Tremoverb Help!!!

[Beyond Black]

Just got my Tremoverb delivered. Been playing with it for around an hour and it sounds like a box of dog shit with knobs. Muddy, murky, and undefined. I’m even clean boosting it. I’ve tried a Maxon OD9 and a SD-1. Gain off, level dimed, you know the drill. Running at 8 ohms into an 8 ohm Mesa Traditional 4x12. All Mesa 6L6 tubes, glowing bright. Rectifier tubes are dark, pres look fine. I’m bypassing the loop, set on silicon, and bold, bias switch set to 6L6. No matter how I turn the front knows it still sound muddy as fuck. I can’t imagine that it’s supposed to sound like this, the way people rave about them. Am I doing something wrong? Ima go fuck with the tubes....

 

[Metlupass2]

That's why I never get along with Rectifiers. Turn the presence way up.

My last one sounded best with a Fortin Grind vs my TS9

 

[Inearthed]

The Rectos that I've played have been picky as hell to dial in, the knobs seem to interact with each other so minor adjustments on one area result in needing adjustments in another... Maybe my experience has been different than others but you really just have to throw everything you know about dialing in amps / common sense out the window and just adjust the knobs.

All that being said you could also just have a "bad" one. Good luck!

 

[cardinal]

In my experience, safe way to dial in a Recto is turn all the knobs to around 1 o'clock and then maybe turn down the presence if in modern mode. If it sounds terrible set like that, I'd think that somethings wrong with the amp. Some Tremoverbs had something like a bad batch of LCRs, which if I understand the switching right will bleed off gain and high end if they've failed.

 

[Racerxrated]

Crank the presence, mids at 9 o clock, Bass way down(like 9 or 10 o clock or even less), treble maybe noon. Or more. Tremoverbs are darker than the Triples that I've owned..so literally turn that presence all the way up and go from there. Preamp tubes do make a big difference in a Recto just like a Marshall..if it's still dark bump the mids and treble up a bit but you have to keep that Bass low, or mud city..even with a boost.

 

[mooncobra]

Just got my Tremoverb delivered. Been playing with it for around an hour and it sounds like a box of dog shit with knobs. Muddy, murky, and undefined. I’m even clean boosting it. I’ve tried a Maxon OD9 and a SD-1. Gain off, level dimed, you know the drill. Running at 8 ohms into an 8 ohm Mesa Traditional 4x12. All Mesa 6L6 tubes, glowing bright. Rectifier tubes are dark, pres look fine. I’m bypassing the loop, set on silicon, and bold, bias switch set to 6L6. No matter how I turn the front knows it still sound muddy as fuck. I can’t imagine that it’s supposed to sound like this, the way people rave about them. Am I doing something wrong? Ima go fuck with the tubes....

best mesa I played was a mid 90s tremoverb, and what you are describing doesn't sound right. mine was defined and tight with good high gain clarity. I remember having my treb, mids and pres turned up to at least 2 o' clock.

 

[rlord1974]

I used a Tremoverb as my main gigging amp for 15 years. What you are describing does not sound like what a Tremoverb should deliver. You should be able to make a Tremoverb uncomfortably bright in tone if not setting it properly. That is the exact opposite of what you are describing.

Go to the Tremoverb manual here: https://mesa-boogie.imgix.net/media/Use ... moverb.pdf

Go to page 9 and dial in Sample Setting 4. Do a play test on the Orange (Vintage High Gain) channel. If that sounds muddy and dark, there is an issue with the amp.

 

[flatheads_4ever]

I used a Tremoverb as my main gigging amp for 15 years. What you are describing does not sound like what a Tremoverb should deliver. You should be able to make a Tremoverb uncomfortably bright in tone if not setting it properly. That is the exact opposite of what you are describing.

Go to the Tremoverb manual here: https://mesa-boogie.imgix.net/media/Use ... moverb.pdf

Go to page 9 and dial in Sample Setting 4. Do a play test on the Orange (Vintage High Gain) channel. If that sounds muddy and dark, there is an issue with the amp.

This sounds like a good route to try out. My Tremoverb 2x12 was probably the best Mesa I've owned.

Ed

 

[dirtyfunkg]

Yeah that don't sound right...

 

[Beyond Black]

Crank the presence, mids at 9 o clock, Bass way down(like 9 or 10 o clock or even less), treble maybe noon. Or more. Tremoverbs are darker than the Triples that I've owned..so literally turn that presence all the way up and go from there. Preamp tubes do make a big difference in a Recto just like a Marshall..if it's still dark bump the mids and treble up a bit but you have to keep that Bass low, or mud city..even with a boost.

