Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier Solo Head Triple Channel

2002 Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier Solo Head (Triple Channel) Custom Shop. I play melodic metal, and this amp can cover all the range I need from a warm and smooth clean to a heavy, powerful, ear-bleeding crunch that puts shame in the hearts of Marshall owners. I play a 2000 PRS Custom 24 through this amp, and out of my collection, this is the only guitar that gets any play-time through this rig, with the occasional switch to my ESP 7-string. Both guitars sound great, but no one can top the sound of the PRS with the Mesa Boogie. The solo switch is awesome...when you're already hitting hard, but when you need that extra "push over the edge" (spinal tap reference) it gets the job done and then some.

I play a PRS Custom 24 with the HFS pickups. I also have a 7-string ESP. Both guitars sound incredible. The tone between the PRS and the Mesa is untouchable. It's what I've always dreamed of achieving with an amp.

I haven't had this amp long...but it seems to be a very well-built machine...

haven't had to worry about customer support yet...that's how good this amp is!

I've been playing for 9 years and have always dreamed of having a PRS and Mesa rig. Now, I finally have it. Before I got the Mesa, I was considering the Marshall JCM2000 TSL half-stack, but the Marshalls tend to have a lot of structural problems with the circuit board and pots for each channel. Plus, this custom shop head sets it off. Charcoal grey cover w/ a black metal face (instead of chrome). It looks awesome. Black knobs are on the way from Mesa right now...

2001 3 channel Dual Rectifier. I am amazed this amp received any poor reviews at all. The minute Mesa makes a serious amp for real musician's, they get chastised by all the rookies who need more compression and less definition to sound good. I for one could not stand the over-compressed sound of the original Dual Rectifier. This new 3 channel model blows it away. This may shock alot of you, but those things called knobs on the front panel can be turned, and they actually do change your sound. I get evrything from The Stones to Stone Temple Pilots To Godsmack to System of a Down... even old Southern Rock tunes sound excellent on this amp. The 3 channels can be set for different levels of gain and compression...I leave my first channel setup with a blues-rock sound, for Stevie Ray or Hendrix or even heavy blues. If you have not found this setting, then you should spend more time with your amp and mark down the knob setting for tones you like. I keep the other 2 channels on the Classic settings, which results in channel 3 being fairly aggressive with more presence. I do not enjoy the harsh modern tones much... to each their own. The 3 available channels with all their possibilities rate this amp a perfect 10. It dwarfs the other boutique amps in terms of features. You novice players out there really screw this system up with your lack of music knowledge past listening to heavy metal.

I am a pure humbucker man. Single coils are for wimps .. it is much harder to get any kind of treble out of a humbucker. You have to hit harmonic pinches through most of your leads to get the notes to scream .. but that is the magic of it. This amp with ANY humbucker equipped guitar is phenominal. Some may prefer the sound of the old more compressed amps ... but I have played for many years, and I don't necessarilly think of heavy metal when I think of a Dual Rec.. Many great tones are in there ... and more are to come for the people who do not just set the amp up for bombastic destruction. People love the sounds I get when I play through this amp ... it wails. There is nothing else to discuss. The audience lets you know when you are kicking butt. This amp tears down walls.

Many tubes ... if they go, so goes the gig. So bring spares, and treat your tubes nicely by warming the amp up before use and cooling it down after.

Awesome ... what a treat to talk with people who are totally into the company and want to help you in any way they can.

I like all rock styles, and I play them all at an advanced level. I taught guitar for years as well as gigged in a variety of bands. No amp is perfect unless it makes you sound like a rock god all night. If you are not very good with leads, and need a bit of the training wheels on your amp, go for the older squashy Dual Rec. The modern one was created with real players in mind, and it is a serious piece of gear. It is certainly worth the investment. You drop as much on boutique 20-40 watt amps that only allow you to play clean blues all night. This is a 100 watt monster .... man, I love these amps!

