Mesa Boogie The Road King

Mesa Boogie The Road King

Once in a while a product comes along that redefines its genre… changing the way we think, and inadvertently becoming the alpha child that ushers in a new era. Such is the case in the world of guitar amplifiers with the introduction of the New Dual Rectifier ROAD KING™.

This most-over-the-top Recto offers 4 discreet channels that each house an incredible 3 modes of hyper-tuned pre-amp expression. That's right…12 modes! Yet as if all this shaping power didn't even count, his highness wagers the throne on a weapon of unrivaled stealth and ferocity. Progressive Linkage™. At the heart of this concept is a patented circuit sure to redefine channel switching in a no less important way than our introduction of the first High Gain Channel Switching Amplifier back in 1971, the pivotal MARK I Boogie.

Progressive Linkage made its ground breaking debut aboard our retro minded BLUE ANGEL and is based on the ability to select different power tube combinations for different sounds in the same amp. This feature enables you to have not only identifiable power signatures, but different wattage ratings as the separate tube harnesses are selected and/or combined. Amazing on the single channel platform of the BLUE ANGEL, this revolutionary feature comes of age, and for the first time is combined with the incredible power of this multi-channel amp in the ROAD KING. Quite logically though, the ability to select a power style globally wasn't quite enough to fulfill our large size Tone Jones.

So in a daring coup for the kingdom, we opted to leapfrog an evolutionary step and make these power possibilities channel specific! The ROAD KING goes where no amp before it has dared to travel by enabling you to pre-assign any one of 5 soulful power sections to each of the 4 channels. And in a final lunge, we pull saber from rock and earn the crown by dealing conventional channel switching one last mortal blow…RECTIFIER TRACKING™.

Choosing Recto-Tracking in any channel auto-enables the power harness you have selected to be matched with the perfect amount of juicy rectifier sag for the number of tubes in use. Here's how it works; both 2 x 6L6 and 2 x EL34 selections are matched to 1 x 5U4 Rectifier. Selecting 4 x 6L6 or 2 x 6L6 + 2 x EL34 engages both 5U4s'. And finally, engaging all six power tubes to run 4 x 6L6 + 2 x EL34 triggers the tighter sounding, more efficient Silicon Diodes to produce a punishing 120 watts of headroom. It goes without saying that this type of flexibility, by its very nature will change the concept of channel switching forever.

Imagine footswitching from a pristine CLEAN sound, using the bubbly bounce of a 50 watt pair of tube-rectified 6L6's - to a FAT clean voice that harnesses the headroom of a 100 watt diode-rectified quartet of 6L6's. Apply this same Rectifier Logic when dialing up a purring blues sound in RAW that roasts a pair of sizzling EL34's - and then switch to the smoldering VINTAGE mode pushing a mixed quartet of these classic tube styles for 100 watts of spotlight time. And if you need only one high power CLEAN sound, but need three ways to crush the masses with haneous gain, select PUSHED and set both channels 3 and 4 to the Recto's insane MODERN mode… select DIODES in all 4 channels and test your metal. However you choose to dedicate your channels, you will find the ability to match these on-board classic power amplifiers to your pre-amp sounds is - pure and simply Tonal Freedom.

And to buff the crown…Cabinet Switching. The KING grants two sets of Speaker Outputs enabling you to choose the cabinet style that best fits the sound you've created in each channel. Load Bank A with Open-Backs for the ultimate clean sounds and Bank B with Closed-Backs for fat overdive lead sounds or combine the two Banks for a huge blend.

So if you're ready to take your playing to a place you've heard only in your dreams, check out the Kingdom of TONE awaiting you in the New Dual Rectifier ROAD KING. The worthy heir in a long line of MESA Dual Recto's, the KING has come to teach a new way of expression based on uncensored Pre-power freedom. Make no mistake…this amazing collection of modern super-tuned preamps and classic hyper-vintage power sections morph to become the first in a new generation of switching amplifiers.

No longer will conventional channel switching amps be the choice of discerning pros'… together we enter the era of amp consortiums with the ROAD KING - an Advanced Amplifier Array. But be for-warned, once you've taken the KING for a spin… everything else is just a blues cruise

Features:

• Pure Analog "Recto Direct" Recording Circuitry (no digital modeling)
• 6x12AX7
• 2 Fully Independent Channels w/6 Modes (Channel 1 = Clean, Fat or Brit, Channel 2 = Raw, Vintage High Gain or Modern High Gain)
• Independent Gain, Bass, Mid, Treble, Presence & Master Controls per Channel
• Bright Switch & Pad Switch (Channel 1)
• Live Bright/Warm Record Voicing Switch (Channel 2)
• Record Output Level Control
• Live Output Level Control
• Solo Level Control
• Parallel FX Loop w/Stereo Returns & Mix Control
• 1 "Smart Power" Function Trigger
• Independent Stereo Main & Recording Outputs
• External Switching Inputs
• 2 Button Footswitch (Channel 1/2 & Solo)