Want Pre500 tone? Here's how to get it!

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I've had my Rec configured with the new setup for a couple of weeks now.

the only downside I've noticed is a 'Pop' when changing channels with the footswitch. Not a biggie for me, considering how much better the 'feel' and tone of the amp is.

thanks again for those that posted and supported this thread.
 
Thought I should also report some of my experiences with my current mods.

So far I have jumped the 3 100 ohm resistors on the cathodes, switched the gain pots on channel two and three to 500k and 1M, and as TheMagicEight suggested, I added 5M5 resistor in parallel with the 680k resistor (well, practically 4,7M resistor in series with 820k resistor).

I like the changes a lot. Especially for leads. Overall, the amplifier is tighter, has more urgent attack and I think the growl has more mids in it.

Channel 2 with 500k pot on vintage mode has a vocal like quality to it and simply sings. It does tight metal rhythm very well on both vintage and modern. It still handles lower gain stuff decently.

Channel 3 with 1M pot truely has tons of gain and tightness. With rest of the mods, there's no need for boost at all. On the other hand, I can see why many people think 1M pot is too much as it pretty much kills the option of dialing lower gain tones which don't sound thin.

I'd even go further to try the 250k presence pot , but then I'd need to find a stacked pot with 250k/25k values as this one is a Multiwatt model.


After all this I'm still somewhat confused whether pre 500 rectos had 250k or 1M pots. There's conflicting information about it all over the place. The rev c schematic in this thread has 250k pots, then there was that another thread where someone heard from Mesa that all the recto revisions use 250k gain pots. Yet, I've seen comments on some pre-500 Youtube video where the uploader told he had gain set at 11 o'clock or so and the sound was pretty much on high gain territory. So could someone clarify what's the actual gain pot value in rev c/d? If someone actually bothered to measure the gain pot on rev c/d, the case could be finally closed :p
 
2 questions, if someone could assist me. I'd like to try these other 2 mods referenced higher up in the Post.

Shemham said:
Thought I should also report some of my experiences with my current mods.

So far I have jumped the 3 100 ohm resistors on the cathodes, switched the gain pots on channel two and three to 500k and 1M, and as TheMagicEight suggested, I added 5M5 resistor in parallel with the 680k resistor (well, practically 4,7M resistor in series with 820k resistor).
[/list]

On a 3ch Dual Rec, where is the 680k resistor?


And could someone explain how I find this on the PCB?

'the 10nF/450V on D Power Rail works perfectly...'
 
kramerxxx said:
On a 3ch Dual Rec, where is the 680k resistor?


And could someone explain how I find this on the PCB?

'the 10nF/450V on D Power Rail works perfectly...'
I'll use the Reborn pic as a reference:



The 680k ohm resistor is the one north-west from the blue circle with color code blue-grey-brown-orange.

I simply soldered two resistors together in series to get the total resistance of 5M5 ohms and the solder it in parallel on the legs of the 680k resistor.
 
OK, to answer my own question, (*or at least get someone that can confirm this), it looks the the E power rail feeds pin 1 on V1a through a 220k resistor and the D power rail feeds pin 1 on V2a. (I'm looking at a schematic)

The post says run the cap, (10nF), from the (D and E) Power rail to ground. Do they need to be in front of the resistors or behind, OR does it matter?

I should be able to trace back from the pin number on the preamp tube socket to the applicable 220k and 100k resistors respectively and then add them there, right?

Does this sound correct?
 
Just figured I would put an update up since I have been rocking the mods for a couple months now on my 3ch Triple. Best way I can describe it: the "in the room" sound I am getting sounds like all the best recorded/produced Recto tones I have ever heard. The only other amp I have played that has had this much high gain clarity, tightness and just amazing attack was my old ENGL Fireball 100. This amp is never...going...back...stock...ever! Coupled with big bottle =C= black plate 5U4G rectifiers and EH 6550 power tubes, this thing is a monster. Have already had a couple of other Recto guys inquiring about me working their amps over.

Rock On!!!!!
 
R_ADKINS80 said:
Just figured I would put an update up since I have been rocking the mods for a couple months now on my 3ch Triple. Best way I can describe it: the "in the room" sound I am getting sounds like all the best recorded/produced Recto tones I have ever heard. The only other amp I have played that has had this much high gain clarity, tightness and just amazing attack was my old ENGL Fireball 100. This amp is never...going...back...stock...ever! Coupled with big bottle =C= black plate 5U4G rectifiers and EH 6550 power tubes, this thing is a monster. Have already had a couple of other Recto guys inquiring about me working their amps over.

