The New Dual Recs

[FixXxer]

What is the consensus on these? Guitar World is giving it a gold star rating, and all the other magazines apparently love them.

Can anyone give an opinion? Compare to the current Dual Recs and 2 channels?

 

[Heritage Softail]

On the Boogie Boards, which I frequent, they say they are nothing really thtat special or new. No new tone, no fix to the complaints of loose bottom end, but I think that usually comes from people trying to cover the bass guitar riff with a normal guitar. Not blown away at all. Sad but expected. I did not expect Boogie to make big changes to the goose that is laying golden eggs. But I have sold my Rectifier and picked up a Rivera Knuck Tre. Much better at modern metal and hellish low end thump.

 

[glassjaw7]

Well I know that lolzgreg said he preferred the new dual rec to the old 2 and 3 channel versions. Said there is definitely an improvement in tone. I have yet to compare them myself but I trust his opinion.

 

[droptrd]

Ive played the old 3ch and new 3 ch back to back. And ive owned 4 2ch rectos. I noticed no difference in tone, fizz, loose bottom etc in the new 3 ch rectos. The clean ch is better. The new recto has a few new features that make it cool too. But its not worth selling your old 3ch for a new one. And IMO the 3chs STILL cant touch the texture and feel of the 2ch rectos.

 

[Ricky Rockhardo]

Ive played the old 3ch and new 3 ch back to back. And ive owned 4 2ch rectos. I noticed no difference in tone, fizz, loose bottom etc in the new 3 ch rectos. The clean ch is better. The new recto has a few new features that make it cool too. But its not worth selling your old 3ch for a new one. And IMO the 3chs STILL cant touch the texture and feel of the 2ch rectos.

I agree with all of this. The new 3ch rectos are only slightly different than the older ones and do not merit selling your old 3ch. For a more refined recto sound I would probably get a Roadster which are much more pleasing to my ears. And I also agree with the above that a Rivera is even better for modern metal. I had the opportunity to try both a Knucklehead and new 3ch recto in the same room, and hands down the Rivera wins. My only complaint is that it goes from whisper quiet to band practice loud in one knotch

 

[mightywarlock]

I was at the Mesa store last weekend and game a new Recto a shot.

I played it for about 15 minutes and left disgusted.

Now, I couldn't crank it, of course, cause it is a small echoey store, but even and moderate volume, I could not get the presence buzz to dial out and got tired of the sizzle and gave up, feeling happy with my own old relic of a Recto.
Yes, you DO need to crank the Recto's up in order to get them to proper Tone, but if you need to rehearse at home, prepare for buzz city.

I picked up a used 2002 or 04 3 ch. yesterday for a deal, and played it tonight, and honestly, started digging it, felt tighter (when I dial them) then my Mark V. I then went head to head with the 2 amps and actually liked the Recto, but was able to get the Mark up to almost the same tone when I remembered to dial DOWN the gain, instead of up!

Before I get rid of it, I plan on finding some 6L6 for my old Pre-500 recto (i normally have EL34's in there) and going head to head with the 3 ch. recto.
There's the pure definition of truth behind that fable. (which is true, however, the pre-500 amps DO sound amazing!).

But same tubes, different amps, I'll even try the same settings, and report back soon.

new 2010 amp? Same ol thing, with a better clean is all, and maybe better clone channels. still the same buzzy amp.

 

[lolzgreg]

Honestly, I've heard that Mesa amps can be hit or miss tone wise. All I know, is that I owned a 2 Channel Rackmount Dual Rectifier, played it for weeks on end. I found a tone I liked, but I wanted something better. I upgraded the transformers. The tone improved, but still didn't do it for me. I sold the amp and bought a 2010 Rectifier. My first clips of it blew everyone away who I showed (this is with stock tubes, fresh out of the box, mind you). I find the 2010 Rectifier, or at least the one I OWN, to be tighter, more percussive, and have more "crunch" than my older Rectifier.

Here is a clip I made of the two with the same mic position (YEP, I DID NOT MOVE THE MIC IN FRONT OF THE CABINET) and tonestack settings for comparison:

Racktifier:

Rectifier:

IMHO, the Racktifier sounds muffled in comparison, and lacks the "pleasant fizziness" of the Rectifier.

