Are the channels clones?

[barryswanson]

I have a new multi watt dual recto and was wondering if channel two and three are the exact same things ? After reading the presence mod thread Is the only difference the presence pot? Does this apply to the multi watt? If it did why would anyone do that mod if you already have what your looking for on channel two? Sorry I'm just confuse.

 

[Shemham]

The presence pot values are exactly same. Modern mode uses 100k pot while the Vintage uses 25k value.

Only reason to change the presence pot value would be to make the channels different if you're not happy with the original values e.g. wanting even more presence.

I can't tell if the channels should be exactly identical. Original 3-channel head had different value fixed resistors (22k and 33k) between the presence pot and ground. It could be implemented to multi-watt version too. I measured the original gain pots out of circuit and another pot had 220k value while the other one was 250k ohm. I'm not in position to say whet her that's part of the design or not, but the pots have same product code.

 

[jbird]

They are not identical, channel two is optimized for the vintage mode, whatever that means...

 

[Third Age Amps]

There is an extra treble cap on Ch 3, and the main differences are in the modes rather than the channels. Ch 2 Raw turns the Presence pot into a high-cut (essentially), and Ch 2 Modern and Vintage use a classic NFB/Presence circuit. On Ch 3 the Modern mode uses the high-cut, and Vintage and Raw modes use the classic NFB/Presence circuit.

 

[Shemham]

There is an extra treble cap on Ch 3, and the main differences are in the modes rather than the channels.

I think this is true only for the original 3-channel model. Multiwatt has 500pf + 180pf treble caps for both channels 2 and 3.

 

[screamingdaisy]

I have a new multi watt dual recto and was wondering if channel two and three are the exact same things ? After reading the presence mod thread Is the only difference the presence pot? Does this apply to the multi watt? If it did why would anyone do that mod if you already have what your looking for on channel two? Sorry I'm just confuse.

On the older (pre Multi-Watt) 3 channels channel 2was optimized for Raw/Vintage and channel 3 was optimized for Modern.

The presence pot mods were for people who wanted two of the same channel.... For instance, maybe they wanted to use channel 2 vintage for rhythm and channel 3 on vintage with more gain for leads.

On the Multi-watt Mesa fixed this issue. Both channels 2 and 3 can be used on any mode without issue.

 

[TRENCHLORD]

They don't sound or feel quite the same to me, even on the muti-watts.

With multi-watt triple;

On Orange-Modern I run my gain and mids just about a notch or two (meaning an hour or two) higher than I do on Red-Modern IF I'm trying to get them very close to the same feel and tone.
If both channels are set identically then Orange sounds wider and more pissed-off/raw, while Red is a bit more compressed, smoother and squishier feel.

They definitely fixed the presence knob "issue", I run my presence knobs about the same for both channels (if both channels are in the same mode and I was going for cloned-tone).