gain settings

[satisfied5582]

where does everybody set their rectifiers gain, i usaully set mine at 12 o clock for distortion and 10 o clock for my cleans.

 

[JT_Marshmallow]

I can't really use the gain above 1:00 on mine, so between 12 and 1 o clock for my high gain stuff. For lighter crunch I'm down around 9-10 o clock.

For my cleans, usually 8-9 o clock, then I turn the master way up.

 

[satisfied5582]

i somes times run the gain at 9:00 and then boost it for solos. this tightens it up real well.

 

[mrd]

11 to 1 o'clock usually. I turn it down to 10 oclock or so if I'm playing really loudly.

 

[ToneAddictJon]

I also run mine between 11:00 and 1:00

 

[domct203]

around 1:00 for me (at stage volume) as well.

Dom

 

[satisfied5582]

does anybody go past 1:00?

 

[mrd]

You shouldn't need to. Unless you're playing super low volume or some kinda of supar gain sludge metal or somethin, 1o'cllock is good enough. Anything past that and you start getting hairy. Maybe if you ran your treble extra low, you could make up for it with gain, but that doesn't usually happen.

 

[satisfied5582]

i agree, anything past 1 is getting out of control, i really prefer the gain around 9 then a boost for solos to tighten it up.

 

[Rocky]

I used to have a Rectoverb, gain was never about 12:00.

 

[Chris McKinley]

The amount of gain offered past 1:00 isn't really the problem, it's the frequency response curve at those higher gain levels. Rectos give you waaaay too much bass to truly take advantage of their higher gain stages. Sorry Randall, but them's the facts.

With the amp's gain knob set to noon, I can go as far as doubling the amount of gain I use and still keep it defined...if...I use a high-quality overdrive or boost pedal to boost that gain. If I use the amp's gain control, I will get mud in the bass and sizzling hiss in the treble, while the mids still remain undefined.

At any level of gain, it's the relative balance between the various frequencies that truly shape your tone, not the raw amount of gain. With the right balance between the frequencies, you can get a crushing, tight power chord tone out of a Recto with the gain set to less than noon. It will sound gainier than it actually is because of the predominance of certain carefully chosen frequencies. Now, it won't sustain for jack, because ultimately it still isn't a lot of gain, and sustain is much more directly related to the amount of gain than good distortion tone is.

Since leads and solos are dependent on a lot more sustain than your rhythm tone is, you have a quandry if you're running your amp with no effects. When it comes time to solo, you're forced to choose either to keep your really well-balanced crunch tone for rhythm, but with not enough sustain to really power a solo, or to crank up the gain to get the sustain, but with it comes the extra mud and high-end shrillness that will leave your solo sounding smothered and hissy at the same time.

In terms of optimizing tone for both rhythm and lead, try setting your Mesa's tone and gain controls so that they give you the tone you'll want for your rhythm sound. Likely, this will include more bass, less mids, and shriller treble than the tone you'll want for leads. After all, you can't play a listenable solo with Metallica's ultra-mid-scooped tone, but it might be what you want for fast, tight rhythms.

For leads, use one or more boutique-quality pedals before the amp, set so that they not only give you a much-needed signal boost, but also so that they tame the bass and take the shrill out of the highs, and give you back the desperately-needed missing mids that Rectos are known for, especially around 650Hz to 1.6kHz. This is to give you back some of the singing quality to your solos that Rectos take away by design.

 

[MasterTrax]

The amount of gain offered past 1:00 isn't really the problem, it's the frequency response curve at those higher gain levels. Rectos give you waaaay too much bass to truly take advantage of their higher gain stages. Sorry Randall, but them's the facts.

With the amp's gain knob set to noon, I can go as far as doubling the amount of gain I use and still keep it defined...if...I use a high-quality overdrive or boost pedal to boost that gain. If I use the amp's gain control, I will get mud in the bass and sizzling hiss in the treble, while the mids still remain undefined.

At any level of gain, it's the relative balance between the various frequencies that truly shape your tone, not the raw amount of gain. With the right balance between the frequencies, you can get a crushing, tight power chord tone out of a Recto with the gain set to less than noon. It will sound gainier than it actually is because of the predominance of certain carefully chosen frequencies. Now, it won't sustain for jack, because ultimately it still isn't a lot of gain, and sustain is much more directly related to the amount of gain than good distortion tone is.

Since leads and solos are dependent on a lot more sustain than your rhythm tone is, you have a quandry if you're running your amp with no effects. When it comes time to solo, you're forced to choose either to keep your really well-balanced crunch tone for rhythm, but with not enough sustain to really power a solo, or to crank up the gain to get the sustain, but with it comes the extra mud and high-end shrillness that will leave your solo sounding smothered and hissy at the same time.

In terms of optimizing tone for both rhythm and lead, try setting your Mesa's tone and gain controls so that they give you the tone you'll want for your rhythm sound. Likely, this will include more bass, less mids, and shriller treble than the tone you'll want for leads. After all, you can't play a listenable solo with Metallica's ultra-mid-scooped tone, but it might be what you want for fast, tight rhythms.

For leads, use one or more boutique-quality pedals before the amp, set so that they not only give you a much-needed signal boost, but also so that they tame the bass and take the shrill out of the highs, and give you back the desperately-needed missing mids that Rectos are known for, especially around 650Hz to 1.6kHz. This is to give you back some of the singing quality to your solos that Rectos take away by design.

Good post. That's pretty much why rectos are some of my least favorite amps for soloing.

I used to run my solo 50's gain at about 1:00 and the master at about noon or higher. Keeping the volume high helped trim the hair off the tone.

 

[woody777]

3:00 on my Tremoverb

But I play a Tele with single coils. I dialed in the setting with my ears and tried not to care where the knobs ended up. The bass is really low. It sounds freaking incredible.

 

[acidguitar]

Chris, great post.... Solo heads aren't the best for soloing. some form of tubescreamer is needed to add definition and bite to your lead tone. Fortunately/ unfortunately (depends on who you ask) I have a Triple Recto and have struggled with that for a long time. I now run KT77's in the power section and a selection of preamp tubes which really (IMO) help my sound be punchier and less muddy and I can now run the gain level higher to 3 o'clock on channel 3, modern. This is still not good enough for soloing so I use a TS-808 with tone at 1 o'clock, volume maxed and gain at 2 o'clock.

Also, a GE-7 can help alter you EQ. Recto's are an acquired taste and can fulfil quite a bit, EG Channel 2 on vintage is great, but if you've come from that JCM background (like I did), the step up is the Stiletto which is basically a Marshall on steroids. That's the way I should've gone!

 

[Silverwulf]

Yeah, Recto's suck for soloing...'96 Rev G here:

http://forum.grailtone.com/viewtopic.php?p=162224#162224


And my gain is usually set around 12 Noon.

 

[123thefirst]

I was trying out a new 30 band EQ this weekend with my Recto Preamp where much of the mids were boosted. Even with single coil EMG's on a Telecaster I got the most fantastic, smooth, creamy lead tones that really sounded like they were coming from fat humbucking pickups. None of the bite, brightness and touch sensitivity was lost but rather enhanced.

The RAW channel actually sounded punchier, brighter, more detailed than VINTAGE (and certainly MODERN) and had every bit as much gain as I think anyone would ever want for soloing. Can't wait for the opportunity to try that with the Road King and Gibson guitars.