Tried your settings exactly, still muddy, farty, undefined, even clean boosted. Changed out ALL of the tubes except for the rectifiers (don’t have those) with some strong JJ’s I have in another amp that works perfectly, and the same. Sounds like utter shit. I’m packing it up and returning it on Monday. I’m bummed, I saw Ola’s play through of the same amp, with only a clean boost and it was a destroyer of worlds. Fuck....

 

[Metlupass2]

Spend some more time with it man.

 

[Beyond Black]

In my experience, safe way to dial in a Recto is turn all the knobs to around 1 o'clock and then maybe turn down the presence if in modern mode. If it sounds terrible set like that, I'd think that somethings wrong with the amp. Some Tremoverbs had something like a bad batch of LCRs, which if I understand the switching right will bleed off gain and high end if they've failed.

Tried that too.

 

[rlord1974]

Crank the presence, mids at 9 o clock, Bass way down(like 9 or 10 o clock or even less), treble maybe noon. Or more. Tremoverbs are darker than the Triples that I've owned..so literally turn that presence all the way up and go from there. Preamp tubes do make a big difference in a Recto just like a Marshall..if it's still dark bump the mids and treble up a bit but you have to keep that Bass low, or mud city..even with a boost.

Tried your settings exactly, still muddy, farty, undefined, even clean boosted. Changed out ALL of the tubes except for the rectifiers (don’t have those) with some strong JJ’s I have in another amp that works perfectly, and the same. Sounds like utter shit. I’m packing it up and returning it on Monday. I’m bummed, I saw Ola’s play through of the same amp, with only a clean boost and it was a destroyer of worlds. Fuck....

Yeah, it really is a killer amp - when it is working properly. It is truly one of the amps I wish I had never let go.

Sorry you're dealing with this.

 

[Beyond Black]

I used a Tremoverb as my main gigging amp for 15 years. What you are describing does not sound like what a Tremoverb should deliver. You should be able to make a Tremoverb uncomfortably bright in tone if not setting it properly. That is the exact opposite of what you are describing.

Go to the Tremoverb manual here: https://mesa-boogie.imgix.net/media/Use ... moverb.pdf

Go to page 9 and dial in Sample Setting 4. Do a play test on the Orange (Vintage High Gain) channel. If that sounds muddy and dark, there is an issue with the amp.

Tried that too. Still muddy shit.

 

[Beyond Black]

Thanks for all of the suggestions, appreciate it....This amp sounds loose and fizzy as fuck. Like a Framus Cobra when you don’t have the channel volume high enough. I have the loop on bypass, so I’m not missing anything with the volume, am I? All I know is that the volume taper is horrible. Goes from quiet to instantly blasting around 8-9 o’clock. Aren’t these amps fairly tight, even unboosted?

 

[Beyond Black]

Spend some more time with it man.

I tried every setting possible and can’t lose that muddy, flubby, fizzy sound. It sounds like shit whatever I do.

 

[Metlupass2]

That's a recto! I've had 4 ( 2 Rev G and 2 MW) and sold them all cause I don't like em. I should have learned after the first. Engage the loop so you can turn up the master volume and use the loop volume to fine tune.

Or try an eq pedal in the loop if you've got one.

 

[Racerxrated]

One thing to do, if you want to give it a chance is consider sending it to Mesa to have a checkup. Probably less than 200 bucks, and they'll let you know if someone messed around in there..that may be part of the problem? But I totally understand wanting to return it. I don't gel with duals but each one I tried (Rev G 2 channel) I could get decent sounds out of them, esp with a boost. Something is amiss with that one..It should come alive with some volume though, which should reduce the fizzy nature of the gain...

 

[ClintN667]

yeah I would definitely get it checked up. Who knows what kind of fuckery goes on with amps these days. I think Ola said the Tremoverb is like his desert island amp so I cant imagine it being THAT hard to dial in. If you have some experience opening amps up have a look at the board, check the voltages, and poke around with a chopstick. If it was a Marshall type build I would open it up but considering its a Mesa I would have to get a pro to look at it.

 

[acalaf]

I had a tremoverb that had the same issue. it was the ldrs. fixed it and 6 months later it happened again. some people have sent theirs to mesa and it only works for a few months and then goes back to the awful sound. return that amp and move on with your life. you will have to change all 19 ldrs and that will be close to $300 with no guarantees that it will fix the problem. never again will i buy a tremoverb. it will never work.

btw, at least 5 techs looked at the amp and none were able to fix it, including a mesa authorized tech on the phone with mesa.