Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier Solo Head Triple Channel

This is a three channel, Dual Rec, so probably bought originally within the last 3-4 years from the dude I bought it off of last year.
I play death metal with a bit of crust and hardcore. This is one of the most versatile amps on the market with an amazing reputation, so it covers everything. I wish I had held out for a Triple Rec cause the extra 50 watts can come in handy, though I can run this through a single cab (Marshall 1960BV 412) with ample volume left. I don't really like to push the volume too far past 6 on all fronts.
I can't complain about the features, this amp has a ton of options, I just wish it had a bit more range, which I'll get to next.
But I'm assuming that if you're looking at this page you're familiar with the basics about this head and feel no need to go into detail about that.

I have two 400 series ESP LTDs with active EMGs. The tone I go after is a modern death metal scooped sound with articulation but without mid chunk out. I've heard a lot of different sounds coming out of Mesas, but I think this is what it's best suited for. Want the mid heavy swedish death sound? Look at Peavey or Marshall, you can probably get it faster and cheaper that way.
As far as sound quality goes, it's hard to really judge this amp without bringing it up to volume. It's less like a 6505/5150 where you can judge fairly well at 1 or 2 how it'll sound up to 6 on the volume. This head changes pretty dramatically, especially on the low end (as is typically stated).
As great as the head can sound, I think it's a bit disappointing if you're going straight off the racks and I think that's something overlooked. The low end muds out, the mids can be chunky, and while it's certainly a high gain amp, I find the distortion lacking.
The sustain in general is weak. I got better harmonics off my previous head (6505+) with less effort despite less gain.
Out of the box, I'd give the sound quality a 7.
HOWEVER, this can be greatly improved. I have yet to have my amp modded, but am leaning towards at least getting an upgraded output transformer, if not upgrading the power transformer and choke as well. I've read this can be a massive improvement.
Also looking to get some new tubes. I bought this off craigslist and the person selling it claimed the tubes were months old. I doubted him then, and months later, I'm still doubting. But you can generally expect to buy this head used for around a grand and then have to get new tubes. I'm a 6L6 man though and that won't change.
That said, this is how I've gotten the head to sound ridiculously better: Ibanez Tube Screamer in the front and a BBE sonic maximizer in the effects loop. The TS gives the overdrive that you might think a Dual Rec would provide. Sustain issues are dealt with and you've got a few extra controls for feeling out the gain. I've seen people claim that you should be able to cut back the gain to 50-60% when you add a TS, but I prefer to keep the TS gain at 50% and the Rec gain at 65-70% (the pedal is unmodded for the time being).
The sonic maximizer can level out and widen the sound. That is it's job. If you use this, you can pull back the lows on the head and bring them back in a more balanced way with the sonic maximizer.
Those two things alone bring the sound quality from a 7 to a 9, easy. I think the modded head plus that would be a 10.
It does however get a bit noisy, but not as bad as a 6505. And until I get the cash up, switching to the clean channel is a lot cheaper than buying a noise reducer, but that's the more ideal route.

But, again, I want to warn folks who might think that buying the Mesa head guarantees the Mesa tone without mods or pedals. It capable of being far greater than what it is out of the box.

Mesa's reputation is solid. Being able to switch from tubes to diodes makes the amp it's own back up in a way.
I've never had to call Mesa, but I can tell you the schematics aren't very enticing to the uninitiated.
But I do have a problem with the volume on the clean channel where it's about 40-60% reduced in volume compared to the other channels. The pot works as the volume increase is reflected, but there's something internal that I'm still working on figuring to replace to bring it up to speed.
This isn't horribly odd for a head, but for being a few years old it's a little unnerving. Especially on a head like this where it's far less likely that you bought it for the clean channel anyways...

