Tone help on a dual

[Gibbyage]

I've been having a little trouble getting my amp to sound like http://www.myspace.com/hopecon or http://www.myspace.com/giveuptheghosthxc
(I know these bands use a dual rectifier)
http://www.myspace.com/bars
I like a heavier sound as you can tell. Not sure if its my room (also my buddies room) but my mesa sounds crunchy.

I play a Gibson Studio through a pedal board. Cab is a mesa rec traditional slant.

Usually have my low cranked, mid at 12, and high around 9. Gain @ 12-3. Pre has been a pain to get this right, and master at noon.

 

[clutch71]

I think by looking at your settings that you've got way to much bass in the signal. You also mentioned that your gain was 12-3. 3 is way high on a DR and you will loose articulation as you bring up volume. The presence is also going to be voiced different on vintage and modern between channels 2 and 3 so this just takes tinkering to taste. You also mentioned the master at noon, is your loop engaged? If so disable it. I never liked the loop running on a DR.

Set everything to noon and have someone with a good ear for tone help you tweak it. Don't overlook tube rectification. A lot of guys skip this mode and Vintage/Tube rectified was one of my favorite modes.

It could take you a month or two to hit the sound that your after. Be patient and have fun dialing.

 

[siggy14]

I would keep the gain around 1, use a booster pedal to really drive those pre amps for the clarity.

 

[Elpelotero]

+1 to all of that. I also recommend you don't tweak the settings in your bedroom. The acoustics will kill the sound. Take the amp outside somewhere, even if you have to transport it, and let her rip. Start with everything at 12 noon playing loud. It will no longer sound "crunchy."

 

[Gibbyage]

How do I turn off the fx loop in the back? I see the nob for it (loop on Ch1 Ch2/Ch3/FTSW/By bass loop. I currently have it set to Bypass loop.

And the back of the amp is set to Bold and it was set to Silicon Diodes. Should I change that to Vaccum tubes?

And for Ch3 I use Modern and on Channel 2 I use Vintage.

 

[Elpelotero]

Bypass loop=turning the loop off.

Vaccuum tubes give sag, which makes the tone less tight, but they give you a nice, fat, creamy sound and feel. Silicon Diodes give a much tighter and slightly brighter sound. So if you like fast metal--silicon diodes. If you like solos and lean slightly more to older rock--vaccuum tubes. Experiment with both, don't just take our word for it.

Typically people use ch3 modern and ch2 vintage.

 

[Gibbyage]

I'm not one for solos and metal as you can tell from the bands I listed whos sound I'm trying to get.

Thanks for the help so far.

 

[RoadKinger483]

What are running pedal wise???? Is it individual pedals (if so which ones) or is it a multi effects unit??? Sometimes what you have between your guitar and the amp makes a difference. I use to run my Dual Recto with a 4x12 Standard cab and the low end was good and plenty. However, I use a Recto 2x12 cab now and the lowend on that sucker IS AMAZING!!!!!

 

[Gibbyage]

What are running pedal wise???? Is it individual pedals (if so which ones) or is it a multi effects unit??? Sometimes what you have between your guitar and the amp makes a difference. I use to run my Dual Recto with a 4x12 Standard cab and the low end was good and plenty. However, I use a Recto 2x12 cab now and the lowend on that sucker IS AMAZING!!!!!

Flanger, Phaser, Rc-2 Loop, Noise Suppressor, Chromatic Tuner to guitar.

I'm gonna run the flanger, phaser, and rc-2 through the effects loop and then the head to the noise suppressor and tuner to guitar.

Is there a specific way the two knobs on the back where the effects loop is should be placed?

 

[RoadKinger483]

Well.... i dont think its the effects you have. I run way more pedals on my board and have no problems. 98% of my pedals are true bypass though, which don't degrade the tone at all. Anyway.... try running your gain around noon or 1 o'clockon all the channels. I find that the gain is most balanced in all the channels with the gain set to this. I run my bass on CH.3 at about 10 o'clock with the channel set to MODERN and I get CRAZY PUNCH and LOWEND!!!!! Try checking the tubes for sure. I'll see what else I can think of to help you out.

