Mesa please make a 2 channel amp based on CH1 of Roadking!

Everytime I play through a Roadking or Roadster I just love that clean/tweed channel. Awsome rock tones, even more Brit than the Brit channel. I can't deal with the overly squished, spongy high gain channels at all. I do dig the Lonestar Special but it's a different animal from that tweed channel on the bigger amps. I would be stoked with a 6L6 (30-50watt) head with that channel x2, plus reverb.
Wish I was rich enough to buy a flagship head for one channel.

Well.. they kinda do. Lonestar Classic.

skoora said:

...overly squished, spongy high gain channels ....

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You need to spend more time with the RK if you think that's what it's gain channels are all about 8)

Octavarius said:

Well.. they kinda do. Lonestar Classic.

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I've played the classic as well as the special and IMO it's not the same in tone or feel. I would have bought the lonestar if I thought it was the same.

I feel that Dual Rec model boogies are setup better for bolt-on neck guitars. With a Gibson I can't get a sound with any mid range cut/focus or articulate low end out of the high gain channel settings. The treble "sizzle" is another factor.

skoora said:

Everytime I play through a Roadking or Roadster I just love that clean/tweed channel. Awsome rock tones, even more Brit than the Brit channel. I can't deal with the overly squished, spongy high gain channels at all. I do dig the Lonestar Special but it's a different animal from that tweed channel on the bigger amps. I would be stoked with a 6L6 (30-50watt) head with that channel x2, plus reverb.
Wish I was rich enough to buy a flagship head for one channel.

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i would take a look at the express 5:50 because to me it pulls off channels one and two on the roadster really well. i'm going to go out on the limb and say i think the express' clean maybe better than the roadster or rkII. It has so much **** headroom for a 50 watt amp. granted there is no setting called "tweed" but with the proper settings of gain and contour you can nail it on the express. also channel 2's blues is heavenly with an OD infront as you can go from a clean fat sound w/o the OD to a awesome gilmore type lead sound with the OD. great amp which i recently fell in love with.

skoora said:

Octavarius said:

Well.. they kinda do. Lonestar Classic.

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I've played the classic as well as the special and IMO it's not the same in tone or feel. I would have bought the lonestar if I thought it was the same.

I feel that Dual Rec model boogies are setup better for bolt-on neck guitars. With a Gibson I can't get a sound with any mid range cut/focus or articulate low end out of the high gain channel settings. The treble "sizzle" is another factor.

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The Ch. 1 and 2 of the Road King and Roadster are based on the Lonestars. I know they don't sound the same, but it would be rather pointless of them making an amp based on two channels based on another amp in their product line, don't you think?

Octavarius said:

The Ch. 1 and 2 of the Road King and Roadster are based on the Lonestars. I know they don't sound the same, but it would be rather pointless of them making an amp based on two channels based on another amp in their product line, don't you think?

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Well, practice makes perfect. :wink:

I guess it just comes down to that the only time I plug into a Boogie and think, this would rule, is channel one of the RK. I've tried to like the LS and do think the Special is cool but they just don't quite make it. I've only played an Express 5:50 once and thought it was pretty good. I remember it being much more stiff than that tweed channel on the RK, but I'll try it again. Plus I find the tweed channel on the RK really only shines on spongy as well as tube rec.

It's all just personal opinions and I didn't intend for us all to disect tone per se, but was just curious if anyone out there was of the same mind. I seem to want to like a Boogie but keep striking out.

I should have said "an amp that is" rather than "based on" in the topic title.

skoora said:

Everytime I play through a Roadking or Roadster I just love that clean/tweed channel. Awsome rock tones, even more Brit than the Brit channel. I can't deal with the overly squished, spongy high gain channels at all. I do dig the Lonestar Special but it's a different animal from that tweed channel on the bigger amps. I would be stoked with a 6L6 (30-50watt) head with that channel x2, plus reverb.
Wish I was rich enough to buy a flagship head for one channel.

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Channel one of the Roadking and roadster amps are identical to the Lonestar clean channel.

