Ive read on here for a while about the dos and donts of removing tubes from Recto heads. Recently Ive been asked to play in a group that plays at a lower volume than I am accustomed to. I had old Marshalls back in the day and used to pull tubes. So I decided to pull 4 of the power tubes of my Triple and see how it sounded. I pulled 2 rectifier tubes also.
The first thing I noticed was the sound was a lot thinner than I expected. I thought it would push the amp into distortion quicker than before therefor making the distortion more saturated. I was wrong. Also the bass response is way off. I play what most would call a classic rock sound on channel 2. I ussually strive for a Bad Company Cant Get Enough type sound. But I found myself turning all the eqs higher than normal and I really never got what I thought was an acceptable tone. I play a Les Paul classic and I ussually set the volume on 2-3 on the guitar and get that sound. Even turning the guitar to 10 didnt get the sound Im used to hearing. I use the loop to control overall volume. My base setting for the master and gain is around 2 oclock. I found myself pushing the gain to 4-5 to get the same breakup Im used too. I run the bass at around 10-11 oclock, I wound up going to 2-3 oclock on the bass which for my ears seems to rob the mid area of the amp. I ussually set the mid at 12 oclock, I wound up about 3 oclock. The treble and presence, I wound up around 3 oclock. Pulling the tubes did lower the volume quite a bit, but it sucked all the life out of the sound. I could work with this sound if I need to but I would be embarassed if any of my tone fiend freinds showed up for a gig.
This morning I got up early and put all the tubes back in. Fired it up, instant nirvana. All the life was back into the amp. Some people have told me that it could be the volume on the speakers, but I use the loop to control this level so with all the tubes in I am at the same listening level as without. On here everyone talks about speaker ohm loads. I tryed the cab in each ohm. 16,8, and 4 to my ears I cant hear any difference.
In a day or so I will try pulling 2 power tubes and 1 rectifier and see how that sounds.
I was wondering if anyone on here actually uses a THD Hotplate, I have an old Shcolz or however you spell it attenuator but it just kills the tone and adds noise in my opinion. Im playing a straight Recto cab.
I forgot this is a 3 channel head, I just spent most of my time in channel 2 cause thats what I use 80% of the time. I didnt even venture into channel 3 modern territory yet. I think in the end I will use this channel to mimc channel 2 with a little more mid and presence for leads. I love this head but have not gotten a good lead tone out of it. Live Ive been using a TS-9 which works.
The first thing I noticed was the sound was a lot thinner than I expected. I thought it would push the amp into distortion quicker than before therefor making the distortion more saturated. I was wrong. Also the bass response is way off. I play what most would call a classic rock sound on channel 2. I ussually strive for a Bad Company Cant Get Enough type sound. But I found myself turning all the eqs higher than normal and I really never got what I thought was an acceptable tone. I play a Les Paul classic and I ussually set the volume on 2-3 on the guitar and get that sound. Even turning the guitar to 10 didnt get the sound Im used to hearing. I use the loop to control overall volume. My base setting for the master and gain is around 2 oclock. I found myself pushing the gain to 4-5 to get the same breakup Im used too. I run the bass at around 10-11 oclock, I wound up going to 2-3 oclock on the bass which for my ears seems to rob the mid area of the amp. I ussually set the mid at 12 oclock, I wound up about 3 oclock. The treble and presence, I wound up around 3 oclock. Pulling the tubes did lower the volume quite a bit, but it sucked all the life out of the sound. I could work with this sound if I need to but I would be embarassed if any of my tone fiend freinds showed up for a gig.
This morning I got up early and put all the tubes back in. Fired it up, instant nirvana. All the life was back into the amp. Some people have told me that it could be the volume on the speakers, but I use the loop to control this level so with all the tubes in I am at the same listening level as without. On here everyone talks about speaker ohm loads. I tryed the cab in each ohm. 16,8, and 4 to my ears I cant hear any difference.
In a day or so I will try pulling 2 power tubes and 1 rectifier and see how that sounds.
I was wondering if anyone on here actually uses a THD Hotplate, I have an old Shcolz or however you spell it attenuator but it just kills the tone and adds noise in my opinion. Im playing a straight Recto cab.
I forgot this is a 3 channel head, I just spent most of my time in channel 2 cause thats what I use 80% of the time. I didnt even venture into channel 3 modern territory yet. I think in the end I will use this channel to mimc channel 2 with a little more mid and presence for leads. I love this head but have not gotten a good lead tone out of it. Live Ive been using a TS-9 which works.
