Advice on Dual Recto Trem-O-Verb combo

Heya there. First post here.... hoping one of you folks could give me some advice. When I was younger, I had a 3-channel Dual Recto half stack that I used to play shows with. Unfortunately, with college, marriage, and child bearing, I sold it some years back. Life has mellowed out and I've been wanting to get an amp again. I really miss that Dual Rectifier sound, and found a good deal on Craigslist for a Trem-O-Verb 2x12" combo amp.

This brings me to my question: Is there any way to play this amp reasonably quiet in such a way that the tone is decent? I live in a house with a garage, and while I don't have to worry about neighbors sharing a wall, I'd hate to shake the neighborhood. Any pointers on reasonable solo practice volumes? Should this setup theoretically be half the volume of a 4x12 Dual Recto half stack?

I'd love to have the Mesa sound back in my life with the potential to maybe play a small show again someday. Any advise would be righteous.

Check out the mini rectifier! Or the recto-verb 25 combo. Used, they should be cheaper than the full size tremo-verb combo. Unless your sold on the 2x12, then, my advise, life is to short to play quiet.

With my 3 Channel, I keep the volume a little lower on the channel masters, increase the fx send to 2:00 or higher, and liberally use the overall master volume (output). The original idea was to keep the loop from creating drive and giving the power section some room to have the volume up. A benefit of finding a balance between the fx send level and the output volume is that a more normal fx send allows for higher output levels, as long as the channel volumes stay low.

An example for being loud would be Modern volume 9:00, fx send 2:00, and output Noon. An example for being quieter is Modern volume 8:30, fx send 1:00, output 9:00. This quieter level isn't necessarily a "bedroom" level, but people won't hear it 4 houses over, either (I've checked). My surround sound gets louder for an awesome movie.

I used Modern, because it's the loudest mode. Vintage is at a similar level at 10:00-ish. The loop has to be set to "On" for it to work all the time.

Now, a T-verb is a little different from a 3 channel, obviously. One difference is that the Output control doesn't have a filter to help the highs come through when the volume is low. A person with a T-verb might need to have the Send between Noon and 11:00 to get that control high enough for a balanced sound without blasting it.

Maybe someone with a 2 Channel amp can tell you how well this works for them?

I can't say I know what all the fuss is about.

I have two Tremoverb combos.

If I want to play quietly I turn it down.

Dial in your tone, turn down the volume. If tone changes enough to warrant tone stack adjustments, then by all means do so.

When you can/want to play loud. Turn it up, again, if tone changes then adjust the tone stack.

I have played my combos very low...not bedroom... so that no one outside could here, and they sound absolutely amazing.

Of course, now I only play loud. Taking a tube amp to that sweet spot is just necessary. We all use ear protection and I live in the country.

I am just lucky. I will say that it took time to learn how to play guitar at loud volumes.

You will learn too. Good luck, the Tremoverb is one of Mesa's BEST amps...hands down.

Thanks guys. I actually find that this thing sounds pretty good at lower volumes. Obviously not epic tone but good enough to practice with and get that Boogie feel.

The TOV IS IMHO THE best sounding Boogie ever. My goodness man if you can get one by all means do!

I had the 100W head version of this and i loved it but low volume playing is tricky. You can do it with using the fxloop as a master to drive the tubes from what I recall. That said, there are other alternatives. I now have a RK2 2x12 combo and I just ordered the two notes torpedo live which is a live box. I want to be able to drive my amp and yet record at a reasonable level. It goes directly into your daw etc. I have heard of a lot of folks using them in place of cabs live as well with great results. This also has a headphone out so it could be a good plan b if you want late night or apt jamming etc without a divorce or eviction. That said it has a large drawback in that its 1000 bucks so not really a cheap item but if you want it for recording like I do and like the flexibility of picking your cab and mic virtually etc then it could be a great option. Cheers!

http://www.two-notes.com/en/hardware/torpedo-live/