Screams with great attack, sustain, and feedback?

[ctc]

Okay, so I've been out of the music scene for a long long time, and I like to get back in and jam with a band. I've got a 1982 Charvel with a Dimarzio humbucker and a push-pull pot for those sweet single coil tones. I've owned a Marshall JVM 800 back in the day, but that's long gone.

So I need an amp. The last few years I've been playing a POD v2 through a pair of tuned reference monitors in my studio. At times I like to play clean and sweet, some times a bit spunkier and springy, at other times hard rockin', and of course some searing heavy metal. The POD can make all those sounds, except it's not a rig that can stand up to a band or a gig and it doesn't have the tone of a tube amp.

I thought I might try a Mesa Boogie single Rectifer 50 series 2 with a 2x12 cab. I tried one at guitar center tonight (with a 4x12 straight cab) and was able to get some great tones in channel 1 for the clean through spunkier sounds I mentioned. Channel 2 eluded me. I found some OK hard rockin' sounds (not great) and I was down right dissapointed with the heavy metal sound. I set the knobs as suggested in the manual for sample 4 on page 12 for high gain lead/crunch, but there was no attack, very little sustain, and the leads sounded like...like the highs and the lows were being played by separate guitars??? The POD has a rectifier model which screams with great attack, sustain, and feedback at low volumes. I couldn't figure out how to do it with the Mesa. Any ideas?

 

[parabola]

If I was you id invest in a Mark V and not a Rectifier series amp judging by what your looking for in tone...

 

[RectoStudioGuy]

Sounds like a Mk IV or Mk V might be worth a look for you.

 

[ctc]

Thanks for the input, I'll try a mark V.

But straighten me out here, mesa writes about channel 2 of the single rectifier 50...

"Channel Two boasts ...Raw, Vintage and Modern high gain...Then Vintage High-Gain takes over and continues up the gain scale into a liquid, violin voice that glows with amber warmth. And finally …Modern. This blistering High Gain mode delivers pure Recto aggression, the heaviest sound ever..."

What am I missing in the amps settings that I couldn't get good hard rock and heavy metal sounds in channel 2!?

Mesa writes that this amp is "Based on a diode-rectified, two-channel platform". Is this why this amp reminds me of the horrible sounds that I used to get with my Marshall Artist 4203 which had a solid state preamp and tube power?

So tell me people am I going insane...

 

[Heritage Softail]

I have both of the heads you are talking about. The Single Rec Solo 50 Series 2 is a gnarly assed chugging machine. Granted, it now has SED Winged C 6L6's in it and Tung Sols across the front end, so it is a little more gainy, but out of the box it should rip. Something must be wrong with it if it does not get a big chugging Metallica "Sad But True" sound. Agreed on the better cleans for series 2. The did some other thing to help out the loop maybe? Others on here know all that stuff.... You should be able to pick up a used Series 2 in the 7-800 range. I like the three modes on ch2.

On the MKV side, I am thinking that is what you may find more use and enjoyment out of. I got the Rec head above to add the REC sound and have a second tone for stereo separation/complimentary metal tone. The MKV with a double coil that is not a shred metal tinny sounding POS should give you lots of singing leads. I have a SD Jazz in the neck slot of my LP and it sounds excellent in MK1 mode on the MKV. To get the perfect sound to my ears, I have JJ EL34's in the MKV. That sweetens it up just a tad on the treble/mids compared the stock Mesa 6L6 globes. MKV is a great blues amp in CH1 too. My Strat loves this amp.

For $50 bucks on a set of JJ EL34's to add to your MKV, I think you can cover many many punk/jazz/country/rock/hair band/metal tones. For a rectifier sound, it takes a real RECTO, or you can go the pedal route and get a Wampler Triple Wreck. YouTube that thing, you have to hear it to believe it...... IMO a MKV does not sound like a REC, unless you put that pedal out front.

Peace man, happy Easter. Maybe the Easter Bunny will leave you an amp instead of a blue and yellow egg.. :lol:

 

[ctc]

Thanks, good info. I'm definately going to try the MKV next time.

But after reading a bit more in here, do you think the problems that I had with channel 2 had to do with the output knob being turned down to 7 o'clock (a dude at G.C. was asking everyone to turn it down) instead of at 12 o'clock like the manual suggested? That's got to effect the higher gain sounds.

 

[ibanezrocker720]

Yeah a Mesa at 7:00 is pretty much worthless in my opinion...I personally have never gotten a good saturated tone with the volume that low, atleast on my Dual Rec. If the guys at GC will let you turn it up a bit more, most will not I have learned HAHA, try that and see how you like the sound. I think you will be happier for doing so and if not a MKIV or MK5 would also be a great investment. Good luck and let us know what you get!

 

[Elpelotero]

I agree that 7:00 is too low to get sustain, etc.

However, a Mark series amp is MUCH, MUCH better suited for achieving feedback and sustain for lead playing. Take it from my experience! I own both!

 

[Heritage Softail]

Thanks, good info. I'm definately going to try the MKV next time.

But after reading a bit more in here, do you think the problems that I had with channel 2 had to do with the output knob being turned down to 7 o'clock (a dude at G.C. was asking everyone to turn it down) instead of at 12 o'clock like the manual suggested? That's got to effect the higher gain sounds.

Wow :shock: I have never been asked to turn an amp down at a Guitar Center. This guy must be a total DB. For spending 2K on an amp, it is a very reasonable expectation to put it thru some paces....

 

[greg_moreira]

if you ask me....this is the nature of the rectifier series of amps. Granted the volume situation didnt help your cause.....but even still. I own a triple and love it, and even though it sounds "gigantic", it is resistant to the feedback and harmonic squeals and sustain moreso than some other amps. Those other amps though just dont have the same type of gain character that I like about the rectifiers. so I gladly deal. I had to relearn my approach at some of this stuff a little when starting out with this rectifier amp, because those sounds just didnt jump off the fretboard like I was accustomed to. It also was never great for very fast riffing "as is". I found I had to be very careful with the amp settings and with how I play or any of the fast stuff(like master of puppest for example) didnt quite have the sharp edge attack i wanted.

the rectos take time. Once I learned to really dial this thing in right, and my playing started to fall in line with the amp, Im getting much better results now. An addition of an OD pedal out front really helped the situation also in a big way......and ive still got that powerful rectifier base after figuring out how to coax out these other sounds a little easier.

Either way....the mark series for example is more capable of doing what you want out of the box/as is. If you arent completely sold on the rectifier "type" of gain, then try out a mark.