which rectifier is best for my purposes?

[iluvledzepp]

Hello to all on my first post to the boogie board This is the question I've been thinking about for a year. Any advice? the main bands I play are: Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, Nirvana, Rhcp, Foo Fighters. I have an epiphone les paul, 89' HSS strat w/ super distortion in bridge and a mexican stock tele. I like a versatile amp which is why I'm looking at rectos(more versatile than other amps I've tried anyway. I also have "my tone" which i've had out of a reborn dual, but those are hard to find used as I'm 17 and don't have 2 grand laying around to spend on an amp but will condiser it if this is THE amp(as i wil consider with any other amp).

I'm curious about the older 3 channel duals, as I've never tried one ands hear they don't sound good(fizzy highs, flubby lows) but also hear that that's only if you dial them in to be. I've played a 2 channel dual once which was great from what I rememeber, but I like the option of having a decent clean channel(I use a bunch of pedals) and 2 dirt channels. I've played the single rectifier once and liked it alot but like I said I'd like to have 3 channels-(could I use the modern channel then use a tube screamer to boost as a 3rd channel?). The Roadster is versatile but seemed kinda dark and I'm almost positive (from what i've heard) that is has a different tone than the road king. Never tried a road king although I would love to if I could find one but think it's too much amp for me right now(I will own one someday but I don't need all of that yet)

As you can see, I'm kinda confused and haven't found many answers to my questions by researching forums (I've probably read almost every thread on mesa rectifiers, this vs that, etc. etc. so any advice? thanks to everyone who helps and sorry for the repeat thread on mesa rectifiers. :mrgreen:

 

[Jorn218]

I think you answered your own question man. Get yourself one of the 3ch rectifier amps. You can get just about any tone out of them with playing with the settings, including getting something similar to an old non master volume Marshall, that will convince others you're actually playing through a Marshall. I pulled a prank on another amp forum, where I recorded myself playing some Van Halen through the green channel pushed. Most on the board thought I was using a Marshall.

One other amp I think you may take a look at is the Mark IV. You can get pretty good sounds through one and might be in the tonal range of the style of music you like/play. I have never owned nor played through one, but have a couple of friends that own them and they get very very good sounds out of theirs.

I know you said you were young and at this time dont have a great budget, but save for it. These amps you will never want to get rid of. I know that I will never get rid of my dual rectifier. I was a Marshall guy for 20 years. Once I heard what a dual was able to do, and finally got one, I shelved my Marshalls.

 

[knotts]

I love my roadster. Yes, it has a darker voice, but I changed the tube in the V1 position because of some good advise from other forum members and haven't regretted it. I know that more preamp tube changes will alter the tone more.

It's the most versatile amp I could ever want. I set my 4 channels to 1. Super Clean 2. Rolling stones grit 3. Dirty Zepplin 4. Foo Fighter's crunch. I play shows and just cycle the channels and all of them sound great.

 

[iluvledzepp]

I think you answered your own question man. Get yourself one of the 3ch rectifier amps. You can get just about any tone out of them with playing with the settings, including getting something similar to an old non master volume Marshall, that will convince others you're actually playing through a Marshall. I pulled a prank on another amp forum, where I recorded myself playing some Van Halen through the green channel pushed. Most on the board thought I was using a Marshall.

One other amp I think you may take a look at is the Mark IV. You can get pretty good sounds through one and might be in the tonal range of the style of music you like/play. I have never owned nor played through one, but have a couple of friends that own them and they get very very good sounds out of theirs.

I know you said you were young and at this time dont have a great budget, but save for it. These amps you will never want to get rid of. I know that I will never get rid of my dual rectifier. I was a Marshall guy for 20 years. Once I heard what a dual was able to do, and finally got one, I shelved my Marshalls.

thanks alot for the advice!!!!

 

[iluvledzepp]

I love my roadster. Yes, it has a darker voice, but I changed the tube in the V1 position because of some good advise from other forum members and haven't regretted it. I know that more preamp tube changes will alter the tone more.

It's the most versatile amp I could ever want. I set my 4 channels to 1. Super Clean 2. Rolling stones grit 3. Dirty Zepplin 4. Foo Fighter's crunch. I play shows and just cycle the channels and all of them sound great.

Did changing the tube in V1 make it brighter? because i love the option of having 4 channels, it's just to dark for me, but if there's a way to make it brighter i would love to hear how. Thanks

 

[knotts]

I love my roadster. Yes, it has a darker voice, but I changed the tube in the V1 position because of some good advise from other forum members and haven't regretted it. I know that more preamp tube changes will alter the tone more.

It's the most versatile amp I could ever want. I set my 4 channels to 1. Super Clean 2. Rolling stones grit 3. Dirty Zepplin 4. Foo Fighter's crunch. I play shows and just cycle the channels and all of them sound great.

Did changing the tube in V1 make it brighter? because i love the option of having 4 channels, it's just to dark for me, but if there's a way to make it brighter i would love to hear how. Thanks

Yes. That's exactly what I wanted too and that's exactly what it did. I put in a TungSol 12AX7 and that was it. There's lots of good advise out there on this subject. Here's a thread I stared a little while back (in the wrong forum because I was an idiot).

http://forum.grailtone.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=60638

 

[iluvledzepp]

Cool thread, I only wish it had more responses, what do you think would've happened if you changed out the rest of the preamp tubes??? Also sorry if this is repetitive but how much brighter did it make it? closer to the reborn dual rec? and did it become tighter as well? thanks

 

[knotts]

I'm not well versed in mesa's historical sounds. There's lots of guys here that can answer that better than me. It was significant enough for me to go from being uncertain if I made the right choice to absolutely loving them amp. Check out this thread. It's a little more informative.

http://forum.grailtone.com/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=60295

 

[iluvledzepp]

I get what you mean by it completley changed your mind on the amp, I've had that happen to me before, so I guess my goal is to get the roadster then and change the 1st preamp tube. Thanks for the forum and the help Knotts :!:

 

[knotts]

No problem. Definitely try them all out before making a decision. Follow your gut. I played a roadster, the dual rec and a Mark V side by side. The layout of the roadster was perfect for me and what I do. The right amp will call you to. You won't be able to get it out of your mind until you buy it and bring it home. Good luck.