Mesa/Boogie Road King Head

If you're reading this, you know this amp has more features than any other amp in it's class. 12 preamp possibilites to be matched with any of 5 power amp possibilites to be matched with one of two or both external speaker cabinets, and don't forget bold/spongy on the power or the triode pentode switch for the EL's. Wicked features.

This thing obviously crushes as a recto should, but it also does very nicely as a bluesy amp and really has some fantastic clean settings. Like any Boogie, you do need to fiddle a little (just a little, not a lot) to get the tone you're looking for. Once you've found one or two (or a hundred with the RK) you'll understand what all the fuss is about.

I've had this puppy for a little more than 6 months with no problems. I had another Boogie for years with no problems. You've heard it said before, they are built like a tank. A guy I know told me his fell off his 4x12 at a show and hit the ground. It never skipped a beat!!! This aint no flimsy plastic s**t. This is Mesa Engineering.

This is another category where Mesa blows the socks off the competition. Real people. Every time. No email. No web support or do it yourself FAQ crap. Just real people that know the product that have a great attitude and want to help you get what you're looking for out of your Boogie. I just received a courtesy call from them out of the blue to make sure everything was going well with the new head. You'll never get that from Marshall, or Peavey, or Fender. That's for sure. Mesa gets an A+++ for their service.

This is by far the most incredible piece of guitar gear I've owned in the 20 or so years I've been playing. I can't help but grin every time I look at it. It has all those features and it sounds amazing and it's not synthesized bulls**t. It's all real. It's all good. I love this thing. I'm done. I've always been a gear head, but this time I'm done. I seek nothing more. I have found my grail of guitar amps.

You all know the features....If you are not familiar with them, go to the Mesa website or catch an earlier review. I love to futz around with amps & guitars & this has some great features.

A couple of things I would love to see...
1. Simulclass - True class A would be awesome out of the EL-34s
2. Stereo operation - like the Diezel amp. would be very cool, but would make an already expensive amp even pricier.

Love the dual effects loops & variable power & tube types.

First off, as far as the sounds go.....IF YOU DONT OWN THIS AMP, DONT REVIEW IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You cannot make an accurate review trying this amp out at Guitar center on a few occasions for 20 minutes apiece. Also this is not a Mark IIc+.... so dont try & compare it. Why dont you compare a fender twin to a IIc+? Thats just as ridiculous. Compare a Mark series to a mark series. Dont be an IDIOT! Dont compare apples to oranges. & youre not impressing anyone by stating you own a IIc+ anyway, If you actually even own one in the first place...

No one can give an honest review of this amp without at least owning it & putting in the time needed to get to know it well.

Anyway, with that off my chest, Ill get into the sounds of this monster...
I used to own a 3 channel Dual Rec. Liked it alot. Ex wife stole it & everything else. Needed a new main amp & these had just come out.....This thing absolutely kills my old Dual Rec!!!!

Let me preface this by stating that Ive owned my Roadking head for a year now... & have had plenty of time to tweak & find my ideal settings. In a years time I have just begun to tap its potential...Lets take it channel by channel...

Channel 1
Awesome! Love it! Best clean on a rectifier series. I use the "Tweed" setting mainly. I can get nice & glassy or warm or dark. Whatever Im looking for... Its not fender twin twangy clean. If you want that, buy a fender twin. Its the best Mesa clean Ive yet heard short of the studio pre. Very useable for many styles. Sounds great in many different tone configurations with humbucking or single coil pickups. Also sounds great with my piezo equipped shadow guitar. Very acoustic & natural sounding. I dont even need an acoustic amp now!!!

Channel 2
This sound is pure AC/DC & the like. easiest of all the channels to dial in, too. Just crank everything to max. Except the bass (just dial that in to taste & depending on volume & cabs used) I hate to use amp comparos (this is a Mesa & not some other brand), but this is sooooo old school Marshally that its almost creepy!!! I used to hate this type of sound, as Ive always been into 80s & 90s hair band & this type of sound never had enough sustain or gain, but Im expanding lately & trying some new styles... I still think there should be a bit more gain on tap for this channel. Just a tad more. It does help to crank it up though.

Just a note...If you are familiar with Mesa amps & Rectifier series in particular, this channel throws all Mesas rules out the window... We all know that Mesa tone controls are very sensitive & interactive - opposite of a Marshall (where sometimes you wonder if the controls do anything at all!) On channel 2 set to "Brit" & using 2 EL-34s it is very Marshall like in the tone section. Remember the old Marshalls -- the JTM, Plexi & even the 800 series -- you had to crank the tone controls to "11" to get a decent sound? Well this Roadking in "Brit" mode works the same way. On any other Mesa or Rectifier amp if you even attempted to do this, you would end up with something really disgusting & not at all musical. Try it, & adjust the bass as needed.

Channel 4 (what happened to channel 3 you ask...Im saving it for last!)
This is the "Creed sound" that made the Rec series famous in Modern mode. No need to go too much into this... I do like being able to customize the sound with the different tube configurations. I like to use 2 EL-34s & 2 6L6s at the same time. I think it adds something to the sound. 6l6s are great for clean, extreme glass on top end, & bottom thump, but the 34s add much needed character. Classic Mesa Rectifier tone -- no problems here, works as advertised.

Channel 3
This was the channel that kicked my ass for the better part of a year! I was able to get an acceptable sound out of it, but never a great sound. I try & keep my channels separate

It sounds corny... but, ITS A MESA!!!!
This is my third Mesa amp & never had a problem with any of them. Had a Rocket 44, Used 3-channel Dual Rec, & the new Roadking. The Dual rec had scratchy pots on clean channel, so I called Mesa after I got it home & they sent all new pots for channel 1 at no charge at all to me. On an amp bought used! Very cool.
No probs otherwise & the scratchy pots could have been the old owners fault.. who knows? no probs with Roadking either over the past year. Its only used at home though. Brought it to Vegas to show some friends a while ago. It sat in the front seat while I drove. Made an almost 600 mile round trip just fine, though.

Always been good & always call back. Do have one complaint, though... I have a Roadking that does not have the fan/diode update. I live in the middle of nowhere & nearest service center is 8 hours away from me in phoenix. Vegas is closer at only 3 hours away, but no service center there...One mesa employee said he would mail me parts & let me do mod myself (Im fully capable). When I tried to get parts coming, another told me no way. need to ship amp or drive to service center. Does he have any idea how much it is to ship amp? Ill almost guarantee itll get damaged too.

I dont really see myself needing the mod, as I think its only for the most extreme conditions, but it would be nice. I wont hold this against them...... MESA BOOGIE - if you read this, You need more service centers!!!!!!!!!! No service center in Vegas area is friggin stupid!
Mesa has helped me out & sent free parts for an amp I bought used in the past. They have always been friendly & know thier stuff.
You get to talk to a real tech who builds these things & loves them & not just some stupid customer service bimbo with a talk path(cheat sheet) & no real product knowledge.

