harmonic help on triple rectifer

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rocknskate4

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whats up guys
for the last year or so, ive been playing a mesa boogie triple rectifier half stack. all is GREAT with this amp except one thing: harmonics. I've heard a bunch of things about it, i could never find any answers. Whenever i do any van halen style squeals, dives, etc, the harmonic doesnt sustain and it dies rather quickly. I also have a marshall 50 watt, n my squeals and such sustain fine on that, so its not a technique problem. Would something such as a chorus/reverb/delay/compressor pedal help out this situation?
thanks alot
guitars
-gibson les paul w/burstbuckers (no floyd or kahler, but the higher pitched natural harmonics are dying)
-BC Rich NJ Warlock w/ Dimebucker (w/ the floyd)
 
Compressor would help, yeah. If you play a song with a lot of squeels, maybe inch up the gain a little bit for that song. Or, if you run a compression pedal, turn up the sustain a little bit (essentially more gain). Don't turn it up too much or your signal will get pretty hairy.
 
rocknstate4,

I, too, play a Triple Recto half stack. I chose the Stilletto Mesa cab because I A/B'd them using a Triple Rec in-store and the mids were obviously better on the Stilletto cab than the standard cab. I was able to get singing harmonics to come through much clearer through the smaller cab and still had plenty of bass because, hey, it's still a Triple Rec.

OD's and clean boosts will help your situation, but something you haven't mentioned and that nobody has asked about is where do you have your tone controls set? Your mid control is especially, since many guys play their Recto with the mid scooped way down, which will kill your overtones and harmonics.

Finally, I would also like to suggest as another possibility that you look into a treble booster. Based on the Dallas Rangemaster that Eric Clapton used on the Bluesbreakers record, these devices are somewhat mis-named in that they don't just turn your treble up further. They boost the highs before sending them into a Germanium diode or transistor which lends a very singing, musical quality to the tone. With this pedal engaged, you will have a slight rolloff of bass frequencies, which will definitely tighten up the bass on the Triple Rec. You will also be able to get singing feedback overtones almost effortlessly. Pick squeal harmonics are likewise very easy to get.

A few typical models of treble boosters to look for are Keeley's Java Boost, BBE's Freq Boost, or Diaz's Texas Ranger. There are also plenty of others of equal quality out there. Treble boosters are also very nice in front of a good quality overdrive before going into your amp. I use just such a setup on my TR, especially on solos, and boosted this way, the TR definitely does not have any trouble getting all the sweet sustain and harmonic overtones I could want. In fact, I even have to dial it back a little depending on how loud I'm playing. Good luck.
 
Add more gain and use the volume on your guitar to roll off for rythym and then roll on for more harmonics.

I use a tube screamer to liven mine up a little, but Ive never noticed this problem.
 
what kind of patch (guitar to amp) cable are you using? i've found that this makes a big difference. Could be your tubes also.

g'luck


rocknskate4 said:
whats up guys
for the last year or so, ive been playing a mesa boogie triple rectifier half stack. all is GREAT with this amp except one thing: harmonics. I've heard a bunch of things about it, i could never find any answers. Whenever i do any van halen style squeals, dives, etc, the harmonic doesnt sustain and it dies rather quickly. I also have a marshall 50 watt, n my squeals and such sustain fine on that, so its not a technique problem. Would something such as a chorus/reverb/delay/compressor pedal help out this situation?
thanks alot
guitars
-gibson les paul w/burstbuckers (no floyd or kahler, but the higher pitched natural harmonics are dying)
-BC Rich NJ Warlock w/ Dimebucker (w/ the floyd)
Click to expand...
 
I had the same problem with my RKII. For the life of me I couldn't get any harmonics out of the thing. I would then go to my V-amp and they are flying of the fret board. I remedied the situation by using a OD in front, adding more mids and presence, and updated my guitar cable. Add more volume... it helps!
 
ROCKnSKATE4,

i HAD the same problem with my 3 ch. triple rec. i had no sustain, squeals sucked, the fretboard felt clumsy, you could hear more of the actually string being struck and less of the note being played? fast licks sounded garbled? no harmonics, no sustain and your tone on LIFE SUPPORT>... yup been there. personally to me, the Dual and Triple rectifiers' Preamps seem more "THROATHY" if you ask me.. I own a dual rect also. i can tell you that from BOTH, i noticed that it is harder to acheive harmonics and rich sustain on the Triple Rec. especially if you dont know where to start. The extra 50watts gives each single note a thicker, girthier ring to 'em. I call it the MOLASSES effect.
Anyway, With my triple i only run 3 things. in the signal chain.
1.a bad horsie2 (sometimes),
2.a reisusse t9 IBANEz tubescreamer
3 .& G Major in my effects loop.

I use a rocktron patcmated for amp channel switching.

I set my loop send to 75% to 90% and the WET to 100% ( as you know this is close as it gets to being a "SERIES" Loop)

I use the Tube screamer as a clean boost. ON during rhythms and solos.
OFF while in CLEAN MODE>
GAIN 10%, TONE 50% LEVEL 50-65%
The TUBESCREAMER cheats out some of the lower end. so i combat this by setting the GAIN 30% TONE 40-45%, and the LEVEL to around 70%.
THis kinda helps bring it back. I just not gonna spend several hundred bucks to get a "CLEAN BOOST" pedal..

You are gonna need a good NOISE GATE, MY triple isnt that noisy and the noise gate silences the signal **** good. (to my amazement.)
Remember with a noise gate in the loop you are able to PUSH the signal to a controllable THRESHOLD where feedback is ok and NOT UNBEARABLE>

I would try a good compressor..... i just dont want to use it along with a TUBESCREAMER> TOO MUCH EXTRA NOISE with both of them before the preamp.

I would recommend when you try these settings FIRST SET your HIGH< MID< LOW< and GAIN to 12 o'clock, set your master channel & FRONT MASTER OUTPUT to around 10 oclock.... then dial in your personal settings to TASTE> i keep my presence to a minimum.
Be sure to keep you loop ON with a noise gate in the loop to control the possible extra noise. SEND around 75-90% WET 100%.
I leave my loop ON at all times.. so i can keep the benefit of the NOISE gate. it keeps it quiet...

Another thing is using EMG pickups. I have an ibanez 550 with an 85/81 set up. talk about punching through the preamp.

THIS might help. And i might not. but the trick is to drive the Triple's preamp higher & control it with a noise gate. if you want more info... you can reach me at [email protected]
 
I play a 1960 Reissue Les Paul Classic, I go thru a Morley Bad Horsie, Boss tuner, TS-9 Tube Screamer.

I mainly use Channel 2 set for Vintage, Master and Gain at around 2 oclock, Bass around 10 oclock, Mid 1 oclock, Treble 3 oclock, Presence 1-3 oclock. Depending on what I am doing, I may engage the loop to control the overall volume or take the loop out which means its loud. My harmonics sound great, kinda Van Halen brown sound to me. I play my guitar at around 3 for rythym and raise it to 7-8 for solos.

Im using a straight Recto cab and a Laney. The recto is darker and more bottomy than the Laney, which is a real crisp cab. I dont hear my high harmonics dropping out like you describe. My amp is very clean even at this level, I dont understand using a noise gate, I always felt like they tainted the sound too much.

I use the TS-9 to liven up solos, and the wah to color sounds on solos. But I dont use them all the time, sometimes I use just amp.
 
I just think it's rediculous to have to jump through flaming hoops after spending so much money on an amp. The last thing this amp should be lacking is the ability to produce harmonics.
 

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