Mesa/Boogie 4x12 Recto Cabinet

I will assume it was built in 2000. I play punk rock, surf, and some ambient stuff. To my ear, this cabinet serves them all properly. The cabinet does not leave me wonting for any features. I use it for all band practices and shows. It is sufficient, especially when matched with my Dual Rectifier. It gets a 7 for features not because I desire more, but due to its simplicity. This is its virtue, like a Telecaster.

I primarily play an American Telecaster with a Seymour Duncan Hot Rails humbucker in the bridge position. My melodic hardcore style is suited well to the frequency response this cabinet was designed for. I can tell you honestly, this is the best cabinet I have heard. However, my subjectivity has not been tested terribly extensively with Bogner, H&K, etc cabinets. I prefer this over a Marshall, however. I am giving it a 10 because it is extremely solid and uses what appears to be the industry standard, the Celestion Vintage 30 12" speaker.

I am always nervous with the cabinet simply due to its value. I want it to last for many years, so I am careful with it. Considering I carry it in my trunk a lot, roll it on asphalt sometimes, and play a lot of tough punk shows it has performed famously. My insecurity lies solely in the money I spent! I am giving it a 10 because it has never let me down.

It is really built with care, and the weight is definitely worth it. You could use a workout anyway, no?

I have never had to deal with them. Not applicable.

I have been playing for about 8 years on and off. I also own a peavey 4x12 cabinet, an ADA MP-1, a Tubeworks power amp, a Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier, a Peavey Valverb, Fender guitars, and a bautiful Larrivee acoustic. If this were stolen, I would buy another identical cabinet as soon as I could afford it.

I love the fact that I get my "dream" sound out of my rig these days. I hate that people see Mesa stuff and assume you're 100% metal. I'm not metal at all and I never solo. I play for the love of music, I don't need the money.

I compared it to the Marshall Vintage 30 cabinet and this one is built much better. This seemed to matter the most to me, since build quality certainly affects sound quality and they both have the same music speakers.

This amp was made in 1999. I personally play death metal and this cab is awesome. Since I only play the one style basically I haven't really experimented with others.

I use an Ibanez RG-7 and a Crate solid state head. Since I use the solid state it is a bit noisy etc but things like that are to be expected. The bass is real tight and has great punch. Highs are clear and the speakers can handle 270 watts!

I depend on it everytime we play. I use it with no backup and have never had any breakdowns or problems. The leather which surrounds the cab protects very well (alot better than the plastic normally on amps and cabs).

Have never had to deal with them which is good as far as reliability of the cab.

I have been playing for over 12 years and this cab kills my crate cab. I can't wait to get my triple rectifier as I've heard one on my cab and its even better. If it were stolen I'd kick the person whom stole its ass. Pretty heavy although its got big wheels which will roll over just about anything.

The difference between the traditional and standard besides size is that the traditional is open backed which gives nicer clean sounds and the standard is closed back which gives more bass and better distortion.

I think mine was made in 1999. Four Vintage 30's, 4,8 or 16 ohm. It's got everything a 4x12 cab should have. Mine is covered in red suede. It wasn't my first choice, but it was the only Recto 4X12 cab Atomic Music (in College Park MD, a great used/vintage music gear store), but I've grown to love the looks.

I play my Mesa Trem-O-Verb head through this monstrosity. The best low and high end response of any cab I've ever played through, mids are also great. HUGE, HUGE sound. Cleans sound really good (not as good as an open back cab IMO), and distortion tones,....well, lets just say nothing compares! I love it.

I've gigged quite a bit with it, not one problem. It's built better then most cars, solid, and heavy as HELL!

Mesa Boogie has always answered my emails and has been very professional. I've also ordered things from their website and never had a problem.

If you have a TOV, Duel/Triple Rectifier or Nomad amp, this cab is a must (or one of the Recto 2X12 cab, which I also own). I've also heard they make other amp brands sound better. Great product,....just go buy one!

you've already read this same shit a million times by now. But it has everything you need in a cabinet. Yeah, its heavy. But, its worth the extra wieght.

I originally bought a Marshall JCM 800 1960A 4x12 cab to go with my JCM 900 head and totally hated it when I got it home. I had to crank the amp to get any kind of distortion and even at that it wansn't a great sound at all! No bass, shitty clean, it sounded like a peavey solid state! I was pissed and almost spent $400 getting the cab loaded with Celestion V30's, and I wasn't even sure if it was the cab or the amp. Luckily a friend at a guitar shop told me to come by and play my JCM through a Mesa Cab. It was instantly apparent that the marshall cabinet was the weak link in my setup. This cabinet with the Marshall head is loud and versatile. I am getting good cleans and great distortion at all levels. The Marshall cabs are loaded with those lame celestion 75w speakers that just suck. A lot of people will tell you you have to crank the volume to get the "marshall sound." But, that just isn't true. Even on 8-10(which you have to leave the room to play) it was a wimpy bass and distortion. It just takes too much to break up the 75w speakers. The marshall cab would probably sound better if it had the v30's or Greenbacks in it.

