Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier Road King II Amp Owner's Manual
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Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier Road King II Amp Owner's Manual

Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier Road King II Amp Owner's Manual

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Summary of Contents for Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier Road King II Amp

  • Page 1 OOGIE Owner's Manual...
  • Page 2 Greetings from the Home of Tone Congratulations on your choice of the ROADKING as your Guitar amplifier and welcome to the MESA/Boogie family! As a discriminating player you probably know that you have purchased the most comprehensive instrument for amplifying Guitar that is available.

  • Page 3: Table Of Contents

    Table of Contents Precautions ___________________________________________________________________________________ 0 Overview____________________________________________________________________________________ 1-2 Getting Started ________________________________________________________________________________ 3 Helpful Hints ________________________________________________________________________________ 3-4 FRONT PANEL: MODES: Ch 1 & 2 Clean _________________________________________________________________________ 5 Ch 1 & 2 Fat ___________________________________________________________________________ 5 Ch 1 Tweed ____________________________________________________________________________ 5 Ch 2 Brit ______________________________________________________________________________ 6 Ch 3 &...

  • Page 4: Precautions

    PRECAUTIONS & WARNINGS Your MESA/Boogie Amplifier is a professional instrument. Please treat it with respect and operate it properly. USE COMMON SENSE AND ALWAYS OBSERVE THESE PRECAUTIONS: WARNING: EU: permission from the Supply Authority is needed before connection. WARNING: Vacuum tube amplifiers generate heat. To insure proper ventilation always make certain there is at least four inches (100mm) of space behind the rear of the amplifier cabinet.

  • Page 5: Overview

    Congratulations on choosing the Congratulations Mesa Dual Rectifier Road King as your amplifier and welcome to the Mesa Dual Rectifier Road King as your amplifier and welcome to the Mesa/Boogie Family! By Mesa/Boogie Family! By Mesa Dual Rectifier Road King Mesa/Boogie choosing this all-tube hand-built instrument you have taken a step into the future of guitar amplification, for as you can see at a glance,...

  • Page 6: Overview

    Overview: (Continued) This allows the Road King to be many amps to many players and roam confidently between extremely Road King to be many amps to many players and roam confidently between extremely Road King different musical styles while retaining the ability to focus in on any one and offer a multitude of great sounds for a specific genre. For example, a Blues player might dial up 1 &...

  • Page 7: Getting Started

    Getting Started: 1.) After unpacking the amplifier remove the plastic webbing from all of the tubes (including the preamp tubes behind the row of power and rectifier tubes) and make sure all tubes are seated firmly in their sockets. 2.) Install the 5U4 Rectifier tubes (if they are not already in place) by bending back the spring steel tube clamps just enough so that the base of the tube will have to barely push the clamps out of the way as they go in.

  • Page 8: Helpful Hints

    Helpful Hints: (Continued) 6.) The GAIN and TREBLE controls are the most powerful controls in all four channels.They should be used with taste and you will find that many of the best sounds are found with the controls set somewhere in their middle regions. Avoid setting the TREBLE above 2:00 when the GAIN is maxed as the possibility of unwanted noise and squealing from microphonic tubes increases dramatically above this setting.

  • Page 9: Modes: Ch 1 & 2 Clean

    CHANNEL MODES: CHANNELS 1 & 2: CLEAN This is the lowest gain circuit of the Road Kings’ twelve modes and is optimized for producing bal- Road Kings’ twelve modes and is optimized for producing bal- Road Kings’ anced pristine clean sounds.This mode is duplicated in CHANNEL 2 as it is extremely useful for many different applications.

  • Page 10: Ch 2 Brit

    CHANNEL MODES: (Continued) CHANNEL 2: BRIT This mode appears in CHANNEL 2 only and, as the name implies, was inspired by the great sounding amps of the 50s’ & 60s’ that were built in Great Britain. These classic amplifiers were basically “upside down Leo circuits” but none the less had a signature sound all their own, due largely to the fact that they were powered by the pentode available to them at the time…the Euro style EL 34.

