'95 2 Chanel Recto vs. FJA Recto (clips)

Finally got around to recording a short clip of the '95 2 Channel I recently got.

Red Channel:

Master: 9:00
Presence: 10:00
Bass: 11:00
Mid: 12:00
Treble: 12:00
Gain: 1:30

2 tracks (left and right), used some slight compression and a dash of LPF. Other than that, it's the signal that was coming from the SM57 that was on a Blackstar 1x12 with a WGS Veteran 30 mic'd on axis, center cone.

Clip: http://goo.gl/9YDIX (Ruby 12ax7 in V1)
Clip: http://goo.gl/a9dKc (EH Gold Pin in V1)

YouTube: http://goo.gl/4nQZA

EDIT:

Here is my old FJA Recto with Vintage 30's as a comparison: http://db.tt/ZJBsVkY


Good idea YellowJacket!

the link didnt work for me

Strange. Maybe it's your firewall? Link works for me!

Try the direct link: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/11676233/Mesa_RevG_Clip1.mp3

Sounds good! How was it going from a modded 3 channel "back to the basics" so to speak?

b0nkersx said:

Sounds good! How was it going from a modded 3 channel "back to the basics" so to speak?

Click to expand...

Love it. Just super comfortable and so easy to play.

sounds great man. no boost and still sounds killer!!

Sounds great, man! Very modern. I'm with you on the "feel" of the amps to play. I literally tried my old Roadster for a week straight...different tubes, different settings, different modes, etc. I never quite got it feel just right. After that week, I plugged back into my 2 channel Dual...felt and sounded perfect within 30 seconds to me, haha.

Silverwulf said:

I'm with you on the "feel" of the amps to play. I literally tried my old Roadster for a week straight...different tubes, different settings, different modes, etc. I never quite got it feel just right.

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Yeah that is exactly it. I did the same thing with my FJA Recto that you did with your Roadster....except I was trying tubes, settings, etc for a few years. :lol:

Nothing beats the old amps.

Sounded great! Next head for me for sure. 8)

fluff191 said:

Silverwulf said:

I'm with you on the "feel" of the amps to play. I literally tried my old Roadster for a week straight...different tubes, different settings, different modes, etc. I never quite got it feel just right.

Click to expand...

Yeah that is exactly it. I did the same thing with my FJA Recto that you did with your Roadster....except I was trying tubes, settings, etc for a few years. :lol:

Nothing beats the old amps.

Click to expand...

Ive always said the 2chs have the mojo in the feel dept. Theres just something about them. If it has a better feel, then you play better. When you play better you sound better. Great sounding clip. I like the EH clip better.

Now, is this the mouse **** amp?

droptrd said:

I like the EH clip better.

Now, is this the mouse sh!t amp?

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I too really like the EH clip as well. I left the EH in the amp after I was done.

And yes this is the Mouse Trap amp :lol:

Fluff, can you possibly put up the FJA recto clips so we can compare them to the stock 2 channel recto. I have to admit, I am VERY curious to compare them.

YellowJacket said:

Fluff, can you possibly put up the FJA recto clips so we can compare them to the stock 2 channel recto. I have to admit, I am VERY curious to compare them.

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Good call!!!

FJA 3 Channel Recto w/ Celestion Vintage 30: http://db.tt/ZJBsVkY


95 2 Channel Recto w/ WGS Veteran 30: http://db.tt/CIWn1Ku


Think I will change the original post too.

both the 2 channel and 3 channel clips are cool tones . different but both are equally cool


the 2 channel top end does sound brighter and crisper and more open .better

Think I like the bottom end/low mids on the 3 channel a touch more. i like the chunk

****, I miss my '95.


Sounds great Fluff!

mikey383 said:

****, I miss my '95.


Sounds great Fluff!

