Difference between Dual recto and Marks??

[jlomonac]

hello hello!

i've heard and read of both DRs and Marks but never really about the differences between them. personally i own a DR roadster, but i've never tried the Mark series. anyone want enlighten me with some differences??

Thanks!

 

[dodger916]

Briefly, Marks are more "articulate" or tighter (some say stiffer) sounding amps...all diode rectification. Marks are also more mid and upper-mid range focused, whereas Rectifiers are about that broad bottom end.

 

[SteveO]

Briefly, Marks are more "articulate" or tighter (some say stiffer) sounding amps...all diode rectification. Marks are also more mid and upper-mid range focused, whereas Rectifiers are about that broad bottom end.

The Mark V is diodes in 90W mode, tube or diode in 45W mode, and tube in 10W mode. The Mark V can approximate a Dual Rec's high-gain channel a little better than the Dual Rec can approximate a Mark's high-gain channel, but the clean and crunch modes are fairly similar. I had a Roadster, it was replaced by a Mark V. If you're into more of a metal chugga-chugga thing, the Roadster has that in spades, but if you're more into singing, sustaining lead tones, the Mark is the way to go.

 

[webrthomson]

Hey Dude,

It’s also worth bearing in mind that the Marks have a much better clean channel, especially the Mark II's IMHO – it’s just not what the rectos were designed for ;-)

Contrasting the Mark's to the recto's is kinda hard as they do pretty different things, but essentially the rectos have more gain and bass, the marks (from about the IIC+) have that master of puppets tone - with the IV being the most saturated but also a touch clinical sounding to my ears!

I can't comment on the Mark V as I've yet to get my grubby paws on one!

It's also worth thinking about what type of recto you are talking about - the two channels sound pretty different to the three channel ones - at least to my ears anyway.

 

[madryan]

The Mark's are a plate driven tonestack which is all pre-gain with the graphic post gain. What this means is you have much more control over the tone and feel of the amp than most other amps. Additionally, they're simul class and there's some other neat tricks that make them really 3D sounding. Much smoother and fuller sounding than the Rectifiers which I've always thought sounded like they had a hole in their sound.

The Rectifier's are a copy of the SLO preamp circuit which is sort of a modified cathode follower Marshall style tonestack. Somewhat different in lots of ways and really apples and oranges compared to the Mark series amps. I've owned both and have always preferred the Mark's.

Both amps have lots of gain but the Mark's are clearer (depending on how you dial them in) and overall much less fizzy. Rectifiers aren't as good for low volume but they do that huge Rectifier sound great. They're voiced quite a bit different than the SLO and aren't nearly as stiff.

 

[jlomonac]

thnx! sound interesting, maybe i'll go and test one out at the music store. :mrgreen:

 

[goneloco]

I vote for Mark the 5th. He's a cool dude!

 

[CoG]

I don't think it's unfair to say that the Mark tone stack is not super useful--- you need the GEQ for any kind of versatility.

If you have a Roadster I would honestly say that you have better cleans than any Mark amp including the Mark V, and with a boost and EQ pedal and using EL34s sometimes, you can do pretty much anything a Mark IV can plus a bunch of things it can't. If you think you can't play liquid leads on a Roadster, go on Ch3 Vintage, roll the bass and presence down to about 9:30, mids and treble at 1:00, gain at noon, master at noon, and smack the front end with a TS-style boost with the Gain up, Drive off, and Tone depending on your guitar. Then you can still use Ch4 for the Recto boom.

 

[Heritage Softail]

I own a MKV and a Rec. After spending much time trying to find out about tube swaps and tone tweaks to get a rec sound, I just bought a used Rec. It would not be wise to screw up a perfectly good MKV chasing Rec tone anyway. With the EQ and max gain in the channel 3 MK IV mode there is a Rec like tone. Not as bumble bee buzzy though. In my ear the MKV likes the double coil pickups a little better. The REC in a high gain mode drives just about any pickup to good chugging. The MKV clean covers a Dire Straits clean lead superbly. I can't find that tone in my Rec. Both great but totally different amps. It's only money, you obviously need both..... :wink:

 

[madryan]

I don't think it's unfair to say that the Mark tone stack is not super useful--- you need the GEQ for any kind of versatility.

If you have a Roadster I would honestly say that you have better cleans than any Mark amp including the Mark V, and with a boost and EQ pedal and using EL34s sometimes, you can do pretty much anything a Mark IV can plus a bunch of things it can't. If you think you can't play liquid leads on a Roadster, go on Ch3 Vintage, roll the bass and presence down to about 9:30, mids and treble at 1:00, gain at noon, master at noon, and smack the front end with a TS-style boost with the Gain up, Drive off, and Tone depending on your guitar. Then you can still use Ch4 for the Recto boom.

Having had a Lonestar Classic, a Road King II and my Mark V all in the same room I'd beg to disagree.

While the preamp circuit in the RK is allegedly identical to the lonestar it's not in practice because the power section is totally different.

I could exactly duplicate the Lonestar cleans with the Mark V in both tone and feel but I couldn't come close with the RK-II no matter what I did.

It's apples and oranges. The RK/Roadster still has by far the best cleans in a rectifier but they're not on par with a Lonestar/Mark V.