  • Page 11: Ch 3 & 4 Modern

    CHANNEL MODES: (Continued) CHANNEL 3 & 4: MODERN Aggressive. This is the word that best describes the menacing power of the Road Kings’ most rebellious of all modes and appears in its original form in CHANNELS 3 & 4. A take no prisoners, crushing assault of top end cut and lightning fast response creates a sound of unparalleled aggression that has set a new standard for hard core sounds.

  • Page 12: Treble

    CONTROLS: (Continued) NOTE: NOTE: NOTE: Due to the Road Kings’ extreme gain potential, the highest regions of the GAIN control may possibly push the pre-amp Road Kings’ extreme gain potential, the highest regions of the Road Kings’ tubes past what they can handle, producing microphonic squealing. While we screen and test the tubes your amplifier was shipped with and the tubes in your amp passed our rigourous test, we can’t predict how the tubes will respond over time exposed to extreme gain settings.Your tubes are warrantied for a period of 6 months under normal use, but you can save yourself the present and future inconvenience of having to deal with annoying microphonic tube problems by simply using a little common sense...Don’t turn the...

  • Page 13: Mid

    CONTROLS: (Continued) MID: (Continued) filled-in with a focused mid attack appearing rather quickly. As you would guess, the feel starts to change - becom- ing more resistant. Above this region the MIDDLE control could be used to compensate for either weaker pick-ups or for times when a specific deficiency is produced by either an extremely high setting of other tone controls, or a physical anomaly in the room.

  • Page 14: Master

    CONTROLS: (Continued) MASTER: This control is the master feed from the end of the pre-amp to the driver stage and the Effects Loop. As you can see each Channel is fitted with its own MASTER control, enabling the four channels relative volumes to be matched regardless of their extremely different sound styles and gain signatures.The MASTER control makes possible a wide range of sounds through its ability to use very low Gain sounds at high volumes and conversly, high Gain sounds at low volumes and everywhere between.

  • Page 15: Solo Control

    CONTROLS: (Continued) OUTPUT CONTROL: (Continued) mode and CHANNEL 3 & 4 in the RAW mode. This will provide uniform input sensitivity and the only volume difference you will experience are those caused by the output power of the different tube harnesses. SOLO: This control is an additional output control wired in parallel with the main OUTPUT that you can pre-set to a higher level and then switch to during performances.

  • Page 16: Rear Panel

    REAR PANEL CONTROLS & FEATURES REAR VIEW : COMBO Road King REAR VIEW: Road King SPEAKERS OOGIE 2x6L6 2x6L6 2x6L6 2x6L6 NORMAL NORMAL NORMAL NORMAL WARNING HANDBUILT 8 OHM 4 OHM 4 OHM CH 2 CH 3 To reduce risk of fire or WARNING To reduce risk of fire or electric BOLD...

  • Page 17: Reverb

    REAR PANEL CONTROLS & FEATURES (Continued) REVERB: These 4 rotary controls determine the dry/wet mix ratio for the rich analog REVERB and are wired to the Reverb return circuit. Each of the 4 Channels have a dedicated control so that a different Reverb mix can be attained for each individual sound. The controls sweep from a subtle background effect at their low range to a drenched, swimming effect at 2x6L6 2xEL34 4x...

