The Watering Hole

Yes, I know the recto sound is not really popular here, but I am happy to say I finally got my mini :)

Derek, the FX loop switch makes all the difference in the world tightening this thing up.  My Uber pedal kills in the clean channel.  With the FX loop on, this thing doesn't even need a boost/OD to tighten it up on the gain channels.  This little thing just roars.

I will get clips soon.  There is one thing I have figured out from playing with it.  From trying to record direct I have found the preamp section is voiced a bit darkly, probably to make up for the lack of big iron and the EL84 power tubes.  And interestingly, a fair bit of gain comes from the power amp (even tho the clean channel stays clean)  So what I dial in when going direct is not the same as playing in the room, it needs more highs and gain when going direct.  Man this thing sounds so good in the room i wish I could record it that way!  I don't know that I'll be able to do it justice.

Oh and the pushed mode is a gem!  I was really lacking a good clean and good semi driven sound, and now I have those.

Definite Honeymoon period here but I am blown away... :)  The Krank and the Engl were so difficult to dial in.  Funny but true - I had such difficulty with the Krank at first I opened up my avatar 2x12 to make sure I actually had V30s in it!  The Mini so far has just been plug and play.

Just want to publicly say, I do not like you anymore!   ;D

But anyway.... pics!  CLIPS!   (heck with pics!)  

Only not popular with a few Paul!  My Rectifier Recording Pre is the main thing I play through.  My Rock Master is about to go up for sale as well (though I'm going to probably remove all the NOS Mullards and as much of the Ironsheep MOJO as I can first  ;) :D ).

DreamTheaterRules — Mar 25, 2013Just want to publicly say, I do not like you anymore!   ;D

But anyway.... pics!  CLIPS!   (heck with pics!)  

I can help you keep up with the Joneses...LOL

HNAD!!! Congrats! Sounds like the amp is just what you'd hoped for - and then the Bogner pedal kills through it as well?? Win win!!  :)

Ok here's my first stab, mini rec for both right and left tracks, same backing as last time, will get to some new stuff soon i hope :)

first, the gain/distortion is cool! sounds great

but I'd vote for more high end

just feels a little dark or constricted... maybe it's the mids, less mids instead of more highs? needs some sizzle imo.

Ipad listen, sounds great!   Will listen again shortly with headphones

Listening at work (poor speakers), sounds cool here. Speaking of the new gear - I nearly goofed with your b'day wish on fb...I almost said I hope you're having fun with the new amp today before I realized who might be reading your page there. Your wife may have had a question or two 'bout that comment, lol.  ;D

She doesn't know about the new amp?  I thought I was the only one who waited til his wife went to bed to sneak new gear into the house.  HAHAHAHA  

LOL She knows about it...  If i hadn't worked a gear trade with her full knowledge she'd be wanting to spend equal amounts of money elsewhere... :)

Sheep this is one of the things that will be difficult to capture - the preamp is voiced darker than the amp so i am already using different amp settings than i do in the live room sound.  This amp sounds so much better in the room...  That said, I am really happy with this, it is basically what I've been trying to get the Krank to sound like for years.  It has the deep throaty roar.  I can try scooping the mids a bit more as well.  Still have lots of play on that knob as well as the bass.  And the only EQ in the clip is a hi pass filter at 70.  Also, most of the notes in the clip reside on the low B string, not a lot of sizzle there, lol...

Richard said the low mids around 220 sounded a bit prominent like 1 or 2 db so i backed those down and it does seem a bit more balanced that way.  But I haven't posted that mix yet.

listened again just now with fresh(er) ears... I think I must have used up the ability to hear high end for the day when I listened last night. today, I'd vote way less scoop. hope that helps, lol.  ;D

LOL!  So more mids then...  April Fools is not until next week you know...  ;)

Yeah, I don't think it needs more top either, as it is now has the buzz (good thing) without the fizz.  I love it.  

