New Guy with rectoverb combo....

[TheSandman]

Hey what's up guys, I'm new, just found out about this site from another board. I've owned a few Mesa stuff, first was a F30, sweet little amp man, had tones of power for it's size, but didn't really dig the distortion it had. Picked up the rectoverb, and have had it for about a year, and I have a few questions on it. About the cleans, I've never really liked the cleans on it, fooled with the settings a little bit, but still sound kind of muddy, anyone have any recommended settings? And with the distortion, being's that this thing is stupid loud, and it's in a small room in my house, I can't play through the distortion channel, I had to settle with getting a pedal, a EHX metal muff. Although the pedal seems to handle the distortion well, it's just not the rectoverb distortion I like. I've heard people talk about the hot plates, what exactly does it do? People have good results with it? BTW, the exe I play through is a ESP EXP Explorer.

Hope to pick up some useful stuff for my Mesa!

Here's pics of the amp and ESP.....

 

[otter5555]

i use my rectoverb in a SMALL home studio, miked up, at VERY low volumn levels and it sounds/records great.

i have always prefered mesas for their pre-amp od/distortion and never really cared for their power tube od/distortion. it's just a personal preference.

i did not care for my rectoverbs sounds with the 6l6 tubes in it. i changed them to el34's and it was like another amp, with sounds that i love.

the '34's color the sound in a big way.

i record my stiletto ace and f-30 the same way with good sucess.

we all look for a certain sound and of course there are as many good sounds as their are players.

otter

 

[TheSandman]

Thanks for the reply man, so the 6l6's are what come in them orignally? I've also read that a few people recommend changing them out for a el34. Any other comments? How long do tubes usually last? This is my first tube amp that I've kept in a long time so I'm not too sharp on the upkeep of them.

Thanks

 

[mrd]

Tubes should last a year with regular play. If you play every day for several hours or more, expect to change them every 6-8 months. The tell-tale signs of dead power tubes are brittle, thin, lifeless tones that seem to lack an openness.

No offense to ya man but... why on earth do you have a rectoverb if you're just running a crappy disto. pedal through it? Especially when you have that awesome ESP guitar!! Move it into a different room if you have to... play that thing the way it's meant to be played.

 

[TheSandman]

well the distortion was soooo loud in the room, I had to get something to quiet down, so I got the pedal, until I just read on here about a attenuator, so I'm trying to figure out what one will work for the rectoverb, any ideas?

 

[clutch71]

The cleans on the series one I owned were great so my first thought would be you've got a tube issue somewhere.

Settings: For around the house I set the output and master equally about 8 o'clock. I set everything else at noon and the gain at 1 o'clock Modern and 2 o'clock on Vintage. I would then make minor adjustments to the eq.

+1 on EL's they add a nice flavor. A good OD really slams the front of the amp and will help at low volumes.

The best combination of tubes I found in my ROV was JJ 6l6, 4 Groove tube silver series in V-1 through 4 and a JJ ecc83 in V-5. OD's my preference is a Ibanez Tube Screamer 808 Reissue. Everything set at noon.

Good luck and welcome to the board!

 

[TheSandman]

Thanks guys, what does everyone think of the hot plate for my dilemma? Will it help out with the sound at low volumes? Which one will work?

 

[sociopath]

You should be able to get good quality distortion at low volumes if you use an overdrive (not distortion) pedal into the red channel. The trick is to use it as more of a clean boost. On the pedal, turn the level up and the gain down. Then, on the amp, you can experiment with various settings until you find something you like. I use a modded Boss Blues Driver into my Rectoverb and I get great tone at low volumes.

BTW, I also have a Hotplate and for me, I get better tone not using it. The OD pedal before the dirty channel is the way to go.

 

[TheSandman]

well I actually picked up a hotplate tonight, but it's too late (finace's asleep) so tomorrow I'm gonna hook it up and see how it works. What's a good OD to use? There was a used TS9 at GC for $100, would that work? And using it on the dirty channel won't damage anything?

