Ok, so I sort of impulse-bought a Mesa Rect-o-verb 50 combo last weekend. Yeah, I'm pathetic, but I was (for once - I've historically never gotten on with Rectifiers, but with the C90, the open backed cab, and I guess the hotter bias they introduced a couple years back) digging the shit out of a Rect-o-Verb 50 combo at Guitar Center last weekend, and the sales guy I'd been chatting with dropped by after a while to mention that just for kicks he checked to see if there was anything they could do on the price for me, and lo and behold GC had just decided to clear out the Rectoverb combos to make room for the new Express combos (which I wasn't impressed with, incidentally). So, well, that and a tube screamer followed me home that night. I'd just gotten a promotion and a rather nice raise, so I sort of said to myself, "fuck it, time to celebrate". :D

Anyway... So, I threw a set of E34L's (a Groove Tubes EL34 variant with a bit more output and a more substantial low end) in the poweramp in place of the stock 6L6's, hooked up my THD Hot Plate so I could push them a bit, and started messing around - turns out, the EL's are seriously good sounding tubes in this amp for lead work, and also give absolutely evil crunch in Modern mode for rhythm. I'm impressed. I spent the morning fucking around with high gain tones, because that's what the amp's known for, but just for kicks I flipped it into "Raw" mode (the lowest gain distortion mode), and waspromptly floored by just how organic the lead sounds were. So, I threw a mic in front of my cab and pulled p a demo I'd done previously, and laid down a minute or two of lead noodling.

Click here!

Honestly, I'd never have guessed that was a Rectifier, listening to it. I think it needs a touch more treble for a bit more snap and definition, but you could play blues with that tone, and I mean the guitar in question's an Ibanez UV7PWH.

I'm in love. :wub: Worth noting is there IS a Tube Screamer in line, but for tone shaping and not as a boost - gain's at 0, and the level is set to unity.

Thanks Drew for sharing! Congratz on your new amp, I am impressed by it's tone.

Thanks dude! Because the sevenstring.org crew was giving me crap about being able to make an amp as metal as even a Rectifier sound bluesy, I did a slightly more traditional tonedRectifier lead break, back with 6L6's. I keep going back and forth with 'em, the amp sounds awesome either way.

Now, with gain!

very fucking nice tones! :)

the second is definitely meaty, as in a field full of cows meaty, but i prefer the first. love that compressed-but-not-quite-dirty sound....

but NO - i'm not gonna get a mesa! i can't spare a kidney lol!

(something weird just happened as i was typing - some guy said on the TV that his name is David Kidney [the movie's Legally Blonde]) :-/

HI Drew,
I like both .. love your legato on the second.
but like the tone better on the first

Yeah, the first one doesn't really lend itself to opening up as much, and what legato I was playing didn't have quite the definition as the clearer 6L6 gain affords.... But, damn, does it rrespond to pick attack at that threshold. :D

I'm still getting the hang of dialing this thing in, but already I'm more impressed than I was when I made the decision to actually buy the amp, which considering what these things go for is kind of saying a lot...

you should try the fuchs ODS50 .. its a sweet amp!

I take back what I said on another post about the rectro-verb.

I guess the change in tubes really helped, but then, i don't really stay too long messing with an amp.

Actually, the same settings sound just about as good with 6L6's, as it turns out. I may even prefer it, it's a little rounder and more "liquid."

The thing with a Rectifier, is it takes a LONG time to really learn how to dial one in. Especially true for the Modern mode, it really doesn't respond like a normal amp, and if you try the Marshall-esq "boost the bass and treble, scoop the mids, and jack up the gain" approach, it's going to sound like crap.

Thanks Drew, your tone on the first track reminded me so much of the tones on Satch's self-titled album I just went and grabbed it from the rack for tomorrows commute. :)

I LOVE that album. \m/ I guarantee you he didn't use a Rectifier on that disc, lol, but the clean channel is based loosely on a Fender design, and the lower gain modes are a lot like what Fender's doing today, with way more presence.

That sounds sooo good Drew!!!
I had a chanse to play dual rec. some time ago ... I was totaly blown away! I like it way more than JSX. It's so versate amp. This sound you made is a true statemante to that. M.F superb sound!

It only gets better as it gets louder. I too prefer this to a JSX (which is a perfectly fine amp, don't get me wrong) once the power tubes really begin to cook.

It's too bad it sounds like shit at Guitar Center volumes with the typical GC settings - bass 10, mids 0, treble 10. :lol: It's such a misunderstood amp.

yup, it does sound horrible if you do the scoop stuff.

It's kind of comical, though - dime the gain, juice the front end a bit further with a tube screamer a la Andy Sneap, and then hig a powerchord, and you'll just stand there cackling like a schoolgirl as your guitar feeds back, like, forever. :lol:

Like: AAAIEWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!! :D ?