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.

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.

2004 Model w/fan and other fixes from original model. I'll spare the details. Visit Mesa's site if you need info. There is NO other amp on the planet that does anything close to what this amp does.

Unbelievable! The tweed channel is amazing, the brit channel is awesome, the vintage high gain is awesome, and the modern high gain channel is bone crushing! I have owned the Dual Rectifier 3ch, Tremoverb, Bogner Uberschall, and various others. Mesa has finally cover all of the sounds we lost when we bought the dual recto. No need for other amps or ridiculous modeling garbage. So many possible configurations that you could spend a lifetime finding all of the sounds that this thing is capable of. I play the Road King through a 2X12 Bogner Cab w/V30's and use a PRS Custom Artist guitar with the HFS/Vintage Bass pickups. I can get anything from fender-like clean, to marshall mid-gain, to bone crushing modern metal. I am thinking about getting the Road King cab to go with it. No reviews here on the road king 4X12 cab yet. My favorites are:

Tweed - 4 6L6's
Brit - 2 EL34's
Vintage - 2 6L6's and 2 EL 34's
Modern - 2 EL34's and 4 6L6's

I would not give this amp a "10" if I didn't mean it. I have been playing for a while and have very high quality gear. The better quality cabs, guitars, effects you run thru it, the better the sound.

Just bought it. No problems with any other Mesa gear. I'm sure that this will be the same.

The best in the biz. Called them several times and they were very helpful and quick to respond.

Best amp ever made in my opinion. Suits all of my favorite musical styles. The price is very expensive but at least this time you get what you pay for. I would recommend this amp to anyone that could afford it. Truly Unbelievable! Great job Mesa.

No need to repeat what's already been said. Features wise have a look at the boogie site it's all listed there

I use an early blade RH4 loaded with a Custom Custom Seymour Duncan bridge pickup and Alnico II single coils, ebony neck and a PRS custom 22. Style wise I'm into fusion and Jazz blues. Tone wise I love Ford, Henderson, Stern, Carlton and Graydon?s sounds. Being a UK resident I did not have easy access to Two Rock, or Futch amps that if I did would have been on my top 'to try/buy'. I've owned a few boogies and used a Rivera S120 almost exclusively for Ten years. The Mark IIc lead sound is undoubtedly one of the best Boogie ever delivered but the clean was always left wanting. The Rivera Rake head is just fantastic but again discontinued so not easily available here. Hence In looking for a amp with some tonal characteristics similar to these. Well so far I have to say I've been completely knocked out by this amp. The clean is to die for (check out Lee Ritenour's Rit's House and you'll get an idea) certainly the best Boogie has ever produced. The lead sounds took a little longer to find for me but they're there. Certainly some of the best lead sounds in 3 and 4 are found in the vintage and raw modes using 2xEL34 and 2x6L6, although I found that initially I had a lot of trouble with these sounding too dark. All the 'Suggested' settings just didn't seem to cut. I found driving the middle and presence controls high worked a treat though and that wonderful boogie 'bark' started to appear and there's a wonderfull 'smokey' compressed feel here. I Initially had a lot of problems with effects though and have to say the head is very sensitive to certain effects units. I had a nightmare with the TC electronics G Major and resorted back to the Intelliflex. Since then I've had no problems at all.

To sum up no it's not a Rake, or Mark IIc but it damn there are some great sounds in this head and it's far more versatile than either of these could have ever been. Sure in and ideal world i would love to have a Twin, Dumble, Two rock, Mark IIc, Rake, and switch between them but I can't lug all that gear around let alone afford it! The Road king however offers so much versatility in one package it really is a killer amp for the price.

Boogies have never let me down. The only problems I've had have been with blown fuses, which I carry spares for.

Never dealt with Boogie Direct but all indications are that the customer service is second to none.

I've been playing for 25 years , and have owned various Rivera. marshall and Boogie gear over the years. The Road king as a package is the most versatile and overall great sounding amp of the lot.

2004 model bought in April'04.
This unit comes with the fan installed.
It is my 2nd Road King Head. I have this second one as a backup.

The feature I discovered these days and started using frequently is that I can use the RK without having to hook the Footcontroller up.

This is great because despite being a fantastic Footcontroller, it is too big and I don't always need more than 1 channel to rehearse with my band.

On Live presentations I always use the Footcontroller so that I can switch channels as needed.

Other features are already described on other reviews.

I was very happy because my 2 RKs sound exactally the same. That
is great. I can use one or the other with no adjustments at all!!

It can be used for absolutely every style of music.
This version comes with the fan. When you turn the amp on you can hear the fan (very low sound indeed). Nevertheless I have never ever had a problem with heating or any other kind of problem with my 1st Road King which has no fan.

I use it with 11 different guitars combined with either Mesa 1x12 Thiele or Mesa 2x12 Rectifier Cabs. My guitars are Gibson Les Paul Custom, Peavey Wolfgang Standard, Ibanez JS 1000, Jem, Jackson USA, OLP, Zaganin, Fender YJM, others.

I just got the Fender YJM and I am amazed because I could get with the YJM and the RK the Malmsteen like type of sound.

This amp is not noisy at all. You can plug your gtr directly into its input and start playing.

- I Use 4 6L6 and 2 EL34 on Channels 3 and 4. Wonderful tone.
- Use 2 6L6 on Ch 1 and get very sparkling cleans.
- Use 2 EL34 on Ch 2 and get that British Beatles type of sound.

