Rectifiers
- Thread starter darkballa
- Start date
LimpPisskit
New member
In the beginning
Back in nineteen fifty-five
Man didn't know about a rock 'n' roll show
And all that jive
James Marshall had the smarts
Eric Clapton had the blues
No one knew what they was gonna do
But Pete Townsend had the news
He said..........
turn AC into DC!!
so you get AC/DC!!! :lol:
Back in nineteen fifty-five
Man didn't know about a rock 'n' roll show
And all that jive
James Marshall had the smarts
Eric Clapton had the blues
No one knew what they was gonna do
But Pete Townsend had the news
He said..........
turn AC into DC!!
so you get AC/DC!!! :lol:
wangdexian
New member
But the Mesa is still more expensive. I think.
vernplum
New member
Generally, when people talk about a 'rectifier sound' they mean the Mesa sound which is dependent on the type of power tubes (usually 6L6) as opposed to the 'british sound' charactersied by Marshall which use EL34 in the power stage.
Someone please correct me - some of that is bound to be wrong.
Someone please correct me - some of that is bound to be wrong.
vernplum
New member
To check out the definitive Recto tone (IMHO) listen to "...And Justice For All" (Metallica, obviously) in which Jaymz uses a Mesa Single Rectifier Solo head for all the rhythm thrashy parts. The scooped saturated distortion tone which is almost 'white noise' in parts is what I think of as recto.
vernplum said:Someone please correct me - some of that is bound to be wrong.
Actually the massive distortion that came out of the Rectos is produced by the cascading tube pre-amp, while the power stage remains relatively clean. Whereas the old-school Marshall crunch is produced by both pre-amp and power amp clipping. So for the Rectos, to certain extent, the power tube type is not important. You can still make them growl the same way using EL34, as long as you keep'em clean. But yes, the EL34 defines the Marshall crunch.
The first amp to use this cascading gain pre-amp is the Soldano SLO-100, the premier hi-gain amp. Recto's and 5150's circuit are extremely similar to SLO-100.
Hi darkballa,
Rectifiers, as others have said, are used to convert AC into DC. These thing are used in power circuitry in the amp, which is actually not in the signal path. Signal path is the path inside the amp where your guitar signal goes through from the input jacks up to the speaker.
Old amps (like Vox AC30 or Marshall Bluesbreaker) used tube rectifiers, because solid state technology was not popular yet. The problem with tube rectifiers is that they're very inefficient. So, the harder you pick a note, your sound gets more compressed. This, to players, creates a 'feel', as if the amp is responding to their playing.
Solid state rectifiers, on the other hand, is very efficient. So much that the 'sag' phenomenon the players usually get from their tube rectifiers equipped amp, is gone. Some people like this new tight sound, others do not.
Mesa's Rectifier line of amps, offer both tube and solid state rectifiers which you can choose by flicking a switch. However, these amps are not known for their vintage 'sagging' sound, but rather by their massive distortion which is produced by the cascading gain pre-amp, which ironically has nothing to do with the rectifier. Why Randall Smith chose the word 'rectifier' as his amp's name is beyond me.
The term 'rectifier technology' is simply strange; to me at least. :lol:
Rectifiers, as others have said, are used to convert AC into DC. These thing are used in power circuitry in the amp, which is actually not in the signal path. Signal path is the path inside the amp where your guitar signal goes through from the input jacks up to the speaker.
Old amps (like Vox AC30 or Marshall Bluesbreaker) used tube rectifiers, because solid state technology was not popular yet. The problem with tube rectifiers is that they're very inefficient. So, the harder you pick a note, your sound gets more compressed. This, to players, creates a 'feel', as if the amp is responding to their playing.
Solid state rectifiers, on the other hand, is very efficient. So much that the 'sag' phenomenon the players usually get from their tube rectifiers equipped amp, is gone. Some people like this new tight sound, others do not.
Mesa's Rectifier line of amps, offer both tube and solid state rectifiers which you can choose by flicking a switch. However, these amps are not known for their vintage 'sagging' sound, but rather by their massive distortion which is produced by the cascading gain pre-amp, which ironically has nothing to do with the rectifier. Why Randall Smith chose the word 'rectifier' as his amp's name is beyond me.
The term 'rectifier technology' is simply strange; to me at least. :lol:
calibre2001
New member
vernplum said:Generally, when people talk about a 'rectifier sound' they mean the Mesa sound which is dependent on the type of power tubes (usually 6L6) as opposed to the 'british sound' charactersied by Marshall which use EL34 in the power stage.
Someone please correct me - some of that is bound to be wrong.
Urmm I think Mesa Dual Rectifiers offer the option to switch between EL34s and 6L6s. THere;s a switch for that. Yes, you have two types of power valves in 'em for a reason.
