New Recto Day!

[fluff191]

So this past weekend I recieved the 1992 Dual Recto Rev. E. I purchased from the gracious Elpelotero here on the board.

(sorry for the crappy cell phone picture...)

It arrived with KT77's installed in the power section, and while they did sound good, it sounded like a tighter version of a Big Muff. Pretty fuzzy with alot of square-wave style break up. Kinda strange.

I next installed a set of JJ 6L6's and it sounded better, but flabbier than my 3 channel Recto. Note: I just did a Bias mod on my 3 Channel which improved the amps sound quality ALOT.

At this point I was a little disappointed in the amp. My 3 Channel ate this Rev. E. for breakfast. I then decided to download the manual and had a read through and found I had the presence way to high. No even close to the sweet spot. Once I played with the dials a little more, things were improving. While I was at it, I decided to put in my spare set of Sovtek 6L6wxt+'s. WOW! Big difference. Warm and harmonically rich, with a full bottom end that competes with my modded 3 Channel.

I know this isn't a huge in-depth review or comparison, but these early Recto's really do sound good but to compare them with a standard production model is like comparing apples to oranges: totally different.

One thing that is kind of strange is with the KT77's (EL34 Bias setting) the Red Channel volume is LOUD. Setting it at 8:00 is the same as setting the same channel with 6L6's in it at 10:00!!! Must be an early model characteristic or something.

In the future I might do a (reversible) Bias mod to really get the power section working, as it made huge difference in the newer amp.....

 

[Elpelotero]

What are your settings in the red channel of both amps?

 

[screamingdaisy]

That's cool.

I've slowly grown to hate JJs. While initially I liked them for the smoothing effect they have on the top end, I've come to think they generally sound dull and give you the 'blanket over your cab' effect. They do work well with some amps, however I don't feel the Recto is generally one of them.

I agree with your description... when I got my Rev F I was taken back by how the high gain sounded... more crunchy than I expected and not as smooth/compressed as I remember my old Recto being.

In generally I really, really like this Rev F. Moreso that my last Recto (Recto Pre/2:100). However, I do feel that there are some things that the newer Rectifiers are better at... I find that I can't get the same crazy harmonic grind on the Rev F that I had on my Recto Pre, but I could never get the chunky midrange crunch out of the Recto Pre that I'm getting out of my Rev F.

 

[fluff191]

Rev. E. is

Presence: 8:00
Bass: 1:00
Mid: 9:00
Treble: 11:00
Gain: 2:00

3 Channel is basically the same settings, with the exception being presence being about 11:00 (modded pot).

I like a fairly warm sound as you can tell. Almost metal but not over the top metal I guess.

 

[stephen sawall]

Congratulations on the new amp. I have played on a lot of different rectos. They all sound different. I have had 4 identical Tremoverbs in the same room none sounded like mine with the same guitar, chords, cabs and tubes. .... to be honest I was surprised how different they sounded. As I would guess you know changing V1 well have the biggest change on gain, tone and feel.

 

[Elpelotero]

Try this...The following method is how Petrucci dials his amps.

Set all tone knobs to 12:00. Put Master volume around 10. Maybe 11 or 12 if you can afford to.

Then turn the gain off, close your eyes, and start chugging your low string. With the other hand bring up the gain slowly to listen to its effect. Go far out into mushyland, then bring it back down all the way. Remember, eyes are closed--you're not looking at where the knob is. Bring the knob back up slowly again and stop when you feel you've gone from volume increase into crunch. Keep going and listen for when you reach fizz and mush. Then bring it back just a bit so the knob is right before this threshold. This is your gain setting.

Now move to the treble knob because this one controls the amount of tone that passes to the other knobs. Do the same thing with closed eyes, off to full, bring it back, etc. Except now you are listening for when your tone goes from blanketed to defined. How much bite, cut, attack, definition, etc. Stop when you get to where it's too bright and thin and too articulate. Then bring it back just a bit and leave it.

Now move to bass. Do the same thing, eyes closed. Except now you're listening for tightness, body, and most especially for muddiness. The tone will get muddier the higher you go up. Be very sensitive with this knob. As before stop when it arrives at mud and then dial it back a bit.

