Articulation as contrasted with other amps:

[Apoc]

Hello everyone,

Just curious as to how articulate you all find your rectifiers as compared to other high-gain amps out there. In general.

One of my main struggles with my Roadster combo was that the bass frequencies seemed to always mess up the articulation of the highs. For example, in drop-D, just playing a standard D chord but with adding the open D A D strings produced mush in the high strings if I tried to arpeggiate them. I've found that amps like the EVH and Engl's seem to retain perfect clarity no matter what I do. The Mark V is also stellar in this regard. These amps seem to retain clarity at just about all EQ setting and gain levels, whereas my Roadster simply would not at just about any settings. Oddly enough, the most articulate I could make ch. 4 Modern mode was with the mids almost entirely scooped out. For some reason it seemed that adding the mids in (which I prefer tone-wise) would congest the sound to the point that it got really mushy.

So, what is YOUR opinion on the articulation of a Recto., in general?

Furthermore, I've hypothesized that the reason for the EVH, Engl, MK V having so much more clarity/articulation is the added amount of compression that the newer modern amps have built into them. This would fall in line with why (I think) most people like to boost the Rectifiers with a pedal: it basically compresses the signal thereby making them more articulate. Anyone agree or disagree?

 

[ryjan]

My Roadster is just as articulate as my old Mark IV when I dial it in correctly.
What are your settings?

 

[YellowJacket]

I find the recto to be under gained / dynamic compared to a lot of other modern high gain heads, but I don't think this is a bad thing.

As for clarity, the amp can get muddy but this is usually solved at the guitar end of the equation. I'm going to try a Tung sol in V1 since I'm getting some tube trouble anyhow. We'll see how it goes!

 

[Apoc]

My Roadster is just as articulate as my old Mark IV when I dial it in correctly.
What are your settings?

That's really interesting to hear you say that. I've never had it come close to the articulation of a Mark series amp. I had tried so many settings I could not list them all. Alas, I no longer own the amp after 4 years.

My buddy has both a Recto and a Mark V and had played my Roadster a few times when I owned it. He can't get the Recto anywhere close to the Mark in terms of clarity UNLESS he puts a boost in front of it. Was the same deal with my Roadster.

What are your settings? I'd love to try them out the next time I come across a Roadster, and perhaps even my friend's Recto.

 

[Apoc]

I find the recto to be under gained / dynamic compared to a lot of other modern high gain heads, but I don't think this is a bad thing.

As for clarity, the amp can get muddy but this is usually solved at the guitar end of the equation. I'm going to try a Tung sol in V1 since I'm getting some tube trouble anyhow. We'll see how it goes!

I certainly agree that the Recto's are super dynamic, and I think it's because they're not compressed like the modern high gain heads. I don't think it's an issue of amount of gain, but rather the amount of compression. But I'm not married to my hypothesis by any stretch of the imagination…

 

[YellowJacket]

I recall your struggles with the Roadster, it's probably best you moved it on.

As many problems as I have had with my Recto, I'm glad I held onto it. I'm a different player than I was 4 years ago and I'm appreciating it on a whole different level. I just acquired another amp that does what the recto didn't.

As for string separation etc, Muddy guitar = muddy tone but I am slowly moving all my pickups over to BKP and it's helping immensely. Aside from this, you have to be careful not to dial in too much gain and be judicious where you set the treble. Since the treble feeds the rest of the EQ, it is the most effective de - mud tool aside from the bass.

 

[ryjan]

What are your settings? I'd love to try them out the next time I come across a Roadster, and perhaps even my friend's Recto.

Nothing too special.
Guitar is an ESP with the EMG Het-Set, cable straight into the Roadster, channel 3 vintage, 100 watts, silicon diode, loop active but empty, volume=noonish, gain=11:00, treb=1:00, mid=10:30, bass=12:00, presence=1:00.
Master volume to taste but the louder the better into my 4x12 cab.
These settings along with my playing style make my Roadster sound and feel really darned close to a Mark IV.

 

[Apoc]

Thanks for the input. I did move on but I have not ruled out a Roadster head and separate cabinet. I was certain that the combo version was not for me, but I am still not 100% convinced that I can live without that Recto sound…

The guitar is not the issue. I've tried the amp with many guitars with varying pickups. The friend I mentioned earlier has an assortment of great axes and amps that we've played through it and it's a matter of the amp itself since they all sound more articulate through the other amps we've played them through: Bogner Shiva 20th Ann.; EVH 5150 III 100 watt; Engl Ironball; Mesa Mark V; Peavey 5150 II.

We've found that the Mesas like the Mark Tremonti pickups the most, but still, without a boost pedal, the Recto comes out as inarticulate. The Mark V on the other hand… ****! Clear as day.

 

[Apoc]

What are your settings? I'd love to try them out the next time I come across a Roadster, and perhaps even my friend's Recto.

Nothing too special.
Guitar is an ESP with the EMG Het-Set, cable straight into the Roadster, channel 3 vintage, 100 watts, silicon diode, loop active but empty, volume=noonish, gain=11:00, treb=1:00, mid=10:30, bass=12:00, presence=1:00.
Master volume to taste but the louder the better into my 4x12 cab.
These settings along with my playing style make my Roadster sound and feel really darned close to a Mark IV.

Cool - thanks for that! I'll be testing that set up sometime soon (I hope).

What about modern mode? And how much do you think the EMG's help with the clarity?

 

[ryjan]

What are your settings? I'd love to try them out the next time I come across a Roadster, and perhaps even my friend's Recto.

Nothing too special.
Guitar is an ESP with the EMG Het-Set, cable straight into the Roadster, channel 3 vintage, 100 watts, silicon diode, loop active but empty, volume=noonish, gain=11:00, treb=1:00, mid=10:30, bass=12:00, presence=1:00.
Master volume to taste but the louder the better into my 4x12 cab.
These settings along with my playing style make my Roadster sound and feel really darned close to a Mark IV.

Cool - thanks for that! I'll be testing that set up sometime soon (I hope).

What about modern mode? And how much do you think the EMG's help with the clarity?

If I'm using modern mode I keep my setting close to vintage but I turn down the volume and bass a bit. In this mode you kind of give up having any say so and are pretty much just along for the ride. :lol:
The EMG Het Set pickups don't add to the clarity at least to me because they are darker sounding than a typical EMG 81. I can easily compensate by increasing the presence if needed.

 

[knotts]

I don't do the high gains as much with my roadster. With that said, I know exactly what you're talking about. For me, Tungsol in V1 made a big difference. To make the rest better, I retubed the entire preamp section. Better articulation across all channels. I asked Doug to give me something for classic rock but I would imagine he would give you something a little different for metal.

The other difference was my guitar, but you've ruled that out.

I played my Lonestar with a Forest Green Compressor / Sustain pedal in the signal chain. It was on all of the time because the amp just sounded better with a little boost in the signal. If the pedal gets you the tone or articulation that you're looking for, I'm not sure it really matters.