Is the Dual Rectifier any good for lead work?

[jpwannabe]

I'm really into Dream Theater stuff, how are these amps for lead work?
I've heard its really thin...

[frethack]

To my ears the Dual Rec is a little thin for both rhythm and lead work, but Im not really into the oversaturated, mid-scooped sound (I know Im about to get flamed...hehehe). There is a guy here is Houston, www.joelgregoire.com (whom Ive plugged in the forum a few times), who gets EXCELLENT tones out of his Dual Rec, but a lot of it has to do with his choice of guitars (Robins) and pickups I think. Not taking anything away from it, its a great amp, but I prefer the tones of the Mark series, Heartbreaker, or Roadking.

*Ducking for cover!*

[Drew]

Oooooooooooh yes, lol. The "Vintage" mode on that thing is total Santana, and as long as you ease up on the prescense, the "Modern" mode sounds great, as well- I was playing one at GC the other day, and I actually preferred that setup: Treble, 7ish, mids 4ish, bass 6ish, gain 6ish, prescense 0, and master at like 2; my 7620 (air norton/tone zone) just killed in that setting.

As long as you hit the thing with a guitar/pickup with a strong midrange, you'll get a great, dark but not "scooped" sound. Exactly my cup of tea, I'm contemplating selling my TSL for one.

-D

[RSVampire]

I dunno....is a Geo Metro a good street racing vechicle?

[7LightWithOutHeat7]

a geo metro is great just drop in a 454 and you'r off to the races

[BCShredder]

Thin??? That's marshalls.. The Mesa has a great lead sound you just have to tweak it out to your liking because they can get a little too grity compared to say a soldano. Then again the Tri Axis is for Leads and it's the same price.

[The_Grindfiend]

I've got a Dual Recto, and it sounds great for leads. By the way, I was playing a big church hall the other night, and it had THE BEST natural echo. It sounded great for leads, and the clean sound was trance-inducing. It was seriously one of the best tones I've ever heard, and it's MINE!! haha.

[frethack]

BCShredder, I would have to diagree with you on the thinness of Marshalls. Ive heard some of the greatest tones in history come out of them, and quite a few amps are designed around their schematics. Of course it would depend on what particular marshall you are discussing, but to say that they are thin sounding as a whole would be inaccurate. In my opinion, rectifiers are too bass-y and their gain is a bit too fuzzy for my taste. Thats not to say that I dont think it works well in certain situations, just not for me. I prefer a gain that has a lot of growl (a la Mark II C) and very present mids.

again...all opinion

[BCShredder]

Originally Posted by frethack

BCShredder, I would have to diagree with you on the thinness of Marshalls. Ive heard some of the greatest tones in history come out of them, and quite a few amps are designed around their schematics. Of course it would depend on what particular marshall you are discussing, but to say that they are thin sounding as a whole would be inaccurate. In my opinion, rectifiers are too bass-y and their gain is a bit too fuzzy for my taste. Thats not to say that I dont think it works well in certain situations, just not for me. I prefer a gain that has a lot of growl (a la Mark II C) and very present mids.

again...all opinion

Yes, the good marshalls back 20 years ago not th eones of today. They are fuzzy, get muddy under low tuning, and have too much mid. As for the too much bass it's called turn the bass down on the head. The gain isn't fuzzy at all unless you turn it the whole way up which is extremely not needed. Plus you like the distortion to have a growl?? That's what a rectifier is all about. The C II+ doesn't have that much distortion petrucci ran it through many things before it cranked out like he makes them sound. That's also probably a big key factor in why he uses Rectifiers now.

[jpwannabe]

Many things like what?

[winterlong]

I think you can get a pretty good lead tone out of the dual rec. But it is rather hard to dial it in. The amp is woofy and it is easy to get some bad things happening in the high end. But the big thing to remember is that like all boogies if you set anything to high or to low it will sounds bad. Moderation is the key.

And petrucci tone is easy to get from a mark II more than amble gain. He doesn't use a lot of distortion anyway.

As far as lead tone in general I think the mark amps have a way fatter lead tone. But if lead tone is what you are going for get a soldano or a vht if you want something a little more boogie like. But most of all you have to remember amps respond to how you play them, some don't like some playing styles. So on the dual rec do you have good lead tone?

[BCShredder]

Yes boogies are very sensitive to everything you touch on them. You change one thing and you have to switch around everythign till you get it just right then make some dot marks ha. The CII isn't that much till you compress th ehell out of it like JP does. I would also agree the Mark IV has a fat killer lead tone, but more so on th eolder ones then on the new ones I've played as of lately.

[Drew]

I find it funny that people are calling dual recto's "fuzzier" than marshalls here... my experience with every mesa and every marshall I've played is that the mesas tend to have smoother, more compressed highs than the marshalls- i mean, there's a LOT of high end available on a rectifier if you need it, but the distortion to my ears is smoother, while the marshall sound is definately "crunchier." I've gotten some awesome lead sounds out of my TSL, but generally, they were with either VERY little distortion (this thing records beautifully with the gain on like 3 in the lead mode, very hendrixy), or a good amount of gain, but had that "pleasing in a good way" zakk wylde-esq dark buzziness to the sound, something i would actually be happier without.

Sure, if you scoop out the mids, push the bass, and boost the treble and presence in the modern mode of a dual rectifier, it's gonna hurt. And these are the traditional settings you see them in in Guitar Center's, because that's what all the punk 15-year-old kids immediate;y set them to (no disrespect to TwoHands, who is now probably pushing 18 but even as a "punk 15-year old" still was pretty enlightened about gear... for a line6 fan anyway, point being to our younger members- exceptions do exist) But, since when did you trust your average 15-year old brat with his daddy's credit card to know how to dial up a good tone? Spend some time tweaking, there's great sounds in there. Definately not thin and buzzy at all, if you adjust that treble and presence knob with a little bit of moderation.

-D

[BCShredder]

Nice way to call him out on that post.. HA.. Yea on the rectifier I keep the presence at 12-1 O'clock. Usually pushing it in Modern/Bold/Silicone Diode mode w/ bass no higher than 2 O clock depening on volume I'm playing at. Distortion shouldn't be set past 1 or 2 O clock. Keepit's it very tight and thick with a killer lead sound. Then vintage on the rhythm section, although the lead channel I'll use for very distorted rhythm just ue the solo boost to break out the leads.

[The_Grindfiend]

I used to use channel 3's modern mode for rhythm, but now I use channel 2 modern. It's not quite as mid-heavy as channel 3 (though I keep the mids up fairly high) and seems a bit brighter. It sounds better for heavy rhythm, in my opinion. I now use channel 3 modern for lead, as the increased midrange and slightly darker sound is better suited to the lead sound I am aiming for.