Cleans on the royal atlantic?

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diddlydan

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Im currently trying to sell my mark v head as while its a quality amp, its just not doing it for me.I have had it for 2 years and just fancy something different.Thing is when i bought the mark v, i was really after a royal atlantic but just couldnt find one.Im more a fan of british voiced gain than american voiced, so the royal seems more up my street.How are the cleans though?From what ive heard in vids, they seem pretty decent especially for an el34 amp.They sound a bit thinny though and dont seem to stay too clean.Perhaps that was just the settings in the vids though.My ideal clean is a lonestar and i will probably pick one of those up used with the sale form the mark v, and whats leftover ill ad cash to, and pick up a royal as theres a good deal ive come across.So ok cleans wont be make or break.How are they compared to the lonestar or mark v.Personally i much prefer the lonestars cleans over the V's(ive had both).Also i have tried a transatlantic for a few mins in a shop.Its was a 1x12 combo with the C90 speaker.I liked the gain(even if it was a tad bright,but thats the C90) and the cleans were ok i guess.Still a little bit thin and bright.Again it could have been the speaker and 1x12.So anyway how would you rate the royals cleans and what is it comparable to?Cheers
 
I recently picked up a new Royal Atlantic head and can hopefully give some insight to your question although all of this stuff is subjective.
Anyhow, my 2 current Mesa amps are the RA-100 head and the Mark V:35 head. My previous Mesa was a Lonestar Classic V1 head so here's my "opinion"; the cleans on the Lonestar were great (I liked it more with 6L6's than EL34's but would swap back and forth as it changed the feel of the amp) , the drive not so much for me. I really like the cleans on the Mark V:35 especially in fat mode with single coils or humbuckers running through a 2x12 cab. However, I like the cleans on the Royal Atlantic more than the V:35. It could be the bigger bottles, regardless I don't find it thin sounding whatsoever, just very very nice and full as well. The clean channel is also very flexible and you can obtain lots of sounds and change the feel if you engage the multi-soak. I run the head through a VHT/Fryette fatbottom 2x12 with pe50's and an old Peavey MC212 with WGS ET-65's. The amp sounds full and awesome through either or both simultaneously. I may still be in the honeymoon phase but will say the RA-100 is a great amp, one of my favorites I've owned. Now if I could only find a matching cab :p Hope this helps.
 
Ah great.Thanks for the reply.Would you rate the cleans on the royal as good as the lonestar or somewhere near?Personally im not too fond of the cleans on my mark v.They seem a tad brittle and to dial that out i lose all the sparkle.It could be the speakers im using though.Cheers
 
I don't miss the Lonestar at all. Not once did I say to myself that I wish I still had it. I find the cleans that good on the Royal Atlantic, others may or may not agree.

If I can find some time today or tomorrow I'll try to do a quick short recording of the clean channel on the Royal Atlantic as well as the clean and fat modes on the channel 1 of the Mark V:35. Single coil or humbucker guitar? However, the best way of course is to a/b the amp for yourself.
 
Ah man that would be great if ya could do that.I use singles for cleans. musicman silhouette special on the neck pickup.Which is why i reckon id need a full bodied clean as its a small sounding guitar.Really appreciate your help man.No bother if ya dont get the time.Ya have helped lots as is.Cheers
 
okay, this is a very quick unedited one time through comparison of the cleans as follows:

Signal Chain: Mesa Boogie Mark V:35 head > Two Notes Torpedo Reload > Wall of Sound plugin using 1x12 with C90 speaker in Logic
1st play through 2 parts: Clean Mode and 2nd play through 2 parts: Fat Mode, Telecaster (1994 with Seymour Duncan quarter pounders, toggle in the middle position)

Signal Chain: Mesa Boogie Royal Atlantic head > Two Notes Torpedo Reload > Wall of Sound plugin using 1x12 with C90 speaker in Logic
3rd play through, 2 parts is the clean channel on the Royal Atlantic

I set both amps tone controls the same, bass 11 o'clock, mid 11 o'clock, treble 1:30, gain at noon
It's fairly sloppy and I hope it provides a reasonable amount information to help. a/b in the same room with your guitar and ears is always the best.

Finally, I did not try for optimum eq, etc. just a really quick example for you. I did try to get the volume of each one close.

https://soundcloud.com/scott_r/royalatlanticmarkv35cleantest

Scott
 
Hey,thanks so much for doing that man.The link doesnt seem to work though for some reason.Just says "We can’t find that track.Did you try to access a private track while not being signed in?Maybe the track has been removed?".Is your track set to private maybe?Cheers
 
Yes, I accidentally marked it private, should be fine now.

