Time to stop kidding myself about Dual Rectos

[Rayneman]

I know a lot of you people here are divided in opinion about the Dual Rectifier, and now I'm starting to side with the against camp. I've had mine (3 channel Solo head) from new since January 2005 and I still can't get it to sound like I want it to. The bass is too loose and the gain is too fizzy, no matter what I do, it never alters these unfortunate facts.

In the time I've had mine, I've ran it on EL34's, replaced with new 6L6's and new 12AX7's, joined every nerdy web forum about tone in the hope of someone having a solution, ran it with EQ's and put every stomp box through the front end (the closest result was using the Line 6 Ubermetal...I know!!), all to no avail.

So what replaces it? Any ideas?

Dumb question - do you play in a group? I ask because for me, there are two critical items that are necessary for these big rectos to sound good (heck, sound awesome). One is lots of volume, but the other is a band mix.

I've fought with single, dual, triple rectos and t-verbs for years and now have a three channel triple. I don't even keep it at home, it stays where our band rehearses, and on the off chance that it does come home for some reason, I would never even turn it on because it sounds like shit at home, even if I get to crank the thing until all hell breaks loose.

For some reason, all the problems that I've had with these amps (i.e. the loose bass, fizzy/harsh high, lack of sustain) go away completely when in the middle of a band din. Don't ask me why, the amps IMO just are voiced in such a way to sit right in a mix as long as you don't turn the mids down to zero (but there's no reason to crank them either, despite conventional knee-jerk guitar forum wisdom).

Any number of amps will sound 100% better at home and/or reasonable volumes...Splawn (had a quickrod) Bogner (have Uber and XTC) most any VHT, etc...

I'd never have a recto as my only amp, I just can't get it to sound ok without all the aforementioned things in place!!

Good luck.

[Cleveland Metal]

For some reason, all the problems that I've had with these amps (i.e. the loose bass, fizzy/harsh high, lack of sustain) go away completely when in the middle of a band din.

I have noticed this as well. I was recently at Bills, and his Uber was UBER dialed hishy, and then when his boy started playing drums, it sorta seems a LOT better sounding. The hish got lost in the din...

I will somewhat credit it to the ears doing damage control and shutting down/compressing, or just being overwhelmed and desensitized with dB's (and cymbals) and you just don't notice the hish as much.

[SEAN RAF]

ORIGINALLY POSTED BY RAYNEMAN

"Dumb question - do you play in a group? I ask because for me, there are two critical items that are necessary for these big rectos to sound good (heck, sound awesome). One is lots of volume, but the other is a band mix."

I know what you mean about the band mix, letting the bass guitarist do the job that they're deployed to do. Thing is, that fizz is still there, as Cleveland Metal points out. Even in a full band situation I can hear it, though I am purposely listening out for it now.

The best sound I ever had was a 5150 60 watt combo plugged into a 900 series stereo cab with a TS9 in front while playing a Japanese Model 2 with a Jeff Beck in it. I have a rough rehearsal tape where it's just me and the drummer messing around with 20 second riffs (all taped on a saisho tape recorder). The down side of the 5150 was the unbelievable noise and the fact that it couldn't keep up with a TSL.

[lynchfan6]

I wouldn't go and try adding a bunch of stuff to the amp if you don't like the sound of it alone. I had the same problem with the Marshalls I used for years......BUZZY. At least for my taste. I went through JCM900s, JCM600s, and finally a TSL100 head for years. I finally blindly sold all of my Marshall gear for a Soldano HR-50+,,,,,,,without ever hearing a Soldano. When it arrived, it was the smoothest, creamiest gain I'd ever heard. So I promptly sold the HR-50+, dropped a ton more cash, and got a brand new SLO100. (to ensure that I wouldn't spend time thinking of upgrading,,,,as this is the sound I wanted, and the SLO was supposed to be, and really is , even better) I'm still in awe after almost two years. Point being,,,,move on,,,keep searching for the amp that sounds the way you want it to...it's out there and worth it when you find it.

[roodyrocker]

I've had a Dual Recto for about 6 years now and although within the last year I mostly play my Ubershall live, the Dual Recto did have some peculiarities about it. One of course being that it needs to be cranked to sound good, its definetly not a low volume amp for noodling at home. I tried that when I first got it and spent hours at home trying to make it sound good, just wasn't happening. The other thing is that it wasn't an easy amp to dial in but once I did find the "right" settings and cranked it up live on stage, that amp truly shines! I have no complaints about it. At one point I had a cap go bad and so did a friend of mine with his Recto. The clean channel degraded so thats one thing I wonder about if anyone has problems with the clean channel on a Recto.
I do prefer the Uberschall to just about anything else out there. I've run both these amps through my 4x12 Recto cab with V30's and I've even run my Randall RM100 through that same cab. I'm not hearing the solid state sound others mention. I'm also thinking that if you don't like the Uber, XTC, or Recto then maybe as someone else mentioned earlier a tube amp may not be what you're after. Those three amps cover everything from traditional Marshall to modern Mesa sound and then some so there isn't really much else left.

