Mesa Lovers, talk to me about the Rect-O-Verb 50 combo

[SirJackdeFuzz]

Not sure how to start this thread.

There is a Rect-O-verb 50 combo (with flight case) for sale in my neck of the woods.

I am thinking about it, because they want $1000.00 !
THAT is unheard of, for this country.

I LOVE Kim Thayil's sound.
He uses a Trem-O-verb though.

Is there is a huge diff in sound or is it just the addition of tremolo, that make the amsp diff ?

Does the Rect-O-verb have the same gain as a 'regular' single Rectifier ?

Any other info, pro's, con's about this combo . . . will be greatly appreciated.

 

[Surgeon]

Re: Mesa Lovers, talk to me about the Rect-O-Verb 50 combo

I absolutely love mine (series1).
You don't have some of the features of the dual, which is a let down for some people but to me it's more like an "essential" recto. I love the cleans and the gain can basically do whatever I want, from rock to the classic recto high-gain thing. I really do love it and got it for peanuts (600$ for the head and that's in Canada where these tend to be insanely pricey). I don' know where you are but 1000$ seems high to me but you know your local market better than I do.

Also, be aware that the series 1 (also reported by some folks on the series 2 but folks seem to not be unanimous) have a slight delay or latency period when changin channels. It is very short and the sound doesn't purely cut out, it gets lower and ramps up quickly. It is a fraction of a second in duration but you can definitely notice it and, to some folks it is understandably a deal- breaker.

All in all, a very good, underrated amp, which is why it tends to be cheaper too.

 

[chadd]

Re: Mesa Lovers, talk to me about the Rect-O-Verb 50 combo

Great amps, much more versatile than a lot of people want to believe. If you buy it, download the manual and read it before you start to mess around with the controls. They are a little different than other amps and a little knowledge goes a long way toward getting the tones that you want.

 

[Surgeon]

Re: Mesa Lovers, talk to me about the Rect-O-Verb 50 combo

Oh, about your rectoverb vs single recto question: yep, same thing...

 

[allbutromeo]

Re: Mesa Lovers, talk to me about the Rect-O-Verb 50 combo

Great amps, much more versatile than a lot of people want to believe. If you buy it, download the manual and read it before you start to mess around with the controls. They are a little different than other amps and a little knowledge goes a long way toward getting the tones that you want.

Excellent advice for any Mesa amp

 

[SirJackdeFuzz]

Re: Mesa Lovers, talk to me about the Rect-O-Verb 50 combo

I absolutely love mine (series1).
You don't have some of the features of the dual, which is a let down for some people but to me it's more like an "essential" recto. I love the cleans and the gain can basically do whatever I want, from rock to the classic recto high-gain thing. I really do love it and got it for peanuts (600$ for the head and that's in Canada where these tend to be insanely pricey). I don' know where you are but 1000$ seems high to me but you know your local market better than I do.

Also, be aware that the series 1 (also reported by some folks on the series 2 but folks seem to not be unanimous) have a slight delay or latency period when changin channels. It is very short and the sound doesn't purely cut out, it gets lower and ramps up quickly. It is a fraction of a second in duration but you can definitely notice it and, to some folks it is understandably a deal- breaker.

All in all, a very good, underrated amp, which is why it tends to be cheaper too.

Is there a big diff between the series 1 & 2 ?

 

[Nacho8807]

Re: Mesa Lovers, talk to me about the Rect-O-Verb 50 combo

Series 2 added the "Raw" voicing, the ability to run EL34s, and was slightly revoiced compared to the series 1. The only ones I've been able to play were series 2 and I've loved them.

However I think Surgeon was talking about the differences between the Rectoverb and other single Rectos, and the Dual and Triple Rectifiers.

 

[TwilightOdyssey]

Re: Mesa Lovers, talk to me about the Rect-O-Verb 50 combo

I do not own the RectoVerb, but I have a dual rec TremoVerb. It's a really unique amp with a killer trem, very versatile, and VERY expensive to revalve!! It is the only big-wattage amp I own, and it has a silly amount of headroom.

 

[SirJackdeFuzz]

Re: Mesa Lovers, talk to me about the Rect-O-Verb 50 combo

Series 2 added the "Raw" voicing, the ability to run EL34s, and was slightly revoiced compared to the series 1. The only ones I've been able to play were series 2 and I've loved them.

However I think Surgeon was talking about the differences between the Rectoverb and other single Rectos, and the Dual and Triple Rectifiers.

Ahhhhh, thanks for the info.

 

[B2D]

Re: Mesa Lovers, talk to me about the Rect-O-Verb 50 combo

I've owned a Rectoverb head. It's good for certain sounds and not so good for others. The gain is kind of raw and a little dry and gritty.

