Help Me!!!!

[carpediem666]

hey guys

i have this problem with my Single Rectifier series 1 head that ive had since i had it and its driving me nutz!!

basically when i run the amp on the Modern Gain setting im getting a horrible muddy sound when i plam mute with alot of gain on!! its almost as if i am running too much bass, which i dont understand as im hardly bringing the bass above half way!!!

im using a v shaped guitar with EMG 81/81 setup!!

this is being run into a mesa boogie 2x12 rectifier cabinet!!

i mean could it be a fault with the amp as its 2nd hand or am i just not setting it up properly.

has anyone else had this problem with there single recs???

my settings on the amp are:

master: 9 ' o clock
presence: 11 o clock
bass: 11 o clock
mids: 11 o clock
treble: 2 o clock
gain: 3 o clock

any help would be awsome.

 

[Platypus]

When was the last time the power tubes were changed?

 

[recto-robbie]

I own a rectoverb, just bought new last week. I believe I am having the same issue you are. The above member may be exactly right about the power tubes. Otherwise I have found that if I raise the channel master volume to about 2 oclock and higher,, and keep the output volume low, lets say 9 oclock, I also get a very woofing sound out of my speakers, almost as if the speakers cant handle much more power. I dont think this would be the case because the actual volume coming from the speakers is very low due to having the output level at 9 oclock. I dont know for sure if this is normal or not but my guess would be that because you might be driving the power tubes so much with the master volume cranked they are breaking up, even though the output volume of the amp is left low... just an idea,,, if any of the other members read this and have a better explanation or reason for this please share...thanks

 

[tele_jas]

On my Rectoverb, I had the same issue...... Through the stock speaker in the combo it just sounded to "flub" out, but through a 2x12 cab it sounded monsterous. I tried changing speakers 2 times and it still sounded funky.... I ended up selling it and getting a Tremoverb combo (and selling that to get.....yadda, yadda.....).

It sounded GREAT on everything else, but when I went to do palm muting on some heavy songs is where it woud "fart out".

 

[JPIndustrie]

the rectos have a very pronounced bottom end, i think thats part of the signature rectifier 'chugga chugga' sound. the dual recto w/ my recto 2x12 cab has this, i quite like it.

i think what youre describing is a very pronounced woofy response, am i right? i'd def check out the power tubes, switch the variac to bold. this may be kind of a long shot, but what cable are you running inbetween your amp and cab? ive found that 12 gauge cables sound slighly better than 14 gauge cables. just a thought.

 

[carpediem666]

cheers for the reply's guys.

well i changed the front end valves the other day and put some "ruby tube 6L6's" in there. any good?

also i dont know wot the guage of the cable is between my amp and the cab. Iam using the one that came with my Line 6 4x12 cabinet (which i dont use anymore)

i had a tech make me a speaker cable but still have no idea what the guage is!

 

[sistine35]

Try lowering your gain man. Gain increases bass and treble in a sense.. This also tends to liquify your tone a lil and make it really loose. Roll the gain back and try these settings.



Bass- 12o'clock
Mids- 10 or 11o'clock
Trebel- 2 to 4 o'clock depending on taste
Presence- 12 to 2 o'clock
Channel Master- 10 to 11 o'clock
Gain- 12 to 1o'clock

Then your main output as close to your channel master as possible. To get a good balence of preamp and poweramp signals.

This works for me and its really really tight.

I also use a Schecter with Seymore Duncan JB Pups in the bridge...?

 

[Monsta-Tone]

Also try turning your gain down. If the gain is too high on any Recto that I've seen it will start to loose low end definition.

Turn your mids up a bit. Most guys turn the mids all the way down thinking that they will get this horrendous chunk. I have never had good luck with this. It took me many years to let this soak in.


As for the Power Tubes, Ruby's are good, but you have to make sure that they are within the bias range of your amp. If not, they could be causing the problem.

I used Mesa EL34's in my Rectoverb combo with stock speaker. It really tightened up the bottom end, or perhaps the midrange that was added by the EL's helped to tighten up the sound. I could get some really good Master of Puppets tones out of it.