This thing is a tank, I can't foresee anything going wrong with it barring any really wierd or big accidents.

Haven't needed them.

seriously, this cab is great. I think the speakers have a lot to do with it, but the it sounds so much better than the marshall 1960 cab. If it were lost/stolen I would definitely replace it.

Brand New Very Late 2000. The features of this cab are the same as damn near ever other cab, except this cab should define quality. The Celestion Vintage 30's are nice, nothing really special to me thou, as I feel its the construction and size of this cab that makes it sound great. The Vintage 30's probably do help thou. Gets a 9 because it barely fits in the back seat of a 98 Cavalier...and with it there its tight to fit another person

I play fast heavy punk with a shitload of palm muting and this rules.
I use a Nunobettencourt N4 guitar with a boss metal zone and usually a marshall JCM 900 head. With the metal zone I can get amazing distortion because it takes away 90% of the "chainsaw" sound of the metal zone leaving huge...huge bass with smooth treble sounds. I made 1 mistake by getting the standard recto...I should have gotten the traditional because its 3" smaller. All mesa cabinets have extreme bass so since the traditional is the same cabniet only smaller it would actually fit in a car!! Bases on sound alone and not the 33" 130lbs that this cabinet is...I give it a solid 10..easy

This thing is so heavy and well made it will hurt you if you get in its way...well before you could ever hurt it.

Amazing!!! these guys really do define customer support. I was origional going to use a bass head thru this cabinet till I got a head and the guys from Mesa (both techs) returned my call like 4 hours later saying that this was not a good idea. I have called them several times before I even got my mesa and they were very helpful

One thing that is bullshit is the Mesa Warranty...1 Year on heads and I think 1 year on this cabinet (less on the speakers)...$1300cdn & only has a 1 year warranty...WHAT THE FUCK?

My friend has a 4x12" half-back (equal with the recto) so I knew I needed to get a Recto 4x12 if I wanted the best. I tried Marshall and it had nothing, no where near the Mesa in my opinion. If lost i'd go nuts...If stolen I'd probably join the postal workers (hehe) and find whoever took it.

If I could change anything it would be:
the weight (130lbs is alittle much)

Shit I love:
everything else

This is about as versatile as a spearker cabinet can be. It is a standard 4x12 cabinet with vintage 30 speakers. It has 3 jacks on the back for various impedance selections. One area of confusion I thought I might comment on is the difference between the recto standard and recto traditional. Mesa's website has no explanation of the difference between the two other than the name. The recto standard cabinets come in the base and top kinda like marshall cabs. They both have angeled speaker baffles. The only difference is the bottom cab has a larger top on it so you can stack the cabiets. I own the one with the thin top (big enough to fit a head on it but not another cabinet). The big difference is the recto standards are about 3 inches taller than the traditional cabs. The other recto cabs are called "traditional". They look about the same size as a marshall cabinet. The top cab also has an angled speaker baffle and the bottom a straight like a marshall cabinet. The only reason I rate it a 9 is because the impendance selections are not quite as flexible as my Marshall cabinet.

The cabinet sounds excellent. I bought it because I was having problems with my Marshall cabinet farting out at higher volumes. I use this cab with a Rocktron Piranah preamp and a Marshall 9200 power amp to drive this cab. It sounds kinda like a modified Marshall I guess. Probably because of the power amp. The sound is supberb. It sounds far better than the Marshall I own. Particularly in the bass response. Another thing I noticed is that it is considerably louder than my other cabinet. I guess because of the difference in speakers in the Mesa. Check out the celestion web site and listen to the difference for yourself. The sound bites are pretty accurate. Unfortunately I can't say alot about the clean at this point because the clean sound on my setup is terrible (too bad considering how good the medium to high gain sounds are). However, I don't see any reason why clean sounds through this cabinet would not sound as good as the distortion sounds.

I have only owned it for three months, but I can't forsee anything going wrong with. It is speakers and wood so what could possibly happen. One thing this cabinet has on all others I have looked out is the construction. Make sure you look at the backs of them. The walls of my Marshall are about 1/2" thick the Mesa is about 3/4" to an 1" thick. The Mesa is probably more durable but also alot more heavy wich sucks. Watch out for the vinyl covering, it looks like it might tear up easily. I plan to buy a cover before mine leaves the house.

I have not dealt with them.

I have been playing for about 13 years. If it were stolen or lost I would replace it as soon as I could afford too. I love the sound. To my ears this is the best cab I have heard but I have not heard everything. I bought it based on the reviews on this sight. I did'nt even try it out first! The only thing I hate is the weight and size. The recto traditional is only about 5 pounds lighter due to its shorter build. Maybe I should have got the traditional. Even though its only 3" shorter that is alot of extra space in a civic! Please make sure you research and try everything first. It is a matter of personal preference. For my style of music so far this is the best.

