Just bought a recto 4x12 cab. What a waste of $899... Help?

[G.I.G.]

Like many others have suggested already, try the Stilleto cab. I run the Stilleto cabs (actually, the old "traditional" recto cab but same thing) with both my DR and my Roadster and get great results. They still have plenty of bottom end punch, just without the woofyness that you are describing.

Give the Stilleto cab a test drive, I don't think you'll be disapointed.

 

[abe]

I hope that this is helpful. It comes right from Celestion's site:
http://professional.celestion.com/guitar/features/drdecibel/index.asp
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How do I break in my speakers?

Important Note! Before breaking it in it's advisable to "warm up" the speaker gently for a few minutes with low-level playing or background hum.

Break in a speaker with a fat, clean tone: turn up the power amp volume to full, and control the level with the preamp gain. Use a level that will be quite loud, but not painful in a normal size room.

Have the bass and mid up full, and the treble at least half. On your guitar, use the middle pick up position (if your guitar has more than one pick up) and play for 10-15 minutes using lots of open chords, and chunky percussive playing. This will get the cone moving, and should excite all the cone modes and get everything to settle in nicely. The speaker will continue to mature over the years, but this will get it 95% of the way to tonal perfection in the shortest time

 

[CudBucket]

Have you popped the back off the cab yet and had a look inside? I'm not suggesting you start trying to fix anything that looks broken but at least you'd know it's defective and could get it swapped at GC.

 

[CudBucket]

How do I break in my speakers?

Play them.

 

[Elpelotero]

How do I break in my speakers?

Play them.

except not at loud volumes right away...Celestion recommends you start with chunky clean chords and slowly work your way up in volume over the next few days...

 

[eaeolian]

The Mesa C90 speakers might be up your alley....90 watts a piece, and defintely won't break up.

Take the cab back to GC and have them order you a Stiletto cab with C90s in it. They're the same price.

(Seriously, I *hate* V30s).

However, the real starting place is your settings. I've played my Triple through the Peavey cab you had on numerous occasions, and the Sheffields are very "middy" in a way I like even less that the V30s. So the first thing you shoudl do is add some mids.

 

[Russ]

Definitely take the Standard 4x12 back and get the Stiletto (Traditional) 4x12. It will tighten your sound way up. Do not knock the V30's. They are great speakers. They do sound like crap at first though like any speaker but after breaking in they should sound great. If you are concerned about farty flubby messes watch your settings as was detailed above but at the same time start with a cab that is designed to be tighter. Granted you lose a little bottom but you are way tighter. Dual Rec's are voiced with a big bottom anyway so you really won't be giving up that much considering how much better the sound quality will be in return.

 

[Rayneman]

Before I got the recto cab I was using the Peavey 412MS with the Sheffield 1290's. I sold it to help pay for the recto. I just thought that I would get a better sound by using a matching head and cabinet and I heard so many good things about the recto cab. Big mistake. Anyway, the settings I usually use are this:

Ch 3, Modern, diodes, bold
treble - 2 oclock
Mids - 8 oclock
Bass - 12 oclock
Presence - 10 oclock
Master - 11 oclock
Gain - 3 oclock

I'm looking for an in your face crunchy sound, a la "A New Level" by Pantera. Any ideas on getting that sound without getting mud out of the speakers? I doubt anything is actually wrong with the cab since all four speakers are shaking.

I can't possibly see how your settings would be the cause of the speaker problems that you're experiencing. I use a Triple Rec and Traditional 4X12 Recto cab as one of my main rigs, and while I use a touch less gain and a more midrange on the modern/red channel, I experience no flub from the speakers at all and all sort of wild volumes.

The knee-jerk reaction is always to say "lower the gain and turn up the mids" but hell, how far are your settings from some that Mesa themselves offer up at the end of the manual? Bass at noon shouldn't cause any unpleasantries with your cab whatsoever!!!

Unless there is indeed a huge difference between the standard and traditional recto cabs (maybe this is the case, I can't say from experience), I'd say your problem lies elsewhere. Take the cabinet back to GC along with your amp and your guitar(s) and play some different cabs. At least in doing so, you could probably isolate the problem. Like the others, though, I'd certainly recommend that you at least give the Traditional 4X12 a try (I guess they call it something different now?).

