Recoverb 25 live. How do you all use it?

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Biowolf78

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So, please excuse me if I sound like a noob. I have been playing for a long time, but recently got into the low wattage arena.

I've had the Rectoverb 25 for a good while now. I have not, however, used the amp for live gigs. I think it sounds KILLER at low to medium volume, but I feel the amp starts to get stressed way too often on louder levels. I normally use it on the 2nd channel with the vintage setting and the gain at about 3 o'clock (on low volumes, mind you). The amp sounds pretty sweet and I can do some pretty good trashy stuff ( I manage the EQ well).

The problem, therein, lies when I start to crank the amp's volume. Apart from having to lower the gain, obviously, I feel I can never get it loud and close to a tight sound for Maiden, early Metallica, or The Offspring-style riffs. The amp starts to make a loud sizzle sound if it has too much gain; like the power section is getting overloaded or something. I'm running it through a 1x12 Mesa Thiele and i'm beginning to wonder what tips you all can give me to achieve tight and useable moderate-high gain tones live.

I love the amp's size and compact nature, I'm just wondering what that sizzle sound is, and if it's even possible to play classic metal in a live setting.

Last question, and please don't laugh at me :oops: , but i'm joining a worship band at a local church and i'm super excited about getting to use my amp live. Any tips on settings or how to approach using the amp in a live setting? It will be put into an isolation cabinet and mic'd. On a final side note, how does one get to hear the amp if it's in an iso box? In ear monitors?

Thank you all, and long live Mesa! :mrgreen:
 
Biowolf78 said:
The amp starts to make a loud sizzle sound if it has too much gain; like the power section is getting overloaded or something. I'm running it through a 1x12 Mesa Thiele and i'm beginning to wonder what tips you all can give me to achieve tight and useable moderate-high gain tones live.

As the volume goes up, turn the gain down. 3:00 on a Recto is fairly mushy. I run my gain around 12:00. James Hetfield runs his gain around 12:00. If you want tight and percussive out of a Recto you have to back off the gain and let the power section do the heavy lifting.

Other than that, if you want tight then consider getting a closed back 2x12 or 4x12. I was never a fan of my Thiele...


Last question, and please don't laugh at me :oops: , but i'm joining a worship band at a local church and i'm super excited about getting to use my amp live. Any tips on settings or how to approach using the amp in a live setting? It will be put into an isolation cabinet and mic'd. On a final side note, how does one get to hear the amp if it's in an iso box? In ear monitors?

Gain at 12:00. Maybe as high as 1:00 if you have a light touch... lower if you smash the strings.

You'll hear your guitar through the monitors. If the venue is equipped with an iso cab they'll have the ability to monitor it.
 
+1

Don't be afraid to turn the gain way down. I went as low as 9:00, depending on the volume and venue.

Also, a Thiele really accentuates low and high frequencies. If you have a C90 or EVM12L especially, it will have a lot of high-end sizzle along with the heavy lows. You might try a V30, Creamback, Scumback, or other speaker with softer high response.

I gigged with a closed-back 1x2 widebody with V30 and it worked quite well. But in the end, a closed 2x12 has a lot of punch and comes through way better. I love the Mesa vertical 2x12.

The one place I struggled with the amp was at higher volumes. The amp can only make so much power, so the frequency response shifts from lows to mids as you crank it up. This can be good if you have a lot of lows already represented in the mix, but it can also get anemic. I have run my amp with a Radial JDX into FOH with excellent results. You could also pull signal from FX Send and run W/D or stereo with a second amp.
 
I gig regularly with a Mini Rec, so pretty much the same amp.
I use a 4x12 and have no problems with loud high gain tones, and thats with a loud drummer and the other guitarist uses a 40w valve combo. I suspect that your choice of cab is affecting things, as Elvis say's try a 2x12, i think you will be surprised at the difference.

Just last weekend i helped out a few guys i know by standing in for them and playing, it was 60's type stuff so i took a small 1x12 cab that i have lying around. Although plenty loud enough on ch2, i was surprised at the lack of volume on ch1 clean - With the 4x12 its super loud.

As for gain, i don't usually go above 1 o clock, and that's for the heavy stuff we play.
 
Nick79 said:
I gig regularly with a Mini Rec, so pretty much the same amp.
I use a 4x12 and have no problems with loud high gain tones, and thats with a loud drummer and the other guitarist uses a 40w valve combo. I suspect that your choice of cab is affecting things, as Elvis say's try a 2x12, i think you will be surprised at the difference.

Just last weekend i helped out a few guys i know by standing in for them and playing, it was 60's type stuff so i took a small 1x12 cab that i have lying around. Although plenty loud enough on ch2, i was surprised at the lack of volume on ch1 clean - With the 4x12 its super loud.

As for gain, i don't usually go above 1 o clock, and that's for the heavy stuff we play.

Is that in the Vintage setting? What happens when you go above 1 o clock? I ask, because when I go to 1o click on Vintage and crank it, it makes a weird loud sizzle sound and it sounds like the amp is being overloaded. Not usable at all, just noise
 
I usually use Modern but i have used vintage with the gain up around 3/4 and its been pretty quiet. There is a bit of hiss there but thats to be expected. Have you tried changing pre amp tubes, they are usually the culprit for unwanted noise.
 
Nick79 said:
I usually use Modern but i have used vintage with the gain up around 3/4 and its been pretty quiet. There is a bit of hiss there but thats to be expected. Have you tried changing pre amp tubes, they are usually the culprit for unwanted noise.

Not yet, I'm guessing it may be the problem
 
From my experience, the Mini Rec is relatively quiet, especially compared to some other lunchbox amps. It is a bit noisier than its bigger brother, but I think that is probably due to the smaller space in the amp ... anyway, it should be ok since Rectis don't have a sh!tload of gain and compression, so if it appears to be too noisy, maybe it's time to change the tubes.

I did that by the way when I bought the Mini used and to be true, couldn't really hear a difference after changing the power tubes and V1 to a Mesa highgrade. YMMV ...
 

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