Trade two ch Dual Rectifier for a three ch version?

[TheMichaelAbe]

okay, first off Happy Sunday and good luck to your respective NFL team(unless you like the Patriots in which case, GO PANTHERS! lol)

Npw for the real issue, I just got my first Mesa that I was allowed to change the tone settings on(long story lol) in a trade but the loop seems to be non functional(here is the link to my post about it that I was hoping to get some answers from http://forum.grailtone.com/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=65725) long story short I contacted the guy I got it from and he was really cool about it. He told me that he would take back the small logo/fixed power cord two ch DR and give me a 2002-2003 three ch DR that he also has. I was wondering if this was would be a bad idea and I should just deal with/fix the loop issue myself since so many people seem to think that the 2 ch rev. F version records and sounds better than the 3 ch...regardless this guy gets props for being the best person that I have ever dealt with on Craigslist lol

so just to recap is there really that much of a loss tone-wise when moving from 2 ch DR to a 2002-2003 3 ch DR?

 

[deeman]

Try it out and see what you like best. I have a 2001 3 channel and I think it sounds perfect for what I want. If you search the forums here this topic has been discussed ad nauseum so you'll find pros and cons of both.

 

[TheMichaelAbe]

Ha yeah that is always the best advice but we live like an hour away and I were planning on meeting in a parking lot for the exchange...I have been reading all the past discussion about it and I'm guessing that I'll just do it since I haven't played the two chanel version more than an hour anyways so if the three is way worse I'll be none the wiser and won't know what I'm missing out on anyways lol I appreciate the advice tho.

 

[zerofivefour]

I have 2 rev f.s that I will never sell.

FYI, I have had the fx loop go out on my 2 channel rev f. dual recto twice in 10 years. Each time it required a .99 cent part in order to fix it. I do not know if it is common or why it went out. But it happened to me 2x. Labor for the repair was 2 hours to diagnose and repair. YMMV, I would still not sell it, because it love the tone.

Good luck with your decision.

Cheers,

Tom

 

[TheMichaelAbe]

Thanks for the heads up, Tom...I see that you are from Hawai'i. I was born there myself lol...any chance that you know what the problem or part was? I'd love to repair the amp myself if possible but would rather have a bit of direction before I open her up lol.

 

[zerofivefour]

Thanks for the heads up, Tom...I see that you are from Hawai'i. I was born there myself lol...any chance that you know what the problem or part was? I'd love to repair the amp myself if possible but would rather have a bit of direction before I open her up lol.

You will never believe this but I actually found the work order for the repair which was done in October of 2008. It was in a pedal board flight case. I knew I had it...somewhere. It was actually in the first place I looked. Almost a miracle that I found it that easy.

Ok, I only have a description of the part, although I remember it was a very small resistor as is indicated on my repair order.


The exact description of the part is as follows:

120K resistor

The unit price is listed at 1.00. So my memory is actually still in tact, well off by one cent. Labor was only 1.5 hours as well, not bad for 5 years ago, lol.

Hope this helps.
Good luck.

Cheers... and Aloha 8)

Tom

 

[mesaboogie6L6]

I have 2 revF's, dual and triple, I would never trade a 2 channel for a 3 channel, the tone and feel is different to me. I won't own a Mesa amp made after 1996, mainly because of quality issues and shortcuts made in the manufacturing process. I don't like the idea of the power cord not being hard wired.

I don't use the fx loops so it doesn't matter to me if they work or not.

Good luck on your decision.

 

[YellowJacket]

Totally depends what you need. The 3 channel heads have a serviceable clean tone in addition to two crunch tones. There is also the 'pushed' and 'raw' modes which makes for a much more versatile amp.

The 2 channel Rectos are awesome but they are much more 'one trick ponies'. If you really like a clean clean tone, you're really missing out on what those old two channel heads do best. Namely, the orange channel on vintage high gain is probably the best tone the amp can do and it's a shame it is sitting on top of the 'improvised' clean tone. Ideally, the amp would be identical but with the addition of a proper clean but with the 3 channel rectos, they tailored the sound to suit where music was headed. (Which they did yet again when they released the Recto Reborn)

The 2 channel heads are an awesome piece of history but at the end of the day, it is all what you need as a player that matters.

 

[TheMichaelAbe]

Tom,

Mahalo! You are the best for digging up that work order for me. That is actually really helpful here if I decided to keep the amp...I am glad to hear that you haven't gone crazy YET We need to get together and play a few tunes next time I am visiting "home" lol

Yellow Jacket,

Thanks for putting things into perspective a little better for me as far as functionality goes...at this point in my life(tour guitarist and hired gun) I guess that it would make more sense for me to have the more versatile amp even if it is a slight trade off tone-wise I personally never want to play super clean clean lol but sometimes that is what the case/client/situation calls for lol

MB6l6,

You don't use the loop at all!? My master volume(and I am assuming your's too) is out of the circuit without the loop and this thing is wayyyyyyyyy loud! I hope that you have a good set of ear plugs Truth be told I would like to run an amp wide open but my NEED for volume control and delay after distortion kinda supersedes my want at this point lol

Overall, and I know that this is probably not the best way to look at things, but I was basically wondering if this was going to be a bad decision monetary value-wise for me more than anything else. lol

 

[O==00==O]

As you can probably get from the way people are talking about them, the Rev F heads are worth more - usually because they're more desirable. (and completely different)

 

[YellowJacket]

Overall, and I know that this is probably not the best way to look at things, but I was basically wondering if this was going to be a bad decision monetary value-wise for me more than anything else. lol

The answer is a resounding YES, particularly if the 2 channel version you have has the black face and chrome chassis.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3kc4h32UE8

OK, if we were to look at values we'd get this.

Lowest value for recto. Pre Multiwatt 3 channel head.

Lowest value for 2 channel Recto.
Rev G / chrome face / black chassis, silver knobs.

Up slightly.
Rev F / Chrome Face / Black Chassis, Silver Knobs,

Up again.
Rev F Blackface / Chrome chassis.

Then Rev E, which I think is similar?

Very high value.
Rev D with either colour scheme.

Highest value.
Rev C Blackface or Chrome.

(I have also seen all black, or black chassis and silver knobs, or even all chrome or all chrome with black knobs)

Rev F vs Rev G
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FFB3JsYMiw

Rev C
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EgasCEzans

 

[TheMichaelAbe]

Thanks for all the informative posts guys..just incase anyone was wondering; Mesa said that the amp mist likely had faulty LDR'S...looking at it I'd assume that it was LDR 11,12, or13 but I got rid of the amp so I didn't have a chance to attempt the fix lol