Help me like my recto!

[jakeleigh]

Ok, I have a 3 channel Triple Recto which I play through a Marshall Jcm900 1960A cab. I have dialed and dialed and dialed, read the manual 7000 times and spent probably days, if not weeks on this forum picking up tips! I know that I should in theory love the recto sound, fav guitarist/tone being Tremonti and bands being the likes of Breaking Benjamin, Three Days Grace, Sevenfold, 12 Stones etc. And yeah I know studio tone bla bla etc but I see and play with enough bands to know that I love the sound of a rectifier set up well. But for some reason it's not working out for me at all and I find myself for gigs running a Pod X3 Live into the PA or into my Marshall 9100 power amp into the 1960A (Shock Horror!!)

To start with my main signal chain is...

Gibson Les Paul Standard (EMGs)
Gibson Explorer Pro

Boss SD-1
Boss TU-2

Loop Off
Bold/Diodes
Red Channel Modern
Gain 1-2 o'clock
Presence - 10 o'clock
Bass - 2 o'clock
Mid - 8-9 o'clock
Treble - 1-2 o'clock
Master usually around 9-10

Marshall 1960A

I think the main problem with my sound is my cab and I'm looking to find out if switching cabs is likely to solve my issues. I have to pull the mids that low as I get a strange, harsh (unmusical) clipping sound that seems as though its the speakers. I also find that there is not enough low end for my liking, as I turn the bass knob up it just kills the speakers. (I play in a post-grunge/modern metal band). Going by the info I have given, if I buy (get ripped off as I'm in the UK) the big recto cab, is it likely I will like my sound more?

I play with the loop bypassed as I dislike the tone with it on, which really messes things up as I like to use delay on my leads and cleans. I think it may be worth my while to get my loop modded to serial also and chuck a G Major or something in there so I can actually use some delays and reverbs. I realize by doing this I lose the function of bypassing effects so my signal will be running through the processor 100% of the time. Will this have a very noticeable effect on my sound?

There is a huge part of me that thinks I may be better off biting the bullet, selling off my old Jcm800, rack gear and Triple Recto and going for something like a Herbert, Uberschall or high end ENGL but I really want to try and give the Mesa another chance.

Any help and advice would be much appreciated!

 

[R_ADKINS80]

Thats alot of presence for the red channel man. I leave the presence at 9:00 max and off if I am runnin pretty loud. Try running in tube rec (with 5U4s) mode with 6L6's set to EL34 bias. I have run my 6L6's like this for months now and it really lets those tubes take a healthy breath. Also what kind of preamp tubes are you running? I find the chinese ones that my triple came with were atrocious. It sounded 10x better with a set of EH 12ax7's in it and now sounds phenominal with the mix of tubes i use. Also try playing with the orange channel set to modern with the bass arounf 1:00, mids around 11:00, treble at 2-3:00, presence off and the gain around 1-2:00. that is where i find my best tones anyways.

 

[tennisplayer]

bass at 10 or 11 oclock, treble at 11 or noon, gain at noon or 1 oclock.

 

[fluff191]

Thats alot of presence for the red channel man. I leave the presence at 9:00 max and off if I am runnin pretty loud.

+1

I went so far as to change out the pot on Channel 3 (see the How-To sticky at the top of the Recto section).

The tone you are trying to nail really seems to be that of a 2 Channel Recto. I have both version and love them both, but the 2 Channel is just all-around warmer, more articulate and better sounding. But for starters, dump that Marshall cab. There is nothing on the planet like a Mesa 4x12.

Hope you find the tone you are looking for!

 

[muramasa]

I used to have a Marshall 1960a slant cab and i finally traded it for a standard rectifier cab, and there is a difference. the recto cab has bigger bass and i think the speakers sound better. While I had my 1960a cab I would have to put my mids around 1 o clock. and bring the presence down to the 9 o clock area. Also, try playing with the gain around 12 or 12:30, that was enough gain for me when I play Breaking Benjamin, HURT, and Seether. But, I also have a 2 channel rectifier so it may be different for you, and I have a Les Paul Studio which has passive pickups. I think I read somewhere that 3 days grace uses the 3 channel rectifiers so you should be able to get their sound. There are some pretty good Modern Rock sounds in the settings section of this site.

The only other things I can suggest is try playing in channel 2 and try the Vintage mode. I'm playing a lot of Rise Against stuff right now and I get pretty good sound in the red channel on the vintage setting, bold, diode, Presence 9 o'clock, Bass 11 o'clock, Mids 11 o'clock, Treble 12:30, Gain 12:30

Hope this helps

 

[Elpelotero]

You need to raise your mids up, a lot. Your ears and eyes may not be accustomed to hearing/seeing mids up around 11-1 oclock, but believe me when I say even Tremonti has his mids up there.

 

[fluff191]

On the newer 3 Channel Recto I keep my mids at about 10:00, but on my 2 Channell have them close to noon.

 

[Metaltastic]

bass at 10 or 11 oclock, treble at 11 or noon, gain at noon or 1 oclock.

+1 on the first two, though gain I usually ran at like 2:30 on my 2 ch. Dual (but I just set that by palm muting the open A-string, in my case tuned down to F, and turning up the gain until that saturated fizz comes in and makes the note sustain beyond its initial attack)