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The
Road King is the first new amp I have owned in seventeen years, and
also the first all-tube setup since my old 80s Marshalls. Having heard
Mesa/Boogie amps many times live and on recordings, and having
reviewed a couple of models for a music magazine, I knew they were
good amps - that much was a no-brainer. Getting to know my own amp,
however, has been an eye (and ear) opener, expanding on my positive
first impressions and leaving me a firm believer that these amps go
way beyond good. They are everything their manufacturer claims them to
be, and as I explore the sounds of my new machine, I can see that this
instrument will have as much of an influence on my playing and writing
as the guitars I plug into it.
And the main reason for this is a simple one: Tone.
I have never really had that much of a problem ‘getting a sound’ out
of my amp rigs, and had usually found a good clean sound, a good dirty
sound, and gone with variations of those sounds for most things. I had
found a way of getting acceptably ‘airy’ warm tones out of my solid
state preamp and valve power amp, and stayed away from tonal areas
that the gear didn’t cut too well. As I have begun to get to know the
capabilities of the Road King I have thought about this, because one
of the first realizations with this amp was that there are no tonal
boundaries - it’s all there! The warmth of the amp’s cleaner sounds
won me over right away, and it was with nostalgic pleasure that I
enjoyed some of those soupy blues tones that - well, that you just
don’t get out of anything but a great valve amplifier. The high gain
channels give me some of the best distortion sounds I have ever heard,
with smoothness and sustain to burn while maintaining a tight attack.
And the sounds don’t stop there. The Road King goes from smooth jazz
to screaming metal at the press of a footswitch, and with the
impressive array of power and speaker options on the back panel will
handle any size room or performance area.
This beautiful amp is well named (I’m not likely to ever need another
touring amp), and I am looking forward to writing a full detailed
report on its capabilities as well as getting some of my new sounds
down on disc. Through my relationship with Mesa Engineering, I am
thrilled to be embarking on a whole new journey of sounds, tones and
music in such exalted company!
Peace,
Graham |