 

[BIGKAHUNA]

What is the consensus on these? Guitar World is giving it a gold star rating, and all the other magazines apparently love them.

Can anyone give an opinion? Compare to the current Dual Recs and 2 channels?

Here is a post from another board by Alex Wade of White Chapel(see the bolded portion

AlexWadeWC

Whitechapel Album, Amp Shoot Out!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So we started getting ready to do guitars and we had an amp shoot out with a bunch of different amps trying to pick the perfect tone for the CD. It was alot of fun.

The amps in questions were:

5150 Block Letter, 5150 II, 5150 III, 6505+, 2 Channel Mesa Dual Rec (with EL34s), 2010 Mesa Dual Rec (with 6L6s), Revision Blue Bogner Uberschall, and a modded JCM 800.

We tried all of these through a Mesa 4x12 with V30's, and all of them were boosted with a Maxon OD-808 as well.

If i had to rank them in order of my favorites it'd go something like this:

5150 III
5150 Block
Bogner
2010 Mesa Dual
5150 II
6505+
JCM800
2 Channel Mesa Dual


My favorite pick was the 5150 III, but the block letter 5150 sounded sick too, and Suecof was really digging that one, so ultimately we went with the block letter for this albums amp. We used a 6505 on This Is Exile but this 5150 sounds way better. Guess it has more mojo to it hahaha, it sounds roaring and beastly.

The Bogner sounded awesome, reminded me of a Mesa but smoother, had the same sag to it though. Would have been awesome to double track on each side for a layer but we decided that was going to take too much time.

The JCM800 was a big surprise, it sounded great, just not for us. I forget who he said it was modded by but it had a ridiculous amount of gain on tap. Sounded really thick and big.

The new Mesa was an awesome surprise as well. Definitely was what they said it was, more open, less compressed sounding. Don't get me wrong, it definitely still sounds like a Mesa Rec for sure, just a better version of it. We were about to use it as a layer with the 5150 too but like i said we just decided it would be better/more time efficient and keep it to 1 track per side. It definitely blew away the 2 channel, which was a weird surprise. But then again the 2 channel had EL34's which i'm not a fan of either so that's probably why.

So yeah that's the skinny of it, i'll shut up now since this is getting long, but there you have it. The new album will be 5150 Block Letter boosted with a Maxon OD-808 into a Mesa 4x12. Miced with 2 SM57's. Huge, saturated, and pissed sounding!

 

[droptrd]

Ive played the old 3ch and new 3 ch back to back. And ive owned 4 2ch rectos. I noticed no difference in tone, fizz, loose bottom etc in the new 3 ch rectos. The clean ch is better. The new recto has a few new features that make it cool too. But its not worth selling your old 3ch for a new one. And IMO the 3chs STILL cant touch the texture and feel of the 2ch rectos.

I agree with all of this. The new 3ch rectos are only slightly different than the older ones and do not merit selling your old 3ch. For a more refined recto sound I would probably get a Roadster which are much more pleasing to my ears. And I also agree with the above that a Rivera is even better for modern metal. I had the opportunity to try both a Knucklehead and new 3ch recto in the same room, and hands down the Rivera wins. My only complaint is that it goes from whisper quiet to band practice loud in one knotch

+1

 

[stratotone]

Had a roadster, sold it. Had a pre 500 head, wish I still had it. Currently have a first year rackmount recto that I bought from a friend who picked it up new with a matching cab, and it KILLS. There are going to be variances in amps, but pound for pound the early two channel heads and rackmounts sound better in my opinion. I also know this rackmount sounds great because I compared it with my pre 500 and it sounded better - tried to buy it from him then and he refused. Only sold it because he quit gigging and needed some money for a down payment on a house.

My amp sounds like King's X Dogman in a box. Roadster I had was a fizzy mess in comparison. Now, if you need a clean channel and two gain channels, a newer mesa may make good sense to make the compromise. I've thought about taking the Mesa rackmount 1/2 stack and running it with a Fender Twin for live, but that's too much crap for a bar gig. I prefer my VHT UL overall but the Rackto does have it's own thing going on.

Saw a few interesting posts comparing a rackmount with the newer amp - one compared EL34s and 6L6s. Well, might want to run the same tubes, if you're into low end an EL34 isn't going to have the same amount or be as tight as a 6L6 amp. I could compare a mustang and a camaro and put all season tires on one and summer performance tires on the other - it might skew the results, yes?

