Peavy 6505 or Single Recto?

[Blaklynx]

I've got a Rectoverb series II. This amp really kicks you between the legs.

It's all about experimenting and spending a lot of time with the amp. I have had a love / hate relationship with mine for a long, long time. But everytime I see this 'baby brother' of the recto family, I just can't get myself to sell it. No other amp does the recto tone apart from rectos themselves. If you look at my signature, I have other amps and also a JSX head. They're all great. But the Mesa Rectoverb? It's in a class of it's own.

As for tight, fluid, saturated, clear, articulate and any other terminologies you wish to apply, I think I've got my amp running right. A lot of mucking around and I'm still going.... tomorrow I'm putting in Winged C EL34's as I think I'll like the nature of a more compressed and upper mid tone that EL34's provide.

At the very least, buy an OD pedal and place an EQ in the loop as is always recommended by many on this board. Experiment with the pedal and the EQ. My settings are not to what (most?) people here suggest. I don't use the OD as a full on 'clean' boost for example. And my EQ setting is not what most would think is 'normal' for a recto.

And do try different tubes. They won't go to waste as you can have them as spares.

Read posts, search for posts, even for DR's or TR's and any other rectos. The info supplied can be related back to the SR. Search for my (few) posts..... :lol:

It's a labour of love. Dig in. You will learn a lot by experimenting. In the end, even if you decide to move to another amp, you'd have gained knowledge and experience that can be applied to the new amp. Whichever way, consider it a win for yourself. Knowledge gained is priceless.

Chin up......

 

[Deathf***ingmetal]

I would recommend you play with your preamp tubes and look into getting a decent boost pedal. The Recto can be tight with a little effort.

True. The sound of Single Rectos can be improved vastly with some minor tweaks; here's part of my recipe:

a) Tung-Sol 12AX7 in V1; a Shuguang 12AX7B can also do the trick.
b) Electro Harmonix 12AX7 in V2.
c) Sovtek 12AX7-LPS in V5.
d) Presence no further than 11:00.
e) Highs no further than 12:00.
f) Mids no less than 1:00.
g) Bass no further than 10:00.
h) Gain no further than 2:00.
i) A BBE Sonic Stomp in the loop.

 

[TimeSignature]

The 6505 is metal. Its awesome for crushing metal distortion but nothing else. The cleans are terrible. For recorded 6505 cleans that sound good, Im sure that the studio had something to do with it! Ive tried softening up the clean with reverb and compression and it still sounded like poop. Without doing some serious mods, out of the box cleans on the 6505 are bad. I owned one for about a month. I realized I loved the gain channel but couldnt live with the cleans so I bought an EVHIII. It has the same gain (I ab'd them) for the most part, but the EVH has another channel and usable cleans!

If you are falling out of love with your recto, but like the gain of a 6505 look into an EVH.

Here's the deal with recto's. They are fizzy. There is nothing you can do about it. Its less fizzy at higher volumes. The fizz is less noticable in a band setting. The fizz is really present through certain speakers - like V30's. Mic'ing the speaker off to the side... way off to the side of the cone will help. Go ahead and swamp the tubes, swap this and that... you are still left with fizz. If you cant live with the fizz there is nothing you can do about it except buy a different amp.

 

[purpledc]

I think if you dont like fizz then a 6505 is the last amp you want. At the very least you wouldnt want a +. the standard 6505 is much more ballsy. But Honestly maybe your recto just needs some new tubes to freshen it up. If that doesnt help then Id take your amp the the stores and A/B them against whatever your looking to get.

 

[ChrisRocksUSA]

I've owned a 5150, and a single and a dual rectumfrier.


at low bedroom volume settings the 5150 sounds like a straight up BEAST. fuckin' rocked my socks. The rectumfriers not so much lol.


when you crank them, the rectumfriers blow the 5150 away. No comparison, they leave the peavey behind in the dust. I swear a cranked recto sounds like angels cumming.

 

[TimeSignature]

Interestingly I found the 6505+ to be much less fizzy than the rectifier. I own/ have owned a 6505+, EVH III, mini Rec, Roadster... The rec series is simply fizzy. Crank it up, play with a band, roll the gain back... and the rec's are simply amazing. Not taking anything away from the EVH/5150/6505 sound. They are cool too, just a slightly different beast as far as gain goes.

 

[VanWreckto]

Pairing a Single Rec with the right speakers is key.
I have effectively eliminated all the fizz from my series II by running it through a quad of Eminence V12 Legends. Those speakers allow me to run a high presence and treble setting and lets me pour on the mids. The speakers just keep taking more amd more that you throw them. Nothing harsh, fizzy or muddy is possible with those speakers. Just smooth, warm and cutting aggression from the amp.
My 6505 sounds great through V30's and the Legends. My Recto doesn't sound as good through V30's though.
Both amps do require a lower gain setting and then a boost for optimum metal mayhem though. The 6505 does have more inherent noise. I also think the Mesa is a better build quality, though the 6505 has a proven road worthiness.

 

[thehiredgun]

I've got to side with the Mesa guys on this one. If you play high gain metal ONLY, then the 5150 would be just fine. I just don't really care for the sound and think it does lack quite a bit. From my experience, Mesas react very differently to different pre-tubes in the v1 space. The other spots can affect the tone too, like the v5, ut v1 is key. The power tubes don't really change it to much for me and Mesa uses good power tubes so I don't jack with that. 6CA7s sure were fun in my racktofier for a while though. I think if you can find someone with extras laying around, swap out some stuff and see what happens. FWIW the best 5150 tone I've ever heard was using an Orange PPC412HP w/ K100s. I would only consider it for metal but really between my Dual Racktofier and Mark V, I can't see ever buying a Peavey.

I've got a pretty much NOS Mark IV up for sale. PM me if you're interested.

Kenny