare to setup on a MIDI footboard as most guitarists are not familair with MIDI programming.

I use a PRS Custom 22. The head is not that noisy and I use high gain settings. You may have some feedback issues if you use high output pickups, but that is normal when the gain is cranked. Here's my opinion of each channel:
Channel 1
Pretty decent clean sound, not spectacular by any means. It's seems a slightly overcompressed to me and seems to distort a little bit at higher volumes. It's nothing to complain about and nothing to write home about.
Channel 2
This is probably the best channel on the amp although I didn't use it as much as the others. You can get a really good moderate distorted sound kinda like ACDC. It's really very good!!!
Channel 3
This channel is really terrible in my opinion. The mids are too much, the gain has a certain buzzy overtone, and it is really over compressed. I used this for my lead channel (solos and non-metal sounding rhythms) and since this is what I use the most, I had to end up getting a different head.
Channel 4
I used this for high gain stuff with almost no mid and high treble and bass. It's a good channel for this purpose. It's a little over compressed and could be more focused. Its one of those things where it alters, to a small degree, the sound of your guitar instead of complimenting it.

I've had some problems with it but it was a new model amp and the bugs weren't worked out yet. It totally died at practice one day. Mesa has since had factory updates to address the issues though. The handle is tearing but Mesa said they would send me a new one for free. If you have a MIDI footboard, the external switching is a real pain. I had some switching problems at gigs, mostly my fault, but the way you have to set it up is complicated and alot can go wrong. I've had tubes die several times and there are alot of tubes on this thing. It would be nice to have an indicator for each tube like the Diezel VH4 has.

I've dealt with them on the recalls and took it to the Mesa repair guy a few times. They are pretty good and get the problem fixed in a reasonable amount of time. These are pretty complicated amps to work on and the repair guy I took it to had to have Mesa support in CA to help him. My amp still needs more updates but they wanted me to send it to CA but I didn't feel like sending it since I have a new head.

I've been playing 15 years and have had alot of equipment. This is a good head but in my opinion there is too much to it and there are other amps in the price range that are better. Bogner and VHT make some nice amps so I would suggest trying some of them before you buy the RoadKing. The Pitbull and Shiva are great amps. I did not but wish I would have. I now have a Diezel VH4 head and that thing is absolutely unreal. It will cost you, but it is worth every single penny. I go thru alot of gear but there are 2 things that I will never willingly part with: PRS Custom 22 (great guitar but u should definetly change the pickups) and the Diezel VH4.

I liked the look of this amp. So I thought I'd buy it.

I liked the sound of this amp. I had only been playing guitar for a week so I didn't know much about guitar amps and so I asked the guy in the shop what the most expensive amp was that he had in stock. He pointed me in the direction of this. I played it. I ould only play three chords, but it sounded great. I used the clean channels and it made the chords sound nice to my ears and so i thought that it must be a good amp. So i decided to buy it

I have only used it once and that was in the shop. Once I got it home it sat in the box in the corner of my basement for a couple of weeks and by that time I had given up playing the guitar. That was a year ago, I think it still works. I guess that an amp that cost me that much is meant to last a long time.

I must say that I have only found out now that the person in the shop overcharged me, as I can see here that people have only payed 2500 dollars. I think I may have been taken advantage of as the shop owner knew i was a new player. It cost me 6000 dollars and when i got home and opened the box it was only then that i realised that there was no speaker. I didn't realise that when you bought an amp you had to buy the speaker aswell seperately. I went back to the shop and the shop owner told me that i ahd bought a head and that i needed a speaker. He did not tell me this the first time. I payed for 4 speakers. He charged me 1999 dollars for this and when i got it home i couldn't connect the speakers up as i didn't have any jacks. I felt silly to say the least. I promised myself that i would go and get some the next day but i forgot and from then on i just put it off and so i have had them both for a year. I do not mind being ripped off as there is not much i can do about it now but i think it is a lesson that you should shop around for the best deal.

The warranty said it was 5 years transferrable. That is good of the company to give good service.

I had being playing a week and it sounded nice. I thought that perhaps buying it would make me a great player but i never got the chance to play it as i gave up after two weeks of playing. the amp looks good though. I am actually thinking of using it as a display piece in my mansion and building up a roomful of novelty items. It will certainly fit in. Whenevr i have guests, i can show them round my room and show them my amp that cost me a total of 8000 dollars. It is great!

