Undesirable Mesa Dual Rectifiers

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Neptical said:
CC has had one of the absolute best live tones I've heard come from a Recto. So tight, punchy, enormous and zero fizz. Standing directly in front of Pat was an experience. Partially, my influence for indulging on the Rectos and Mark IIIs ( reading years back he used one on GOS which is one of my fav albums/tones )
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Yeah, I was standing stage left of him this weekend, he’s a beast. Nice guy too, super chill.
He was on Nevermore’s Politics of Ecstacy and I’m pretty sure they played Mark IV’s on that.
 
Rev G, Tremoverb combos, Single Rectifiers all used to be had under $1g.

I had a JMP 2203 at the same time as a Rev F, Wizard MC50 and Naylor Duel 100. The Mesa was a beast, more muscle than the Naylor and Wizard, but the Marshall hurt even more, like was physically punishing, when cranked.

I, once again, have a Rev F. Its a loud, beast of a mfer. All the low end you want and then some. It wants to rape your earholes.
I'm pretty sure my 4104 with 6550s wouldn't be embarrassed by it. And my SLO? Heh. It's more polite and refined, but it's also mean, and would hang handle and slice thru just fine. That 5.5 spot on the mv, omg, my house shakes.

I really love those early 90s Rectos. They have this sound and feel that's a blast to play. Nothing else does that thing.
 
shar-vell Dan said:
Gibson Mesa.
I had a single rec 50 watt head, it was a dog.
I had a 3 channel DR non multi watt it was outstanding. Would make ceiling tile debris shake off like snow.
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As evidenced by all the dust in your home. Did you sell/trade that Rectoverb to Guitar Center? Was the reverb borked?

My Rev G is an insane amp.
 
Dan Gleesak said:
I dunno man. Granted I’ve never been very impressed with JCMs (I think they are all klang and no tone), I think you got a dud if your recto couldn’t punch at the same weight as an 800. Mesa EQs can do anything you want them to, including cutting through a mix


Ive always loved this pic, but to this day I have no idea why my pants were so poofy lol
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I’ve got a JMP, not a JCM. And I agree, they’ve got a clank to them the JMP’s don’t have.
My Rev C Dual hits more like a Triple than a Dual, so I assure you it’s no dud…
The C punches every bit as hard as the JMP, but no matter how you EQ it, it’ll never get the upper mids of a Marshall and cut through a mix like one. It’ll fill out the lows and low mids better, but it won’t have those ripping upper mids that really cut through.
 
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Crank the Presence on Red Modern.

I don't think any amp going to get much more than that. The ultimate bouncy swarms of bees. I want a more wasp tone. The insects. Not the band.
 
glpg80 said:
The tonestack on a Mesa is where the effects loop is on a SLO. They aren’t designed the same and don’t respond to boosts the same way. I find a 5150 is better at alt rock than a SLO.
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What about blink 182 ? Marshall and a Recto . He has great tones
 
I know not every unfortunate soul has a Rev C but if you can’t get a post C rectifier to cut in a mix or hang with another high-mid voiced amp, you may wanna stop patting yourself on the back and re-evaluate your tone dialing skills.

What is wrong with this forum these days? 🤣
 
Before I acquired my first Rectifier, I incorrectly assumed that I would be happy with any version. The few times I demoed a Recto in a music store, they sounded exactly what I expected them to sound like. In fact, I remember plugging into a 2 channel (no idea what rev) at Long & McQuade, and it was instant glorious Recto tone. I couldn't make it sound bad.

Then I finally got my own Recto, a non multiwatt 3 channel. It sounded like shit right away, and I never did manage to get it to sound like a proper Rectifier. It's a good thing I got it cheap. I ended up trading it for a JVM410.

It took me a long time before I took the plunge and bought another Rectifier, this time a Roadster, and it sounds exactly like a Rectifier should sound.
 
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ZEEGLER said:
Before I acquired my first Rectifier, I incorrectly assumed that I would be happy with any version. The few times I demoed a Recto in a music store, they sounded exactly what I expected them to sound like. In fact, I remember plugging into a 2 channel (no idea what rev) at Long & McQuade, and it was instant glorious Recto tone. I couldn't make it sound bad.

Then I finally got my own Recto, a non multiwatt 3 channel. It sounded like shit right away, and I never did manage to get it to sound like a proper Rectifier. It's a good thing I got it cheap. I ended up trading it for a JVM410.

It took me a long time before I took the plunge and bought another Rectifier, this time a Roadster, and it sounds exactly like a Rectifier should sound.
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I actually love the roadster although they don’t get a lot of attention. I’m split between a dual rec multi watt and a roadster right now. Can’t decide which. Personally I think the roadster has better cleans but the multi watt has more high gain top end detail. If you jack the presence on a roadster does it still seem dark on the top end? Does it respond well to tube changes?
 
glpg80 said:
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I actually love the roadster although they don’t get a lot of attention. I’m split between a dual rec multi watt and a roadster right now. Can’t decide which. Personally I think the roadster has better cleans but the multi watt has more high gain top end detail. If you jack the presence on a roadster does it still seem dark on the top end? Does it respond well to tube changes?
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I don't know about the tube changes. I've never messed with mine since I've had it.
 