I started playing guitar in 86. Stopped playing in 1990 for about 10 years & started back up in late 2000. Owned a few other Mesas & many other amps. Im a gear junkie! Prior to my evil ex-wife, I had about 5 amps & several cabs & 18 guitars. Now I have the Roadking, a Mesa 50/50 awaiting either a Studio Pre or Quad Pre, GK-ML250 amp (love it!), Pod XT with foot switch going thru the 50/50 into a Genz-Benz George Lynch stereo 2/12 cab. Also have about 6 guitars ranging from 88 Kramer Nightswan (signed by Vivian Campbell, to Custom 87 Ibanez RG, early 90s shadow, Kramer Proaxe(Better than the Nightswan - believe it!), Peavey Generation Tele, Fender/Heartfield Talon.

What I love about this Roadking, is that each guitars character shines through & differences in body woods or pick up brand & type are easily heard. This amp does not make all guitars sound the same like so many other amps do ( my Pod XT is a prime example of this ).
I use my Roadking set to spongy power using the tube rectifiers with all channels except channel 4 and it sounds amazing!
When shopping for a new flagship amp for myself, I also looked at Bogner ecstacy & Soldano. Both were good. In fact the Soldano has my favorite distortion of any amp Ive ever heard. But the mesa won out for versatiliy & channel selection among other things. Besides, my Pod XT does a pretty good Soldano SLO-100 which is kinda wierd, because the POD rectifer sound sucks so bad. Bogner was good too, but I really liked the fact that the Roadking has separate controls for every channel & that I can choose my tube configuration & if I want tube or solid state rectification(it really makes a big difference).
Again, Id like to see it as a stereo head & have true class A power too. & I wish that the "spongy" variac was available for each channel like the other options, but this is all nit-picking.
This is an incredible amp. A true work of art. A lot of thought went into the design of this amp. It is no gimmick -- its a tool to use for the accomplished musician who needs a pallette of tones to choose from. It may not do fender clean perfectly, but it has an awesome clean that is all its own. It may not do Marshall crunch as well as the purists would like but its damn good.

This amp is made to be a money saver. At $2500.00 + that can be pretty hard to believe, but think of the big picture....
A fender for cleans or bogner has an incredibly fendery clean too..
A old(unreliable) marshall head for classic crunch..
A Dual Rectifier for modern hi gain..and ONLY Mesa can do this.
An amp of your choice for 80s rock & metal..

Add it up & the Roadking is a bargain. Maybe each sound isnt exactly like its classic counterparts, but they are very close & extremely useable. This is the ultimate tour/ club amp!

Is it worth it to finally - after almost a year - to find an excellent channel 3 sound. To me, yes. Some might say its ridiculous to have to search for a good sound in an amp. To those people, I say this amp is not for you. This amp is not about getting the "Mesa rectifier sound" I can get that in channel 4 in ten seconds. Its about searching for a tone & achieving that tone even if it takes a while. Most sounds are in here. You just have to look for them.

Cant really say that I hate anything about this amp. I do wish that they had added an extra mode to channel 3....say maybe a IIc+ mode with less grain built in. That would be the ultimate! Channel 1 clean is very reminiscent of the mark IIc+ & studio pre. This is basically a rectifier series amp & it still Kills all comers, BUT....It is the ROADKING & it would have made it the most complete amp ever. If boogie could have even gotten 90% of the IIc+ sound in channel 3 they would have sold so many more of these things.
As it is, my channel 3 sound is kinda reminiscent of the mark IIc+. I managed to get high gain & avoid too much graininess(buzz).

I've owned this amp for over 1 year. More features than any guitar player will ever need for any gig.
It can be used for absolutely every style of music on the planet.
I have the version without the fan, and have never ever had a problem with heating or any other kind of problem.
I do prefer this version because I have no Fan sound when playing at home at very low volume, and believe me, the RK sounds great at low volume too!!.

I use it with 10 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, others.
I play Pop, Hard, and Heavy Rock. I play some R&B too. Again, the RK sounds great with all the styles I play.

This amp is not noisy at all. You can plug your gtr directly into its input and start playing. No need for Noise Supressor devices.

Very easy to find great sounds, despite the maybe intimidating numerous buttons the RK has (I do enjoy the numerous controls... they all are there for a good purpose). The controls are well placed and are really intuitive.

- I Use 4 6L6 and 2 EL34 on Channels 3 and 4. Wonderful tone. Rectifier distortion... brutal, more than enough.
- 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.

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

This is still the best sounding amp I've ever heard.

Totally dependable. Never ever had any issue. I believe I never will.
I use it live with no backup.
I always carry some spare Mesa tubes though. Never replaced any. My tubes are still the stock ones.

Fantastic. Mesa's support is one to benchmark, really amazing. I lived in the US and moved back to Brazil, where I was born. I brought the RK with me.
I also have a new Mesa Rectoverb head. I modded this head myself. I changed the Fx Loop from Paralel to Series, because Series is much better if you use the GT-6 and the 4-cable hook up.

I spent a couple of hours talking to the guys at Mesa and they were kind, very helpful educating me on how to do the Mod on the Rectoverb. They told me very clearly pros and cons on doing this mod.

It works very well Modded. Now I am happier than ever because I use the Boss GT-6 exactaly the same way with both amps (Road King and Rectoverb).

I've been playing since 17. I am 36 now. I'd buy another in a heartbeat if stolen. I am considering buying another RK in my next trip to the US, just to have it as a backup.
I compared it with Mark IV, Nomad 100, Marshall DSL and TSL, Triple Rectifier. Easy comparisson. Easy to find the tone you want, very versatile, loud, quiet, built like a tank.
The only thing is that it weights a lot... and I don't have roadies. If you have the money, buy this amp. If you don't, save and buy this amp.

First off i want to say that i don't own this amp but have played it more than 3 times for at least 20 minutes so i think i can add something. I was looking for the Mark IIC+ sound in a more versatile package, i was letdown!
Features have been covered below, lets just say it has more than anyone could need.

I can usually tell quickly if i will like an amp or not. You can tweak and tweak but the overall feel and vibe of an amp will still be there. When i played the RK i often switched different modes and used varying amounts of gain.
Channel 1 is nice and clean with lots of headroom, much better than other Boogies i have played.
Channel 2 added some gain and is slightly crunchy, i used this channel and got a nice sound for open chords, it's a little tame for lead playing but a Tube screamer could change that. Overall this channel wasn't bad but your NOT going to get a great mid gain tone like a cranked Fender.
Channel 3 is a high gain channel. I only liked it in vintage mode. The modern gain just sounded very harsh to me, it sounds like it's all about preamp gain here like other Rectos i have played, it doesn't seem to get that really sweet overdriven power tube distortion. Channel 4 was similiar to channel 3. Overall i didn't like these 2 channels very much. I own an 84 Mark IIC+ which has the EQ and i was trying to get similiar tones out of the Roadking. Forget it! The MarkIIC+ just has this singing sustain which Boogie hasn't been able to match. I hope they are not fooling people into thinking the Roadking has eclipsed the IIC+. If i did i would have bought it. The IIC+ is still the best Boogie.