(see my amp review on 08/15/2002 08:50)

(see my amp review on 08/15/2002 08:50)

Playing a Mk-III since '91, a Mk-IV since '98, a RK-Head since 2002 and an Rk-Combo since 2003. The first 2 amps got just new tubes sometimes an a cloth, of course. The other ones are very reliable, but just with one exception....

.... be careful!
A design flaw may crank down your hot-loving amp immedeately: I decided to switch and my TC G-Force and my RK-head with an exef-Midi-Swicher/Looper-Footpanel. The swichting of 4 Channels occupied all 4 of the exef's switching relays, so if you want to use the RK's Solo feature you'll be missing a switch. So I decided to use this Midi-Setup parallel to the King-Kontroller-Footpanel and plugged it in at the same time. If you do this, it's possibe e.g. to choose ch1 on the King-Kontroller an ch4 on Midi/Switch simultaneous. Both channel-indicators glow - but not for long... The result leads directly into a blowed rectifying diode-pair in the power-supply-section :-(

It would have been very nice, that if you plug in Midi-cables at the amp's back, that this action disables switching of that Midi-assigned channel on the King-Kontroller to avoid damaging the amp.

And, in addition very annyoing, there is no hint in the RK's manual, that simultaneous using of both features (Midi-Switching and King-Kontrolle) leads into damage :-(

This should be completely redesiged or added in the manual.

I got rid off this problem using a Nobels MS-8 Midi-to-Switch for all amp-switching-functions and removed King-Kontroller and relay-cables form the exef-mapper.

Another possibility coulde be to use the swiching jack for the "Solo" feature with a separate swich and put the rest on the relays.

(see my amp review on 08/15/2002 08:50)

(see my amp review on 08/15/2002 08:50)

4 independent channels (unlike Marshall Mode Four), Reverb (nice), Solo, series & parallel loops, & best of all 'progressive linkage' power amp selection.

My favorite feature (besides the power section switch) is the series loop. I run all my delay, chorus, etc. effects on the loop (after the pre-amp section) and keep the wah & OD before the pre-amp. With this setup I get 10 times better tone than just running all the effects straight from the guitar.

I was skeptical when I read the reviews that you can get almost any sound out of this amp, but "you can get almost any sound out of this amp"!

I like to play all styles of music and I wasn't happy with my Triple Rectifier's clean tone. I used to A/B my guitar signal and run the cleans through an old Marshall and the distortion through the triple. Now all I use is the Road King. I still get the Triple distortion on CH4 and I get an even better CH1 sound than with the Marshall.

If you're looking for a specific sound (ex. blues or metal) then I would suggest getting an amp that is built for that sytle (such as the Triple Recto for metal).

Haven't had the Road King very long, but I've owned Mesa amps for a long time and never really had a serious problem. I have gone through several sets of tubes though, but I guess that comes with the territory. Just wish Mesa tubes weren't so expensive.

By the way two of the Road King heads I tried out at different stores were set up wrong(no shorting plug on B output) and already had tube noise problems. You can really damage the amp if you don't know what you're doing. I insisted that I get a brand new in-a-box unit, which has had no problems.

These guys are knowledgeable, friendly (not condescending) and they actually call you back! Most of my "problems" were tube related, however they walked me through several troubleshooting steps instead of just saying "you need new tubes" right from the start.

I give this amp an overall rating of 8 only because of the price tag. I'm gonna be paying for this amp for a long, long time. I'm glad it comes with a 5 year warranty.

Amp was made 4th QTR 2004
Very versitile amplifier. I play classic rock Alternative,Punk,EMO,Metal,Goth,NuMetal etc.
4 channels. I use it as such: 1)nice fenderidsh clean 2)clean,but can get some brit grit. 3)vintage (can get it to sound similar like the bogner XTC EL34's) 4) Recto heaven, sounds like the a mesa rectumfrier signature sound. I am very happy with the sound of this amp. Plenty of features and very versitile. I use it for jamming with drummer and studio recording. Plenty of power.

I play it with a les paul gothic and a fender strat plus w/ hotrail.
The amp is wonderful for all styles. Nice sparkling clean, gritty
marshall type sounds, bogner(ish) vintage sounds and Bone Crushing
heavy Recto Metal type. Unit is average as far as noise goes. Some pops while changing channels, but I think it is acceptable considering my gains are set pretty high. I got the Standard straight Recto cab with V30's and It sounds amazing!

