Anyone ever see about modding a 2ch Dual to pre 500 specs?

[Anonymous]

I have a Rev. F that I really like, but I keep hearing about the Rev. Cs and Ds being tighter and more brutal, and a lot better for lead playing - not to mention they go for over $2k. Has anyone ever talked to Mesa about modding their amp to these specs? Even if it did cost like $600 - $800, it would be cheaper than finding one of the first 500...

 

[ibanez4life SZ!]

I think the problem with that is that the parts no longer exist.

Eric
The Endless Endeavor

 

[Elpelotero]

It can be done by Mike B at the factory, but you will lose all of the nice cleans on the F. The difference will not be night and day like you may think. You can get very close just by getting a $100 overdrive pedal to tighten it up. Speak to Clutch71 (Dave) about this. He's tried all my gear plus every other recto out there and he'll tell you the same thing.

 

[ibanez4life SZ!]

Well, I stand corrected. Isn't the whole deal with the pre-500 the Mark III Transformers? Does Mesa still have those lying around?

 

[Elpelotero]

A lot of the deal is the transformers, but his Rev F will also have those factory installed.

 

[fluff191]

I have a Rev. F that I really like, but I keep hearing about the Rev. Cs and Ds being tighter and more brutal, and a lot better for lead playing - not to mention they go for over $2k. Has anyone ever talked to Mesa about modding their amp to these specs? Even if it did cost like $600 - $800, it would be cheaper than finding one of the first 500...

You have a Rev. F. You already have an amp with the Mark III trannys. And like Elpelotero said, you will loose the good cleans. I have Elpelotero's old Rev. E, and the cleans are pretty gritty. Which some like (me) and others dont.

 

[Anonymous]

I have a Rev. F that I really like, but I keep hearing about the Rev. Cs and Ds being tighter and more brutal, and a lot better for lead playing - not to mention they go for over $2k. Has anyone ever talked to Mesa about modding their amp to these specs? Even if it did cost like $600 - $800, it would be cheaper than finding one of the first 500...

You have a Rev. F. You already have an amp with the Mark III trannys. And like Elpelotero said, you will loose the good cleans. I have Elpelotero's old Rev. E, and the cleans are pretty gritty. Which some like (me) and others dont.

I guess there's a few things I'm wondering about. First off, what is the trade off on the red channel for the C or D's tightness? Also, couldn't you channel clone the orange to be another red channel, then just have two crunch tones?

Cleans don't matter to me that much. I would never use any Recto - minus a Roadster or Road King if I owned one - for cleans on a recording; I've got an XTC 101b and an incoming Mark V for that. Live I'd probably set up the Recto to have a heavily distorted channel and a channel with just a little bit of gain.

I suppose what I'd like to see is a more in depth analysis between the C/D and F. Does anyone know of a comparison that's been done? Anyone care to share their opinions? Anyone in the Washington DC area want to let me try their C/D? :lol:

Thanks for your replies! You guys are why I keep coming here!

 

[Silverwulf]

Anyone in the Washington DC area want to let me try their C/D? :lol:

If you would have asked about 2 months ago, I could have let you play on 2 Rev C's, a Rev D, Rev F, and a Rev G all at once... :lol: My opinion...the Mark III transformers make very minimal - if any - difference in the tone. If you run a boost in front, you could dial them in so that you couldn't tell any of the revisions apart in blind tone test. My opinion is that Rev F or G are the best of the lot, especially if you need cleans. Is there a difference? Yes, but it's not as dramatic as people make it out to be and doesn't justify the higher asking price IMO.

I may be sponsoring another amp shootout in a month or two. I know guys that have every revision from C to G right now, so I'll keep you in the loop if we get together. You're more than welcome to come by and plug in.

