Simple tip for Recto tones

I have a DR, and I can get a glorious tone out of it. It took a lot of tweaking because of the cascaded gain stages, but you need to get the MV at about 10-11 o'clock iirc (which yes, is insanely loud) to make it really sound amazing. And it does. I love the tone of that amp. But it's not practical, and it's not stereo, haha! However, I'll have to try turning the MV way down on the Axe, because I still skip it. For me, there's just too many other amp models that sound better @ stock settings. I have trouble liking any of the USA models, and I'm a Mesa guy completely- Stereo 50/50, Tri Axis, 2:90 and Dyna Watt 20/20. And I used to have a Road King. Talk about a complex beast!
 
Also, I hear a little flubbiness in your palm mutes (hard to be certain since there wasn't that many of them.) On my real DR, I can get palm mutes really tight. Not as tight as say, Petrucci likes em, but tighter than what I hear.
 
The low MV is absolutely the way to get THAT sounds from the Recto's. My early Dual Recto basically doesn't get louder when you take the MV past about 2, it just gets starts to lurch into power amp distortion and fall apart. I always boosted mine when I gigged and recorded it to further tighten it up.

I also like bumping supply sag to 6 and setting the variac to 75% to cop some of that "spongy" vibe from the real amp.
 
biggness said:
For some gnarly tones, lower the master volume to the 0.50-0.90 range.

This is plennnnty loud enough on the real amp, and more akin to what people are "used" to hearing when playing one.

YMMV.

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Thanks for the tip! While there are several ways to tighten things up, the Master Volume is probably one of the more overlooked parameters in the modelling world when dialing in an amp. There have been a number of times I've struggled dialing in a tone from an amp I've used, only to have that "DOH!" moment and adjust the MV.
 
I also run the AFX Recto1 master around .75

I have an old Tremoverb and that's where the Fractal Recto1 master needs to be to match up. I struggled to get the Recto1 sounding right until I had the real amp with me again. I also had to nudge up the input low cut.
 
I've struggled with this conundrum. The MV taper of the model is authentic so just like the real amp the power amp starts to clip very early. With the real amp there's audible feedback (as in it gets insanely loud) but with the model you don't get that and humans have this weird thing where they don't like knobs to deviate from noon. I've debated changing the taper or adding a pad between the preamp and power amp but, in the end, I decided to keep things authentic.
 
FractalAudio said:
I've struggled with this conundrum. The MV taper of the model is authentic so just like the real amp the power amp starts to clip very early. With the real amp there's audible feedback (as in it gets insanely loud) but with the model you don't get that and humans have this weird thing where they don't like knobs to deviate from noon. I've debated changing the taper or adding a pad between the preamp and power amp but, in the end, I decided to keep things authentic.
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All the older Rectos I've had, the first bit of master volume travel is basically inaudible. Then around 8:30ish, the volume jumps dramatically and you're essentially at drummer volume. I have to basically tap gently on the knob to back to down to "house" levels if I'm just horsing around in the basement.

I don't think I've ever had the knob above 10:00 even in a huge room.
 
cardinal said:
I also run the AFX Recto1 master around .75

I have an old Tremoverb and that's where the Fractal Recto1 master needs to be to match up. I struggled to get the Recto1 sounding right until I had the real amp with me again. I also had to nudge up the input low cut.
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I’ve got a ‘95 Tremoverb that I sent to Mesa to have them replace the LDRs and go through it to get it sounding “right”… and good grief, it’s the best sounding Recto I’ve ever heard in the room. I got the Recto 1 to sound pretty close to it, but I stand with other players who claim the Tremoverb to be the best Recto ever made. It’s an incredible amp.
 
York Audio said:
I’ve got a ‘95 Tremoverb that I sent to Mesa to have them replace the LDRs and go through it to get it sounding “right”… and good grief, it’s the best sounding Recto I’ve ever heard in the room. I got the Recto 1 to sound pretty close to it, but I stand with other players who claim the Tremoverb to be the best Recto ever made. It’s an incredible amp.
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Combo or Head?? :)

Mine is the 2 x 12 and the heaviest combo amp ever made, in my experience. Pretty
sure it has not moved in the 5+ years we have been in our current house. Ok, maybe
once to dust a little. :)
 
York Audio said:
I’ve got a ‘95 Tremoverb that I sent to Mesa to have them replace the LDRs and go through it to get it sounding “right”… and good grief, it’s the best sounding Recto I’ve ever heard in the room. I got the Recto 1 to sound pretty close to it, but I stand with other players who claim the Tremoverb to be the best Recto ever made. It’s an incredible amp.
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la noise said:
Combo or Head?? :)

Mine is the 2 x 12 and the heaviest combo amp ever made, in my experience. Pretty
sure it has not moved in the 5+ years we have been in our current house. Ok, maybe
once to dust a little. :)
Click to expand...
Mine is a '93 combo. I thought an AC30 was heavy but this thing is nuts. Thankfully I like the way it sounds on casters.
la noise said:
Am I right or am I right? The Vintage Mode is better than the Modern?
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I think Orange Modern is where it's at. Red Modern is a bit dry or stiff. Vintage isn't quite aggressive enough for me.
 
cardinal said:
Mine is a '93 combo. I thought an AC30 was heavy but this thing is nuts. Thankfully I like the way it sounds on casters.

I think Orange Modern is where it's at. Red Modern is a bit dry or stiff. Vintage isn't quite aggressive enough for me.
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Cascaded gain stages are a love/hate relationship with me. ;)

It's so easy when you get to 3 or 4 stages that the preamp sizzles
become really overwhelming to my ears.
 
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