[zerodc]

Or a good overdrive up front, however the recto still sounds better then the ENGL to my ears, to me the ENGL sounds too solid statish and if I wanted that sound I would go for it.

More likely, since a Recto is relatively uncompressed and undampened in playing response and an Engl is the complete opposite, you just don't really pick that hard. A Recto seems to be happier when you hit the strings relatively hard than when you rely on preamp gain to get away with a softer touch.