I bought a Dual Rectifier some years ago from Guitar Center. Returned it two days later.
I bought a Dual Rectifier some years ago from Guitar Center. Returned it two days later.
Lol. Every time I mess with Dual Rectos, I find that the treadplate writes checks that the circuit can't really cash. I remember the first time time I plugged into a Dual Recto half stack in a music store in the mid 90's. I was beyond hyped after hearing about them. I walked away confused and disappointed. At the time I didn't know anything about boosts or EQ shaping or whatever, just that the amp was a flubby mess that sounded nothing like recordings I'd heard.
Now I know more about what the amp is and it's my belief that boosts, or at least bass cuts, are mandatory with Dual Recs. It almost feels like Mesa designed them specifically to be chameleons in that way, like there's minimal high pass filtering at the input because the player is meant to be able to specifically sculpt the texture of the distortion however they want with an input EQ. But, if this really was Mesa's idea, they definitely didn't market the amp that way.
Personally I think the Dual Recto would have been a much better (or at least more approachable) amp if Mesa had given it the Mark treatment and added a Mark-style tonestack before preamp distortion along with the current tonestack after it. If Mesa really did want people to sculpt their own sounds as an integral part of the amp, they should have included a built-in way to do it.
I'm sure eventually Cliff will model the Badlander.The Dual Rectifier has always been my favorite amp. Owned about 4 or 5 different ones over the span of 20ish years. The first one I got in 99 was a Tremoverb and it sounded better to me than any of the others I had. They always reminded me of Gibson (fitting now I guess) in that you really had to play each one to find "the one" and even then they took a bit of finesse and tweaking to get them where you wanted.
I wish they would have done the Badlander years ago when I could still convince myself that I needed a rig that I could play the Shoreline Amphitheater with. The clips I have heard generate a little GAS.... NO!
They said it was designed around the engine roar coming from the repair shop across the street.
It's funny how it's nearly identical but sounds essentially nothing like it. 5150 too, same basic idea with the super cold biased third stage.They might say that but it was actually designed around the SLO-100 circuit they lifted off Mike Soldano
The primary reason for the very different sound is the R/C network hanging off the tone stack.It's funny how it's nearly identical but sounds essentially nothing like it. 5150 too, same basic idea with the super cold biased third stage.
I'm pretty sure the only reason they made the recto was to patent troll small builders, but I wouldn't want to speak out of turn. Patenting a switch is a perfectly legitimate thing to do.
I wonder if anyone used the RIAA handbook chapter on speaker damping in court.
There's some really interesting discussion about the whole thing on the sloclone forums, which probably has the most knowledgeable userIt's funny how it's nearly identical but sounds essentially nothing like it. 5150 too, same basic idea with the super cold biased third stage.
I'm pretty sure the only reason they made the recto was to patent troll small builders, but I wouldn't want to speak out of turn. Patenting a switch is a perfectly legitimate thing to do.
I wonder if anyone used the RIAA handbook chapter on speaker damping in court.
Can you elaborate in laymen terms???The primary reason for the very different sound is the R/C network hanging off the tone stack.
There's a resistor/capacitor network that hangs off the tone stack. It's a treble rolloff filter.Can you elaborate in laymen terms???
is that really all thats keeping a dual rec from sounding like an SLO????? Because Ive heard all my life the circuit is very similar but thought they sound a world apart.There's a resistor/capacitor network that hangs off the tone stack. It's a treble rolloff filter.
Pretty much. The circuits are virtually identical otherwise.is that really all thats keeping a dual rec from sounding like an SLO????? Because Ive heard all my life the circuit is very similar but thought they sound a world apart.