Boogie Triple Rec solo 150

[krimson]

I like my triple. When it comes down to having too much power the triple has a spongy setting which will allow you to crank the amp up using much less power. The clean channel is great and I personally like the headroom that my triple offers. I rarely crank it past 9'olock unless I use the spongy setting in which I usually end up cranking it pretty high. I have never had a problem getting tone out of my amp.

[Twisteramps]

Of course man. Don't you know what headroom is? Sure, amps that use loads of preamp gain are not that much of a great example, but it does happen anyway, these are tube amps and they do have compression, headroom and stuff that does affect every tube amp regardless of the design.

I have A/B'd both amps, many times, with the same guitar and settings, and the Dual happens to sound better, way more CHUGGY and compressed, more organic. The Triple sounds less "metal" for that matter and to me it sounds cold and plain, without that much gain. On the other hand, when recording, we always use the Triple for the cleans since they sound better (specially if you use high gain pickups) than the Dual rectifier, and this is a fact.

At home I have the Carvin V3 and that's the best thing I have played/owned, so far, so I don't have "at home" experience with the Recto's, but, I play with them at "band rehearsal volume" (meaning, loud) for 3 times a week, that's 6 hours per week, that's a lot of time, my bedroom amp gets like 3 hours a month.

Thanks for the lesson, your knowledge is amazing and I for one am glad that you're willing to share with all of us. I someday hope to have as much experience with amps as you do.

Pete

[LEOKV2]

Thanks for the lesson, your knowledge is amazing and I for one am glad that you're willing to share with all of us. I someday hope to have as much experience with amps as you do.

Pete

I don't get it really, I'm not giving a lesson, I'm just talking from experience and I thought that it would be of interest to someone. I never expected a guy to come and make fun of it with ironic comments. If you have something to say, then just say it. Even if you don't see it, there are people who may know about amps or gear in general other than yourself, you need to deal with that, and, with their opinions. Not cool.

[toejam]

I never expected a guy to come and make fun of it with ironic comments.

I think Pete's comments were more sarcastic than ironic.

[Twisteramps]

It's not the same experience I've had, and I've *owned* nearly 1/2 dozen recto heads. The other guy who chimed in - Matt, has probably played more gigs with a triple recto than you've played in your life.

I've built amps too, and currently have been modding Randall MTS tube modules for fun and profit. I have experience with these amps both as a player and a tech.

I'll state it again - A higher wattage head is going to have larger transformers. This is going to give you a bigger tone, EVEN IF YOU AREN'T SATURATING THE POWER SECTION. In general, you will get beefier lows the bigger your output transformer is. I knew a guy who gigged with a Marshall Major - I know you know what it is (you probably have them at your rehearsal place) but for those who don't, it's a 200 watt Marshall tube head. He never had his cranked, because it would have killed people in the club, but it was just deeper and bigger sounding than 100 watt marshalls at the same volumes.

Older amps had to have the power section overdriving becaue the preamps were fairly low gain. I have built 18 watt Marshall heads for a few folks, and they have pretty low gain preamps. You have to crank them to get any appreciable level of overdrive. It's a great sound, but if you run too much gain in the front end (like with a pedal) it turns to mush. An amp that has a lot of preamp gain will sound like a runny shit sandwich if you really overdrive the power section.

The Soldanos I had sounded better when you cranked them, but they didn't overdrive the output section. Same with the VHTs I've owned.

Do you even know what output tube/transformer saturation sounds like? I do, because I've built power amps for people that were low enough wattage to crank them and had built in attenuators.

Pete

[Spivonious]

mmm power tube saturation

too bad I can't get even close to it in my apartment

[LEOKV2]

It's not the same experience I've had, and I've *owned* nearly 1/2 dozen recto heads. The other guy who chimed in - Matt, has probably played more gigs with a triple recto than you've played in your life.

I've built amps too, and currently have been modding Randall MTS tube modules for fun and profit. I have experience with these amps both as a player and a tech.

I'll state it again - A higher wattage head is going to have larger transformers. This is going to give you a bigger tone, EVEN IF YOU AREN'T SATURATING THE POWER SECTION. In general, you will get beefier lows the bigger your output transformer is. I knew a guy who gigged with a Marshall Major - I know you know what it is (you probably have them at your rehearsal place) but for those who don't, it's a 200 watt Marshall tube head. He never had his cranked, because it would have killed people in the club, but it was just deeper and bigger sounding than 100 watt marshalls at the same volumes.

