Hey man, I always and still have a love hate for the Rectifier...but what always worked best for me was an MXR 10 band in the loop...absolutely lethal! Never a boost...just EQ! Such a massive Improvement IMO
I remember one of my old scene days bands was a big fan of Mesa amps in general, and then they got around to wanting to record a full length. I never really got what happened, but yea, fizz city with the tone that record ended up having. I think a fair amount of tone has to have a bit of flair that shows its sound isn't mainly the cabinet (boxy). But it walks a line.
Dude, it being a gatekeeper’s amp is spot on. I said I LOVE the clean and crunch channel and hated the distortion channels. the mesa crowd freaked out. lol. It’s true though I do love the clean and crunch on them. They’re amazing pedal platform amps. The recto recording pre through a Marshall power amp is amazing. Anyway, the synergy recto thing sounds better than any mesa rectifier I’ve heard: lol
the crunch channel is so underrated especially if you pair it with a nice subtle compressor and a tight boost pedal(or 0 gain 10 volume OD, i honestly prefer this because then i usually get some coloring unique to the overdrive especially if i up the gain to 2-3 area) you can get some beautiful tones
I’ve heard some incredible rectifiers, I’ve just never experienced it IRL. But yeah the synergy module does a really good job of delivering “that” sound
I believe the Synergy is based on a 2-channel Rev G dual rectifier. Any of the 2-channels are where the magic happens. 3-channel not so much. Too much fizz in the highs and a very loose and boomy low end.
Not really. The metal-head's basic issue with it is that the DualRec sounds best doing NOT METAL. My '92 dualrec sounded best in orange channel with the tube rec active - this is counter to tight metal rhythm guitar. It's far more along the lines of loosey-goosey Hendrix and heavy blues. Marks are much better for (classic) metal, due to simulclass' superior transients, the additional gain structure, and graphic EQ. MUCH better.
@@shaft9000 I generally prefer the mark series over the rectifier. Mark series have a killer distortion, amazing cleans, and everything in between. They also do the cool pedal platform thing really well.
So true!!! Honestly people don't understand that 1 amp doesn't fit all. 5150's have a nice tight compressed sound that helps keep flury of notes nice and listenable. With that being said the Dual Rectifier has that fat wide tone that leads it self to "slower" rifts. I would basically use a 5150 for something like metalcore/MySpace Deathcore, thrash, Grindcore, etc. And I would use the Dual Rectifier for something along the lines of Slam, down tempo deathcore, sludge, etc.
Mostly a matter of "doing it wrong" mixed with "wtf are you here for in the first place?". It's essentially a re-jigged early 90s take on an old Plexi, so why is anyone trying to out- Diezel-diddle _anything_ with a dual Rec?
I will say I don’t use a real recto, I run Fractal, but the Rev F/G model is one of my favourites and I’ve loved so many rectifier tones over the years since I began learning guitar. OD808 in front, bass at 10’, mids and treble at 2’, presence at 11’. Keep the master low and gain no higher than 2’. Sounds great to me.
I've been using a 1966 VOX Westminster for the majority of my life. Nabbed it from a pawn shop in 98 for $200. If i put the volume on 2?, i could possibly evacuate my bowls if i stand in front of it. Tried all sorts of heads all manner of speakers, nothing quite has the thump and grind of this thing. The only time i had fun with a DR or TR from Boogie?, was at a music store in a different city with the head being jacked into a slanted 4x10 unknown brand cab with some greenback's in it. ALSO: HOW TF DO YOU ONLY HAVE 60K SUBS?. Keep on shredding dude!, happy i found your channel!.
Would love to hear it against your powerball. They are called German rectifiers (without the mid boost at least). Would love to hear how close they are.
Yeah the thing I like about the powerball is the mid control. It reminds me of a recto when it’s scooped, but when it’s focused it sounds more like the sound I enjoy
I had a 3 channel recto for over a decade and I loved it. But the shortcomings were many for sure. Once I moved to an old school death metal band I switched to a 5150iii el34 50 watt and couldn't be happier. Its not perfect, but deffinetly more versatility and aggressive gain then a dual rectifier.
That synergy module sounds 11/11. It reminded me right of the bat those album tones. The screech with the treble maxed out was like the taste of beautiful açaí. The rest was like blueberries 🫐,strawberries 🍓, and most importantly…raspberries
I’m only a minute in but the gatekeeper skit is so accurate. The hilarious thing about it is that once you have seen inside these amps and know how amps work in general, you start to understand how poorly built they are. Your struggle with dialing in Mesas isn’t your fault, it’s Mesa’s. They literally use under-rated components (IE capacitor rated at 400v that in normal operation sees 500v), the values are often just wrong (“designed” for a .1uF cap and someone put a 1uf or 10uf or .001uf cap in there), the schematics are either unavailable or don’t even have values for certain components or tell you which component is which, they use components not manufactured anymore, the traces and pads are microscopic, they’ll put a 500v trace 0.5mm away from a ground trace; and it just goes on and on. They sound weird and are hard to dial in because the circuits are literally not built correctly in a lot of cases and it totally screws with, as one example, the HPF/LPF crossover in the tone stack. And this sort of shit is what Mesa snobs are not only largely unaware of, but will excuse as “someone else not knowing how to dial in a mesa.” It’s ridiculous.
while your take on the dual rectifier is 100 percent accurate , those things are fixed by using el34 tubes for tightness and smoothness instead of wooliness and harshness the 6l6 brings , and also use a clean boost that cuts low end like a fortin 33 or a classic graphic EQ . this is common knowledge about taming rectifiers not secretive at all
@@ItzBruce-po2bv according to that asshat nothing affects the tone besides cabinets. But there is an extremely limited amount of cabinets that are actually used on metal records and everyone isn’t all sounding the same using them. Not everyone using gt75s immediately sounds like meshuggah
My dialed in sound on my headrush mx5 is a blend of either a dual rec or blended with a 5150 through a greenback IR. Best tone I’ve ever been able to dial in personally.
The problem is that not all Rectifier amps sound the same. So many revisions have changed the overall sound of these amps. Try a 2-channel Recto preferably a revision F for metal. I have an early 3-channel and I can get it to sound good (to me) but damn those 2-channels from the 90s are where it's at for that classic 'album' style recto tone. I'm pretty sure the Synergy DRECT is based on a 2-Channel rectifier from what Fluff said in his video. Update: I see you have owned/had a 2-channel on your RU-vid.
Owning a Rev G and a Rev F, the F is an absolute beast for big metal chugs, not so far from the Rev G I have imo, but has this extra push and back on the kick wich is very insane.
When I played in Atheist I used a Dual Rec. I loved it! But then when I stopped playing in E and did my own thing I couldn’t get the sound I wanted. I don’t use pedals, even a boost. I ended up playing in all the lower standard tunings and now can’t beat the sls 5150 red channel.
I love rectos, besides my EVH 5150 Stealth I think it’s my best amp. I boost my recto with a plumes drive. Also you have to know that the tone knobs eq shift as you turn the presence knob higher. Also you need to know that certain rectos have a whole different EQ curve. I generally treat my rectos like this Mids as Low mids Treble as high mids Presence as treble. If you treat the knobs like that you can get awesome tones for 7&8 string guitars.
I didn't get into tube heads until 2018 and the first two I were after was a Triple Rec or a Peavey 5150. I got the 5150. A few amps later (and playing in a band where the other guitarist utilized a Triple Rec) I got a Rev G Dual Rec. I am just not a rectifier fan. I like how they sound for some chugs but I do not like how they feel to play. Long story short happy I went the 5150 route. 😂
After having a Peavey XXX for multiple years, I plugged in to a Dual Rec at a rehearsal ONE TIME 13 years ago... Never played through another after that day. haha
You’ve clearly got a great sense of humor. Min 1:20 😂 The ‘vintage’ setting after you tweaked it sounds pretty good. The ‘Medusa’ sounds killer! 🫵👍 I too do NOT like fiddling around. Just plug in and go. 😃 BTW- what is that guitar!?! Jackson Kelly? Home made hybrid? Beast from the depths of Mordor!?! I love it. ❤❤❤
Usually use something like this live! Other guitarist switches between (I believe) the red channel on a dual rec, and an SLO, going into the mesa 412. TS808 in front, OFC.
I have listed over a number of Mesa Triple Rectifiers over the last several years and briefly owned a Dual Rectifier Blue Angel 2×10 combo that I absolutely adored (I had to offload it back to the previous owner to help pay bills). Nowadays, I am more in the camp of the Peavey Invective 100, the Driftwood Purple Nightmare and the Diezel VH4... I would love to have the latter.
