Just bought a recto 4x12 cab. What a waste of $899... Help?

[Dominus22]

Aaugh god... I think I'm gonna be sick...

Ok, so I think to myself what would go better with my DR than a standard recto cab, right? I mean, they were made for each other, right? So I go to Guitar Center, plop down my $960 (with tax) and take my recto cab home like a proud daddy coming home from the hospital.

I plug it in, crank my DR up to about noon with my usual settings and what do I get? FARTING SPEAKERS!!!!! The **** speakers are shaking like it's a freaking earth quake! It pains me to say this, but **** - my old Peavey 412MS with the Sheffield 1290s spanks the hell out of this cab! When I had my old Peavey cab cranked and I hit a nice chunky muted cord I could feel it thud through my chest like I just got hit by a boxer. With this cab all I get is a juicy fart. When I turn down the bass the farts go away, but it leaves me sounding thin and weak.

Ok, since I already threw my money down the drain, is there any hope for this cab? Is the cab the issue or is it the speakers? Should I swap the V30s for G12T-75s? I like a nice chunky, tight, thick sound. Some people suggested putting polyfill in the cab. Anybody done this? Could it be that the speakers need to be broken in? Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

 

[Platypus]

GC has a 30 day return policy, if you don't like the cab just go get your $ back and get something else.

That sounds messed up though, are you sure the speakers are ok?

 

[Elpelotero]

if the cab is not broken, it seems like the smaller traditional stilleto cab would suit your musical style better. it's a lot tighter. see if you can get a trade, assuming the cab isn't broken.

 

[jbird]

Try getting away from your "usual" settings! :wink:

 

[domct203]

Try getting away from your "usual" settings! :wink:

+1.

I love my Recto 4X12, but it just may not be the cab for you. The Stiletto cab is a tighter sounding cab however.

What cab/speakers were you using and what is it that made you get a new cab?

Head back to GC and compare cabs side by side. It's the only way to know for sure.

Dom

 

[Dominus22]

Before I got the recto cab I was using the Peavey 412MS with the Sheffield 1290's. I sold it to help pay for the recto. I just thought that I would get a better sound by using a matching head and cabinet and I heard so many good things about the recto cab. Big mistake. Anyway, the settings I usually use are this:

Ch 3, Modern, diodes, bold
treble - 2 oclock
Mids - 8 oclock
Bass - 12 oclock
Presence - 10 oclock
Master - 11 oclock
Gain - 3 oclock

I'm looking for an in your face crunchy sound, a la "A New Level" by Pantera. Any ideas on getting that sound without getting mud out of the speakers? I doubt anything is actually wrong with the cab since all four speakers are shaking.

 

[Barracuda]

Aaugh god... I think I'm gonna be sick...

Ok, so I think to myself what would go better with my DR than a standard recto cab, right? I mean, they were made for each other, right? So I go to Guitar Center, plop down my $960 (with tax) and take my recto cab home like a proud daddy coming home from the hospital.

I plug it in, crank my DR up to about noon with my usual settings and what do I get? FARTING SPEAKERS!!!!! The **** speakers are shaking like it's a freaking earth quake! It pains me to say this, but **** - my old Peavey 412MS with the Sheffield 1290s spanks the hell out of this cab! When I had my old Peavey cab cranked and I hit a nice chunky muted cord I could feel it thud through my chest like I just got hit by a boxer. With this cab all I get is a juicy fart. When I turn down the bass the farts go away, but it leaves me sounding thin and weak.

Ok, since I already threw my money down the drain, is there any hope for this cab? Is the cab the issue or is it the speakers? Should I swap the V30s for G12T-75s? I like a nice chunky, tight, thick sound. Some people suggested putting polyfill in the cab. Anybody done this? Could it be that the speakers need to be broken in? Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

NEVER buy a floor model of anything from GC.

 

[Elpelotero]

whoa! you got to up those mids, man!! You have to understand that the oversized recto cab puts out a lot of bass on its own, creating a naturally scooped sound. Furthermore, rectifiers put out a naturally scooped sound on their own. When you couple this with knocking the mids down to 8oclock, you're kind of asking for trouble.

What I'm trying to say is there's really no need to kill the mids on this amp/cab because they are already doing before you even hit a chord.

Your gain is also unnecessarily high considering the volume you are running at. The more and more you max out gain, the more you lose the other knob's effects. If you're going to put that much gain, you have to up the treble and mids along with it. Try putting everything at 12 and redo your settings.

Here's one of my favorite settings that you may like. I'm trying to go off memory here...I got it from Korn's rig:

Gain:230-300
Treble: around 45-55 degrees
Mids: same as treble
Bass: about 12-1oclock
Presence: 12

Even Korn cranks those mids!

 

[Purple_Castle]

Hi

I will definitly sugest to high mids to at least 10.10-11, take gain to 2 o`clock give a bit more precence and lover the bass to 11 or something.

I run this kind of setup with my rectoverb and with my friends dual I was playing with almost the same settings depending on the volume and guitar but I always keep my bass behind 12 and mids around 11 try messing with it first but keep in mind that Recto cabs are BASSY, I prefer stiletto cabs I now own 2x12 stiletto cab and it`s definitly thighter and brighter than recto which is what i prefer my sound to be.

Hope that helps a bit

Sincerly

 

[Platypus]

Before I got the recto cab I was using the Peavey 412MS with the Sheffield 1290's. I sold it to help pay for the recto. I just thought that I would get a better sound by using a matching head and cabinet and I heard so many good things about the recto cab. Big mistake. Anyway, the settings I usually use are this:

Ch 3, Modern, diodes, bold
treble - 2 oclock
Mids - 8 oclock
Bass - 12 oclock
Presence - 10 oclock
Master - 11 oclock
Gain - 3 oclock

I'm looking for an in your face crunchy sound, a la "A New Level" by Pantera. Any ideas on getting that sound without getting mud out of the speakers? I doubt anything is actually wrong with the cab since all four speakers are shaking.