Rudy

https://www.wickedrocks.com

[zEr0]

I have had the same trouble with my Dual Rectifier and I just gave up and am selling it to get a Mark IV. A Recto will sound like a Recto, no matter what.

Best advice I've seen in these thread. I'm guessing that if you bought a Recto in the first place it's beacuse you wanted to have that great modern Mesa sound. You are not going to get it with a Marshall, ENGL, BOgner or anything else. I think you should definetly take a look at the Mark series since those are the amps that really defined the Mesa tone in the earlier years. The Mark IV or III are your best choices probably. Everyone knows that Rectos are one trick ponys. I have a Triaxis and the Rectifier channel doesn't get used at all. THe Marks just blow it away in every single aspect. Good luck!

[siggy14]

Recto's are not one trick ponies, I have seen them used in many different styles of music and sounded good in every style. I really hate when people say they are one trick ponies.

As to Mark's being better, that is just a matter of opinion and you should state that, everyone has a different idea of what there idea tone is.

Example lynchfan ended up finding his in the slo, he went through marshalls etc.. but the slo was his thing. Doesnt make the slo any better then any other amp, it is another well built amp and some people love it and some hate it. I have gone through two, wasnt really my thing, but then again i am not in an enviroment where I can go full volume with amps most of the time. And at the price i could get comparible tones out of other amps that were alot cheaper so i couldnt justify keeping that amp for that one great tone.

Anyway, back on track, Recto's are played world over by many big names and they sound great. These artists are not getting different amps, they just know what they are doing when it comes to EQ'ing etc.. Change of tubes and you are fine. Remember Mesa sells there amps with buzzy tubes because they know alot of people want that super high gain buzzy sound.

Best advice I've seen in these thread. I'm guessing that if you bought a Recto in the first place it's beacuse you wanted to have that great modern Mesa sound. You are not going to get it with a Marshall, ENGL, BOgner or anything else. I think you should definetly take a look at the Mark series since those are the amps that really defined the Mesa tone in the earlier years. The Mark IV or III are your best choices probably. Everyone knows that Rectos are one trick ponys. I have a Triaxis and the Rectifier channel doesn't get used at all. THe Marks just blow it away in every single aspect. Good luck!

[sakeido]

I changed my tubes for EL34 mesas and eventually EL34 groovetubes and still couldn't get my rectifier to not sound like a Rectifier. When you mic one you can set it up to get a truly different sound out of it, you could even make the vintage channel sound good, but without a mic playing through a Rectifier standard cabinet it is always going to have that huge bassy low end and recto sag.

[Fragle]

framus cobra. rectifier meets jcm800 with a touch of vht thrown in. no pedals necessary, although a ts9 in front makes an already awesome amp (wow, what an alliteration ) sound GODLIKE.

[SEAN RAF]

framus cobra. rectifier meets jcm800 with a touch of vht thrown in. no pedals necessary, although a ts9 in front makes an already awesome amp (wow, what an alliteration ) sound GODLIKE.

That sounds exactly like what I want.

I spent nearly $500 on tubes for my Dual Rectifier in November...still crappy low end and fizzy everywhere else

[zEr0]

Recto's are not one trick ponies, I have seen them used in many different styles of music and sounded good in every style. I really hate when people say they are one trick ponies.

As to Mark's being better, that is just a matter of opinion and you should state that, everyone has a different idea of what there idea tone is.

Sorry about that. I usually just state my opinion without mentioning every time that it should not be taken as an absolute law. I guess I still have some Netiquette to learn.

However, the fact remains: MY OPINION IS that Recto's are only good for Heavy-metal and even then you'll be suited much better with other amps if you play that style of music (I definetly do). Just my 2 cents.

[beachjammer]

I love my Recto but it's the single rectifier rectoverb 1x12 combo. I put a vintage 30 speaker in it and it removed all the fizziness to it that annoys some people and really brought it alive. Course that's just my opinion and the tone I like. Although the clean channel isn't as good as what's on other amps I frequently use mine to play country , blues and jazz stuff.

[nateb]

Recto's are not one trick ponies, I have seen them used in many different styles of music and sounded good in every style. I really hate when people say they are one trick ponies.

Especially since the Road King and Roadster series came out. They actually added a lot of functionality and flexibility with existing and new tone sets.

-Nate

[zEr0]

I love my Recto but it's the single rectifier rectoverb 1x12 combo. I put a vintage 30 speaker in it and it removed all the fizziness to it that annoys some people and really brought it alive. Course that's just my opinion and the tone I like. Although the clean channel isn't as good as what's on other amps I frequently use mine to play country , blues and jazz stuff.

What was in it before the V30? I was under the impression that V30's already were pretty brigth sounding speakers...

[Endrik]

However, the fact remains: MY OPINION IS that Recto's are only good for Heavy-metal and even then you'll be suited much better with other amps if you play that style of music (I definetly do). Just my 2 cents.

tons of jazz, pop and blues artists use rectos, I rarely see them using all those other hi gain amps mentioned here before