An Occasional Chugger... Getting the Badlander to sound like a Classic Rect

[rarebitusa]

Yea, I'm much more experienced in the classic/hard rock/heavy blues genre. Currently my Badlander is setup for that style and it really delivers on the Crunch front. I know this is Mesas "New/Fresh Take" on the Rect. with a much tighter lower end but I'm curious how close it can get to that boomy rect thing. Only an occasional chugger here and while I'd love to have a real DR there's no studio room plus I have no shame in kinda faking that tone a bit.

Any tips on amp settings, signal chain even speaker/cabs. FWIW routinely run a GEQ in the loop. TIA

 

[Neptical]

Don't own a Badlander just yet ( would love the 50 ). But as a Recto,RoV, Mark III, Express 5:50+ and F50/100 owner, everything gets very chuggy with an SD-1 in the front ( to tighten ) and an EQ in the loop (less bass on amp, more lows on EQ ). Lots of bite but also fat/thumpy.
Of course, pending cab/speakers as well. Love my V30 straight 412 for this the best. Works fantastic for all my Mesa's so I'm assuming the Badlander would just sound amazing as well.

 

[bandit2013]

I generally boost the bass control up just enough before it gets woofy. Also increase the midrange and drop the treble down a bit. Do what you want with the gain control. Sort of the same trick I use with the RA100 but they are unrelated amps in all respects.

You could try the 5BGEQ on the front end instead of in the loop. Just an idea and never tried that move yet.

I would assume a pedal up front will aid in getting to that sound. The BAD just cannot replicate the sub-harmonic content as the dual Rectifier since it is a hybrid design. The BAD lacks the cold clipper circuit that is responsible sub-harmonic content you get from the Dual Rec (for me it is the Roadster or MWDR). The other thing that is missing is the negative feedback disconnect like you get with Modern mode on the gain channels. The closest to that concept would be the Mark V90 in Extreme mode on CH3.

I would agree with Neptical on the V30 closed back cabs. That would have a tight response. BAD sounds awesome through the V212 as well as the slant front Standard Recto 412 cab. I do not have a straight cab to make use of. Actually, I feel they are quite universal for many other applications other than chugging.

 

[bandit2013]

7 string anybody? The BAD does not disappoint with the 7. First amp with the Rectifier branding that I can run a 7 (Baritone scale or standard scale).

 

[bandit2013]

Nothing to see here, Chug along, keep moving, Chug along.

Just watched a history on the 2CH rectifier from its roots to the Rev G. Sure they had differences and such but one thing in common, they all used Chinese 7025 preamp tubes (unobtanium Beijing Square Foil Getter 6N4-J that Mesa used in late 80's through the 90's). Sort of wonder how much different the amps would have sounded with the current Mesa 12AX7 (ECC83s). Not trying to turn this discussion into a history lesson or to alter its course into preamp tube choice. For the record, just for S&G a while back after cleaning up the Roadster I decided to shotgun the preamp with all unobtanium tubes. V1 has a Mesa branded one, and the rest were Ruby (same tube but the Rubies were not recommended for V1 based on Doug's Tubes remarks). Talk about a total transformation. That made the Roadster work with the 7 string. Still had that deep sub-harmonic content but was tight and more balanced. Palm muting techniques did not drown out either. Will have to try that trick with the MWDR and see what happens. Yeah, those old 7025/12AX7 tubes will also work in the BAD but it will not give you that low end harmonics. It does add in some more gain characteristics. They are safe to use in the DC coupled cathode follower tone stack driver (V2) so no fear of instant failure like some Russian tubes. Mesa phased out the Chinese tubes in 2008 when they also introduced the Russian tubes, then the switch to the JJ tube in 2009-2010. The odd thing, the Mesa Mark IVB I bought new in 2000 had the JJ tubes as originals. I assume the changes for different amp models occurred at different phases since the 2000 Mark IVB had the JJ tubes. They were not marked with JJ logo either, they had Mesa printed on them just like the unobtanium Chinese tubes used in the Mark III.

Since the BAD is a hybrid of the IIC+ lead drive circuit blended in with the back half of the Rectifier amp, there is some sub-harmonic content, just enough so it does not dominate the spectrum of tone. Also, the post gain tone stack driver will provide a different characteristic to that lead drive circuit much like the Mark VII in crunch and VII modes. 6L6GC tubes can squeeze out some additional low end but it will not be as tight as the EL34 tubes as well as places a volume drop penalty on the output. At least with that, you can run the channel master higher to get to the same output level as the EL34 with it set to 9am. STR445 green, or grey code, STR448 grey code will give you some decent grind. Avoid the red and yellows as that will not give you the satisfaction. The BAD does rely on the early distortion effect of the green or grey tubes. It is not all preamp distortion. That is something I learned with the JP2C as it too is a Class AB amp. Sort of wonder what the BAD would sound like slaved into a Simul-Class amp. Just note that the channel masters will not have any effect on the loudness if you do that. It will be at full volume if the amp you are slaving into has no global volume control that follows the FX loop.