PS-100 + Mesa Dual Rectifier

Stage & Studio Power Station PS-100
1

I’m having trouble replicating the tone on bypass mode with my Mesa Dual Rectifier solo head. Basically the PS-100 sounds great pushing power tubes through my Marshall, Friedman and even EVH 5150 III, but the Mesa sounds weak through it. Basically in bypass mode and low volumes through the Recto, I got a nice high gain sound that has a bit of pleasant fizz. If I power on the PS100, the distortion sounds unsaturated/fizz gone and the gain knob on the amp barely changes anything. Even with all the switches in the bottom or middle position, the volume on full with the presence and depth at 0 on the power station, it still doesn’t sound the same as if I just put the PS100 on bypass mode only. The only reason I am trying to get this to work is I want to use the FX loop on the PS-100 without affecting the tone of the Recto without pushing power tubes.

2

Hi @6host and welcome to the forum,

Are you matching the same volume when toggling between OPERATE and BYPASS? This could have something to do with the difference.

You seem to be describing the sound missing very high-end detail as “fizz gone”. Is that right?

I would take a fresh approach, because there is no reason why we can’t get this to work.

  • Remove anything in the FX loop of PS-100 and amps.
  • Reset all presence and depth controls to the neutral (12 O’clock).
  • Put toggle switches in flat position.
  • Now match the volume level between the PS-100 and the Rectifier. Toggle between OPERATE and BYPASS until you can no longer tell the difference in volume. Pick a volume level that is not too extremely high or low.
  • Now the levels are fixed, we no longer have a moving target.
  • In my experience the toggle switches have a strong influence on the feel of the amp. First dial in the low frequency: FLAT-> WARM-> DEEP and also rotate the DEPTH control. Only focus on the bass frequencies.
  • Next high frequencies. Do the same with FLAT → BRITE → EDGE and also rotate the PRESENCE control.

There is no such thing as a transparent attenuator, but the Power Station is the best tool on the market because your amp sees a reactive load and your speaker sees a tube amp.

If you really cannot get close, then if you could capture some audio clips that would be helpful to debug more.

One final thought: listening fatigue is real. Sometimes, it’s best to turn everything off and come back to it in a few days. Sometimes I do this and I find everything back to normal.