This amp was manufactered in 2001. I bought it new. The clean channel is a little underpowered compared to channels 2 and 3 but does have a nice crunch in the pushed mode. I don't use the clean channel at all because my effects rig is wired in such a way that I can bypass the preamp and get my clean tones from just the power amp section. Which, by the way, has a very warm and pleasing sound. The solo volume boost comes in very handy when punching up the volume to cut through the band. The lack of reverb isn't a problem as there are so many quality reverb effects units out there. I can get tones ranging from mellow drive with the vintage mode on channel 2 with the gain set at about 3 or 4 all the way to bone crushing shred metal with the modern mode on channel 3. This amp is quite verstile with plenty of power for any situation.

I use two guitars with this amp; a Gibson SG with stock pickups, and a Hamer Diablo with Seymour Duncans. The SG has a fairly bright sound and absolutely screams through high gain settings on channel 3. The Seymour Duncans in the Hamer are a bit darker sounding so it lacks the hard edge of the Gibson, but it does produce a warmer, smoother sound. Power chords produce a wall of sound so thick, you can cut it with a knife, and lead tones sing with sustain. But since I use the 2x12 Recto cab, extreme volumes tend to mush the speakers, but you have to get it to ear-splitting volume to do that. If you do play at that volume, a 4x12 cab is definitely the way to go. One great thing about this amp is that it doesn't get mushy on the bottom end. Bass string palm muted lines punch clean and defined. Although at extreme gain settings, the definition can go out the window, as with most high gain amplifiers, adding some mids and treble helps the higher strings cut through. One thing needed for this amp is definitely a good noise gate because it's fairly noisy at high gain settings. Also it pops when switching channels, which isn't a real problem for me because I rarly switch channels. If brutal, in your face distortion is what you're after, this is definitely your amp. If I had to describe the sound with one word, it would be "MEAN". My sound quality rating goes to 9 though because bringing in enough treble to make the high strings cut through produces a razory, brassy kind of tone, but that's about the only aspect of the sound that's undesirable to me.

I've had this amp for over a year now and haven't had one problem with it, and it gets packed up and travels in a truck quite frequently. I use it without a backup only because I can't afford two of them and no other amp even comes close to the sound.

I bought my amp from Mesa Boogie Hollywood and they've always been extremely helpful and cooporative. You can email them a question and they'll usually respond within 1 or 2 days.

I've been playing for over 30 years and have played through many different amps including Fenders, Marshalls, VHT's, etc. The Marshalls do come the closest to the brutal tone of the Mesa, but aren't quite as ballsy as the Dual Recto. If it were stolen, I would definitely buy another one. For my playing style, this amp gives me all the performance I could ask for. It's not for the faint of heart. This is the best sounding amp I've ever played, bar none.

This is maybe a year or two old. The newer three channel version. It has more features than most any other amp I've tried. Channel on has two modes, clean and pushed whith it's own set of EQ knbs, master, gain, and presence. Channels two and three, have the same three modes, Raw, vintage hi gain, and modern hi gain. Also, both channels with it's own Eq knobs, gain, etc. The only difference between channels two and three is the voicing. The presence knob on Channel two leaves off at 10 where it begins on channel three at 0. You can create three different settings and switch between each via the footswitch. There ia also an overall output knob that raises the volume of all the channels, as wel as a solo knob that acts as a volume boost needed for solo's during live performances. These two knobs are activated only when using the FX loop on the rear panel. The rear panel also features a very nice bias switch which allows you to switch from 6l6 tubes to el34's by simply flipping the switch. You can also switch between vacuum tubes or silicon diodes. I honestly don't detect much of a difference here. There's also a power switch where you can select "bold" or "spongy". All this does is slightly lower the overall output of the amp when selecting spongy. Not particularly useful. There's almost too mmany features, which lowers my rating to 9.

