Truth or BS...2 channel Rectos sound better than 3

  • Thread starter Thread starter simbasa
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I've never played through a two channel, so I can say this: maybe. Or, maybe not. :D

It depends on the player, the settings, the guitar, the speakers. You'd have to A/B it with the same riff, same guy, same guitar, same tubes. Even then, it's up to personal preference, and maybe even current mood of the listener.

All-in-all, IMO neither probably sounds "better" than the other. 50-60% of it is most likely a mystique or mojo thing, with the other 40-50% going to the components used in the build.
 
I asked Mesa Headquarters. Basically they said there is little difference electronically.

He said that on the internet there is a trend to support the 2 channels over the 3 channels. But the reason there is a differnce in tone is with the Tubes.

When the First Dual Rectos came out the used some brand of Chinese tubes which sounded really good. Overtime ,they had reliability issues with the tube and too many ppl came in to return them.

Inorder to prevent the high ammount of returns, right before the 3 channels came out, they switched to a russian tube that lasted a whole lot longer, more reliable. But the tone was different, it suffered.

The Tech guy there at Mesa Boogie said that the difference in tone was the difference in preamp tubes. And if tested with identicle tubes the tone woudln't be noticiablly different.

Not sure how much truth there is to it, but at the center they had many MANY different mesa boogies everywhere around, for display/repair/testing. I'm sure he has played both veresions many many times.
 
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AmpliFIRE":cb343 said:
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I'm guessing that it had to be the tubes that made the difference Gary...
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I don't think so. There was a pretty big difference. I changed tubes many times in my old 1997 or so 2 channel Recto. Never came close to the tightness/clarity of the Rack version.
 
Different power transformer, mark III output transformer, lower plate voltage. There's a bit of a theory that RF1A and RF1B doesn't exactly exist, possibly as prototypes and roughly the first 500 were probably RF1C.

As of 4/92 there were 3 revisions to the circuit. They are RF-1A,1B and 1C. By 5/93 Mesa was up to revision RF-1F. In typical Mesa fashion, they prototyped the product on the consumer. The first 500 had used different OT's and PT's. For someone to say there is no difference, I disagree unless you own one of those 500. They have attack like a pack of wolves. The Modern channel is ferocious and the Vintage channel is very sweet to modern high gain depending on the EQ settings. The Vintage channel has a sweet spot where the gain compresses to the most musical vowel like voice, yet could shred with a bit more Treble.
I have a Chrome Chassis 4/92 PCB 1992 RF-1C # 023X with a final Mike B. tech in 6/92. I have chosen to keep this over any other two channel and three channel. IMHO, my new Road King is still a bit different in how it sounds compared to the DR 023X. I guess you would have to be there and do a side by side, but only 500 people in the world can do this. This amp actually hangs with the SLO 100. Schematic wise, these amps are almost identical with a few exceptions, yet sound different. In a side by side with my 1993 SLO 100 it falls a bit short only in the overall clarity. I beleive this is due to the Bass response being higher in the DR.
The SLO has to have the Master above 4-5 to really come alive, but when it does it is in a class by itself.

Not all of the first 500 had the chrome chassis. By the end of the 400's I have seen 2 with the normal black chassis and chrome diamond plate.

The transformers were both made by Schumacher.

The Racktifiers sound no different and were wired the same way the heads were. They are identical in every way except the size of the chassis and the position of the on/off and standby switch. DR's do not suffer from and other anomolies like RF interference, so what difference would a 1/4 inch less in wiring make?

With the George Lynch mystique about the first 500 and how he looks for a secret marking and the Racktifer mystique abuzz in the Rectifier world, I tend to think that hearing and seeing is believing.

The schematic on the Tubefreak site does not fully apply to the first 250.
I had to have Mesa get me one, and it was hand drawn and applied only to the input to the V1A and how it switched from clean to vintage and the different vaule of resitors and capacitors in the circuit.
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Where did you get that quote? That guy has the info. Awesome. And I can attest to Soldanos kicking arse at very high volumes. Thanks for this info.
 
Boogiebabies on the boogie board. I highly suggest checking it out :)
 
Boogiebabies is probably THE most knowledgeable person on any forum when it comes to Mesa amps. He can also perform the same stuff Mike B. does to Mesa amps, but he only does it for local people.
 
I owned a 3ch. for 2 years and really loved the way it sounded. I recently sold it to get a Racktifier. I should the Racktifier in my hands tomorrow night so I'll let you know what I think after spending some time with it.
 
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Kung-Fool":a146a said:
I owned a 3ch. for 2 years and really loved the way it sounded. I recently sold it to get a Racktifier. I should the Racktifier in my hands tomorrow night so I'll let you know what I think after spending some time with it.
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Was that you who got the racktifier for 900 in the other forum post? Someone snagged that before I saw it. :x Let me know what you think of it. 8)
 
No, I wish. I paid a bit more than that for mine but it's in mint condition so I don't mind paying the extra. Somehow that $900 one seems a little too good to be true.
 
Well, I picked up the racktifier last night and all I can say is.......

HOLY FUCKING SHIT!!!! :o
 
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Kung-Fool":8a3ec said:
Well, I picked up the racktifier last night and all I can say is.......

HOLY FUCKING SHIT!!!! :o
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so it's safe to say you like it better than the heads? :o :lol: :lol: Damn, I want one.
 
Just to add to the confusion...

Since nobody else has said anything about the recording Preamps, I'll jump in.

I use The Recording Pre with a 2:100 power amp. Damn! I don't honestly know who they compare to the other rectos, but I am very happy with my set up. If you want that Recto tone in stereo for effects, I say that's the way to go.
 
I was under the impression that the first 500 Dual Rectos were best? Better transformers?
Is this true?
Or are ALL the older Dual Rectifier 2 channel amps the best ones?

Keith
 
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again with this":75637 said:
Just to add to the confusion...

Since nobody else has said anything about the recording Preamps, I'll jump in.

I use The Recording Pre with a 2:100 power amp. Damn! I don't honestly know who they compare to the other rectos, but I am very happy with my set up. If you want that Recto tone in stereo for effects, I say that's the way to go.
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Yea no one has mentioned it but me who thought that was what the Racktifier was at the top of the second page. :?
 
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