A very unique Revision G for you...

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Silverwulf

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Well, it seems that what we thought we knew about Rectos isn't 100% accurate. I give you Dual Recto R-003501. It's a Revision G wired up 2/24/94...BUT...it's built into a "Pre-500" chassis and has a factory serial loop. It looks, walks and talks like "Pre-500" by all appearance...but it's actually an early '94 Rev G. Here you go...













 
As a quick side note, I haven't really gone over the amp too well yet other than the obvious, and I won't get a chance to plug it in until tomorrow. But, this raises a lot of questions and gives some topics for discussion...

All Rev G's were thought to have parallel loops. This Recto (R-003501) is roughly 700 units into the production of Rev G and features a serial loop. I've never seen another Rev G with a factory serial loop before (and I've seen a lot of Rectos). I've seen Rectos as early as the 2700's or 2800's feature parallel loops.

This is an actual "Pre-500" chassis, back from when Rev C and Rev D were in production. These chassis had not been used for pushing 1.5 years or so by the time this amp was made, wired up in Feb '94. So, why use a 1.5+ year old chassis and serial loop for seemingly one amp, right in the heart of when Rev G was starting to be produced?

These questions run through my mind. Most of all, I'm curious...how does it sound? I mean, if it shipped form Mesa in early '94 as a Rev G with a "Pre-500" chassis and serial loop...I wonder what other - if any - "mods" may have been done at the factory to this particular amp? And more importantly...why? I'm curious if this may have been some one-off model made for a signed artist?

I'll report back regarding tone after I plug in tomorrow.
 
Maybe someone special ordered it with the serial loop and mesa did it because they still had chassis left over from the early rectos.
 
Thrash Till Deth said:
Maybe someone special ordered it with the serial loop and mesa did it because they still had chassis left over from the early rectos.

That's my best guess at the moment. I'll know more when I inspect it better and get a chance to plug in tomorrow.
 
I'm guessing it was sent back to Mesa for some reason...customer request? Note that it has the small logo as well. If memory serves by that range they were using the larger logo. I could be wrong though. Maybe the chasis and headshell were changed. Migs would know.

Well you've got a C to compare it to. This would be an interesting argument for revision vs. transformer argument.

Let us know.
 
clutch71 said:
I'm guessing it was sent back to Mesa for some reason...customer request? Note that it has the small logo as well. If memory serves by that range they were using the larger logo. I could be wrong though. Maybe the chasis and headshell were changed. Migs would know.

Well you've got a C to compare it to. This would be an interesting argument for revision vs. transformer argument.

Let us know.

The head shell is time appropriate. The small logos continued from the factory for roughly another year after this one was made.

The chassis is odd because it's a "Pre-500" chassis (as used on Rev C and Rev D), not just a "Pre-G" chassis like found on the Rev F and such. That means they had made another 2200+ Rectos with a serial loop that featured a slightly different chassis. This particular one hadn't been used in quite a while. If it was sent back, it would be more likely and make more sense that it would have featured the later serial loop chassis, not the "Pre-500."

If it did start life as a standard issue Rev G and was sent back to the factory, they would have also had to convert it from a parallel to a serial loop...then swap the serial number to the new chassis, etc. I can't see Mesa going to that trouble or even be willing to do that kind of swapping. I think it would have had to start life as you see it.

Right now I'm leaning towards it having to be a special order and it being shipped as it is. Possibly an artist special request, who knows? I'll be curious to know how it sounds when I plug it in. With a "Pre-500" chassis, I'm curious to know if it sounds like a Rev. G that it's supposed to be...or if it's tweaked to be basically a Rev. C or D. Guess I'll see tomorrow.
 
I couldn't remember how far into the serial range the small logo extended.

Regardless, I think you've got an interesting amp there. I can't wait to here how you think it sounds.

Has anyone ever asked Mesa if they track where the serial numbers go to? I wonder if they at least track serial xxxx to xxxx went to dealer__________? If something was special ordered? Repairs or mods that came back to the factory? Warranty info? In all my time on this board I don't recall this questions being asked.

Another thought occured to me Silverwulf...is there another set of initials inside the amp anywhere. If Mesa brought it back to work on it, would they have signed it then as well?
 
clutch71 said:
I couldn't remember how far into the serial range the small logo extended.