Use a different amp heh

Anyway, try the stiletto cab, it sounds like it's more up your alley. The floor models at GC are like buying a rental car.. think about how people treat them.

edit: your mids are at 8 o clock? You DO realize that guitar's frequencies are suited towards midrange right?

That might sound good alone but in a band situation, especially with an already mid-scooped amp, you're never going to cut through.

 

[Dominus22]

NEVER buy a floor model of anything from GC.

It wasn't a floor model. They pulled it from the back, still new in a sealed box.

I think I figured it out, fellas. When I turn the output down to about 9 oclock this thing sounds SWEET! Unfortunately, 9 oclock aint gonna cut it at band practice. When I turn it up to noon, I get the farting flubbing sound. So I put 2 and 2 together - My Peavey 412MS = 300W, Recto Standard = 240W. It's these **** Celestion V30s, they start breaking up at high volumes.

Anybody tried G12T-75s or G12K-100s?

 

[Elpelotero]

I really doubt that's the problem...I'm throwing a long shot here because I'm not in the room and can't hear the cab, but I really don't think it's the issue...I've never had that experience, nor has anyone here I know. Maybe you just got bad speakers?

 

[siggy14]

Trust me, take the advice these guys gave you, it has to do with your settings, the V30's and the oversized cab give you a natural mid scooped, you have to keep those mid's up wiht this combination.

I would also suggest getting a stiletto cab.

NEVER buy a floor model of anything from GC.

It wasn't a floor model. They pulled it from the back, still new in a sealed box.

I think I figured it out, fellas. When I turn the output down to about 9 oclock this thing sounds SWEET! Unfortunately, 9 oclock aint gonna cut it at band practice. When I turn it up to noon, I get the farting flubbing sound. So I put 2 and 2 together - My Peavey 412MS = 300W, Recto Standard = 240W. It's these **** Celestion V30s, they start breaking up at high volumes.

Anybody tried G12T-75s or G12K-100s?

 

[Purple_Castle]

Try different settings with less bass and more mid and treble and if everything is alraight with the speakers and it is still farting in your opinion, this means that`s not the cab for you and you should take a Mesa like yours in the shop and check another Mesa cabinet(stiletto should is definitly less bassy)

good luck in your serch for tone

 

[Kung-Fool]

Before I got the recto cab I was using the Peavey 412MS with the Sheffield 1290's. I sold it to help pay for the recto. I just thought that I would get a better sound by using a matching head and cabinet and I heard so many good things about the recto cab. Big mistake. Anyway, the settings I usually use are this:

Ch 3, Modern, diodes, bold
treble - 2 oclock
Mids - 8 oclock
Bass - 12 oclock
Presence - 10 oclock
Master - 11 oclock
Gain - 3 oclock

I'm looking for an in your face crunchy sound, a la "A New Level" by Pantera. Any ideas on getting that sound without getting mud out of the speakers? I doubt anything is actually wrong with the cab since all four speakers are shaking.

Way too much bass and gain in my opinion and as others have said way too little mids. When I had a 3 ch. my settings were somewhat like this...

Ch 3, Modern, diodes, bold
treble - 12:30
Mids - 12:30 - 1:00
Bass - 9:00
Presence - 11:00 - 11:30
Gain - 12:30 - 1:00

If you want it really tight turn the gain down a bit and hit it with an OD. You'll also be able to use more bass that way.

 

[playdosboogies]

cant believe no one has mentioned how terrible new v30's sound. once they break in they will sound awesome..give it time grasshopper. or crank em up for a few days. replacement speaker companies make all their millions off people like this, expecting a brand new cab to sound awesome. it just aint so.

 

[Dominus22]

Thanks for the tips, guys. I've been playing with it all afternoon trying all of the settings recommended. Still the same problem no matter what the settings are, when I take it to a volume level that can be heard with a drummer the speakers start breaking up. I've been poking around the forum and I see a lot of posts saying that the V30s break up easily. Most of the people posting this think it's a good thing that the speakers distort and they consider it a desirable part of their tone. I on the other hand think it sounds terrible.

Check out this thread I found on the John Petrucci forum:

http://www.petrucciforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=22546&highlight=yngwie%27s+tech

The most important part of the thread being this:

The speakers Yngwie uses are Celestion G12T-75
Many published sources wrongly claim he uses Greenbacks or 30 watt speakers but that is not the case. He dislikes speaker distortion as he needs a tight response for quick picking and thus uses the 300w cabs on a 50 watt amp head.

I know because I got Yngwie his CELESTION endorsement deal when we had to re-fit several of his old speaker cabs.
When we took them apart...... Poof..... 75 watters.

Now I'm not an Yngwie fan at all, but that sounds like what I need - a tight response for quick picking and no speaker distortion. I don't see how a cabinet design would effect speaker distortion, so it's got to be the V30s. I think I'm going to go to Guitar Center next weekend and pick up some of those G12K-100s.

 

[Purple_Castle]

Please put some clips when you will have the new cab on G12 I`m curious how it will sound.

Hope it will take you closer to the sound that you hear in your head.

 

[ibanez4life SZ!]

The Mesa C90 speakers might be up your alley....90 watts a piece, and defintely won't break up.

 

[Elpelotero]

Before you start replacing speakers, you owe it to yourself to test the stilleto cab. this is much tighter and will be a better foundation for you to replace speakers with. the oversized standard cab will always give you more bass regardless of the speakers you put.