Boogie has been good to me on the products i have owned from them.

Well Boogie has a great versatile head with a nice clean and some pretty good medium gain tones. I just didn't like any of the high gain tones and the lead tones are a letdown for me, just like every other Recto. My 2 heads i own are a VHT Pitbull UL with EQ and the 84 MarkIIC+. They are both better than the RK, the UL is almost as versatile but has much better tone, the high gain from the UL are CLEAR and articulate but it has killer gain and bottom and the IIC+ is just such a great lead head. If the dial the Roadking in with some better gain tones I'll be the first to buy it.

More features than any guitar player will ever need for any gig regardless if it is in the studio or at the Forum. It can be used for absolutely every style of music on the planet. I have the version without the fan, and have never had a problem with heating. That problem is most likely to occur in the combo version since there is less ventilation. I have used this amp in small clubs like the Roxy, and large outdoor stadium events. The amount of power is tremendous. I choose to bypass the FX loop section, and just use the individual channels for the master volumes. I have found that I get a cleaner setting much easier than using the output master.

I use mostly Gibson Les Paul's, a couple of PRS std 24's, and an ESP M2. They all sound very different through this amp, which is what makes up a good amp. The Paul's are very loud, and have more of a dark tonality to them. They sound great through the Brit mode and the high gain channels. The PRS guitars sound much smoother with all of the channels. Less edge than the Les Paul, but more brightness in the cleans. Great overall blend. The ESP has a thinner sound than the other guitars, but still sounds great. It does not produce as much feedback as the Paul's, but has more edge than the PRS with the high gain. I have heard Strats through this head, and they sound great through channels 1+2.
The clean channel is simply incredible. I went from using a Studio Pre to the RK, and was completely floored by this first channel alone. Even though I play in a hard rock band, I practice at home mostly with this channel.
The second channel is again, amazing. The Brit mode with the 2 EL34's simply kicks ass. As amazing as this is, I still do prefer the Plexi mode of the Bogner Ecstacy 101b. They are both different, and both incredible.
The third and fourth channels are basically the same except you can choose different voicings for each. I run channel three with the Vintage mode with 2 EL's and 2 6L6's presence at about 11:00, bass at 0, mid at about 2:00, treble at 1:00, and gain at 3:00. The sound is so smooth that I don't miss my Studio Pre at all. It is great. My channel four setting is with 4 6L6's on the Modern voicing. It is very aggressive and amazingly clear.
The Road King is very quiet, even at outdoor levels. There is no buzzing or hissing anywhere unless you put the gain on ch 3+4 past 3:00.
When you first turn it on the channel switches make a popping sound, but that goes away when you select different channels a few times during warm up.
The Reverb has a delay that is explained in the manual, but is hardly noticed while playing a live show. It has a very nice balance with each of the channels, but does not replace the clarity of a quality rack mounted processor like a TC M2000. Since I really don't use the reverb, I don't have much more to say about it than it being more than good enough to do the job.
I have had four different LA sound guys tell me that the amp sounds the best of anything they've heard before. It has a bit different character than the Triple Rectifiers, I'm guessing because of the availability of options for each channel. I don't use all of the tubes together because the sound is too harsh for my taste. I do prefer the Spongy mode in the output section of the amp. I makes the strings on the guitar feel looser, but is still punchy enough to throw the crowd against the back wall of any room. That is something I prefer for my sound.
This amp was designed to produce pretty much any sound available, and it can. If you can't find it, try a different guitar or a different cab, because they are all in there.

I have used many Boogies in my 17 years of guitar playing, and only had a problem with my Rectoverb 50 when it first came out. A wire that switched between the clean and the rhythm channel came loose, and only the clean channel would work. I took it straight to John at the Hollywood store and he had it fixed and ready to go the next day. That is what I call great service. Since the amp is a tube amp, don't expect 100% reliability all of the time. Maintenance is a big part of keeping your amp working at all times. Change your tubes often, and keep extras with you for gigs. There is no biasing involved with Mesa amps, so don't make a fuss about changing tubes. It's that easy.

I consider Mesa Boogie to be at the top with customer service. The guys at the Hollywood store are very honest, and know everything about their product line. I had a Soldano before, and they were also amazing. Can't say the same for VHT, when my call was returned over a week later. Great amps though.

Besides me getting the amp for less than half of the new price, it is worth every penny to get one even at full price. It covers every sound imaginable in one head. I owned over 16 amps in the last four years including a Triple Rec, Carvin Legacy, Soldano Decatone, Bogner Triple Giant, Studio Pre, VHT Pittbill CLX, Triaxis/2:90, and I forgot the rest. They were all incredible amplifiers, but I can say that I'm most satisfied with the Road King. I really love the Bogner Ecstacy 101b and the Uberschall. If I had the money, I would get both and a/b them because I would use all of the channels from both amps. What prevented me from getting the Ecstacy was it not having the punch of the Uberschall on the high gain channel. What prevented me from getting the Uber was the lack of versatility for a $2400 amp. Both together would work for me, but the Road King provides the tones I need for both modern and classic sounds. It is really worth getting, but give it time before you make a final judgement on it. If you are a skilled player, you can make this amp do anything. Thanks.

See other reviews or go to mesa's web cite to many to sit here and type them all out, but with that being said it's over the top!

Currently playing a shecter C1+ w/ stock P/U's, yes I know it seems kind of stupid to play a $500 guitar on a $2600 amp, but this is my second Boogie and the way I see it, It's better to buy a great amp and skimp on the guitar untill I can aford to buy a great guitar (the amp put me in the pore house). Not that the shector is a bad guitar it just needs a little help in the electronics department. Tone wise this amp seems to be very good, Im still working with it and so far I'm happy with what I have found tone wise it's definitely not a one show pony. I have come to know the color of confusion when trying to shape the tone of this amp it is very different from a Marshall or fender or any other amp for that matter and probabley not a fair compairson eather but there is so much that you can do with this amp it is mind boggling and will take time for me anyhow to realy be fluent in - shall we say tuning this amp. But the bottom line is the sound of this amp works for me I wanted somthing that was different then anything else out there and it had to be a tube and it had to be versatile and it had to be of great quality. I think this amp has all of thoes listed, the Clean's are warm and the distortions can be thick and brutal if needed.

I have talked to mesa reguarding the first boogie that I had which was a simal 295, I called it the brick because it weighed so much, it was built in 89 and was still going stong when I sold it. This amp I suspect is going to do the same. Everything that boogie builds is rock solid. Allthough I do have reservations about the little switches on the back of the amp but this is kind of petty.