N/A

I've been playing for over a decade and a half and gigging nearly all of that time. I'm a bit of a gear nerd (though not able to toss a lot of money at it). I've gone through some Peaveys that I felt weren't quite as versatile and went the Mesa route. I was initially a bit disappointed, but realized that the potential is there, Mesa just expects you to fill it out.
I would definitely stick with Mesa even though I think there's some better 'out of the box' heads out there. It's really just super versatile and user friendly as long as you're not doing internal repairs. But knowing what this head is capable of doing and the sound that I'm getting out of it now, I love it. If Mesa had taken the time to put those few extra features into it, it'd be even better, but whatever, I've got it dialed now.
If I was buying it used I'd probably have it sent directly to one of the fine mod folks out there and just accept it as part of the cost. I'm sure they can do wonders for the head. But if you want a really articulate, high gain route, I think the TS and SM can instantly bring this up to speed.
There it is.

This is the all tube 3 channel version of the dual rectifier, each channel has a number of different options, Channel 1 - 'Clean' & 'Pushed' Channel 2/3 - 'RAW', 'VINTAGE' & 'MODERN'. It is possible to get any type of tone you are looking for with this fantastic head, from jazz clean to brutal crunch - you just need to learn how to use it. The only area where the amp is lacking is reverb, however there is the rect o verb amp available. The amp has a superb effetcs loop, which I run a reverb or delay pedal(T rex Replica/Roommate) through to add the icing on the cake.

This is one of the finest sounding amps of all time, in regards to some of the bad reviews below about the 'FIZZ' I just want to clear this up! It's not fizz, it's bright, the modern setting is extremley bright. Just think of all the amazing tones this amps distortion has created for bands such as Metallica, Alterbridge, Dream Theater and loads more. The distortion sounds a lot more tighter with an overdrive pedal in front of it, but that's just it. Do you think all of these bands plug ino it straight and achieve these amazing sounds!? they have lot's of other equipment to help them achieve this. The amp is quite quiet, use a noise suppressor if you are using an overdrive with the gain channels. The clean channel is sparkly, all you need to do to get super cleans at high volumes is to set he clean channel to your sound and then use the solo boost to set higher volume because this doesn't add gain.

I have never dealt with them, but heard great things about the guys at Mesa.

The Mesa Boogie dual rectifier is a must have amp in my rig, It's at the top of the game for high end amps and as for the guy who said that the Peavey Triple xxx is better!? That is a cheap rip off of the Recto! you have clearly never played the amp and are jeolous. Congraulations to anyone who buys the Mesa Boogie Dual Recto and if you want any advice on it send me an email

This thing has a decent amount of features. Three channels, each with at least two voicing options. Adjustable gain, volume, presence, bass, mid, and treble per channel. Parallel effects loop is awesome too. Clean channel and two distortions. You get the idea, its a basic three channel amp. Enough to satisfy most guitarists.

Here it comes. This amp can sound good, and it can sound bad. Bottom line, THE FIZZ WILL NEVER GO AWAY. On the clean channel, its muddy, but it can be cleaned up. Mostly. The orange channel, the raw setting is useless and the vintage sounds "muffled". Orange modern is IMO the best sound on this amp. But still fuzzy. Red channel is to be avoided. The red modern is so harsh and fizzy it will be painful to listen to. Even cranked, the fizziness just hovers over everything. And the lead sound is terrible. Not liquid at ALL. You have to fight the amp to solo smoothly which is frustrating as all hell. Overall, it was quite disappointing. Not versatile at all.

Very. Solid chassis, although the pots get loose easily.

Never dealt with Mesa.

Its a solid rhythm amplifier. Like i said, orange modern is pretty badass sounding for tight rhythm. But the lead is awful. It sounds like there's no gain even at max! It feels like there's just a bunch of fizziness surrounding a clean channel. Playing is nearly impossible on the lead sounds. Not the wisest purchase I've made. I'd say go for a Mesa Mark IV or an ENGL amplifier. Heck, anything else actually.

This amp has everything you need from a 3 channel amp, a separate eq, gain, and presence knob for each channel. The only thing that sucks is that it has no built in reverb.

