Will a Mini Rec or ROV 25 work in place of a Dual Rec?

[Steve Naples]

I am looking to get a Dual Recto, but with the new ROV 25, I was wondering if I can get the sounds that one would expect from a Dual Recto in this?

I don't need to have 100w, as I know a 25w amp can push as much air with the right cab.

Thanks

 

[afu]

Yes, with some caveats. All things otherwise equal, you will lose clean headroom at the same volume setting. The 25 Watt amp will max out at 75% total volume of the 100W and will produce half the sound pressure at the same volume control settings.

 

[Steve Naples]

That sounds good to me. Probably not going to gig it, and when I do need to, I can mic it or, get a true Dual Rec, I suppose. But for all intents and purposes this will do it for home and recording, correct?

Although I did find a Dual Recto Rev G for $750.

This is my first Mesa, so that is why I am asking which way to go for now, I'm like everyone else, I like gear so I am sure it won't be the last one that I get.

 

[BoogieTom]

You can also go with the Rectoverb 50 series 2 that has plenty of sound pressure for less than the Rectoverb 25. You can still buy them at around $600 to $750.

 

[Steve Naples]

Yes, that is also true, though I did find a dual rec for $750.

 

[thejay]

Only difference between the dual and rectoverb for the price point is the rectoverb is a combo the dual is a head.

 

[afu]

For home use/recording it's great. Jimmy page used little amps on the early Zep albums and it sounded huge (Josh Homme, too). Also, if you have neighbors very close to your home, it will annoy them a little less. On stage, a PA would make having the lower wattage a non-issue. The sound pressure matters most if you want the speaker cones to distort or a certain response from the cabinet. If you have a cabinet that resonates a lot with a large amp, it will resonate less and the speakers will not distort until pushed harder.

Keep in mind: a 100W master volume amp with a logarithmic volume pot set to noon is only putting out a maximum of around 10W and that's if the channel volume is maxed. A 25W amp will produce a similar response somewhere between 4 o'clock and 5 o'clock, but the headroom is more or less gone. If you don't play very clean, you use your guitar volume a lot, or you want to hear the power amp distorting, the 25W will be fine for very, very loud playing. If you keep your master volume lower than noon on a larger amp, the 25W will present few issues.

 

[Steve Naples]

All of that makes sense. I like the headroom of the 100w amps, I really like to be able to get a little crunch from the pre and make it sing.
But when I go with gain, I go all out. My MV on my 100w amps is almost always around 9:00 - 11:00 going through a 4x12 cab.
On my Orange #4 head, going through that same cab I am usually at 1:00 on gain and about 2:00 on Volume.

If my deal falls through on the Dual Rec, I have a chance to get a Rev G or a newer one, not a reborn Multiwatt, but newer just the same, like around 2005 version, I will get the Rectoverb 25.

 

[afu]

You're only producing (roughly) 3 to 8 watts maximum on those volume settings. The Orange is working harder, but is in the same ballpark as those larger heads; around 3 to 5 watts, but obviously a squeaky clean sound isn't the goal of that amp.

 

[KiwiJoe]

The Mini Rec is a fantastic amp, and I can only presume that the ROV basically being a Mini Rec v2.0 is just as good. I'm in a trio with bass and drums, and it just delivers.

I also do a bit of home recording. I don't use a lot of gain, but you can get an idea from my Souncloud (see my sig below) just how well the amp performs "on tape" in a few different styles recorded at low enough volume levels that it doesn't bother my wife in the next room ( I do put the cab in the closet, however, when recording).

 

[Steve Naples]

I am thinking for now, that the ROV 25 will be the right choice for me. If I need more power, I can use a bigger amp but for now, I don't.

It seems that the ROV 25 has the sound that I want, and it has more power than my Orange #4 head which I think is plenty of power.

I'm looking forward to this, now that I have decided.

 

[Steve Naples]

Thanks to everyone for the help on this.
I just pulled the trigger on one like this. Will be a while but I figured I might as well get one custom.

http://www.mesaboogie.com/gallery/gallery.php?id=871

 

[PBGas]

I have one of the new Rectoverb 25 rack mount amps which are pretty rare at this point. It sounds fabulous in every way and is plenty loud for my gigs on the stage. I'm running mine through a custom 2x12 Mesa cab and it works beautifully. I put it into a Gator 4 space rack case with wheels and off I go. Once The cabclone comes in that I ordered, I'll be able to run this FOH without a cab for those gigs with smaller space for when I miss those tube tone instead of using my Kemper. Great setup!

 

[Steve Naples]

Very cool, I saw that they had that listed in the catalog, it looks like a great idea for sure.
I am very glad to hear that it is loud enough through a 2x12 cab, I had ordered one with my combo.
I can't wait to play through that rig.

 

[afu]

Thanks to everyone for the help on this.
I just pulled the trigger on one like this. Will be a while but I figured I might as well get one custom.

http://www.mesaboogie.com/gallery/gallery.php?id=871

That looks nice. Reminds me of the Mark series styling. Retro with modern touches.

This is off topic, but sort of relevant. I have an old Harmony H400. I also have a JCM800 snake skin head shell from an amp that's trashed. I'm about to convert the Harmony to a head, but make it reversible. The 8 inch Jensen speaker from '65 just doesn't work all that well at a decent volume and I want to get my inner Page/Hendrix on with it. I just designed my own fuzz and I want to blast it.

 

[Steve Naples]

Thanks, I did order a matching 2x12 Recto cab.