Out standing - they return rour E-mails in a timly manner and they actually have time to talk to you on the phone, considering how many professionals use boogie I like the fact that that they have time for the little guy.

I have played for 30 years now on and off and I have owned this amp now since April of 03 and I have used it every week consistly since than and have had no problems. I think if I were to recomend an amp to someone I would have to know what type of music that they were into. Every amp is different even the same type, as far as sound and tone and everyone has there owne taste so it all boils down to what YOU like. So to dog another amp in favor of another is purly ones opinion and we all know the old saying. So hers myne This amp works for me and I like the Versatility and the tone that it provides I play Rock, Hardrock, old Metal and Blues I don't like the price or the weight but you do get 4 chanels each w/3 voices and a grip of power configuerations....not bad! if it were stolen I don't think I would drop the cash for another.

I bought my roadking last year novemeber in 2002 it does have a built in fan to keep everything cool,of course it has alot of features its a 4ch amp that has 2 effects loops,2el34s 46l6 tubes and 2 rectotubes. it pretty much has everthing the diezal amp has except for the midi thing. ooh yeah the roadkink also has progressive linkage,the most impotsnt thing and I almost forgot.

This beast sounds awwwwsome, I use to have a tripple recto until I traded it in for the roadking. you can get so many good sounds out of this amp,it was money well spent. I use to run the amp threw a 5150 cab and it didnt sound bad,but when I got the recto cab it sounded 100% better so I give the Recto cab a 10. my set up is pretty simple just the way I like it. I use a peavey wolfgang with emg85 as my main guitar, a dunlop 535Q wah. the only fx I us in my amps fx loop are a 7band eq just for a tad more bass,and a delay for my clean ch thats it.

I know for a fact that my road king was built like a tank cause just last mounth I accidentaly tipped over my half stack. My roadking feel face first on the floor I all most shit my self. I picked my amp up thinking to my self im fucked. I plugged it back in and everything was fine just like the day it came out of the box thank god.

I havent had to deal with mesa yet

This is a damn good amp, not only does it sound good but it can also take a beating,

2003 Road King Head. Features have been covered however I want to comment that the newest Road King amps have improvements incorporated to resolve issues brought up in previous reviews. I received mine in the beginning of October and came with the factory installed fan. The fan is very quiet and does an amazing job of cooling the amp. I usually play the amp for approx. 3 hours at a time and when I go to turn it off it always amazes me how cool the chassis and tubes are. The reverb must also have been improved because mine is way sufficient in volume and can get very dense when turned up... it also sounds very good on all four channels. Channel switching on this Road King head is also much much quieter than on the 3-channel dual and triple rectifier models currently being made... If I can base that on the fact that I compared this head to three triple recto's and one dual rectifier in the store and the Road King after one static discharge channel switch did not produce any further popping. The other recto's continued to produce the very loud popping noise when switching channels.

I play this with a Jackson USA PC1 (DiMarzio's) and a USA Dinky (EMG's). The amp sounds great with the PC1 for clean and mid gain tones and the Dinky sounds amazing on the high gain channels and settings. I don't understand many of the reviews that are so dissatisfied with the tones of this amp. I've previously owned a 2-channel dual and triple rectifier a Mark IV short head. This amp definitely covers all the tones available on those amps and goes much further in producing tones none of those amps could produce. Some settings and tones definitely sound better with the amp running open than trying to subdue it with the effects loop curcit on and utilizing the 'Output' control. If you don't like the tones of this amp then you don't like Mesa tones. If you do... this IS the holy grail of Mesa tones as advertised since they are all there. I can even get tones that sound exactly like the Maverick Class A tones in Channel 1 + 2. This amp however is also much much much quieter with the gain turned up when compared to the 4 other dual/triple models I tried.

I have every confidence that this amp will be extremely reliable. The cooling fan works wonders and keeps the amp from running hot. It is always just mildly warm. This should keep reliability very high. But, the amp does have alot of relays which can go bad every now and then so I will give it a 9.

I haven't spoken with them in a long time.

More than satisfied with this amp. It has all the Mesa tones in one amp and quite a few additional tones. All the extras come at cost of an extra $900 over the triple rectifier models. It is well worth it to skimp somewhere in your gear purchases to invest that cash in the Road King. The amp came with a 5 Year transferable warrantee. So I feel comfortable... and if I ever decide to sell it, I can arrange for my buyer to benefit from the remainder of the warrantee. This is a terrific point as it will help the new Road Kings keep there value by giving the second owner peace of mind.

This is a follow up to my other reviews. I have a Road King head; got it from Mesa Hollywood and those guys do a killer job of taking care of their customers and asnwering questions.

This amp is extremely versatile and I can get pretty much any sound I want out of it. The footswitch is big, but lets me select any of the 4 channels at the drop of a hat and bypass either of the effects loops. I think this is the closet you can get to a Bradshaw type system without talking to old Bob (not Terry, I'm Browns fan) himself.

My setup for playing covers is like this:
ch1 is used for clean, ch2 is used for that volume sensitive semi-clean from the Sheryl Crow, the Stones to SRV; ch3 is my rock overdrive channel and ch4 is the metal station.


Ch1: I just love this channel. The choices and sounds are mind boggling...I use 2 6l6 when I want a tad bit of drive on the clean channel and 4 6l6 when I want headroom and clean clean.

ch2: Best rolling stones overdrive and SRV tones I've ever heard. With a bridge humbucker and a little boost you get the ac/dc thing happening fairly well.

ch3: fat rock overdrive; think old aerosmith, bad co., and all the other classic rock stuff. To me it sounds killer.

ch4; High gain rythym...this is the best high gain sound I've ever heard, but, I have not played a Bogner so can't compare.

on all the setups above, I use a reissue Ts-9 to boost for leads and the amp loves that drive from the Ts-9.

I really wanna give this a rating of 8.5.

Well, I can't speak about anyone but myself. I've used this 2 nights a week, every week since April '03...many many 4 set nights have been kompleted with the king and I have no complaint. Inside, outside, 100+ Inland Empire temperatures and humid clubs and no problems so far. Nothing is a 10 though. I give it great reliability marks up to this point.

Again, the salespeople and amp guys at Mesa Hollywood are helpful and easy to deal with.

I love this amp. It takes time to get used to it and understand how to tweak the EQ. I find the bass setting needs to be 4 or less for my taste on all channels. You have to choose the right speaker cab based on your playing situation...for lower volumes and smaller clubs I recommend greenbacks and have had great luck with one of the reissue marshall cabs. For louder situations, I like the Legacy cab with v30s.

This amp has just about every feature known to modern man,mesa boogie's flagship all singing,all dancing gigging machine,just one important feature I wish it had-tone.