OK, here's my story, I regretted buying this amp 5 months after I bought it because it just couldn't give me the type of tone that I was looking for. I was thinking of getting rid of it and search for a different amp. Out of manufacturing this amp sounds OK, with the 6L6 tubes that it comes with, but I just couldn't get the mids that I wanted out of this amp (without sounding like crap). The mids on this amp sounds naturally scooped if you ask me. The only thing that I really liked about it at that point was the thunderous lows that this amp will give you while playing hard and heavy rhythms, but it just didn't have the mids that I like for playing punk rock. I really didn't want to get rid of it unless there was no possible way that I could get good tone out of this thing so I did some research. After doing my research, I decided to change out the stock 6L6's it came with and went with JJ KT77 tubes...man, what a big difference! I totally found the tone I was looking for and I'm really happy about owning this amp now. The 6L6's just couldn't do it for me and the KT77's did the job. You can get mids like a marshall amp with these tubes. I use the KT77's in EL34 bias mode. I think that this amp sounds way better in EL34 mode whether your using EL34 tubes or KT77's(same tube family as EL34). With the KT77's, I could get the mids like EL34 tubes, and still have the thundering lows of 6L6's. Perfect tone for punk rock with monsterous and raunchy distortion. I am definitely glad that I didn't get rid of this amp. This is a definite keeper. I haven't tried using EL34's in it. Some day I'll try just for the heck of it. One good thing about this amp also is the fixed bias so you can change out tubes without having to set the bias. Just plug-in/out tubes and play. Now I've read lots of bad reviews about this amp about the sound and let me tell you, this amp does not sound bad at all with KT77 tubes. I am definitely happy about the sound that I got out of this amp. Another thing is that this amp doesn't have an eq like other amps. It really is sensitive to the kind of guitar you plug in. It seems to me so far that a certain eq setting for a certain guitar will not work for a different guitar. You will have to reset your settings. The eq setting for my schecter does not work for my gibson les paul. Two totally different eq settings, if you know what I mean. Overall, I'd like to say to people that have this amp now and are not happy with the sound, just try swapping tubes and try JJ KT77's or JJ E34L's. And it does make a difference in tone (in my ears at least). And if you're still not happy with what you get, then I don't know what else to tell you but to get rid of it and search for a new amp. This amp has more distortion than you'll ever need. I set mine just under 12'oclock position and it's perfect. This amps has to be played at high volumes if you're running 100 watts or else you just won't get a good tube tone. So if you want to play at lower volumes like in your bedroom then you should just run 50 watts. You could get a better tone out of the tubes at lower volumes. You could do this by removing the two center power tubes and one of the rectifier tubes. One last thing, I noticed about this amp that is different from other amps is that the louder the volume on this amp, the better it sounds. So it can handle jamming volumes very well. I've had other amps that would sound sound noisy and terrible at loud jamming volumes. This amp does the job. Oh yeah, when you first turn on the amp and the tubes are just warming up, the channel selector makes a popping sound the first time you switch channels but after the first time you switch channels, it doesn't make a popping sound anymore. It's not broken though, they're just known for doing that.

Nothing has broken on me yet, but we'll see after a few years. I constantly play on it almost every other day and no troubles yet.

They're kinda slackers over there but they'll return your phone call if you leave them a message.

Overall, If you're looking to buy this amp, just try it before you buy it. I had an experience with this amp like no other. I had to be really patient at mastering how to tweak good tones out of this amp.

Just a comment on Studpuppy's review below mine:

Again, this is THE amp that has defined modern Rock/Metal since the early 90's, with other amp manufacturers following suit. You could have at least admitted that perhaps the amp you tested had some issues, probably mostly related to bad tubes, or in some other way defective. Otherwise, it would have been better for you to simply say the amp isn't your particular style.

Too many people have found this amp extraordinary for it to receive a Sound Rating of 1 from anyone.

I had one in '03 and now have anothe in '08.

They can be hot or miss. One day I love it, the next I don't. They have the "tube mistique", that's for sure. When they are brutal, they are the BREWTAWLZ by far. When not, well, I reach for a Marshall. For me the Recto' sound their best with Marshall 1960 Vintage cabs. I do NOT like the sound of Mesa's V30 cabs, Standard or Oversized, as they sound too girthy for me. Soloing on Mt. Everest is one thing, but fitting into a band context is another.

The Mesa Recto is a complete beast in every way. You can strech it to a Marshall tone, but in the end if you want a Marshall tone you should get a Marshall. The Mesa Rectifier, however, has clearly defined a complete generation of players.

Ford tough maybe?

