Rectoverb Experts?

[slayer44]

Ive been trying everything to get my series 1 rectoverb to sound like it is supposed to. I have the matching extension cab for it and at first it sounded like a speaker problem. So I replaced the Black Shadows with a Celestion V30 and a g12t-75. That helped a little. Then I replaced the all the tubes, going from the str-430 to the 440. Helped a little. The problem is this....whenever I run it at moderate to high volumes, I get a sort of flaky/buzzy sound most noticeable on palm mutes and power chords. Its hard to explain, but its as if I have a governor on the amp. Ive used duncans as well as emgs. Ive lowered the gain, and still hear the buzz. The amp sounds like it has a sore throat. I know there are amp experts on here, maybe you could help me out with this one? Thanks.

 

[fdesalvo]

Sounds like your chassis/ tubes may be rattling around due to the increased sound pressure. Try disconnecting the speaker within the combo and running the extension cab with the head in a remote location. See what happens.

 

[jbird]

How's the action (set-up) on your git-fiddle? :?

 

[tele_jas]

Not to discourage you, but that sounds EXACTLY like my Rectoverb series II sounded. At lower volumes, it sounded fine and for leads and chording it sounded GREAT, but when I'd get it up to gig level and start "chunkin" the speaker sounded like it was going jump out and attack me..... It almost sounded like it was farting out (for lack of better words).

I actually thought my speaker was blown and ended up playing the rest of my first gig through a 2x12 speaker cab (which sounded fine by the way). I then went out and bought a new speaker and tried that and it still sounded the same, I then tried new tubes (went from GT 6L6's to mesa 6L6's) and it still sounded like the speaker was blown. I then tried another (new) Rectoverb out at a local boogie dealer and it sounded the same as mine, so I came to the conclusion that it's a Rectoverb thing. I think it has to do with all that power and sound coming through one 12 inch speaker. I hated the fact it didn't sound like I wanted it to, I had such high hopes for it.

I ended up selling it and getting a Tremoverb combo (went to a 2x12 combo) hoping more speakers would help - I'm currently playing a Road King combo. The funny (bad funny) thing is, I could still hear the speaker thing going on with my Tremoverb and I noticed it's still there when I really chunk on my Road King too??? It doesn't do it with my Telecaster (G&L ASAT) or with my Strat copy guitar with a JB jr humbucker, it only does it with my Peavey Wolfgang...... So I really think it's a combination of my guitar, pickups and the open back cabinet.

It's not as noticable with my RK, so I haven't really said anything about it since it's happened on all three recto combos I've had. My sound man noticed it on the Rectoverb and Tremoberb, but he said he can't hear it with the RK, so like I said, I'm not going to worry about it... I don't do alot of "chunkin" songs anyways.

Let me know if you find a cure for your problem and I may try it too.

PS, I even went to EL34's with my Tremoverb and it still had that "slightly blown speaker" sound at high volumes.

 

[TheRazMeister]

What is your amp settings and more importantly style of music?

Ive been trying everything to get my series 1 rectoverb to sound like it is supposed to. I have the matching extension cab for it and at first it sounded like a speaker problem. So I replaced the Black Shadows with a Celestion V30 and a g12t-75. That helped a little. Then I replaced the all the tubes, going from the str-430 to the 440. Helped a little. The problem is this....whenever I run it at moderate to high volumes, I get a sort of flaky/buzzy sound most noticeable on palm mutes and power chords. Its hard to explain, but its as if I have a governor on the amp. Ive used duncans as well as emgs. Ive lowered the gain, and still hear the buzz. The amp sounds like it has a sore throat. I know there are amp experts on here, maybe you could help me out with this one? Thanks.

 

[slayer44]

Im at work, so going off the top of my head, Ive got the treble at 3 Oclock, mids at 11, bass at 12, presence at 11 and gain at about 2 oclock. I play mostly slayer/metallica/anthrax. Ive got an extension cab, so the one speaker theory may be out the window. I thought it was the emg's. but i tried it with a Mustaine V with duncans and the problem was still there. I dont think this is the same "farting" sound you are referring to (ive had this problem also, this was fixed by simply not using the loop). This is a sort of buzz you hear at moderate to high volumes. When you chug, it sounds brittle and thin. Ive retubed it with Mesa tubes, and like I said replaced both black shadows with a v30 and a g12t75. It is a series 1, and it has sounded better in the past, i dont think this is an across the board rectoverb issue.

 

[musicbox]

i get the same slight buzzing slightly blown speaker out of my 100 watt dual reverb marshall combo. its 2x12, and when it gets up to halfway, its starts. mind you it does this with 2 pulled tubes, so its not just that the 100 watts are overwhelming 2 speakers. when i plug in an extension cabinet, it goes away completely...

my guess is that its a combo amp phenom.

(by the way, my blue angel combo does not get this is any way, but its chassis is shock mounted)

 

[TheRazMeister]

Slayer....the Mesa treble control acts as a both a high end boost AND a gain stage. The mids and bass become less useful when the treble is pushed much past 1-2 o'clock. You may want to pull back the treble to say 1 and give a little more mid and bass. I was very surprised at how different the sound of the amp can be by simply pulling back treble and presence.

From the ROV manual:
As with most guitar amplifiers, the TREBLE control is the strongest of the three rotary tone controls. Its setting on the RECT-O 50 determines the blend and strength of the MIDDLE and BASS controls. Set high, it is the dominant control, thus minimizing the amount of Mid and Bass that would be possible in the mix. Set low, the TREBLE becomes the recessive control and a warmer, darker blend is produced. Dial with care. Subtle tweaking of this control tends to produce the best results.