I used a variety of guitars through this amp,singles,hums,all sounded very average through 3 of the channels,the exception being ch.2 which sounds excellent in the brit mode with 2 el34's.When this channel is cranked it reminds me of a marshall 800,nice biting distortion with a bridge humbucker.Me being a classic rocker it brought a big grin to my face playing a few ac/dc riffs,nailed the tone bang on.
After working with this amp for 5 months and trying to gig with it,I have yet to find any useable sounds in channels 1,3,and 4.Ch.1 is the clean and sounds sparkly with s/c's at low volumes,but breaks up unmusically at gig volumes,the 2 high gain channels(3&4)sound thin and harsh to my ears.I am giving this a 4 because of a great sounding ch.2

never had a problem

dealt with mesa before with previous amps,they have always been very helpful

Been playing 25 years, had a shedful of quality amps including 6 other boogies which were all better than the roadking.
After paying a lot of hard earned cash this amp was a major disappointment,I thought mistakenly that this would be the ultimate gigging tool-how wrong I was.The only redeeming feature is ch.2 but you might as well buy a JCM 800 to get that sound and save a lot of cash.I really wanted to like this amp after spending so much time and money on it, but I finished up gigging and just using channel 2 set to crunch,backing off on the guitar to clean up and stepping on a fulltone pedal for solos.The footswitch is huge,totally impractical, and the amp is very heavy.
I have come to the conclusion that no amp can do it all and I am perhaps better off using 2 amps-one for clean,one for mean and using an a/b box to switch between them.The roadking is going to be sold.If it were stolen I would be very happy because I could use the insurance money to buy 2 or 3 quality amps with better tone.I am giving this category a 3 because of the one excellent channel it has.

So i saved every penny i had for this piece of crap. Finally went to the local music store and bought it. What a huge mistake!

The amp has a wide variety of bad features. Here is some: The knobs on the back are cheesy and weak, the switches are delicate and this amp weighs a ton. The effects loop jacks squeal like crazy if you use professional heavy cables on them. I suppose it is versatile if you like loud annoying buzzing in between your playing on channels 2,3,& 4. I spent a good 6 months with this amp, tweakin over and over and it still suks. The idea was great but the execution/design is very bad. This amp is no where near live ready. Out of the past 6 times I gigged with it, I wanted to smash it 8 times. Noise Noise Noise. Try to trouble shoot 4000 buttons/knobs on a dark stage in the middle of the your set, when they are supposed to work in the first place. It took me 3 gigs to find out that the effects loops jacks squealed like hell when you applied pressure to them..i.e. a cable hanging from the input jack. See "customer support" for what mesa said! It has plenty of power..but what is power when the amp doesnt work right. I gave it a four for the four times I kicked it at my last gig.

I use a variety of axes including Ibanez Universe 7 strings, Washburn x series, a les paul, and even a fender American tele. I play a wide variety of covers and originals from heavy as hell to jazz/blues. This amp is so f***ing noisy on Channel 4 that I unplugged it and went direct on my last gig. I can not believe Mesa did not correct this huge, huge problem. Even with the gain turned way down, there was a huge buzz. This amp can make a variety of unpleasent and nasty sounds when you are not playing. When u are playing however, it sounds ok. Just ok though. The clean channel 1 is pretty good. No complaints here, but I'm sure it could be better. Channel 2 is ok too, I guess. 3 and 4 totally suk. It is a typical mesa distortion on 3 and 4, except with a noticable hum/buzz in the background.

Ehh...yeah...6 gigs...6 major complications. Do the math.

So i call them because of the effects loop prob and buzzing prob I was having. They were very knowledgable and friendly I must say. Go Mesa! But what they told freaked me out. They said in so many words "Yeah...sorry bout that...we know there is a problem...try suspending your effects loop cables when you plug them in, so the dont put downward pressure on the jacks." " And as far as the buzzing....try turning the gain down...but we know it buzzes quite a bit on Channels 2, 3, & especially 4 in MODERN mode."

I was like "Thanks for nothing!" I figured that out a month ago!

All in all the guy on the phone was cool and I can't blame him.
I give him, and all the other "I'm just doing what I'm told" employees a 10 for putting up with customers like me and dealing with a terribly designed product.

Suk Suk Suk!!! Im going back to my Rocktron Gainiac and my power amp.
I would actually pay someone to steal it.
The best thing about it is that it is worth so much, that i can get a complete rig of Line 6 stuff and hopefully be happy.
I hardly would recommend this amp to even the bands in my area that do the same thing as we do. (i.e. our competition) It was a collosal screw up, and will eventually show up on the History Channel on the show "Greatest Musical Blunders"

Feel free to contact me if you are gonna make a bad decision and purchase this amp! Peace.

This is my 2nd review of this head.
Please see my other review.

This is my 2nd review of this head.
Please see my other review.

I have to say that it is very quiet.

I've been playing around (small gigs) and rehearsing frequently with it. I either use Mesa 1x12 Thiele Cab, or Recto 2x12 Cab. It works very well with both.
I was told by Mesa Boogie that there are some updates to be done on these amps (mine is #000716).
1 of them is a small Fan that comes installed on the newer RK heads. As I live in Brazil, I'll have to install it myself. I never had a problem though, but it concerns me, because other owners may have had issues.

Deserves 11, 12, 13... never seen better Customer Service in my life. No matter the industry. Mesa's CS is one of a kind. Awesome.
Of course, being a foreigner, you have to speak good English when talking to them over the phone.
They sent me the fan (no charge) by mail with instructions (really simple to instal).

Please see my other review. Still very valid.
I have a Recoverb Head as well (bought new in July 2003) which is an amazing amp too.
The RK is still the best sounding amp I've ever heard. It is a multiple orgasm!!!! Very very powerful.

great features

channels 3 and 4 are awesome

this is the third road king head i have had in less than a year. they have sent me new ones but on channels 3 and 4 when played for a long period the amp starts cutting in and out. it is a problen that comes and goes and i dont think they have got it figured out yet

they have sent me new amps but the problem persists

i love the amp it sounds great but i am worried about it being so new there are problems yet to be solved and i hope as they find these problems, rich duvall from mesa boogie will call the customers that have had a record of these and will do a follow up to ensure that my $2500 for the head and my $700 for the cabinet was not a mistake. but when its there it dont get much better

Almost everything you could ask for.

Lots of clean headroom. From fender-ish clean to vintage marshall crunch to fat "brown sound" leads to brutal metal. All delivered quite well. The high gain sounds could have a little more punch. Sounds damn good straight out of the box without any effects. A sound guy told me a couple days ago that it sounded "freakin' huge, like a mountain."
Used with a Les Paul Standard with SD'59 in the bridge running through a pair of Mesa Recto 4x12 cabs.
Sounds great but for the price could be better.

I've had mine for like a year and a half and its broke down on me twice. Diodes keep burning up. This is unacceptable, especialy for an amp in this price range. A working musician does not have the time to deal with this crap.

One year limited warranty doesn't do much good. Closest authorized service center is three hours away.

Doesn't matter to me how good it sounds if you can't depend on it. Ironic that an amp called the Road King isn't road worthy. Also the covering isn't very durable and the switches on the back seem rather delicate. Sould have been called the Studio Queen.