Older amps had to have the power section overdriving becaue the preamps were fairly low gain. I have built 18 watt Marshall heads for a few folks, and they have pretty low gain preamps. You have to crank them to get any appreciable level of overdrive. It's a great sound, but if you run too much gain in the front end (like with a pedal) it turns to mush. An amp that has a lot of preamp gain will sound like a runny shit sandwich if you really overdrive the power section.

The Soldanos I had sounded better when you cranked them, but they didn't overdrive the output section. Same with the VHTs I've owned.

Do you even know what output tube/transformer saturation sounds like? I do, because I've built power amps for people that were low enough wattage to crank them and had built in attenuators.

Pete

Yes, I understand what you're saying. I've played with old JCM800's and to my ears when you crank 'em you get that power tube sat, and so with some "vintage" heads. I also know that with amps that use preamp gain mostly (like most high gain heads today) won't be affected that much with power amp sat, altough in some cases there IS an effect going on when you crank them, good or bad mainly when in the clean channels. I also owned a Laney GH100TI which sounded best when cranked.

As for "my rehearsal space", no, they don't have a 200 watt Marshall, and again, I don't see why you had to be sarcastic with that. They have those 2 amps I mentioned and, like you, I speak from personal experience. I'm not a tech and I don't build amps or whatever, I just play guitar and I've been doing it for quite a while and I've come accross lots of amps too. These 2 amps in particular, I play frequently and that's the tone I get from them, and that's where I get my knowledge about them, from playing them. It may not be as "deep" as yours since I don't own them and I don't build 'em, but, well, I thought that playing with those amps frequently counted as an opinion, personal opinion.

I can also say that, from personal experience, playing with the Carvin V3 proved that the amp sounds best at volumes less than 4 or 5. And when I turn the wattage switch to 50watts, I don't get much of an effect going on, I only get dirtier cleans, but that's it.

I also said the headroom issue about the Triple Recto's, besides from the playing experience, because I remember that before buying the Carvin I was doing a very long research at different forums, I remember having long "Dual VS. Triple" threads at GuitarGeek.com and 90% of the people said that the Dual sounded better in terms of distortion, and they all mentioned the headroom thing. Also, I e-mailed Mesa Boogie and they replied many times that the Triple Recto's purpose was to get a louder amp with more headroom for "awesome clean tones" and they reccomended that if I was into metal and distortion, I should look into a Dual. That came as a side thing, until I had the personal experience of playing with the amps frequently at band rehearsal volume and settings, in fact, I just came back from there.

[kingv2002]

Thank You all....so my question is...who is right here?
Should I buy the trip or the dual?

[Twisteramps]

Yes, I understand what you're saying. I've played with old JCM800's and to my ears when you crank 'em you get that power tube sat, and so with some "vintage" heads. I also know that with amps that use preamp gain mostly (like most high gain heads today) won't be affected that much with power amp sat, altough in some cases there IS an effect going on when you crank them, good or bad mainly when in the clean channels. I also owned a Laney GH100TI which sounded best when cranked.

As for "my rehearsal space", no, they don't have a 200 watt Marshall, and again, I don't see why you had to be sarcastic with that. They have those 2 amps I mentioned and, like you, I speak from personal experience. I'm not a tech and I don't build amps or whatever, I just play guitar and I've been doing it for quite a while and I've come accross lots of amps too. These 2 amps in particular, I play frequently and that's the tone I get from them, and that's where I get my knowledge about them, from playing them. It may not be as "deep" as yours since I don't own them and I don't build 'em, but, well, I thought that playing with those amps frequently counted as an opinion, personal opinion.

Just curious, how old are you and how many years have you played?

Some of your info in this thread is bullshit, personal/total bullshit. Here's just one of your gems:

Nevermind the Triple Recto. It has way too much headroom, and that's a big NO NO if you play metal or hard rock and you like good strong saturated distortion

BULLSHIT! You are getting the distortion from... the PREAMP. The power section isn't going to add anything to a preamp driven cranked up mesa amp other than blurring of the notes and rounding off of the top end. Is this so fucking hard to comprehend? I don't care if you fucked the input jack of a Triple rectifier and shot your wad on the power cord, the PREAMP is going to generate the overdrive for that amp!

