Tone troubles!!!

[chaos engine]

Hi all!!! i got my self a new dual recto six months ago and i'm having trouble getting the desired sound. what i'm wanting is a nice fat cugging tone "cannibal corpse the wretched spawn" but havin watched the dvd pat o'brien says al he uses is a b.c.rich v straight into a tripple rectifier. simple and thats all i do b.c.rich v straight into a dual recto. but my tone sounds relativly muddy and nothing like the sound i'm going for. my current settings are as follows.

pres 3 o clock
master 12 o clock
gain 2:30
bass 2:30
mid 11:30
treb 2:30

using diode rectification and am on the bold setting and the fx loop is engaged


the other kit i'm using is as follows
b.c.rich jr v deluxe with emg 85 and 81
a mesa recto 4x12 cab
and a crybaby wah


please can someone help because my £275 pevey valve king currently sounds better than my £1700 mesa and it's quite upsetting.

 

[Holy Diver]

waaaaaayyyyyyyy too much presence.......

WAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYY too much bass..............!!!!!!

 

[Anonymous]

First off, lower your bass. Adjust each knob with your ears, not your eyes. Next, I would try raising the mids substantially. You should be getting closer. Past that, I might try to put EL34s in the power section instead of the 6L6s. They work well to reduce some mud and bring out a little more bite in the amp.

The thing is, you may have the wrong amp. You mention that your amp is only six months old but, at least on Wikipedia, it's listed that Pat O'Brien uses a 2 channel Recto. The tonal differences between the two different amps, most would agree, are very big. 3 Channel Rectos are more typically known to be difficult to dial in, and put out a sound that's fizzy and muddy - obviously not what you're going for.

If I was in your position, I would really think about what matters most. Do you like the Recto, and the way it has 3 channels with a wide variety of sounds? Or would you prefer to just get that incredible Recto tone that the 2 channel version is known for? I made the same mistake you did, and after selling my 3 channel Dual on eBay for a 2 channel Triple, I can say I've never looked back.

Probably not what you were looking to hear, but I hope that helps!

 

[chaos engine]

cheers for the help will get to it istraight away. i do like my 3 ch recto. just needs dialing better.

 

[MusicManJP6]

First off, lower your bass. Adjust each knob with your ears, not your eyes. Next, I would try raising the mids substantially. You should be getting closer. Past that, I might try to put EL34s in the power section instead of the 6L6s. They work well to reduce some mud and bring out a little more bite in the amp.

The thing is, you may have the wrong amp. You mention that your amp is only six months old but, at least on Wikipedia, it's listed that Pat O'Brien uses a 2 channel Recto. The tonal differences between the two different amps, most would agree, are very big. 3 Channel Rectos are more typically known to be difficult to dial in, and put out a sound that's fizzy and muddy - obviously not what you're going for.

If I was in your position, I would really think about what matters most. Do you like the Recto, and the way it has 3 channels with a wide variety of sounds? Or would you prefer to just get that incredible Recto tone that the 2 channel version is known for? I made the same mistake you did, and after selling my 3 channel Dual on eBay for a 2 channel Triple, I can say I've never looked back.

Probably not what you were looking to hear, but I hope that helps!

Good job with this info! I have to say the 3 channel DRs sound killer IMO - although i've not heard a 2ch. A friend of mine has one and his Tremonti kills through it. We both like vintage mode much better than modern mode.

 

[Silverwulf]

Just some random side notes...keep the Bass around 9-10 o'clock and put the mids up around 12 Noon.

Unless you have a reason to use it, I'd dial in the amp with the FX Loop bypassed.

The stock Crybaby is a tone sucker. For a few dollars you can convert it to true bypass.

 

[lailer75]

ok i`ve talked to Pat, he indeed uses a 2ch. but with a Keely modded boss mt-2 as a boost. i pesonally have a 2ch. and 3ch. triple rec. I find the orange channel on my 3ch is very close to the red channel on my 2ch. so get yourself a od or some other boost,and run the orange channel.Pat`s settings are very extreme but i get pretty close with these.

presence 12
master wherever
gain 1-2
bass 1-2 (depending on your cab)
mids 10-11
treb 1-2
these will get you in the area, but you will need a o.d. or boost!

don`t overlook the importance of your cab! my 2 recs sound different through different cabs. my 2ch sounds better to me running into a marshall sized cab, and my 3ch sounds better to me running into an oversized.
btw thats a sick guitar you`ve got. i got the one with a beast headstock! and i installed the emg pa-2 boost, it gives the emg`s a little sumthin,sumthin!!!

 

[Melodyman]

Yep, you need a Metalzone set as a boost...

 

[MusicManJP6]

Yep, you need a Metalzone set as a boost...

Yikes! I tried that before and it just sounds nasally no matter what. A MT is NOT meant for use as a boost unless you are a freak that likes TONS of gain. Even with gain at '0' there is still way too much gain IMO. To each his own!

 

[Melodyman]

Yep, you need a Metalzone set as a boost...

Yikes! I tried that before and it just sounds nasally no matter what. A MT is NOT meant for use as a boost unless you are a freak that likes TONS of gain. Even with gain at '0' there is still way too much gain IMO. To each his own!