I hook the RK up with the GT-6 with the 4-cable connection.

Never ever had any issue. I believe I never will.
I use it live with no backup. I rehearse every week with the RK.
I always carry some spare Mesa tubes though. Never replaced any.

Mesa's support is the best I've always got in touch, really amazing. I lived in the US and moved back to Brazil, where I was born. I brought the 1st RK with me with no extra precautions. It got here perfectly. I think I was lucky.

I brought the 2nd RK to Brazil on my last trip to the US. This time I removed the power and rectifier tubes for a safer transportation.

When at home I called Mesa and they helped me reinstall the tubes. They were kind, patient, answered my phone call immediately and instructed me with the tubes order because I was concerned with the matched pairs.

I dealt with them many other times and was always a pleasure. I always feel I am talking to a real specialist, very knowledgeable technician. I don't see that with other companies.

I'd buy another in a heartbeat if stolen. As mentioned I bought a 2nd RK, just to have it as a backup.
I compared it with Bogner Ubershall, Mark IV, Nomad 100, Marshall DSL and TSL, Triple Rectifier. None of these beat the RK.
You quickly find the tone you want, very versatile, loud, quiet, built like a tank.

My amp was made in January 2004. Its a extremely versatile amp. I play lots of different covers in my band so the amp is perfect for me. I play Rock, R&B,, all sorts of stuff. I wont list all the features, theres too many, but they are all very useful. Look them up at www.mesaboogie.com ( Get the Road King cab to go with it. I have the RK 2X12 cab)

I use reissue strats and teles with stock pickups. You dont need any hot pickups with this baby. Its all there. It has four channels and each channel has a toggle switch for three modes each. I have a clean sound in channel 1 (check out the tweed voicing there, very sweet)I use 4 6L6's there. Channel two I have a crunch sound with a Brit voicing using two EL 34's. Channel three I have a bluesy lead sound with two 6L6's with a Raw voicing. Channel four I have a very agressive lead sound with 2 6L6's + 2 EL 34's and a vintage voicing. This amp has so much vibe !The amp is very quiet.Its also fan cooled !

Ive used the amp for two months on gigs and it has'nt let me down, having said that I did have a problem when i still had it at home tweaking it . Channel 3 & 4 lost power and I had to send the amp back to have some updates. The amp has worked perfect ever since and Mesa paid for all the shipping and got it back to me quickly. Check out my comment on customer support. I think the Road King is completely updated now and would be a safe investment of your hard earned money.

I have used Mesa gear exclusively since 1980 and this is the first time I've ever had a problem. Pretty good track record in 24 years in my estimation.When they found out there was a problem I had a phone call from them in five minutes time telling they were having UPS picking up the amp the next day. I had calls from them almost on a daily basis keeping me updated and also sent me a customer care package of tubes, shirts, caps, etc.. If you are about to buy an amp I would consider the customer service you will be getting with your amplifier company of choice. It may become a very important factor down the road for you. I was treated very well by these guys. Very impressive. You will be hard pressed to find customer support like this anywhere else. You don't see that sort of service in the world these days. Their customer service is second to none.

I rate this amp a 10 because it does what Mesa claims it will do. I would definately buy another if it were stolen. I just love the voicing of this amp, its just sings. Its sweet ! I'm not at all put off by the little problem I had because I've used Mesa gear for 24 years with only ONE problem and they handled very quickly and the amp is working lika gem.

This RK has more features than I know what to do with yet. Look at the mesa web site for all of them. Even thought there are a mulitude of switches, and knobs, I found it very easy to make changes to the configurations, and find the sounds I was looking for. It did not take long to master the setup. It looks daunting, but really isn't.

Just bought this amp yesterday, but have been played a friends RK before, and have been hanging out at the local Guitar Center playing it, and drooling over this thing for a year. I like surf guitar, classic rock, blues, and some new metal stuff. I love the channel 1 tweed setting with 2 6L6's and my PRS CU22 set to single coil mode, I can get the twang I need for my surf sound. Channel 2 with EL34's and the gain cranked way up is definately AC/DCish, and the like. I like the thickness of channel 3 with 2 EL34's and 2 6L6's. The EL34's just give it so much character, and with humbuckers I love that tone, and channel 4 is insanity, I am still trying to find a happy medium, it's just too radical for my tastes. I tried the 4 6L6s alone, but my ears were in pain from the high treble, I added the EL34's because it seems to smooth it out. It does have a killer sound though. All in all, I love this amp. I don't know why there are some really bad reviews about it. Who cares if it does not sounds exactly like another amp makers sound, or if it does not sound exactly like the a particular rock band. I am not saying that it doesn't, because I think you can get any sound out of this thing. All I am saying is, it gets the sounds I want to hear, screw everything else. I am giving it a 10+

I have owned several Mesa's in the past, only had one issue on a Tremoverb I had. Very high quality, that why they cost so friggin much.

I called Mesa once, and they are very helpful. They called me back until they got a hold of me to help out. They rule!

Started when I was 14, played for a couple years, then started again when I was 27, played for ten years off and on, but with in the past year or so have really gotten serious, and have been playing evryday. I have a PRS Custom 22 Brazilian Ltd., a Ibanez RG540, and a Ovation Legend acoustic. I do not use many effects, but do have a Digitech multi effects processor. I still have my first Boogie a DC3. I like this Road King, it was a lot, but you get what you pay for.