Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier Solo Head Triple Channel

2002 three channel dual rec.
does everything

using this with my newly purchased PRS custom 24
upon reading Marshall reviews on this site, (i own a TSL100 also) i have noticed that all of the Marshall users really slate the Boogie players. One person even said why pay X amount of $ for a boogie when you can have a MODE4.. MODE4 i ask you.. a solid state, inferior, boogie wannabe amp.
the reason why people are prepared to pay lots for a boogie, especially here in England is because they kick the white smoke out of Marshalls especially that Bloody Mode4 piece of shite.

also to anyone that ows this amp and cant get a good sound out of it then you are tossers... i bet you scoop the mids right out and make up for the lack of definition with Presence or Treble.. A big no no on any amp. Why doesnt anyone realise a guitar sound is supposed to have middle for it to be heard..
Seen metallica recently??? i have and the live guitars have loads of middle on them so they cut through the mix and they still sound fuckin heavy as fuck

this amp does not sound buzzy, thin, fizzy, trebly or harsh. and also i managed to nail Daron Malakians sound (when he was using boogies, before he turned into a tosser and started using the Mode4) i used a lot more middle than usual, about 3 o clock, bass on full and treble about half and presence on around 9 o clock, channel 3 modern with my PRS and you Bloody Bastard it was the most hard assed, teeth grindin, bone splittin, most aggressive sound i think i have ever heard, and i dont care what you say you cannot do that with a marshall.
the most killer sounding amp i have ever had the pleasure of using.

the tsl should not even be mentioned in the same paragraph as the boogie.

totally versatile as well.. awesome raw and vintage sounds and the clean channel is good enough too.

blew a tube but it is a tube amp that i push to the max and thats all that has happened

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The best music related product i have ever bought
i am probably never going to need another amp again, i may trade in the old marshall though and get a boogie combo to do smaller gigs.

Made in 2003. Three channels. Has Diode/Rectifier switch in back. Each channel has multiple "channels" making the head very versitile. Seperate EQ knobs for each channel, although they don't seem to do a whole lot. No reverb. Great effects loop.

Bought this amp brand new about 4 months ago. I have an assotment of guitars, but my main axe is a Gibson Custom Shop LP. Sorry, but this amp sounds pretty horrible to my ear. To this amps credit, I will say that the other guitar player in my band heard this amp and simply fell in love with it. I do not love this amp. The clean sound sucks. The distortion sounds like crap. Maybe it's the stock tubes. I don't know, but even with the gain up and the volume cranked the bottom end sounds sloppy and the amp has overtones that sound harmonically incorrect. I guess you gotta be into a certain sound to love this amp. I don't know why so many guys play and love these things. If you love this amp, then great for you....but I see no need to cast insults on this board to others that say they don't like it. Guys who are considering buying this amp need to hear EVERYONE'S opinion. I've been around a while and gigged L.A. through the 80's and 90's. Did the heavy metal hair band and grunge thing. I would like to think I know a little bit about tone. Simply put, this amp ain't got it.

4 months, and so far so good. Looks like it could survive a nuclear hit. I'm pretty careful with my stuff, and carry spare tubes in my gig bag just in case.

Talked to them twice on the phone. They seem freindly and eager to help.

Been playing about 25 years. I own several tube amps including a Marshall TSL 100 and VHT Pitbull. I also own a Peavey XXL solid state head and a Roland JC-120. Some guys love the Rectifier sound. It's just not my cup of tea. Mesa has put out the biggest marketing hype ever. Try before you buy one of these, or you'll likely be disappointed. Like the guy said a few reviews down, let your ear be the judge. I will likely sell mine soon.

Check out Mesa Booogies website for features.

