Mesa/Boogie 4x12 Recto Cabinet

4,8,16 ohms 4 12 inch celestions vintage 30's black leather, mesa emblem, great construction, flawless

must have for mesa tov head!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! tried all the others come on, pony up that 800.00 plus and experience what the mesa product was built to sound like

mesa -nuff said

never needed it

this is an update to a previous review. please don't make the BIG mistake of purchasing anything except the mesa 4x12 recto cab!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i went thru h and k, marshall, laney, crate, and peavey the bottom end just explodes and the highs clear and glassy which helps to tone down the mids from the head. i recently got into a discussion with the builder of the klon, bill finnigan, about how i loved his overdrive pedal's clean boost but thought the gain was weak. his comments were to the effect that mesa's were not very good amps and randell smith was overated. he suggested i try some real clean, boutique amps such as dr z and bogner. i did and the pedal did sound a lot better but not in the same ballpark as the mesa to start with.each amp has it's own pluses and minuses . one amp can never DO IT ALL!!!! if you want brutal, crushing, overdrive and distortion then the mesa tov is your ticket.NOTE:i did try solodano since they peaked my interest by trashing mesa in their reviews. the solodano head is awesome if not too bright for my liking but mesa with the right tubes:testla 12ax7,svetlana 6l6,and rca recifiers still is my choice for ultimate grind over solodano, bogner ,and matchless. of course a lot of people might disagree but tone is always a subjective type of thing. and at 1,500.00 it's about half the price!!!!!

the basics: 4x12 cabinet loaded w/ 70-watt Celestions, straight cab design w/ std tolex covering, heavy-duty removable casters--in all, a solid, kick-ass cabinet that SMOKES and oozes Fabulous, bone-crushing tone night-after-night!!!!

great low-end definition--really thick-n-juicy!! I hook this thing up to my trusty DC5 wide-body combo and BAM!! The sound just opens up!!! I've seen my arm hairs rise up and move while playing!!! You could literally "feel" your sound, the crunch and definition all in one massive serving!!!My amp sound like a 100+ watt amp--it's hard to believe that I'm only pushing 50!!!Yep. thick and juicy, all right!!!

this cabinet is definitely rock-solid--by far, the best cabinet I've ever owned (I used to have a great-sounding Peavey 5150 straight cabinet that comes close)--my back-up cabinet is basically the combo's internal speaker (or, if I play my cards right, I could borrow my bro's VHT straight cabinet, which sounds great in it's own right, too!!)--this cab has, so far ,withstand all the gigging and rehearsals I've dragged it through!!

yo, if it ain't broke, don't fix it!! Enough said!!

overall, this is the cabinet that I hope to build my next rig around--might get a Single Recto, Mark IV or Triaxis preamp, also maybe a slant cabinet as well!! If this were stolen, I wouldn't hesitate to go get another one ( or kill the bloody fool who snaked it in the first place!!) I used to have Laney, Randall, Peavey and Crate cabinets (God, I almost thought about getting a Marshall JCM900 4x12)--I'm so glad to have this as my backline!! I have a gig w/ my band this weekend--I'm thinking about using my bro's VHT Pitbull Ultralead amp head w/ my cab--devastation will be eminent this weekend if all goes thru --yeah, the VHT crushes thru the cabinet, too!!!

This was made in 98 and has 4 celestion vintage 30 speakers in it. It has 8 and 4 ohm inputs and some other connections for linking cabinets together. It is huge and heavy. The casters roll easy and come off easy, they fit on securely and are very heavy duty. It does all a speaker cabinet can do.

I use a dual rectifier solo head with it and a gibson les paul studio and flying v. It sounds great. The projection is astounding and it does not fart out at higher volumes. The lower mid range and bass frequencies are tight and pronounced. This is the cabinet for metal and hard rock, not sure about for other styles. Sounds great with a mesa head but I'm sure it will work great with anything else too.

It is solid. It is much heavier than any other 4x12 I've used before. The celestions are handpicked by mesa so I am betting the company will stand by them. Mesa has legendary reliability so I expect no trouble.

Never dealt with them, heard they are cool.

The best cab i've encountered. It is hard to move though. It weighs close to 90 lbs or so and is larger than standard Marshall size 4x12s. It barely fits in my car. The casters make a huge difference in moving it on level or flat inclined surfaces, but you will most likely need two people to carry it up or down stairs (or onto stage). The sound is great for metal and hard rock players, buy it without fear, others should check it out first.

