O YES! I JUST GOT MY DUAL RECTO.

[JPIndustrie]

I'm here at work, and my dual recto came!!! YESSS!

I Can't wait to try it.

I wanted to thank everyone for helping me make a deciison on the amp.

I had the amp shipped - it's really hard to concentrate with its gorgeous diamond plate staring back at me.

Quick question though, just had a lull at work - i removed the tube guard to take a look at the insides, and I noticed the 4 6L6 power tubes have sight burn marks at the plate at the top and slight burn marks at the top. Is this normal? I prob will change tubes just to be safe.

Any other tips?

Thanks!

 

[jbird]

Normal. Play on!

 

[JPIndustrie]

Took the DR to practice today.

AMAZING. So much tone - my bassist looked up at me when playing all our songs - the tone was just so great!

I love this thing - so versatile, was able to coax chimey cleans, fenderesque/mark-esque solo tones using the 'pushed mode', great midrangy bark from the vintage channel, and of course amazing BREWTAL gain from the modern mode. Simply amazing.

I got a brand new Recto 2x12" cab too, matches it PERFECTLY.

I think I have finally found my amplifier. Any other tips I should try? I'm pretty anxious to try a clean boost in front for some 'molten' 'liquid' lead tones - playing around with the settings and a graphic EQ in the EFX loop got me a GREAT solo tone too.

I'm kinda also interested in retubing the beast. Any recommendations?

Thanks. I <3 Mesa/Boogie.

 

[Elpelotero]

if you're so happy, why retube? enjoy what you've got! the ONLY possible thing i can suggest, and only because you keep mentioning the marks, is to replace the 5u4gb rectifier tubes with 5u4g or GZ34. these will tighten the attack up a lot, especially on the gain modes, to give you more of that old school sound.

as for EQ, rectos sound best around the middle for each knob. don't scoop it out unless you really know what you're doing as far as band mix and all that. if you crank one of the knobs really far out, you have to compensate with the others.

think of the knobs as:
treble=attack and brightness
mids=stiffness or smoothness and clarity
bass=thickness or muddiness

then you can more accurately put down what you see in your head

 

[JPIndustrie]

I must admit I am VERY happy.

However I kinda wanna retube, simply because I bought the amp used and would feel better if I just 'started from scratch'. The guy told me it has 'less than 40 hrs of use on it'.

Would it be ok to change tubes one section at a time (I might do preamp tubes first, then either the rectos or the power tubes)? Or do I have to change everything at once.

Thanks for the replies!

 

[disassembled]

You can do everything at once or sections. You will probably be better off going with what you can afford while putting a priority on the power tubes since they wear out the fastest and can really damage the amp if they go out. Talk to Doug at dougstubes.com as he may be able to get you setup with just 1 or 2 preamp tubes along with a full power amp retube. The rectifier tubes can last for a long time too but if you use the diode setting you don't even need to have those tubes plugged in.

My suggestion is: all 4 power tubes as per Doug's suggestion on the brand (this depends on the tone you're after) along with a new V1 preamp tube. If you can afford more tubes then go for it but if not I think that would be the best minimalistic tube change.

Greg

 

[Eric]

Very cool, I just got mine about two weeks ago and I love it. I got a 2x12 recto cab also.

 

[JPIndustrie]

Any tips from any other fellow recto owners?

 

[oyster]

Tip: Get yourself a Maxon OD820 if you are looking for something up front...
http://www.maxonfx.com/vintage/od820/
http://www.maxonfx.com/news/lt_od820klon_2004.php
Oh Yeah Baby!!!

 

[rc_mesa]

I just got a DR this weekend. Bought it from a friend that had it checked out for me before he sold it. This amp is amazing. Cant wait to take it out and open it up. I have heard him playing it on stage so I know it can sound really good at high volume. One thing that surprised me when i first started playing it was the detail you can get. I have always played solid state and this is my first tube amp. When playing a lead with higher gain settings it doesn't get all mushy like on my VOX Valvtronix. Im still going thru the manual as there is so much information to tweak it.