[kmanick]

Well I picked up my Mesa Rectoverb head and a Mesa Recto 2 X 12 cab on friday and I'm having a hard time dialing in a really good tone on the modern channel.
I love the vintage mode on the lead channel on this amp. Great lead tone, but I'm a little lost as to how I should run the Master VS putput and the Presence VS Treble.
I was looking at some posts over on the Mesa Forum and guys were saying that they were running the gain at 10:00?
Unless I dime the Master, gain at 10:00 is nothing, but from what I understand if I dime the Master then I can't really use the loop
Dave, Mike , Drew???? can you guys send me some sample settings that will work at somewhat lower volume levels? (I do have my hotplate).

My initial impressions of this amp are not living up to what I had hoped for.
I already retubed it with a tung sol in V1 JJ's the rest of the way and have been switching back and forth between EL34' and 6L6's.
I also have my 2 X 12 Avatar cab loaded with C90's , so I have a good amount of options here to work with.

So far at "usable" volumes in my house the JSX thru the C90's is shitting all over this thing, and that just can't be right.
But if the only way to get this thing to sound good is to get it up to band volumes, then I will have to dump it
and stay with the JSX (until I find a Mark IV and give that a try).
One great thing about the JSX is that it pretty much sounds the same at all volume levels (once you get the master up to about 5 that is)


Oh and the clean channel on the Recto is simply beautiful, that channel kills the JSX clean

This is my first ever mesa and I 've been told that it takes time to dial it in,
but I'm not finding it.
Help a Mesa noob out

[HighGain510]

Did you download the manual yet Nick? If not, do that straight away and read through how the EQ works on a Mesa. It's not like most standard 3-knob EQs out there, I think it's something like starting with dialing in the treble and work down from there because that feeds everything else IIRC? Hope that helps dude! They also give you some suggested settings in that, and it's posted on their website.

[kmanick]

Thanks Matt,
I've got the manual (this thing is in dead mint showroom condition)
I've got the original manual, the hang tags, the original receipts etc, it was never gigged.
The manual doesn't really give any suggested settings that sound any good to me, and They all have the put put level up 1/2 way which is so f'n loud it's a joke.

[HighGain510]

Originally Posted by kmanick

Thanks Matt,
I've got the manual (this thing is in dead mint showroom condition)
I've got the original manual, the hang tags, the original receipts etc, it was never gigged.
The manual doesn't really give any suggested settings that sound any good to me, and They all have the put put level up 1/2 way which is so f'n loud it's a joke.

Ahhh I gotcha. Yeah Drew might be able to help here since he's using the same amp at lower volumes. I forgot about the fact that the manual has the volume raised fairly high in the sample settings! Sorry dude, good luck!

[budda]

everyone goes on about the crazy EQ functioning of mesas.. but i found it fairly easy (and it only took me 10 minutes) to dial in a useable distortion on a dual rec. it wasnt at stage volume yet, but i was getting there lol.

nick, if you start with all the EQ at 5, how does it sound? useable/decent? hopefully the divinity gents can lend a hand

[kmanick]

OK I got it figured out. I actually did just that, set everything at 5 and started from there.
Output/Master thing was throwng me because diming the Master changes the tone completely but kicks in the gain a lot more.
I actually got a really good sound on modern with these settings (with my Jackson SL2H soloist)

Output= 3
master=2
presence =4
Bass= 3
Mids = 4
Treble =6
Gain =6
Clean boost in front.

thru my hotplate cut -8dbs (this pig is really fucking loud, much louder than my JSX which is rated at 120 watts)
Sounds good thru both the V30's and the C90's. I'm undecided on which cab I like better.
The personality of the amp changes just a little bit by switching the cabs.

I was diming the Master because it ups the gain quite a bit, but it was really adding a lot of mud to the sound.
I've also noticed that this amp is a lot less forgiving than the JSX, and
that the JSX has a lot more built in usable gain than the Recto does. (at least at lower volumes).

After playing this amp for a couple of hours and switching over to the JSX , it feels like the JSX has a built in compressor.
The notes flow a bit easier and I don't have to be as precise (no where near as precise actually).

More testing this afternoon and Pictures of my new rig to follow.

I'm still totally up in the air as to which amp I actually like better.
I've been Playing Petruccis "Damage Control" all morning and I must say the
recto really nails his tone (which should come as no surprise I guess ).

this afternoon it's 7 string testing
and loop testing, since I don't really need the EQ in the loop that may simplify things a bit.

[HighGain510]

Originally Posted by budda

hopefully the divinity gents can lend a hand

Did Dave and Mike start up a Christian Rock band now? I'm guessing you meant Division right?

[7 Strings of Hate]

i think i'd buy a divinity gents cd
it sounds about like my settings you have there.
master about 10 o'clock
channel at noon
low at 9
mid at 10 - 11 o'clock
high at about 12 to 1 oclock
presence at about 10 - 11 o'clock
with a boss sd-1 with minimal settings
if you read the manual it tells you that anything over noon on the treble actually just adds more gain

[kmanick]

took a couple of quick pics

Lots of volume available here.

[Apex1rg7x]

Nice Recto-Verb dude. It actually took me awhile to dial my Dual Rec in also but i just recently retubed it with JJ's and it slays. Mesa's are kinda touchy but once you find the right tone its totally worth it.