Mesa Recto Rev D vs C

[itsgoodnow]

Hey all,

Just curious if anyone has experience with a Rev c and a rev d. I have heard the D is darker than the C but really curious how close they are and if there are any other tonal differences. Thanks.

 

[peterc52]

I would think they are VERY close

 

[anomaly]

Rev C. The D has a kinda soft attack to it. I didn't care that much for the clips I heard., but, well, it still sounds like a recto just not as aggressive as a Rev C or F.

 

[Racerxrated]

After having a C, and talking with guys that own a D the difference seems to be that the C is brighter and tighter yet over the D. But, the C I had, had this unreal SLO/Wizard push from the power section...almost like it was a Triple. Plate voltage was near 500. Rectos are usually underpowered in that a dual puts out 80w; a Triple 120 vs 150. Not that C...it pushed above 100w for sure. That is a major difference compared to other Rectifiers. Unbelievable amp, and the best Mesa I've owned even over the C+s I've had.

 

[braintheory]

After having a C, and talking with guys that own a D the difference seems to be that the C is brighter and tighter yet over the D. But, the C I had, had this unreal SLO/Wizard push from the power section...almost like it was a Triple. Plate voltage was near 500. Rectos are usually underpowered in that a dual puts out 80w; a Triple 120 vs 150. Not that C...it pushed above 100w for sure. That is a major difference compared to other Rectifiers. Unbelievable amp, and the best Mesa I've owned even over the C+s I've had.

More aggressive in the upper frequencies than the D, but still firmly in the camp of a dark voiced amp from the tone emphasis of them being so dominant in the low mids and more subdued in the uppermids. Tighter than the D, but still not what I’d consider to be a tight amp for metal without a boost. The Wizard MTL I had next to it for sure still hit harder with a more robust quality to the powersection (the C was softer), but the C sounded bigger from having a more extended low end and is fatter from those recto low mids. Next to my Triple F/C you can tell even the c still doesn’t have the same horsepower/ease/efficiency in putting out sound like the triples or other 6 powertube amps, but comes off more powerful than other duals, but the C easily wins in the tone and feel dept

 

[braintheory]

The C is punchier, bolder, more extended in the low end, tighter and faster, but still far from really being a tight amp without a boost. The lead tone is even a bit more liquid and complex/nuanced. For leads I liked the D almost as much as my iic+ and prefer my C by a little to my iic+ for leads. To me those are the main benefits I got with my C vs D

In terms of the overall voicing itself (I guess what would show more in a recording context) I thought they were very close. The main difference is the C is a bit more aggressive in the upper frequencies, but less rich sounding in the low mids vs the D. This is the one thing I preferred about the D. The goofy way I like to describe it is playing powerchords on the D reminds me a bit of Coca Cola from the richer low mids, while the C is more like Pepsi and the Rev F and G are maybe like stale coke hahaha, the 3ch’s and MW’s would be even more stale coke. My Rev 1 Uber would be cream soda and some of Marshall’s or modded Marshall’s would be sprite

 

[itsgoodnow]

The C is punchier, bolder, more extended in the low end, tighter and faster, but still far from really being a tight amp without a boost. The lead tone is even a bit more liquid and complex/nuanced. For leads I liked the D almost as much as my iic+ and prefer my C by a little to my iic+ for leads. To me those are the main benefits I got with my C vs D

In terms of the overall voicing itself (I guess what would show more in a recording context) I thought they were very close. The main difference is the C is a bit more aggressive in the upper frequencies, but less rich sounding in the low mids vs the D. This is the one thing I preferred about the D. The goofy way I like to describe it is playing powerchords on the D reminds me a bit of Coca Cola from the richer low mids, while the C is more like Pepsi and the Rev F and G are maybe like stale coke hahaha, the 3ch’s and MW’s would be even more stale coke. My Rev 1 Uber would be cream soda and some of Marshall’s or modded Marshall’s would be sprite

hahaha that analogy makes perfect sense in my brain.

 

[braintheory]

Rev C. The D has a kinda soft attack to it. I didn't care that much for the clips I heard., but, well, it still sounds like a recto just not as aggressive as a Rev C or F.