I'm a marshall guy, specifically jcm800. So the other night at a show, when i went to turn my amp on the thing was just putting out static. My amp is a hotrodded one with features done by trace at voodoo amps and what happend was the gain switch that he put on it broke off... bummer.. so luckly i have a friend that ownes a roadking.. When i picked it up from him all i thought was jesus christ i'll never figure it out. If you have a decent knowledge of amps, you'll probably be able to figure it out because mesa did a pretty good job trying to keep it as simple as possible. But its got more features than i'll ever need and more buttons on the footswtich than knobs on my jcm800.

I play a gibson les paul studio with a jb in the brdige and i had this amp running through an old jcm800 4x12 cab. My band (www.theacademyrock.com) has a posthardcore sound but we use as much clean in our songs as distortion.For an amp at this price you'd expect it to sound like everything you'd ever want. It actually sounds really good but it also isnt all that. I think the 1st clean channel was a bit bright, and if ou put it on the fat mode it was just too muddy and i i messed around a little with the tube selection.. but i found it to be pretty good for that crunchy brite clean. I thought the 2nd channel had a pretty good clean, it was alot warmer and i thought had a little more balls to it. I kept it on the brit mode but with alot of mids and presence. The clean channels were pretty quiet though, i had both masters around 3 oclock and then the main volume at 6 or 7 and it was just loud enough for the show. I was a bit disappointed with the distortion. If you're a gain freak, you'll love this amp, but in my opinion the gain channels were not very musical. Both are VERY buzzy and you have to turn the gain waaayyy low to get rid of it. I actually liked the 3rd channel but i kept the gain at about 9-10 oclock but had the presence and mids way up so it'd cut through more. The 4th channel i thought just sounded waaayy too harsh. I play music in the genre of thursday and glassjaw, so we're somewhat heavy but i just thought the 4th channel was ridiculous. The amp is versatile, but almost too much, and a to me the 4th channel is useless

Mesa does really good at building their stuff to last. This amp is solid and i'm sure it'll stay that way until it blows up. These heads are really heavy, like really heavy. The only thing i'd be worried about is the tubes. theres sooo many tubes in there and if the amp fell off something or anyhing like that, you're looking at some serious damage. I dont even want to think about how much it would be to replace all those tubes. As far as construction goes, A+

i dont know. I know that they usually do warrenties though

I've been playing for close to 5 years and i'm in a pretty well respected upcoming rock band from chicago and i'm really picky about my sound. This amp is cool and all, but for the money i'd rather get something a little more worth while, like a bogner or a rocaforte. It really isnt a bad amp at all but again.. a little excessive. I'm not just all about jcm800s, i do like mesa stuff but i tend to think its a bit over rated and not very musical. If you're all about switches and knobs and gain, then this is your amp. I thought it was cool, but i'm not really all that impressed with it. It you want a mesa, get a dual recto solo or a tremoverb. If you have the money then go ahead and get the road king. But i really dont think its that great of a value, or that great of an amp

this amp has tons of features. all the things you would want on an amp. i play a lot of ac/dc and not the newest kind of rock. you choose from 4 channels. if the features sounded good i would be happier but they suck! i play at big clubs, parties, and tons of other gigs. the power is ok.

i use a jackson with hot rails seymour duncan pickups. it sounds great to me. i play lead guitar and it isn't as good as there other amps. the channels are not that great as i said before and the reverb sucks because it has delay and for an amp which is so EXPENSIVE i would expect a little more. the clean channel is pretty good in high volumes. when you hit the distortion it has a brutal punch to it. when u put reverb on it it cuts down the distortion too much.

i have has this amp for 3 months and it hasn't had many problems. i would use a back up if u are going to play on stage though. first of i wouldn't even use it on stage. the crowd would boo you off. i gave mine to my cousin who is just starting.

i havent ever called them.

i've been playing for about 11 years and i own a marshall jtm 45 plexi. if it broke or got stolen i wouldn't buy it again. i hate mostly the sound of the channels and the reverb but it looks awesome.

Purchased brand new in june 2003. This amp features 4 channels, each with 3 modes, plus an assignable power amp section that enables you to select either EL34's, 6L6's or both and assign your desired combinations to each seperate channel. it also features auto rectifier tracking which calls up the perfect rectifier combo for your selected power amp configuration...either one 5U4, two 5U4's, Silocon Diodes, or all three.
The amp has two FX loops, one series, one parallel, both switchable on each channel, reverb, also switchable, and the option to even assign different cabinets for different channels i.e open back 2X12 for the clean and a closed 4X12 for the dirt....the roadking does so much more as well, too much to list here. Put simply its the most versatile amp i have ever encountered, having used a Hughes and Kettner Triamp amongst others, and the possiblities for tone seem limitless. im a pro musician and also a lead singer, so the versatility matched with the ease of use is a major selling point to me, allowing me to perform without having to think too much about gear!

Im using a Gibson Lucille and a Gibson SG Custom, both stock guitars with Gibson PAF's in them. Im gonna be experimenting with pickups in the coming months, but i do actually like the stock pickups. Im playing original material that i would consider to be rock n roll in the vein of stone temple pilots/foo fighters - if u had to name-check other bands - but its pretty unique stuff. The road king offers the perfect sound for my needs as a ballsy rhythm guitar player. Its loud (130 watts when all 6 poweramp valves are combined) but not too noisy. I do use a rocktron HUSH pedal in the roadkings series FX loop to keep things a little tighter, but thats mostly to do with using the semi-hollow bodied Gibson Lucille. The sounds range from pristine clean to the filthiest death imaginable. Any sound you have in your head is in this baby somewhere. I also own a dual rec, a mark 4 and a triamp, and this roadking sounds better than all of them put together. One tiny niggle is the huge volume differance between the modes on channels 3 and 4. It seems strange that u have to wind the volume up so much for one sound mode and the other bites your head off. it makes me worry a little bit about power tube ware...but that really is the only thing im not mad about. im still gonna give it ful marks though because the tone, irrespective of volume differences, is awsome!

i haven't owned the amp long so i cant really say how reliable it is, but its built like a tank and is fully flight-cased (not included) and with the options of swithing power tubes via the rear panal rocker switch, if some go down, u could just switch to the others. The other Mesa's i own have NEVER given me a problem, so im gonna judge this as i have judged them. Slightly hard on power tube ware, but more or less faultless

Never had to deal with Mesa direct, but the shop i buy all my gear from are official dealers and they have always been super helpful. The full waranty is one year (6 months for tubes) but i dont envisage having to call upon it.