The problem with a recto cutting in a mix is it really relies on the presence knob and there’s always a spot where it quickly turns to obnoxious shit. This is usually the spot where it’s just about to sound right. 😂
 
The solution for cutting in a mix is to simply turn it up louder.
 
braintheory said:
I’ve compared side by side 3 Rev C’s (played 4 total) and have compared my favorite of the 3 C’s with 2 Triple Rev F/C mods, a Rev D and Badlander I all had and IME the differences were pretty clear cut and actually bigger than I was expecting between revisions. Sure they varied plenty between the same revisions, but still at least sounded like the same revision overall with their respective distinctive qualities to each

The F’s sounded stale and less responsive vs the C and D and couldn’t be dialed in to really get the same sound or feel. Even if dialed it in a lot brighter than the C or D it still couldn’t get the aggression or grind the same way in those frequencies (smoother/staler) nor the same tightness and perhaps most importantly the feel. At least from the player’s perspective that difference in feel is quite substantial imo. The C and D were also the only Recto’s I really thought were capable of great lead tones when needed (IIC+ for me is still better there though). In clips I guess one can argue they’re all close enough for government work, but in person the differences to me are pretty big. The D I had was pretty damn good, but the C’s were even better. I could be very happy with any of these early Recto’s, any would be at least top 6 for me, but ignorance is bliss doesn’t work for me

I also find, while you generally get fatter low mids as the revisions go up, the Rev C’s have the most extended actual low end IME
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Thank you for this write-up, that's actually really cool. I have similar experiences, but with more modern variants of the amps.

I recorded 2 albums and played in bands for 6 years with a 3 channel 2000s era Triple Rec. I've owned the Mini Rec, Rectoverb 25, Mult-Watt Dual Rec, Badlander 100, and the Road King 2. I've also owned a ton of Marks, but that's not the point of this conversation.

The Triple was a workhorse, a great amp with a usable clean tone, much better than the stale sounding DR clean tone of the same era. The heavy sound was great, just had to watch the fizz a bit which is easily dialed out. The mini amps were too loud for bedroom play and didn't have the headroom to play metal with a band, but they were excellent for recording. The Multi-Watt Dual is awesome, but the two I've kept are the RK2 and the Badlander. The RK2 just simply rules, it's the super rectifier. People say it's a dark amp, I have the knobs usually at noon on the heavy channels and it's plenty trebly. It has all those great power tube options, has the amazing tweed clean, and surprisingly enough is the best rectifier I've ever heard for low volume play. Modern in both channels 3 and 4 are fully saturated at very low volume, IDK why the other rectos can't do this.

The Badlander is a different animal, and it's become my new workhorse amp and problem solver. Can't fit the guitars in the mix? Throw the Badlander on it. It's perfectly sculpted to immediately sit in a mix. At volume maybe it doesn't have the full balls of a Dual Rec, but it's damn close and recorded its nearly unbeatable for immediate great tones.

So yeah, I've had the time to do similar experimentation, alongside a bunch of recto style plugins over the years and modelers, and the BL and RK are my two favorites. I'd love to get my hands on a Rev F someday and really run it through it's paces as well, but for now I'm happy. The next one I want to try is the Synergy Drect, that looks like it sounds awesome and I adore the Synergy system.
 
desertdweller said:
Thank you for this write-up, that's actually really cool. I have similar experiences, but with more modern variants of the amps.

I recorded 2 albums and played in bands for 6 years with a 3 channel 2000s era Triple Rec. I've owned the Mini Rec, Rectoverb 25, Mult-Watt Dual Rec, Badlander 100, and the Road King 2. I've also owned a ton of Marks, but that's not the point of this conversation.

The Triple was a workhorse, a great amp with a usable clean tone, much better than the stale sounding DR clean tone of the same era. The heavy sound was great, just had to watch the fizz a bit which is easily dialed out. The mini amps were too loud for bedroom play and didn't have the headroom to play metal with a band, but they were excellent for recording. The Multi-Watt Dual is awesome, but the two I've kept are the RK2 and the Badlander. The RK2 just simply rules, it's the super rectifier. People say it's a dark amp, I have the knobs usually at noon on the heavy channels and it's plenty trebly. It has all those great power tube options, has the amazing tweed clean, and surprisingly enough is the best rectifier I've ever heard for low volume play. Modern in both channels 3 and 4 are fully saturated at very low volume, IDK why the other rectos can't do this.

The Badlander is a different animal, and it's become my new workhorse amp and problem solver. Can't fit the guitars in the mix? Throw the Badlander on it. It's perfectly sculpted to immediately sit in a mix. At volume maybe it doesn't have the full balls of a Dual Rec, but it's damn close and recorded its nearly unbeatable for immediate great tones.

So yeah, I've had the time to do similar experimentation, alongside a bunch of recto style plugins over the years and modelers, and the BL and RK are my two favorites. I'd love to get my hands on a Rev F someday and really run it through it's paces as well, but for now I'm happy. The next one I want to try is the Synergy Drect, that looks like it sounds awesome and I adore the Synergy system.
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Nice! The RK and Bad Lander makes a lot of sense actually with how they’d complement each other in different areas. I do remember RK’s being darker (but not too dark for me), but also I think less scooped than some other Recto’s, which I liked

The Badlander definitely works very well in a mix. They should’ve named it the Recto JCM800 or 2203 lol. Surprisingly though the Rev F Triple I had worked similarly well when we compared in some reamps for my friend’s songs. It really surprised me. I thought it would be too dark, fat or not enough mid cut, but somehow it sat beautifully in the mix. I don’t know why. I haven’t tried my Rev C’s in that context yet (or D), but probably will someday. Definitely worth trying a Rev F or earlier sometime if you can
 
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