Do you know what cascading gain stages are?

Do you know what happens when power tubes and transformers saturate? It rounds the top end of the notes and will blur high gain amps. When you play fast with power tube distortion, the notes tend to 'splatter'.

I can also say that, from personal experience, playing with the Carvin V3 proved that the amp sounds best at volumes less than 4 or 5. And when I turn the wattage switch to 50watts, I don't get much of an effect going on, I only get dirtier cleans, but that's it.

Yeah, and you're running through the larger transformer too. If they made a 50 watt version of that Carvin (with the properly sized output transformer) at the same volume, the 'true' 50 watt Carvin would sound SMALLER! 50 watt Marshalls do not sound as big as a 100 watt one at the same SPL(signal pressure level) or volume. Higher wattage amps have bigger output transformers. They have more iron and windings.

I also said the headroom issue about the Triple Recto's, besides from the playing experience, because I remember that before buying the Carvin I was doing a very long research at different forums,

Well hell, if you heard it on teh intarwebs it must be true.

I remember having long "Dual VS. Triple" threads at GuitarGeek.com and 90% of the people said that the Dual sounded better in terms of distortion, and they all mentioned the headroom thing.

I wonder how many of those had owned the amps, or just saw em at GC or whatever. So 90% of all of them said it or all of them? You're pulling numbers out your ass. 100% of the people in my guitar room think you're full of shit. Wow, that's all of them!

Also, I e-mailed Mesa Boogie and they replied many times that the Triple Recto's purpose was to get a louder amp with more headroom for "awesome clean tones" and they reccomended that if I was into metal and distortion, I should look into a Dual.

Ok... so why didn't they sell you on a Single Recto? It's half again as much wattage as the Dual... I'm still saying bullshit on all of this. More likely Mesa makes more $ on selling Duals than they do Triples or Singles. I know they make a shitload selling tubes with a 'mesa' screen print on them, and fuck people over with their non-biasable amps... but that's a different matter entirely.

That came as a side thing, until I had the personal experience of playing with the amps frequently at band rehearsal volume and settings, in fact, I just came back from there.

Original poster: why not find both amps and listen for yourself? For every person that is going to have actual ownership experience or tech info, you're going to likely get an intarwebs expert who read that 90% of 100% of everyone agrees with them.

And if anyone else wants to do a little experiment at home, find a music store that has 50 and 100 watt versions of the same amp, and turn em up to the same relative volume. The 100 watt is going to sound beefier EVERY TIME as long as the tubes are in good shape, which makes me wonder how the tubes are in the rehearsal studio.

I'm out, going to work on some amps now. Maybe if I had a rehearsal where I just pretended to work on them I'd have as much gravitas as teh intarwebs expert.

Pete

[madryan]

Were it me I'd say get a JSX or a VHT, but that's me. I don't like any of the new Marshalls. I do want a Mark IV tho... I really liked the Splawn I played once but I'm not going to give a definitive endorsement based on an hour of messing with the thing.

Like I said earlier in this thread... It's all about what sound you want.

[LEOKV2]

Just curious, how old are you and how many years have you played?

Some of your info in this thread is bullshit, personal/total bullshit. Here's just one of your gems:

Nevermind the Triple Recto. It has way too much headroom, and that's a big NO NO if you play metal or hard rock and you like good strong saturated distortion

BULLSHIT! You are getting the distortion from... the PREAMP. The power section isn't going to add anything to a preamp driven cranked up mesa amp other than blurring of the notes and rounding off of the top end. Is this so fucking hard to comprehend? I don't care if you fucked the input jack of a Triple rectifier and shot your wad on the power cord, the PREAMP is going to generate the overdrive for that amp!

Do you know what cascading gain stages are?

Do you know what happens when power tubes and transformers saturate? It rounds the top end of the notes and will blur high gain amps. When you play fast with power tube distortion, the notes tend to 'splatter'.



Yeah, and you're running through the larger transformer too. If they made a 50 watt version of that Carvin (with the properly sized output transformer) at the same volume, the 'true' 50 watt Carvin would sound SMALLER! 50 watt Marshalls do not sound as big as a 100 watt one at the same SPL(signal pressure level) or volume. Higher wattage amps have bigger output transformers. They have more iron and windings.



Well hell, if you heard it on teh intarwebs it must be true.