Next comes mids. Rectos are the opposite of Marks--they lack mids. What you want to listen for here is first of all the total spectrum of the mids knob. Eyes closed, do this a few times to get a good feel for the mids. Then go to off and start bringing it up. Listen to the variation between scooped, to undefined, to clarity/definition in the notes, to finally a point where it feels like the string becomes a steel rod and you have a square sounding amp. The mids have a huge effect on the feel of the strings. Very little gives it a liquidy feel. Too much gives it a steel rod feel. Just enough means you can feel the strings under you. Find the spot where you can feel them and where your amp has definition and clarity.

Finally, go to presence. Go left to right as you've done with the others, eyes closed. Presence is going to affect the brightness, and it will fool your mind into affecting the girth/body of the tone. But Presence is only extreme highs, so how does it affect girth? The bass is the one really doing that, right? Well, the Presence controls how much you get to hear the settings of the bass, gain, and Treble knobs. It's like a filter. Too much Presence and you've got a nice defined tone, but it'll slice your ears off. Too little and you've got a blanket on the amp. You've got to think back to the guitarists you like and try to recreate that here. Find the place where you get attack and definition without getting fizz/slicing highs.

I've been playing 1992 rectos for 2-3 years and have done all sorts of settings and gone through this dialing in process many times. But with the exception of a couple of times, I always come back to setting everything flat and adjusting the gain a little to the left or right. An amp is made well when it sounds best at noon. It means the pots were given great values and are centered properly. Look up Eden bass amplifiers and you'll find this same phenomenon. Eden has the best EQ possibilities as far as parametric eqing, but 99% of the guys leave it flat, despite all the things they can do with the eq.

This doesn't mean you will find yourself going with flat settings. Rather, you may simply find yourself gravitating more into the 11:00-1:00 zone, aka the "sweet spot" as Mesa calls it in their manuals.

For me the goal is to have a tone with lots of clarity (hear all notes), tightness but with some body, definition and attack when I strike, and just enough gain so I'm not getting fizz or mud and can retain clarity.

Give it a try and let me know if the settings change. They may or may not, but it's a cool experiment.

Right now I'm running 2 different settings. Everything flat with gain around 1-130. Another is everything flat with Presence around 1030 and Gain around 11.

 

[fluff191]

Thats a good technique for getting a tone! I will try that when I get home!

 

[wildrat666]

Ive got zero fizz in my 2 chan recto D rev. put the gain to max and it is not fizzy at all. sounds great!!!!!

...yeah I don t like the JJs too. dull and boring tubes!

 

[Silverwulf]

I love JJ's for the right application. Not everyone will like them, though, because they are a darker tube. I don't care for standard JJ's, but if you get some higher gain JJ's, I do like how they sound. I find I have more range on my presence knob with them.

Hey Fluff, do you ever boost your Rectos? I'd try boosting the mids more (push them around 12 Noon), back off the bass to around 9 to 10 o'clock, and I also keep my gain right around 12 Noon (when boosting). I've never used Blackouts before, so I'm not sure how I would tweak with them in mind.

 

[fluff191]

Hey Fluff, do you ever boost your Rectos? I'd try boosting the mids more (push them around 12 Noon), back off the bass to around 9 to 10 o'clock, and I also keep my gain right around 12 Noon (when boosting). I've never used Blackouts before, so I'm not sure how I would tweak with them in mind.

I have indeed tried a Tube Screamer, and while it totally tightened the bottom end, I found the benefits to be marginal. I'm a minimalist when it comes to pedals as well, so I just prefer to work with the amp as much as possible. Can't wait!

 

[Elpelotero]

Also try adjusting the tone knob on the guitar. It works wonders for my bright pickups.

 

[53crew]

Hey Fluff, let us know how the two amps compare in terms of sounds. I'd be curious to get someone else's opinion.

 

[fluff191]

Hey Fluff, let us know how the two amps compare in terms of sounds. I'd be curious to get someone else's opinion.

The Rev. E. is more "crunchy" and not as tight as the newer amp. I compared it to my buddies hot-rodded Marshall plexi, and its close as far as break up in the gain structure, if that makes sense. The Marshall doesnt have the low end or dynamics, but there are similarities that can be heard for sure IMO.