Alright lots of people have said it but lets make it clear. If you can't make this amp sound at least decent, you are an idiot. Do you honestly think Mesa has been fooling people for the last 12 or so years this amp has been in production into thinking it sounds good? Its popular and a huge selling amp because good guitarists can make it come alive. Learn how to use it. The amp is the only route to go for over the top modern metal sounds. No it can't do Beatles or Cream or Zep. If you wanted to play that style why in the hell did you buy this amp and not some vintage reissue Marshall or Vox. It has classic tones to it but seriousely if you bought it you bought it to rock. Read the damn owners manual. Tons of Low end. Great high end. Its one of the only amps available that you actually turn the treble up higher then the bass. Its a great amp learn to use it.

The best. Hands down. Get real if you don't agree. Ever owned a marshall?

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Great head use it for what you bought it for. And please if your gonna review this head please own own it. Unlike the idiot a few posts below who reviews an amp he hears at a gig. Get a life buddy. You have no isea the skill level or competence the guy using it has. And please refrain from comparing this head to any Line 6 or Pod or other crap and get a life. You learned how to use your VCR, now learn how to use your amp.

A lot of features. See reviews below for details.

My tech 21 TRI-OD pedal running direct to the PA sounds better than this piece of shit. Even after new tubes, this thing sounds like crap. Not enough gain, no balls, no bottom end....and no clean channel to speak of. If this is what the pros are using....then they are getting them hot-rodded somewhere. Too wimpy for Nu-Metal/Heavy Metal......and not clean enough for other styles. The sound is in no-mans land. Just muddy crap! Playing through an Ernie Ball Music Man Axis and a Marshall bottom end with Celestions. When I first played it at Guitar Center I was looking for a replacement for my Mark III. After plugging and noodling for a few mionutes I thought "Is that it??". The sales guy set me up in an isolation room so I could play it louder. Definately sounded better louder. I thought I could tweek it to get my sound out of it after purchasing it. WRONG!!! EQ knobs hardly do anything. Your only going to get one sound out of this.....and it sounds like a a big steaming pile of crap. Don't waste your money. My Mark III wasn't really any better either (shoulda learned after the first mistake). This is my LAST BOOGIE.

Seems very well made and dependable. I've had it for about 9 months with no problems.

These guys are the best! Made several calls to them to see what could be done to make this amp sound better. VERY helpful concerning tube selection, settings, etc.

Been playing about 20 years. All styles. I'm a guitarist In one of the area's "hot" bands, and gig almost every weekend. If it were lost or stolen I'd happily report it to my insurance company, and feel sad for the slob that found/stole it. DON"T waste your money on this amp. The other guitar play in my band picked up a Tech 21 Trademark 300 head (3 channel) last month. Now THAT's a feature rich, GREAT sounding head. Don't be a fool like I was, and fool yourself into thinking you can fine tune the dual recto with an EQ to get "your sound". If it sounds like shit at the store....then that's because it sounds like shit.....not because you need to spend time tweaking it. A good sounding amp will sound good at just about any EQ/gain/volume setting. I've played tube amps and solid state amps for years. Don't let the tube snobs sway your buying decision. Get something that sounds good to your ear. If it's a tube amp...great. If it's a reputable solid state amp.....great. After all, it's your hard earned bucks, and it's you that has to live with the sound every time you plug in.

More then youll probably ever need. Plus its a tube amp, so you can change the tubes and get a totally different sound. I love it.

Read overall rating.

Its a mesa, therefore it will last forever. Tubes dont on the other hand. So if the amp is starting to sound like ass, then get some new tubes. Other then that this thing is near imortal.

I dont know, i nvr had to deal with them.

Look, its really pissin me off that ppl r saying that these things hav no tone, and they hav no bottom end. And some of the ppl hav only tried them out in stores. First of all, the factory mesa tubes arent really all that good, and if ur trying out a head thats on the showroom at a store, odds r the tubes r shit from being played so much. You also need a good cab and a good guitar to use this amp. These amps r SOOOOOO sensative. Its really easy to get a pretty shitty sound out of this amp. But u really need sum good equipment if ur gonna use this amp. Plus, as soo as u get the amp (which i highly reccommend) go get some kik ass tubes that really fit ur style. The ppl at mesa tried to put neutral stock tubes in the amp to try and get the amp to at least dabble in every style of music. So dont complain about the amp untill u get some decent tubes for it. It is a tube amp, so what kinda of tubes u put in really do matter. So once you get new tubes, a good cab (i personally am obsessed with the mesa standard) a good guitar and all that shit and u STILL dont like the amp, then ur just a dumb ass who cant tweak and amp for shit and/or u just hav no clu what kind of sound u want. And if ur one of the assholes who say "o, this amp doesnt sound like a marshall, i dont like it", then go by a marshall. I'm not saying marshall is a bad amp, its actually a good amp. But the mesa just kiks its ass. Anyway, go try one out but do what i said to do. But remeber that this amps engineering is near perfect. And therefore it is EXTREMELY sensative. I also just bought a boss eq pedal to dial in my sound perfectly. This amp is now just the ultimate kik ass bitch. I love it alot, and if u do what i suggested, im sure u will too. Rock on.

Ya it has lots of features.

I am using a les paul with emg's 81 & 85. What a piece of CRAP this amp is!!! The lows are too bassy and the high's are to tinny, and tone what is that in these amps. I bought a MARSHALL, no that's an amp!!!!! It has growl and balls to boot.

Never broke down.

They were alwawys good when I had questions

I've been playing 15 years, I now own a Marshall DSL. If it were lost or stolen I would collect te insurance and buy a MARSHALL. Don't waste your money on this piece of garbage over priced junk.
For those of you that say these are the best you simply are tone deaf idiots!!!!!!!!!!!! GET A MARSHALL

I am finally reviewing my 2000 Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier Solo head. The amp is rated at 100 watts and is one of the first Rectifiers with three channels. Channels can be switched via the included footswitch or MIDI if you have the right equipment. Each channel has different gain modes, switchable with mini toggles. They are as follows:

Channel 1: Clean/Pushed

Channel 2: Raw/Vintage/Modern

Channel 3: Raw/Vintage/Modern

The amp also has a paralell FX loop, and a variety of interesting power features. On the rear panel, you can switch between the tube rectifiers or a solid state rectifier. The solid state rectifier offers more focus in the low and high ranges, at the expense of the warmth you get with the tube rectifiers. There is also a spongy/bold setting, which allows you to switch between a lower and higher voltage, much like a Variac. It is supposed to get more of a "brown" sound if you switch to spongy, but I can't really say that's true.

One of the coolest things about this amp is that it has a preset bias switch. If you don't like 6L6 tubes, which are stock, you can flip the switch and put in EL-34s instead. With that said, the stock tubes are horrible. I cannot understand why such a high-quality amp manufacturer would use mediocre Russian tubes. The gain craps out, and the highs are very brittle and cold.

I don't recommend this amp for those on a tight budget. It is already about $1400, and I spent about $400 more on a set of nice JJ tubes for the preamp and power amp section. I use EL-34s to give it a bit of a brighter crunch tone. Since the stock tubes are not too good, I have to give it an 8 for features. Otherwise, it would be a 9.

My main guitar is a 1991 Gibson Explorer tobbaco burst with whatever stock humbucking pickups they had back then. I also have an Ibanez RG with the EMG 81/85 pickups, and a James Hetfield signature series Viper Baritone from ESP/LTD. My music style is an odd amalgamation of many styles, including old blues rock like ZZ Top, 80s punk and rock bands like Billy Idol, and metal/alternative bands like Metallica, Tool, Corrosion of Conformity, Kyuss, Fu Manchu, and so on. This makes my style kind of hard to nail down.

I like my lead tones to be sort of a mix between Billy Gibbons (ZZ Top) and Zakk Wylde (Ozzy, Black Label Society). I also dig crunch tones with chunk like James Hetfield (Metallica), dynamically responsive tones like Adam Jones (Tool), and just plain gritty, heavy guitar tones from bands like Corrosion of Conformity. Interestingly enough, this amp can deliver.