I'm using three guitars, a Jackson RX10 equipped with a Seymour Duncan JB pickup, and a 59 in the neck. And ESP with a Duncan Distortion, and an ESP strat with a Dimarzio Fast track 2, Gold Lace Sensor, and Hotrails in the neck. I'm also using a crybaby wah, and a Boss SD-1 in front of te amp, and a Boss CH-1 and Ibanez delay-echo through the FX loop which makes my leads sound unreal. This amp is the real deal. I've been playing for several years, and needed to try the Dual rectifier. I tried many other amps before choosing this one. The clean channel is great, and produces many quality tones. However, it's too quiet when compared with the dirty channels. You have to turn the volume up almost all the way. Not a big deal though. The pushed mode delivers a great overdriven tone, especially with the gain knob maxed. A real quality sound that I wasn't expecting. I play mostly metal, more older stuff, when lead guitar and solo's were still in style. Mesa/Boogie is not merely for the newer age metal guitarist. I'm powering a Marshall 1960A 4X12, instead of the Rectifier Cab, as it seemed to be voiced a bit too dark for my tastes. The modern mode on channel's two and three is what attracted me. I compared it with the Marshall TSL, and it just didn't have the same "authority" as the Boogie. It's very loud, as is expected from a 100 watt tube amp. At lower volumes it obviously isn't gonna sound great, but that problem is solved with my Boss super overdrive. I just use a little drive to boost the sound, and you got a great powerful tone at lower volumes. Cranked, you don't need the overdrive pedal. There's more gain on this amp than even needed. One problem is that maxing the gain, you loose a lot of definition and clarity, and it really sounds like crap. It tells you this in the manual, and I suggest reading it. The vintage and raw modes are basically quiter versions of the modern, and I don't use them often. The vintage mode is a bit warmer, and you can get some nice leads from it. I also haven't found my sound yet at cranked volumes. It sounds great, but I can't get the kind of low end I desire even cranked. The modern channel is very extreme and loud, and it rips great when palm-muting aggressive speed riffs, but I can't get the sound I'm looking for, which is a problem since that's an important part of my style. It's a very harsh sound which is great but if you're looking to get that ultra processed Metallica sound, I wouldn't count on it. If that's what you want get a Triaxis and a power amp, with an effects processer, etc. which is what James Hetfield actually uses. Overall a great amp, with great tone. I tried out the Marshall TSL, Peavey XXX, and several others. It's a bit overpriced but worth it if it fits your style. I recently played the Marshall DSL, and it's the only rival to this amp. I can get the low end tone I want from it, but I'm not sure if it's as aggressive overall. My lead tone is absolutely perfect, but I haven't yet found my ideal rhythm tone, still searching, I hope it's there. I've had it for a couple months, and have been playing it constantly. cranked and quietly.

No problems yet, but i've only had it a couple months.

Haven't dealt with em.

definitely a 9.5. You loose too much definition when maxing the gain. Keeping the gain at about 3/4 is about as high as you can go while maintaining good tone. This isn't really a problem though. The only real issue I have with the sound, is the low end tone. I can't get that thick low end thump that I need. With the recto cab sure, but then I loose the high end I require from the Marshall cab. It's not quite what I'm looking for, and it took many hours of playing to realize this. If your interested definitely play it several times before considering it, there's a lot of other amps worth a lot less. It's still the best amp I've ever played, with the exception of the Marshall DSL which is a ? as I'm still trying it out and comparing.

PLEASE READ: This is an update from a review I did about a year ago.

I have learned alot about how to get what I want out of this amp. First of all, all time based fx and pitch modulators should go in the FX loop, right ? WRONG! My flange, chorus, phase shift and reverb pedals were completely nonexistent in the fx loop. I struggled for 6 months with a disappointing sound and then decided to put these pedals in front of the amp. Wow what a difference! I now only have my boss dd5 and eq pedals in the fx loop. All other time based fx are in front of the amp. Try it and I think you'll love the results!

My original tubes did not last a year and I only played out once or twice a month at the time. When I went to get replacement tubes some idiot tried to tell me that the amp need re-biased before I could install new tubes. MESA AMPS NEED NOT HAVE THIS DONE. The biasing is set and there is no way to change it that I know of. Also, a note about Mesa preamp tubes : They are color coated yellow, red and I think some other color. The red tubes run a little hotter in my opinion than the yellow ones. Experiment with this and see what you like. You can change all the tubes in the amp in less than 5 minutes- God blees the good people at MESA/Boogie.