This is my 3rd RK amp.
1) unit was floor model 2002 needed updates (relay dropout)
I was not too concearned cause I knew I was getting a newer unit with
all the updates.
2) 4 months later got the new unit, But it had a problem w/solo knob
3) 9 months later finally got a replacement that is perfect so far.
I am very happy now. I think maybe I had bad luck..3rd times a charm.
I dont expect to have any more issues, seems like a solid and quality built amp. Sh*t happens.

Support was responsive, supportive and very helpful while talking on the phone. The guys at Mesa are very nice and pleasant to talk with.
I do have a complaint though. I think if your Brand New top of the line RK is a "DOA" tech support should not suggest you take it to the Authorized Service Center to get it fixed. I know this is standard procedure for most companys nowadays, but I think it is in bad taste to do so considering this is my first impression of Mesa after dreaming of owning one for 16 years and buying the top of the line model and paying a substantial amount of cash for the Head.
Overall I am very happy with my purchase and believe Mesa will treat me right in the future if I am in need of thier support.
I like the 5 yr warranty!

Been playing for 16 years. Own a bogner XTC half stack, Line 6 flextone HD2 half stack(I find the thing useable sometimes)
I cannot say It is better than my Bogner. Y'all know the Bogner
XTC is a killer amplifier. I can say that I like it as much as my Bogner and that they keep each other good company.
If it was stolen..(Amen) after I got out of prison I would buy
another for sure. I seriously considered the Uberschall while buying the RK. I wanted a Mesa since I already have a XTC. I'd love to have a Uberschall too, but I have more than enough amp to keep me happy
for the time being.
Thank You Mesa for offering such a wonderful product!

C'mon 4 channels with a different tube set per channel. This thing ROCKS!!!

I'm using a Peavey Wolfgang and a Schecter PT Custom.
This amp has so many tones available. Is it a Marshall, very close but so useable. I now have 4 channels of great tone available.
All the sounds are great.

It's a great value considering all the tonal possibilities.

This Amp has everything you could ever need.....read the rest of the posts or go to Boogie's website if you want details. It's almost too much at first, but remember you don't HAVE to use everything at once. It's nice to know the options are there if you do need it eventually though.

I'm playing throgh a PRS Custom 24 and Fender Standard American Strat, although this amp is brand new to me and I've only had enough time to test it with my PRS. Honestly, when I first got it (after 3-4 months of waiting) I was kinda let down by the sound I was getting. The common criticisms of Mesa's being too bassy and muddy seemed to be true. Since then, I've spent about 9-10 hours each weekend for the past 4 weeks experimenting, and it's really paid off! The RK is not your typical amp, and spending 20 minutes at Guitar Center or whatever is NOT going to give you an idea of what it can really do. I've now got everything from a beautiful, shimmery clean sound to a fat blues sound to a nice gritty rhythem sound a la The Rolling Stones.

This amp has it all....it's in there believe me! A lot of people have posted specific settings here, but the thing I found that helps the most is playing with the volume and tone knobs on your guitar....if you're the kind of person who leaves your guitar at '10' all the time, you're going to get some pretty cheezy sounds. Backing off on the volume really helps to get those "middle crunch" sounds people think are lacking from this amp. I think the rectifiers are unfairly known as nu-metal amps for this reason. This amp definitly has a high learning curve, but so many possibilities once you get into it. I expect even more great sounds once I start playing with my Strat too.

I'm giving the RK a 9 for now, cause it's not the best sounding amp I've ever heard. However, it keeps getting better and better the more I play with it, so this rating might change in the future. It's definitely inspired me to play more in the meantime.

Build like a tank. I have my own studio, and don't move it around much, so I expect it to last forever. Everything feels very rugged and solidly built.

Don't know cause it's too new, although almost everyone who writes about their support says positive things.

Overall, this is a great product. I don't plan on buying another amp for a long long time after this, and I think I'll be fine until then. The only reason I could see someone being dissapointed with this amp is if they were expecting this amp to sound exactly like a fender or marshall or something else. Even though it has all those tubes in there, it sounds like a Mesa. Nothing more and nothing less. In a way, I think Boogie shot themselves in the foot by advertizing it as "a fleet of great old tube amps" ie. fender and marshall. They should of advertized it as "the most versitle and flexible tube amp" out there.

Too many.

Have no desire to follow the crowd.

