Not boosting my dual rec anymore!

[tomprs]

Had a gig yesterday and forgot to bring my pedalboard...first thing in mind was that I couldn't play without boosting my amp with a Maxon 808. I thus played straight into the amp, with the loop bypassed and...OMG does channel 2 in Vintage mode sound good!!! The Maxon tightens everything up but I feel it also make the amp sound much colder, less alive. I wonder if there's people here who experienced the same and came back to the "natural" amp after having used boosters and so on....

Cheers,

Tom.

 

[JCDenton6]

I've had the same experience with my old 3 channel dual and my current 2 ch triple, I found the right combo of guitars and pickups to go along with the recto, although I haven't used the loop at all.

I don't think I can go back to boosting, I felt that my 2 ch triple never needed a boost as well, it just sounds fuller and warmer to me.

 

[b0nkersx1]

I wonder if there's people here who experienced the same and came back to the "natural" amp after having used boosters and so on....

I haven't ditched them, but I really like the way my amp sounds when it's at gig volumes without a boost. Especially the Vintage mode.

 

[deeman]

i've never used a booster, but then again i play rhythm guitar and never had a need for it.

 

[stephen sawall]

I always liked it better without a boost ....

 

[tomprs]

I wonder if there's people here who experienced the same and came back to the "natural" amp after having used boosters and so on....

I haven't ditched them, but I really like the way my amp sounds when it's at gig volumes without a boost. Especially the Vintage mode.

Yeah I mean I won't ditch them either, it's always very nice to be able to boost your amp for soloing or to use the Maxon as it is; one of the best overdrive pedal on the market

 

[screamingdaisy]

The Maxon tightens everything up but I feel it also make the amp sound much colder, less alive.

That's why I don't boost. I've tried it and can see why some people like it, but the loss of dynamic range makes it feel flat and unresponsive.

I typically go for a really percussive, sledgehammer type of rhythm sound. The flatter the response the smaller the sledgehammer.

 

[ryjan]

I never run a boost. It always seems to take something away from the tone that I'm after.
I work on my picking technique and use less gain to tighten up my sound while retaining the amps sound and feel.

 

[Jorn218]

I've come to the same conclusion as all of you have recently. The Rectifiers have so much gain on tap, there isn't a real need to boost them. I feel that all the dynamics are lost when you boost. Which is interesting because I pretty much exclusively play death metal.

@JCDenton6, you mentioned finding correct guitars and pickups that work well with your playing style. What are they? Not necessarily exact guitars(ie brands), but wood types. I'm finding that maple necks and alder bodies are pretty much my go to guitars. My all mahogany guitars or even mahogany with maple capped guitars don't seem to cut properly for the percussive playing I do. Pickups.... eh, I am still on the hunt. Right now I am working with EMG81/85 on one guitar, Suhr Doug Aldrich sig set on another, and my Jackson is using its stock Jackson pickups. I actually prefer the way the Jackson pickups sound over the others, but they are too clean for rhythm use. For lead work, they are top notch.

@Screamingdaidey I love your sledgehammer analogy.

 

[b0nkersx1]

The Rectifiers have so much gain on tap, there isn't a real need to boost them. I feel that all the dynamics are lost when you boost. Which is interesting because I pretty much exclusively play death metal.

I dunno man, even though the Recto is a high gain head, I feel like they don't have a TON of gain (they certainly have more than enough, though). This may just be because I recently got a sweet deal on a 6505 which has stupid amounts of gain.

 

[Jorn218]

The Rectifiers have so much gain on tap, there isn't a real need to boost them. I feel that all the dynamics are lost when you boost. Which is interesting because I pretty much exclusively play death metal.

I dunno man, even though the Recto is a high gain head, I feel like they don't have a TON of gain (they certainly have more than enough, though). This may just be because I recently got a sweet deal on a 6505 which has stupid amounts of gain.

Don't both amps have 5 preamp gain stages? v1-half the tube being used, v2&3 using full tube, then v4 for effects loop, and v5 for phase inverter? I think that the 5150 circuit(includes the 6505's) are allowing more voltage into the tubes. I have not looked at the circuit for your amp so I am not sure. I agree with you though, the Peavey amps do have stupid amounts of gain. I always described them as wooley(not a bad thing).

