Adventures in Fractal's Dual Rectifiers

[laxu]

 

[0XI0]

The "Recto Clash"

i didn't know u knew!?

speaker stuff off
screen Freq 2
screen Q 0.2
Master Bias Ex 0.0%

there's toooooooo much parasitics

 

[MirrorProfiles]

screen Freq 2
screen Q 0.2

Presumably these relate to power supply filtering, but what effect does it have on a Rectifier? Does this provide less filtering or avoid some negative consequences of how the amps are designed?

Its a parameter I have absolutely no clue what I'm doing with but would be cool to understand a little

 

[0XI0]

Presumably these relate to power supply filtering, but what effect does it have on a Rectifier? Does this provide less filtering or avoid some negative consequences of how the amps are designed?

Its a parameter I have absolutely no clue what I'm doing with but would be cool to understand a little

all i know is it cleans up low parasitics that mess with the top end clipping of a recto modern running low MV, power parasitics that shouldn't be there until master gets up around 3 on the amp

 

[Deadpan]

What kind of SIC adjustments did you make? I only ever use the Recto Large SIC with Recto 2 Red Moden.

It would depend on the IR but I lowered most of the low frequency settings and raised the highs.

A quick random riff with the Recto1 Red boosted with the Precision Drive.

 

[dean701]

Presumably these relate to power supply filtering, but what effect does it have on a Rectifier? Does this provide less filtering or avoid some negative consequences of how the amps are designed?

Its a parameter I have absolutely no clue what I'm doing with but would be cool to understand a little

^this

It's sometimes not clear on what the advanced controls do but even more so the interaction of how one control affects or may affect another. I'm certainly not an amp builder so I get lost quickly.
I asked Leon to start discussing these in his 5 minute Fractal videos. I really hope he goes for it.
So many controls...and what's this speaker impedance curve thing? ( kidding )

 

[Byrdman]

Hey guys, I just want to say thanks for this thread and all the information even if a lot of the stuff is way over my head.

I have been trying to dial in the Cali Rectifier on my HX Stomp and I have never played through a real one either. I really did not have a clue what I was doing and everything I did either sounded like muddled or super fake until now.

These discussions on MV settings and the sound clips of the real deal and Fractal's models have opened up my ears and brain where now I have the best Rectifier tone I have ever been able to get on my XL. It may not be the absolute best Dual Rec tone out there, but damn does it sound good to me and I am having a blast!

Thanks!!!

 

[dean701]

Hey guys, I just want to say thanks for this thread and all the information even if a lot of the stuff is way over my head.

I have been trying to dial in the Cali Rectifier on my HX Stomp and I have never played through a real one either. I really did not have a clue what I was doing and everything I did either sounded like muddled or super fake until now.

These discussions on MV settings and the sound clips of the real deal and Fractal's models have opened up my ears and brain where now I have the best Rectifier tone I have ever been able to get on my XL. It may not be the absolute best Dual Rec tone out there, but damn does it sound good to me and I am having a blast!

Thanks!!!

Harmless plug for Ed.

DUAL RECTIFICATION - LINE 6 HELIX PRESETS+IR

DUAL RECTIFICATION3 Line 6 Helix Patches including a custom high quality IR - carefully dialled in to match the sound of a Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier Rev G. 2 based on the Red Channel, and one based on the Orange Channel set to Channel Cloning mode. Bold + Silicone Diode modes used. IR based on...

mirrorprofiles.myshopify.com

 

[Byrdman]

Harmless plug for Ed.

DUAL RECTIFICATION - LINE 6 HELIX PRESETS+IR

DUAL RECTIFICATION3 Line 6 Helix Patches including a custom high quality IR - carefully dialled in to match the sound of a Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier Rev G. 2 based on the Red Channel, and one based on the Orange Channel set to Channel Cloning mode. Bold + Silicone Diode modes used. IR based on...

mirrorprofiles.myshopify.com

I run my XL into the return of my Catalyst 200 in poweramp mode, every IR I have tried made my presets sound different and not very good with any volume.

Can this be used with and without the cab IR @MirrorProfiles ?

 

[MirrorProfiles]

@Byrdman

you can bypass the cab and it’ll sound great (my IR’s are just captured clean so the amp is behaving as it normally would). But also, these are paid products because they include IR’s - check my youtube channel for Rectifier comparisons and you’ll see some Rectifier settings that’ll be in the same sort of ballpark. I think it’s hard to go too wrong if you just keep the MV low and don’t go too nuts on anything else

 

[Byrdman]

@Byrdman
I think it’s hard to go too wrong if you just keep the MV low and don’t go too nuts on anything else

Thanks!! That was my biggest problem, MV and Gain too high then went down the rabbit hole of then trying to adjust all the other parameters to compensate and wound up with a big mess on my hands. When I started playing around with only one high and the other low, it started to sound a lot better and best with MV low and Gain higher to taste and being able to roll off the bite with the guitar volume is wonderful.

BTW, are you going to do any HX presets with the new 2203 model?

 

[MirrorProfiles]

BTW, are you going to do any HX presets with the new 2203 model?

I’ve had a few requests for things - it’s a bit of a weird one for me because IMO the value is all in the IR’s and dialling the amps in is quite straightforward. It’s fun to do the tones that are matched to how I dial the real amps and having some choice IR’s that fit, they tend to serve as my starting points for those amps.

The artist matched tones are a bit more fun for me - I tend to read up what I can on how bands recorded their stuff and what gear they used, and then I choose appropriate IR’s and models to recreate it. Some people do this by brute forcing match EQ/impulses to match the tone but these always sound weird to me, and sound terrible if you want to use a real cab or swap IR’s or tweak things a bit. All my stuff is straight up clean IR’s, and all about choosing the right speaker, the right mic/mics, and adjusting amp settings.

