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7K views 25 replies 14 participants last post by  Speedica 
#1 ·
Hey guys...

I need your help.
I'm a metal player. I play Pantera, Metallica, Zakk Wylde stuff, Anthrax and stuff by Guns N' Roses and Steve Vai, Satch etc...

I need lots of distortion, and I know that the Mesa Boogie Dual Recto is the perfect choice for me. Or an ENGL, but I prefer the Mesa.

I have an Ibanez.

The only problem is that i'm a bedroom player. I don't play to loud. Is the Mesa to much for me? I know that tube amps need to be cranked to give us all that distortion and sustain, and I can't play very loud.

Is it worth it? Spending all that money to buy an amp like that when I know that I won't take advantage of it 100%? It could be an investiment to the future...But I don't know...What do you guys think?

BLAKK:JAKK;)

(maybe I'll just keep my sh.ity Ibanez practice amp...or I'll buy a Peavey XXX lol)
 
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#3 ·
A Recto is not a bedroom amp. If you only play in your bedroom, you should really shop around for a small modelling amp (I can't believe I just said that) or something. You can't get huge cranked tube amp sound at bedroom levels, this is where a modeller can come in handy.

Even if you play out with a big amp, I would still recommend a small practice amp for bedroom practice. Saves wear on those expensive tubes and your big amp can live at your practice room (if the situation allows).
 
#6 ·
BLAKK:JAKK said:
Hey guys...

I need your help.
I'm a metal player. I play Pantera, Metallica, Zakk Wylde stuff, Anthrax and stuff by Guns N' Roses and Steve Vai, Satch etc...

I need lots of distortion, and I know that the Mesa Boogie Dual Recto is the perfect choice for me. Or an ENGL, but I prefer the Mesa.

I have an Ibanez.

The only problem is that i'm a bedroom player. I don't play to loud. Is the Mesa to much for me? I know that tube amps need to be cranked to give us all that distortion and sustain, and I can't play very loud.

Is it worth it? Spending all that money to buy an amp like that when I know that I won't take advantage of it 100%? It could be an investiment to the future...But I don't know...What do you guys think?

BLAKK:JAKK;)

(maybe I'll just keep my sh.ity Ibanez practice amp...or I'll buy a Peavey XXX lol)
I thought you said on JP forums you had a Triaxis?!
 
#10 ·
100w tube amp for the BEDROOM? You're insane.
You don't even need 30w for the bedroom. Vox AC(xx)VT series is what you'd need. Replace the xx with 15, 30, or 50 for wattage. http://www.voxamps.co.uk/products/valvetronix/ad15vtad30vt.htm

Seriously. Hook up to a 100w tube amp and try to get a decent sound out of it with a volume level lower than 1. A Peavey 6505+ (120w) is too loud at 1.5, and that's not going to give you a decent sound. Choose your amp wisely. Buy a 50-100w tube amp LATER, when you get yourself a full band going. You'll be complaining about your tone being flat and unresponsive if you go all out now.
 
#12 ·
Maybe with a 50w setting, a 2x12 and a hotplate you could swing it, but it would still be loud as ****.

Why would you go with an XXX though? It's a 120 watt tube amp, louder than the Recto most likely...

Maybe create a rack rig of sorts, with, say, a POD Pro and a Mesa 2:20, or a solid state power amp of sorts. It would still cut well live, and could be brought down to manageable bedroom levels.
 
#17 ·
???

A Flextone III is a modelling amp and mine shakes the room on level four on the master, and goes above 100 dB. They have powerful SS poweramps and are 75 watts and according to Line6, will reach very loud volumes, and as I said, the room shakes above 3.5, so is there really a big difference?

You do get a strong tone at low volumes with a Flextone, but even so I find the higher you crank it, the tone gets stronger, though thats partly because you can hear it better...
 
#22 ·
Hi there. I own a dual rec and yes it is a little much in it's default form for bedroom only playing. However, there are some work arounds.

http://forum.grailtone.com/viewforum.php?f=4

You can read the mesa boogie forums and research using a THD hotplate with your amp. That way the hotplate soaks the volume yet you get the benefit (tonewise)of the amp sounding as if it was louder then it actually is. Also you can remove 1/2 the power tubes to drop the amp's wattage in half. This is explained in detail in the manual.

Mesa boogie tone is so very sweet, it is worth it to use these workarounds instead of just going with another amp.

Good luck.
 
#23 ·
For what it's worth, my experience has been Rectos are the least volume-forgiving of the entire Mesa line. They don't really come into their own until they begin moving some air.

Just about everything else Mesa sells, however - F-series, DC-series, the Nomads, the Lone Stars, even the Marks - actually sound quite lush and full at bedroom levels. Sure, they get better as they go up, but I do most of my recording on my Nomad at pretty low levels and I still get great results.
 
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