Mesa Boogie Triple Rectifier Help!

[ShredR]

Hello everyone! First time posting here and well I have a few questions for you guys and I figured this is the best place to talk about Mesa's lol Well this is my problem. I recently purchased a triple rectifier I got a very good deal on it so I decided to give it a shot. I play in a progressive heavy metal band kind of Opeth mixed with Dream Theater stuff. Anyways I thought the Rectifier will get the job done well when it comes to the heavy stuff. Well I haven't played shows with it yet but my problems are these. 1: I live in an apartment so I can't crank it to loud but I would like to know how can I achieve that heavy sound with out having to crank it loud or if I do need to push the tubes should I get some sort of a attenuator pedal if so which would you recommend? I know its not gone be a problem at band practices and shows, but I practice a lot at home a lot as well. I run it through a 2x12 cab with vintage v30s. 2: Another thing is that I can't seem to get a really heavy distortion out of it. I do like the vintage setting and managed to get a good sound out of it but it's no where near the heaviness that I'm looking for. When I switch one the modern its just way to buzzy and trebley sounding hope that makes sense. Do I need to get a good OD pedal or some kind of EQ pedal maybe? I basically want to the amp to have more growl and bite for solos and heavier rhythmic playing . I'm totally new to Mesa's so I don't know which pedals go great with it so any suggestions would be really appreciated!

I know that's a lot of stuff to read so I appreciate to those who took the time

Thanks!

 

[screamingdaisy]

A Recto doesn't really do it's thing until it's moderately loud. A big part of it's sound is the sound of the power section slamming the speakers, which is something that just can't be achieved at apartment volumes. Using an attenuator doesn't really help since it's the lack of speaker movement that's the issue.

Unfortunately there's no elegent solution for this problem. If I lived in an apartment again I'd use an emulator for quiet practicing as they're not as volume sensitive as a tube amp.

 

[YellowJacket]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgGnWufCjso

Your Triple will sound plenty heavy on the modern channel once you turn the volume up a bit. You might want to acquire a 4 x 12 for gigging =-o
Also think about boosting, if you want a brighter and tighter tone.

 

[fluff191]

A Recto doesn't really do it's thing until it's moderately loud.

+1

In all seriousness, I would leave the Triple at the practice space and get a Single Recto for the apartment or something along those lines. Good Lord of course you can't get a decent sound at low volumes on a 150 watt amp! :lol:

 

[BostonRedSox]

A Recto doesn't really do it's thing until it's moderately loud.

+1

In all seriousness, I would leave the Triple at the practice space and get a Single Recto for the apartment or something along those lines. Good Lord of course you can't get a decent sound at low volumes on a 150 watt amp! :lol:

This is good advice.

 

[AXEnGEAR4J]

I use an Ibanez Tube King in front of my Dual and Triple, it does a pretty fair job at low volumes and love it's bottom end chunkiness and creamy tone.
Another thing I use is an EQ pedal where you boost the bottom, turn down the output and turn up the amp volume...
And with both in line things work out pretty good... :wink:

You need that Triple at 3-4 volume level to even start to sound good...
And I would recommend getting at least another 2X12 or a 4x12, I plan to be running two full stacks with my Triple and Dual...

I will say I like the sound of (2) 2X12's over (1) 4x12...

A Recto doesn't really do it's thing until it's moderately loud.

+1

In all seriousness, I would leave the Triple at the practice space and get a Single Recto for the apartment or something along those lines. Good Lord of course you can't get a decent sound at low volumes on a 150 watt amp! :lol:

This is good advice.

 

[boss4]

Yes,take that beast to the rehearsal room but you dont need a single rectifier (and carry the cab up and down) to practice. For an apartment I'll sujest an emulator like a Line 6 or something similar. I have one in my practice room and its good enough. As for the triple, if you want to carry it around, get a THD Hot Plate and put a Maxon OD808 in the front of the amp... but you'll need volume anyway.

 

[rocknroll9225]

Yes,take that beast to the rehearsal room but you dont need a single rectifier (and carry the cab up and down) to practice. For an apartment I'll sujest an emulator like a Line 6 or something similar. I have one in my practice room and its good enough. As for the triple, if you want to carry it around, get a THD Hot Plate and put a Maxon OD808 in the front of the amp... but you'll need volume anyway.

+1 even a single rectifier is overkill for a dedicated practice amp IMO. if it's just for practicing by yourself, i'd get a modeler.

