new dual rec owner with a few questions

[acuevo]

hey all. just bought a 3 channel dual rec a few weeks ago.

i have 3 questions that hopefully someone can answer here:

the first is, i am getting awesome distorted tones at low volumes.. i'm talking fairly low, masters on org/red channels at about 3.5, loop on send level at about 5 and output at a little less than 3. i'm loving the quality of the distortion at that level, it has great sustain, clarity and chunk. the problem is that when i turn the output up, or even the masters the tone seems to suffer - by this i mean i lose sustain, i seem to have less gain saturation and it feels punchier, almost like the mids were turned up (i've got them fairly low on org and fairly high on red). i've also tried this with the fx loop off completely and just using the masters and have the same problem.

before i start asking for answers i'll give my hypothosis: its my cab, i'm basically slaving my old amp (crate vfx50212) as a cab till i can afford a mesa 412. the amp is a 212 open back with tone tubby speakers and i think the combonation of the open back design and speakers that are probably designed to break up a LOT earlier than a V30 is killing the metal type sound i'm after when i turn it up.

advice on that would be apprieciated.

second question is: i can't seem to get the footswitch setting for the fx loop to work.. with the knob in that position the output and solo knobs are active and the light comes on the footswitch when i hit the fx button but the effects in the loop don't get mixed into the signal. i've fooled with the send and return levels but nothing works and it works fine in the 'loop on' or any of the single channel settings.

the last question is more tube amp in general (i've owned tube amps for a few years now but you never stop learning lol) whats all this i hear about 'boosting' an amp? seems like people are using OD808s or zack wylde overdrives to boost their amps. i'm just curious as to what advantages that gives you and how it affects your tone.

thanks for all the help guys looking forward to some advice lol

jay

 

[cheameup]

hey there

I got my 3 channel DR a month ago so I'm a new owner too .I'm no expert yet but I've found it does sound very different between home and studio levels . When I turn up for real playing I turn the presence down. It seems to me the louder the amp is the more pronounced the presence is . Thats always the way but it seems more pronounced with the DR . You shouldnt be losing sustain by turning up the masters . I get great sustain in the studio but no so much at home .

The loop I just set to footswitch loop , put dials to 12 oclock and it wokrs great . sure you dont have your send and return leads backwards ?


booster can do a couple of things . I think when allot of people use a boost or an OD with the mesa's they're alomst acting like an eq more than a boost . rolling off some low end .To my understanding they are desigined for slamming the preamp tubes with signal to get more saturation . I've never used one so I'm no expert on them

 

[TREC]

Good choice on amp mate. People will have different opinions on effects and such but using an od pedal in front of a dual rec will help to "tighten up" the sound a bit. I use a maxon OD 808 which works great. It might also help with your sustain issue. Like cheameup said amps can sound different depending on their application, even in my room the sound changes depending on where I stand/sit and where my cab is facing.

I too got caught with the footswitch thing, I add it on loop but not footswitch, hence it didnt work.

Good luck with your tone mate.

 

[acuevo]

hey guys thanks for the advice!

i was actually fooling around with it some more today and then remembered that i was pretty much sitting in front of the amp when i turned it up (still trying out different settings). in my experience getting that 'direct' sound right in front of the speakers is always going to sound punchier so i moved around a little bit and it sounded much better. i guess it was mostly user error lol.

sustain is still kind of eh. i dont know why but for years i've had sustain issues which is odd because i play a les paul. for the longest time i always thought 'maybe its just my guitar' then i remembered that sustain is one of a les pauls higher points. i mean its an epiphone but i doubt that would affect it too much.

who knows though? lol. i think i might try this boosting thing just to see what its like and i'm definatly still getting a mesa cab. thanks again guys and anyone else that wants to give some input its definately still welcome

jay

 

[iceman]

I have a Roaster and I think sustain is just not in the cards for the dual rectifiers. My triaxis can sustain forever without any boost. Roadster has plenty of its own strengths though.

 

[TREC]

You could always try a compressor/sustainer. I use a Electro Harmonix for leeds sometime.

 

[bermuda_]

As far as I know this is normal when it comes to Recto, I too have experienced this problem with my Recto, so I can relate to your post man :wink:, try turning up the presence on the amp I set my to about 9 O'clock, I have found that the amp sounds like utter crap when the presence on the amp is set to zero.

 

[YellowJacket]

Like cheameup said amps can sound different depending on their application, even in my room the sound changes depending on where I stand/sit and where my cab is facing.

I think half the issues with tone are often the result of resonance frequencies in any given room. At my parents place, the basement is such that NOTHING sounds good in it at all. It is like one gigantic fizz pot and it brews harsh and brittle presence and treble. My workspace here isn't much better for that either. It just accentuates a certain band of treble that makes the amp sound boomy, brittle, fizzy, and harsh. When I had my gear out for an actual rehearsal, it sounded liquid, creamy, and had such a thick and mean crunch I almost shat myself.