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Another mesa standard vs mesa traditional thread.

derpackswasyes

By derpackswasyes
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derpackswasyes Newbie

derpackswasyes

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Hello, I used to own the standard and when my friend told me that the traditional was much better and I read up about it I had to have one so when I saw one used and had the guy hold it and sold my standard to another guy to fund the traditional's purchase...

 

Anyways I've recently realized that the traditional doesn't just have more present mids and is tighter... the mids are HUGELY spiked and it sounds quite buzzy... I'm actually thinking of switching over back to an standard...

 

I'm hoping to achieve the fuller thicker tone I remember with the standard but use an overdrive boost to get the tightness back up because the standard did sound pretty good except for it's low end to me. I never thought I'd be switching back over to the oversized or even think about it but the thoughts are processing... I'm also looking into maybe an orange ppc412 as a local guy will take my Traditional plus some cash for his orange 412.

 

Your thoughts on my setup (5150 with traditional mesa) vs. a boosted 5150 into the mesa standard is what I want basically... or maybe I should get an EQ and get rid of the frequency(s) I'm not sure... I'm here to learn!

 

I'm going for metal tones.

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derpackswasyes Newbie

derpackswasyes

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Gosh I'm not sure what the sound can be the amp has got all new tubes (not that it sounded very different before the new tubes) my mids and highs are at like 5 and my presence at 4... the frequency is just really gross to my ears... I think regardless I need to invest in an overdrive pedal first then see if I'm still having trouble...

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Big Rich Newbie

Big Rich

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i owned both of them and would a/b them almost everyday

 

the recto/oversized cab is alot better in a band mix, it fills the room much better and i feel is ALOT clearer. i felt the traditional cab was a bit directional and not nearly as big sounding.

 

both cabs are good but i think the recto cab is a better 4x12 cab when it comes down to mesa stuff

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Holy-diver Newbie

Holy-diver

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I tried a ppc and was very underwhelmed for what they sell for here. it had the typical v30 sound I hate outside of mesa cabs.

As for the recto cab and band mixes, it is darker and sounds bigger, but I don't think it sits as well with a full band as the trad. The trad. is a laser beam though.

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derpackswasyes Newbie

derpackswasyes

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^^^^Really? I have been thinking lately of turning it down (I'm smart like that and don't act upon my thoughts and usually just think about it like a tard) I really need to just close my eyes and go at it and not care about the actual "setting" visually. and my trad is slanted but on it's side so it's not quite a laser beem... more of a flash light :D

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Some-Dude Newbie

Some-Dude

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I wanted to share some recent experiences with these two cabs with you.


Most of my prior guitar recording experiences focus around recording the Mesa Traditional cab. This one has a very interesting and unique midrange focus not really found in any other cabinet. It can do a certain sound well, but I always found it lacking in some regards as the kind of tone I tend to be after is focused differently.


Well, lo and behold the other day I got a chance (along with some friends) to try out the Recto Standard alongside the Traditional with these amp heads:


EVH 5150 III

Mesa Boogie Mark IV

ENGL Invader 100W


There were 3 guitarists there, myself included. We all thought the Recto Standard consistently performed better with all 3 amps, and with both our guitars (Jackson Rhoads, Alder body, Duncans etc. & Schecter Hellraiser C7, Mahogany, EMG 707s).


The difference, in the best terms I can describe, is hearing your tone through a boombox/radio compared to a full-range speaker system. The Recto Standard has a strong mid-mid and upper-mid focus that gives you a rather full tone. My main complaint about it is the loose low-end, but I'm sure with the right tools that could be tweaked (we had no tubescreamers on hand, sadly).


The traditional cab, whilst having its own unique sound, has a fairly brittle, buzzy upper-mid & very full low-mid. That's what distinguishes the characteristic sound to me... the low-mids sound a certain way, and as soon as you get a 5150 or Recto through it boosted by a TS, you start to hear where The Sneap is coming from (edit: Sneap is a member of the UltimateMetal forum).


I personally like a stronger tone, and one more channeled into the mid rather than low-mid. Nordstrom's tones on Nightrage's 'Sweet Vengeance' and In Flames' 'Clayman' have been amongst my very favourite for years. The Recto Traditional cab focuses the tone more into that range. Having said that, I know Nordstrom likes the ENGL V30 cab, unfortunately for us however, none were on hand to compare with.


 

 

Anyway, I've been doing something thinking and some further reading on the subject and this is what I've pieced together...

 

For starters, the description of the Recto Traditional is exactly what I hear in my Orange 4x12, which makes sense in a way because they're somewhat similar.

 

The gist of what I hear with my Orange 4x12 is that the 'attack' comes out high in the upper midrange, which tends to be where V30s sound their harshest. Then, the bassy follow through (the "G" in a 'chugging' palm muted riff) comes out in the low midrange, which is where guitar tends to sound muddy and indistinct. It's something that I never totally realized until I started A/Bing with a Recto 2x12. After a couple of weeks of using the Recto 2x12 I plugged my Orange 4x12 in and I couldn't figure out why the bass on my Orange 4x12 was so overbearing, why the mids sounded absent and why the cab sounded like mud. I was going to tear it apart this weekend and test all the wiring to see if I didn't mess something up last time I swapped speakers in that cab, however the quote above perfectly explained what I'm hearing. For me this was a bit of a mind-{censored} since I'd always been of the opinion that the Recto cab is loose and boomy, yet here one was being tight and clear.

 

My assumption is that the detuning of the Recto standard cab shifts both the attack emphasis and the bass emphasis down in frequency. So, instead of having your attack emphasized in the harsh part of the V30s response it sits a little lower in frequency where the V30 sounds smoother. Further, the bass response is shifted from the low mids to the bass frequencies. This tightens and adds clarity to guitar, but gives that slow, saggy response Recto cabs are known for whist also interfering with the bassist.

 

The trick is that once a microphone is on the speaker that extra bass response can be EQ'd out, so what you end up with is an overall increase to the midrange with a reduced bottom end response that makes for more smoother, fuller middle tones and improved tightness/clarity on the bottom end than the smaller cab provides.

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