Ive been playing guitar for about 11 years and have used all sorts of gear in that time. I have swapped a 20 unit rack full of stuff for this amp, so i guess that shows just how versatile i consider it to be.(i still have the rack, just saving it for the studio...plus im a gear head and can't bare to part with equipment)Im gonna buy a back up at some point, not that i think i'll need it, but touring at the level i will be in a little while, u gotta have spare everything. Im just using the amp with its footswitch, a rocktron hush pedal and a electro harmonix small clone in the fx loop, and thats my sound. I love it and i comend Mesa for creating another benchmark that the rest of the industry is gonna have to catch up to. It IS and expensive amp...particularly given UK import taxes, and some would argue its overpriced. Personally i dont mind paying for this kind of versatiliy and build quality.

Brand new in 2003, 4 channels, to many features to list. Really all you'd every need.

I use PRS and Charvel. I play all styles (or try to!) from 50's to current. Amp is quiet except for high gain settings which is normal. Amps sounds range from pretty clean to pretty brutal. I really wanted this amp to work for me, but I tweaked and tweaked and nothing really blew me away. This amp MUST be cranked to get any presence and cut. I mean CRANKED! Not practical for me. Also I could'nt dial out that annoying rectified buzz when distorted. I didn't mind that sound (we do play some Creed) but I wanted to get rid of it for most of my sounds. Channel 1's clean was good but not great. I used the 4 6L6's for clean to get maximum headroom. Sound is clean but not real rich, you know, like a .....Fender Twin. I know, you've heard that before! Sorry. But they do sound nice. Not a bad channel. Channel 2 is pretty good for clean and overdrive (think Vox) and had a very musical midrange thickness to it. I set it to "Brit" and used the EL34 by themselves. Good natural breakup, no buzz on this one. My favorite. Channel 3 was my next favorite. Still, it didn't blow me away but it was good for rhythm and the best for lead in my humble opinion. The rhythm overdrive was good, but here's where that buzz starts creeping in. It's not overtones or richness, just buzz. If you go light on the drive on this channel it's good, just not smooth. In fact, I ran it with the drive dial barely on and it was close but not quite there. You can't seem to get what you'd think should be between Channel 2 and 3. Marshall. (sorry again) A light breakup with warmth AND cut. Leads sound pretty good with the drive on 12:00 and the treble at 2:00 for cut. Take the presence to 9:00 to smooth out the sound. Use the EL34's again, or mix them with the 26L6's. It will fatten the sound but loosen the top end with the 6L6's a little. (that buzz) At low drive settings, (12:00 and under) the channel is very musical. Channel four. This one was the famous Creed, Limp Bizkit sound you hear a lot these days. It's good for that, and I do like it, but not all the time. You can get a good lead sound, but it takes patients. When I got the sustain I wanted, the buzz started to creep (Creed) in. Very annoying and frustrating. I used the EL34's (again) by themselves to get a more even breakup to the sound. When mixed with the 6L6's you get more bass but it becomes very splattered on the high end. I truly hated the 6L6's by themselves when the amp was distorted. When at the highest (3:00) gain settings using the 6L6's, the massive amount of overtones will smooth it out somewhat but by then your Tremonti again. Not a bad thing, just limited. If you rethink the way it's layed out it can be useful. Mesa's intention seemed to be like this: Channel 1 - clean, 2 - crunch, 3 - overdrive, 4 - lead. For me this amp would have worked if I could get more out of channel 2. Then 3 could be my lead and 4 would be Tremonti. For 3 grand I couldn't make that compromise.

Mesa has a good repution but this amp has a lot of features that could break. In between all my tweaking that my band endured the reverb quit intermittantly, and a couple of times when I went to channel 4 for a lead it was gone! Pretty embarassing. Remember, the reverb is supposed to delay a couple seconds before you hear it. That's normal on this amp. But it isn't supposed to go away!

One call and no call back. They forgot I guess. From what I heard this is rare but it happened to me. I took the amp back so I didn't follow up.

I've been playing for 25 years. Just like a lot of players I'm always looking for "my" sound. For me it's somewhere between a Marshall JCM 800 and the older Mesa like 70's sound of Santana. Like I said, I thought this was the most amazing amp I've ever seen, and I really wanted it to work for me. Maybe the whole rectified thing is the problem - I thought ALL amps have rectifiers to convert the current though? I swear, ALL of the Mesa line that are "rectifiers" (and I've played all of them) sound way to harsh for the medium volumes that I use. Maybe I'm expecting to much from tube amps at lower volumes. But the problem really wasn't volume, just cut. The sounds seems to come from the back of the amp. If you can give my some insight on this I would really appreciate it. The only amp by Mesa that I have'nt tried is the Mark IV. I'm hoping that it's voiced differently but not drastically.

I'm very critical...see my previous reviews

Around 20 gigs and not an issue yet...

Guys at Hollywood store are great.

As a heavy user of the Road King, I gotta tell ya the the thing with the reverb is not something I can even hear at stage volumes (clubs). I think my biggest complaint is the 8 - 16 Ohm speaker output...I'm only guessing, but I think it is fixed at 8 Ohms and when I plug my 16 Ohm cab in it seems like I'm not getting full power...which would be the case if the tranny is fixed at 8 on that output.

As a Mesa owner myself, I feel compelled to add my two cents. A couple of reviews down is one by "Phil", and he sounds like a very unhappy tyre kicker in terms of the low reverb level/reverb switching delay on the Road King he test drove.

I'll share what a Mesa support tech told me in response to my question about the reverb delay:

"Reverb cutting out for a couple seconds is normal. It has to do with the muting mechanisms in the amp (LDR's). They bring the reverb in slowly so there is no 'backwash' of reverb that can be less than pleasant to the ears."

In terms of low reverb level - most, if not all Mesa amps are like this. If you don't like it, there's an easy solution: don't use it, or don't buy it in the first place. Mesa reverb is very subtle and beautiful. If you need more reverb, buy a pedal/rack/Fender amp.

Updated from my last review

Was using a Marshall 4-by with G12T-75 speakers and decided that was not right for Mesa stuff...Bought a Legacy 4by with the Vintage 30s and it made a big difference....the grain is gone and the sound is fatter. Rock and Metal sounds improved big-time for my ears.

Not sure yet...8 gigs so far with no problem.

