Channel Lag on the older Rectifiers

  • Thread starter Thread starter CaseyCor
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CaseyCor

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My Single Rec lags big tine when switching channels, which REALLY annoys me. I do a lot of switching between clean and gain sounds in my original music. I've heard of people doing mods to fix this, but haven't found much online. Anyone know anything about this subject?
 
ive heard about it being a pretty common issue. i dont have much to offer, but i do know that the LDR's are to blame for lag of the older mesas due to the type of optoisolators they chose to use. im sure Jerry or some others can recommend replacement LDR's to get the charge/discharge times to a lower level without changing anything else on the amplifier. im not sure what mesa's used back then or now so i cant make a suggestion myself. if you knew more about the LDR switching design and more about electronics there are a few optoisolators i could recommend but a few resistors would need to be swapped.
 
I'm wondering if it's worth it to replace the relays, or just use this as an excuse to buy a new amp, haha.
 
CaseyCor":26so8v7b said:
I'm wondering if it's worth it to replace the relays, or just use this as an excuse to buy a new amp, haha.
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:lol: :LOL:

man i cant STAND MIDI lag with CC changes, i could only imagine if it was my amplifier.

if i had the cash stashed for another and needed a reason to make the leap, that is damn good enough for me - might take a hit on the final sell value but its definately a sign.........of something :lol: :LOL:
 
I don't have the cash at all, haha. I'd have to flip the Mesa, and I'm sure I wouldn't do too well on the resale.

I really want to get a MIDI rig set up, but this channel lag is killing me.
 
CaseyCor":bmwwmtwg said:
I don't have the cash at all, haha. I'd have to flip the Mesa, and I'm sure I wouldn't do too well on the resale.

I really want to get a MIDI rig set up, but this channel lag is killing me.
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ive never worked on an old mesa, so i dont know what optocouplers they use(ed)

i dont have any mesa schematics to reference from either.

if it was worth anything - send it to mesa and have it fixed, then flip it.

you dont take a hit on the amplifier value selling it asis and the buyer gets piece of mind knowing they wont have the problem buying someone elses early model rectifier. no one is shit on for cash and everyone wins :D
 
It would be a hard sell, since the previous owner stripped the tolex off and stained the wood. Looks cool, but would make it harder to sell I'd think. I'll attach a photo here.

I'm having a love/annoyed relationship with it right now. One day it sounds great, the next it's overly bright with every guitar I have, and I can't dial it out.

ac5aa137.jpg
 
I've never had problems like this. I have had an older pre 500 recto, a roadster, see avatar. a trem o verb and now also a recto rack.
I recently tested all the LDRs in my trem o verb and i was going to replace some just because i wanted everything to be fresh. but I'll see if i can find the website were mesa orders the LDR's and you could test them in your mesa recto to see if they're bad.
 
got a Ampeg VL502 I'd trade ya! :D

but as far as making the channel switching quicker, lee jackson showed in a video how to quicken the channel switching on the VL series amps, it consisted of snipping two components off the board. pretty simple stuff.
not sure if the mesa would be that simple, but thought i'd mention it.

or you would just trade me and then you know, everyone would be happy. lol
 
Thanks for the help guys. I'd like to get this shit sorted out soon. I hope I can do it cheaply, I'm fucking broke right now! I've got a grand total of $150 to my name.

Nick (I assume?), you not liking the Ampeg as much as you thought you would?
 
yup, I'm Nick
no, I'm really digging the Ampeg! Lots of great tones in there. I just have perpetual recto wood.
 
Ah, good! That Ampeg is a cool amp, for sure. You got it dialed in yet?

You can pick up an older Single Rec like mine for really cheap these days. I paid $650 for mine including shipping. Only $125 for the 1x12 too.

This won't help your GAS by any means :)

 
good shit man.
when my new phone arrives next week i may attempt some clips with the ampeg.
great clean channel. probably the best I've played on a tube amp to date. the gain channel is VERY tweakable. very powerful controls. add a boost and it gets to brootz territory with ease...if you were so inclined. but mid gain and moderately high gain marshall sound is what it does best.
 
Very cool man. What are you setting the attenuator at? And what are you using for a boost? I'd think a TS style might be a bit overkill in the mids for that amp.
 
not using the attenuator at all. it's really a tone suck knob for sure. Just makes the amp sound BAD. maybe I haven't spent enough time with it. but playing in my apartment with the amp just loud enough to "open up" sounds pretty good.
bad monkey boost. level at 3 oclock, bass at noon or maybe slightly below for getting rid of boomy lows and the highs knob has been floating between noon and 2 oclock depending on how i set the presence on the amp and which midrange frequency selector position is selected.
like I said, lots of options for a multitude of sounds.

Still the honeymoon period obviously so, take it with a grain of salt.
 
oh and so far I haven't had any trouble from the loop. I don't know what guys where talking about when they said it sucked. once again- maybe i haven't spent enough time with it, but I'm running my DD-3 through the loop just fine.
 
Ah, the Bad Monkey. That's what I use with my Recto. Such an awesome pedal. I've had more expensive boutique boosts/ODs in the past, and always ended up back with the Bad Monkey. I paid $30 for it band new! :)

The 502 has the mid-range selector knob, right?
 
same with me i got mine for 20 used at a local shop, it was steal so i picked it up and was very happy.

yeah the vl502 has a 5 way selector 1 being scooped out almost mesa like to 5 being very bright marshall sounding. and 2 3 4 and variations between each extreme. hard to exactly explain the difference between each one. I can hear it I just don't know how to explain it with words. lol
 
That's really cool. Does it really change the tone? I've used an EQ in the loop of amps in the past to basically do the same thing.

Do you tend to use different positions for different sounds, or are you sticking to one setting on the mid-shift? I know you've only had it for a week or so, might not have an answer yet.
 
each position honestly does make a perceivable different in tone and feel.
I'm pretty much just trying to figure out which selection I like best as "main tone" to build from. but since it's still new to me, I flip back and forth pretty much every time I play it.
 
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