  • Page 18: Selecting Power Tube Array

    REAR PANEL CONTROLS & FEATURES (Continued) SELECTING POWER TUBES: 2x6L6 produces roughly 50 watts of bubbly resilient magic and is one of our favorite setups in the entire amplifier. It is wonderful for both low and high gain styles and has probably the best balance frequency-wise for both types of sounds. The low end is bouncy and rich, while the top end smiles with sweetness and seems to exorcise all the harsh frequencies and showcase the pleasing ones.
  • Page 19 REAR PANEL CONTROLS & FEATURES (Continued) SELECTING POWER TUBES: (Continued) 2xEL34 is similar in output to the 2 x 6L6 duo but oddly enough can at times seem more powerful to the ear and has a very different character. The emphasis here is on top end and a more urgent stripped attitude. While this setup works for both low and high gain sounds, the additional top end accentuation combined with a drier low end makes clean sounds a bit more challenging to dial.
  • Page 20 REAR PANEL CONTROLS & FEATURES (Continued) 2xEL34: (Continued) NOTE: It has been our experience that different types of EL34 seem to have drastically different sonic characters.The classic skinny EL34 seem to have drastically different sonic characters.The classic skinny EL34 German Seimens type sound much as they look, skinny and bright with a looser nature, and are by far the best sounding EL34 to our ears.
  • Page 21 REAR PANEL CONTROLS & FEATURES (Continued) revisits a harness we used back in the mid ‘80’s when we shipped our patented Simul-Class Mark II-C ampli- Simul-Class Mark II-C ampli- Simul-Class Mark II-C 2x6L6 & 2xEL34: fiers with a pair of each of these classic tube types.The combination produced a legendary power sound that was used by the heaviest of L.A.’s session players of the day.
  • Page 22 REAR PANEL CONTROLS & FEATURES (Continued) 4x6L6: is the tried and true power section for high power and great tone. This classic string provides the best overall balance for all 4 of the Road King preamps with no tonal downsides. There are no liabilities with this super tight, well rounded quartet as they Road King preamps with no tonal downsides.
  • Page 23 REAR PANEL CONTROLS & FEATURES (Continued) 2xEL34 + 4x6L6: is the heavy artillery for large venues, extreme headroom or for any time you need to add unequaled power to any of your sounds. This setting wires up all six power tubes to produce roughly 135 watts of crushing power and therefor, you may find it hard to utilize in smaller rooms.

  • Page 24: Rectifier Select With Tube-Tracking

    REAR PANEL CONTROLS & FEATURES (Continued) RECTIFIER SELECT with TUBE-TRACKING: This amazing feature takes our patented Dual Switchable Rectifier concept a step further and allows the tube rectifier circuit to track the PROGRESSIVE LINKAGE switchable power and provide the correct amount of rectification for each power section.The original choices of TUBE or SILICON DIODE are still in place but here, when RECTO TUBE- TRACKING is selected in each Channel Strip, rectifier tubes are selected depending on the needs of each of the 5 power sections.

  • Page 25: Speaker A/B & A+B Select Switch

    REAR PANEL CONTROLS & FEATURES (Continued) SPEAKER A / B & A + B SELECT SWITCH: As mentioned earlier in the SPEAKER OUTPUT section, this mini toggle assigns the signal to either one or both of the Speaker Output jacks. The default setting would be considered “A” and therefor the dummy shorting jack that protects the output transformer is connected to the “B”...

  • Page 26: Fx Loop & Patching And External Switching

    REAR PANEL CONTROLS & FEATURES (Continued) EFFECT LOOPS: As we mentioned earlier, there are two SERIES LOOPS for your processing needs. The entire LOOP section of the amplifier may be Hard Bypassed to omit all associated loop circuitry from the signal path.When BYPASS is selected, both LOOPS along with their controls, the Front Panel OUTPUT and SOLO controls and two 12AX7’s are taken out of the circuit.

  • Page 27: Power: Spongy & Bold

    REAR PANEL CONTROLS & FEATURES (Continued) PATCHING EFFECTS: (Continued) NOTE: Remember that the LOOP BYPASS switch removes all LOOP circuitry from the signal path including, 2 x 12AX7s’, LOOPS 1 & 2, and the OUTPUT and SOLO controls. NOTE: When using the Road King’s EFFECTS RETURN jack as a Power Amp Input, the input sensitivity will be most “normal” in CHANNELS 1 and 2.

  • Page 28: Fuse And Serial Number

    REAR PANEL CONTROLS & FEATURES (Continued) FUSE: This is the A.C.’s (Alternating Current) main fuse and provides protection from outside A .C. fluctuations as well as power tube failure damage. Should the FUSE blow, replace it with the same rating in a Slo-Blo type package. The domestic U.S. version requires a 4 amp Slo-Blo fuse.

