There's The Tight Bottom End!

[CudBucket]

As a follow up to my post about finding a cab with tight bottom let me just say that I got home tonight and the wife, 3 kids and mom-in-law were out of the house. I decided to run to the gym and grab an hour in there. I come home, take a shower, still the house is empty. So...

I run downstairs, grab my Desert Gold Petrucci. I had just changed strings and dropped to .009s and thought I play the Road King II a little louder than usual.

I turned it on and with my cab on the floor, I got the volume on Channels 3 and 4 to about 11:30. This is with the loop by-passed so the output knob is disabled. Suddenly, with the added volume, the bottom end was WAY better. Nice and tight. A tiny bit tubby but it could be dialed out.

I was pretty happy. I think I may be OK with these 2x12 cabs but it only made me wonder what a 4x12 recto cab would sound like with the same volume.

BTW, for channel 3, I ran 2 6L6s with the gain at 2:00, treble at 2:00, mids at 10:00 to 1:00 and bass anywhere from 11:00 to 1:00.

You might wonder why I don't usually play this loud or why I might expect the amp to sound good at say 9:00 volume. The answers are that 1) I have family in the house pretty much 24/7. And 2) My previous head was Peavey JSX and it sounded GREAT at low volumes. The Legacy and Road Kings are pretty much loud amps so I guess that some amps excell at lower volumes and others at higher volumes.

Well now I think I'm set on getting either a Mesa Stiletto 4x12 (straight) or a straight Road King 4x12 cab.

Does anyone else experience these tonal changes in their amps when the volume is cranked? Do you find you need to re-EQ?

Thanks.

Dave

 

[ibanez4life SZ!]

The recto definitely tightens up with volume....the stiletto 4x12 helps even more.

For my tastes, it's still a bit too flubby. :?

 

[ToneAddictJon]

Louder volumes definitely help, try running the el34's and that will pull even more flub out

 

[CudBucket]

Louder volumes definitely help, try running the el34's and that will pull even more flub out

****. I didn't even think of that.

 

[Silverwulf]

No need for EL34's. You'll get more "crunch", but loose more "thump". The Recto doesn't really shine until you get it loud enough for the power amp to kick in some. Then it tightens up fast and sounds great. Until then, it'll be a little mushy. If you're forced to play at lower volumes, try using an OD as a clean boost in front. I've tried just about every high end pedal you can name as a boost, and I always find myself going back to my Maxon OD-808 in front of my Recto.

 

[wildrat666]

i´ve got el34´s in my dual rect and it sounds a little more tighter

 

[CudBucket]

Now I need to play with an OD just to see what it does. I have a Fulltone FullDrive 2 that I have never used. Guess I'll dig it out now.

 

[halfdriven]

Silverwulf is right, I play a DR through a 5150 cab and at low volumes it lacks balls but when we practice (as a band) or play out its tight as hell. I use a boss OD for goofin at low volumes (at home) but not live, dont need it

 

[jdurso]

what speakers are in the cab? of they're v30s or greenbacks you might want to consider throwing celestion g12k100s in it or emeinence legends 125..... also i know you did the ports yourself.... are they just holes or are they tubes? To get the tightness in a ported cab you need to use tubes and properly adjust the length of them to match the cabs depth or more commonly known as tuning the ports...... if you dont go that route and are looking to sell that cab let me know as i am in the market for a ported cab....

remember one thing with ported vs non-ported.... non-ported closed back is a very directional sound so you basically need to be standing in front of your amp to hear all the tone..... a ported cab like yours is still directional but extra tone/frequencies are added that are usually lost in the cab enclosure in a closed back or to the rear of the cab in a open back...... a vented cab like the Freda/port city wave design are very multi-directional with the same basic characteristics as a traditional ported cabs like yours...... also remember almost all bass cabs are tuned ported..... and with the right drivers in a bass cab they can be punchy/tight as all hell

 

[Silverwulf]

Now I need to play with an OD just to see what it does. I have a Fulltone FullDrive 2 that I have never used. Guess I'll dig it out now.

I actually tried a Fulltone Fulldrive 2 (Mosfet), but I didn't like it with my Recto. As funny as it sounds, it was "too transparent". Does what it does really well...but I liked the extra boost you get from something different. The Tube Screamer (TS-9) and Maxon OD-808 are very similar, but I found the Maxon to suit my needs a little better. Gave me more of the sound I was looking for and seemed to be a little smoother.

Try this for a boost...set the gain on your OD completely off, put the tone control around 9 o'clock or so, and then use the output/level at around 12 noon. Use it higher if you need to, but I find right around there to be the sweet spot for me without having to push too much of the pedal onto my tone. Really tightens up the amp.