Dual Recto AND Stiletto?

[TheStoner]

Lots of reviews/comments say that the Dual Recto and Stiletto compliment each other well in the way they cover the "sonic spectrum". Well I always have to take two amps to every gig (in case one goes down) so I thought why not take a Dual Recto and a Stiletto and run them BOTH TOGETHER off a "Y" cable? In theory it should give you the all time greatest guitar sound - has anyone tried it?

 

[MesaENGR412]

I'm in a three guitarist band, with the third guitarist being the lead singer and only playing on a few songs. That said, I have a Triple Rectifer 3 channel, and the other guitarist in my band just bought a Stilleto Duece Series 1. There is not as much gain on the Stilleto as the Recto, but they both have a distinct sound in them, and because of that we do not copy each other tone wise. This, to me, sounds great! With each guitarist being able to scoop out our own sound, neither of us really gets drowned out, and the audience can always tell us apart when we are playing similar riffs. I don't know about your case though, the amps are really meant for a two guitar band, like our case. Running them simultaneously may sound great as well, but if there is another guitarist in your band, it will be difficult for him to be heard or be able find his unique sound in the mix. If you're on your own, then I'd say why not. Try it in the store first though, or if you know someone that has a Stilleto, because they are definately a whole other animal than the Recto line.

That's my 0.02

-AJH

 

[ibanez4life SZ!]

If you're the only guitarist in the band, it would work amazingly....otherwise, I think any other quitarists would have a har time cutting through!

But it does sound great! They compliment each other perfectly for THE tone!

 

[jbird]

Well I always have to take two amps to every gig (in case one goes down) so I thought why not take a Dual Recto and a Stiletto and run them BOTH TOGETHER off a "Y" cable?

Why do you lack the confidence of reliability within your Mesa? I would think a spare pre-amp tube, a set of power tubes, and maybe a fuse would suffice! And I don't even bring that stuff with me!

 

[TheStoner]

I had really bad experiences with a Nomad combo a few years back - it just totally shut down on me, not something a tube change could fix. Lack of backup meant the end of the gig - big disaster! I swore that would never happen to me again...

 

[Mr_You]

You might consider your other options too such as..

- A LoneStar (supposed "better" clean than dual recto+nice marshall-like overdrive tone).
- Upgrade your main amp to something like a Roadster and use the Dual-Recto as your backup.

By adding another amp that you plan to use in parallel with the dual-recto, adds complexity and you'll rely on it to get *your* tone, I would think.

Complexity in the sense of how do you plan to combine your signals and channel switching? Will be interesting to hear what you decide to do. I like the idea and wonder about the technical requirements and whether its worth it in the end.

 

[broknstuff]

I think if your set on the idea of lugging 2 heads around to shows, those 2 would be a great combo. Again take this with a grain of salt, because I've only heard clilps of the stiletto. But it is not unheard of for a guitarist to run 2 different amps to get a huge wall of sound. If your the only guitarist in your band, and you don't mind carrying around an extra head, I'd say go for it! And if one goes down, then just rely on the second one. If you're ever going to record it'd be nice to have both of these to get different sounds, and layering. Also, if you ever get a second guitarist with good chops but no equipment, or one of his amps blows during a show, you have the backup right there, that he/she can easily plug into or borrow. Or lets say your singer plays rhythem on a song or two, you could easily just have him/her plug into your setup. Really the only downside is the added hassle of bringing it/weight (well aside from being able to afford it, but if your thinking about it I'm assuming you can). Having said that, it's not like that downside is terribly small or insignificant either; that really depend on your situation/transportation/setup time requirements etc etc. But if your set on carrying a second head to a gig already, I don't see why you wouldn't at least experiment running both at the same time.

One thing though, you might want something like an Axess BS-2 buffer/spliter instead of just a Y-cable. It has isolated outs, so when you use it to plug into 2 different amp heads, you won't get nasty ground loop hum. Plus it also has a 3rd tuner out, so if you have a tuner it'd be out of your signal path (this doesn't mute the signal to the amps though, so it wouldn't be silent tuning). Also, since its a buffer it's designed to help your signal pass through longer cable runs without losing tone.

Oh one final thought, it'd be heavy as hell, but you could have both heads in a 2 head ata style case, with casters, so the setup/tear down time would be quicker and you'd have it all in one convenient setup. Downside, the weight and the size. It's going to be a heavy mother fucker, weight over at least 100 pounds I'd say, and wouldn't be surprised if it was closer to 125 or more, depending on the thickness of the case. Then again, the casters would take care of the moving it around on flat surfaces, but you have to think of the weight/bulky size for going up/down stairs and up/down the stage.

Good luck

 

[Howitzer]

You might consider your other options too such as..

- A LoneStar (supposed "better" clean than dual recto+nice marshall-like overdrive tone).
- Upgrade your main amp to something like a Roadster and use the Dual-Recto as your backup.

By adding another amp that you plan to use in parallel with the dual-recto, adds complexity and you'll rely on it to get *your* tone, I would think.

Complexity in the sense of how do you plan to combine your signals and channel switching? Will be interesting to hear what you decide to do. I like the idea and wonder about the technical requirements and whether its worth it in the end.

I am running a Mark 4 and a Recto simultaneously - Here is how im doing it:


Voodoo labs audio controller - will split the signal, AND switch the channels on both amps.

So far the sound is amazing, Im ordering a custom road case for everything, and you need to have 2 cabs, or one stereo cab in order to do it.

But bassically -

Splitter (voodo labs, Tonebone, framptone)

channel switcher - (Voodoolabs, Axxess etc)

It WOULD be a ***** to setup everynight for me, hence why im ordering the case - it will always be setup.

I have the same reasons for doing this setup - Reliability, if one head goes out, the other is already hooked up, and i can still play if it goes out in the middle of a song.

And the tone - 2 amps together on just about any mixture of channels sound great so far. Though I plan to get an uberschall or something else to replace the recto eventually.


Im biased obviously, but I would set them both up and run them parralell. it sounds awesome from the clips ive heard of a recto/stilleto combo!

Hope that helped
Cheers

 

[Micah]

You could do that--it would be interesting....but heavy!! Youd have a bit more gear to carry on and off the stage too. If you listen to any Tool the guy from them plays (I believe) A Marshall Plexi 100 watt, A DR and a Diezel all @ the same time--I guess you could set them tonaly to compliment each other and still get a tight sound. It seems like it would complicate things quite a bit! :?