help me with my dual recto

[mattjlin]

I own a dual recto and I'm having trouble getting the tones that I hear other players getting from there's. Mine is the three channei solo head not the new multi watt head. I also run a tc nova system through the loop. My amp sounds harsh and very unpleasant to the ear, I tried new tubes, turning of effects loop,everything.Is there something I'm missing? not understanding?

 

[Elpelotero]

What kind of music are you trying to play? What's your guitar? Your cab?

Have you tried playing without the effects unit installed? How loud are you putting the amp?

Can you provide an audio/video clip of the tone you'd like to have

 

[screamingdaisy]

Really need to know the guitar and cab/speakers to answer this.

 

[mattjlin]

I'm playing a Les Paul studio through an avatar 2x12 cab with an electrovoice 12l classic, and an eminence swampthang inside. Tried it without the effects,sounds the same,tried it loud and it gets harsher, looking for a heavy sound like Metallica and a good solid hard rock sound like Foo Fighters, or Nickelback.

 

[screamingdaisy]

I never liked the EVM-12L. It's a nice speaker for cleans, but it's really bright and sterile with distortion. I've never tried a Swampthang so no idea what it sounds like.

All three of those bands use Mesa 4x12s loaded with Vintage 30s. V30s (particularly the ones in a Mesa cab) roll off some top end and have a lot of punch in the midrange. The results are smoother and more percussive than some other speakers

 

[YellowJacket]

Sounds like you need a couple of Mesa Spec. v30s. Stock v30s are a slightly different flavour and they may not work with your rig so well. I can tell you right now that what you are experiencing is a cabinet problem. I'm sure the Avatar 2 x 12 is awesome, in spite of the unfavourable speaker combination, but I'd even question how well the box meshes with the Recto. Perhaps try a Recto 2 x 12 and the Mesa 4 x 12s as benchmarks and see if you like the results better. That should give you a good starting point!
Given the markup on new equipment, it may be more worth your while to flip the Avatar cab and pick up a used Recto 2 x 12 instead.

 

[mattjlin]

learned about the eq from other posts,and it helped alot. I didn't know how they worked together, the guy I bought the cab from was playing it through a marshall cab and it sounded better then it does now, thanks foe the info, I'll be lookin for another cab now.

 

[Elpelotero]

A lot of those bands you mentioned don't have drastic EQ settings. They mostly don't deviate much past the 12:00 position. Maybe a little more bass for Nickelback, maybe roll it back a bit for Metallica...etc.

I suggest you read an old post I made about how to dial in a Mesa (or any amp) from scratch. You'll find it halfway down the page.

http://forum.grailtone.com/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=36685

 

[screamingdaisy]

Setting cheat sheet (circa 2005).

Kirk
Dual recto:

Red channel: (Modern??)
master ??
presence ??
bass: 12:00
mid: 10:00
treble: 1:00
gain: 1:30

TS9 Settings:
Drive: 1:00
Tone: 2:00
Level: 1:00


James:
Triple recto:
Red Channel: (Modern??)
master: 10:00
presence: 1:00
bass: 12:00
mid: 11:30
treble: 1:00
gain: 12:00

 

[tomprs]

I play my dual recto on a 4x12 traditional cab and I love it. I took me a while tough to find my perfect sound (including buying three cabs in the last two years). Here are my settings:

Fx loop bypassed, Bold, Silicone Diode, Sovtek 5881 powertubes and all Mesa branded preamp tubes.

Channel 2 Vintage

Presence 12:30 / Master 10:30 / Gain 12:30
Bass 11:30 / Mid 12:00 / Treble 11:00

Channel 3 Modern

Presence None / Master 9:00 / Gain 12:30
Bass 11:00 / Mids 12:30 /Treble None

Hope this helps And a good advice: don't listen to what others say about "good" settings for a "good" tone. Tone is VERY subjective. Turn your amp ON, grab your favourite guitar, play, experiment and turn the knobs I literally HATED channel 3 for its fizzy/metallic character, but now I use it as much as channel 2. Oh and by the way, these are rehearsal / live settings.

Cheers,

Tom.