Great. They don't take me out to lunch of course, but they always answer my emails.

There are lots of great amp manufacturers out there today. But in the end it was Fender, Marshall and Mesa/Boogie who defined generations of Rock and Roll.

Whether I like this amp or not (which I do) is irrelevant. What I dig is that I now own another piece of Rock and Roll history. For that reason, I respect the Rectifier.

Pleanty of features, unfortunately few of them doing anything to actually improve your sound.

Are you kidding me? There was NOTHING I could do to get this turd to sound good. Why anyone would like the lifeless, dull, harsh sounds from this amp is beyond me. After changing out all of the tubes, calling Mesa, and trying other Mesa Boogies at my local guitar Center (they all sounded like crap) I sold this piece of dung and got myself a Peavey Triple XXX which blows this thing out of the water.

I wanted to like this thing.....I really did.

Honestly folks. Listen before you buy, or you will be disappointed.

Seemed reliable enough. Very solidly built.

The Guys at Mesa were fantastic to work with.

Honestly, I'm speechless. I dropped the green on this amp expecting it to deliver pristine Metal tones. Not only did it not deliver, I couldn't get a single tone from this amp that I could live with. I had a Mark III that I was unhappy with as well......you'd think I'd have learned my lesson from the first mistake.

What Mesa Boogie has is an incredible Marketing machine. They hype up their over-valued product line, and get guitarist to think that the only way to sound good is to drop $2K on their crap products.

You'd be better off buying a metal Zone and running it through a transistorized Crate Amp.

This amp was bought at the end of last year from the first buyer. I'am the second owner. This amp is certainly versatile enough to do many styles of music. But it's gear toward rock to nu-metal. If you dial it correctly you can cover just about any style from Jazz, blues and etc. This is a 3 channel head with channel switching capabilities. I wish it had a reverb other than that...it has all the features for my needs. For me I don't use the effects loop. It's definitely a must feature to have especiallly if you're into pedals. I use this amp for home, rehearsals and gigs and it has more than enough power to handle anything you can throw at it..especially a hard hitting drummer. It's been the standard for many bands around the mid 90's to 2000 era I don't see it changing anytime soon as with Marshall. These two amp companies set the standard for recording and for stage performances.

I use a Gibson Classic with JB/59 and ESP LTD EC-1000 w/JB/59. This combination along with my Mesa DR complements each other nicely. The amp is extremely quiet. Definitely a studio amp and why many bands have used it in their recordings. I run this amp with a Vertical recto 2x12 cab and it sounds fantastic and also an Avatar Vintage 2x12 with WGS Veteran 30's. The Avatar and DR sound incredible especially with the WGS speakers! I have to say that both are completely different sounding cabs. If you like a earlier break up with the Marshall tone the Avatar would be it since it's model after the enfamous bluesbreaker. The Mesa cab is very beefy with alot of braun. The sound of this amp is very clear, tight and focus. you need to watch the gain. It has a ton of usable gain that can make your amp a bit fuzzy sounding if you go crazy with it. The clean channel is great! Very warm and vibrant. Better than alot of high gain amps out there.

The thing that I did as with many tone freaks is changing the tubes, pickups,electronics and cables. For me I focused on tubes and pickups. I put all NOS preamp tubes in mind. I have Amperex for V1 and V5, Mullard for V2 and v3, Brimar for v4. I also switched the stock power tubes to Winged C 6l6 and it sounded alot better than the Chinese 6l6. It has alot of bass but certain frequencies on those tubes masked the amp making it sound like you have a blanket over the speakers. The Winged C 6l6 defintely gave it more of a 3D effect and the break up was smoother. Alot more balance than the chinese 6l6.

I hardly ever hear people having problems with Mesa. They build great amps. The quality control, components and craftsmanship are fantastic from a production amplifier. I have no doubt this amp will last me for many years to come.

They are great! They get back to you and they care about their customers.