 

[JOEY B.]

If all else fails, get a refund from GC for the standard cab. Then have them order you an "empty" 4x12. Next, load it with EVM-12L's and give it hell. If you can get a 4x12 EV loaded cab to fart or flubb with one Triple Rectifier head, I'll be amazed. :shock: . I've had this cab sooooooo loud with no speaker farting.

 

[Russ]

Heh, Heh... :twisted:

EVM's ROCK!!!!!

 

[Dominus22]

Thanks for all the input, guys. I'm going to go to Guitar Center this weekend and spend an hour or two playing through different cabs and see if there's anything I like. But I'm like 75% sure that I'm just gonna break down and buy a quad of Celestion G12K-100s. I'll do a little research on those EVM-12L's, too.

I was poking around a few forums and I was reading that the old recto cabs that first came out with the original 2 channel rectifiers had C90s instead of V30s. No way to know if that's true or not but it's interesting. Maybe that's why you hear a lot of people say that the old rectos are better - because they didn't have these POS V30s in the cabs.

If I get new speakers I'll post some clips so you all can hear what it sounds like.

 

[Russ]

Actually you can still get the C90's in your new cab. The RK cab has both.

The reason older 2 ch Rec's sound better has nothing to do with speakers. It is the circuit and the transformers. Read the lineage post for more information. Then search about the differences. There is a lot of information here regarding this topic.

 

[Elpelotero]

+1

Speakers have nothing to do with it...Rectifiers have always been built around V30's as far back as I can remember.

2 things:
1) I really think there's something wrong with your speakers. V30's don't fart out at the volumes you have going. Mine never have
2) You should really look into the stilleto/traditional rectifier cab before replacing speakers. Don't feel ashamed to take advantage of GC's 30 day warranty! You'll regret you didn't after 30 days. Why waste more money and effort replacing speakers in a brand new cab, especially if it may be broken from the factory? Just return the thing AND THEN go after a new cab. get your money back.

 

[recto-robbie]

Abe, above mentioned this helpful hint he got straight from celestion.
I own a ROV series 2 combo and recently purchased a recto 2x12 cab to use along with it. I dont gig out ever so I cant play at extreme levels often, but once in a while when the house is empty I open it up and found that my cab also had that farting sound people keep talking about.Mind you I got that farting sound while playing no higher than half way up especially playing clean, open or barre chords. I didnt really think anything was wrong with it and I knew the cab can handle my ROV. I thought about returning it but this afternoon I saw my neighbor leave,,I live in a townhouse, and poked my head out of the basement door to warn my wife and spent the next half hour doing what celestion said to do. After giving it a break for a while I went back to test her out and no bullshit,,there is no more farting sound,,I cant get it to fart out at all on any guitar I have..I cant say that I notice much of a difference in the actual sound at all,,but like I said,,no more farting out..I am now able to crank it to about 90% and it sounds sharp.
Try it out,,and good luck, P.S. I was a bit wary at first when raising the volume with the bass so high but I believe thats what really does it for the speakers. I couldnt see the actual speakers but from the feel of it,,they were really moving.




I hope that this is helpful. It comes right from Celestion's site:
http://professional.celestion.com/guitar/features/drdecibel/index.asp
-------------------------------------------------------------------
How do I break in my speakers?

Important Note! Before breaking it in it's advisable to "warm up" the speaker gently for a few minutes with low-level playing or background hum.

Break in a speaker with a fat, clean tone: turn up the power amp volume to full, and control the level with the preamp gain. Use a level that will be quite loud, but not painful in a normal size room.

Have the bass and mid up full, and the treble at least half. On your guitar, use the middle pick up position (if your guitar has more than one pick up) and play for 10-15 minutes using lots of open chords, and chunky percussive playing. This will get the cone moving, and should excite all the cone modes and get everything to settle in nicely. The speaker will continue to mature over the years, but this will get it 95% of the way to tonal perfection in the shortest time

 

[MiSeRY]

I know exactly the sound/problem you are talking about. I have a 2CH Dual Rec and tried everything in the book to fix it, before I found out that I had tons of blown resistors in my Rec. While I don't think this is your problem, because I still have the issue to a degree..but now it's A LITTLE better. I have played the Stiletto's right next to the Traditional cabs and cannot tell much of a difference at all. I also took two of my V30's out of my Traditional and bought 2 G12-75's and wired them in an X configuration (just like a Bogner cab)...and still can't tell that much of a difference. maybe Mesa cabs just aren't what you're looking for. Think about trying something with Black Shadow speakers in it?

