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My Recto is irritating me...


thinkpad20

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No matter what I do, I just can't get satisfied with my amp. Now, I love the clean, although I don't think it's something I couldn't find anywhere else. It's the high gain that's pissing me off. And me being a metal guy, that's kind of important.

 

For example, everyone says that amps sound better when they're cranked. Well, I can get pretty decent tone at a low (relatively, like 9:00 on the master) volume, nice thick crunchy stuff. But then when I turn it up it just turns to crap, muddy, notes have no definition or sound harsh, tremolo sound ghastly. Now, I suppose it might be the cab (it's a fairly cheap cab) but the speakers in it are nice (V30's and Wizards). And this is with a hell of a lot of tweaking of the gain, with and without a boost (punch factory), EQ in the loop with tons of settings. No matter what, when I turn it up it sounds crappy. And when the volume is lower, it sounds good, but not that good. I could get close to the sound with a solid state. And it has that harsh fizzyness which seems to never quite go away - I can get rid of it but at the expense of the power of my

 

Now I know a whole lot of bands use the dual rectifier (granted most of them don't use the T-verb, but it's essentially the same to my knowledge). So it must be possible to get better tone. I know I probably need to upgrade my cab (I'm looking at a Mesa cab which I posted about earlier). I also might have some of this fixed by playing a guitar with EMG's - which I've been thinking of getting for a while. But it seems that neither of these things will solve everything. I need an amp that has lots of gain, specifically the "modern" gain sound, but also has lots of clarity and smoothness. So far I just can't get that sound out of my dual recto. Maybe this is why a lot of people hate them.

 

I am getting pretty close to selling this thing and replacing it. So, I'm looking for either suggestions on how to get the sound I'm looking for with this amp, or what amp I should be getting. I've been thinking for a while about the Mark IV, seems like it might be more what I'm interested in. The other thing I've been considering is either an Engl Powerball or Blackmore.

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if its irritating you, thats because they dont go in your butt.

 

:D

 

i think it may be one of those things were you are using the "standard" of metal gear and it sounds vanilla to you.

 

go check out some bogner or some other higher end high gain amps.

 

also for clarity, i dont think active pickups are where its at. try some high output passives. you may be surprised.

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How old are the tubes? Last month I posted a MINT Recto straight cab on Craig's list here in Chicago and on Harmony Central for $525 and nothing. With all the metal heads, I thought it wouldn't last a few days. I ended up trading it in at GC. Oh well.

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My Single was hit or miss. I got tired of fighting it so I got rid of it.

 

 

I feel the same way. Should I go with a Mark IV? All signs are pointing me that way, except that I could get a powerball for just a few hundred bucks more, or a blackmore for about the same amount.

 

But for some reason, despite my experiences with this amp, there's something which makes me think ultimately I want something by Mesa.

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How old are the tubes? Last month I posted a MINT Recto straight cab on Craig's list here in Chicago and on Harmony Central for $525 and nothing. With all the metal heads, I thought it wouldn't last a few days. I ended up trading it in at GC. Oh well.

 

 

There's a Mesa recto straight cab on Chicago craig's list right now for $450, I'm thinking of snatching it up.

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The ONLY real amp MESA ever put out was the Mark IIc. Everything else is flubby, dark, fizzy undefined "distortion" meant to sell to the uninformed masses who think it's the cat's meouw.

They all come to a sad realization after the honey moon period.

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The ONLY real amp MESA ever put out was the Mark IIc. Everything else is flubby, dark, fizzy undefined "distortion" meant to sell to the uninformed masses who think it's the cat's meouw.


They all come to a sad realization after the honey moon period.

 

 

Must be a long honeymoon period considering how many people have them for many many years.

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Ever try boosting it with a maxon?

 

No, I don't have one, but I have tried using my GE-7 EQ pedal as a boost, as well as my Aphex Punch Factory compression pedal for a boost.

 

 

Ever try an EQ in the loop?

 

Yes, as I said, there's one in there right now (the aforementioned GE-7)

 

 

Are you using a solid state recifier?

 

I've been switching around, but recently, yes

 

 

How much gain?

 

Right now it's on about 1:00 because I'm boosting it; seems like a bad idea to dime the gain and then boost the {censored} out of it.

 

 

 

What kind of pickups?

 

Dimarzio Blaze 7 (7-string Ibanez)

 

Like I said, there are many things that could be responsible for the tone, but the way it's acting now makes me feel like even with a $1000 guitar and a $1000 cab it still wouldn't be getting the sound that I want. BUT if someone has experience with what I'm talking about, then by all means chime in and give me advice.

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I feel the same way. Should I go with a Mark IV? All signs are pointing me that way, except that I could get a powerball for just a few hundred bucks more, or a blackmore for about the same amount.


But for some reason, despite my experiences with this amp, there's something which makes me think ultimately I want something by Mesa.

 

 

Do yourself a favor and don't follow the crowd. If you want a real amp (beast) listen to these clips and decide for yourself:

 

http://makoamplification.com/sounds.htm

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The ONLY real amp MESA ever put out was the Mark IIc. Everything else is flubby, dark, fizzy undefined "distortion" meant to sell to the uninformed masses who think it's the cat's meouw.


They all come to a sad realization after the honey moon period.

 

 

People that have come to a sad realization doesn't know how to EQ an amp.

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