Same, man. I've heard some ruthless Dual Recs live, but when I finally get around to asking the artist which witchcraft lives on his board, it's always a great distortion pedal utilizing the beefy power section and not the amp shining through. Plenty of people make great sounds with them, but I hate them under my own fingers.
I echo your experience with Mesa. Over the years I’ve had a dual rec, mini rec, TC50, and a mark V, and the thing they all had in common was really making me feel like I was fighting to get good tones. They all could sound great, but I never had problems getting good tones with any of the 5150 variants, for example. So now I use a stealth.
Thanks for being a cool dude Taylor! Since you're a sometimes old school solid state guy, keep an eye out for the Ibanez TBX150 head. It rips. Don't pay more than like $200 tops.
I have an MKI Single Rectifier… I use my 5150 Overdrive pedal into the clean channel because no matter what, that thing never sounds that great otherwise.
I have never had luck getting something I enjoy from a Rectifier. One of those amps you just tweak and tweak, but never find a happy spot. Mesa's are not cryptic amps. There is no special version. I agree; you'll always see rack gear if not a whole pedal board in tandem. Hot take; they're over implemented and constructed with little regard to some of the levels the circuit outputs. I don't care what albums they're used on. but, of course, im just some n00b who doesn't get it lol Edit to add that I would definitely snag that module, over an entire Rectifier, if I really needed that "mesa thing" Great demo, thanks for sharing with us
I love the 2 channel Rectifiers and I totally understand your opinion. I have began with a Rev G, and it sounds really fat and loose, very scooped and dark, it definetely needs a great boost and a 10 band EQ in my opinion. Since I do it (like every amp I have), I can extract awesome tones. But, I have discovered heaven since I have get a Rev F wich is more open, way more low mid grunt, very punchy and aggressive. Boosting it is awesome too. Even if they are similar they have big différencies to me and I am totally in love with that Rev F, doesn’t mean that I don’t like my Rev G anymore. Both are great amps. But even if I love these amps, you have to boost it and depending what version you have it can be very hard so dial in, wich is a shame for the price it costs.
Ive always had a prob where if i like how open chords sound then i wont like how the palm mute sound so ill dial in a good palm mute sound then i wont like open sound
I love the Recto, but if you aren't into the typical Recto sound, they are VERY counter intuitive to dial in to do something else. The high knob is set to a higher frequency than the Presence knob. The EQ at noon is incredibly scooped. The EQ is all highly interactive, including the presence. On older 2 channel amps the presence is interactive between the 2 channels. There's a lot to not like, especially if you like things straight forward.
I completely respect your opinion of the mesa rec sound! For me the Dual rec sound is one of the most incredibly visceral things ever and the amped dual demo actually made me stank face, but I can completely understand how it might be obnoxious to some. Thats what taste is! Everyone has their own taste and its perfectly fine to have a different taste from one another.
The common complaints about dialing in a Rectifier often come from 3 types of people: 1) those who think they can just dial the amp in like a Marshall and 2) those who obviously have the wrong idea about what kind of amp it is and who it's for, and 3) those who are trying to dial it in at bedroom volumes without an attenuator. Every video about Rectifiers needs to have a disclaimer: You need to have the loop and master volume up on these amps for them to get rid of the fizz and looseness, and, you can't just mindlessly turn knobs up--you have to sit and listen to what each knob does individually, then go back and start balancing them. Or, just use the manual because it is VERY well-made and informative.
You're the first one to actually show the modern/vintage switch is actually on the inside of the unit. That feels like a miss by Synergy compared to their other units like the Uberschall which had a lot of features built into the faceplate. When I've played with a rectifier live before, rhythm was red channel modern, and lead was orange channel vintage. Not being able to set one channel to modern and one to vintage is an unfortunate design choice here.
Everyone's playing style and touch is different, and that affects what gear is best suited to you. What I can say is that you are right about mids being a problem, and you pretty much need something like an OD or externa equalizer of some kind to get around that in most cases.
I guess they compensated for the power amp effect of the rectifier with some EQ filtering. The sound of the rectifier comes from the power amp. Take the preamp off a rectifier, send it into the power amp of a 5150, and you lose that sound. While the 5150 into a generic 6l6 power amp (not the rectifier power amp) with a resonance control will still sound like a 5150.