Expensive but worth it. Check out my band, 303, (www.303rocks.com) if you live in SoCal to hear the Road King first hand...It is the type of amp that takes time to learn and use...definitely worth it and an amp that could be your last if you put the time in

just played a road king head at the guitar center. a brand new one that was just put on the floor. i was drawn to the road king because of its versatility, 4 channels, reverb. feature-wise its packed... but it has its flaws. but for general features that it HAS it gets a perfect 10

its got all the settings i would ever need for playing live and studio work. it got me wanting to sell my coveted 94 tripple... till i played with it

i played my parker fly deluxe through the amp. i played with both the magnetic and piezo pickups. and the piezo pickups easily distort the input of the amp it sounds like. i have to turn the piezos way down so it doesnt distort.

it fits my style punk/rock/emo/metal stuff...

i can get a ton of sounds out of it, and it has the brutal distortion ive come to expect out of my tripple rectifier. but in this category came the deal breaker for me. i REALLY REALLY wanted reverb on the clean channels. it HAS reverb but it sounds really weak, and when you switch between channels, it takes 3 or 4 seconds before the reverb kicks in. how boogie let something this major slip by is beyond me because it sounds HORRIBLE going from full-on distortion to a clean, then the reverb kicking in late AND weak on top of that. blah. with reverb on 10, you cant even tell its there on the dirty channels.

this rating is based on my knowledge of the tripple rectifier. a 5 being what im used to... and anything else above and beyond that is added to with the road king. in this case it gets a mere 6 because the reverb is completely useless to me with the switching lag.

the only thing really improved over the tripple rectifier is more channels and the novelty of cab switching

the first road kind head i ever played MANY MANY months ago blew fuses like crazy. i blew two fuses at the guitar center while testing the amp on two occasions. i wasnt even up very loud. i heard that they recalled some of the early road kings due to some of these problems. my father repairs amps for a living and he told me that the volume and tone pots that mesa uses now are HORRIBLE compared to the older ones.

so if i ever DID get this amp i would have to play it in extreme circumstances for the guitar center 30 day return period to make sure it doesnt have problems.

but from what i hear, the problem with the fuse blowing is now fixed but the cheap-o pots... come on.

the only thing that keeps this rating at an 8 is that the cab/output/rectifier switching on this amp is SEAMLESS. the guy at the guitar center didnt have the footswitch hooked up so i had to switch it by hand on the back. i though "the switching probably lags on the tubes and cab switching and they dont want people to tell until they buy it"... but i got the footswitch and that all switched perfectly in time. its a shame about the reverb though.

never dealt with boogie.

ive been playing for 11 years, own a mesa tripple rectifier, two marshall 4x12s, 3 parker flys, ESP horizons, tons of pedals. this amp would have enhanced my range of sounds in a nice way. i could have switched between cabs with the channels, but like i said, the crap reverb sound and switching killed it for me. if youre going to do something, do it right. the reverb seems tacked-on and half-assed.

but if boogie ever made ANOTHER version with THICK (im talking fender/surf-level) reverb, id pretty much be sold. but right now the moderately attractive ability to have 4 channels is the only thing it has going for it, and thats just not enough for me to sell my hard-to-find chrome chassis rectifier AND shell out 2500 for a new one, or TRY to find an older one and hope it doesnt have the fuse blowing problem.

This is my first foray into the world of user reviews!! the reason?
This monster amp has successfully yanked me away from my beloved '85 JMC800!

Already covered elsewhere; take time to go over the manual, it's time well spent!

I'm using '70 Les Paul Custom, '79 Anniversary Custom, 2002 Les Paul Std, 1995 Les Paul Classic, '86 Fender Strat, '78 Hamer Sunburst,
Ibanez RG760 w/ EMG's. All sound awesome!!

Mesa Boogie has a solid reputation; don't expect any problems.

So far so good; no need to reach them yet! :)

I've been playing for 27+ years; owned lots of gear; this by far is
the best amp i've ever played through. Well worth the $$; if you play
covers.. do yourself a favor and consider this pup!! you'll need good lowerback strength; it ain't light!!

Features covered well before me...The fact is, if you play in a regular gigging cover band and play styles from funk to Metal..this amp will cover the bases...I needed one head that could give me Clean, Keith Overdrive, Angus Rock and Eddie Metal. This amp does it for me..it gives me the gain structures I need...

I needed 4 footswitchable sounds...here they are rated.

1. CH1: Clean: Endless possibilities...awesome tones...pushes air nicely..I think I'll never be in need of a clean tone..this one is a 10!

2. CH2: WOW: GREAT CHANNEL..I get everything from a killer SRV tone to a Stones overdrive..and that's what I needed this channel for...anything that needs overdrive with absolute clarity and depth...another 10 for this channel

3. CH3. Rock: I'm struggling with this channel but getting close o finding the sound I hear in my head..I need that Highway to Hell/Can't Get Enough/Too Hot Too Handle Rock tone here...It can be very grainy w/o punch if you get crazy withthe presence and treble. I know the sound is there..I just haven't nailed it yet. 8

4. CH4. Lead/Metal...This cannel get's it done..but needs some tweaking to get rid of recto buzz and find the sweet spot. 9

So 37/4...Overall sound rating ~ 9

No question here...awesome

If you live in SoCal area..check out my band, 303 (www.303rocks.com), to hear the tone first hand...It's luscious...I get nothing but praise about the tone of the Road King...I'm a nut-ball when it comes to my tone and will spend whatever time is needed to get what I want from this beast..Like I said the cleand and overdrive are really perfect..the rock and metal will take time to dial in.

I wont elaborate since others have already in this review section. Features I like:
4 channels with seperate tube combinations on each channel, 2 effect loops, and you can assign the effect loop to stay on one certain channels, etc. This can come in handy. There is a boost function for lead solos... this is very cool, no more relying on the sound man or if you don't have a sound man stooping down to turn your amp up on leads! (I've done that before). This alone makes it the most versatile amp for playing out I have ever used. You can assign different speaker cabs for different channels, which is very cool. Say for example if you wanted to use an open back 2x12 on clean and then a 4x12 or 2x12 closed back on the two dirty channels... it works flawlessly. I have grown to like the clean and distorted both through the 2x12 closed back though... easiler than carrying around multiple cabs. I have tried different cabs with this unit, and it's just magic with the 2x12 or 4x12 cab.

Extremely Versatile. This is not a modeling amp. It sounds like a Road King, which I like... it's different, but totally awesome. You can nail the Dual Rect sound identically. I use it with a 2x12 Dual Rec. cab which matches my setup perfectly. I like the straight into the amp sound, but when I need effects I use one effect loop with a Korg A3. One of the best things I love about this effects loop is when you crank the amp the input levels don't change to the A3... on most effect loops when you crank the amp it's time to re-adjust all the levels, etc. Because it's a dual rec, you can't really pull the Mark IV sound out of it... this amp is much meaner, in ways I really like it to be, especially low end. The clean sound is awesome also, it took me a while to get use to adjusting it to keep up with the distortion channel, but I now have it mastered. The sounds are endless.

I would give it a 100 for now, I have had Mesa products in the past with no problems. I had a Mark IV 1992 version with the tube sockets handwritten on the chassis... it had the original tubes and sounded awesome when I sold it last year. (Sold it to get the Road King of course!)

I have never had to deal with Customer Support.

I have been playing for over 10 years and I have never used a amp of this status. If this amp was stolen, I probably wouldn't be able to afford another one.. that's why there is insurance on it! I love everything about it, the only thing I will hate probably is when I replace all the tubes in it! "What's in your wallet!?" I compared this to a pletora of other amps, but none had the features I wanted with the plug into the amp sound quality, and I'm not into modeling amps at all right now... maybe when their better. Write me if you have any questions, I would even be willing to send sound clips if needed.