The C is more aggressive than the D, but having had all 3 in the same room, the D is more aggressive and less soft than the F’s. Clips can be misleading, especially I think listening to separate clips from different guys

 

[braintheory]

hahaha that analogy makes perfect sense in my brain.

Yeah I often find any analogy related to taste seems to be most relatable when describing tone

 

[itsgoodnow]

The C is more aggressive than the D, but having had all 3 in the same room, the D is more aggressive and less soft than the F’s. Clips can be misleading, especially I think listening to separate clips from different guys

Right, its always interesting. People have different subjective thoughts on anything of course. Some people say they sound nearly identical, some people say its worlds apart, etc. etc. I have the D coming back from Mesa soon, and have an F, and a Hermansson Recto. I suppose why I'm asking is if I am missing out on a flavor that is worth having next to the rest of these or if it really is getting into the hair splitting department. Of course this is rig-talk and we thrive on hair splitting so if I could even find one I probably would still get it.

 

[braintheory]

Right, it’s always interesting. People have different subjective thoughts on anything of course. Some people say they sound nearly identical, some people say it’s worlds apart, etc. etc. I have the D coming back from Mesa soon, and have an F, and a Hermansson Recto. I suppose why I'm asking is if I am missing out on a flavor that is worth having next to the rest of these or if it really is getting into the hair splitting department. Of course this is rig-talk and we thrive on hair splitting so if I could even find one I probably would still get it.

Yeah that’s why I brought up the recording part since some guys seem to only care about that on here and in that context maybe they wouldn’t care enough about the difference (hard to say) or you also may hear some guys say when they boost it and dial in their sound they’re both close enough, but to me the differences matter (it’s why I’m a gearhead lol) and the feel difference is there too, which clips don’t show

I’ve got a Hermansson single Rec too and to me it’s a very different flavor than stock 2ch Recto’s, but I like it a lot too. I should be getting another Hermansson Rec relatively soon-ish too

 

[itsgoodnow]

Yeah that’s why I brought up the recording part since some guys seem to only care about that on here and in that context maybe they wouldn’t care enough about the difference (hard to say) or you also may hear some guys say when they boost it and dial in their sound they’re both close enough, but to me the differences matter and the feel difference is there too, which clips don’t show

I’ve got a Hermansson single Rec too and to me it’s a very different flavor than stock 2ch Recto’s, but I like it a lot too. I should be getting another Hermansson Rec soon too

Yeah the recorded tone vs feel vs in the room can all have different variances. For Hermansson, his mod is definitely unique and has its own thing going. Might be my favorite amp overall at the moment. Oh well I suppose I'll end up with a C at some point if I can find one haha.

 

[braintheory]

Yeah the recorded tone vs feel vs in the room can all have different variances. For Hermansson, his mod is definitely unique and has its own thing going. Might be my favorite amp overall at the moment. Oh well I suppose I'll end up with a C at some point if I can find one haha.

Yeah for me my C is probably my favorite high gain amp and then my Hermansson Rec might be my 2nd or 3rd favorite for my taste. I’ve got also a Marshall 5 Gain Stage Hermansson and Carlsboro 5 Gain Stage Hermansson, they’re are all cool, but the Rec is for my taste my favorite of the 3. It’s not far behind the Marshall one in tightness and tonally has more going on (less bland) and still retains some of the recto chewiness in there that I like, but it seems like that super tightness/fast response they have can’t be totally without some cost for tone quality/richness or midrange hollowness it seems

 

[itsgoodnow]

Yeah for me my C is probably my favorite high gain amp and then my Hermansson Rec might be my 2nd or 3rd favorite for my taste. I’ve got also a Marshall 5 Gain Stage Hermansson and Carlsboro 5 Gain Stage Hermansson, they’re are all cool, but the Rec is for my taste my favorite of the 3. It’s not far behind the Marshall one in tightness and tonally has more going on (less bland) and still retains some of the recto chewiness in there that I like, but it seems like that super tightness/fast response they have can’t be totally without some cost for tone quality/richness or midrange hollowness it seems

My 5G Marshall is coming in here soon so I'll be curious to compare. Now to find a C...