Other comparison had 'same settings on the amp' which depending on the pot tapers and values could be WAYYYY off.

Want to to a valid comparison? Use the same tubes and cab, and dial in both amps to sound good, not to the same settings. Just my opinion.

Pete

 

[kannibul]

Had a roadster, sold it. Had a pre 500 head, wish I still had it. Currently have a first year rackmount recto that I bought from a friend who picked it up new with a matching cab, and it KILLS. There are going to be variances in amps, but pound for pound the early two channel heads and rackmounts sound better in my opinion. I also know this rackmount sounds great because I compared it with my pre 500 and it sounded better - tried to buy it from him then and he refused. Only sold it because he quit gigging and needed some money for a down payment on a house.

My amp sounds like King's X Dogman in a box. Roadster I had was a fizzy mess in comparison. Now, if you need a clean channel and two gain channels, a newer mesa may make good sense to make the compromise. I've thought about taking the Mesa rackmount 1/2 stack and running it with a Fender Twin for live, but that's too much crap for a bar gig. I prefer my VHT UL overall but the Rackto does have it's own thing going on.

Saw a few interesting posts comparing a rackmount with the newer amp - one compared EL34s and 6L6s. Well, might want to run the same tubes, if you're into low end an EL34 isn't going to have the same amount or be as tight as a 6L6 amp. I could compare a mustang and a camaro and put all season tires on one and summer performance tires on the other - it might skew the results, yes?

Other comparison had 'same settings on the amp' which depending on the pot tapers and values could be WAYYYY off.

Want to to a valid comparison? Use the same tubes and cab, and dial in both amps to sound good, not to the same settings. Just my opinion.

Pete

I wish I brought my Roadster (and my JVM410) that night Scott was there - more or less so I could get a good comparison. I thought your ractifier sounded good, but I got a kind of one-trick pony vibe from it. I never did try rolling the volume knob on the guitar around to see how well it'd clean up...

I'll say this much, the VHT UL is a mean fuck...but I still jones for your Bogner...

 

[stratotone]

Had a roadster, sold it. Had a pre 500 head, wish I still had it. Currently have a first year rackmount recto that I bought from a friend who picked it up new with a matching cab, and it KILLS. There are going to be variances in amps, but pound for pound the early two channel heads and rackmounts sound better in my opinion. I also know this rackmount sounds great because I compared it with my pre 500 and it sounded better - tried to buy it from him then and he refused. Only sold it because he quit gigging and needed some money for a down payment on a house.

My amp sounds like King's X Dogman in a box. Roadster I had was a fizzy mess in comparison. Now, if you need a clean channel and two gain channels, a newer mesa may make good sense to make the compromise. I've thought about taking the Mesa rackmount 1/2 stack and running it with a Fender Twin for live, but that's too much crap for a bar gig. I prefer my VHT UL overall but the Rackto does have it's own thing going on.

Saw a few interesting posts comparing a rackmount with the newer amp - one compared EL34s and 6L6s. Well, might want to run the same tubes, if you're into low end an EL34 isn't going to have the same amount or be as tight as a 6L6 amp. I could compare a mustang and a camaro and put all season tires on one and summer performance tires on the other - it might skew the results, yes?

Other comparison had 'same settings on the amp' which depending on the pot tapers and values could be WAYYYY off.

Want to to a valid comparison? Use the same tubes and cab, and dial in both amps to sound good, not to the same settings. Just my opinion.

Pete

I wish I brought my Roadster (and my JVM410) that night Scott was there - more or less so I could get a good comparison. I thought your ractifier sounded good, but I got a kind of one-trick pony vibe from it. I never did try rolling the volume knob on the guitar around to see how well it'd clean up...

I'll say this much, the VHT UL is a mean fuck...but I still jones for your Bogner...

Well, the Rackto I have isn't really a one trick, more like a two trick... red channel is great for rhythms, I love orange for leads. You can dial in orange to 'green' for cleans, which are ok, but nothing special. Even if it was a one trick thing, I'd rather have it than amps that do several things average... amps like that are easy to find IMHO.

The Bogner sounds great but it's just not as aggressive.

