Multi-watt 2&3 voiced the same or not?

[biddifour]

Still completely in love with my new Reborn Recto and as I get to know it better I'm thinking that Channel 2 and 3 are NOT identical as the manual and the original Mesa demo video suggest.

On modern with all the dials set exactly the same, channel 2 is less harsh. Actually reminds me of my '02 Recto's Channel 3 modern.
The Reborn's channel 3 is as aggressive as I always wanted my old one to be.

I just wonder what others think comparing the two channels in the same mode with the same settings.

 

[barryswanson]

I'm not sure about the circuits themselves but the presence pots are different values. Look at the parts page in the back of the manual and compare the part numbers on the presence pots and you will see they are different.

 

[biddifour]

I'm not sure about the circuits themselves but the presence pots are different values. Look at the parts page in the back of the manual and compare the part numbers on the presence pots and you will see they are different.

Interesting. Ya, that's what they used to say in the old manual, that the presence on 3 was more extreme than 2.

It's just strange that they have backed away from that and say they are the same. weird :?

 

[screamingdaisy]

The multi-watts have a dual presence pot now, so raw/vintage use one value and modern uses the other.

As for your situation, if the difference is subtle it might come down to component tolerances within each channel (two pots of identical value may have slightly different sweeps, one channel may have the knob installed on the shaft 3° off from the other, etc).

Or, it could be that although Mesa fixed the presence issue they retained some of the tweaks they put in place for orange/lead and red/rhythm.

 

[Shemham]

The two distortion channels are pretty much identical. There are only two differences I've noticed.

Firstly, there's a very slight difference between modern/raw presence RC filter circuit after the tone stack which makes channel 2 little darker compared to channel 3. However, this difference has been there since non-Multiwatt Rectifiers.

Second difference at least in my Rectifier is that the Orange channel gain pot value is slightly lower than on Red channel (220k <-> 250k). This adds more gain and makes it brighter at the same time which likely explains your observations.

EDIT: Oh, and the presence pots are dual ganged 22k/100K for both channels.

 

[biddifour]

Good info guys. Thanks

Still trying to decide how to use channel 2. With my 2002 it used to be my medium gain ac/dc sound on vintage.

With this amp, on vintage, there is a boxier tone than I remember from my old one. Now I'm tempted to run it in modern with low gain.

Are there any tubes that would affect a specific mode? I'm thinking no.

 

[dlpasco]

I've noticed it as well. 3 definitely seems brighter than 2 to me. I actually use 3 for Vintage and 2 for Modern on mine most of the time.

 

[biddifour]

I've noticed it as well. 3 definitely seems brighter than 2 to me. I actually use 3 for Vintage and 2 for Modern on mine most of the time.

I spent some time on your soundcloud after doing a search here.

I like your tone comparisons a lot. Good work

Spent some more quality time with my amp yesterday and found my sound I think.

Going spongy and tube rectifier!! But it's so awesome! Seems tighter than what I remember my 2002 sounding like that way.

 

[afu]

If the Reborns follow most of the circuit as the original 3 Channel amps the differences would still be:

1) There is a filter between the treble pot and volume pot. The frequencies are 1.6 kHz (ch2) and 2.24 khz (ch3). 2) The pot differences may be in taper, but channel 3 has a treble filter on the older version. 3) Modern, Ch 3 has a mid-boosted tone stack compared to Ch 2.

 

[MrSmitty]

I've noticed it as well. 3 definitely seems brighter than 2 to me. I actually use 3 for Vintage and 2 for Modern on mine most of the time.

I stared doing the same as well. Vintage sounds better on channel 3.

 

[Jackdan]

Hey guys!

I have noticed this before on my Reborn Rec and did a matching test this past weekend where I could not get the two channels to sound the same.

For me the orange channel is much more brighter and more focused while the red channel is more scooped and darker...So I guess its the otherway around for me vs. previous posters.

I find red channel best for ultra modern "in tour face" sounds and the orange channel a bit more voiced for a clear sound (on modern mode) if that makes sense.

I havent tried the red channel on vintage mode recently but will compare them soon.

I thought it was just bad tolerances on the pots - but I like that they're different.