 

[TheRazMeister]

First...let me say that there is an internal struggle between the gain and channel master on the rectos. One or the other HAS to be turned down. I personally keep my channel master at 9:00 and the gain at about 1 to 2:00. I see where you have the treble at 2 and the gain at 3 (oclock). Remember that the treble acts as a gain stage on the rectos and must be used carefully. Also, the more treble you use the less effective the other tone controls are.

 

[Wingee]

I had a similar problem with my triple rec. with recto cab. My solution was to get an eq pedal between the guitar and amp, and drop the lower bands a bit until it smooths out the bass when I palm mute heavily. I didn't want to take the bass out of the actual amp sound, just when I palm mute.

Another way is to get a tube screamer in between - because there's a mid boost when it kicks in, it helps loose the flappy bass - but I didn't want to change the tone of my guitar too much.

 

[Wingee]

hey just on a note, I don't use the eq pedal just for palm muted bits - I have it on all the time, but use it to generally keep the bass in control. I guess on a more technical note a multiband compressor could be use just to prevent those low end palm mutes from getting out of control.

 

[Platypus]

Are you running the amp in silicon diode or rectifier tube rectification? The former may sound tighter and less muddy. You should try a 4x12 cab or perhaps a Genz Benz 2x12. That's what I was running with my RK1. I'm not sure, but maybe a 4x12 with higher wattage may be less muddy?

Last resort is to turn down the bass pot or use the EQ pedal like the guy on here does for palm-muted sections (seems inconvenient).

It's a Single Rec

Another vote for 'turn down your gain'

 

[KDS]

Follow the EQ settings these guys recommend. If that doesn't get you there try putting new set of Mesa power amp tubes in. My ROV was sounding like crap until I read a couple of the posts on setting EQ properly and did a tube swap.

 

[recto-robbie]

hey wingee,,,I was just wondering what eq pedal you were using and if it works well for you??? I have only tried the boss ge7 with other amps. I believe I might try turning the gain down a bit also. One more thing I must ask you guys is,,, do you believe I could possibly have a bad set of boogie 6l6's with the amp only being a week old or so? Like I said I only seem to get that real flubby sound when I set the channel master vol. to high. regardless of where I set the output volume. I can play the amp at ear splitting volumes and it sounds nice if I keep the channel master volume down around 10 oclock and below.. maybe I should try a new set of el34's one of these days which brings me to my last question,,,what bias setting would I tell the tube seller such as dougs tubes that I need for my rectoverb 2 ? or do you think they would know that type of info? thanks for all your help people, I appreciate it

 

[TheRazMeister]

Nope....just the nature of the beast. Now you CAN turn up the master but only if the gain is reduced. Think of it like releasing the clutch in a car. clutch pedal up, gas pedal down. 8)

As a side story...my first experience with a Rectoverb was at GC and the salesguy turned the channel master to 10...it was horrible...it took me nearly 6 more months to recover and eventually buy one.

Like I said I only seem to get that real flubby sound when I set the channel master vol. to high. regardless of where I set the output volume. I can play the amp at ear splitting volumes and it sounds nice if I keep the channel master volume down around 10 oclock and below..

 

[Wingee]

I'm using a danelectro fish and chips - very similar to the boss. Definitely use it between guitar and amp, not in the loop, to stop the whoompy bass when palm muting.

 

[Shep]

try turning the power output at 1:30 and the channel master right down..this way you are using the power amp to it's full headroom and your using the channel master as your volume...it won't sound muddy if your bass and gain is set right..also another thing to try would be EL34 tubes..

 

[carpediem666]

Wicked.

thanks for the info guys. Really helpful stuff

ill try eq'ing differnetly and ill get some Mesa tubes.

ill let ya know how i get on!

at least i know that my amp isnt faulty!! (i hope!) lol

 

[carpediem666]

ok guys.

i managed to get a boss GE-7 eq of my band mates.

wot sort of settings do i want to use to stop the "whoopin" noise of palm muting??

cheers

 

[Wingee]

I have the far left slider -10 and the one next to it at -5, but you're probably going to have to play around with it yourself and experiment. The key is to eq out the whoomp without thinning out the guitar too much and just getting the balance right!