  • Page 29: Factory Sample Settings

    FACTORY SAMPLE SETTINGS: CHANNEL 1 SETTING #1 Versa Clean 2x6L6 CLEAN 2xEL34 4x CH 1 EL34 2xEL+ DIODE TWEED 4x6L6 GAIN TREBLE BASS PRESENCE MASTER CLEAN PROGRESSIVE REVERB LINKAGE TUBE-TRACKING CH 1 SPKR RECTO LOOP 1 LOOP 2 BRIT CHANNEL 1 SETTING #2 Spank 2x6L6 CLEAN 2xEL34 4x...
  • Page 30 FACTORY SAMPLE SETTINGS: CHANNEL 2 SETTING #1 Skinny Skank 2x6L6 CLEAN 2xEL34 4x CH 2 EL34 2xEL+ DIODE TWEED 4x6L6 GAIN TREBLE BASS PRESENCE MASTER CLEAN PROGRESSIVE REVERB LINKAGE TUBE-TRACKING CH 2 SPKR RECTO LOOP 1 LOOP 2 BRIT CHANNEL 2 SETTING #2 Rhythm Mix 2x6L6 CLEAN 2xEL34 4x...
  • Page 31 FACTORY SAMPLE SETTINGS: CHANNEL 3 SETTING #1 Purring Blues 2x6L6 2xEL34 4x VINTAGE EL34 2xEL+ DIODE MODERN 4x6L6 GAIN TREBLE BASS PRESENCE MASTER PROGRESSIVE REVERB LINKAGE VINTAGE CH 3 TUBE-TRACKING SPKR RECTO LOOP 1 LOOP 2 MODERN CHANNEL 3 SETTING #2 Smooth Grind 2x6L6 2xEL34 4x VINTAGE...

  • Page 32: Factory Sample Settings

    FACTORY SAMPLE SETTINGS: CHANNEL 4 SETTING #1 Atlantic Blues 2x6L6 2xEL34 4x VINTAGE EL34 2xEL+ DIODE MODERN 4x6L6 GAIN TREBLE BASS PRESENCE MASTER PROGRESSIVE REVERB LINKAGE VINTAGE CH 4 TUBE-TRACKING RECTO SPKR LOOP 1 LOOP 2 MODERN CHANNEL 4 SETTING #2 Stripped Grind 2x6L6 2xEL34 4x VINTAGE...

  • Page 33: Diagnosing Tubes & Tube Maintenance

    TUBE NOISE & MICROPHONICS: You may occasionally experience some form of tube noise or microphonics. Certainly no cause for alarm, this quirky behavior comes with the territory and the Tone. Much like changing a light bulb, you don’t need a technician to cure these types of minor user serviceable annoyances and in fact, you’ll be amazed at how easy it is to cure tube problems...by simply swapping out a pre-amp or power tube! First may we suggest that you set the amplifier up on something so that you can get to the tubes comfortably without having to bend...
  • Page 34 DIAGNOSING PRE-AMP TUBE PROBLEMS: Because your amplifier is an all tube design, it is quite possible that you will at some point experience minor pre-amp tube noise. Rest assured - this is no cause for alarm and you can take care of the problem yourself in a matter of minutes by simply swapping tubes.
  • Page 35 BIAS ADJUSTMENT: (Part of a continuing series) BEAM- An Article written by Randall Smith that CONFINING ELECTRODE we thought you might find interesting. CATHODE GRID ..SCREEN ..GRID PLATE .
  • Page 36 BIAS ADJUSTMENT: (Continued) control grids. Voltage and current are NOT the same. Current is the AMOUNT of electricity, the “quantity” — and is measured in amperes. Voltage is the degree of electric charge — like the “pressure” to use the old water analogy. Let me illustrate how different voltage and current are: When you scrape your feet across a carpeted floor in dry, wintery conditions, your body can become charged with 50,000 to 100,000 volts of static electricity.
  • Page 37 How much money and trouble that has saved MESA/Boogie players you couldn’t estimate. MESA/Boogie players you couldn’t estimate. MESA/Boogie Our rigorously tested and hand selected tubes are available at your nearest MESA/Boogie Pro Center or from us directly. Nobody MESA/Boogie Pro Center or from us directly. Nobody MESA/Boogie offers better price, quality or warranty than we do ...

