How can I tighten up my DR?

[Adambomb]

I was wondering what I could do to tighten up my 3ch Dual recto. The sound is just kinda messy. I have Mesa 6L6's and EH EL 34's. Which one of there tubes you think sounds better for a metal tone? I have swapped both 6L6's and EL 34's and can't say a whole lot other than the 6l6's have better harmonics I think.

Any switches or settings I could change to make this amp more tight and get that "In your face tone"?

 

[Bond]

a good boosted signal into the amp (particulary the mids) really helps to tighten up an amp ...

I'd recommend either a tubescreamer (or some kind of clone eg fulldrive) or a parametric eq

 

[Adambomb]

Get new preamp tubes..

V1- RFT ecc83
V2- RCA 12ax7a
V3- RCA 12ax7a
V5- GE 5751

That's a freakin Full Metal Jacket right there. :twisted:

I have the preamp kit tubes from Doug's Tubes and that really helped out but I still need to tighten her up more. I just got a Geek Screamer from Geek Mac Daddy but I haven't tried it out yet.

 

[Zoomzilla]

Boost in front and EQ in the loop. I have an 808 I just picked up, I have not dialed it in yet, but it sounds pretty good, but the biggest impact I made ws putting an MXR 10 band EQ in the loop. It took the blanket off the amp and tightened it up quite a bit.

 

[jdurso]

Boost in front and EQ in the loop. I have an 808 I just picked up, I have not dialed it in yet, but it sounds pretty good, but the biggest impact I made ws putting an MXR 10 band EQ in the loop. It took the blanket off the amp and tightened it up quite a bit.

i think zoom has just highlighted in one post what we concluded in about 100000 different threads on this board. OD in front and EQ in the loop can get you a sweet, tight tone. The OD (and correct me if im wrong) will boost your signal so your preamp tubes are more compressed and the eq in the loop will let you dial in/out certain frequencies that will give you your desired tone before it hits the power amp (note that the amps eqs work very different than your average graphic eq so its not overly redundant). if you read around the many posts on this you should be able to find a few solutions and some tips and tricks along the way. one thing i will say is that if your looking to just tighten up the recto tone then an OD and an EQ is a pretty cheap and effictive solution. But if your after say a Mark IV tight or Mark IV tone just get a Mark IV.

as far as recommended ODs i've throughly tested the Maxon OD808 and the Fulltone OCD... i ended up with the OCD but both are fantastic pedals. As far as EQs a lot of people like the MXR 10 band which i also liked but i ended up with the Maxon GE601 because it was the most transparent. good luck.

 

[tunedown]

as far as recommended ODs i've throughly tested the Maxon OD808 and the Fulltone OCD... i ended up with the OCD but both are fantastic pedals. As far as EQs a lot of people like the MXR 10 band which i also liked but i ended up with the Maxon GE601 because it was the most transparent. good luck.

Backed.

I've tried 2 different mxr pedals and I've found that they have a very distinct tone to them, so if you're making a pedal choice and you're looking for transparency, an MXR is not for you.

3chDR users: Does turning down your loop output work for 3 channels DRs too?

 

[stompboxfreak72]

Boost in front and EQ in the loop. I have an 808 I just picked up, I have not dialed it in yet, but it sounds pretty good, but the biggest impact I made ws putting an MXR 10 band EQ in the loop. It took the blanket off the amp and tightened it up quite a bit.

+1 !!!!

The EQ will make the most impact. For me, once I started using the MXR 10 band EQ then the OD pedal became less important. I have bought countless boutique OD pedals ( Im a Pedalphile) and now I play with an Xotic RC booster instead of a true gain producing pedal. I think I can use anything as an OD and get away with it if I have my EQ in the fx loop.

 

[Adambomb]

Huummm. Ok. I have a great OD pedal. It's a Geek Screamer (like a Tube Screamer). I think it sounds even better than the old TS OD's. But I haven't had much luck with EQ's in the past. Maybe Mesa amps sounds better with EQ's. But all the other amps I had in the past sounded like crap with them. Looks like enough people have EQ's with Mesa Recto's so I guess I will give it a shot.

 

[Zoomzilla]

Huummm. Ok. I have a great OD pedal. It's a Geek Screamer (like a Tube Screamer). I think it sounds even better than the old TS OD's. But I haven't had much luck with EQ's in the past. Maybe Mesa amps sounds better with EQ's. But all the other amps I had in the past sounded like crap with them. Looks like enough people have EQ's with Mesa Recto's so I guess I will give it a shot.

