Ok...
So...For any of you Recto nerds out there, this is going to be some startling news.
I have recorded clips of both D and E, but they are not available until another week or so because my friend is touching up the tracks a tad bit. In due time, you'll hear them if I'm satisfied with the quality.
However, I can say this with certainty.
There is virtually no difference in tone between Rev D and Rev E. If anything exists, it is minimal. The one big difference I noted every time I've A/B'ed the amps (about 3 times now) is that Rev E's clean channel has much more gain in order to compensate for the lack of output early Recto's clean channels are known for. However, it is not exactly a very desired gain because it does cause some distortion on the clean channel. Whereas the D does not breakup much until you crank the Master to around 2 or 3 oclock, E will breakup even around 9 or 10oclock if you use humbuckers. If your guitar has single coil capabilities or tapping, or splitting, or whatever, you'll have no problems with breakup.
This is interesting to me because it makes me recall the words of a Mesa Hollywood Store employee a couple of years ago: "It's not the first 500, it goes up into the 600's." Since Revision E is in the 600's, this makes sense.
Another interesting thing to note about the two amps is that a fellow knowledgeable forumite has mentioned that Revision E is not perfect in circuitry because it seems to be missing many connections on the bottom trace, which led to point-to-point connections to resistors and LDR's. I'm not sure wtf this means, but I'll investigate it further and take some time to look at both chassis to see if I can pick out any obvious differences. The amp seems to work fine and is obviously still alive after 17 years, so I don't think it's anything to worry about if it's true.
One of these 2 amps will be up for sale ridiculously soon...Probably after my friend gets me the clips, I play them a bit more, and I look at the guts further.
As time goes on, we are learning more and more about these amps. It seems there is now a small army of guys out there also studying the differences between these revisions and adding to the body of knowledge. At the end of the day, one rule still stands unbroken: 2ch tone > 3ch tone!!!
:twisted: :twisted: :twisted: