Pete modded Treadplate review

[crankyrayhanky]

Here's part 2 in an endless series "Getting to know your modules"

The Treadplate is often overlooked in the mts series; since Grail & 1086 came onto the scene, the Rectified/Recto/Treadplate module has taken a second tier ranking. Just trying to to determine what difference, if any, these Mesa inspired modules and its different incarnations have with each other can make your brain itch, and I'm not even venturing into Blackstripes vs. Silverface...

I was very happy with my stock Treadplate, as it came with my deal in my rm100. Sure, it was quite useless- thin and uninspiring- as a lead tone, but then again, so is the Single, Dual, and Triple Rectifiers that I had played. Kudos to Randall for keeping it real But the chainsaw chunky rhythms were right in my wheelhouse; Crunch Crunch, my les paul Gothic and my penchant for choleric riffs made this a winner stock-albeit limited in its applications.

Off to the okstrat workshop, the Treadplate returned with the works: bass cap 3way switch, Orange/Red switch, warmth/clarity, custom Recto faceplate, chrome knobs.

The red channel is very cool, kind of in the ballpark of my EG5. It actually has a bit more usable midrange that I expected, which is a good thing. Chainsaw- check, gobs of saturation- check. This sound does not need an overdrive, but I backed the mod gain to about 2 oclock and put my Wylde OD gain barely on- just enough to give that extra edge that Randall advises. This is a great drop C# MM Beautiful People sound.

The real gem lies in the Orange channel- whoa! This is truly a whole different sound...this tone is pure sweetness, chunk full of midrange, custom tailored to the sweet spot that I absolutely love. It has plenty of gain, saturation, and sustain, but none of that annoying sizzle that usually accompanies such distortion. If you ever played through the discontinued Brown module, there are some similar elements, but this Orange goes to angry places the Brown only dreams of- in its nightmares! The KH3 has a brownish tinge to it as well, but the modded Tread is much smoother while the KH3 has that edge and sizzle behind it; makes sense since the KH is doing that Metallica thing.

It's been a while since I had my Rectifiers and my Triaxis before that. I don't remember being this happy with the orange channel on the Triaxis- it was a much more noisy machine. This Orange Tread is now my goto lead channel. Clean, articulate, detailed- and yet smooth gain to the max- seemingly contradictory ideas, so beautiful and inspiring...

I put a thread up about "Is there a module that you would want 2 of due to its superior sound and versatilty?" The Pete modded Treadplate is that module- it's good and so different between red and orange that you could have 2 of these in your amp and be very satisfied. I can't stress enough about how cool the Orange switch is. If you have a Recto/Treadplate stock, I hereby command you to get the Orange mod!

I have found my tone god, and the name is okstrat :!:
(did I just go over the top?)

 

[okstrat]

Another check is on it's way Ray! lol. Thanks for the kind words.

 

[jj2k123]

great review. makes me want to get a hold of one of these

 

[maximus1]

how does the red channel on the pete mod differ from the stock recto? since the stock recto is suppose to be the red channel on a 94 dual rectifier which it is totally not. the grail module stock is much closer and is currently what i'm settling for becuase i've owned three rectos and with the grail mods and cap mods and whatnot it still sucks and isn't nearly as good as the stock grail, so i was wondering about the red channel on the pete modded recto and wheteher or not it sounds like the real thing cause so far the only thing thats convinced me that the randall can sound like a dual is the grail module but it doesn't have near the gain of a real one but it is gl's take on it which to my ears is much better than recto module even with the all the mods that i know of or have tried. i thought ray said his pm'd tread is gained almost to an eg5?

 

[crankyrayhanky]

Stock Treadplate has some good qualities, but moded is really improved in clarity. I believe part of the work was to turn some specs (bass cap?)into the Grail; plus I added the 3way bass switch which gives added flexibility.

I played this A/B with a 2001 Triple Rec. The Mesa had its usual depth and crunch, but its solo tones were ok at best. If all you do is crunch crunch, the Mesa is great. The PeteRecto can defintely crunch as well, though it's not identical in tone, more of a slightly different flavor. But in other areas- solos, melody, clarity/tone, the PeteRecto won out big time and was universally chosen as the sound to record with that day in the control room.

The Orange channel on the PRecto is untouched by Mesa- Mesa can't come close to this silky smooth solo coolness.

As for the EG5, I just meant that the tonal pallatte remided me of each other at certain settings, but the the EG5 is gained out by 11:30, the PRecto does not deliver more gain than stock- just better, so it's not as gained up as the EG5. In fact, my PeteSL+ seems to present more gain than the Recto. So insane gain is not what this is about.

I've played lots of modules, and the PRecto continues to be my go to; the only issue is I need 2: 1 for Orange, 1 for Red!

Good Luck!

 

[maximus1]

that cool thanks for the input, i guess i'll just settle for the grail's tone which is good and except the fact that the mesa sound can be had but not totally duplicated with this amp which is fine cause my 1086 slays a rectifier anyway :wink: i wish randall would take another shot the recto maybe they could put like a ss rectifier on the module or something. i think the rectifier tube might be needed to duplicate mesa tone

 

[crankyrayhanky]

I'm also running 6L6s, as opposed to the el34s- that would skew my comparison

 

[kbause]

that cool thanks for the input, i guess i'll just settle for the grail's tone which is good and except the fact that the mesa sound can be had but not totally duplicated with this amp which is fine cause my 1086 slays a rectifier anyway :wink: i wish randall would take another shot the recto maybe they could put like a ss rectifier on the module or something. i think the rectifier tube might be needed to duplicate mesa tone

Man you really have no idea what you're talking about here.

First of all I A/Bed my grail modded Recto module beside an actual Grail module and with the exact same settings the tone was identical. Only difference being in the tubes.

Seriously stop looking the front plates and the price tags and you'll see that you're wrong.

Second what are you talking about putting a rectifier on the preamp?
Clearly you HAVE NO IDEA what a rectifier does, so maybe learn what you're talking about before suggesting what Randall should do.

 

[maximus1]

i'm not sure you know what your talking about, i'm talking about trying to improve the most disliked module in the lineup that most people would say missed the mark by a longshot, why do think its the most modded, and yes i know what a rectifier does and it would seem that this amp has endless possibilities for tone based on its design and how well it performs. i don't see why the rectifier couldn't be incorperated some where some how. i 've played many rectifiers and i think others that have also would agree the recto isn't really close, and after owning 2 recto modules (one silver one blackstripe) , a rectified and a grail i think i can tell the difference between the modded ones and the real grail, imo there is a difference in the midrange and i'd say the grail has an egde to it that the modded recto doesn't, oh yeah i forgot i also had pete modded recto with grail mods and bass switch and no it wasn't quite the same as the grail but pretty darn close. so like i said i'll settle for a grail until randall takes another stab at it cause one tone isn't gonna warrant me spending a ton of money on one amp when this amp can do 20 great tones :wink:

 

[kbause]

i'm not sure you know what your talking about, i'm talking about trying to improve the most disliked module in the lineup that most people would say missed the mark by a longshot, why do think its the most modded, and yes i know what a rectifier does and it would seem that this amp has endless possibilities for tone based on its design and how well it performs. i don't see why the rectifier couldn't be incorperated some where some how. i 've played many rectifiers and i think others that have also would agree the recto isn't really close, and after owning 2 recto modules (one silver one blackstripe) , a rectified and a grail i think i can tell the difference between the modded ones and the real grail, imo there is a difference in the midrange and i'd say the grail has an egde to it that the modded recto doesn't, oh yeah i forgot i also had pete modded recto with grail mods and bass switch and no it wasn't quite the same as the grail but pretty darn close. so like i said i'll settle for a grail until randall takes another stab at it cause one tone isn't gonna warrant me spending a ton of money on one amp when this amp can do 20 great tones :wink:

epic fail.

IF YOU ARE SUGGESTING THAT RANDALL ADDS ANOTHER SS RECTIFIER TO THE PREAMP YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT A RECTIFIER ACTUALLY DOES.

 

[maximus1]

since you wouldn't want it on any other module besides a recto it would have to be incorperated with the recto module somehow, maybe like a switch on the chassis i'm sure some genuis could figure it out, i' ve seen a 5150 with rectifier tubes on the chassis. have you ever played a mesa? and if so wouldn't you say your ultra is closer or even your bugera for that matter

 

[kbause]

since you wouldn't want it on any other module besides a recto it would have to be incorperated with the recto module somehow, maybe like a switch on the chassis i'm sure some genuis could figure it out, i' ve seen a 5150 with rectifier tubes on the chassis. have you ever played a mesa? and if so wouldn't you say your ultra is closer or even your bugera for that matter

man
you seriously should just stop posting about this.

just a heads up, your RM100 already has rectifiers

:shock:

 

[maximus1]

yeah i'm done, but you never answered my question

 

[kbause]

since you wouldn't want it on any other module besides a recto it would have to be incorperated with the recto module somehow, maybe like a switch on the chassis i'm sure some genuis could figure it out, i' ve seen a 5150 with rectifier tubes on the chassis. have you ever played a mesa? and if so wouldn't you say your ultra is closer or even your bugera for that matter

Yes I have played plenty of Mesas (I actually play a dual recto in the band I just joined)

I've yet to A/B it to the Recto, but I'm not arguing about how close it sounds to a Recto.
Grail compared to Grail modded Recto (depending on how far you went with it) is identical. I would bet you wouldn't be able to hear the difference in a blind test.
As far as high gainers go, I've yet to find a module that does the modern aggressive type tone better than a Grail/Recto. (other than the 1086)

Also the reason mesa named them rectifiers is because they used tube rectifiers on them.
Personally I prefer SS rectifier settings on them, feels tighter which is a big deal on an amp thats so loose feeling in the first place.

 

[maximus1]

i agree the 1086 and grail are great modern tones as well as the ss rectifier sounding tighter on the mesa but after having the modded grail recto and the real grail module i hear a difference albeit slight but i still hear it :wink:

 

[okstrat]

Rectifiers are for the power supply - the biggest difference you'll notice is that a tube rectifier isn't as efficient as a solid state one. So you'll have a little less voltage in the amp with a tube rectifier.

In my experience (building tube amps from scratch, including designs that had switchable rectifiers) you don't notice a whole lot of 'sag' on the tube rectifier settings until the amps are just cranked to hell and back. On a mesa dual recto, you'd really have to run the master stupid loud to make the tube rectifier sag much.

Pete

 

[kc2eeb]

I agree 100% with Pete. At the risk of repeating myself yet again, if you turn the master on the power amp all the way up and use 6L6s or even better JJ 6V6s, and push the OUTPUT tubes and the speaker, you will discover a whole new amp. All the classic lead guitar sounds had their base in NON master volume amps that were simply played LOUD! Pat L.

 

[EZE]

I got the same Treadplate mod (as well the works on an SL+) from Pete, and I am completely satisfied with the sound upgrade to each module. The mods really seem to bring the sound of the modules to life. It makes a big difference to my ears. I don't know how they compare to an actual Mesa or Marshall, and I really don't care. All I know is that I like the way they sound in my rack.

I also have a stock KH-2, and the sound just isn't as vibrant. Good, but not as alive.

Randall really ought to bring Pete on staff and start working his ideas into their stock modules.

 

[NunSuperior]

It does seem odd that I can spend $2.00 on parts and improve the sound of my Rectified module. At least to my ears it's better, and it doesn't even have the Okstrat masterwork touch!