Cool ass features. I use my Recto cab with a Trem-O-Verb head, and it sounds awsome, sweeping lows with that Mesa high sustain. It could be the amp though. I play this cab at home, and soon to gig with it. 1 8ohm jack, 2 4ohm jacks. Thick walled (very, very heavy), closed back. PLaying losed back and then playing open back is a totally different experience. You gotta open the back yourself cause all it is is a closed back. I'm gonna cut out a nice big rectangle at the top and maybe at the bottom so I could bet more of that sweet Mesa bass. Has detachable alloy casters and not teeny ones like the Marshalls.

This amp suits all of my needs, except for more bass, but that's not a design neglection. The Mesa people thought that a closed back cab would define the Solo Head sounds. But I love the bass even more, my band is modeled after alot of bass, so getting that extra runble from the cab feels good to my feet and to the crowd.

Mesa. Nuff said.
(I think Mesa also make tanks and bomb shelters for the military.)

I have no idea how long the warranty is, But if you own a Mesa product, you're part of the family.

I would buy tons of them, if I needed them. They are their own class of cabinets- dependable, heavy and bulky (can stop .22 cal bullets at close range), awesome sounding, economical too (all Mesa products are the same price, EVERYWHERE! No bargain hunting, or crazy 50% markup). I f I do get another cab, it'll be the one with the side armor, now those can stop 50 cal at point blank. I cringe evrytime I see a pic of one of those beauties, it's just that I fell in love with one without side armor and had to bring it home. I love evrything about the cab as well as my Trem-O-Verb, which is one of the finest amps ever made. Both built like tanks and sound extremely well.

As the other review stated, the Recto 412 is taller than a Marshall 4 x 12. I have an early 70's Marshall 4 x 12 and with casters it is slightly shorter than the Recto 4 x 12 without casters, so we are talking about a very tall cabinet--sizewise, it is about the size of the old Marshall TV 4 x 12 cabs of yesteryear. The cabinet features four Celestion Vintage 30 specially handpicked by Mesa--apparently there is a lot of variation between Vintage 30's, akin to Strats or Les Pauls, or even Marshalls. The speakers are wired in such a manner that you are given three impendance options: 8 ohms mono, 4 ohms mono, and 4 ohms stereo. Generally I run this cabinet at 8 ohms mono, as I don't have a stereo setup and use this in conjunction with my Tremoverb head. Also, the cabinet comes with huge 4" casters which are very easy to roll (much better than Marshall's casters), but keep in mind because is such a tall cabinet that you end up getting something very tall if you use the casters. The casters are what Mesa calls a "Track-Lok" design, which means that you can undo the casters by way of pushing a small pushbutton on the chassis of the caster, allowing you to slide the caster off. This is a great design--much better than those lousy Ernie Ball pop-out casters, which stay about as tight as a whore at the Mustang Ranch. Well, you get the idea. You can get this cabinet in two formats, top cab and bottom cab. Keep in mind that Mesa DOES NOT make a straight front cabinet, so even their bottom cabinet has a slanted baffle like their top cabinets. Personally this is fine with me, as the slanted baffle gives you a little more dispersion when you are standing in front of the amp. However, I would guess that a straight front would lend even more bass to this cabinet--which may not be desirable, as the low end on this cab is already extremely pronounced. Cosmetically, Mesa used to offer this cab in both a black grille and a vintage gold grille (the gold was extremely hip, and this is what I have), but Mesa is now charging more money for the gold grille, which is a bummer. I would give this cab a 10, because it does what it does extremely well--basically, it is a rock and roller's cab, with the emphasis on earth-shaking low end and low mids. Big tone out of this cabinet, but keep in mind that the focused feel of this cabinet is not that versatile--this is NOT the cab to play blues, jazz, or pop with. We are talking hard rock/heavy metal tones, or some commercial rock tones (burning solo tones, mostly). So since 10 is reserved for being "very versatile," I will have to say a 9.

Keep in mind what this cabinet was designed for--to be a match for the Dual Rectifier Solo Head and the Tremoverb head, both of which have their forte in hell-bent gained-out tones. For these applications, these cabinets are simply the best on the market. If you are using either a Dual Recto or Tremoverb head, you MUST use these cabinets (or other Recto cabs), or risk losing the tone that was intended. I also have an early '70s Marshall 4 x 12, which is a great cabinet, but it loses the low-end punch inherent in the Recto and Tremoverb deseign. Like I said before, this is a big rock tone cabinet, and for that it delivers amazingly. Compared to your standard Marshall 4 x 12 with Celestion Vintage 30's (my friend has one, so I was able to A/B it both live and in the studio), the Mesa has a more concentrated low-mid punch and a bit more bite. The low-end wallop simply eclipses the Marshall, and overall the sound is bigger on the bottom and top end. Upper midrange is more pronounced, too, so be careful with the midrange knob on your amp, as a super-high midrange setting could make these cabinets harsh. However, with the midrange dialed in just right, you have an incredibly ballsy cabinet.

Like most Mesa products, it is heavy as hell, and basically is bulletproof. The only niggle I have is the thin leather covering. While the leather is tres cool from a cosmetic standpoint, it does easily scratch, so make sure you get a slipcover, as the scratches don't look very hip over time. In terms of construction of the cabinet and speaker design, I would anticipate no problems. I usually open up my amp at around 10:00 to 11:00 on the red channel, which is incredibly loud. I have had no problems with the cabinet rattling or farting out, as I have with my Marshall cab.

As I've said before, Mesa is a great company for customer support--but only when you can actually talk to them. Lately my dealings have resulted in a message being taken, and a two or three day turnaround. Sometimes my calls were never returned. This may be the end product of a company which is growing rapidly, but I think Mesa should look at improving this situation. On the upside, the techs, when you do speak to them, are extremely helpful and knowledgeable, which is not usually the case when you talk to other guys.

As I said in my Tremoverb head review, I play this cab and head dry with my Tom Anderson Drop Top Classic. The fact that I don't use effects speaks highly because I don't want anything to color the tone of the head, cabinet, and guitar. With this setup I get a huge, woody distortion tone that is gained out but retains clarity. I know these are key catch phrases in musical instrument ads and literature, but the bottom line is that I don't use anything else. The Soldano Hot Rod 50 head collects dust, I have sold all my effects, and my late-'70s Marshall 4 x 12 sits there as a piece of furniture in my room for the Soldano head. The cab is pricey, but definitely worth checking out. YOU DO GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR!

This cab is huge. It is bigger than a Marshall 4x12, mainly for more bass. The grille is made from some kind of cane (mine has the "Gold Tone Grille")that is dipped in a wax or oil called Jutte to better disburse the highs. You can run it in mono or stereo (sounds awsome in stereo with a Lesile simulator or stereo chorus) The speakers are Celestion Vintage 30, I feel these are the best Celestions ever! They combined the classic voicing and breakup, such as the "Green Backs" with the reliablity of a modern high wattage speaker.

This is an all out rock cab. The bass and bottom spectrum is not for the faint of heart. It has an excellent midrange and the best highs of any 4x12 cab I have heard or used. The break up of the sound is very controlled and offers that classic Celestion sound. It does very well for the sparkliest clean to Mesa's Dual Rectifiers argo mean. I have been able to achive very nice jazz and fusion tones with it, but sometimes the bass is over powering. This could be a good thing though if you play outdoors alot or if the acoustics are very absobsive where you play. You owe it to yourself to check this one out

Like "Hooked on Phonics" - I works for me. The casters are heavy duty 4 inch type that you can remove via an ingenious locking plate.

Only the best. You cannot ask for better support! Even better than what you see in the Saturn Automotive ads. Someone wrote that due too being a small company, it may take a few days for a reply, that's because they take full care of their customers. Any questions, from types of tubes to run, to tone tweaks and setups. A+ service from them.

Very good cab for sounding like a guitar hero, or when you need to kick some serious sound. Grille is availible in black and "gold tone". Black leather is standard wrapping, they offer an awsome armor plating and custom wrappings like colored leathers, suedes, and snake or croc skins. The dimensions of the cab are just the right size to fit in a mid size car trunk. I suggest getting to slip cover for it too. This cab looks way to cool to get scuffed up. The only thing I could see that I may posiblly want to see on the Recto 412 is the half-back option like on other Mesa cabs. But I am more than happy with what I got. That's why I choose this one!