2 Channel Recto: Dialing in Clean Sounds

[Silverwulf]

One of the most often asked questions I've received over the years has been in regards to how to dial in a usable clean on 2 channel Rectos. Most folks default to the "2 channel Rectos have horrible cleans, so just deal with it" approach, but I tend to disagree. While it will never be a classic Fender-ish type clean, I quite enjoy the clean sounds in them. They're more robust, bold, and certainly have their own character to them. While YMMV, and certainly everyone will have to dial in differently depending on everything from pickups, tubes, speakers, etc...I think there's a few tricks everyone can start working from to dial it in to suit their own taste. If you've had trouble dialing in a sound you like, I reccommend trying something akin to the following...

1. Clone "Modern" to "Vintage"

While it may sound odd to use the "Modern" mode that folks associate with rock and metal in the Red channel on the clean sounds, it serves it's purpose well on cleans too. It will give you a volume increase, brighten up the tone, etc. Try it and see what you think.

2. Dump the Mids & Bass

Yes, it may look weird when you're viewing it, but try setting the Mids and Bass to "0" (turn them all the way down) on your clean channel. The way this amp is set, reducing those frequencies significantly helps to clean up your clean tone, so to speak. You may find you like some added back in, but I'd start there and then start dialing them in if necessary.

3. Set the Gain Modestly

With the "modern" mode kicking your cleans, you'll find that you don't need to run the gain as high for output. Try setting the gain modestly around 9 o'clock to start and only dial in more as needed.

Give it a shot and see how it goes. You'll use the treble/presence to dial in the appropriate amount of high end, though extreme settings will introduce gain/grit and you'll need to back off your gain knob to compensate. Fiddle around until you strike a balance that's right for you.

With a few tips and tricks, I think you'll find a clean sound in the amp you're perfectly happy using. Rev C to Rev E are a struggle, but Rev F and G have a bold and robust clean you may just acquire a taste for. Hope it helps!

 

[YellowJacket]

If you have the gain set low enough, the clean on a 2 channel dual is serviceable and actually better than on the original 3 channel heads. That being said, the orange channel has probably the best crunch / lead tone for that amp so it is kind of a waste to use the orange channel in 'clean' mode IMHO. Lately, I just deal with a gnarly clean and use my volume pots for 'cleaner' playing. My playing style has evolved over the last couple of years to the point that I actually prefer this option and rarely, if ever, use clean cleans.

 

[cardinal]

I don't have a 2 channel (yet), but a trick I've used on a few amps (including a SLO and a 3 channel Recto) is to dime the clean channel's master and use the gain knob to set the decibels. On the SLO using the Crunch channel (not the clean), it gave me most lush and dynamic clean tone I've had using high gain channel switchers. On the 3 Channel Recto, I do the same in the "pushed" mode of the green channel. The clean tone still kinda sucks, but it's way better than just trying to run it in the "clean" mode with the channel master down low.

The catch on the Recto is you have to bypass the loop to get this to work right. I do that anyway since I prefer the tone with the loop out and I typically run two cabs anyway (so can just run wet/dry with the line out for the FXs).