Regardless, I think you've got an interesting amp there. I can't wait to here how you think it sounds.

Has anyone ever asked Mesa if they track where the serial numbers go to? I wonder if they at least track serial xxxx to xxxx went to dealer__________? If something was special ordered? Repairs or mods that came back to the factory? Warranty info? In all my time on this board I don't recall this questions being asked.

Another thought occured to me Silverwulf...is there another set of initials inside the amp anywhere. If Mesa brought it back to work on it, would they have signed it then as well?

I've never asked specifically about serial numbers before, but I have asked in general and they noted that they didn't have records that were too specific. You can give them a serial number and they can give you approximate dates, like "it's probably a '93 or '94"...but they don't have records detailed enough to tell you "Oh, R-XXXX is a Rev. C made in 3/92" or anything like that.

At least that was the impression I got from them when I asked before, maybe someone else had a different experience. If an amp was sent back in to be repaired, I have seen them keep track of that, as well as mods. If this was some type special/artist order, they may have record. I'm going to give them a call on Monday and see if they have any record of it.

Regardless, it's definitely an interesting amp. I'll report back how it sounds.
 
DUN DUN DUN!!!! and the plot thickens!


Also, what do you mean by "pre500 chassis" ? I may have skipped the explanation, or maybe I'm just not understanding completely.
 
Elpelotero said:
DUN DUN DUN!!!! and the plot thickens!


Also, what do you mean by "pre500 chassis" ? I may have skipped the explanation, or maybe I'm just not understanding completely.

Oh, sorry about that. If you notice, the "Pre-500" chassis have one difference back they were first produced. If you look under the "Orange Channel Gain" selector switch, under the "Clean Rhythm" side...the "Pre-500" have the additional screening that says "Channel Volume 7-10." This was dropped on the later chassis after they tweaked the revisions and equalized the volumes. The chassis on R-003501 features that notation (as seen on the last pic).

Going to plug in this evening. Interested to see how it plays.
 
I assume this is your new blackface "revision F" that you were considering selling me ;)

What about the impedance on the outputs? Don't revision G's have 16, 8, 4, 4? And revisions C-F have 8-16, 8-16, 4, 4? I know there are some on record with the older configuration, and I'm sure this could be an addition to the acception.
 
jtxdriggers said:
I assume this is your new blackface "revision F" that you were considering selling me ;)

What about the impedance on the outputs? Don't revision G's have 16, 8, 4, 4? And revisions C-F have 8-16, 8-16, 4, 4? I know there are some on record with the older configuration, and I'm sure this could be an addition to the acception.

No, this is actually another Recto... :lol: I gave up trying to keep my signature up to date. I'll update it again when I settle on a few amps. I've got 4 Rectos downstairs at the moment.

The outputs lack consistency. The older Rectos do feature a 16-8/16-8/4/4 configuration and later models have a 16/8/4/4. However, the Rev F Triple (from late '92) has the later 16/8/4/4 configuration and the older 16-8/16-8/4/4 configuration was still scattered on Rectos into as late as early '95 that I've seen.
 
Initial impressions...took the tubes from the Rev C and put them into R-003501. Set the dials on Channel 2, "Modern" and gave it a whirl. My first impression...I was quite surprised. Honestly, it's very close to Rev C. In fact, it's scary close. After a while I think my ears started getting fatigued, so please bear in mind this is my initial impression. I'm going to revisit after a few days (prob Tuesday) and do comparisons again. But as of right now, it's pretty **** amazing how close Channel 2 was to Rev C.

So, I flipped over to Channel 1. Considering it's built into a "Pre-500" chassis and Channel 2 sounded scary close to Rev C, I started to wonder if it would have the same (lack of a) clean channel. Set the dials, started rolling up the volume...and instant clean volume. Played around with chords, single note stuff, etc. It was pretty much instantly recognizable in my mind with little doubt that the cleans are hands down Rev G.

So, this has turned out to be quite a surprise. My initial impression after tube swapping and playing for about 1.5 hours is that Channel 1 is without a doubt a stock Rev G sounding channel, especially on the cleans. However, Channel 2 is very scary close to Rev C, so close in fact I doubt my band mates would know the difference if I swapped head units during our break in practice on Tues.