USE ONLY DELAY AND EQ IN THE FX LOOP. PUT ALL OTHER PEDALS IN FRONT OF THE AMP.

2002 model, 3 channels, 8 modes, effects loops, solo boost, tube amp. 100 watts. Loud enough for anyone, even the deaf could hear this thing. Great amp. Extremely versatile...covers everything from clean, to rock'n roll, to heavy heavy metal. I does not have reverb, which i really only miss on the clean channel. the distortion channels are so thick they don't really need it. This model year changed a bit... clean channel has Raw and Pushed, and other 2 distortion channels have raw, vintage, and pushed. Endless possiblities. also has a master volume and presence. Can sound like chuck berry one minute, step on the pedal, and sound like Meshuggah the next. Has a power cut and a different voicing that lets it run hot even quiet, so it sounds great quiet (I live in a condo, so can't be too loud) Would have gottan a 10 if it had reverb

Im using an Epiphone Les Paul Custom straight into it. Sometimes, i'll plug in a wah. My style varies...the band I'm in plays different stuff...I love speed metal, my other guitarist loves blues and classic rock, and our drummer and bass player are stuck in hair band heaven. So, we have a big variety, and this amp covers all the bases quite well. The clean channel is great, to my ears, and the distortion is god-like. Almost no background noise at all. I'm not sure why people say they can't get a good tone out of this amp... this amp is NOT a marshall...if you twist the knobs all over the place like a marshall, its gonna sound really muddy. IF you actually READ the owner's manual, they provide a lot of sample settings. If you treat the bass, mid, and treble like PARAMETRIC eq's or boosts, you will have much more success getting good tone. A little move here or there makes a huge difference, so take your time and experiment.
one GREAT feature is the power settings on the back....you can cut the power significantly by selecting a different tube setting, and can set the power from hi to low. This lets me play this amp through a 4x12 cabinet in my CONDO. It is quiet, but has full distortion and still sounds kicking at low levels. Great feature that adds to the versitlitly. I've played a lot of amps, and this is by far the most versitle, with exception of emulators like Line 6- but this has great tone and is more honest sounding than the Line 6.

I've only had it a couple of months, but have not had any problems. A great feature is that you can change the tubes yourself, as they are all biased the same. just pop the bad out, and plug the new in. Seems to be built quite well (handmade), but I have not had it long enough to be fair either way...

have not called them

I've been playing for 8 years. I also own a peavey special 212, several Boss effects boxes, a 4x12 cabinet, a Jackson Kelly guitar.
If this was stolen, i would cry. cry like a babe. this thing is not cheap, and if it wasn't for 12 months no finance or interest, i would be able to own one at all. I would have to sell body parts to buy another one, because this is fantastic amp.
I love the features, love the versatility, love the tone I get with it, love the power, and hate the price. It's worth it, because i play every day, but, jeez, 1600 bucks is a lot of dough...
I compared it to Randall, Marshall, Peavey, Line 6, Johnson, Crate...this was the most versatile, honest sounding, best distorted amp of the bunch. I only wish it had reverb (even though it only really needs it in the clean channel) I actually own this amp, and play it every day, unlike some people who post after hearing it at guitar centers. This amp can sound like anything you want it to, unlike a marshall, which only sounds like a marshall. if you want a well-rounded amp that screams loud, yet is also quiet enough to practice with, this is worth looking into. A word of advice; try EVERYTHING you can get your hands on before you buy- odds are you will be happier in the long run.

i believe my amp to be either a 2000 model or a 2001... probably the latter. i won't go over the features of this amp since almost every other review has.