I wonder how many of those had owned the amps, or just saw em at GC or whatever. So 90% of all of them said it or all of them? You're pulling numbers out your ass. 100% of the people in my guitar room think you're full of shit. Wow, that's all of them!



Ok... so why didn't they sell you on a Single Recto? It's half again as much wattage as the Dual... I'm still saying bullshit on all of this. More likely Mesa makes more $ on selling Duals than they do Triples or Singles. I know they make a shitload selling tubes with a 'mesa' screen print on them, and fuck people over with their non-biasable amps... but that's a different matter entirely.



Original poster: why not find both amps and listen for yourself? For every person that is going to have actual ownership experience or tech info, you're going to likely get an intarwebs expert who read that 90% of 100% of everyone agrees with them.

And if anyone else wants to do a little experiment at home, find a music store that has 50 and 100 watt versions of the same amp, and turn em up to the same relative volume. The 100 watt is going to sound beefier EVERY TIME as long as the tubes are in good shape, which makes me wonder how the tubes are in the rehearsal studio.

I'm out, going to work on some amps now. Maybe if I had a rehearsal where I just pretended to work on them I'd have as much gravitas as teh intarwebs expert.

Pete

I really wanna know what's wrong with you man, why are you being so aggressive, not to say, such an asshole? I'm 24 years old and I've been playing guitar since I was 12, and I've been playing it professionally like 9 years ago. Played many styles, mostly in the metal side. Owned different guitars/amps/effects up to my current rig.

Now, what's an "intarweb" ? Sorry for the ignorance but I don't know what that is. Second, when I was talking about the headroom of the Triple Recto I just thought or understood that "headroom" was the way to describe what I feel when I play with the Mesa's. The Triple sounds less "mushy" and the gain is not as good as the one on the Dual, while the cleans on the Triple sound much "cleaner" and crisp on the Triple. That's basically IT man. That's what I got from PERSONAL EXPERIENCE and I go through this 3 days a week for 2 hours, being doing this for years. I wonder if that counts Twisteramps ? Does it count ? I mean, really, me and the whole band are deaf? God man, I don't know why is it so hard to understand. That's the way it goes with those amps in MY case. Also, I don't own them but that doesn't make my opinion invalid, since I believe I actually play with them much more than I do with my Carvin!

This forums are mostly to give out opinions and in this case, I'm not a GUITAR AMP BUILDER or I don't own "DOZENS OF MESA'S" or whatever you started to say (sounding like a 13 year old), I'm just a guitar player who happens to use the two amps very often. I'm probably more like the guy who started the thread than you. Just a guy that plays, and I speak about my experience, I thought that's what he wanted to know.

I'm sorry if I called somethings wrong or whatever, I can be definately WRONG about the headroom thing (I think you are right Twisteramps), and I apologize for that. The headroom thing I learned at forums and websites, and e-mails from Mesa, now I don't know if they were right or not, though your explanation sounds more logical than theirs. But I do have to say in my defense, that I know that I get different tones with the two amps specially in the clean channel, and I thought I could call that thing "clean headroom". That's it. Take it easy.

[Endrik]

Thank You all....so my question is...who is right here?
Should I buy the trip or the dual?

dude what do you play?

[SEAN RAF]

I understand what LEOKV2 is trying to say about the level or tone of the overdrive in the Dual Rec as opposed to the Triple. In my own experience, I find the Dual Rec easier to play because of the fluidity of the gain, but again, that's my own experience... my ears, my playing.

Having said that, I sold both my Triple Rec and Dual Rec respectively in favour of a Framus Cobra as I found both of the Mesas to be cold and hard, though as I've already mentioned, the Dual was smoother and easier to play at comparable volume to the Triple...to my ears.

The Framus is almost perfect for me, but what would be a dream amp for me is a 5150 that didn't sound like a bursting dam between each chord change.

[kingv2002]

dude what do you play?

Video games Seriously I mostly play old type metal like priest, maiden, sabbath, ozzy newer stuff like tool or breaking benjamin, classic rock sometimes.

But I also like to mess around with blues and clean type stuff now and again So I like versatility

[Spivonious]

Sounds to me like you don't want a recto. If you're dead set on Mesa, check out the Stiletto, or maybe even the F-series amps. They will give you much more of a classic metal sound while still letting you crank up the gain for the modern stuff.