  • Page 38: Speaker Hook-Up & Impedance Matching Guide

    MESA/Boogie amplifiers can handle 4 and 8 ohms effectively. Never run below 4 ohms in a tube amplifier unless you are absolutely MESA/Boogie amplifiers can handle 4 and 8 ohms effectively. Never run below 4 ohms in a tube amplifier unless you are absolutely MESA/Boogie certain that the system can handle it properly;...

  • Page 39: Speaker A Speaker B

    SPEAKER IMPEDANCE MATCHING & HOOK-UP GUIDE: (Continued) PARALLEL: When wiring in parallel, the resistance of the speakers decreases. Two 8 ohm speakers wired in ( hooked-up ) Parallel results in a 4 ohm load. It’s easy to calculate the effect of a resistive load when all the speakers are all the same resistance. It is really not suggested to wire different resistive load values in Parallel ( 8 and 4, 16 and 8 etc.
  • Page 40 WIRING SCHEMES...Amplifier to Speaker Cabinets Partial back view of amplifier Partial back view of amplifier 8 OHM 4 OHM 4 OHM 8 OHM 4 OHM 4 OHM 8 Ohm Cabinet Partial back view of some Mesa amp 8 OHM 4 OHM 4 OHM 4 Ohm Cabinet 8 Ohm Cabinet...
  • Page 41 WIRING SCHEMES...Amplifier to Speaker Cabinets Partial back view of amplifier Partial back view of amplifier 4 OHM 4 OHM 8 OHM 8 OHM 4 OHM 4 OHM 8 Ohm Cabinet 16 Ohm Cabinet 8 Ohm Cabinet 8 Ohm Cabinet SAFE MISMATCH CORRECT MATCH Partial back view of amplifier Partial back view of amplifier...
  • Page 42 WIRING SCHEMES...Amplifier to Speaker Cabinets Partial back view of amplifier 16 Ohm 4 OHM 4 OHM 8 OHM SERIES BOX 8 Ohm 8 Ohm 8 Ohm Cabinet 8 Ohm Cabinet 8 Ohm Cabinet SAFE MISMATCH Partial back view of amp Partial back view of amplifier CORRECT MATCH 8 OHM...
  • Page 43 WIRING SCHEMES...Amplifier to Speaker Cabinets Partial back view of amplifier 16 Ohm 4 OHM 4 OHM 8 OHM SERIES BOX 8 Ohm 8 Ohm 8 Ohm Cabinet 8 Ohm Cabinet 16 Ohm Cabinet SAFE MISMATCH Partial back view of amplifier 8 OHM 4 OHM 4 OHM...

  • Page 44: Feature Article: Irishmen, Pentodes & Triodes By Randall Smith

    ON TRIODES, PENTODES & IRISHMEN: With apologies to Friends and Relatives from the Emerald Isle - who will make their appearance soon enough - the humor which follows is dedicated to the memories of Spec McAuliff and Fae (Rafael) McNally, two of the True Greats. As their numerical references suggest, the terms Diode, Triode and Pentode indicate the number of elements within the vacuum tube i.e.
  • Page 45 ON TRIODES, PENTODES & IRISHMEN: (Continued) Thus a diode tube - one with a cathode and an anode - is mostly used to rectify alternating current into direct current by passing it without restriction, but in one direction only. This also explains why closing time is strictly enforced at Irish pubs: During normal operation, the traffic flow is similarly unimpeded and uni-directional toward the bar and this process rectifies the work-day negativity.
  • Page 46 PENTODES: (Continued) Thus the proper cocktail waitress - visible through the louvers - is scantily clad so as to be all the more effective at reinforcing the attractive influence of her bar and by being located in between the door and the bar, she serves as bait to lure customers past the door’s negative influence.

  • Page 47: Tube Layout & Parts Sheet

    PAGE 43...
  • Page 48 PAGE 44...
  • Page 49 OOGIE The Spirit of Art in Technology Thank you for trusting MESA/Boogie to be your amplifier company and we wish you many years of toneful enjoyment from this handbuilt all tube instrument.
  • Page 50 The Spirit of Art in Technology (707) 778-6565 FAX NO. (707) 765-1503 1317 Ross Street Petaluma, CA 94954 5/25/06...

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