NEW Rectoverb!!! .. but I need some advice

[lukeness]

I just bought a new Rectoverb head. It looks so cool. Personally, I don't like how it sounds by itself.... but with the band, it sounded great.

Anyone know how to bring out Screaming Pinch Harmonics? I know one way is to bring up the mids... but by the time I bring up the mids to that level... the sound of the amp kinda sucks. Plus, I wouldn't mind getting rid of some of the "fizziness".

I know this amp would sound great when it's really cranked.... but even in the huge stage I play on, I will never crank this sucker up to get that "sweet spot".

Will a Graphic EQ help?

New and Different Tubes?

THD Hotplate?

I want to get a smoother sounding distortion but I want it to scream when I want it to... like Van Halen... I know Boogies have a certain sound and I love it... but I want it all. haha! Any help?

 

[G.I.G.]

Congrats on the purchase! I have a Rect-O-Verb and have been real happy with it. This amp definitely stands up to it's bigger recto brothers. I can get killer artificial harmonics out of my amp. You can try my settings and see if it helps.

Channel 2: modern

master: 10 o'clock
reverb: 9 o'clock
presence: 2 o'clock
bass: 2:30
mid: 1 o'clock
treble: 3 o'clock
gain: 2:30

I've been using my dual rec live but I'm going to play my Rect-O-Verb for my next gig next Saturday. It's going to sound killer.

You might want to try different pickup's or another guitar through your amp to see if you can get the pings that way. I've noticed that pickups are just as important for pings as the amp itself.

Good luck!

 

[no soul]

EMGs. ! I have to try to NOT play pinch harmonics with those suckers.

Option 2 is turn the gain up.

 

[lukeness]

Thanks for the replies...

Anyone else got some answers for the other questions I have?

As far as pickups go... and I know I'm gonna piss a lot of people off, but I personally dislike EMGs. They're way too hot for my tastes. I played an EMG 81 for a while... but it was too sterile for anything other than death metal stuff.

The pickups in the hollowbody should be fine... I can do pinch harmonics up the ying yang on my Line6 amp.... it's just almost impossible through my boogie... and I can't really turn up the gain anymore... it's already at 2:30 or so... any more than that, it sounds tooooo distorted for any tone to get thru.

I'm really interested in retubing.. perhaps to EL34s?

Do I have to change alllll the tubes? or just the 2 Power ones? I'm kinda new to tube stuff.

 

[no soul]

Thanks for the replies...

Anyone else got some answers for the other questions I have?

As far as pickups go... and I know I'm gonna piss a lot of people off, but I personally dislike EMGs. They're way too hot for my tastes. I played an EMG 81 for a while... but it was too sterile for anything other than death metal stuff.

The pickups in the hollowbody should be fine... I can do pinch harmonics up the ying yang on my Line6 amp.... it's just almost impossible through my boogie... and I can't really turn up the gain anymore... it's already at 2:30 or so... any more than that, it sounds tooooo distorted for any tone to get thru.

I'm really interested in retubing.. perhaps to EL34s?

Do I have to change alllll the tubes? or just the 2 Power ones? I'm kinda new to tube stuff.

If you cant do pinch harmonics with 6l6s in the power section, then El34s aint gonna help either.

Hot pickups and high gain amps help, but Im thinking its your technique thats the problem.

I really dont see how anybody should have a problem getting a recto to scream.

p.s.
dont be fooled by people who tell you just changing out your power tubes makes a world of difference. It makes some yes, but Rectos and most modern amps are making most of their gain from the pre-amp section. If you really want to fine tune your amp, start there.

Also, if you just got your amp, dont bother changing out your tubes. Take a while to really get to know the amp and mess with the settings before you retube to something different. You just might find the sound you were looking for was hidden in what you already have.

 

[scotspine]

pinch harmonics are a matter for you and your guitar. that should be all that matters. if you can't do it on a clean fender twin at 5 watts you can't do it. it has been done for years. earliest i can recall is hendrix in '65. i can do it on my '63 strat on just about any amp i care to use on most positions on the fretboard. learn to love your guitar and they come easily.

