I'm looking for a Mesa Recto type of distortion, any suggestions on a pedal?

My main amp is a Mesa Rect-o-Verb Single Rectifier, and I love the distortion that it puts out, It just sounds nice and full. The problem is that it's too loud to use at home, so for home use I have a Blackstar HT-1RH that I use with a nice set of Sennheiser headphones.

I have a Boss DS-1 Distortion pedal that I find to be a bit thin sounding, and can be a bit "ice-picky" at times. GFS claimed their Twin Hi-Gain pedal emulated the Recto sound, but I found it to be too muddy for my tastes. So is there a pedal you guys can recommend for me? thanks.

EDIT:

I forgot to add that I play mostly harder types of rock, not so much metal. I guess I can say i'm aiming for a Foo Fighters type of rock guitar sound

Wampler Triple Wreck is designed to do that. I know the Foo Fighters are big fans of the Rat pedals as well.

Mesa VTwin
Hughes & Kettner Warp Factor
Soldano Supercharger GTO

The Hardwire TL-2 Metal Distortion will get you there. $99 new and a ton of tweakable EQ options along with a loose/tight mode switch...nice pedal for that genre.

Another option is to go for a Roland Micro Cube. It has a great recto model plus you get an awesome practice amp with a boat load of great tones and effects.

The Tech 21 California is (I think) supposed to emulate the Mesa experience. It looks like they're not being made anymore, but I bet you can find one used.

jbqmr1dTMds

It's a little more expensive but if you love the tone of your Recto so much why not buy an attenuator so you can enjoy the sound you love without killing the neighbors?

i ended up getting a used Hardwire TL-2 on eBay for $60. I liked the EQ options available with it. Hopefully i'll enjoy it.

Cool man, please share your thoughts after you've put it through its paces. I'm curious how it stands up to your Mesa.

I think the Tech 21 is trying to emulate more of the Mesa Boogie Mark 1 sounds, ala modded Fender. The Recto sound is different. Personally, I prefer the former.

Rocktron makes the Zombie-something, that sounds good for the money.

Carl Martin makes a very realistic Recto-in-a-pedal unit !!!

There is a DIY project called the "Doctor Boogey," not sure about the spelling. I don't know about kits or even pre-built pedals of it, but lots of folks who are into that type of thing consider it to be "pretty close."

I have no experience with it myself, but am aware of others raving about it.

A higher gain pedal that I think is possibly exceptionally good (w/o having a "metal sound" per se if you back the gain down) is the Emma Reezafratzitz. But it isn't really touted as being specifically a Recto sound, or even being called a Marshall emulator or any specific amp emulator IIRC. But again, the guys who have tried the DIY projects for the Dr. Boogey as well as the ones for the Bogner amps - Uberschall and Ecstasy - some end up preferring the Emma Reez over them.

The Emma pedal is kind of...ingenious in some ways, IMO. Just a little left of center in design, and well thought out. I know the price is probably what some would consider a little high (and I myself can never remember), but it still might be worth it as an option to consider.

JMO, and just suggestions!

Amt legend series R1 pedal is exactly what your looking for. I'm personally interested in the bogner model. I believe they are cascaded jfet circuits similar to the dr boogie 11g was talking about.

The Tech 21 Character Series US Metal pedal is their Dual Rec clone. The California pedal is more like a Mark series Mesa sound, like Santana. Both are great pedals, though.

Mesa V-Twin was my choice till someone offered a silly amount of money for it.:grin: