Single Rec sounding scratchy

[s_pisco7084]

My single rec solo head and 4x12 Rectifier Standard
Straight Cab. Sound very scratchy when trying to play hard rock.. Im hoping the speakers arent blown its about 1 months old... Im using the settings listed below. guitar is a PRS custom 22 and a CE-24. It sounds terrible when i am standing about 5-7 feet back right in front of the speakers... Ive tried tweaking a couple of the settings but i still get a very scratchy sound... Ive also hooked the amp up through my PODxt live, same results... But none of that seems to be the issue. my only thing to try next it to bring it into a carpeted room. my room is all tile and the speakers are katty corning a wall... could my room possibly be horrible for these speakers ?
Oh i am going for a distorted sound like metallica/tool/chevelle. The clean on the amp sounds amazing.

Settings:
Modern Channel
Master: 12 O'Clock
Presence: 10 O'Clock
Bass: 1 O'Clock
Mid: 10 O'Clock
Treble: 1 O'Clock
Gain: 1 O'Clock

 

[fishyfishfish]

What do you mean by Scratchy? Is the sound drastically different than the last time you played?

 

[s_pisco7084]

What do you mean by Scratchy? Is the sound drastically different than the last time you played?

Its always sounded this way. By scratchy i mean very bright. (i dont know the proper terms) when my ears are level with the speakers is when it sounds this way with decent volume. no more then 1/2 way turned up.

 

[Schulzy]

Man would i love to know the reason... I have EXACTLY the same problem

3 Months ago i bought a BRAND NEW Dual rectifier and Mesa Traditional 4x12 cab...

I also play a custom 22... i played a gig last night... during sound check i was thinking the same thing... the whole time ive had it.. it just sounds terribly bright.. it hurts your ears its soo bright... and if you stand right in front of the cab it sounds terrible so fuzzy and tinny and trebley... I just cant work it out.

My settings are almost identical.. only i have my presence and mids dropped back a bit more than you.. but no matter what setting its on... or what channel.. its horribly bright and unbearable.

Our other guitarist runs a Single rec into a marshall 1960 4x12 and his sounds sooo nice and warm... even with his USA telecaster... and...

To top it all off... the 2 the bands that played after me last night... 1 had a single rec.. the other a roadster and they sounded 100 times better than mine.... very frustrated... i hope someone knows what causes it.

 

[s_pisco7084]

Thanks for posting man u explained my problem so much better. HELP US !!

 

[FullMontySmurf]

I find that the Modern mode can be overly bright if not tweeked with extreme care. Try Vintage mode (if you haven't), it sounds warmer, smoother and thicker to my ears. It is less brutal in the lowest part of the spectrum, but these frequencies are lost in a live mix anyway.

If Vintage mode still sounds thin and scratchy, there is something seriously wrong with your amp or other part of your setup.

Also keep in mind that putting your ears on the same level as a blasting guitar speaker is always going to sound unpleasant. High frequencies travel much more in a straight line than low frequencies, which are more spread out through space. This will make you hear lots of highs from the center of a guitar speaker if you stand directly in front of it, which sounds bad. Beamblockers are a solution for this, but I have to say that I don't need them using my Rectifier on a Bogner 2x12 with Vintage30's standing on the floor.

 

[s_pisco7084]

I find that the Modern mode can be overly bright if not tweeked with extreme care. Try Vintage mode (if you haven't), it sounds warmer, smoother and thicker to my ears. It is less brutal in the lowest part of the spectrum, but these frequencies are lost in a live mix anyway.

If Vintage mode still sounds thin and scratchy, there is something seriously wrong with your amp or other part of your setup.

Also keep in mind that putting your ears on the same level as a blasting guitar speaker is always going to sound unpleasant. High frequencies travel much more in a straight line than low frequencies, which are more spread out through space. This will make you hear lots of highs from the center of a guitar speaker if you stand directly in front of it, which sounds bad. Beamblockers are a solution for this, but I have to say that I don't need them using my Rectifier on a Bogner 2x12 with Vintage30's standing on the floor.

It must be the high frequencies sounding unpleasant and ear level. When i play it on clean the amp sounds amazing at high volumes. Ill have to look into beamblockers i assume its somekind of thing that blocks sound. ill find out soon!

Thanks for the reply.

 

[Schulzy]

But what causes this horrible sound?

I mean i've heard my other guitarists single recto and its far better sounding then my Dual... even my mates roadster... they just sound so warm and thick.... Mine sounds so harsh and grainy... with extremely high pitch sounding fizz...

I have also noticed that my 'PUSHED' setting is alot quiter than the 'CLEAN' setting on Ch1. Im not sure if that means anythin.. But all other mesa's ive heard its the opposite... the volume usually rises when flicking to 'PUSHED'.

Is the anything wrong with my amp... tubes... or cab?

someone please help.

 

[clutch71]

s_pisco7084

Go to Celestion Speaker and look at the Dr. Decible section review the portion about breaking in speakers if you haven't already. Low ceiling highs seem to bounce off of it. Any amp is going to sound different from on place to another based on acoustics of the given venue

The only fact I see between the two of you is PRS guitars. Not having played that particular model, I'm assuming it is "trebly" by nature and thus it will require more tweaking.

To tweak the amp have some one with you who can stand back 10 to 20 feet and move around, helps if you've got a large space. Each Mesa is different it may just be a matter of spending a little more time tweaking.

Good luck

 

[s_pisco7084]

s_pisco7084

Go to Celestion Speaker and look at the Dr. Decible section review the portion about breaking in speakers if you haven't already. Low ceiling highs seem to bounce off of it. Any amp is going to sound different from on place to another based on acoustics of the given venue

The only fact I see between the two of you is PRS guitars. Not having played that particular model, I'm assuming it is "trebly" by nature and thus it will require more tweaking.

To tweak the amp have some one with you who can stand back 10 to 20 feet and move around, helps if you've got a large space. Each Mesa is different it may just be a matter of spending a little more time tweaking.

Good luck

When i purchased my amp and head about a month ago the store kept it over night and broke it in for me. im not sure what they did but they told me it was "good to go". but when i got it home i never really turned it up until about 3-4 hours on low volume clean playing. and slowly turning it up after that trying to be gentle. the amp has still never been turned up past half volume.

Now that ive learned thats the mesa amps really arent "plug and play" i found a tone that is good for my room and sounds decent. you would have to see my room to understand this but when i first got the amp i had it so i could stand directly in front of it and i was hearing nothing but those direct high end frequencies.. I now pointed the speakers in a diff. direction and im very happy with it... But if i ever do take it out to do live gigs i think ill have the same problem as Schulzy.

 

[clutch71]

All Mesa's are differnent even within the same lineage/model.

 

[fitz8005]

I have also noticed that my 'PUSHED' setting is alot quiter than the 'CLEAN' setting on Ch1. Im not sure if that means anythin.. But all other mesa's ive heard its the opposite... the volume usually rises when flicking to 'PUSHED'.

Is the anything wrong with my amp... tubes... or cab?

someone please help.

hm...maybe tubes? on my single recto, like you said, there's a noticable volume increase from clean to pushed. maybe give mesa a call and see what they say.