If you want the EQ to work really well, I would recommend a serial loop mod. It takes about 20 minutes and makes a world of difference.

 

[Adambomb]

Huummm. Ok. I have a great OD pedal. It's a Geek Screamer (like a Tube Screamer). I think it sounds even better than the old TS OD's. But I haven't had much luck with EQ's in the past. Maybe Mesa amps sounds better with EQ's. But all the other amps I had in the past sounded like crap with them. Looks like enough people have EQ's with Mesa Recto's so I guess I will give it a shot.

If you want the EQ to work really well, I would recommend a serial loop mod. It takes about 20 minutes and makes a world of difference.

Any links you can give me so I can get instructions on how to do the Serial Loop mod. I know how the solder on PCB and how to discharge capacitors on amps, so I think I might be able to do it. Just need to get the schem's and instructions.

 

[Evolu]

I was wondering what I could do to tighten up my 3ch Dual recto. The sound is just kinda messy. I have Mesa 6L6's and EH EL 34's. Which one of there tubes you think sounds better for a metal tone? I have swapped both 6L6's and EL 34's and can't say a whole lot other than the 6l6's have better harmonics I think.

Any switches or settings I could change to make this amp more tight and get that "In your face tone"?

Try switching the rectifier valves for GZ34's
My TOV sounded as loose as an old sock with the stock valves.

 

[Zoomzilla]

adambomb, PM sent.

 

[Adambomb]

adambomb, PM sent.

Cool thanks dude!!

 

[BMarchant]

Hey Adambomb,
I've posted this about 10 times already, so if you PM me, I'll give you the answers. You shouldnt have to put a tube screamer in front of a $2000 amp to make it sound good. I'm not bashing anybody at all, so don't take it that way. Its a Boogie, they sound great if you do the right things.

This changes your tone in a tube amp,

pre-amp tubes,
power tubes,
speakers,
pickups.
volume pots
capasitors
strings
picks

I'm running a Stiletto Deuce, Dual Recto, and a LoneStar for my rig, and they all sound the Balls.


Bmarchant

 

[tunedown]

I'm running a Stiletto Deuce, Dual Recto, and a LoneStar for my rig, and they all sound the Balls.

When did "Balls" become a positive exclamation?

When I was growing up, "Balls" meant something was bad. Like, you go to the arcade but they closed just before you got there. "Balls! They closed already!"

Or you go to a restaurant you've never been to before and the Lo Mien tastes like socks: "eugh, this tastes like balls..."

So Balls is good now? What's going on around here?

 

[Zoomzilla]

I agree with you B, but I don't run my TS to tighten it up necessarily. I just think it makes the amp come alive more. It almost sounds 3D with the TS. I can play at reasonable volumes with it and have pinch harmonics at my fingertips. I love going though the timeline. I turn on my Mesa, play it with no pedals then kick on the EQ, then kick on the OD and listen to the tonal changes. It's amazing. The DR is great by itself when turned up. I would still use the EQ no matter what, but when playing loud, the TS is only used for boost. Not on all the time. At home, I usually leave it on. The EQ is really good because you can cut the bass out of your preamp, then bring it back later. Really helps the tone. I agree you SHOULDN'T have to buy extra stuff, but in reality, most people do not use stock stuff.

 

[boogiemon]

Agreed.

my suggestion is to go borrow a cabinet w/EV's in it & give it a try.

If you do, please let us know how it goes.

g'luck.

Hey Adambomb,
I've posted this about 10 times already, so if you PM me, I'll give you the answers. You shouldnt have to put a tube screamer in front of a $2000 amp to make it sound good. I'm not bashing anybody at all, so don't take it that way. Its a Boogie, they sound great if you do the right things.

This changes your tone in a tube amp,

pre-amp tubes,
power tubes,
speakers,
pickups.
volume pots
capasitors
strings
picks

I'm running a Stiletto Deuce, Dual Recto, and a LoneStar for my rig, and they all sound the Balls.


Bmarchant

 

[BMarchant]

Hey Tunedown,
I'm a leftover by-product of the 80s...... and I'm on the east coast.... Sorry about that! We say "BALLS" in place of "BITCHIN".... Must be a east coast, west coast thing....... Plus I'm OLD!!! (i'm just busting on ya).


Bmarchant

 

[Adambomb]

Back to the subject. we jammed tonight and the Tube screamer helped out the Dual Recto TREMENDOUSLY!!! I haven't got an EQ yet, but I was gonna get the MXR 10 Band very soon.

The only this I didn't like about the Tube screamer in front of my DR is that it took off some bass. So I guess an EQ will fix that.