That sounds really good.  Sounds no different from the big recto to me, and of course I'm a huge fan of low wattage amps.

This is an honest question, for everyone who's into this sound, and doesn't record their amps with microphones... why not use an amp sim?  There are so many ridiculously good super heavy amp sims now, and they're cheap. For example, Shred by acmebargig... which I believe is free?  Sounds insanely good for the heavy stuff.  Pair it with Recabinet ($20) and you've got a sick heavy recording chain with configurable amps and the ability to load impulses... for $20? That's just ludicrous.

I completely understand wanting lots of amps--I have a bunch.  At the same time, if I made ultra-heavy music, I would be going direct.  It's much harder to find a decent clean/low gain amp sim than it is a heavy one... lots of great super heavy sims... I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of albums are cut that way.

Well, for me, my only low watt setup was the Engl into the 20/20.  The clean in that setup is very sterile.  And the gain tone just wasn't quite what I was after.  So those are gone, and now I have the Mini and my Krank.  Pretty much the perfect little amp for me.  I actually do like playing just the amp in the room, not just into the computer and monitors, but the Krank needs to be at apeshit volume to sound decent, and as I said, the Engl -> 20/20 combo was lacking.  I think there is a magic junction in a good amp that happens between the preamp and power section, resistance or whatever, that is just completely missing in a rack setup with separate components.   So now I have 4 completely usable modes, versus some stuff that no matter how I turned the knobs was always lacking.

it doesn't sound a little hollowed out to anyone else? hmm, maybe it's a recto thing - now that I think about it, I'm not sure I have a good reference for "recto" sounds. KSE? or is that 5150? could be that I'm wondering why an orange doesn't sound like an apple.

The other side of it is, this thing sounds so good thru my avatar cab I am wanting to mike it up.  just don't have a good environment for that at the moment.  But I may try to figure out something :)   The wheels are turning, lol...

Listen to Creed or Alterbridge for some classic recto sounds.

Hollowed out.  Hmmm.  May have some phasing stuff since I am blending 2 impulses on each side.  Got to get some work done but I will play with that when I get a chance.

ok, recto samples digested! heh. that's not it (apples/oranges).

I'm betting it's a phase thing (or maybe a psycho-acoustic effect with the imaging) - seems like there's something missing in there.

LOL Ok that nagged at me.  Work be damned!  try this - single impulse (SM57 edge grill) each side.  Not necessarily what I'll use long term but just to see if it sounds better to you.

LOL, looks like there was a phase issue, guitars appear to be a wee bit louder now ;)

To me, that's how a recto sounds... that hollowness with all of those stages of gain is where Mesa has made it's money for 15 years.  And that EQ stack has been their bread and butter since Santana.  Mesa uses the Fender EQ stack, which has a lot of low and high and not a lot of mid.  You spend a lot of time on a Bogner--the EQ stack in a Bogner is taken straight out of the original Marshall tone stack, with nary a difference.  The Marshall stack shifts everything higher, so the mid cut is in a different place... it also pushes the entire stack up 3dB so the EQ is less radical.  End result, serious scoop from a Mesa, much more midrange from a Bogner.

Hence the love of Screamer type pedals with Mesa... Always mentioned how they tighten up (aka roll off) the bottom end, but they also punch up the mids (which can be needed for cutting through on solos) and by rolling off the top as well, can get rid of some fizz.   I've always felt the same thing could be accomplished better though with an EQ since it's more transparent.  Or a more transparent OD or Boost/OD pedal with treble and bass controls such as what Paul got, or the Timmy for example.  

Oh, good point Howie.  New thread time :)

KrankZilla — Mar 27, 2013LOL Ok that nagged at me.  Work be damned!  try this - single impulse (SM57 edge grill) each side.  Not necessarily what I'll use long term but just to see if it sounds better to you.

yes!

phew, thought I was hearing things... er, not hearing things. ;)

You have damn good ears.  That's why I didn't ignore what you were saying :)