for guitars i use a gibson les paul and a customised fender fat strat along with many other custom fenders. my signal chain is... guitar to shure wireless - boss ns-2 - boss ge-7 - boss sd-1 - mosrley bad horsie wah 2 - dunlop crybaby - dod phaser - ibanez flanger - ibanez stereo chorus - line 6 MM4 - line 6 DL4 and then into my dual rectifier. i use 2 mesa 4x12 cabs powered by the head and i use 2 more mesa 4x12 cabs powered by a seperate poweramp in my rack, taking a signal from the slave out on the head.
chn 1- very nice clean sound. cuts through the mix very well. only complaint with this channel is that it could use a little more bass. other than that it is great

chn 2- great distortion sound set on the modern mode. i don't really use the other 2 modes but i have tried them and depending on what you play can be very usefull. the trick with this channel is not to crank the bass to 10 and to have the mids set at about 9 o'clock. be carefull not to turn the gain too high since that will cause excess noise. i use this as my main distorted channel. with the gain set at about 60% you get a nice crunch with good definition.

chn 3- ok, this channel is not my fav. i find that in the modern mode it is too shrill sounding, even for my leads. this may suit some people but for me it just doesn't cut it. also, this channel does not have enough bass, even with it maxed out. i find this to be the case with the other two modes on this channel as well. now, this channel isn't a total write off, i use it in the modern mode with the gain at about 7 o' clock to give me a nice overdriven sound. this is about the only use i've found for this channel and for it does this quite well.

over all there are a lot of great sounds available in this amp and i'm just starting to explore some of them

i've been gigging constantly with this amp for the last 6 months. i have yet to have a single problem with it. i'm the kind of guitarist who has a back up for their back up. i never leave my place without something to back it up. this is just the way i am though. if forced to, i would gig with out a back up with confidence. the reason i gave a 9 is because i haven't had this amp that long yet so we'll see what happens in time

i bought this amp used so there is no warranty on it any longer. i've contacted mesa once via email about a noise problem i was having and they promptly sent me an email as to who i should speak with about it. however i resolved this problem on my own and it was never necesary. i give it a 9 since i've only had limited experience with them

i play in a very popular local cover band as well as and original EMO band. i play everything from funk to metal and this amp does it well. three channels were a must for me and this delivered what i was looking for. when you first get the amp you may not like what you hear but give it time and tweak it (AND FOLLOW THE F#@% MANUAL) and you will find your sound. i would definately buy another (i'm currently saving for one). however i may be inclined to try out the road king just for its shit load of features. for now i'll stick with the dual recto. only major problem i have with these amps is the damn price, and the fact that if i were to purchase a new one it would take F*** forever to get one here in canada.

fell free to contact me about my review or if you just want to know the settings i use on my amp

This amp is a 2002 model with the full arsenal of 3 channels. Channel one is clean channel with a clean or pushed mode, channel two is a mid ground gain channel with 3 modes, raw, vintage, and modern and finally, channel 3 is high gain with the same modes as channel 2. Totally kick ass! I play music from U2 to SRV to Metallica to Dream Theater and this amp can cover all of the above and the in between bands. Very versatile...READ THE MANUAL! This is not an amp you walk up to without understanding how it works and what all the little surprises do and get "your" sound out of it. This amp is completely channel switchable either by the included footswitch or by the external jacks on the back which are useful for midi setups. The only thing that this amp has that I found to be useless was the paralell effects loop, more on this later...This amp was a replacement for my 12 space, way to heavy and difficult to set up rack (Tri-Axis, G-Force, 90:90, blah, blah, blah. When your drummer can set up faster than you can...that's bad). Anyway, I find this amp to be an excellant replacement for the "amp" section of my rack. It is way more lively! Something about having everything in one box, maybe it's how all the tubes and circuits work and cook together. A much more forward and real sound than anything I was used to. I should also mention that my review will not include any 10's. Only because I am trying to give a solid and no B.S. review (where possible!) The rankings in no way say that I am not please with this amp because I am, it is simply the most versatile and sweet sounding instrument I have played up until this point in my musical life. But, as a reviewer and a practiced musician, there is always something more that I will want and it is probably safe to say that no amp will ever satisfy every need and definately not every mood! Unless Mesa makes an all tube modeling amp to get every imaginable sound out of (like Line 6, just with "real" feel and tone), I wonder why they have'nt? Oh, well, I digress. I must also state that I bought the Line 6 Flextone II half stack and a Mesa MK IV head as well as an extensive amount of playing time on a Marshall TSL 100. Many thanks to Guitar Center and their return policy for this final decision! I thought they were gonna kill me!!!! One last thing, Buy the Mesa cab with the vintage 30's. It sounds WAY better through this cab, trust me!

