Rectifier for low gain/bluesy sounds

[yagon]

I love the classic mesa rectifier sound. I want to have it in my 'quiver' of sounds available to me. However, the majority of my playing is clean and mildly distortion bluesy sounds.

Can a rectifier (rectoverb or solo 50 or other) deliver a good clean (jazzy) and mild distortion sound (tweed-ish)?

R

 

[Lewy]

They can, but in my opinion they don't excel at those sort of sounds. If, as you say, the majority of you playing is at the more bluesy end of things, you'll probably find another amp in the boogie range that better suits, and you could use something like a V-Twin to get the OTT recto sounds for those occasions where you want them.

 

[TheRazMeister]

I own a Rectoverb and would agree that if you play say....90% clean, the ROV probably isn't the right amp. The Lonestar or maybe an F50 would suit you better. That being said, I'm one of those who love the cleans on the rectoverbs but the key for me is that I have humbuckers, and play on the neck pickup with the tone and volume rolled back some on the guitar. I get a lush spongy tone that gets almost single-coily if I attack the strings harder. I will say neither of the other amps will give you the same distortion as a rectifier....they'll sound good, just not recto.

I love the classic mesa rectifier sound. I want to have it in my 'quiver' of sounds available to me. However, the majority of my playing is clean and mildly distortion bluesy sounds.

Can a rectifier (rectoverb or solo 50 or other) deliver a good clean (jazzy) and mild distortion sound (tweed-ish)?

R

 

[Marshall_Fascist]

mark I or lone star

 

[Guitarzan]

Can a rectifier (rectoverb or solo 50 or other) deliver a good clean (jazzy) and mild distortion sound (tweed-ish)?

Well,
I tried a 5751 tube in the first preamp position and it chilled it out just a bit. Great for a "Keith Richards" Tele tone. Check them out.

 

[Mesa Paulcaster]

Yeah, I got a Roadking, and I'd say that the in-between bluesy sound is the hardest to get on any of the 4 channels. The clean channels can be driven, but you're not going to get a great lead sound out of them, and the recto channels can be used for solos, but by the time you have enough gain for leads, you're in hard rock territory. That, and the rectos tend to buzz a bit, which is no good for the style of music you're after.

It's do-able. Just not as easy as on some other amps.

 

[SFW]

In the "Raw" mode on the DR and RV, you can get some nice blues tones. Keep the gain lower and the channel master high. I used to a 3ch DR like this in a cover band. I had some really nice results. Treb around noon and the minds around 2:00. The trick is keeping the channel master high. That way you get rid of some of the buzz.

The "Blues" mode on the TOV is fantastic. It is in the same family as the MK I that I used to own. If you can find a used TOV, then you can get the "blues" mode sounds when you want them, and still get the classic DR tones when desired.

Just my $0.02