VII. Elektrik

I'm meh on this model. It doesn't do anything the Uber doesn't do that I find the Uber does better, even if it takes more tweaking with the Uber to get there. I never use this amp. It sounds too much like a modeled amp, not a real amp to me. You can hear it in the mids. It sounds like some annoying kid going "uhh uhh uhhh".

Immediately selecting this amp, you will notice something doesn't sound right. For some reason, the default "Master Volume" DEP value is 100%!!!! Set that down to at least 50% or lower, and this amp becomes at least usuable.

The Presence setting is a little non-traditional. I find a value around 45% keeps the amp djenty. Higher values make the amp more crunchy like a Marshall. Otherwise, it behaves similarly to the Uber, especially the mids knob.

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VIII. Dual Rectifier "Pre"

Normally I don't deal with the pre-amp only models because I feel like they're the same as their full counterparts, only missing bite and a full frequency response (they sound thin). Yet the Dual Rectifier's pre-amp sounds different from the full model - I consider it an entirely different amp model. It has a very smooth, spongy distortion, compared to the full model having more bite and grit. I like to use it for my Metallica black album tone.

You'll notice with the "Pre" variant, you have to use a bit more gain. Also, there's much less bass and more mids. So I generally turn down Mids and turn up Bass more than usual.

Otherwise the same rules apply as the full model, regarding boosts and EQ's. There are no DEP's to deal with.

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IX. Slo Overdrive

This is easily one of the best models on the unit. It sings quality, especially in its rich midrange response. It has plenty of punch and warmth, so it never sounds thin like the Treadplate and Fball models. While the high-end is there and can be quite ronchy, it is never overbearing or harsh. But the real spectacle is the signal-to-noise ratio. This model has very little noise compared to the other models, making direct comparisons to them sound like a generational leap - like SD to HD.

The overall tone is probably somewhere between a Marshall and the Fireball. It doesn't feel quite "modern" enough for chugga chug downtuned metal, but it's certainly not vintage. It makes for a sweet 80's - 90's hard rock tone and will even work as a thrash tone. I find it does wonders for Vai tones.

One thing about this amp reminds me a lot of the Plexi model actually. It's got that nasal breakup to the pick attack that adds character to the tone. And as hard as I've tried, I could not dial that out. Which is good and bad - for some tones I like it, but it doesn't work for a sweet, super-smooth, high-gain lead tone. If you want the SLO tone without that nasal attack, try to boost the SLO Crunch - it's "cleaner" in this regard, but as you might expect, less saturated and more crunchy.

The natural tone of this amp has a bit too much low-end breakup to me, and doesn't sound focused enough. I like to put a Distortion pedal or some EQ in front of it to give it a bit of a mids-boost. Nothing too fancy or extreme - it doesn't need radical treatment to draw out the sweetness. I don't find the amp is very versatile. Extreme settings are more likely to sound ugly than interesting.

Another interesting point to this amp is that the EQ knobs are not as drastic as one might expect. I find I use them more to change distortion tone than to really EQ the tone. In that sense, they are similar to the Fball model. If I want more low-end or high-end, I'll use EQ effects after the amp. I usually keep the amp's EQ knobs a little over 50%, but find boosting mids higher can sweeten up the sound.

I have not had much success tweaking the DEP's. I find they sound best around 50%. Boosting Master can have some effect on the midrange - sometimes I move this up to around 60-65%. But beyond that the power amp distortion is too broken up for my tastes. As usual, Sag works as expected and can be set to taste. Hum gets swirly and ugly if turned up yet reduces the richness of the distortion if turned down. Bias almost acts like a mids control.

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