The Trem-O-Verb, on the other hand is IMO one of the best amps Mesa ever made. It's everything about the Rectifier sound that people go for - big, fat, juicy, chunky, and awesome. I wish i hadn't sold mine.

 

[SirJackdeFuzz]

Re: Mesa Lovers, talk to me about the Rect-O-Verb 50 combo

I've owned a Rectoverb head. It's good for certain sounds and not so good for others. The gain is kind of raw and a little dry and gritty.

The Trem-O-Verb, on the other hand is IMO one of the best amps Mesa ever made. It's everything about the Rectifier sound that people go for - big, fat, juicy, chunky, and awesome. I wish i hadn't sold mine.

Can i atleast expect the ''well known'' Rectifier style dirt tones in this combo ?
I like P H A T T low end.
Not a fan of a dry tone, but if we are on the same page, i really like ''raw'' & ''gritty'' in my dirt tones.

The YouTube demos is not so good, so it is very hard to see what this amp can do.

 

[Surgeon]

Re: Mesa Lovers, talk to me about the Rect-O-Verb 50 combo

IME yes, you can. Lots of folks say it can't but I sure as hell can sound like a good recto with mine...heck, it IS a good recto.

Drop-tune a bit, add a TS and BAM!

 

[allbutromeo]

Re: Mesa Lovers, talk to me about the Rect-O-Verb 50 combo

The Rect-O-Verb is close in tone to the Dual Recto, but since it doesn't use the tube rectifiers it loses a little of the sponginess in the low end. So think of a Dual Recto with a little tighter bass.

 

[Surgeon]

Re: Mesa Lovers, talk to me about the Rect-O-Verb 50 combo

The Rect-O-Verb is close in tone to the Dual Recto, but since it doesn't use the tube rectifiers it loses a little of the sponginess in the low end. So think of a Dual Recto with a little tighter bass.

Glad I'm not the only one who hears this...

 

[SirJackdeFuzz]

Re: Mesa Lovers, talk to me about the Rect-O-Verb 50 combo

The Rect-O-Verb is close in tone to the Dual Recto, but since it doesn't use the tube rectifiers it loses a little of the sponginess in the low end. So think of a Dual Recto with a little tighter bass.

Is it possible to 'convert' the combo to except tubes ?

Or is there more to that, than meets the eye ?

 

[Boogie Bill]

Re: Mesa Lovers, talk to me about the Rect-O-Verb 50 combo

Probably yes it COULD be done...all it takes is money and desire, LOL! Not a cheap thing to do, and if you really want tube rectification I would suggest other amps.

I like the Recto-verb; it's a good option for the club musician whose style leans to harder rock/metal, but still needs a versatile platform. I think Allbutromeo has it right, regarding the tight low end. The Recto-verb and the Trem-o-verb are my favorite Rectos, other than the Maverick, Blue Angel and Heartbreaker, which are also Rectos but in a different league all together.

And actually, in the USA, I think $1,000 USD for the amp and a flight case would be a pretty good deal, too.

Bill

 

[allbutromeo]

Re: Mesa Lovers, talk to me about the Rect-O-Verb 50 combo

More than likely the cost of converting it to tube rectifier, if you could find a tech that could do it, would cost so much that you'd be better off buying a used Dual Recto. But I don't think the Rect-O-Verb is too far off of the standard Mesa sound. The lead player in my band has a Dual Recto Road King and a Single Rectifier as his backup/home practice amp and there are definitely mor similarities than differences in the tone, the Single sounds almost the same

 

[Surgeon]

Re: Mesa Lovers, talk to me about the Rect-O-Verb 50 combo

I agree on "get a dual recto if tube-rectification is a must for you"... no point in converting it to tube, too expensive. If that's what you really want, wait 'till you find a nice used dual, you'll have the option of both, solid-state and tube rectification.

I didn't realize (read) that the flight-case was included...sounds like a better deal now too!

 

[B2D]

Re: Mesa Lovers, talk to me about the Rect-O-Verb 50 combo

Not a fan of a dry tone, but if we are on the same page, i really like ''raw'' & ''gritty'' in my dirt tones.

Raw and gritty can be a good thing in the right context, but I couldn't get the sounds I wanted out of this thing. "raw and gritty" wasn't really the issue, it was the stiffness and harshness that came with it. This was more true on the hi-gain modern setting on channel 2 - the vintage mode sounded good.

Overall I much prefer the Tremoverb 100w head any day over this amp. Even the little 25W amps they're now branding as Rectoverbs are much better.

 

[Surgeon]

Re: Mesa Lovers, talk to me about the Rect-O-Verb 50 combo

I'm gonna take a wild guess and say that this amp really didn't suit you huh??