What can i say? 4 Vintage 30's (swwweeeeeeeeeeet) and nifty looks... its a speaker cab for gods sakes

JESUS CHRIST ON A BIKE! this cab is SWEET! perfectly compliments the Dual Rectifier or any amp for that matter... especially the Line 6 Flextone HD. the dumbasses at Line 6 put "flat output" (or something) speakers in their cabs so that... well i dont know why, but trust me Vintage 30's are better. it handles low tunings really well, with enough bass to give dick cheney a heart attack!

a brick! a very good sounding and good looking brick at that...

no needs for it yet

in two words, WOO HA! metal, clean, jazz, even pop shit, this cab handles em all well and makes any guitarist sound great!

Carefully made for me (on order :o) in California. 8ohm in mono (includes parallel out for connecting a second cab), dual 4ohm in stereo. Huge rollers (which are removable, great feature when you want to stack your cabs). All covered in leather (new car smell!). Look great and is pretty big. 33 inch high not couting the rollers. It,s just a cab, it doesn't need much features, so I'm giving it a good rating, since it has everything I could need.

You might want to know that I'm a fan of big metal distortion and mahogany guitars with humbuckers.

I got it 3 days ago and only got to test it with a solid state Peavey head (first gen Supreme 160W). The cab really brought out the weaknesses of my amp! But it made it sound "warmer" in some way (although the clean sounded like pure s***, but that's to be expected from a solid state Peavey). It has a full, thick sound, but amazingly didn't have has much bottom end as the Peavey 412MS cab I was using before. It's pretty strong in the mids, but only the good mids, it has this "mean" attack in the mid that you can hear in James Hetfield tone and that I always wanted and always thought it was in the amp or the guitar, just found out it's in the cab!

What I like the most is that it's the first cab that I can put at ear level at rehearsal volumes and walk away with my hearing 100% normal, it doesn't fatigue my ears like lesser cabs. It has crisp highs, not deafening highs.

I can't wait to test it with a better amp. I'm trying it out with a Line6 Flextone II HD soon, I tried this head in my old Peavey 412MS and it sounded incredible althought a bit muddy, can't wait to try it with the Mesa cab.

Just got it

Tried to call them once for a technical question on their dual-rectifier amplifiers, a girl responded and told me there were no tech available right now and she asked if I wanted to hold or to be called back, since I'm usually at work during business hours and I'm hard to join I told her I would wait and I never got a line. Well at least someone did answer the phone (a human person!!!) which is much better than a lot of other companies!

Sounds great, looks great, cost a small fortune, but if you're serious about playing guitar, why spend money on lesser cab when all you have to do is put out 2-3 more 100$ bills and get a REAL cab.

Made in 2000. 8 ohm mono input, 4 ohm mono input, 4 ohm stereo inputs, four Celestion Vintage 30 speakers, removable casters. Versatile enough for me, and I'm not picky.

Bottom line: This cabinet is/should be every rock/metal guitarist's dream. I run a Mesa Boogie Mark III 100 watt head into this cabinet, and I play a Gibson Les Paul Deluxe with Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates humbuckers. Like most amps/cabinets, it sounds a little thin at low volumes, but as soon as the amp is turned up, this cabinet is the shit. The low end is very pronounced, while the mids and highs come through amazingly well also. It seems incredibly loud. I'm not sure if this has more to do with the head or the cabinet. Regardless, this cabinet sounds incredible. It doesn't "fart out" as other people put it. Very good note definition at extremely high volumes. It's just great. Sometimes i also combine this cab with a Mesa Boogie Halfback 4x12 with Celestion 90's. I can't put into words the amazing sound this produces.

I've only had this cabinet for a week. But all my other Mesa gear has been 100% reliable. I have no doubts about the reliability of this cabinet. The only thing that could possibly happen is that the leather-like covering could probably get scuffed or torn fairly easily, but that's just a cosmetic factor anyway.

I've dealt with Mesa Boogie twice. Once to obtain a users manual for the Mark III, the other to inquire about their cabinets, namely this one. Both times, they responded within a reasonable amount of time. It wasn't the fastest customer service, but it was extremely helpful/insightful. So I'll give them an 8.

Overall, I believe this is the best speaker cabinet for anybody playing rock music, whether it be punk, metal, hardcore, or whatever. It's no fluke that nearly every hard rock band today uses these. I tried this cabinet out along with a Marshall 1960BX 4x12. The Marshall didn't have near the handling power of this cabinet, and it also lacked the low end definition of the Mesa. If it were stolen, I would cry because there is no way in hell I will be able to afford another one. I feel like this cabinet will be a lifetime investment. I hope when I'm 80 years old this thing will be sitting in my living room next to my rocking chair. Anyway, it's the best sounding cabinet on the market, especially for Mesa Boogie amps, and it IS worth the price.