I need to do a lot more comparison, and I want to get some more ears involved...but right now, there's a lot of things that are definitely out of the ordinary for a stock Rev G.
 
that is ridiculous....wow. Must be an artist model or something. Call Mesa and talk to Mike B or someone who knows their stuff.
 
Elpelotero said:
that is ridiculous....wow. Must be an artist model or something. Call Mesa and talk to Mike B or someone who knows their stuff.

Yeah, I'm going to give them a call tomorrow and see what they can tell me, if they even have any record of it. It was made a good 15 years ago, so I don't know if they'd have any info of anything that was done at the factory at this point. It's definitely a diamond in the rough.

I would have been perfectly happy with a stock Rev G with a factory serial loop. But this definitely has something more done to it. I haven't tried "Vintage High Gain" on Channel 1 yet, so that should be interesting. I'm gonna give my ears a break and get some opinions other than my own on Tues. Not that I don't trust my ears, but it's always good to get some other opinions.
 
Silverwulf said:
No, this is actually another Recto... :lol: I gave up trying to keep my signature up to date. I'll update it again when I settle on a few amps. I've got 4 Rectos downstairs at the moment.

The outputs lack consistency. The older Rectos do feature a 16-8/16-8/4/4 configuration and later models have a 16/8/4/4. However, the Rev F Triple (from late '92) has the later 16/8/4/4 configuration and the older 16-8/16-8/4/4 configuration was still scattered on Rectos into as late as early '95 that I've seen.

:shock: I suck at assumptions. The end.

But if this amp has the distortion of a rev C, and the cleans of a rev G, then wouldn't this be close the the perfect amp? Then again, the cleans on the rev G aren't much to brag about either, but they are definitely better than rev C's.

What about the tranny numbers? Do they match the "pre-500" (pre-2500, whatever you want to call it) transformers?

Also, are you interested in selling? :lol: You have 4 rectos and I have 1 blown one that I just sold haha
 
jtxdriggers said:
:shock: I suck at assumptions. The end.

But if this amp has the distortion of a rev C, and the cleans of a rev G, then wouldn't this be close the the perfect amp? Then again, the cleans on the rev G aren't much to brag about either, but they are definitely better than rev C's.

What about the tranny numbers? Do they match the "pre-500" (pre-2500, whatever you want to call it) transformers?

Haha, never really thought about it in those terms, but I guess a Rev C type OD and Rev G type clean prob would be about as good as it gets for a 2 Channel Recto.

Transformers are standard Rev G. Going to call Mesa today and see what I can figure out.
 
Well, general customer service yielded no extra info. Spoke with a rep, told him the scenario, and he kept saying "It must be an older revision when they were transitioning to G," meaning a Rev F or so. I told him it wasn't an F, it was indeed a G, and it was made a good 700-800 units into Rev G. The transition to G and parallel loops had long since happened. But, he just kept insisting it must be an "older model" and also said their records back then weren't very good.

So, he was basically no help... :lol: I'll just call back and talk to Mike B or someone next time.
 
Silverwulf said:
Oh, sorry about that. If you notice, the "Pre-500" chassis have one difference back they were first produced. If you look under the "Orange Channel Gain" selector switch, under the "Clean Rhythm" side...the "Pre-500" have the additional screening that says "Channel Volume 7-10." This was dropped on the later chassis after they tweaked the revisions and equalized the volumes. The chassis on R-003501 features that notation (as seen on the last pic).

Going to plug in this evening. Interested to see how it plays.

I'm pretty sure my rev F has this.

If it's a rev G board, OT, and PT, I don't really understand how it's going to sound any different?
 
Kung-Fool said:
I'm pretty sure my rev F has this.

If it's a rev G board, OT, and PT, I don't really understand how it's going to sound any different?

Interesting. Neither of my current Rev F's have this, and I don't recall my previous ones having it either. I could totally see then still having left over chassis from the earlier revisions and still using them up for earlier F's though. Anyone else with an F have this text on their chassis?

Just because it's a Rev G board doesn't mean it was wired up exactly as a stock G. There's no rationale for a G that's 700+ units into production to have a factory serial loop and be built into an older chassis to exist either, but it does. I can't explain it. It throws us all for a loop. Mesa was pretty adamant that they would not have taken any special order at that time. When I asked if it could have been some deviant special order for an artist, they said it was possible. I'm gonna call Mike B to see if he can shed some light on it.
 

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