 

[scotspine]

edit:

 

[scotspine]

that post was so good i posted it twice! (':shock:')

 

[G.I.G.]

p.s.
dont be fooled by people who tell you just changing out your power tubes makes a world of difference. It makes some yes, but Rectos and most modern amps are making most of their gain from the pre-amp section. If you really want to fine tune your amp, start there.

Also, if you just got your amp, dont bother changing out your tubes. Take a while to really get to know the amp and mess with the settings before you retube to something different. You just might find the sound you were looking for was hidden in what you already have.

Well put no soul. It took me weeks to dial in my dual rec after I bought it. Mesa's are made so you have to find the sweet spot with your settings, not roll your hand accross the knobs to put everything to 10. Spend some more time dialing in your amp and you should be pleased. If you went with EL34's it wouldn't drastically change the sound of your amp anyway.

If you can get pings out of your Line 6 you shouldn't have a problem with your Boogie. Be patient and keep dial'n 'er in.

 

[lukeness]

I guess I should keep fiddling with it...

I know that my technique is not the problem. I can pinch harmonic acoustic guitars even with no amp.... it's just that with the boogie amp... it doesn't seem to scream like the other high gain amps I've used.

I know that the Boogie is a "scooped" tone and maybe that's why... I'm just asking whether some tips would put more mids in without sounding kinda bad.

In the modern channel... I'm kinda idling around:

BASS: 1 o clock
MIDS: 1:30
TREBLE: 2:30
PRESENCE: 12 o clock
GAIN: 2:00-2:30

I would think that setting is kinda reasonable.

I'm gonna try a Graphic EQ maybe?

I've never used an Attenuator before, but I'm interested in that.... as the whole amp's growl changes when I crank up hte Output volume. Unfotunately, turning it up that loud is too unreasonable.... so I'm thinking a Hot Plate would help.

Thanks for the replies everyone, keep em coming if you can. THanks!

 

[musicbox]

if your sure its not your technique, you can buy a preamp tube graded for higher gain, and use a hotplate to soak the powertubes. then again, the trademark recto sound is from the preamp like nosoul said. mr. smith keeps it fairly cold to it retains its clarity and punch, away from breakup, unlike a marshall.

 

[G.I.G.]

I agree with no soul and musicbox. If you start tweeking with tubes and attinuators, you're starting to get away from the Boogie tone that you bought the amp for to begin with. I can attain great sounds at modest volumes with my Rect-O-Verb in my apartment, that's one of the reasons why I bought it, so you shouldn't need a hot plate. That's the advantage of a 50 watt head.

I guess one thing I might suggest with your settings is coming up on the presence a little bit. Mess around with it around the 3 o'clock setting. That will make your sound brighter and the pings might stand out a bit more. If that takes away from your low end, try bringing up the bass to around 3 o'clock too. You might be able to get the best of both worlds.

 

[lukeness]

sweet. Thanks guys again... I'll try these out tonight.

I just tried a VHT amp at the music store on my lunch break. The VHT pitbull CL combo or something like that... dang... for a 1x12... that thing was chuggin'. But it didn't really have a clean channel... which is very important to me.

It convinced me to mess with the Boogie more. I know it takes a while to dial in the "right" tone... so I thank you guys for giving me some shortcuts.

 

[no soul]

hmmmm, Id venture to say its not your settings. They arent TOO different from mine.

I play metal-hardcore and I actually use less gain than you do and have no problem making this baby scream.

Just keep dialing though! This sucker seriously take a while to get to know.

 

[lukeness]

That's what I was saying... I don't think my settings are beyond unreasonable... but honestly, I really think I know why it's not happening for me...

It's probably the "OUTPUT" is too quiet.

I have my "MASTER" set to about 5.

However, the "OUTPUT" I have at about 2. I didn't set it too loud... cos where I play, we have a pretty kick *** Sound System... so I mic it and have it come thru the mains.