You do one video on Temu how you decided not to work with them and RU-vid is like "Oh, here is commerical for Temu during your video!" Is it irony or bad analytics? Anyways nice video! Every time time I see your Deviant Grimoire I'm like "Soon... I will have my own verison..." rubbing my hands together like a cartoon villian.
Haha thanks. I have no idea, I'm sure google sees people watching something with the brand name I will not speak to avoid these things, and they just assume you must like that and give you ads that are based off that.
I got one of these Drect modules a couple of weeks ago and honestly I love it almost as much as my SLO module. The Drect is a bad boy (but in a good way 😉)
I've never gotten along with the Dual rec. My buddy let me borrow one while my 6505 was in the shop, and I was never really happy with it. Took a boost in front and an EQ in the loop to get remotely tight enough for me.
Heh. Yeah, okay, I get ya. If it doesn't work as is, I think it's justified to ask whether it's really worth the effort and the money. I used to want a 3-channel Rectifier because of the assignable FX loop... Nowadays, of course, the game has changed and getting to where I want to be is a different thing entirely.
@TaylorDanley Haha. Go for it. Quick question; Was plugging into a Rectifier your worst gear disappointment moment ever? It was for me. Close second to the Seymour Duncan twin tube mayhem preamp pedal.
As an unapologetic rectifier lover, I really can't disagree with you. My feelings are that its an absolute tone beast. That said you are absolutely right that its only that its a tone beast with a lot of qualifiers (the right boosts, EQ pedals, speaker combos, etc.). If you like the 5150s because they don't need all the weird tips and tricks, you're absolutely right to feel that way. I actually just bought the Heavy Hatchet Distortion because of your description of it sounding like an "idealized rectifier" because in 2024 theres no reason to do all the BS.
Well for me there's not one amp that i don't use an EQ pedal on. In my opinion every amp doesn't sound like i want it to. Thats why amps like the dual and the 5150 are just closer to what i want. So yes the duel sounds awesome.
Funny you say you wish an amp had one knob there’s a plugin by bogren digital digital where it’s literally one knob and it sounds amazing. I also hate dual recs but bogren digital’s dual rec plugin is actually super good for solos and leads. It’s called one knob
Dude, just recently found your channel and love your content! 🙂 So, Recto…2 words: Tremoverb + Fortin Grind/33…(ok, more than 2 words 😄). That’s IS the combo
I enjoy every high gain amps ever made! To be honest I associate there tones to the evolution of metal/Rock, but being budget limited my whole life I find a way, with what ever I can get my hands on.
I didnt know I hated that amp before. Its embarrassing. A friend is selling one and I was about to buy it. I always thought he had weird settings and had his action set too low causing alot of buzzing, so thanks for saving me some money or saving me from kicking my friends ass to get my money back. It sounds very non-harmonic or non- musical like running the signal thru some crumpled up newspaper an crumpled up tin foil. It probably keeps the government from spyimg on ya but attracts Aliens and dont ask what happened to Sigourney Weaver when she played thru one
One other little thing Ive noticed with my recto; compared to a 5150 and marshalls, there is a dip in the 1-3k range and then a BIG spike from 8-10k that other amps generally do not have. Compared to my jcm800, the mesa actually has more mids (around 800hz).
It's not vintage or modern voice for the cathode select. It just changes the cathode follower value giving different feel and matching the input value to that which would be on a real amp such as a marshall, fender, or soldano esque value. There really shouldn't be much of a difference tone wise.
No man, I'm with you on rectifiers, been wondering the same ever since they were released (I'm that old...) Of course they've been always been more popular in American music compared to here in Europe, which probably has also a lot to do with the price over here. I know they've been used extensively in the studio, even in black metal releases, but heavily processed and filtered. If you're willing to tweak and EQ anyway, I think the Bogner and Fryette modules are easier options to get heavy sounds dialled in just like you want. Nice Bathory shirt by the way.
Awesome vid Taylor, I rode the hate train on the Rectos for years. Once day I saw on for a steal and I was in the moodo for some self loathing and bad financial decisions. So I bought it. Not I really love the "uniquness". What you said at @16:49 is 100% why it just kills in the studio!