 

[Gibbyage]

Well.... i dont think its the effects you have. I run way more pedals on my board and have no problems. 98% of my pedals are true bypass though, which don't degrade the tone at all. Anyway.... try running your gain around noon or 1 o'clockon all the channels. I find that the gain is most balanced in all the channels with the gain set to this. I run my bass on CH.3 at about 10 o'clock with the channel set to MODERN and I get CRAZY PUNCH and LOWEND!!!!! Try checking the tubes for sure. I'll see what else I can think of to help you out.

Thanks for the help. Still a tad bit crunchy (Only during palm mutes the sound is a little crunchy).

I switched the bybass on, on the back of the head. I have the master on ch.3 at noon. Gain at around 10.

Any idea what the bands I listed above might have their mesa set at?

 

[FullMontySmurf]

Well.... i dont think its the effects you have. I run way more pedals on my board and have no problems. 98% of my pedals are true bypass though, which don't degrade the tone at all. Anyway.... try running your gain around noon or 1 o'clockon all the channels. I find that the gain is most balanced in all the channels with the gain set to this. I run my bass on CH.3 at about 10 o'clock with the channel set to MODERN and I get CRAZY PUNCH and LOWEND!!!!! Try checking the tubes for sure. I'll see what else I can think of to help you out.

Thanks for the help. Still a tad bit crunchy (Only during palm mutes the sound is a little crunchy).

I switched the bybass on, on the back of the head. I have the master on ch.3 at noon. Gain at around 10.

Any idea what the bands I listed above might have their mesa set at?

The bands you listed don't use huge amounts of gain and don't sound really 'metal'. To achieve these sounds I would use the Vintage mode (in any case not Modern) and make sure the gain is not too high. 12 o' clock should be plenty. I would then put all the eq knobs to noon and start tweaking from there.

 

[RoadKinger483]

+1 to the suggestions FullMontySmurf made. Don't hesitate to experiment with the RAW setting on CH.2 either. That setting in Ch.2 has some really sweet sounds and perhaps some great potential for the sound your trying to achieve. Although as and added alternative, I would still check all your tubes to see it they're functioning properly.

 

[Gibbyage]

+1 to the suggestions FullMontySmurf made. Don't hesitate to experiment with the RAW setting on CH.2 either. That setting in Ch.2 has some really sweet sounds and perhaps some great potential for the sound your trying to achieve. Although as and added alternative, I would still check all your tubes to see it they're functioning properly.

Yeah thats a lot of the recommending the Vintage and raw setting. Both sound good. Kinda got what I was looking for. The tubes are a year old or so the guy I bought it from said.

Any one willing to recommend tubes? I have some sovtek pre amp tubes but I havent heard anyone really crazy about them on the boards.

 

[mrd]

+1 to the suggestions FullMontySmurf made. Don't hesitate to experiment with the RAW setting on CH.2 either. That setting in Ch.2 has some really sweet sounds and perhaps some great potential for the sound your trying to achieve. Although as and added alternative, I would still check all your tubes to see it they're functioning properly.

Yeah thats a lot of the recommending the Vintage and raw setting. Both sound good. Kinda got what I was looking for. The tubes are a year old or so the guy I bought it from said.

Any one willing to recommend tubes? I have some sovtek pre amp tubes but I havent heard anyone really crazy about them on the boards.

AFAIK, Sovtek = Mesa tubes. At least I was told this by a fairly reputable source. I think Mesa tubes sound good, perhaps not GREAT, but they certainly aren't bad.

 

[jdurso]

you also may want to try a graphic eq in the loop (or even before the amp)..... with the right settings i think you can achieve the sound your looking for

 

[Gibbyage]

One more thing. If I run my effects through the loop theres a weird (drastic) change in volume on all three channels. It booms out of the amp when I adjust the volume on the output.

Normal?

 

[jdurso]

One more thing. If I run my effects through the loop theres a weird (drastic) change in volume on all three channels. It booms out of the amp when I adjust the volume on the output.

Normal?

depends on how the amp is setup...... do you have the loop on? what are the levels of your send and recieve...... you'll need to balance your volumes to use something like an eq in the loop..... some people actually like using the loop as a volume boost

 

[Gibbyage]

For some reason the loop wasnt working with the effects. Hopefully its the cables. I have the loop on and the output knob all the way up and the master volume on ch. 3 a tad bit up.

And the knobs in the back for the effects loop are @ 12.

Gonna try and use different cables tomorrow and see if it works.