Road King I - Spring Reverb Issue

[asagi999]

Hi out there! Greetings from Germany. I am new in the Forum and this is my first topic, so firstly hello to all of you!

I have recently bought my first Mesa, a Road King of the first series built in August 2005.

Nice amp, but I am experiencing an issue with the built in spring reverb.

Other than in channels 1 & 2 - but where the reverb is still only very subtle even when fully cranked up - in channels 3 & 4 other than in Raw mode the reverb is barely noticeable also with the reverb pot fully cranked.

I have already measured the resistance of the reverb tank with a multi-meter according to instructions received from Trend, a technician from Mesa and the readings confirm that the reverb tank itself seems to be in order. I that case he as advised that probably one or more of the 5532 ICs or J175 JFETs on the reverb circuit is/ are faulty and need/s to be replaced.

I there anybody who owns a Roadking I that can confirm that there should be plenty of reverb available in all channels and modes as I have no experience with Boogies having played (and still playing) Marshalls in my other band.

Also I would like to know about the quality of the built in reverb when in good order. Is it advisable to get the built in reverb repaired or is it more worthwhile to buy a good quality external reverb and put it in one of the effects loops. I would use some reverb not only in clean but also in high gain modes to soften and enrich the tone.

Thanks for your help and advice in advance!

asagi999

 

[asagi999]

No reply at all? Done anything wrong?

 

[silentbob]

I have a newer Road King but there is far more reverb than I would ever want to use on all of the channels. I can't imagine there was a huge change in the amount of reverb available between the revisions.

 

[Amigone9012]

There actually was a big difference between series one and two. I have a series one Road King head and like you have to deal with the sub par spring reverb. On the series two it was upgraded to tube driven reverb which seemed to address the problem 100 percent. It does not bother me too much though because I can always run an external reverb pedal.

 

[siggy14]

Hi out there! Greetings from Germany. I am new in the Forum and this is my first topic, so firstly hello to all of you!

I have recently bought my first Mesa, a Road King of the first series built in August 2005.

Nice amp, but I am experiencing an issue with the built in spring reverb.

Other than in channels 1 & 2 - but where the reverb is still only very subtle even when fully cranked up - in channels 3 & 4 other than in Raw mode the reverb is barely noticeable also with the reverb pot fully cranked.

I have already measured the resistance of the reverb tank with a multi-meter according to instructions received from Trend, a technician from Mesa and the readings confirm that the reverb tank itself seems to be in order. I that case he as advised that probably one or more of the 5532 ICs or J175 JFETs on the reverb circuit is/ are faulty and need/s to be replaced.

I there anybody who owns a Roadking I that can confirm that there should be plenty of reverb available in all channels and modes as I have no experience with Boogies having played (and still playing) Marshalls in my other band.

Also I would like to know about the quality of the built in reverb when in good order. Is it advisable to get the built in reverb repaired or is it more worthwhile to buy a good quality external reverb and put it in one of the effects loops. I would use some reverb not only in clean but also in high gain modes to soften and enrich the tone.

Thanks for your help and advice in advance!

asagi999

The reverb should be better then that, sounds like your tank might be bad, best thing to do is if you have another amp or a friend with an amp with built in spring reverb is to borrow that tank to see if it works.

 

[asagi999]

Hi!

Many thanks for the replies so far.

At least according to resistance measurement the spring tank is perfectly o.k..

I would be very happy if someone with exactly a Road King I could contribute his/ her experience regarding loudness, quality and possible problems with the spring reverb.

In the meantime I have ordered an EHX Holy Grail Plus pedal which I hope will do for me.

 

[domct203]

Hi!

Many thanks for the replies so far.

At least according to resistance measurement the spring tank is perfectly o.k..

I would be very happy if someone with exactly a Road King I could contribute his/ her experience regarding loudness, quality and possible problems with the spring reverb.

In the meantime I have ordered an EHX Holy Grail Plus pedal which I hope will do for me.

Someone already did.....

There actually was a big difference between series one and two. I have a series one Road King head and like you have to deal with the sub par spring reverb. On the series two it was upgraded to tube driven reverb which seemed to address the problem 100 percent. It does not bother me too much though because I can always run an external reverb pedal.

As I understand it the RKII's reverb is an improvement over the weaker & thinner RKI reverb.

Don't get too hung up on this tho... While my Roadster has great reverb onboard, ultimately I end up using the reverb in my G-Major anyway because I'm able to tweak not only the reverb, but it's overall routing & mix in the effects chain.

I've also used a TC Hall Of Fame in the loop of my Roadster with no issues.

Be careful not to overdrive the input of the Holy Grail, use a reasonable loop send level, as well as your channel masters.

HTH,
Dom

 

[asagi999]

Hi! I put my new EHX Holy Grail Plus in the serial loop, selected spring mode, put all knobs on 12 o'clock and ... I like it!

 

[siggy14]

Hi!

Many thanks for the replies so far.

At least according to resistance measurement the spring tank is perfectly o.k..

I would be very happy if someone with exactly a Road King I could contribute his/ her experience regarding loudness, quality and possible problems with the spring reverb.

In the meantime I have ordered an EHX Holy Grail Plus pedal which I hope will do for me.

I have an RK1, my reverb stopped working but when it did work it was nothing like what you are saying yours sounds like, so not sure what your issue is. I think my tank went bad but honestly I never used it much so it wasnt a big deal to me.

 

[RPercival]

I have a RK combo (for another week) and I have the same issue as you. At any sort of low volume the reverb is barely noticeable and at higher volume it's definitely not present enough. I don't really use reverb much with that amp so I haven't done anything about it. My amp tech has been through it twice and never said a word about it so I have a feeling it's a normal thing.

 

[asagi999]

Thanks!

So many replies up to now.

Great Forum!!!