Basically, I just turned it up enough so I won't destroy the singer, but sound good where I stand (about 3 feet in front of the cab). My drummer plays pretty dang loud... and I stand right next to him... so I figured.... my amp that loud is loud enough.... cos I can hear it fine.

That's why I'm asking about the attenuator.... does it actually work well?

I'd love to crank the "OUTPUT" to 8 and have it still be a reasonable volume. I'm pretty sure if I can turn up the "OUTPUT" more, I can get those pinch harmonics to scream.

I know guitarists have a tendency of saying "Screw the FOH... crank that bad boy up!".... hehehe. But I'm a sound man too... and I'm all for a good mix for everyone.... so I gotta be considerate!

BTW, I know you can pull two tubes out of a 100 watt to run it at 50.... can you pull one tube out of the 50 watt to make it a 25?

 

[G.I.G.]

Is your master set to the "5 o'clock" position or where "5" would be at if they had numbers? If you're set at 5 o'clock, you're probably way too high on the channel's master.

You can try coming down on the channel's master than coming up on the output a bit more. My master on channel 2 is set at about 10 o'clock so it's at an even volume when I switch to channel 1 which is set at about 12 o'clock.

Also, before you buy an attunuiator, try cranking it up before or after you guys practice without the drummer, singer, etc. and see if that solves your problem. If it makes that big of a difference, than you know what the problem is, if it dosn't make a big difference, you might need to try some other things.

But like no soul and musicbox said, most of your sound is coming from your preamp so cranking it to "11" shouldn't make that much of a difference in your overall sound. Keep messing around with your settings and see what happens.

Also, as stupid as it sounds, read the owners manual thoroughly! Things that I never though I would need to read about like treble, mid, high, presence, gain, etc. were all very infomative in the owners manual. Not because we don't all know what those things are, but because they explain in great detail where you'll find the sweet spots and how each of those settings interacts with the others. After owning my dual rec for a couple of weeks, I was starting to get frustrated and wondered if it was worth the $1,500 price tag. After reading the owners manual it cleared a lot of things up for me, especially since it was my first all-tube amp.

Keep messing with it and it will come.

 

[jargapix]

I have a Solo 50 with a 2X12 Vertical and I just purchased an MXR ZW-44. A great little box that adds a nice punch to my sound and definitely kicks in the harmonic factor.

I've also got the ZW LP w/ EMG's 85/60a. Maybe that has something to do with it.

I'd say give the ZW a try before the EQ as I also have the MXR KFK 10 band and the ZW-44 does a better job at bringing out more "Chug" and "sqealing harmonics"

If not bring 'em all back!!


JA

 

[no soul]

That's what I was saying... I don't think my settings are beyond unreasonable... but honestly, I really think I know why it's not happening for me...

It's probably the "OUTPUT" is too quiet.

I have my "MASTER" set to about 5.

However, the "OUTPUT" I have at about 2. I didn't set it too loud... cos where I play, we have a pretty kick *** Sound System... so I mic it and have it come thru the mains.



BTW, I know you can pull two tubes out of a 100 watt to run it at 50.... can you pull one tube out of the 50 watt to make it a 25?

Raise your output and turn down the channel volume to compensate. That should seriously help a lot.

And no, you cant pull one of the tubes and turn it into a 25w amp. Its class A/B circuitry so having an odd number of tubes when it wasnt designed for it will throw it off ballance and really screw up your sound.

 

[jargapix]

Question Luke, what cab's do you have? Do you have them on an Amp stand? Have you tried the ZW-44 or Boss SD1. I'd say do it this weekend if you can! Before getting the EQ!


JA

 

[no soul]

Question Luke, what cab's do you have? Do you have them on an Amp stand? Have you tried the ZW-44 or Boss SD1. I'd say do it this weekend if you can! Before getting the EQ!


JA

get a tube screamer, it beats both.

and on the note of the zakk wylde pedal, he actually doesent use it. He uses a boss SD1. go figure..