The new amp in comparison sounds like a tube-driven Boss Metal Zone. I am completely generalizing, and the Metal Zone reference is just to put the Rev. E. in perspective. But you get the idea. Im obviously not very good at comparing 2 amps. :lol:

I'm going to get slaughtered for the Marshall reference, but I hope this helps.

 

[mikey383]

A Mullard 7025 in V1 is heavenly in a 2 channel Recto

 

[fluff191]

A Mullard 7025 in V1 is heavenly in a 2 channel Recto

Hmmmmm what exactly does it do? Tighten things up? More character?

 

[fluff191]

A Mullard 7025 in V1 is heavenly in a 2 channel Recto

Hmmmmm what exactly does it do? Tighten things up? More character? And I'm assuming the reissue wont cut it will it?

 

[mikey383]

It's "rounder" IMO. The highs aren't harsh, the lows are full, and the mids are fat. I don't know how the reissues compare. I ended up getting an old one from Ebay for about $20.

 

[53crew]

The Rev. E. is more "crunchy" and not as tight as the newer amp. I compared it to my buddies hot-rodded Marshall plexi, and its close as far as break up in the gain structure, if that makes sense. The Marshall doesnt have the low end or dynamics, but there are similarities that can be heard for sure IMO.

The new amp in comparison sounds like a tube-driven Boss Metal Zone. I am completely generalizing, and the Metal Zone reference is just to put the Rev. E. in perspective. But you get the idea. Im obviously not very good at comparing 2 amps. :lol:

I'm going to get slaughtered for the Marshall reference, but I hope this helps.

Thanks for your comments, Fluff!

 

[thenine]

Try this...The following method is how Petrucci dials his amps.

Set all tone knobs to 12:00. Put Master volume around 10. Maybe 11 or 12 if you can afford to.

Then turn the gain off, close your eyes, and start chugging your low string. With the other hand bring up the gain slowly to listen to its effect. Go far out into mushyland, then bring it back down all the way. Remember, eyes are closed--you're not looking at where the knob is. Bring the knob back up slowly again and stop when you feel you've gone from volume increase into crunch. Keep going and listen for when you reach fizz and mush. Then bring it back just a bit so the knob is right before this threshold. This is your gain setting.

Now move to the treble knob because this one controls the amount of tone that passes to the other knobs. Do the same thing with closed eyes, off to full, bring it back, etc. Except now you are listening for when your tone goes from blanketed to defined. How much bite, cut, attack, definition, etc. Stop when you get to where it's too bright and thin and too articulate. Then bring it back just a bit and leave it.

Now move to bass. Do the same thing, eyes closed. Except now you're listening for tightness, body, and most especially for muddiness. The tone will get muddier the higher you go up. Be very sensitive with this knob. As before stop when it arrives at mud and then dial it back a bit.

Next comes mids. Rectos are the opposite of Marks--they lack mids. What you want to listen for here is first of all the total spectrum of the mids knob. Eyes closed, do this a few times to get a good feel for the mids. Then go to off and start bringing it up. Listen to the variation between scooped, to undefined, to clarity/definition in the notes, to finally a point where it feels like the string becomes a steel rod and you have a square sounding amp. The mids have a huge effect on the feel of the strings. Very little gives it a liquidy feel. Too much gives it a steel rod feel. Just enough means you can feel the strings under you. Find the spot where you can feel them and where your amp has definition and clarity.

Finally, go to presence. Go left to right as you've done with the others, eyes closed. Presence is going to affect the brightness, and it will fool your mind into affecting the girth/body of the tone. But Presence is only extreme highs, so how does it affect girth? The bass is the one really doing that, right? Well, the Presence controls how much you get to hear the settings of the bass, gain, and Treble knobs. It's like a filter. Too much Presence and you've got a nice defined tone, but it'll slice your ears off. Too little and you've got a blanket on the amp. You've got to think back to the guitarists you like and try to recreate that here. Find the place where you get attack and definition without getting fizz/slicing highs.



In all my years of being on internet bboards this is one of the coolest posts Ive ever read. Cheers! And thanks a ton!

 

[thejay]

As far as what Elpelotero said, I am trying that as soon as I get the time!!