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....thanks to your tubes!!!!! 8)

Wow, quite different. The FJA mod really removes the 'fizz' and give a more 'clear' sound to the gain. Less bright, for sure. I think it really does improve the three channel tone a lot but more than that, it really changes the voice of the amp in a subtle way. Is it just me, or does John smooth out the entire frequency response of the amp?
The 2 Channel Dual does have more of that high end to it which gives it more bite, sizzle, and intensity to the tone. Definitely sounds heavier and more detailed.

In my experience, the biggest challenge with Recto series amps is to keep the gain tone from getting muddy. The crunch is often so detailed that it can become flubby and undefined quickly with too much gain. I was playing around with yellow jackets and my thiele cab for vintage tones and when I started running the Mock212B with a quad of 6L6s I was once again stunned with how great it sounds. As much as I love speaker distortion, I am quickly becoming convinced that Mesa amps must be run with tight and fairly clear sounding speakers such as Celestion v30s / c90s, WGS Veteran 30s, etc. I am also surprised how important pickups are to the signal chain. The Bare Knuckle upgrade, which I did on a whim, has proven to be the best investment I have made for my rig, hands down. I can run the gain higher and there is an openness and clarity to the tone that you can't get with other pickups. The Seymour Duncans sound muddy with that much gain.

YellowJacket said:

W Is it just me, or does John smooth out the entire frequency response of the amp?
The 2 Channel Dual does have more of that high end to it which gives it more bite, sizzle, and intensity to the tone. Definitely sounds heavier and more detailed.

Click to expand...

Yeah the FJA was more rounded off in the highs for sure, but it felt kind of thin when you were standing in front of the cab strumming. Just a 'feel' thing, really. The FJA did not have that 'oomph' when you hit the strings like the 2 Channel.

fluff191 said:

YellowJacket said:

W Is it just me, or does John smooth out the entire frequency response of the amp?
The 2 Channel Dual does have more of that high end to it which gives it more bite, sizzle, and intensity to the tone. Definitely sounds heavier and more detailed.

Click to expand...

Yeah the FJA was more rounded off in the highs for sure, but it felt kind of thin when you were standing in front of the cab strumming. Just a 'feel' thing, really. The FJA did not have that 'oomph' when you hit the strings like the 2 Channel.

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I noticed that about the FJA mod as well. I always thought it was extremely bright sounding, thin and lacked any girth to it. Never really understood that.

Neptical said:

fluff191 said:

YellowJacket said:

W Is it just me, or does John smooth out the entire frequency response of the amp?
The 2 Channel Dual does have more of that high end to it which gives it more bite, sizzle, and intensity to the tone. Definitely sounds heavier and more detailed.

Click to expand...

Yeah the FJA was more rounded off in the highs for sure, but it felt kind of thin when you were standing in front of the cab strumming. Just a 'feel' thing, really. The FJA did not have that 'oomph' when you hit the strings like the 2 Channel.

Click to expand...

I noticed that about the FJA mod as well. I always thought it was extremely bright sounding, thin and lacked any girth to it. Never really understood that.

Click to expand...

I think the purpose of the FJA mod is to remove fizz and add clarity to the tone. The idea is that you can then pile more gain saturation on top of that. I would guess it gives more sustain and a 'better' lead tone. Fluff will have to chime in on this since I have never owned one of John's modded heads. It is really a question of what the individual player needs, I guess.

I personally like the sound of the 2 Channel dual better stock. It sounds much more aggressive and urgent. There is also that 'girth' to the tone, which can quickly become muddy with low quality components. If the fizz is a problem, I find that combining v30 and c90 speakers really smooths out the top end. The only potential 'downside' is that the speaker combination places a bit more emphasis on the low mids, when the Dual Rectifier is a low mid heavy amp to begin with. I find the v30 and c90 each have a different high frequency spike so when you put them together, it becomes much more smooth. Definitely the best tone I have heard with a Recto. The huge gain with the v30 and c90 combo is that the lead tones become much more usable. Definitely a HUGE advantage!!