Rocky said:

skoora said:

Everytime I play through a Roadking or Roadster I just love that clean/tweed channel. Awsome rock tones, even more Brit than the Brit channel. I can't deal with the overly squished, spongy high gain channels at all. I do dig the Lonestar Special but it's a different animal from that tweed channel on the bigger amps. I would be stoked with a 6L6 (30-50watt) head with that channel x2, plus reverb.
Wish I was rich enough to buy a flagship head for one channel.

Click to expand...

Channel one of the Roadking and roadster amps are identical to the Lonestar clean channel.

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That's true. But the power section is different, and I think that's what he's on about. There are some different modes in the preamp section as well, aren't there? :?

Octavarius said:

Rocky said:

skoora said:

Everytime I play through a Roadking or Roadster I just love that clean/tweed channel. Awsome rock tones, even more Brit than the Brit channel. I can't deal with the overly squished, spongy high gain channels at all. I do dig the Lonestar Special but it's a different animal from that tweed channel on the bigger amps. I would be stoked with a 6L6 (30-50watt) head with that channel x2, plus reverb.
Wish I was rich enough to buy a flagship head for one channel.

Click to expand...

Channel one of the Roadking and roadster amps are identical to the Lonestar clean channel.

Click to expand...

That's true. But the power section is different, and I think that's what he's on about. There are some different modes in the preamp section as well, aren't there? :?

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Correct. The clean/fat and tweed voicings are all excellent. I'm not sure if the power section is different or not especialy when you pick two 6L6's with spongy + Tube rec. All I can say is I definitely notice a difference between the two amps......and not a subtle one.

Octavarius said:

Well.. they kinda do. Lonestar Classic.

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Any Lonestar really.

I had an RKII and now have a Lonestar 2x12. I believe the cleans on the Lonestar are a better on the LS but that may be because I'm playing them through the open back cab of the combo as opposed to a closed recto cab. The LS lead channel is WAY smoother than an RK as well. Much more like a Mark. It has less gain than an RKII but so does just about everything else. It has plenty of gain. Enough for everything except for maybe Death Metal. But if you're a prog fan, specifically Dream Theater, it's got those tones in spades.

I bought mine to play while I wait for my Egnater preamp but I may never sell mine.

jdurso said:

skoora said:

Everytime I play through a Roadking or Roadster I just love that clean/tweed channel. Awsome rock tones, even more Brit than the Brit channel. I can't deal with the overly squished, spongy high gain channels at all. I do dig the Lonestar Special but it's a different animal from that tweed channel on the bigger amps. I would be stoked with a 6L6 (30-50watt) head with that channel x2, plus reverb.
Wish I was rich enough to buy a flagship head for one channel.

Click to expand...

i would take a look at the express 5:50 because to me it pulls off channels one and two on the roadster really well. i'm going to go out on the limb and say i think the express' clean maybe better than the roadster or rkII. It has so much **** headroom for a 50 watt amp. granted there is no setting called "tweed" but with the proper settings of gain and contour you can nail it on the express. also channel 2's blues is heavenly with an OD infront as you can go from a clean fat sound w/o the OD to a awesome gilmore type lead sound with the OD. great amp which i recently fell in love with.

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+1 on the express 5:50 I guess people don't want to hear it but, I agree, it may have the best clean on a boogie I have ever heard. I would love two channels of the that clean on the express.

jamme61 said:

jdurso said:

skoora said:

Everytime I play through a Roadking or Roadster I just love that clean/tweed channel. Awsome rock tones, even more Brit than the Brit channel. I can't deal with the overly squished, spongy high gain channels at all. I do dig the Lonestar Special but it's a different animal from that tweed channel on the bigger amps. I would be stoked with a 6L6 (30-50watt) head with that channel x2, plus reverb.
Wish I was rich enough to buy a flagship head for one channel.

Click to expand...

i would take a look at the express 5:50 because to me it pulls off channels one and two on the roadster really well. i'm going to go out on the limb and say i think the express' clean maybe better than the roadster or rkII. It has so much **** headroom for a 50 watt amp. granted there is no setting called "tweed" but with the proper settings of gain and contour you can nail it on the express. also channel 2's blues is heavenly with an OD infront as you can go from a clean fat sound w/o the OD to a awesome gilmore type lead sound with the OD. great amp which i recently fell in love with.