If there’s any specific 2203 tones you like, I can try and have a go at recreating them…

 

[Byrdman]

I’ve had a few requests for things - it’s a bit of a weird one for me because IMO the value is all in the IR’s and dialling the amps in is quite straightforward. It’s fun to do the tones that are matched to how I dial the real amps and having some choice IR’s that fit, they tend to serve as my starting points for those amps.

The artist matched tones are a bit more fun for me - I tend to read up what I can on how bands recorded their stuff and what gear they used, and then I choose appropriate IR’s and models to recreate it. Some people do this by brute forcing match EQ/impulses to match the tone but these always sound weird to me, and sound terrible if you want to use a real cab or swap IR’s or tweak things a bit. All my stuff is straight up clean IR’s, and all about choosing the right speaker, the right mic/mics, and adjusting amp settings.

If there’s any specific 2203 tones you like, I can try and have a go at recreating them…

I will keep that in mind if I get something I cant quite dial in. Thanks!!

 

[dk_ace]

There's your answer. Some Rectos had 150K pots, most had 1M. With a 150K pot (yours is slightly out of tolerance at 190K) you get a LOT less bass out of the tone stack.

Here's a graph of the difference between a 1M and 150K MV pot:

View attachment 15604

Blue trace is 150K pot.

This explains the part of this thread that I really couldn’t figure out, why @MirrorProfiles recto clips sound so different than I remember my recto sounding. From the beginning of the thread, I’ve thought something was wrong with his amp. There’s so many revisions of this amp, I can’t really say it’s “wrong” but this explains why it sounds so different from what I expect from a recto.

D

 

[MirrorProfiles]

This explains the part of this thread that I really couldn’t figure out, why @MirrorProfiles recto clips sound so different than I remember my recto sounding. From the beginning of the thread, I’ve thought something was wrong with his amp. There’s so many revisions of this amp, I can’t really say it’s “wrong” but this explains why it sounds so different from what I expect from a recto.

D

which Recto did you have? and how would you normally dial it in?

and what cab did you use with it?

I’ve had mine side by side with a Multiwatt and with some slightly different settings they sound basically the same. The older (pre MW) 3 channel ones can sound similar too, but you have to be more careful with the bass knob, and also to keep the master really low. IMO most Recto’s can be dialled to sound very similar, they all have their own voice at normal settings though. IMO the main thing is the MV volume, it can really change the perception of the amp. All it took for me was one small tweak of the MV bright cap parameter to get the Fractal model sounding and behaving like my amp

 

[dk_ace]

which Recto did you have? and how would you normally dial it in?

A triple I bought new around 2002, I didn’t know anything about revisions back then. I didn’t turn into a gear geek until later…

I used the tube rectifier, and both 6l6 and el34 tubes over the years, bold power mode, and the effects loop was engaged (usually). Where the dials sat changed depending on what I was doing and into at the time and which guitar, but they started at noon and rarely needed to go very far either direction. Ch 2 was usually in vintage mode as that was more useful at my gigs, but ch 2 modern was a lot of fun too. I never really used “raw.” Ch 3 was on modern mode most of the time. Ch 1 was clean. I spent most of my time on ch 2. I seem to recall that my gain knobs usually stayed somewhere between 10 and 2:30 with the mode switch setting the level of gain beyond that. I also had some pedals out front that varied over the years, but a keeley TS was usually in that lineup.

I never found mine “flubby” like a lot of people describe them, but it did have more bass than yours and seemed less bright with those tonestack settings.

D

 

[MirrorProfiles]

A triple I bought new around 2002, I didn’t know anything about revisions back then. I didn’t turn into a gear geek until later…

I used the tube rectifier, and both 6l6 and el34 tubes over the years, bold power mode, and the effects loop was engaged (usually). Where the dials sat changed depending on what I was doing and into at the time and which guitar, but they started at noon and rarely needed to go very far either direction. Ch 2 was usually in vintage mode as that was more useful at my gigs, but ch 2 modern was a lot of fun too. I never really used “raw.” Ch 3 was on modern mode most of the time. Ch 1 was clean. I spent most of my time on ch 2. I seem to recall that my gain knobs usually stayed somewhere between 10 and 2:30 with the mode switch setting the level of gain beyond that. I also had some pedals out front that varied over the years, but a keeley TS was usually in that lineup.

I never found mine “flubby” like a lot of people describe them, but it did have more bass than yours and seemed less bright with those tonestack settings.

D

Very cool!

I think those earlier 3 channels supposedly sound a bit better than the 3 channel ones that came slightly after. I think my friends triple would have been similar to yours.

 

[deathbyguitar]

All this Recto talk compelled me to pull the trigger on the real deal. Snagged a Dual Recto Multi-Watt and a 2x12 Recto cab off Facebook marketplace for $1300. My first actual tube amp.

I doubt it'll turn me off to modeling but I had to see what I was missing, if anything at all.

 

[Mongillo19]

All this Recto talk compelled me to pull the trigger on the real deal. Snagged a Dual Recto Multi-Watt and a 2x12 Recto cab off Facebook marketplace for $1300. My first actual tube amp.

I doubt it'll turn me off to modeling but I had to see what I was missing, if anything at all.

Id argue you are. The DR MW is a killer amp and that's an such an insane deal if almost be worried it was busted

Also, it's going to be LOUD. Not sure if you have a loadbox or attenuator

 

[saarangnarayan]

FWIW, I gave the Reto model a spin yesterday with and without the MV bright cap "mod" and it sounded excellent to me either way. The key was to keep the master volume low (between 1.0-2.0) to let the low end bloom in the right way (to my ears). Haven't updated to the new beta fw which corrects the MV taper but will that tonight and see how it goes.