fluff191
Well-known member
Well I got my Recto back from FJA and have had a bit of time to play around on it and thought I would give a little rundown for those who are curious. Keep in mind the comparisons I make are only of my opinion and are used to give reference to the sounds and tones I am describing!!
First off lets start with the amp:
- 2008 3 Channel Recto
- Bias Mod
- Channel 3 Presence mod
- 4 x Sovtek WXT+ 6L6's, JJ & EH 12AX7 preamp tubes, 2x 5U4GB Rectifier tubes
What FJA Mods did:
- "Standard" Mod (Clarity, tightens low end, eliminates high end fizz)
- Push/Pull Gain Boost (effective on Channel 2 & 3)
Channel 1:
As soon as I turned the amp on I noticed the clean channel has a bit more "spank" to it. Just a bit more punch if you will. Before the mod you really had to turn the bass and treble up to get a decent attack and note definition. Very nice.
Channel 2:
Because the bottom end of the amp was tightened (i.e. focused), Channel 2 has ALOT of low end. I usually kept my bass right around 1:30, but now its closer to noon with similar effect. Treble is at noon, mids are at 11:00, with presence about 11:30. Nice and thick with some bite. I use this as kind of a crunch channel, so gain is right around 10:00 with the Gain Boost engaged (more on this in a minute).
Channel 3:
So this is where you will hear the modifications have the most effect. There is almost no high end fizzle in this channel at all anymore. To my ears it sounds like its at the expense of some gain, as I found I had to turn the gain to about 3:00 to get near the 1:00 I had it at prior to the mod. No big deal. Without the fizzle I was so used to hearing, the notes really sounded like a cross between a Recto and a Mark IV. Really tight, but saturation at kind of a minimum.
So at this point I have to say I was pretty happy with the mod. It DID sound better than when it left, but it really sounded kind of lacking in the gain on both channels. Kind of. Its really hard to explain. You find yourself strumming the guitar harder in hopes that the attack with translate into more break up, but it doesnt. You alisten for alot of breakup and fizz, and you just hear smooth, butter-like gain. Like if a Mark IV and a 5150 had a child or something. Not bad by any means, just different.
Then I realized I hadn't even tried the Gain Boost. I pulled it and was instantly transported into Holy Sh!t Land (population: me). It was like the most transparent, god-like Maxon OD808 ever. But built right into the amp.
Edit: My previous statements about the modified amp sounding like my Rev. E Recto were a little off. I actually think something might be wrong with my Peavey 4x12, as its starting to sound progressively more broken up. The amp sounds great through my Mesa 4x12 however. But more in the 5150 style.
So now the gain on Channel 3 is right at noon. And it is really saturated, with lots of attack and very little noise to boot. The kind of tone that really makes it hard to put your guitar down.
So to wrap it up, I have always felt the making of a good tube amp is if you can put all the dials at noon and it sounds really good. You absolutely could not do that with this (or any other 3 Channel Recto) amp before. It sounded like a mid-range heavy duck in Channel 3. After about an hour or so of playing, most of the settings on the amp are right around noon. Go figure.
My Rev. E to which I compared the 3 Channel too is really like a monster truck: it's alot of fun, but you aren't going to be getting groceries in it anytime soon. With the lacking cleans and 2 Channels, I found I really like the practicality of 3 Channels and newer features (solo boost, less noise and hiss, etc).
I had put TAD 6L6's in this amp before sending it off to NYC, and take it from me: DONT put a really nice set of tubes in anything if it is about to travel 6000 miles round trip. The dont survive. They lasted about 15 minutes upon initial power-on. Which works out, because I really didn't like how they sounded anyways....
Thanks for reading! Feel free to ask anything you want!
First off lets start with the amp:
- 2008 3 Channel Recto
- Bias Mod
- Channel 3 Presence mod
- 4 x Sovtek WXT+ 6L6's, JJ & EH 12AX7 preamp tubes, 2x 5U4GB Rectifier tubes
What FJA Mods did:
- "Standard" Mod (Clarity, tightens low end, eliminates high end fizz)
- Push/Pull Gain Boost (effective on Channel 2 & 3)
Channel 1:
As soon as I turned the amp on I noticed the clean channel has a bit more "spank" to it. Just a bit more punch if you will. Before the mod you really had to turn the bass and treble up to get a decent attack and note definition. Very nice.
Channel 2:
Because the bottom end of the amp was tightened (i.e. focused), Channel 2 has ALOT of low end. I usually kept my bass right around 1:30, but now its closer to noon with similar effect. Treble is at noon, mids are at 11:00, with presence about 11:30. Nice and thick with some bite. I use this as kind of a crunch channel, so gain is right around 10:00 with the Gain Boost engaged (more on this in a minute).
Channel 3:
So this is where you will hear the modifications have the most effect. There is almost no high end fizzle in this channel at all anymore. To my ears it sounds like its at the expense of some gain, as I found I had to turn the gain to about 3:00 to get near the 1:00 I had it at prior to the mod. No big deal. Without the fizzle I was so used to hearing, the notes really sounded like a cross between a Recto and a Mark IV. Really tight, but saturation at kind of a minimum.
So at this point I have to say I was pretty happy with the mod. It DID sound better than when it left, but it really sounded kind of lacking in the gain on both channels. Kind of. Its really hard to explain. You find yourself strumming the guitar harder in hopes that the attack with translate into more break up, but it doesnt. You alisten for alot of breakup and fizz, and you just hear smooth, butter-like gain. Like if a Mark IV and a 5150 had a child or something. Not bad by any means, just different.
Then I realized I hadn't even tried the Gain Boost. I pulled it and was instantly transported into Holy Sh!t Land (population: me). It was like the most transparent, god-like Maxon OD808 ever. But built right into the amp.
Edit: My previous statements about the modified amp sounding like my Rev. E Recto were a little off. I actually think something might be wrong with my Peavey 4x12, as its starting to sound progressively more broken up. The amp sounds great through my Mesa 4x12 however. But more in the 5150 style.
So now the gain on Channel 3 is right at noon. And it is really saturated, with lots of attack and very little noise to boot. The kind of tone that really makes it hard to put your guitar down.
So to wrap it up, I have always felt the making of a good tube amp is if you can put all the dials at noon and it sounds really good. You absolutely could not do that with this (or any other 3 Channel Recto) amp before. It sounded like a mid-range heavy duck in Channel 3. After about an hour or so of playing, most of the settings on the amp are right around noon. Go figure.
My Rev. E to which I compared the 3 Channel too is really like a monster truck: it's alot of fun, but you aren't going to be getting groceries in it anytime soon. With the lacking cleans and 2 Channels, I found I really like the practicality of 3 Channels and newer features (solo boost, less noise and hiss, etc).
I had put TAD 6L6's in this amp before sending it off to NYC, and take it from me: DONT put a really nice set of tubes in anything if it is about to travel 6000 miles round trip. The dont survive. They lasted about 15 minutes upon initial power-on. Which works out, because I really didn't like how they sounded anyways....
Thanks for reading! Feel free to ask anything you want!