 

[sflight]

I have not tried this yet or have not heard of anyone trying it but I am seriously thinking about it. I'm sick of playing out and having the house sound guy tell me to turn down. You turn down and then lose the best part about owning the Triple.

http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/product/Rivera-RockCrusher-Power-Attenuator?sku=H70824

 

[fluff191]

For an apartment I'll suggest an emulator like a Line 6 or something similar. I have one in my practice room and its good enough.

+1

When everyone is home, I use my Line6 POD Farm through my studio monitors. Sounds killer. When everyone is out of the house, I crank up the Recto.

 

[domct203]

I have not tried this yet or have not heard of anyone trying it but I am seriously thinking about it. I'm sick of playing out and having the house sound guy tell me to turn down. You turn down and then lose the best part about owning the Triple.

http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/product/Rivera-RockCrusher-Power-Attenuator?sku=H70824

IMO I would save your money. Rectifiers are designed to get their distortion tone from preamp distortion. Screamingdaisy brought this up a few posts back.

A Recto doesn't really do it's thing until it's moderately loud. A big part of it's sound is the sound of the power section slamming the speakers, which is something that just can't be achieved at apartment volumes. Using an attenuator doesn't really help since it's the lack of speaker movement that's the issue.

Dom

 

[greatmutah]

Volume is key with these amps. If you can't let it breathe a little, then it's not gonna work well. You could kick on the spongy switch on the back for a little attenuation but that's only gonna help so much. In an apartment, well you're in a tough spot. Also if you can't get a good distortion, before you tackle anything else or try to change tubes or anything, I honestly recommend reading the manual. As a new owner, it is the best thing to read when learning the ropes of your amp and they're readily available for download off Mesa's site.

The solo heads have plenty of gain on tap so that shouldn't be an issue. It doesn't get uber saturated like a 5150, but it does have a lot to use. A boost doesn't hurt with those amps either. They like boosts. I use an RC Booster as it doesn't color my tone at all and just gives me more of my existing signal. YMMV. Also, depending on how new that cab is, your V30s may need to be broken in a bit. Loud volumes especially help, so maybe take it to practices.

 

[HaggertysMusic]

I agree these amps have to be turned up to sound right. Current production Triples go down to 50 watts now, but in reality there isn't a tremendous volume difference between 50 and 150 watts... It's not triple the volume.

 

[Gnarkill3k6]

Play with the fx-send and return knobs on the back... Also, if you keep the master (on the channels) low you can get a very descent tone at home.
I own a triple for about 3 years now and I have no problems in getting a good tone at home. I do boost it with a TS808 btw.

[EDIT: oh.. bit old, this topic :lol: ]

 

[bluestometal]

With any MESA amp the "now-I'm-starting-to-warm-up" volume is quite loud, really too much for bedroom practices but, most of the case, it's too much for band sessions and club situations too so with a 150W MESA amp you just have and even louder start-up volume treshold. You could use an od to boost the input stage but, as screamingdaisy said, the Recto tone come from the power section goin' down hard too and with 150W to slam you've to go down really hard. I don't think you need a 4x12 as somebody said unless you gig in fu**ing big a** concert/festivals, switching from a 2x12 to a 4x12 you just double the sound projection, no big help if volume is an issue. If this's your first MESA then, tweaking it, you'll learn that you can really shape your tone spending time with the amp, playing and tweaking again and, most of the case, your tone will be at a volume made to rip off paint from the wall, I really suggest you to use ear protections during band sessions.

 

[R_ADKINS80]

Hmmmm, never had much issue getting a heavy bedroom tone out of my triple, even before I modded it. If you are running 6L6, and don't have adjustable bias, I STRONGLY suggest you use tube rectifiers and flip the bias switch to EL34. Ran my triple this way for YEARS before I made the bias adjustable. It really helps out with the tone at lower levels.....trust me.

 

[Gnarkill3k6]

Interesting about the Bias-switch... I've heard before the recto's run very cold compared to other amps.
I have the GZ34 rectifiers... still safe to switch to EL34-mode?

What is the main difference btw? Does this make my TS808 redundant?

 

[ryjan]

Get a Peavy Vyper combo or a Line6 Spider combo for low volume jamming at home. You will never get a Triple Recto to sound good at apartment levels (unless you hate your neighbors :lol: ).
The main thing like everyone said before is the speakers. No amount of eq, boost, fx loop fiddling, or power scaling will help the thin buzz from underworked speakers.

 

[R_ADKINS80]

I must have a gem then. My Triple sounds killer at any volume. I can play my triple in my 850sq ft house at 3am with the wife and kids asleep and never wake em up.

 

[R_ADKINS80]

Oh, and the gz34s would most likely run your power tubes too hot unless you had a really cold set. The only way to be sure would be to check the bias with a probe.