new dual rectifier. metal settings???

[guitarman1879]

Hello. I just bought a brand new Mesa dual rect. about a week ago. I use a Jackson wrxt warrior with EMG 81 and 85 pickups and a BOSS ME50. Right now I'm playing through a Marshall MG cab until I get a vader cab. I haven't had a ton of time lately to play around with my amp and try to get the right tone, and when I do I'm having trouble.
I play in a metal band and I'm looking for a good tone similar to bands like black dahlia murder. I was thinking about having maybe like a channel for the standard tone, and a channel for a real low end tone for meltdown type things. Any suggestions as to what channels/settings I should use to attain this? I know it's kinda broad... but help would be appreciated.
My problems:Channel 2 and 3 just sound like crap now because I don't know what I'm doing! They have way to much gain. And I actually like channel 1 on clean but I'm wondering if I should put that aside for any times a need a clean instead of distortion.
This is my first Mesa, let alone first tube amp. My last amp was a **** Marshall MG... I know I can get a real sweet sound but everything I play sounds so much better than my last amp, so I'm trying to not let that get in my way of finding the right setting.

Thank you,
-Andrew

 

[jbird]

The manuals a pretty good starting point in explaining the sweet spots of each control! If you did'nt get one, download one from the Mesa sight!

 

[boogieslide]

Some quick tips:

Use Diode/Bold.
If it sounds like too much gain, lower it.
I would try Channel 3 in Modern mode for what you want.
Careful with the bass. Try 9 to 10 o'clock. Gain between 1 and 2 o'clock.

Your taste for highs and brightness mixed with how your cab handles highs will dictate what you can do with the presence and treble. For metal I would think higher presence settings would be favorable.

Good luck. There is a lot of stuff to try. Be patient and experiment...it the only way.
Different taste and so many different variables play into it so much. You can get ideas, but not answers here.
Hope it helps.

 

[ibanez4life SZ!]

2 hints IMO:

The ME-50 is not helping you if you are using it for gain...

The MG cab is DEFINITELY not helping....

All the other help so far has been great!

 

[SteveP]

2 hints IMO:



The MG cab is DEFINITELY not helping....

I completely agree here. The DR seems to be very cab sensitive. I used a 1960a cab for awhile and hated the tone I got from it. As soon as I got a std mesa cab a nice tone was fairly easy to find. Lately I have been using a Genz Benz Gflex cab with fantastic results.

 

[MesallicA]

definatly get a better cab.

 

[guitarmaster]

:!:

 

[eaeolian]

Some quick tips:

Use Diode/Bold.
If it sounds like too much gain, lower it.
I would try Channel 3 in Modern mode for what you want.
Careful with the bass. Try 9 to 10 o'clock. Gain between 1 and 2 o'clock.

Your taste for highs and brightness mixed with how your cab handles highs will dictate what you can do with the presence and treble. For metal I would think higher presence settings would be favorable.

Good luck. There is a lot of stuff to try. Be patient and experiment...it the only way.
Different taste and so many different variables play into it so much. You can get ideas, but not answers here.
Hope it helps.

That should be a great starting point. I'd say be careful with the presence, too - it's really easy to use too much of it and have the amp go harsh on you...

 

[Micah]

Ive got to tell you that Ive been looking for that harmonicly rich and chunky metal tone for a while now on my triple. I have both the Mesa oversized 4 x 12 (v30's) and a Marshall 1960A (GT-75's) and the tone does change but its more in the tightness or largeness of the bottom end (resonance).

Ive had a difficult time getting the Harmonics that I hear on allot of recordings and retaining the large bottom end. What I can tell you I have found in this quest is that you really dont want to go crazy with the Gain. It seems that the more Gain you introduce to the signal path, the weaker and the harder it is to pull off harmonics. I usually like to put my gain about 2:30 for the large lower-mids but I find that I get little to no harmonics.

Because of the large Gain amount Ive had to play my BASS setting almost off to retain a faster bottom end. Im in the process now of trying to back the gain off and replace the bottom end loss with the bass. This is a very difficult thing for me to do because it seems like I loose a bunch of the sustain and girth of that high gain setting.

Anyway--If I were you I would start by going to the 3rd Channel and selecting the Modern voicing. Then take all of your knobs (accept the "master") and place them @ noon--Presence, Gain, Bass, Mid and Treble. Then take the Master and put it @ 9. If I were you I would play that for a few minutes and see what it is that you dont like about the sound of that setting (maybe it will be perfect..??)and then Go from there.

Is it not big enough? Turn up the bass a little(maybe 1 oclock).

Is it to loose/tight? Turn the Mids down to loosen or up to tighten/add punch.

Is the clarity not there? Try turning up the Treble(maybe 1 oclock).

Is it too thin? Turn down the treble slightly(maybe 11 oclock).

Is the sustain not there? Try putting your Gain @ about 1 or 2(harmonics will go down the higher you get though. Some guys also, especially found in metal, like to put the amp gain @ a sensable volume to bring the harmonics out and then push the fron end of the amp with a light overdrive to saturate the sound a little more. This might be an option and Im thinking about trying it myself to help tighten things up.

Need more edge? Turn up the Presence. I like allot of presence so I sometimes put this to the Max but it does seem to shrink down some of the chunk. Some guys say that this makes it "Grainy" but I dont mind some nasty in there--

Hope this helps! Keep me/us posted on what your able to find. What are you using for a guitar/pickup?

 

[Nazgul666]

Micah, when you say harmonics, do you mean pinch harmonics or do you just mean harmonic overtones?

Either way, I see you are using an SG. I have a Gibson Custom Shop Iommi Signature SG which is a beautiful guitar. It sounded awesome with my Marshall and Laney. However, I thought it was a little thin and lacked gain with my new Dual Rec. I then plugged in my Jackson USA Dinky with the EMG 81/85 set and wow. Fat juicy metal chords.

Bottom line is I believe this amp responds great to active pickups.

Check it out.

 

[guitarman1879]

Wow, thanks guys. I appreciate it. I'll try your suggestions and let everyone know how it turns out later.

 

[Random Hero]

Keep the presence LOW. On mine I have the red/modern rhythm tone presence just about on 1 (on a 1-10 scale) and my orange/vintage lead has it completely off.