While the clean channel has a tendency to distort with the gain above 10 or 11 o'clock, it has a nice dark, glassy tone remniscent old Fender blackface amps. It's not exact, but you can hear shades of Fender in this channel. Some people like sparkling clean gain, which you can get with this amp, but I like a mellow, round clean tone. If you switch the gain mode from clean to pushed, you can get a gritty clip similar to a cranked Bassman or Deluxe.

Channel two is absolutely my favorite. Its Vintage mode is amazing, in my opinion. If you set the controls just right, with low but not extremely scooped mids, and the rest of the knobs between 10 and 2 o'clock, it has a wonderful crunch tone like the Mesa Boogie Mark IIc+. I can definetly hear some old Metallica in that tone, but it's great for what I do with my band. Bright enough, but with warmth and chunk. It also is perfect for leads, with it's warm body and searing top-end response. If you use a wah pedal, you'll love this setting. Modern mode sounds a little too scooped for me, but it does work well for drop-C and baritone tunings. I don't use Raw much, but it has a nice soft clip perfect for the blues.

Another amazing thing about channel 2 is how it cleans up when you roll the volume on your guitar back. It never gets super clean, but it works great for stuff like Tool where there is a lot of dynamic change. This channel responds faithfully to your playing dynamics.

Channel 3 has its perks, but it simply isn't as smooth as the 2nd channel. The presence knob should be used with great caution, as higher amounts are pretty hard on the ears. The mids also sound a little too thin. Don't bother with Vintage mode, as it isn't as smooth as Channel 2's Vintage mode, and it does not have as much cut as Channel 3's Modern mode. This is a great channel for drop-C and baritone tunings, rhythm parts in particular. I prefer channel 2/Vintage for leads, wah or no wah.

If you are willing to invest in good tubes and have patience, this amp can get you a variety of tones. No, it won't sound like a Fender, Marshall, Diezel, Bogner, or Engl. It sounds like a Mesa/Boogie. It can however give you great tonal qualities found in these other amps. The variety is more than adequate. It is not perfect, but it is damn close for me.

Honestly, I didn't use it much before I got it retubed, as it was really hard on my ears. So far, no problems with the tubes or the amp itself. When I first got it, I put the power tubes in wrong, but the fuse blew before the amp got damaged, so it is reliable enough for me. I will be gigging with it soon, so that is when I will truly know its reliability.

I haven't needed customer support. I belive the warranty is 1 year parts/6 months for tubes. I've heard that tech support will really work with you to get your amp up and running, but can't offer my own experience.

I realize that it was far from perfect when I bought it, since the tubes were pretty lousy, but if you are willing to spend extra dough on tubes, it is a great amp. Like I said, it's no Diezel VH-4, but then again, it's about a third the cost. The only thing I really hated was the tubes, everything else is great. I used to use a Marshall TSL, but it turns out that the Dual Recto is everything I need and more.

If this amp were stolen, I would run the theif down like the dog he is. It was a pain to drive an hour to the shop to try it out and buy it, and it wasn't cheap. I will protect this baby like a couple of other valuable pieces of gear. It is an incredible value for me since I play so much and am about ready to gig. None of the ratings I gave were tens, but the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, so I give an overall rating of 10.

3 Channels, clean, older sounding warm distortion and loud sounding modern distortion. And on the back, spongy and bold setting, and normal and hi power. No reverb.

I use a prs cu 22. I play quite heavy stuff like tool, a perfect circle and heavier. Sounds amazing, best distortion ever, especially when you turn it up loud. And its very loud, supposed to be only 100 watt, but i have a 120watt laney head and this is so much louder.
Clean is nice but would be better with a bit of reverb.

