Mesa preamps?

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vipmetal

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Which have more gain: Rectifier preamp or Tri-axis?

It seems that I need to use my tubesreamer in front of Rec pre in order to get nice lead-sound. Is there more gain in Tri-axis or do you have to use boost to play solos? I can't get enough sustain with Rec Pre alone. Does John Petrucci use boost in front of MarkIV? He has amazing lead-sound, looking for something similar out of my Rectifier preamp. Can you get MarkIV tones out of Tri-axis? I know what manual says, but is it so? Or do I need to change over to Mark head camp?
 
I cannot compare the two, but I can tell you that the Triaxis has more than enough gain. I have high output pickups (Suhr Doug Aldrich) and for lead I do not go above 5 on the lead2 drive setting (MarkII/IV)
It's a matter of taste if you choose the recto or the TA, the TA shines for mark tones, not the recto ones. You can approximate a Recto with the lead 1 red, but it is lacking.
I also cannot tell you how close the TA is to the original Marks, but I can tell you that you can get some amazing Mark type tones out of it.
 
Does Triaxis have more gain than Recto Pre? :shock:

Is it that way Rectifier head vs. MarkIV also? I'm surprised if so.. I realise they are different, but it seems that Rectifier Preamp doesn't have enough gain for solos..
 
Imo the triaxis has a lot better lead tone than the rec because it has 6 lead voicings. Plus the triaxis has all the mark voicings and the dual rec channel.
 
Ok,

must see if I can find a decent lead-tone with boosting preamp, otherwise I must buy Triaxis. It can take some time though.. those are awfully pricey in Europe.
 
I could be wrong, but from what I understand, the Mark IV has a more compressed preamp than the Recto. You might want to try a compressor upfront.
I boost the front end of my Recto with a Boss SD-1. I get plenty of sustain this way, it tightens up the low end and adds compression, but not much. The recto isn't completely helpless when it comes to leads. However it's not going to be that classic Boogie lead. Another option is put a EQ in the loop and raise the upper mids some which Marks are full of.
In the end the Recto just might not be for you. If you have Triaxis on the brain. I suggest you take a look at a Quad preamp. I found them much more organic in tone than a Triaxis, but you can't beat the size and options of a Triaxis. IMO.
 
It's not really the compression that is different, it's the whole gain structure.
The Recto has the tone stack after the gain stages, that means that all the frequencies are distorted equally (giving that "loose" sound) and then shaped.
The Marks have the tone stack before the gain stages, meaning that first the signal is shaped and only the "necessary" frequencies are then distorted. This gives more control on the character of the distortion, but less control on the final shaping. Thus the need for the graphic eq.

Putting an OD pedal in front of the rectifier does something like the tone stack on the Marks, creates a "pre shaping" of the signal and makes the Recto sound tighter, in the line of Marks.
 
Hi,

thanks for the tips. I have TS9 which I intend to try boosting the Rec Pre.. btw I just found out a video in youtube where Mark Snyder builds John Petrucci a live rig on Train of Thought tour and there's three Road King heads.. I didn't knew that John have used Rectifier sound. I don't mind having that ToT tone myself.. 8) I thought he only used MarkIV's and Triaxis.. so tomorrow I finally have chance to test how boosting will help in lead-tone..
 
vipmetal said:
Hi,

thanks for the tips. I have TS9 which I intend to try boosting the Rec Pre.. btw I just found out a video in youtube where Mark Snyder builds John Petrucci a live rig on Train of Thought tour and there's three Road King heads.. I didn't knew that John have used Rectifier sound. I don't mind having that ToT tone myself.. 8) I thought he only used MarkIV's and Triaxis.. so tomorrow I finally have chance to test how boosting will help in lead-tone..

john used the road kings during the ToT recording and tour as well as he used it for octavarium recordings and half of the tour.
and btw. he only used the orange channel which was set to "vintage" and "tube tracking". for leads he tried several different overdrive pedals in front. (e.g. MXR ZW-44, Boss SD-1, Tubescreamer)
 
Last night I finally had my sound completed, boosting Recto Pre with TS-9 Gain 0, Level max... said it to my bandmates when:

All of a sudden, right side of the Rec Pre lost it's volume, not completely, but you could hear only silent sound. Record out's were both as silent as right live output. Strong signal coming from left main output and send only. So I tried to change all tubes one by one, but nothing happened? Any ideas? Nothing wrong with Mesa Stereo2:fifty. Changed cables with right and left outputs in preamp and problem shifted also. Other gear were also out of signal path... :(
 

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