I've been playing for 13 years and have played and owned many amps. I currently owned a Laney VH100R and that amp is unbelievable. It's my No.1 and the Mesa DR is my No.2 I've owned other Laney's like the TT50H(great versatilitiy but the tone didn't impressed me as much as the VH100R, AOR Pro II(it's too classic rock sounding for my taste), LH50R(great amp for everything except heavey metal, I still missed that amp) Mesa Stiletto( great tone but a bit too lose for the chugga chugga) Stiletto Ace( a nice improvement over the Stiletto in the palm muting department but doesn't have the natural organic tone that the Stiletto has. Rivera K55....nice cleans and very loud but very peircing and muddied . Orange Rockerverb 50( a nice sounding amp. Cleans don't stay clean when you turn up the volume, the distortion sounded a bit compressed for my taste..not worth the price for the performance). Engl Thunder 50( nice for recording but doesn't cut through the mix very well in live situations...as with the RV50 also. Marshall 2210...great amp but clean channel sucks not to mention the distortion bleeds through the clean the louder you crank her up. Marshall 30th Anniversary(blue EL34) Very organic sounding multi channel Marshall but has some high end fizz that is very difficult to get rid of. Marshall DSL 50....Great Marshall amp! Has the best cleans of any Marshall and the distortion is nice! Marshalls best sounding multi channel amp. I like it better than the JVM. Carvin MTS....crap! Line 6...Crap. I love everything about the DR. It's a killer amp in almost everyway like my Laney VH100R. I would buy it again if I lost or if it gets stolen. I would certainly look for a good deal first. I don't buy my amps used for quite sometime and I think alot of people are the same way. If you look carefully and patient. You'll always find great deals on just about any amp out there. I'm not going to fork out 1800.00 on a new DR or amp for that matter.

100W all tube amp. 3 channels, very versatile. FX loop, solo switch to give you a boost. Mine was made in 2006.

I'd like another FX loop. That way, I could use an EQ in one and actual effects in the other.

Absolute CRAP!! I bought this amp about 6 months ago, and was extremely disappointed. I probably tweaked the settings for days trying to get something that sucked a little less. Then, about a month ago I bought something on a whim...a MXR M-108 EQ pedal.

After I learned how to use the EQ, I've been able to get any kind of sound I want. The distortion is absolutely brutal, similar to System of a Down's Toxicity album. A lot of people hate the clean on this thing (I did too), but after figuring out how to get a setting that worked on the EQ pedal, it's been excellent.

I'm only giving the sound a 10 because of what it CAN be. On its own, it would be a 2.

No problems yet. Built like a tank.

Haven't talked with them, but the 5 year warranty is good.

I love this amp now. After learning how to use it, I would buy it again without even thinking. Loud as hell and sounds damn good.

My friend has a Peavey 6505 I've been playing around with. That too is a great amp, but this thing smokes it when trying to get a heavy scooped tone.

For anyone who has tried and hated this amp, give it another shot with EQs. I was very close to selling it and getting something better until I realized what it could do. Without Eqs, a POS like a Line 6 Spider sounds better.

Has three channels, etc. Others have already covered all this.

Some people may find this amp a tad basic compared to modern do everything amps, but personally for me it does more than enough, with a perfect mix of simplicity to gadgets. I love playing with knobs and buttons, but when gigging you don't want things to get too complex and fussy.

Suppose it would be nice to be able to mix in a more Marshal sound, but then it would be a Marshal Amp :) But maybe some sort of warm dial.. who knows. I'm very happy with it.

Has three channels ;
1 clean
2 Dist
3 Very Dist.

Personally I was amazed at how lovely the clean channel is. Maybe could be a tad warmer, but still lovely. I find I don't use channel 2 much, too half and half for me, but bought this amp for channel 3... fantastic. But its all personal.

Its been very reliable so far. Had it about a year now. I'm fussy about giving a 10 and a year isn't that long.

Haven't needed them.

Been playing about 20 years and had quite a lot of gear over that time. Personally I love this amp and would buy another if lost. The sound may be a tad personal so would probably recommend you hear it before buying.

Something that may be interesting is the cabinet type and volume. When played through a Mesa 4x12 this thing is awesome, but at low volumes in small cabs it obviously can't compare. What amp can ? But watch out for the weight of those large cabs... will put in A&E.

Not sure if its worth the money. For me yes, but maybe not for some. There is a lot of competition now.. some others are also very good.