 

[sociopath]

Here are the OD pedals I have (in order of preference):

1. Boss BD-2 (modded by vodkamods.com - Plan B mod)
2. Ibanez TS-808 re-issue
3. Boss SD-1
4. Digitech Bad Monkey
5. Boss OD-3
6. Ibanez TS-7

The modded BD-2 gives me great tone at extremely low volumes. Like I said, on the pedal ... crank the level and tone and keep the drive low or off altogether. Then try using the Vintage mode on the dirty channel and keep the gain anywhere between 10:00 and noon. It will absolutely not hurt the amp.

Also, try raising up your amp up so you can hear the true sound of it while you play. I set mine on another amp and the difference was like night and day ... much brighter and clearer sounding. Or you could just tilt it back or something.

 

[TheSandman]

hooked up the hotplate, definitely sounds better then the distortion pedal. But now everyone's got me thinking, should I take it back and get a OD pedal? And the OD will give me the crunchy distortion I'm looking for at low volumes?

Should I take the hotplate back and go for the OD pedal?

 

[clutch71]

You can also drive the output while keeping the master low. This with an OD out front should get you close. Tubes are always going to require a little volume.

IMO check out the TS9DX. It's $9 more than the TS-9 and has aspects of the TS808 in it too. I was never personally a fan of the plain old TS-9 though.

DQ

 

[TheSandman]

So you run the OD pedal on the dirty channel, turn the gain all the way down and adjust the volume I should get a reasonable volume out of the amp with nice, crunchy distortion?

 

[clutch71]

I prefer an OD on a dirty channel and a distortion pedal on a clean channel.

Well I'll be honest, I hadn't found the OD trick for low volume when I had my ROV; wish I had. I drove the output to add a little power tube saturation at lower volumes. Using a TS808 now and cutting my 2ch DR to 50w and running EL-34's, I get a decent crunch but it's still a rectifier "crunch." I run my gain at 12:30 or 1 and keep my TS808 set flat at noon.

What type of crunch are you looking for?

 

[TheSandman]

just want a good, dirty distortion, but at a reasonable volume. To be honest I really can't describe the ideal tone, but if I hear and I like then it's good. I guess it would be deep and crunchy, nice low end, not too trebly, is that good? I like the sound that the hotplate made, but I paid $250 for the **** thing and if I can get that same sound with an OD, then I'll go that route. I want the distortion from the amp, not the pedal

 

[clutch71]

I just want to stress again that tube amps in general need volume to sound their best. Rectifiers are a looser heavier bottom end distortion. At low volumes this produces a little fuzz or fizziness as some people describe it. Therefore getting that tight crunch sound, like the first couple Metallica albums is difficult.

Post your settings even include how you set the hotplate. No offense but when was the last time you changed that battery in the EMG's?

 

[TheSandman]

I just want to stress again that tube amps in general need volume to sound their best. Rectifiers are a looser heavier bottom end distortion. At low volumes this produces a little fuzz or fizziness as some people describe it. Therefore getting that tight crunch sound, like the first couple Metallica albums is difficult.

Post your settings even include how you set the hotplate. No offense but when was the last time you changed that battery in the EMG's?

none taken . I changed the battery out last month. I don't know if something was wrong with the hotplate, but I returned it because I couldn't get any response from the line out knob or the dB switch on the right, so I thought it was defective. They only had the TS-808 and the TS9, wasn't really interested in the others, so I picked up the TS9. Haven't had a chance to play it yet, but I can take a picture of the amp settings if you would like.

Thanks for all the help man! 8)

 

[TheSandman]

well tried everything with the TS9, definitely not the sound I'm looking for. Also, here's a pic of my settings......

 

[clutch71]

Your settings look fine and you should be getting a decent preamp distortion but your not really hitting yout PT's yet. I couldn't tell if you were in Vintage ot Modern but at lower volumes you can drive that gain a little higher (not much) than you would at higher volumes in wither mode.

Quiet is relative with tube amps. You ask what I think is quiet and then ask my wife and you'll get two different answers.

I say keep tweaking, you'll get it.

 

[TheSandman]

I'm in modern mode, the distortion really isn't that loud, but for some reason, when I cut on the TS9, it almost sounds like the sound is muffled, and I get no crunch, it almost sounds like it's on the vintage channel.