That's what Cannibal Corpse uses to boost their Recto, so if the original poster is trying to chase their tone that's an easy way to get there. You'll get alot closer by using a Metalzone than selling his 3 channel Dual Rec to get an older 2 channel model (imo).

Along time ago I hooked up a Metalzone set as a boost into a Dual Rec, and it was instant death metal tone.

Even with the gain on the Metalzone set to 0, there is still a fair amount of clipping coming from the pedal lol. But we are talking about death metal here.... :lol:

 

[Thrash Till Deth]

Yep, you need a Metalzone set as a boost...

Yikes! I tried that before and it just sounds nasally no matter what. A MT is NOT meant for use as a boost unless you are a freak that likes TONS of gain. Even with gain at '0' there is still way too much gain IMO. To each his own!

That's what Cannibal Corpse uses to boost their Recto, so if the original poster is trying to chase their tone that's an easy way to get there. You'll get alot closer by using a Metalzone than selling his 3 channel Dual Rec to get an older 2 channel model (imo).

Along time ago I hooked up a Metalzone set as a boost into a Dual Rec, and it was instant death metal tone.

Even with the gain on the Metalzone set to 0, there is still a fair amount of clipping coming from the pedal lol. But we are talking about death metal here.... :lol:

The metalzone boosting a rectifier is the best way to get an instant cannibal corpse/ death metal tone :twisted: . Feedback can be a pain with this setup but using a noisegate can solve that easy.

 

[chaos engine]

thanks for all you kind help. have got a loan of a boss metal zone and am gonna ginve it a try at rehersals. hopefuly that'll do the trick :twisted:

 

[wildrat666]

if u think the metal zone have too much gain try a maxon od 808. it is smoother and gets yuoa nice saturation with a dual or triple 3 channel

 

[TREC]

+1 the maxon od808 works great with my 3 channel triple

 

[MetalMatt]

The other day I had the privilege to slam the front end of my cranked recto with a metalzone... All I can say is my neck is sore :lol: As others have said, INSTANT death metal! :twisted: I have to agree with MusicmanJP6, it gave it a nasally sound to the overall tone. It was brutal!

Another +1 for the Maxon 808.

Thrash Till Deth, like the avatar!

 

[chaos engine]

sweet. if you don't mind my asking what were the setrtings that you used. just to give me a starting point please. :?: :?: :?:

 

[MetalMatt]

sweet. if you don't mind my asking what were the setrtings that you used. just to give me a starting point please. :?: :?: :?:

Not a problem Using a old Kramer focus with a JB in the bridge. Road King II with stock Mesa tubes. Bold power setting. Running through both my cabs (A 4x12 Mesa halfback, and a 2x12 Road King cab) Loops activated.

Channel 3, Modern, Diodes, 4x6L6
Gain 2:00
Treble 1:00
Mid 3:00
Bass 1:00
Pres 9:00
Master 12:00

Loop send 1:00
Output: 1:00

Now I didn't spend much time tweaking with the MT2 as I do prefer a OD in front, but here are my less than a minute settings...

MT-2
Level 5:00 (Max)
High 12:00
Low 9:00
Middle 12:00
Mid Freq 1:00
Dist 7:00 (Off)

OD
Level 12:00
Tone 12:00
Drive 9:00

Normally I use a EQ in the loop to tighten things up abit but when my RKII is up this loud, there is no need for it. I like my mids high because it adds a nice punch, but you might want to lower them. If you are using a 3 channel recto, you should be using channel 2 with Modern mode. Hope that gets you somewhere.

 

[mechanic]

Yet another +1 on the OD808. Using it as a clean boost on my 2-channel DR really keeps it from mudding up at higher gain settings.

Regarding EQ settings, one thing you could try is messing with the 'sweet spot' settings from your manual. When I first got my DR I had the bass and treble cranked, and the mids rolled way back. I had a terrible time getting decent tone out of the thing. Once I read the manual and played around with their recommended setting ranges things really started cooking. Give it a try!

\m/echanic

 

[Thrash Till Deth]

Thrash Till Deth, like the avatar!

Thanks, glad to see another Death fan.

 

[chaos engine]

Hi all!!!!


I'd like to thank every one who's posted on this topic. It's been a bit of a head ache but i feel i'm getting close to a sound i like. I got a loan of a boss metal zone from my local music store to take home a give it a run through my rig, it was a good unit and had a reasonable sound but inevitably it just felt too much. So after further reading Metal mats post on how he preferes an OD i thought what the hell i'll give one of them a try and instead of trying to emulate someone elses tone come up with my own sound that i like. So today i traded some old junk for a new Boss SD1 super overdrive, and i love it. after taking the sugetsions from everyones posts i dialed my amp and the pedal in. and i came up with a nice crisp crunch with some fat but not muddy bottoms and it cuts enough for my solos.


my settings are as thus

3 chanel recto

channel 3 on diode rec and bold, loop on 4x6L6

pres 10:00
master 12:00
gain 2:00
treb 2:00
mid 10:00
bass 1:30


Boss sd1 super overdrive

level 12:00
drive 9:00
tone 12:00

i'll use these settings as a starting point and gently tweek it over the coming weeks and months

So a BIG!!!! thanks to every one. TA!!!