I mostly play Ibanez guitars but I am entertaining other options. I have been a bit dissapointed with thier quality and lack of exotic options...again, I digress. This amp suits my style of music quite well so far. I have had it for about 2 and a half months now. I had to have the amp modified by a licensed Boogie repair station. Remember that useless effects loop thing I mentioned earlier? I had it modded to be serial instead of parallel. I am in no way an effects freak, but I do need real sounding delays, etc. from my TC processor and the mix control on the back of the amp gave me fits. I could not turn up the effects enough on the amp (even with the processor up at 100% and the mix levels in the program at 100%) to get my needed sound without completely ruining the tone. If I turned the effects up to the point where they needed to be, I got this real ugly, super processed crap! I tried everything to make the situation better. I called Boogie and they were real helpful (thanks John Marshall...yes, THAT John Marshall...the one who filled in for Jaymz Hetfield when he decided to be a human torch on the "Black" tour). They recommended a line booster to boost the signal of the guiar through the processor and then run it all in the front of the amp, in this case the MXR Microamp. A really cool and useful toy, but if you want your delay and reverb to "echo" the distortion sounds coming out of your amp, you need to use the effects loop. It was neat to hear distorted guitar with clean delay though! Anyway, I spent an additional $200 on the mod and I definately have what I have been looking for.
This amp is surprisingly quite for being so over the top on the gain channels. Channel 3 can be noisy, especially when you are loud. Get a good noise gate, you won't be disappointed. I can go from a sweet Joe Satriani type lead sound on channel two vintage setting to a HUGE growl rythm or super saturated lead on channel 3 without losing ANY definition. And there in lies the beauty of this amp. Notes seem to sprint and then jump full force out of the half stack! Crisp is the only word I can use to describe it and I don't think that really is a strong enough word! The clean channel is good, not Roland JC 120 good, but very strong. This channel really changes voice with alot of volume behind it. The other two channels sound pretty cool when they are played at somewhat low volumes. This is an all tube amp though kids...and it wants to be cranked! Simply the most brutal distortion if you want it, but this amp can also be very, very sweet. I will say this, the Recto is NOT for just uppity new metal class guitarheads, especially the 3 channel. I never really liked the old 2 channel recto (that also has changed) but there is a finesse or a maturity to this amp that you can get with just a little messing around. I would say that you might even get a cross between an older boogie and a marshall out of channel 2, easily the most versatile channel on this amp and on any amp I tested. This channel alone is the reason I bought the amp but I must say that I have since fallen in love with the other 2 channels. They all have their pro's and con's, you just have to find where the strength of one channel makes up for a weakness in another channel. As I said above, I tested ALOT of amps. From tube to solid state and modelers, EVERYTHING. This amp did it for me, it may not do it for you. I don't understand all the amp and company bashing that goes on in other reviews, maybe it's that sort of mentality that has made music so mediocre over the past few years. Have an open mind people. Try new things, you might like it, and if you don't, try it again later when you are "feeling it". In general, everyone has an idea of what they want to sound like. Try out everything, especially when the amps you are looking to buy run around $1500! I have played Mesas for years, but I still played on the Marshalls and actually found one that I really li

I have owned many Mesa products in the past and never had a problem (knock on wood!). I would expect that this amp will perform the same, even with the mod. These things are built like tanks, if you don't believe me, try carrying them down 3 flights of stairs 4 times a week! Always carry replacement tubes, etc. I can't afford a backup so I bought a POD, neat toy, not the same, but if it saves my ass....