Everyone should know by now, that amp is nothing but problems. Amp techs will tell you the truth. As far as I'm concerned, Mesa has taken a HUGE dive. You know , I have old Mesa literature in which Randall says- and I quote- "I saw no need to add to the clutter of musical products which come and go as quickly as clothing fashions. Instead I set out to innovate a classic design that would EARN it's place as a legitimate musical instrument. How? By offering new and FAr better performance. I wanted to make the best and never cared about selling the most. Other companies can fight for that distinction. Creating a Mesa BOogie is like building a Ferrari; it's a satisfying experience because it requires the skills of a master craftsman...etc. etc." They can't even supply the right tubes for their old amps any more- another one of the selling points back in the early 80's. So what happened Randall??? To get the tubes that were put in my Mark 3 and Strategy 400 is $100 a piece now. Mesa doesn't even offer them. Once again - from the Mesa catalog- and I quote - " More power, more punch, more sustain and better tone from the strongest, longest lasting, quietest and most reliable premium tubes. It's simple: Mesa-Boogie builds uncompromising amplifiers. So naturally we understand better than anyone else what tubes work best. And we make them available separately with this promise: They are the BEST. Period....etc. etc.....You can find tubes that cost more, but if they worked better we'd be using them." So....what happened Randall??? The old school str 415's (or whatever they're calling them nowdays) are available - but not from Mesa. I guess all the people who supported Mesa in the beginning and made him a very rich man don't really matter any more. What happened? Did he sell the company or something. I told my friend if he wanted a great amp to buy a boogie. He went out and bought one brand new and never had anything but problems with it. I felt like a jerk. I'm not saying they sound like the ROAD KING, but try an older marshall JMP if you don't have the quid or stick out the waiting period and go with a Bogner Uberschall if you want real service and a LIFETIME (to the original owner) guarantee. If I could afford one - that's what I would get. Two channels is enough. It records excellently. The mic does not lie. Try using your volume and tone knobs on your guitar for a change. Seems like Eddie VH poisoned a generation with the one knob thing. Try investing in some decent CTS pots and 1% or 2% tolerance tone caps and stop relying on gain to cover up lack of technique.

I'm just angry at Mesa for taking such a huge dive. Answering the phone does not eqate to great service. All that means is that they can pay someone $10 per hour to answer a phone. Back in the day, if something minor went wrong - like a pot or switch or something - they would send it to you free. Now they charge you even for the most minor piece if the amp is out of warranty. We're talking full retail price. Some of their service centers don't know how to fix some of the models and they don't even send them any info or anything unless specifically requested. I called them to ask about retubing (the old ones lasted over ten years by the way) and they are no longer available. All they have is the newer russian ones. If you've ever held them side by side with the older ones, you can visually see that the new ones are not even close to being as beef.

probably all you need

I'll go by what the survey is asking me by
1) I have a MusicMan John Petrucci 7-string signature and there's DiMarzio Pickups in there in case someone didn't know.
2) I play mostly rock and I sometimes try to play a jazz and some fusion and it basically does both very nicely
3) The RK is indeed noisy but not noisier than any other tube amps. but in order to get good tone, there must be some kinda sacrifice.
4) The RK suprisingly does not sound like a Rectifier, though I did buy the amp because I thought the RK could make the Rectifier sounds in addition to the other sounds, but it just has the 'Road King' sound, so if you're looking for an amp that could make sounds of different amps, the Road king is not it.. buy a Line 6 or somthing
5)The clean channel can both be distorted and not distorted depending on the tube choices on the 'Progressive Linkage'. The more tubes you use on that channel, the less distorted it gets because of the headroom the tubes give to the amp.
6) The Distortion, though it doesn't really sound like a Rectifier, it has gain as much as the Rectifier, maybe because I own the amp, but I just like the RK distortion better than rectifiers, I think it has a less generic rock sound than the Rectifiers.

I haven't really used it for gigs yet, I've owned this amp for about 5 month now. nothing wrong yet

they helped me with some confusion about the amp. since this was my first professional amp, I didn't know much about the f/x loops and stuff, but the guys helped me figure it out.

I've been playing for 5 years and used to use a Gt-3 and a Roland amp before I bought this amp, now I just have a couple pedals with the amp like a wah and whammy and volume pedals.

If it were stolen, I would really cry because this is really expensive compared to many amps, yea, Im not really sure if this amp is worth the price, but I like it.

I just love that I have a really good sounding amp, I know many people might disagree with me but I like the sound so you can't really say anything about that . Though I do hate that it takes time and a lot of tweaking to get the right sound. But don't all good sounds come from a lot of tweaking? i think it does.

It is a lot more expensive than a lot of other amps, but I actually think it's worth and I could actually find my sound in this amp.