Either click the link in my prior post or go here: https://soundcloud.com/scott_r/royalatlanticmarkv35cleantest
 
Actually its working now.Very helpful man.Much appreciated.The royal definitely sounds fuller although that could be down to it being 100 watts and bigger tubes.Doesnt quite have the sparkle of the mark though.Probably cos of the el34's.Sounds great though.Thanks again
 
The RA has been my main amp for over 4 years. I love the clean tone and the British gain modes. I have to turn the bass down in clean mode to get the tone I like which has sparkle and presence. The RA can be very clean and loud. The trick to staying clean AND getting a fatter tone is to turn the gain down and the master up. The higher the gain the thinner and hairier it gets. With the gain up there are some very cool edge of break up tones to be had.

The Mesa with probably the fattest clean in my opinion is the Electradyne. Both the ED and RA can hang with the Lonestar clean, but the Lonestar has a wider range of clean tones. I like the gain modes of the ED much better than the Lonestar which is why I own both an RA and an ED, but not an LS.
 
Thanks for the reply.I have a good deal on a royal im really battling not to pull the trigger on,as ive wanted one for years and could never find one.Only thing is i cant try one before i buy.I know ill love the gain just not certain if the cleans are gonna be an improvement on the mark v.Although going by the examples in the post above they seem fuller which is what id like the mark v cleans to be.I like the marks cleans,i just find em a tad thin.I had decided to just get a lonestar but now this deal with the royal has come up.
 
Just bumping this as id really like as much info as possible b4 pulling the trigger.From what ive read it seems the cleans are very bassy on the RA100?This is a good thing for me personally.From the few vids i can find on youtube,with the gain up around 11 oclock it seems to get kind of gritty?Is it just me or is that how it sounds/reacts?Are they clear and full bodied cleans?The mark v cleans for me are kind of missing some lower mids which can give it a slightly pointy sound which kind of bugs me.In the audio examples above it seems the royal is fuller sounding.Can anyone else chime in and give their opinion on the royals cleans.Good and bad.I may just go ahead and pull the trigger on this but i hope i dont regret it.Cheers
 
Where the gain starts getting gritty depends on the guitar. A Strat with stock pickups is completely clean with the gain at 11:00. My SG an LP with vintage pickups stay clean to 12:00 or so. I wouldn't get to caught visually with where the gain is set, it has a very wide range so that is can be clean and warm as well as gritty and broken up. It may help to consider clean tone range from 0 to 12:00 and hairy gritty from 12:00 on. There is no reason not to run the gain at 9:00 if that's where you like it. The master also has a wide range and you will still get full volume with the gain set low.

The clean sound is very clean just like a fender. I can set my RA to be almost exactly the same as my Fender DRRI. Fenders tend to be a little mid scooped! If you generally think Fender amps are full bodied then the RA is too! If I turn the mids up it will start to sound fuller, but also stiffer. In terms of bass the RA clean mode is very capable, but it really depends on the guitar and the speaker setup.

Speakers are the last big factor. A C90 has loads of bass and a good highs, but is a bit restricted in the mid range to my ears. I like the V30 much better with my RA, the bass doesn't get muddy as easily and the mid range is better filled. Top end sparkle is Ok. I have a 2x12 with one V30 and one Creamback that works really well for me. The cream back extends the range of the V30. That cab is well rounded and works well for both the clean and vintage fan modes. If I want more of a Fender scooped tone then I use the 4x10 which has a fairly warm low end and lots of topend sparkle and clarity.

Hope that helps a little more.

PS I forgot to mention the the RA definitely sounds bigger and more powerful at any volume than the TAs. I don't think you can really think of the RA as a big TA though they are still somewhat different beasts even though they are from the same family.
 
Ah great.Cheers for all the helps lads.Im just gonna have to pull the trigger on this amp and hope for the best.I know i will regret it if i dont.
 
Not sure if it's too late, but I've recently been playing my RA a lot as well as my Mark V (90) through a variety of cabs.

As reference, I have several amps, but a Lonestar isn't one of them. My Two Rock Emerald Pro is sort of my gold standard for clean tones, and while either the Mark V or the RA can get close, the RA gets just a touch closer, and has the extra channels to boot.

The RA isn't a Fender and doesn't get into Twin territory (at least not through a Greenback loaded 4x12, a recto 2x12, a roadster 4x12, or a Two-Rock 2x12.) I have an Egnater TOL100 with very Fenderish cleans and they just aren't at all the same to me. I used to play a vintage Super Reverb as well, and still have a DRRI.

That being said, if you like your Fender with a touch more mids (as I do) then you'll love the RA clean tones. And it has the added bonus of doing a pretty darn convincing tweed twin type of sound with the gain up past about noon (I have a Victoria 50212 and they are remarkably similar when pushed.)

The Mark V can get almost identical tones on fat mode with no graphic EQ, but I can't get them exactly the same, even through the same cab. I use EL34s in my Mark V as well.

Bottom line is my RA is going to unseat my Mark V and my Egnater for a while on gigs. I miss having the 4th channel that I have on the Egnater, but the tone in the RA is every bit as good and it's a lot more reliable. And it's a lot simpler than the Mark V to dial in for a new room.
 

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