Pete

 

[mightywarlock]

I think we can agree that everyone just has different tastes.

in the clips you posted up above, the one with the racktifier and the new amp, I prefer the racktifier. I can hear the presence sizzle on the new one's recordings, even though it is clearer. It has that halo of sizzle around the tone, and i just can't stand it. It's like Dirty surrounded by dirty, whereas the older amps are dirty with a clean tone surrounding it. best way to describe it.

I am not a 6L6 person I do not believe, nowadays.

Those guys in the band like 6L6 amps, not EL34's.
Can't compare a 6L6 tubed amp to an EL34 tubed amp. (I would probably prefer the EL34 tone). They chose a 5150. I am not sure I even like my 5150 for anything other than recording usage.

everyone can have a different opinion here, so what needs to be done, is you have to make your own opinion about these things in person, when you demo the amp yourself.

 

[russellconner]

I think we can agree that everyone just has different tastes.

in the clips you posted up above, the one with the racktifier and the new amp, I prefer the racktifier. I can hear the presence sizzle on the new one's recordings, even though it is clearer. It has that halo of sizzle around the tone, and i just can't stand it. It's like Dirty surrounded by dirty, whereas the older amps are dirty with a clean tone surrounding it. best way to describe it.

I am not a 6L6 person I do not believe, nowadays.

Those guys in the band like 6L6 amps, not EL34's.
Can't compare a 6L6 tubed amp to an EL34 tubed amp. (I would probably prefer the EL34 tone). They chose a 5150. I am not sure I even like my 5150 for anything other than recording usage.

everyone can have a different opinion here, so what needs to be done, is you have to make your own opinion about these things in person, when you demo the amp yourself.

WHOA, AWESOME!!!

There is actually another human being on this planet that has the two channel dual rec with the chrome chassis and polished diamond-plate faceplate. i custom ordered mine that way in '94, and have never seen another one since. I think my serial number is in the 3700's.

-russell

 

[CaseyCor]

You guys are scaring me here. My Series I Single Rec will be here tomorrow

 

[Jimmie]

I could compare a mustang and a camaro and put all season tires on one and summer performance tires on the other - it might skew the results, yes? Pete

Depends on the respective models' 2000 Mustang SVT R, or 1970 429 SCJ. These are stock off the production line models. There isn't a stock production line Camero that could compete against either regardless of tires. Your moded Ultra XL for instance, when its dialed in, nothing I have found compairs to a mids modified modual. its biased to be so far beyond driven, even beyond usibility, but after dialing it in, pulling the mid switch, and listening to the harmonics come alive from it is simply nothing less than amazing...

 

[MARK2C]

I probably went through 10 two channels simply by hearing a better one after a better one until the pre 500 came.
I also played 6 2001 three channels at the music store and picked the best one. It lasted three months until it was gone.
A year later I played another 3 channel in GC and was floored by how much better it sounded.

All I can say about Mesa is they are consistently inconsistent. When they are great, they are great but the majority
sound a bit crappy and need to be weeded through. Again, they sounded either good or bad to my ears. I thought the single rec
I demoed years ago sounded terrible. After I was done another guy jumped in to test it and he sounded like god.

 

[TheMagicEight]

What is the consensus on these? Guitar World is giving it a gold star rating, and all the other magazines apparently love them.

Can anyone give an opinion? Compare to the current Dual Recs and 2 channels?

I liked the one I tried out, but channel 2 is where it's at for me. I've owned 5 Rectifiers over the past few years: three 2 channel models and two three channel models. I work PT at Guitar Center now and have had a lot of time with the newer models. A big improvement? No, not really. They do the Rectifier sound as well as any other (yes, even the older 2 channels) but with added flexibility of a good clean channel and power scaling. Truth be told though, I think Mesa shoots themselves in the foot with so many options on their amps. Don't get me wrong - I'm a big fan of features - but more complicated circuitry leads to less consistency and IMO, more tonal loss.

 

[some dude]

I'll wait until some people have actually used the new ones with bands.

Almost every clip I've heard the older Rectos sound warmer and thicker, whereas the newer ones sound thinner and clearer.

Thin and clear cuts. Warm and thick doesn't.

 

[Ricky Rockhardo]

Nice comparison video, though there is some clipping with the higher gain sounds

FWIW I think I would take a Roadster over the 2.