It weighs a tonne so i'm presuming is very well made, and was told you wont get wiring as good as this in any other amp. Wouldnt use a back up cos it wouldnt sound as good!!!

havnt tried yet

Best amp for metal ive ever heard, hence all the large bands using mesa. Got a triple rectifier sent to me by mistake and i dont think it sounded as nice as this

OK, I finally got to hear one of these things live and in person last night. I know damn well that after I post this review, there will be a bunch of whiners calling me an "idiot" and whatnot, but I swear what I heard last night was not a dream. Using the word "tone" in this review is completely misleading. What I heard last night was not tone and never will be. I was sitting about 20 feet facing the cabinet, so don't go telling me that I wasn't hearing it well. It was so goddamn loud, I walked out of there with a headache (and I'm a guy who's played in bands for years using considerable volume).

First off, the guitarist was using a Dual Recto through a Marshall 4x12. He played a Peavey Wolfgang and a Les Paul, which happen to be very good guitars IMO. Unfortunately, if anyone there last night was thinking of buying either one of those guitars, they probably walked away thinking that they sounded like shit, which they did. Last night, I learned first hand what it sounds like when someone doesn't have a fucking clue on how to tweak a sound.

Bluntly put, his sound was utter trash. Complete garbage. It sounded worse than the old Yamaha distortion pedal my dad bought 20 years ago (and I swear the pedal had more balls than the Recto). You figure that with everyone raving about the low end that this amp supposedly puts out, the tone would have been at least listenable (and I use the word "listenable" loosely). NO LOW END WHATSOEVER. Usually, when you chug on your low E string, there should be some low end, right? Not this time. Using effects with this thing makes it even worse. The guitarist used a flanger on one tune, and it sounded like nuclear warfare. No dynamics, no richness, just static noise. To add insult to injury, when he switched channels, the thing would pop, if not cut out. Terrible. What I find weird is that this guy seemed to be into this type of sound, but how the hell can someone play with a sound like that? It can only make you play worse. His rythym tone was so edgy and midrangy bright that it could have cut glass. And the lead tone, well... we won't get into that.

All in all, it sounded like a vacuum cleaner miked through a P.A. system. The funniest part was when they played a Zeppelin tune. I'm sure Bonham was rolling in his grave. This amp was certainly not meant for classic rock. If by any chance it can give a classic rock tone, I certainly didn't hear it.

Last night's noise fest was the worst use of a Mesa Boogie I've ever heard. They make some fine amps (the old Mark I and Mark IIC+ come to mind), but their reputation is now ruined. Hell, even Santana gave up on Boogie.

When someone mentions the word "Recto" to me, I will only be able to think about what I heard that night. Hilarious. I've heard solid state amps which are more usable and warmer than the famous Dual Rectifier (my old Peavey Special definitely is). This amp is marketing hype at its finest.

The features are, it's set up better than any amp I've seen accept for the Road King. It 3 completely independent channels, 8 modes, and a killer footswitch!!

I use Paul Reed Smith's and Gibson's through this amp usually. First off I'm in a original-modern sounding hard rock band along the lines of Creed-Seether. I love this amp when I go to hit a bar chord or anything in that department. It sounds awesome, it gives me the Modern sound I've always wanted. But it sounds very bad when I go to play a solo. I like to play very molodic solo's (Pink Floydish type stuff) and this amp just seriously lacks sustain and color. And its not because I don't know what I'm doing, believe me. I'm a tone master, I always know my EQ in and out. And I know my Boogie EQ in and out and this amp just simply doesn't offer a good solo tone. I've even tried turning my effects loop off, thinking that it could possibly be that effecting my tone, it didn't help much. I also bought 2 pairs of Siemen's EL34's (cost me $153), it help some but not much. So I give it a 6 because it sounds great for chords but I'm a 'big' solo type of guy and it doesn't do much in that department.

I haven't had a problem with it, it works everytime I turn it on. And it's built like a tank. I just wish it had more sustain for my type of soloing.

Never dealt with Mesa directly.

I've been playing about 7 years and I've been gigging for about 5 of 6 years. I'm just very disapointed with this amp and I'm seriously thinking of selling it. I'll probably end up going back to Marshall... I don't mean to put this amp down, it's not a bad amp. I just don't get enough sustain for my soloing and my solo tones are most important to me. It's as simple as that...