External Switching; Power: Spongy & Bold - Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier Road King Amp Owner's Manual

REAR PANEL CONTROLS & FEATURES
PATCHING EFFECTS: (Continued) will increase the power section input sensitivity by an order of ten. Be warned, this will make the
OUTPUT level control extremely sensitive and the amplifier will be LOUD!
NOTE: See the section on OUTPUT in the CONTROLS section earlier in this manual for more information on using the Road King
as power amp only.

EXTERNAL SWITCHING:

These eight jacks are provided so that you may control the 4 Channels, the 2 LOOPS, The Reverb and the SOLO feature with an
external master Switching device. This is essential to use the Road King as part of a Midi rig where all sounds are called up via a Midi
WARNING :
To reduce risk of fire or
CH 2 CH 3 electric shock, replace fuse with
same type and rating only. Do not
expose this unit to rain or moisture.
ROAD
CH
FT
KING
1 SW
CHANNEL
EXT.
CH4 CH3
SWITCH
FOOT
CONTROLLER
SOLO REVERB LOOP 1
Two different A.C. power voltages may be Selected in your Road King by using the built-in Variac feature of the SPONGY / BOLD
switch.
POWER: SPONGY / BOLD
SPONGY works as a Variac to reduce all internal voltages, giving the whole amplifier a sweeter, looser feel and when used with the
RECTIFIER TUBE-TRACKING can achieve the elusive "Brown" sound. Clean sounds will be scoopier in the midrange and the top
end harmonics will move forward a bit in the mix. Overdrive sounds will seem more legato and spread out, feeling looser and slightly
brighter. Be sure to check out SPONGY in combination with the 2 x EL34 power section set to RECTO TUBE-TRACKING for the
ultimate brown clip. Another cool (literally) benefit to using the SPONGY position is that tube life will be substantially
increased as the voltage is lowered to the point that the tubes are way below their ratings and will last longer with
BOLD SPONGY
improved reliability.
Don't run your Road King in SPONGY for this reason alone...we have paid great attention to reliability and if you
POWER FUSE
120 V~ 4 A
prefer the sound in BOLD (we do for most sounds) by all means...roast the buggers. With our many years of amplifier
60 Hz SLO
4 A BLO
building, and our contact with thousands of happy customers worldwide, tube life and reliability seem as much luck as
anything else. Most customers never have to give their tubes a thought until they sound dull and need replacing as part
of a routine maintenance schedule.
FUSE
BOLD runs all internal voltages at their normal operating range and would be considered the all around, best sounding selection. This
setting provides the highest headroom for the two Clean Channels and keeps the focus intact and the bass frequencies tight in the two
high gain Channels. Use this setting for most live applications as it is the most versatile and powerful scenario.
Footcontroller and both amplifier and effects settings are stored under a midi program
number. The logic used to trigger these ports is simple tip-to-ground, latching type and
most Master switching systems incorporate several jacks dedicated to this logic.
LOOP SYSTEM
ACTIVE
The EXTERNAL SWITCHING jacks override the Road Kings' Footcontroller. Once a
CH2 CH1 BYPASS
LOOPS, SOLO
Channel or Feature has been triggered "On" at the EXT. Switch ports, it may not be
& MASTER
CONTROLS
controlled or turned "Off" until the logic at the Switch Port is reversed.
LOOP 2
(Continued)
PAGE 27