 

[tomprs]

The Rectifiers have so much gain on tap, there isn't a real need to boost them. I feel that all the dynamics are lost when you boost. Which is interesting because I pretty much exclusively play death metal.

I dunno man, even though the Recto is a high gain head, I feel like they don't have a TON of gain (they certainly have more than enough, though). This may just be because I recently got a sweet deal on a 6505 which has stupid amounts of gain.

Having ton of gain is useless IMHO. I have my channel 2, set on Vintage mode with the gain @ 12:00 and it gives me this big "kick in your back" I'm looking for in a high gain amp. For me it's all about having a lot of headroom and an organic and roaring tone. That's why I love the Rectifier serie!

 

[JCDenton6]

@ bjorn218

I currently use a B.C Rich Deluxe Warlock with a 1 stop tailpiece bridge with an ebony fretboard, neck-through construction and a alder or basswood body I believe.
Other axe is a B.C Rich Savage Beast with a floyd, also ebony fretboard and neck-through, basswood body.

Both have an EMG 81 in the bridge and a 85 in the neck running at 18v, both sound pretty brash and bright with cut as well.
I also like Dimarzio X2N pickups as well, but favor the 81's because of their percussiveness.

Also for some reason, with the old 3 channel heads mesa had 100k gain pots in those amps, my old 3 channel dual had them as well.
What were they thinking, I thought they were supposed to be 250k? They should've used 250k pots on the orange channel and 1meg on the red channel IMO.

Only reason peaveys have that amount of gain is because of the gain pots, I believe they use 1meg pots in both the 5150/6505.
Stick those in a recto and BAM!

 

[Jorn218]

@jcdenton6 re: the gain pots. Thats what I put in my amp.. That is my big suspicion with the extra noise Im getting on my amp.

BCs yeah? I havent played a Rich since mine was stolen from a friends house when it was robbed. All the others that have come around the area have been garbage budget lines, or used customs so gaudy and garish they make Lady Gaga look conservative. There is an import Assasin at my buddies shop, but the color makes me cringe. It is a light blue burst.

Sorry for the thread hijack guys.

 

[ryjan]

The Rectifiers have so much gain on tap, there isn't a real need to boost them. I feel that all the dynamics are lost when you boost. Which is interesting because I pretty much exclusively play death metal.

I dunno man, even though the Recto is a high gain head, I feel like they don't have a TON of gain (they certainly have more than enough, though). This may just be because I recently got a sweet deal on a 6505 which has stupid amounts of gain.

You're talking about saturation, not gain.

 

[b0nkersx1]

Only reason peaveys have that amount of gain is because of the gain pots, I believe they use 1meg pots in both the 5150/6505.
Stick those in a recto and BAM!

I don't know, I think the Peavey has too much. Well, not too much, but I think the gain is pretty unusable after about 1:00. On a Recto, I think it's pretty unusable after about 3:00.

Having ton of gain is useless IMHO. I have my channel 2, set on Vintage mode with the gain @ 12:00 and it gives me this big "kick in your back" I'm looking for in a high gain amp. For me it's all about having a lot of headroom and an organic and roaring tone. That's why I love the Rectifier serie!

I feel you, too much gain can be a mushy mess. Less gain (between 11:00 and 1:30 depending on what I'm playing) + more volume is the holy grail for me.

 

[VanWreckto]

Although my Recto has more than enough gain, it is an unfocused gain. Wildly fizzy and sluggish. Even after numerous tube changes and pickup trials.

But I love the base foundation of tone and feel of the amp. It's thick, organic & lively under my fingers.

Sooooo...I now STACK a pedal ontop of my amps Modern channel.
Different than boosting, as I'm using mild amounts of crunch/overdrive from both the amp and a pedal at the same time.

I use a Fulltone OCD wiith it's gain and level up past noon, in conjunction with my Modern channels gain set below noon.
I also removed much of the treble from the amp and only use the presence dial set at 3/4's.
I then re-introduced the treble with the tone dial on the OCD.
This is the best tone I've even acheived with this amp.
The OCD is warm, fat and highly dynamic.

I have boosted the amp before with the "TS/808, level up, gain down" thing. But my new approach makes that setup sound and feel like a cold, dead fish.