Hindsight is 20:20 - Road King I, am I missing something?

So I may pursue a trade for a Road King I head. I currently have a Roadster, Mark IVb, and Rectifier Recording Preamp and the trade would be for the Mark IVb. First, you might wonder why trade the Mark IVb? Its an amazing amp; iconic even. I love the crunch I get from Channel 2 and I love everything about Channel 3. The Graphic EQ basically makes a 3/4 channel amp a 6 channel amp and thats before you start pressing buttons and flipping switches on the front and back panels!

I would trade the Mark IVb because I like the Roadster more. I feel its a summation of all the best parts of Rectifier series while venturing into the territory of the Mark Series more so than any other Rectifier.

Now, I have combed the threads comparing the original Road King I with everything under the sun. From what I can tell, the later Road King II models differed by using two Series FX loops, borrowed Channels 1 and 2 from the Lone Star (as well as reverb), and added a tuner out. Is this fairly accurate? The internet is full of hyperbole so I'm lead to believe the Road King I sucks and doesn't hold a candle to the Road King II v.2. While I don't believe that, I want to clarify that there are no major issues with the original Road King seeing as Mesa did update the model rather quickly.

I'm fine with have a Parallel FX Loop and a Series FX Loop. In fact, I think thats one heck of a luxury! As for Channels 1 and 2, I realize the won't sound as good as the Roadsters or Road King II's. I'm not over the moon about the Mark IVb clean channel though so I see that as being "par for the course." As long as Channels 1 and 2 sound decent, which nearly every Mesa seems to achieve, I should be content.

I can easily talk myself in doing this trade but I'd like to hear from the more informed Mesa owners about the advantages/deficiencies of the Road King I. They seem to be fairly rare from what I can tell so there doesn't seem to be a large body of general knowledge.

Lastly, my tune would be very different if Mesa Satellite's were more plentiful on the used market? Is it safe to say there is high demand, low supply, and probably not worth the effort in trying to track down two of them? Or am I looking in the wrong places?

Thank you for reading and any help you can provide would be most appreciated!

If you can't find a satellite, you might find a Mark II or Mark III combo for reasonable money that would do the same thing, plus be a fine amp on its own. A little farther afield, even a .50 Cal, DC, .22, F50, etc. could be used as a satellite.

elvis said:

If you can't find a satellite, you might find a Mark II or Mark III combo for reasonable money that would do the same thing, plus be a fine amp on its own. A little farther afield, even a .50 Cal, DC, .22, F50, etc. could be used as a satellite.

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I was under the impression the Satellite 60 and 75 Simu-Class Satellite were basically neutral poweramp/speaker combos designed to be extensions of the Mark IV? What you are describing is Slaving the other amps (which is an option too). The Satellites are connected through the FX loop of the Mark IV which creates a fully integrated wet/dry/wet setup. It's a cool idea which is probably why I've yet to see the Satellites on the used market. But then again, I haven't been looking long.

Yet another option would be to get a stereo power amp and a couple of cabs.
Your Roadster will cover the same (almost exact) ground as a Road King minus some bells and whistles. Keeping it and the Mark IV will give you a lot more diversity if that floats your boat.

ryjan said:

Yet another option would be to get a stereo power amp and a couple of cabs.
Your Roadster will cover the same (almost exact) ground as a Road King minus some bells and whistles. Keeping it and the Mark IV will give you a lot more diversity if that floats your boat.

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The Road King deal won't be happening but you are ruth, the Roadster and the Mark IV give me diversity, but in addition to my Mesa Rectifier Recording Preamp I have a little too much diversity to properly use. The Road King and the Roadster would have been fairly similar at the very least.