[Oogadee Boogadee]

i recently sold my single ch JCM 900 to buy an old 2ch Dual Recto from Siggy. Talk about an upgrade. I made that decision b/c i needed a second channel for a clean channel.

Here's my new problem - i'm using channel one in the orange mode for a lead tone and I've damn near fallen in love with it. Totally classic metal - creamy, warm, articulate, cutting - it's got all you need. I've gone from having a rhythm tone and wanting a clean tone, to having a rhythm tone -> discovering that I enjoy having a lead tone. So once again, i'm in need of a clean channel.

So, now i'm going to sell the 2ch Dual soon.

here's what i'm curious about:

I've heard metal players rank, from most liked to least, the current crop of mesa rectos' red channels in the order of Triple, Single, and Dual (so this doesn't include the older batches of 2ch TR's and DR's, which, apparently slay).

Do the red channels of the new RK's and Roadsters, both of which are Dual Rectos, belong in the same group as the 3ch DRs.... or do we now have 4, or 5 red channel tones to pick from?

You can probably deduce from all this that i'm interested in a triple or a roadster. I probably don't need a roadster, but i'd love to have modern metal channel that's as tight as a triple (or close) and classic hard rock rhythm channel, along with a nice lead and clean sound. Plus, the 2ch DR has also seduced me with the black diamond plate

[Drew]

Bump for an interesting question that I'm surprised no one's tried to answer (though, arguably the best-prepared guys are the ones who play guitar in James' band )

[LordOVchaoS]

I've owned my share of rectos but never played a roadster or a roadking so I can't answer this question.

[noodles]

I think I need to bring my Road King to practice early on Sunday so you can play around with it.

[kentheterrible]

ok. i have to attempt to weigh in here...
i have a dual channel racktofier and seriously don't think there is a reason to buy another amp. i'm a huge fan of running a straight though lead tone w/o effects but the clean channel is different story for me. i think you can throw whatever you like at the clean tone to make it do what you want but imho the clean on this thing is beautiful.. it sounds absolutely celestial with my fender fat strat texas special. i've played lots of amps and made mistakes (*cough*FRAMUS*cough*) but this amp just has for me when it comes to a one amp rig. i run all kinds of guitars, S7 w/duncans, s6 w/emgs and my fat strat, through it and have yet to find a real shortcoming. i still don't run any effects on any of the channels.
i had a modern 3 channel triple and was really disappointed with it. i needed to run a tube screamer on the front of it in order for my tone to not be castrated at high volume. the amp just lacked the goods when it was cranked and that was the main reason i decided to offload that thing asap, like within 2 weeks, and get a 2 channel dual. the clean channel on the triple was very fender-esque to me. maybe instead of a 3 channel you should look into an a/b box with a pod xt er something like that. maybe even a little fender tube head to run in there would do the job. i would seriously go through that kind of wiring nightmare to keep the dual channel tone.
but that's me.
rock on.
kenny.

[LordOVchaoS]

Originally Posted by kentheterrible

ok. i have to attempt to weigh in here...
i have a dual channel racktofier and seriously don't think there is a reason to buy another amp. i'm a huge fan of running a straight though lead tone w/o effects but the clean channel is different story for me. i think you can throw whatever you like at the clean tone to make it do what you want but imho the clean on this thing is beautiful.. it sounds absolutely celestial with my fender fat strat texas special. i've played lots of amps and made mistakes (*cough*FRAMUS*cough*) but this amp just has for me when it comes to a one amp rig. i run all kinds of guitars, S7 w/duncans, s6 w/emgs and my fat strat, through it and have yet to find a real shortcoming. i still don't run any effects on any of the channels.
i had a modern 3 channel triple and was really disappointed with it. i needed to run a tube screamer on the front of it in order for my tone to not be castrated at high volume. the amp just lacked the goods when it was cranked and that was the main reason i decided to offload that thing asap, like within 2 weeks, and get a 2 channel dual. the clean channel on the triple was very fender-esque to me. maybe instead of a 3 channel you should look into an a/b box with a pod xt er something like that. maybe even a little fender tube head to run in there would do the job. i would seriously go through that kind of wiring nightmare to keep the dual channel tone.
but that's me.
rock on.
kenny.

Tis a killer amp! I just parted with one earlier this month. I can't say I regret it, overall I think the Engl I bought suits my style better, but I do miss it! Definitely the best recto I've ever played/heard! Other than the Roadking and Roadster I've played them all... Racktifier wins!