Recto issues, small pains in my recto

Ok..3part question...

1.
when playing through ch 2/3 the sound can be very... for want of a better word grainy. or has too much presence.
my eq is set quite balanced across all channels. the presence controls are usually off or set very low. I drive the channel volumes round 1-2 oclock bass round 11-12 and mids round the same I don't crank the gain past 2oclock most of the time. the treb is set to 1 oclock. and mode is usually set to vintage.
it stands out alot more when recording (various dyn mics) and i find i have to mess with my settings substancially to avoid it. Which means turning the gain down to round 12 oclock, which is just too Undistorted to fit the JP & vai style tones i like..
(Btw where i like to have my gain usually is not overly saturated as I do like to hear the Tone from my guitars)
whats goin on?? The pre tubes and power tubes have been changed without any change to the problem.

2.
not a big issue... but Ch 3 could be set to the exact same settings eq and mode as ch 2 (even the presence Which I know is a different pot)
but ch 2 will be clearer in sound with more brightness and i have to turn settings higher on ch3 to match the sound. I know ch 2 and 3 are technically identical besides the presence control. (or am i wrong there)?

3.
when the amp is turned on after warming up i always get a pop when changing channels for the first time or 2.
usually i switch channels before the standby is flipped on. but it still happens. can this be eliminated??

I will state with all issues, The pre tubes and power tubes have been changed in and out without any change to the problems. that the loop is always active on all three channels with the Gmaj going. but all quirks are still present with the loop off. also in (spongy or bold) and (tubs or diodes) it has been this way since i bought the amp. but i figured i would throw it out there.
any thoughts???

You have passed the recto honeymoon and have encountered the fundamental flaws of the amp. This is how rectifiers all sound, especially the newer 3 channel ones. Older 2 channel rectifiers are warmer sounding, but they too have a bit of that fuzzy sound. You can change tubes, pickups, guitars, etc. but you will never be able to EQ out that fizz 100%.

Your settings are pretty much spot on as far as the sweet spots go.

I would try 2 things:
1) Pick up a boost pedal (maxon od808 seems to work best) as this will tighten the amp and remove some of the unwanted tones. If you don't like the sound with a pedal in front (volume up, gain off), then a Recto is likely not for you and I'd trade it.

2) The popping noise is also a natural issue. Many have limited success by switching through the channels via the footswitch while the amp is warming up in standby. This seems to discharge some of the built up electricity that causes the popping.

MrBoggles said:

... for want of a better word grainy. or has too much presence.

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Elpelotero said:

You have passed the recto honeymoon and have encountered the fundamental flaws of the amp. This is how rectifiers all sound, especially the newer 3 channel ones.

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Exactly the reason why my 3 Channel is being sent out to FJA Mods in NYC first thing tomorrow morning. I have spent over a year changing tubes, Biasing the amp properly, and getting the best pickups and cords available and eliminating any potential bad spots in the signal chain.

So now I am taking it one step further and having the amp modified. Should be pretty cool. The wife actually set it all up for my birthday. I will let you everyone know once I get the amp back in a few weeks.

Love to get a report on the FJA mods - I've been on the fence about them.

Randall

#2 - Channel 2 & 3 are almost identical, the only difference being the presence pots as you are aware. The manual states that the presence of Ch 3 picks up were the max presence of Ch 2 leaves off so you will have a very different sound even with the same tone settings as noted here:

DR 3ch Manual said:

CHANNEL 3 is optimized for the legendary MODERN mode with a range of PRESENCE far exceeding that of CHANNEL 2. This channels’ PRESENCE picks up where CHANNEL 2 leaves off and allows top end harmonics that are downright dangerous. The trade off here is that for VINTAGE and RAW the PRESENCE is hyperactive and must be dialed with care to achieve the more warm and round sounds. You can think of it like this...a Presence setting equivalent to CHANNEL 2’s PRESENCE Control set to 5:30 (maximum), is found in CHANNEL 3 at approximately 10:00 on CHANNEL 3’s PRESENCE Control. This means that the whole range is compressed for these more vocal sounds and the resolution for brighter sounds is expanded.

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So the only way to get identical sound with the factory settings would be to dime the presence on CH 2 and dial it way back on CH 3...probably not ideal unless that's the tone you're going for. You could swap the channel 3 pot for one of the same value as channel 2 and it would then be identical.

MF said:

So the only way to get identical sound with the factory settings would be to dime the presence on CH 2 and dial it way back on CH 3...probably not ideal unless that's the tone you're going for. You could swap the channel 3 pot for one of the same value as channel 2 and it would then be identical.

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That is the Bias pot thread. The one you want is the one I wrote on how to do the pot swap here: http://forum.grailtone.com/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=36172

And channel 2 & 3 have different mid-range voicings. So they will still sound a bit different. Hope this helps!

Yeah I figured that. good to get a 2nd opinion...
the quirks have never been more of a slight Grrr..
Cheers.