Dapper Dan said:
I never play my Rectoverb any higher than half volume on the vintage channel with the bass around 1:30, mids around 8:30 and treble around 2:30. I notice that the presence control has a negligible effect on my sound from zero all the way to the three o'clock position; however, when it passes the three o'clock position, say, to as little as 3:15, its effect is very apparent: it brightens my sound as though some kind of veil has been lifted off the front of my 2X12. But then there's feedback. Lots of it.
Is there any way to get this bright, high end, distorted clarity without cranking the presence so far?
As you can read on the manual the treble is the most powerful knob in the equalizing. What I noticed is when you using more presence you gain mid and loosing the bass authority. I know that is quite funny to get an "and justice for all" sound by increasing both bass and treble and decreasing the mid section.What's happening is when you boost the bass over the mid, you don't have the "body" of the sound or punch when you play. Notice that (if you like a lot of presence like me) if you put the mid at 1:00 you will ear more the difference when you gonna reach 4:00 with the bass (those frequency are very interactive) then if their is too much mid decrease it slowly with the bass(that you don't need so much without mid) at the same time. Try something, put all knob(treble,mid,bass and presence) down and play with the volume you will see what is left. Notice the are interactive that's why maybe the treble lose his power because the bass that you pushed a little...the bass (that you can't hear much with a 2X12 cab) is actually very powerfull with the mesa amplifier. You can always decrease the bass a little then you will be able to hear the difference when you decrease the mid and your sound will appear thinner, more sparkling with a lot more treble.
If you play beside your cab only the low frequency gonna come to your hears. But if put the cab in front of you at your head level you gonna ear maybe too much high frequency.
Maybe you know... the vintage mode is active automatically when you hit the solo mode, so you can use as a third channel with his own volume (solo knob)(that's what i'm doing) when you can boost the volume another way(by effect processor, pedal in the loop whatever....) and that feedback (not suppose to have so much) is very usefull for the solos.
For the bright you would be better with the modern high gain mode(still have the vintage option with the solo switch), modern mode has a circuit against feedback. When you play loud you have to decrease the gain around 1:00 or 2:00 (less or more depend on your style of music), boost the sound with the (channel's) master volume and leave the output around 12:00 or a little more.
That way you're supposed to have an agressive sound, cutting like blade with a very low noise in your speaker. Too many factore can have an impact on your feedback problem are you close to your amp when it happen? Are the tubes brand new? What kind of pickup you use, active or passive?[high end passive pickup can give a lot of feedback....
As you said, you use to play at low volume then you can put the master volume very low, the ouput volume about at 10:00 but that way i suggest you to decrease presence around 11:00, like this you will gain bass naturally so decrease it, cause it will veil the mid and the treble that you can push all the way to pierce the dark sound(no choice at that level of volume)
When you don't play so much power tube(6l6 or EL34) can last about 1.5 or 2 years, the preamp (12ax7) 2 or 2.5 years...if they are old of course you can hear variation in the volume or more feedback than the usuall, unwanted noise and all other problem(in the manual)...
You could ever try a three-quarter cab cause the way you're speaking you have the closed back recto cab. But you will have to increase the volume for having better sound cause the speaker are more powerfull(C90 in 3/4) and they need to be pushed for better result. If you want more bass try a 4X12 standard cab (slant or straight) you won't believe the difference!
So my best answer to your question is to follow directive when you play a little loud (get more gain by the master volume...decrease the gain knob...).
I hope that my tricks has been helpful to you! They worked very well with my solo head 50 and still do with my recto pre and my 2:100. :twisted:
Cheers! 8)
that's my mistake. Anyway that overall boost is certainly more advantageous for you.