Rock On!!!!!
I wonder how your modded triple would compare to a new multi watt triple?
 
ryjan said:
R_ADKINS80 said:
Just figured I would put an update up since I have been rocking the mods for a couple months now on my 3ch Triple. Best way I can describe it: the "in the room" sound I am getting sounds like all the best recorded/produced Recto tones I have ever heard. The only other amp I have played that has had this much high gain clarity, tightness and just amazing attack was my old ENGL Fireball 100. This amp is never...going...back...stock...ever! Coupled with big bottle =C= black plate 5U4G rectifiers and EH 6550 power tubes, this thing is a monster. Have already had a couple of other Recto guys inquiring about me working their amps over.

Rock On!!!!!
I wonder how your modded triple would compare to a new multi watt triple?
would probably sound way better than the newer ones.
i sold my multi watt after modding my revG
 
I've had 4 Recto's before I bought my Road King II...
- Two 2ch: pre-500 dual and triple.
- Two 3ch: 2 duals.

Am I the only one that doesn't like the pre-500 tone? In the beginning I liked it but after a bunch of Rectifiers it was to me the baddest sounding amp of all. I liked a 3ch dual and my 2ch triple far more. Sold the pre-500 after 2 months and never looked back.

For me ch2 of the 3ch duals is the best sounding Recto channel... But I guess it's just me :?
And oh yeah the Roadking is a league on its own off course.

Cool that there are mods to bring it to pre-500 if you want that sound.

MS
 
ryjan said:
I wonder how your modded triple would compare to a new multi watt triple?
That really depends on what you're looking for. I'd say it's easier to get tighter and more aggressive high gain sound from pretty much any Rectifier modified to those specs.

I don't know how the differences in the power supply influence the tone and feel between the different models after modifications. Certainly would be interesting to A/B these modded Rectifiers next to each other to hear are there noticeable differences between them.

One thing I love about modifying the Reborn head to these specs is that I get to have both the sparkling and beautiful cleans of the stock model and the more aggressive in-your-face dirty channels.
 
Shemham said:
ryjan said:
I wonder how your modded triple would compare to a new multi watt triple?
That really depends on what you're looking for. I'd say it's easier to get tighter and more aggressive high gain sound from pretty much any Rectifier modified to those specs.

I don't know how the differences in the power supply influence the tone and feel between the different models after modifications. Certainly would be interesting to A/B these modded Rectifiers next to each other to hear are there noticeable differences between them.

One thing I love about modifying the Reborn head to these specs is that I get to have both the sparkling and beautiful cleans of the stock model and the more aggressive in-your-face dirty channels.
That is what I was thinking too.
I thought the reborn rectos were supposed to be closer in tone to the pre-500's than the earlier 3 channel amps which is why I was asking about the similarities to this mod. Is this correct or am I on the dope?
 
ryjan said:
That is what I was thinking too.
I thought the reborn rectos were supposed to be closer in tone to the pre-500's than the earlier 3 channel amps which is why I was asking about the similarities to this mod. Is this correct or am I on the dope?
I've heard that pre-500 claim earlier, but still haven't found where it originates from or if Mesa ever gave such statement. But yeah, Reborn has more upper mids, thus somewhat brighter sound and slightly tighter, more aggressive attack. In that sense you could say its closer to the early recto models. I still wouldn't say that Mesa made the Reborns to original dual rectifier specs as it's definately much closer to the old 3 channel.

Jumping the 100 ohm resistors and changing the presence pot value for the modern mode to 250k introduces more dramatic change to the overall tone and feel than switching from original 3 channel model to Reborn head.
exbest182 said:
Could these be done on a Roadster? or some variation? I was about to send my roadster to Voodoo, but this would be amazing.
Sure. Roadster and Road King models also seem to have the 100 ohms resistors on cathodes and can be jumped. Different pot values for gain and presence could also be tested for kicks.
 
So I have a Rev F coming right now.... if I took this to my tech (i'm not good with all this stuff at all) -- coming from a Rev F - what would I need to tell needs done... the front page is coming from a Rev G... is there a big enough tonal difference between C and F to even bother with it? I'm enjoying all the clips I'm hearing though... I've only played on a stock Rev Gs, and Tremoverbs...
 
The tonal difference would be not as big as going from a Rev G to a Rev C but still noticeable enough. I noticed a huge difference going from G to C so I would expect you to hear a difference as well.
I'd say if you are playing anything high gain and don't use cleans too much go for this mod.
 
^ Hehe :twisted:

My USB cable for my Shure bit the dust so I recorded a clip of my amp using the mic on my turtle beach headset again.
Captured a decent room sound of the amp at low volume.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/47381724/Riffing.mp3
 
i got to use my modded revG at band prac last night .its the first time since doing the mods i have been able to play this beast at band level.even better than i had hoped for. :twisted:
 

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