Im at work, so going off the top of my head, Ive got the treble at 3 Oclock, mids at 11, bass at 12, presence at 11 and gain at about 2 oclock. I play mostly slayer/metallica/anthrax. Ive got an extension cab, so the one speaker theory may be out the window. I thought it was the emg's. but i tried it with a Mustaine V with duncans and the problem was still there. I dont think this is the same "farting" sound you are referring to (ive had this problem also, this was fixed by simply not using the loop). This is a sort of buzz you hear at moderate to high volumes. When you chug, it sounds brittle and thin. Ive retubed it with Mesa tubes, and like I said replaced both black shadows with a v30 and a g12t75. It is a series 1, and it has sounded better in the past, i dont think this is an across the board rectoverb issue.

 

[slayer44]

While backing off the treble did for the most part take care of the buzz, the amp lacked any sort of definition. It sounded overly muddy. Maybe this will help someone help me. The Powertube on the right gets hot as hell and glows blue, while the one of the left remains relatively warm. Ive changed my Mesa STR440s for JJ 6l6gc's, and even the JJ on the right reacted the same way. Could this be a bias issue? I know the ROV manual goes on and on about fixed bias.

 

[slayer44]

Anyone? Sorry for the shameless bump, but im desperate.

 

[TheRazMeister]

Slayer....have you tried calling Mesa tech support...the guys there are usually very helpful and if nothing else, can help you understand your amp a little better.

Anyone? Sorry for the shameless bump, but im desperate.

 

[fdesalvo]

Slayer, I just moved from New Orleans following Katrina. How did you make out and where doyou live? It would be funny if we knew each other!

 

[slayer44]

I grew up in Laplace. I was living in Metairie and going to UNO as a grad student when the ***** hit. My parents live in Hammond, and Ive moved near them. Im going to finish up my MA in History at LSU. People have no idea how destroyed New Orleans is. The city is a mold and slime covered mud pit. It will be years before its back, and the smell will never go away.

 

[ibegyourpardon]

I also have this problem too. Hopefully I can get an extension cab soon. At first I thought my speaker was screwed up. I have EL-34s in this amp and it definatly helps

 

[bigdaddyweed]

I came to this forum to find info on this very same problem, on my Rectoverb II Combo. I read everyones posts last night, and went out to the garage and started a preamp tube check.

While I was doing this, with intermitent results, I looked up, and a screw, black with a phillips head, had backed its way out about 3/8 of an inch. This screw is located just to the right of the power tubes, as you're looking at it from the back of the amp. I just screwed it back in, being cautious in case it might have been stripped, and almost all the noise went away.

It still has a little bit of a buzzing sound on occasion, as described in some of the posts. It sounds fine plugged into a 2 x 12 cab, so I'm going to swap out the speaker with a Peavey Black Widow I have laying around, as soon as I get home.

Hope this helps. I'm just the old guy that's new here...........

 

[tele_jas]

I think the screw you're talking about is a screw that is in the chassis and goes strait to the frame and helps to stabelize the chassis when you're cranking the amp. I had a Rectoverb and I remember messing with that screw and even pulling the chassis to see what exactly it did.

Thats weird how it affected the tone?? Maybe it means you have a loose connection in there and by messing with that screw it moved the chassis around a bit and made better connection?

Thats odd?

 

[SneakyPete]

I had some major buzz with my 4x12 and started to go crazy. Finally I figured out that the inside of the back panel was vibrating against the wood support in the cab, so I put in an extra bit of foam between them.

Problem solved!

 

[slayer44]

Well, I replaced the tubes, again. This time I put a JJ 12ax7 in V1, 9th Gen Chinese in V2, V3 and V4, and a Electro Harmonix 12at7 in the PI. This helped a little, but not enough. Im pretty sure the problem is coming from V2. Now, how do I fix that, or even have a clue as to what could be causing it? I have no idea. I dont think loose screws are the problem, this just sounds like the amp is breaking up way, way to early.

 

[ibegyourpardon]

Well, I replaced the tubes, again. This time I put a JJ 12ax7 in V1, 9th Gen Chinese in V2, V3 and V4, and a Electro Harmonix 12at7 in the PI. This helped a little, but not enough. Im pretty sure the problem is coming from V2. Now, how do I fix that, or even have a clue as to what could be causing it? I have no idea. I dont think loose screws are the problem, this just sounds like the amp is breaking up way, way to early.

get more speakers, if you add a 212, then you wont get as much speaker distortion. I have the same amp.

 

[tele_jas]

If you have access to a 2x12 or 4x12, try running it to that to see if it is the amp?? The amp may be fine and you're just running around it circles trying to fix something that can't be fixed... If you plug in to a 2x12 or 4x12 and the problem is still there, then you'll know to keep looking for a problem.. but if you plug in to the cab and the problem is gone, you'll know it's a characteristic issue with the amp.

My Rectoverb combo sounded great at low volumes, but if I'd crank it up any it would sound like the speaker was blown. I even bought a new speaker for it and that didn't help.. Then one day I plugged it in to my 2x12 cab and the problem was gone! It sounded better than any amp I'd had up to that point. I then knew I needed a bigger amp if I wanted to stay with a combo, so I went with the Tremoverb and most recently the Road King.... Problem solved! Although my Road King still sounds tighter through my cabinet.

Just some food for thought.