 

[domct203]

Maybe I'm confused here but I thought that Mesa's V30 are special to Mesa because they are already "broken in" (like the Hellatone).

If not, I'm suprised that Mesa has not yet covered the "break in" procedure in one of their manuals somewhere.

I never "broke in" my Recto 4X12 when I bought it new. I hope that does not affect the life of the speaker.

Dom

 

[G.I.G.]

The Mesa V30's ARE different but not because they are pre-broken in. When Celestion moved a majority of their manufacturing to China, they moved the production of most of their V30's there as well. However, the V30's that Mesa uses are still made in the UK the same way they've been made since they started producing V30's. I've heard that the China made V30's are still decent speakers, they just don't use the slow-dry adhesives and the same exact manufacturing techniques that are used in the UK.

Mesa is extremely thorough in their owners manuals and should probably at least mention speaker break in. However, IMO there isn't a HUGE difference in sound or performance after a speaker has been broken in, maybe just a smoother, more well-balanced sound. My guess is that it isn't the speakers causing your problems.

V30's (whether you like the sound or not) are capable of handling just about anything you throw at them. I have played fairly large size venues with my V30 loaded traditional Recto cabs and have never had my speakers break up or get loose on me. Even at very high volumes.

Best of luck though, keep us posted.....

 

[jdurso]

NEVER buy a floor model of anything from GC.

It wasn't a floor model. They pulled it from the back, still new in a sealed box.

I think I figured it out, fellas. When I turn the output down to about 9 oclock this thing sounds SWEET! Unfortunately, 9 oclock aint gonna cut it at band practice. When I turn it up to noon, I get the farting flubbing sound. So I put 2 and 2 together - My Peavey 412MS = 300W, Recto Standard = 240W. It's these **** Celestion V30s, they start breaking up at high volumes.

Anybody tried G12T-75s or G12K-100s?

Seriously if you dont like the speaker breakup of the v30s try a basson cab with eminence legends..... i have my roadster going through a 2x12 cab and the sound is ridiculous..... the punchiest cab i've ever played through.... i'm actually thinking of getting a 2x12 recto just to get a little speaker break up ....... also since everyone here is throwing in the 2 cents i might as well concerning your settings..... here's what has worked for me with every recto i've owned to get that in your face distortion:

Gain: 1-2 oclock
Bass: 12:30 - 1 oclock
Mid: 10-11 oclock
treble: 11 oclock
Presence: 3 oclock
volume: 11 oclock

There is a reason why i keep the gain low and the volume static.... i use the output as my volume control..... i find it gets you that growl and punch without making anything sound flubby or honky..... unbelievable for palm mutes and picking lines..... i find once you crank that gain past 2 oclock straight picking lines get loose and unclear.... this is just my preference though.... makes me happy .... also pulling back the gain and using the output as a volume control really lets me saturate those speakers.....also by using the presence as your treble gets rid of that tinny high end that a lot of rectos are suseptible to

 

[RoCk4souls]

there is no way your cab should be farting out. i can turn my triple's output knob past 12 o clock with the red channel master at about 9:30 in modern mode......with the bass knob maxed...yes maxed....and my oversized recto cab with v30's doesn't fart out one bit. like someone else said you can throw pretty much anything at it and it will stay together just fine.

give it a good workout and break those speakers in. it really does make a huge difference. also the recto cab is rated at 280 watts, not 240. mine says it right on the back on the nameplate. for some reason the v30's that are made for mesa are rated at 70 watts each.

one last thing to check....and this is a stretch considering it's a brand new cab....but take off one of the handles, look inside and check the horizontal support board that connects the speaker baffle board to the rear panel. it's only held there by glue and may have came loose. it happened to me just a few months after i bought my cab and it sounded exactly like a speaker was farting out.

 

[Guitarzan]

I keep telling you folks. Genz Benz G-Flex's!