Mesa/Boogie Rectifier Recording Preamp

I've never really cared about how long something takes to get it up and runnign and sounding good, I've always liked tweaking, point is this is easy to use so if you don't like hours of pointless mayhem this is good...

I played this preamp through a good power amp before I bought it, but I've only gotten a chance to play it direct on my own time, but I have had full out dual rectifier so I know whats up...I've also had ALOT of work with direct preamps and as far as direct is concernced, this preamp is all spades...I was especially impressed by the clean..yes the clean, because I remember my dual rectifier's clean was good, not great, but pretty good..this thing is way more punchy and it can get some awesome moderate breakup...as far as cabinet modeling is concerned they do a good job of notching the right frequecnies and recreating the tone with a full out set up, but still the end I will say it will always be better hooked up to an great power amp (namely the rectifier matched power amp thats now out) and a good cabinet (mesa/boogie or vht)...now there is somethign I'd like to adress that I think some people pass over when it comes to amps..and thats pick ups...now mesa/boogies are a completely different breed than say a marshall, or something of that sort..why?..because most of its gain is generated in the first gain stage then hits a master volume into the power amp, the power amp adds gain and feel but its a great contrast to marshall amps which rely greatly on the poweramp for gain..this is why all the people with good seymour duncan pickups can't get enough of mesa/boogie and all the people with emgs (like the last post) claim them to be much to harsh..its because that active output isn't driving the mesa's like a marshall...if you have active pick ups make sure you're looking into the right kind of amps, most likely a jcm 800 would be great for emgs, listen to zakk wylde, but if you want a mesa/tone get some different pick ups..

worked great so far..

..haven't had to deal with them

its awesome, butlike any other preamp it really needs to be matched to a good power amp and cabinet to be at its best, oh and if you REALLY want to have a full out tone, try playing with two or three good amps, much like adam jones from TOOL...it'll be cleaner and thicker...crazy...

This is a really easy to use unit. There are 2 channel strips that produce decent tone regardless of the setting. Due to recent misadventure, I am a huge fan of NON DIGITAL AMPS! PRESETS SUCK! I really like the brit section on the clean channel. the only problem is that you have to switch between different sounds to get a warm recording out or a bright live out. Not cool. This means that you can't record live with it while playing a show.

I am in a emo/punk/reggae/hi fidelity garage/the clash/something completely new band, and I need both good cleans and distortions. Ok, we've got some great cleans. Undeniably great cleans. If you turn up the gain a little bit on the cleans, you can get a nice overdriven sound. Great cleans. I kinda like the vintage channel of the distortion section. Its nice and compressed but buzzy. Its smooth, and somewhat articulate. It palm mutes really nicely. The modern channel is really buzzy and stiff. I hate it. It is unusable for me. It is a very harsh buzzy distortion. I tried a triple rectifier out with the same guitar (les paul with emg 81 in the bridge)and it was buzzy too so I guess that if you like that sound from the recto you will like it from the preamp. Suit yourself you crazy metalheads. This pedal sounded exaclty the same live through a VHT 2/90/2 as it did recorded, so to hear what it sounds like with that or any other poweramp, listen to any album, ever. I would say however that the problem with this preamp is lack of dynamics. You cant really express yourself musically through your fingers and pick. It is very limiting and unsatisfying. But again, if the recto is your thing, then you will like this preamp direct or live. Metalheads would love it

I never really gigged with it. I unloaded it before I got a chance to.

Decent. Thats all i have to say, not great, not bad, decent.

I am in a band that needs some dynamics and emotion to all of the instruments. This is not it. I am rating it higher because metalheads would love it and because it is a good sounding piece of gear, live and direct, but It just dosent fit my tastes.

Mesa rectifier distortion at it's best. Great clean. I use several guitars and haven't been disppointed by any of them yet. Good effects really do justice to the sounds. Go rack mount effects. Highest quality. It really pays off.

This is very easy to use in studio or live applications. Great features set that only lacks reverb to be complete in my opinion.
Recording outputs are almost there, but don't sound as good as running through speakers and a power amp.

Rock solid so far. No power amp tubes to mess with.

I work for a mesa dealer when not on the road or in the studio. I have seen a few Mesas go bad, but Mesa always takes good care of people.

Would be better if the recording outs sounded better. Really nice unit overall.

sounds great !! I use this preamp with the 2:90 power amp MESA
well it's mesa/boogie just the best sound of the world. this preamp
got amazing direct output recording. this unit work's fine without
mixer. just plug it with your favorite effect processor and that's all. it's the best preamp of the world !!! if you like recto sound go for that !!

well i'm the first who's speak about this new preamp . the features
is simple it's like exactly like the rectifier head

never broken at this time

i'm owner of a lot of preamp, triaxis,tubefex,studio preamp, the
best is rectifier recording preamp, direct recording are really
awesome !!!!

Easy to use and get going. As stated before, the manual does a good job of explainig everything. Nice big silver mesa knobs and switches makes it quick and easy to adjust.

ibanez jem -> rectifier preamp -> t.c. electronic g-major -> recording. No excess noise. In addition, has the ground lift to help with problems in the ground path of the setup which cuts down greatly on the hum since I must have a ground loop somewhere.

Definitely a Mesa. Clean sounds are superb--can get a nice clean sound with no added overdrive or distortion. From there, can get all the way and inbetween to the modern crunch the mesa rectifier is known for.

The manual states that if you hook this up to a mesa power amp and cabs, you'd have the exact setup and sound as the dual rectifier head. Can't test this though since I mainly bought this for direct recording.

The direct recording signals sound great--a very true and natural sound when compared to the amp simulator on my rocktron voodu-valve with amp simulator--which was able to re-produce the sounds of the pod pro. Tonality and punch stay true.

While I've not had great experiance playing with or recording on large cabs and heads, this pre-amp is awesome. In addition, it should give me a true dual rectifier head if I'm so inclined to get a power amp and cab.

Since I don't have a true power amp or cabs--only 2 old solid state practive amps--I can't really comment on the live sound. However, trying it at the store, it was plugged into a mesa 2:90 power amp and then into a 4x12 Mesa cab, It sounded great.

This thing is a tank. Very heavy and a solid metal frame construction.

Only thing I see needing fixing here is normal tube replacement which is a snap since they are very accessable.

Haven't had to deal with them.

I play mostly metal and hard rock. Also like playing nice clean classical. Always wanted a mesa boogie. I like to record and play direct so my wife and family don't kill me. I was looking at getting a decent tube head and cab and then came across this. It allows me to play loud or clean direct or live. The sound is definitely a Mesa sound when cranked up and it is sweet.

Very easy to use. The manual does a good job on describing the controls and how they interact. Unless you?re familiar with Mesa amps, read the manual thoroughly and take your time to experiment and hear for yourself what the manual states about the controls. It?s as easy to get a great sound, as it is to mess it up. Killer looks doesn't bother me...

I?ll refer here to the Recording output only, since it?s the main reason why I bought this preamp, and have not been able to try it out in a live situation. The sound is very good. I have a Tom Anderson Drop Top and ran it through a Mackie VLZ1402 going to an Alesis RA-100 power amp and Alesis Monitor One studio monitors. I have tried a Pod, Boss GT-3, Digitech 2120 all with their speaker sims and without them through a Palmer speaker sim and I was very pleased with the ?Rec Pre?. Channel 2?s modern mode seems to lack a bit of bottom, but over all a great all tube sound finally free from digital harsh sound. I did try the live outputs through a Palmer with very good results. The sound changes significantly, but not in a bad way, it?s just different and it?s good to have yet another palette of sounds available, so if you have a Palmer or any other speaker sim, don?t get rid of it before you try it out with the Rec Pre?s live outputs. The only thing I regret so far is the ?Live/Bright-Warm/Record? switch, I mean why have dedicated live and record outputs and then have to ?compromise? (the manual clearly states this, btw? you can download it from their website) one of the two? Owning a Palmer unit, this disappointed me a bit. I can still get a very decent sound from the live outputs through the Palmer and the switch engaged in warm/record mode, only a bit darker and have to compensate with some eq afterwards.

It looks as it's built tough, but it's to new to tell...

I have a Mesa Nomad 55 and have not had any problems with it. The Rec Pre is to new to tell. I have sent email reuqesting information regarding both the Nomad and the Rec Pre, and they have responded quickly enough.

My playing ranges from pop, fusion, blues to rock. The Rec Pre can easily handle them all. I?ve been playing for almost 20 years and have gone through quite a good number of guitar processors. I?m pretty sure I would buy this again, but not without trying out other all tube preamps. I love the sound, features and looks, but I hate the ?Live/Bright-Warm/Record? switch. I wish it did not have this switch.

Easy to use. Anyone familiar with a channel-switching guitar amplifier will feel right at home. That said, this recording preamp is not simply plug and play. There are many ways to alter your guitar's tone and the controls are sensitive and interactive. The manual provides some helpful starting points for different kinds of tone. Although I love this unit's sound, careless fiddling with the tone controls will result in some fairly hideous noise.

The sound quality is outsanding. I live and record in an apartment and mic'ing a cranked tube amp is just not possible. Over the years, I have tried speaker emulators (ADA & Palmer), a Demeter Silent Speaker Chamber, and a Pod Pro to record guitar parts. None of these approaches have been completely satisfying. The new Mesa/Boogie Recto Recording Preamp is, finally, the real deal. It has a wide range of clean and over driven tones that have a very organic sound and feel. No FX processing, just real tube tone

To new to tell.

I play rock, primarily with a Tele and Les Paul, and record with Pro Tools. My amps are a THD Univalve, Marshall JCM 2000, and a Fender Super 60 with THD Yellow Jacket converters. Mesa/Boogie says the Recto Recording Preamp is supposed to sound like the Dual Rectifier Solo Head. I've never played one so I can't judge the accuracy of the statement. I can say that it has a very wide range of tones from squeaky clean to full on, saturated distortion. What really impresses me is that the tone coming out of the monitors is absolutely authentic.