Mesa Single Recto 50 Head newbie Q

[RyanDM]

I am a first time mesa amp owner with some questions. I actually also a first time tube amp owner as well. I sold off my Marshall Valvestate rig on the quest for that Mesa Rectifier tone. I purchased a used Series II Mesa Single Rectifier Solo Head 50 and the 2x12 Recto cab (separately). I have also taken the time to read many posts on settings in this forum (and on grailtone) and have a basic understanding of how interactive the controls are on this head.

That being said I am bit confused as to why this setup doesn’t seem very punchy. Everyone says that this setup has this huge larger than life sound yet it's not what I am experiencing at all. I am really happy with the tones, I have (thanks to your many posts) dont get me wrong. I am getting just surprised by the absence of chunk. My palm mutes don't sound very big I never can get your typical chugga chugga... I have run this head with every type of setting across the board. I have also tried this head on an Avatar 2x12 so I know it’s not the cab.

Is this tube related? All tubes in this amp are original (2-3 years old). I know that the head was shipped with the tubes still installed (although it was packaged very well) Should I just replace them all? I just figured if the tubes were bad then my overall sound wouldn’t be pleasing but all I am missing is thump. Is there a pre-amp tube largely responsible for punch? The only other thing that I have noticed is a very occasional and not that noticeable micro phonic tube weird frequency sound which is probably V1.

Help a newbie - Ryan

 

[Platypus]

I am a first time mesa amp owner with some questions. I actually also a first time tube amp owner as well. I sold off my Marshall Valvestate rig on the quest for that Mesa Rectifier tone. I purchased a used Series II Mesa Single Rectifier Solo Head 50 and the 2x12 Recto cab (separately). I have also taken the time to read many posts on settings in this forum (and on grailtone) and have a basic understanding of how interactive the controls are on this head.

That being said I am bit confused as to why this setup doesn’t seem very punchy. Everyone says that this setup has this huge larger than life sound yet it's not what I am experiencing at all. I am really happy with the tones, I have (thanks to your many posts) dont get me wrong. I am getting just surprised by the absence of chunk. My palm mutes don't sound very big I never can get your typical chugga chugga... I have run this head with every type of setting across the board. I have also tried this head on an Avatar 2x12 so I know it’s not the cab.

Is this tube related? All tubes in this amp are original (2-3 years old). I know that the head was shipped with the tubes still installed (although it was packaged very well) Should I just replace them all? I just figured if the tubes were bad then my overall sound wouldn’t be pleasing but all I am missing is thump. Is there a pre-amp tube largely responsible for punch? The only other thing that I have noticed is a very occasional and not that noticeable micro phonic tube weird frequency sound which is probably V1.

Help a newbie - Ryan

If your tubes are 2-3 years old I would definetly recommend a retube right off the bat, your symptoms sound a lot like power tubes that have gone past their prime.

That being said, here are some things to try and a few questions for you to help narrow down the problem.

1) What kind of guitar are you using through it? Pickups?
2) Where is your output control if your loop isn't bypassed, if it is where are your channel volumes at?
3) Try the bold power settings on the back.
4) Do you have any overdrive pedals? I ask because it's hard to get the chunk/chug sound unless your amp is cranked, especially if you're using weak output humbuckers. Try throwing an OD in front of your amp with the volume up and gain down, so as not to add distortion but only volume.

edit: As a side note, very impressive that you've done your homework on this prior to the thread, I hope you found some useful info on the board, there are lots of great people here.

 

[RyanDM]

Thanks Platypus for your recommendations. I will do a complete retube for good measure. I am playing a les paul style guitar with pretty high gain humbuckers. I haven't run anything in the effects loop just yet. I believe since I have the Single Recto, it's in bold mode all of the time (no other option I don't think). Good call on the OD pedal for that extra push. I may try a tube screamer or blues driver in front of it (as soon as I recover from saving $ for this amp)

Thanks, Ryan

 

[Platypus]

Ah ok, I'm not extremely familiar with the Single recs, I know they only have diode rectifiers, wasn't sure if they had the variac or not.

Either way, what are your settings like volume wise?

 

[seajay]

Slap some new tubes in that sucka...then crank it. I think you will be very pleased.

Two and a half years later and I'm still blown away by the tones I get from my Rectoverb!

 

[jbird]

Rectifiers do tend to sound huge by nature! By that I mean: Big bottom, nice highs, a natural mid scoop! Some players may favor a tighter tracking amp for chug-u-chugging! Tone-wise, I mean. :?

 

[dave-o]

IF your trying an OD pedal, I found the Tube screamer to sound better than the Blues Driver. Normally I dont like TS but with my single recto it sounds great.

 

[Botch]

Thanks Platypus for your recommendations. I will do a complete retube for good measure. I am playing a les paul style guitar with pretty high gain humbuckers. I haven't run anything in the effects loop just yet. I believe since I have the Single Recto, it's in bold mode all of the time (no other option I don't think). Good call on the OD pedal for that extra push. I may try a tube screamer or blues driver in front of it (as soon as I recover from saving $ for this amp)

Thanks, Ryan

If you get a new set of tubes I sincerely doubt you'll be needing an OD pedal infront of it!

 

[RyanDM]

After much tweaking, some confusion, and a frantic tube swap I had an “aha moment” the other day and finally figured out why my Single Recto Head / 2x12 Recto Cab didn’t sound so “huge”. It is humbling to share my results, but here it goes… The used 2x12 Recto cab that I purchased was converted to work as a stereo cab. That’s right folks, for the entire 3 or 4 weeks that I had owned this cab I had been only powering one of the speakers inside and didn’t know it. What can I say? For some reason I didn’t notice until I put in some EL34’s. I guess the whole sizzle of the 6L6’s really dispersed well through the cab as far as directionality goes. Once you get your laughs out of the way, see explanation below.

For the first few weeks of owning my Single Rec Head, I had borrowed a friends 2x12 Avatar cab that was loaded w/ Celestion G12H30 70th Year Anniv speakers. I knew that it wasn’t going to be the absolute perfect match for my head, but it was nice to have a cab to play on while I was searching for a good used 2x12 Recto Cab. I really learned how to dial that thing in during those times.

Once I got my 2x12 cab I was eager to hear my amp really come alive with the speaker cabinet that it was voiced for. I was ready for the thundering bottom end and huge sound that these things are known for. Instead, I thought wow this cab sounds very similar to the Avatar 2x12 (which is interesting since the Avatar had 2 speakers inside while I was running 1), not quite what I imagined but tonally it sounds great. The other day I tried some EL34’s that I had around and as soon as I put them in I thought crap, what happened to my left speaker. Part of the reason for my noticing was the tube tone difference and the other part was the fact that I was sitting on the ground in front of the cab while I swapped tubes. I then carefully opened the cab and to my surprise it was wired in stereo…

After a quick soldering fix I am rocking the house while grinning ear to ear.

I guess that this also is a testimony to those who are wondering if they should spend the extra money to get the 2x12 Rectifier cabinet. My opinion is yes! They are a match made in heaven. I am definitely not knocking Avatar cabs for other uses – my buddy has one and it sounds great with his Marshall Plexi. IMHO as far as Rectifier Heads w/ 2x12 cabs are concerned, the Recto cab is the way.

Thanks for your replies!

 

[HappySinner]

Thanks for sharing all of that, Ryan - glad you're having fun now!
Just so you know you're not alone in the "D'oh!" stakes...

Years ago (when I was playing rockstars), I walked onstage at the beginning of a gig, all fired up and ready to go... the intro tape was running, the crowd was going batshit, and I gave my strings a quick flick to make sure everything was working.
No sound.
I checked out the amp and rack, and all the lights were on.
I checked the pedal boards - all ok.
10 seconds to go. I screamed at my guitar tech:
"The gear's not f***ing working!!!"
My guitar tech looked at me for a (very long) second, and shouted back:
"Plug your f***ing guitar in!"

Good thing the first lighting wash was a red one...

 

[Barry]

After much tweaking, some confusion, and a frantic tube swap I had an “aha moment” the other day and finally figured out why my Single Recto Head / 2x12 Recto Cab didn’t sound so “huge”. It is humbling to share my results, but here it goes… The used 2x12 Recto cab that I purchased was converted to work as a stereo cab. That’s right folks, for the entire 3 or 4 weeks that I had owned this cab I had been only powering one of the speakers inside and didn’t know it. What can I say? For some reason I didn’t notice until I put in some EL34’s. I guess the whole sizzle of the 6L6’s really dispersed well through the cab as far as directionality goes. Once you get your laughs out of the way, see explanation below.

For the first few weeks of owning my Single Rec Head, I had borrowed a friends 2x12 Avatar cab that was loaded w/ Celestion G12H30 70th Year Anniv speakers. I knew that it wasn’t going to be the absolute perfect match for my head, but it was nice to have a cab to play on while I was searching for a good used 2x12 Recto Cab. I really learned how to dial that thing in during those times.

Once I got my 2x12 cab I was eager to hear my amp really come alive with the speaker cabinet that it was voiced for. I was ready for the thundering bottom end and huge sound that these things are known for. Instead, I thought wow this cab sounds very similar to the Avatar 2x12 (which is interesting since the Avatar had 2 speakers inside while I was running 1), not quite what I imagined but tonally it sounds great. The other day I tried some EL34’s that I had around and as soon as I put them in I thought crap, what happened to my left speaker. Part of the reason for my noticing was the tube tone difference and the other part was the fact that I was sitting on the ground in front of the cab while I swapped tubes. I then carefully opened the cab and to my surprise it was wired in stereo…

After a quick soldering fix I am rocking the house while grinning ear to ear.

I guess that this also is a testimony to those who are wondering if they should spend the extra money to get the 2x12 Rectifier cabinet. My opinion is yes! They are a match made in heaven. I am definitely not knocking Avatar cabs for other uses – my buddy has one and it sounds great with his Marshall Plexi. IMHO as far as Rectifier Heads w/ 2x12 cabs are concerned, the Recto cab is the way.

Thanks for your replies!

What did you think of the EL34's in your amp ? I had a Rect-o-verb with EL34s and I loved it .

 

[seajay]

Cool man. I'm glad you got the rig working more to your liking.