I can’t stand dual rectifiers for metal. Even heavily boosted, not my thing. Ive even tried a mini recto which are supposed to sound great across the board. I love it for rock! Really sounds great at low gain with a boost, and I really enjoy the clean. I LOVE the dual rec for making really musical, atmospheric, interesting sounds. Adam Jones used one for all of those hazy, eerie tones on Aenema.
I had a rectoverb 25 and thought I loved it I then bought a DSL20 and the two together were amazing but I found myself only playing the rectoverb with the Marshall and if I was only using one it was the DSL20 so I had to sacrifice one and the rectoverb went I only miss its clean channel and it’s blending with Marshall for clean and high gain. I’d love to have another darker voiced amp to pair with my dsl but I don’t think it’ll be another Mesa . I’m thinking maybe an OR15 or OR 30 would be cool paired up. I love a lot of rectifier’s tones but honestly the Marshall at 1/3 the price was far better for me. I’m sure the EL84 power section doesn’t help the lower wattage rectifiers and maybe a 50 or hundred watter is a completely different animal but it’s just more volume than I need 20 watt amps are a lot louder than I need. I think for the money if it’s got to be a Boogie a MK4 is going to be the best bang for buck boogie if you can find one for a decent price I remember when 800 dollars would get you a clean used MK4 but unfortunately the last time I looked at them they had went up close to double that.
i've tried a Rectifier before but i truly didnt enjoy the tone that came from it. ever since i have used an Orange amp, i have gravitated towards them. being more on Sludge, Doom, Stoner style guitar player. i love the bottom end you can get from them and they take pedals well too.
One thing I noticed in watching bands over my 45 years of listening to music in general. And that one thing is people were using whatever head except for Mesa Recto and had a Mesa Recto Cab. I can't even begin to count seeing guys using a Peavey 5150 or a 6505 and a Mesa Recto Cab.
Cannibal Corpse use them(or used to use them?) with a Metal Zone as a boost which tightens it up and gives it a razor sharp tone. Also if you haven't heard any of the modded Rectifiers from Hermansson Amplification, check em out, they sound REALLY good! But I always gravitate to the Mark series amps for Mesa, they just sound better to me and don't NEED a boost to sound good like a rectifier.
I love my dual recto. I never used any pedals with it. I always used super high output pickups, though- X2N's, EVO, etc. With low output pickups, it sucked. If a knob got jiggled, it'd suck. Weird acoustics in the room? It'd suck. Amp in a bad mood that day-it'd suck. But I used it exclusively as my live amp for 20 years. It's also on every recording I've done until recently (always with a Marshal JCM and usually a Peavey 5150 as well). Last year, I got an Axe FX, instantly, everything was much easier to dial in, sounded better, and just works better.
Dang- I used to wonder why people would bash on Mesa gear after gigs I'd play, but it sounds like there's a loud contingent of Mesa users / owners that are basically like BMW owners / drivers of the guitar world.
Glad to know I'm not alone in this. I tried basically every amp sim under the sun recently, and every time I opened a Dual Rec I was not a fan. I have a mate who seemed to think it was the shit, but he has since sold it and replaced it as well hah.
You know I always though they sounded like a sandblasting aluminum tone but I can't deny the tones that amp has produced. Clean channel was not great but was ok when pushed. All this to say, I much prefer a 5150 or 6505.
I can totally understand your feeling. For me it's the inverse, everything else sounds off to my ears. For instance the 5150 has this honk honk in the palm mutes that I hate. On an album it's alright but when I play one, I hate it. I could crap on almost every amps I've tried that isn't a Rectifier, except maybe a few ENGL models that are sweet.
I was so excited to try out the rectifier simulation on my effects processor simply because of the hype around them .. but basically right away I could tell that the distortion was not something I would ever want to use
As someone who firmly believes you can make great music with almost any guitar amp, I totally get the rectifier hype and hate. It has a very distinct big but tight bottom end that sounds different from any other amp I've tried. Palm mutes through a rectifier sound massive. That being said, if you're not into scooped tones, you'll likely need to blend it with a marshall in order to cut through a mix. And is it worth spending 3k on an amp that, 75% of the times, is used basically just to thicken up a JCM800?
I always like the rectifier but never got one. Then the badlander came out and I bought one immediately. So much tighter. But gear is always a personal preference. I also love the diamond phantom.