Click to expand...

+1 on the express 5:50 I guess people don't want to hear it but, I agree, it may have the best clean on a boogie I have ever heard. I would love two channels of the that clean on the express.

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it truely is a hidden gem in the mesa line

See, a lot of people talk about the cleans of the lonestar etc. but the reason I love Channel 1 on the RKII is the dirt. It's the raunch and the awesome klanging midrange when that preamp gets up there that I love. The Lonestar just doesn't seem to get as nasty when you wind up the preamp. Sure it distorts and you can play rock but it's not as raggedy, in a good way.

If your feeling spendy. Get a Lone Star and a Recto power amp. Slave the LS into the Recto power amp... :idea:

jamme61 said:

jdurso said:

skoora said:

Everytime I play through a Roadking or Roadster I just love that clean/tweed channel. Awsome rock tones, even more Brit than the Brit channel. I can't deal with the overly squished, spongy high gain channels at all. I do dig the Lonestar Special but it's a different animal from that tweed channel on the bigger amps. I would be stoked with a 6L6 (30-50watt) head with that channel x2, plus reverb.
Wish I was rich enough to buy a flagship head for one channel.

Click to expand...

i would take a look at the express 5:50 because to me it pulls off channels one and two on the roadster really well. i'm going to go out on the limb and say i think the express' clean maybe better than the roadster or rkII. It has so much **** headroom for a 50 watt amp. granted there is no setting called "tweed" but with the proper settings of gain and contour you can nail it on the express. also channel 2's blues is heavenly with an OD infront as you can go from a clean fat sound w/o the OD to a awesome gilmore type lead sound with the OD. great amp which i recently fell in love with.

Click to expand...

+1 on the express 5:50 I guess people don't want to hear it but, I agree, it may have the best clean on a boogie I have ever heard. I would love two channels of the that clean on the express.

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I'll give that a +2. I played most of the current production Mesas side by side for a few hrs and the Express seemed to suit my own personal style better than any of the others. The clean on the Roadster and Road King 2 are great, but they're definitely not as good as the Express in my opinion; maybe with the right cabinet it could be, but not with the stock one I played.

MrMason said:

I'll give that a +2. I played most of the current production Mesas side by side for a few hrs and the Express seemed to suit my own personal style better than any of the others. The clean on the Roadster and Road King 2 are great, but they're definitely not as good as the Express in my opinion; maybe with the right cabinet it could be, but not with the stock one I played.

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yeah i was blown away... and ive begun to wonder if it is the cab. i have a feeling the open back with the black shadow plays a big part in the headroom that amp has. that clean channel has been haunting me since i gave the 5:50 a whirl. i'm wondering if a black shadow loaded open back cab with the roadster would sound close... hmmmmm

skoora said:

See, a lot of people talk about the cleans of the lonestar etc. but the reason I love Channel 1 on the RKII is the dirt. It's the raunch and the awesome klanging midrange when that preamp gets up there that I love. The Lonestar just doesn't seem to get as nasty when you wind up the preamp. Sure it distorts and you can play rock but it's not as raggedy, in a good way.

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Right. When Mesa says that the RK II has the cleans of the Lone Star, they mean Clean and possibly Fat modes. Definitely not Tweed or Brit modes.

But you can get a similar very nearly clean in the Raw channel with the gain down nearly all the way, treble max'ed and bass far down. In some ways it has a magic nothing else has.

skoora said:

See, a lot of people talk about the cleans of the lonestar etc. but the reason I love Channel 1 on the RKII is the dirt. It's the raunch and the awesome klanging midrange when that preamp gets up there that I love. The Lonestar just doesn't seem to get as nasty when you wind up the preamp. Sure it distorts and you can play rock but it's not as raggedy, in a good way.

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I like channel one on the RKII too but, the Express 5:50 is different sounding then the lonestar IMHO ( i liked my express better then my lonestar). I would be happy with two channel one's on the RKII. I don't have a need for the recto sounds, of channel two.