 

[Anonymous]

Anyone in the Washington DC area want to let me try their C/D? :lol:

If you would have asked about 2 months ago, I could have let you play on 2 Rev C's, a Rev D, Rev F, and a Rev G all at once... :lol: My opinion...the Mark III transformers make very minimal - if any - difference in the tone. If you run a boost in front, you could dial them in so that you couldn't tell any of the revisions apart in blind tone test. My opinion is that Rev F or G are the best of the lot, especially if you need cleans. Is there a difference? Yes, but it's not as dramatic as people make it out to be and doesn't justify the higher asking price IMO.

I may be sponsoring another amp shootout in a month or two. I know guys that have every revision from C to G right now, so I'll keep you in the loop if we get together. You're more than welcome to come by and plug in.

That would be awesome!

I don't like the idea of a boost. It's not so much that I'm against the extra circuitry; I'd just rather get all the tone from the amp. Plus, I don't want to have to carry a boost with me!

The Mark transformers definitely seem smaller than the later ones. I'm wondering if that helps to keep some bass out, which is perceived as being tighter by the time it hits the speakers. Anyway, if you do the shootout, I'd love to check it out!

 

[YellowJacket]

Hey dude,
if you don't want to use a boost, why not swap out the pickups in your guitar for something hotter? I listened to a few clips of Rev C Duals on youtube (Keeping in mind crappy camera phone sound) and my opinion of them is that they really sound closer to a Soldano SLO than the later revisions. I personally love my Revision F but I also don't think it is all that different from a Rev G or even the newer 3 channel Duals. The dual still sounds like a dual, after all.

 

[Silverwulf]

That would be awesome!

I don't like the idea of a boost. It's not so much that I'm against the extra circuitry; I'd just rather get all the tone from the amp. Plus, I don't want to have to carry a boost with me!

The Mark transformers definitely seem smaller than the later ones. I'm wondering if that helps to keep some bass out, which is perceived as being tighter by the time it hits the speakers. Anyway, if you do the shootout, I'd love to check it out!

The earlier revisions are actually more bass heavy than the later ones. That's one of my biggest problems with Revision C and D - I hate how the sub-lows sit in the mix compared to G. If you want to get G closer to C/D, just crank the hell out of the presence knob.

I won't get into details, but I will say the Mark III 100W transformers had their issues that under the right circumstances would burn up the circuit board, so hope you don't have a meltdown if you have one. I can almost guarantee someone could swap out the older transformers for the ones used in G and people would never even know the difference.

 

[Silverwulf]

BTW - Are you the one selling the JCM 800 locally right now?

 

[Anonymous]

BTW - Are you the one selling the JCM 800 locally right now?

Yup! I'm in Arlington, VA but my gear is at American University. Interested?

 

[kk_welle]

The differences are small but I definitly like the rev F most. I do almost always use a boost with my rectifiers though.

 

[siggy14]

I am in Alexandria, VA, got Rev C as well as a friend with Rev G and I also have a RK1, let us know, we go out to my friends in woodbridge and try out different things.

 

[Silverwulf]

Scott over at Dragonfly has a Rev D.

 

[YellowJacket]

A lot of the deal is the transformers, but his Rev F will also have those factory installed.

Last night, my curiosity got the best of me and knowing Mesa's habit of scrounging for parts, I decided to check the serial numbers on the parts. My Rev F is a 26XX and the output transformer is a 562105 EIA 606 instead which I read is a Mark IVA transformer? (the power transformer is a 561136 EIA 606 though)

 

[Anonymous]

I am in Alexandria, VA, got Rev C as well as a friend with Rev G and I also have a RK1, let us know, we go out to my friends in woodbridge and try out different things.

Awesome! I've also got the Bogner and - hopefully - a Mark V coming in soon. If you're interested in trying those out, just let me know.

 

[Elpelotero]

I sense a boogiefest brewing....If you do, please look into doing a recording of sorts (vid or clips)

 

[Silverwulf]

I know Todd has the Rev C, and we all have a few G's laying around. I can probably borrow the Rev D from Scott to bring. If you want to make it more than Boogie, I'll also have 2 hot rodded 70's eras JMP Super Leads. I still have a faceplate I have to give to you (Todd) from about 37 years ago...sitting right beside me, actually.