How would you solve this gear dilemma? (Long-ish read)

[some_dude]

Re: How would you solve this gear dilemma? (Long-ish read)

F*ck pedals. Just buy the amp.

By the time you stop f*cking around with various pedals because they suck and won’t give you the ferocity and impact you’re looking for you’ll have spent enough money both trying and failing to make them work that you might as well have bought a used 5150 or a Dual Rectifier right off the hop.

Putting a loud exhaust on a Honda Civic doesn’t make it sound like a V8. It makes it sound like a sh*t-box towing a fart cannon.

 

[Lake Placid Blues]

Re: How would you solve this gear dilemma? (Long-ish read)

F*ck pedals. Just buy the amp.

By the time you stop f*cking around with various pedals because they suck and won’t give you the ferocity and impact you’re looking for you’ll have spent enough money both trying and failing to make them work that you might as well have bought a used 5150 or a Dual Rectifier right off the hop.

Putting a loud exhaust on a Honda Civic doesn’t make it sound like a V8. It makes it sound like a sh*t-box towing a fart cannon.

Yeah, but I wonder what the budget is, and the availability of used Wrecks, and 5150s, and 5153s, where he lives. That seems the better solution if possible though. Just let the Tweaker do what it does best, and expand the tool box.

 

[Diego]

Re: How would you solve this gear dilemma? (Long-ish read)

I'm thinking of that too. Budget isn't too strong these days, but I'm at the planning stage at this point. I'm thinking maybe a Mini Rectifier would do, but I'm hoping they sound alright at "loud" home volumes as well as on a stage or rehearsals.

I definitely do NOT want a 100 watts behemoth. I just can't justify it. 50 watts would be as high as I'd go. I quite like the Jet City JCA50H but I think that's a different tone to what I want.

 

[Adieu]

Re: How would you solve this gear dilemma? (Long-ish read)

I'm thinking of that too. Budget isn't too strong these days, but I'm at the planning stage at this point. I'm thinking maybe a Mini Rectifier would do, but I'm hoping they sound alright at "loud" home volumes as well as on a stage or rehearsals.

I definitely do NOT want a 100 watts behemoth. I just can't justify it. 50 watts would be as high as I'd go. I quite like the Jet City JCA50H but I think that's a different tone to what I want.

Not 100% sure if it works with Mesas, but on many (most? maybe all?) 4 power tube amps, you can pull a pair of power tubes -- usually outer or inner -- to run it at half wattage... iirc, it also changes output impedance though. Use 8ohm setting/jack for 16ohm cabs, 4ohm for 8ohm cabs I think?

It has been a while, somebody correct me if I'm wrong

 

[dystrust]

Re: How would you solve this gear dilemma? (Long-ish read)

I'm thinking of that too. Budget isn't too strong these days, but I'm at the planning stage at this point. I'm thinking maybe a Mini Rectifier would do, but I'm hoping they sound alright at "loud" home volumes as well as on a stage or rehearsals.

I definitely do NOT want a 100 watts behemoth. I just can't justify it. 50 watts would be as high as I'd go. I quite like the Jet City JCA50H but I think that's a different tone to what I want.

I have a JCA22H, and I'm familiar with the Soldano Hot Rod that it's based on. Either the 50 or 22H will do the sounds you're looking for since the lead channel is very much in the Recto / 5150 region. In addition to the lead channel the crunch channel does a great JCM800 sort of tone. As long as you don't need a true clean sound you should be OK, as the crunch channel runs out of headroom quickly and gets pretty gritty. If you need a true clean sound, you'd be better off with a 6505MH or Mini Recto.

Edit: I had GAS for a Mini Recto until I bought the 22H, and that was the end of Recto GAS. For brutal rhythm and singing lead tones I like the Jet City better, but I've always preferred Soldano to Mesa for those tones. The Jet City's other drawback is shared EQ, but the voicing is done such that that I don't really notice. If the crunch is dialed in like a JCM, the lead will be just a bit fatter and less bright. Running the gain low for clean tones, it's somewhat reminiscent of a Hiwatt on the edge of breakup.

 

[Diego]

Re: How would you solve this gear dilemma? (Long-ish read)

Interesting man, thanks. I can try the 22 and the 50 side by side, I'll try them out a bit more extensively.

Also, a crunchy clean tone will do. I don't use sparkly cleans, ever.

 

[guitfiddle]

Re: How would you solve this gear dilemma? (Long-ish read)

If you like the tone of the pod, and can get a lower gain sound you like from the amp's preamp, I can offer an inexpensive solution while you contemplate other amps.

You could get an A/B pedal and run into the front of the amp from the A side, then run the B side through the pod and into the return of the loop. If you match the levels right, you can at least have two channels of sounds you dig.

 

[LLL]

Re: How would you solve this gear dilemma? (Long-ish read)

F*ck pedals. Just buy the amp.

By the time you stop f*cking around with various pedals because they suck and won’t give you the ferocity and impact you’re looking for you’ll have spent enough money both trying and failing to make them work that you might as well have bought a used 5150 or a Dual Rectifier right off the hop.

Solid advice.

 

[some_dude]

Re: How would you solve this gear dilemma? (Long-ish read)

I'm thinking of that too. Budget isn't too strong these days, but I'm at the planning stage at this point. I'm thinking maybe a Mini Rectifier would do, but I'm hoping they sound alright at "loud" home volumes as well as on a stage or rehearsals.

I definitely do NOT want a 100 watts behemoth. I just can't justify it. 50 watts would be as high as I'd go. I quite like the Jet City JCA50H but I think that's a different tone to what I want.

The Mini-Rectifier is pretty cool, particularly if you run it through a full sized cab. The Mini-Recto cabs sound good but they don’t have the depth and response of the Rectifier cabs.

IMO - as a long time Dual Rectifier user who’s owned a number of heads - my Rectoverb:25 is one of the best sounding of the lot of them. Specifically, because it’s a bit softer and not as stiff at lower volumes and it starts to saturate at a more moderate volume than a 100w amp. It basically “feels right” at lower volumes and doesn’t need to be cranked as loud as the Dual before it starts to give up the goods. That said, I happen to like the feel of EL84 amps. Some people don’t.

The problem with the 50w Single Rectifiers is that they lack the full feature set of the Dual Rectifier. Because I never use clean and typically want two high gain channels I’d rather run a Dual in 50w mode.

Normally I’d caution against trying to use a small amp for live gigging, but if you’ve been making the Tweaker work then you already know what you’re getting into.

 

[GuitarGuy503]

Re: How would you solve this gear dilemma? (Long-ish read)

F*ck pedals. Just buy the amp.

By the time you stop f*cking around with various pedals because they suck and won’t give you the ferocity and impact you’re looking for you’ll have spent enough money both trying and failing to make them work that you might as well have bought a used 5150 or a Dual Rectifier right off the hop.

Putting a loud exhaust on a Honda Civic doesn’t make it sound like a V8. It makes it sound like a sh*t-box towing a fart cannon.

I agree. Get the actual amp you want instead of trying to emulate it with pedals and the Tweaker. I researched rectifier inspired pedals years ago and I felt like everything fell short from the actual thing.