New Member - Dual Rectifier help please! :)

[customguitars87]

Hey folks,

I just joined the Mesa Boogie squad with my new Dual Rectifier Solo Head and Marshall 1960A Cab. I've wanted a mesa forever and it feels great to finally have one. Here it is amongst my various handbuilt custom guitars and others:

Now for my question: I LOVE the cleans, and I LOVE the crunchy rhythm I get out of this thing. The only thing that isn't satisfying me at the moment is the lead tones. I'm not very good at tweaking (my previous setup was MUCH simpler), but all the lead tones I try to get don't really do it for me. I know that a delay pedal and such would probably be a good start, but can anyone give me advice on coaxing some great lead tones out of this thing? And/or some pedals that you folks use with yours? I've heard great things about the MXR Carbon Copy...Thanks all, glad to be here!

 

[Heritage Softail]

Welcome to the board and congrats on getting the amp you had been wanting. Lots of help/opinions/ideas on here. First....

What do you consider a good lead tone, what song/player/band? What tubes are in your amp? Do you have any effects? What exact model/revision Rectifier do you have (brand new or new to you)?

Some folks like the sound of a Mark series for leads and a Rectifier for chunky chugging riffs. Two amps that sound pretty different. You can get a little of one out of the other but they are different. What are 5 or 6 riff or lead examples you want to cover? There are many many boosts out there to get you to tone nirvana.

Nice guitars there. Noticed your poster or RR. I am a RR fan myself from way back. Between Jimi, Randy, and Stevie, we lost three huge talents way way before their time... Three of my absolute favorite players. "Hey Joe" just rocked the rock and roll guitar world in 66.

Peace,

 

[cheameup]

enjoy the amp . i got my DR in janurary and I'm still lovin it

I actually found my lead sound on channel 2 vintage mode so try everthing . Its in there

 

[plapnab]

Channel 2 vintage for me. Bass around 8-9 o'clock, Mid around 11-12 o'clock, Treb 1-3 o'clock, Presence 9 o'clock, Gain 1-2 o'clock...this all of course is just what sounds good through my guitars and setup...your's could be different.

I too was a bit frustrated when I first got mine. I really didn't put much research into it when I bought one. I just figured that the amp has made so many millionaires i couldn't possibly go wrong. I tend to notice that people in general assume that the DR is only good for rhythm and not so much for soloing. However, what I found after much trial and error is that couldn't be further from the truth. Let me offer some suggestions. First, by itself the DR is dryer than a popcorn fart...no bells and whistles at all. The first thing I'd look at is a good delay and possibly reverb pedal to run through the loop. I that the BOSS DD-3 or DD-7 are inexpensive and sound/work great through the loop. I also recommend the MXR 10 band EQ. I think they should just build these into the amp much in the same way the Mark series uses EQ. Finally, get yourself a good overdrive. I cant say enough about the TS-9DX with Keeley mod. Tons of saturation and sustain. Also, cuts out the mushiness and really brings out the tone. Here's a link to one run through a DR. Oh yeah, a good noise gate like the ISP Decimator is a must! Good luck.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jq8PatFfPkA

 

[wildrat666]

congrats and welcome......

it takes a while to figure it out the settings that worls for u. channel 2 vintage is a good start for lead tones-
and yes you ll need a overdrive to boost it to get sustain and saturation(my opinion)
try to set the bass a little lower than u are used too. You got plenty at 10-11 oclock

 

[A_Ryder]

Hey folks,

I just joined the Mesa Boogie squad with my new Dual Rectifier Solo Head and Marshall 1960A Cab. I've wanted a mesa forever and it feels great to finally have one. Here it is amongst my various handbuilt custom guitars and others:

Congrats on the amp.

Try some reverb. I would not use a big rack type reverb, they have their place in racks and studios but part of the magic of a head+cab is the simple plug and play factor, "less (mucking around) / more (playing)" - so a reverb/echo/delay pedal would do. In my case I use a Nanoverb, they only have one setting at a time but they're small, sound great and work pretty well with a Recto.

You do have to juggle the input/output dials on the Nano and also send/mix/volume on the Recto to ensure the full dynamic range of the Recto fits in the Nano, it just squeezes in.

I use the amps FX-loop bypass to switch the Reverb in and out.

Otherwise:

Try dialing in more MIDs.

Try dialing more GAIN, optimized for your solos, then dial the guitar volume back for rhythms. BTW, I was never a guitar volume dial jockey but with the DR it opens up a lot more sounds so I'm into it now.

Initially the idea of an OverDrive pedal offended me but now I can understand why guys like Satriani and Malmsteen use light OD pedals with their rigs. Great valve amps sometimes needs that little bit of a push. Metallica? EMG active pickups. EVH: echo, phasor, flanger ... it all began to make sense.

I don't use an overdrive pedal I just dial more gain at the amp and dial the guitar volume back for rhythm work but things like TubeScreamers sound great with a DR.

Don't worry I'm sure you'll work something out. If you have extra time and money (and a strong back) try a Recto cab with V30s.