Like I said, dealt with the company a bunch of times. It takes them some time to get back to you, so be patient! Rome was'nt built in a day. Let's put it this way, I was one of 2 people asking for the mod I had done! Mesa designed the mod for me in 2 days and sent it to the repair center so that I could get it done while on vacation. How much more do you want? I do wish that the warranty was 3 or 5 instead of 1 year.

I have been playing for going On 10 years and have been in several bands with several reincarnations! I couple this amp with a TC Processor, a Boomerang Phrase Sampler (still getting used to this, but so far, a very useful and kick ass toy!)and a Wah. Pretty simple, thank God!
I don't worry to much about this getting stolen, if it were, it would'nt be to hard to chase the bastard down, this thing weighs more than I do! I wish it had both parallel and series effects loops, would have saved me 200 bones! A midi port would also be nice so that changing channels would be real easy while changing programs in my processor. I also wish that the cabinet were LIGHTER! Come on Mesa! 123 lbs! My bassist has the biggest cabinet I have ever seen and it does'nt wiegh that much! My entire body would that you guys if you came up with an anti gravitational device!

Overall, Enjoy and experiment. Company name means nothing if you don't dig the way you sound. Happy tone hunting!

2002 made Mesa Dual Rectifier, 3 channel 100 W all tube rectifier head. My music style is speed/death METAL. Good features, but mostly the same of any other 100 W tube head. Pedal switching included. As I told, nothing special to justify that kind of price. 2600 Euro here in Italy is ridiculous for the quality/price offered. You just pay the name..MESA.

"Please,before reading my submission, keep informed that I waited so long to have this amp, and I wanted to give it only 10 , 10 , 10 ...I resisted the new product rush and when i finally had it and used it...."

I play guitar since i was a little child. Now I am 22. I use an ESP custom explorer w/ two EMG 81 neck/bridge active pick up (the best in my opinion 4 metal) an an ESP M-207 7 string customized w/ two EMG 707 active. I played my amp through a mesa 4x12 cab. Good amp, but, as I said, nothig special. I was waiting a long time to affrod that amp, so many told me about the "fabulous" mesa boogie... it was a total disillusion!! That amp is just good to paly rock,or an old style metal. Very good I can say to play prog/metal, but that's all! The 3 channel has a good clean ch.1. The second ch. is good distorted, but a lot of work was done by my EMG active pick up, I tried playing it using a Jackson w/ standard pickup, and it was another sound!! (worse, if there were doubts)
Ch 3 is the solo ch, high treble , but too much noise! Without a noise gate there is a lot of feedback.
I finally (after some months) sold it, and for me there is no comerison with my new amp, a 100 W Tube head Laney GH100L. (I will soon write a submission about it) No way, mesa IS NOT for the true metal. And, just a little polemic..what is this horde of waste bands using mesa...like 311, 38 special,POD, blink, bed religion?!?!!? Visit the Mesa website...you'll discover even SPICE GIRLS use MESA!!! No way, If you like metal, don't make my mistake: the "Mesa Boogie" is only a fashion

I used the Dual Rec. olny 4 times/week, from 1 to 3 hours for time. Never gigged with it. You'll not belive, but it broke down after only 3 months! and the customer support took about 1 month to discover what was the fault! (it finally was a problem in the main circuit >:( !!) As all tube amps, tube can be not considered as a problem! They work, they give you a fantastic sound...but after some time they leave you! Unfortunatly that wasn't my case! As I told, I decided to give it away..now a rocker is happy!

1 month to find out what is the problem, and finally discovered it was an internal cicuit problem?!? And it was new, payed in US.$ about 2600..?!?! Is it seriousness?! NO.

Palyed for 5 months.. finally sold it. If stolen? I would crush the thief..that's all! I loved it 'couse it was my dream, it became my nightmare! I can compare it only with the 100 W all tube head I have/tried: my Laney GH100L, my freind's Peavey 5150 and a Hughes & Kettner (but I don't know the model,sorry) I can only say that my death-metal now breathes deeply with the GH100L, previously (with that Mesa) it was suffocating!

2002 3 channel Dual Rectifier. All the features have been covered previously.

I play in an originals-based hard rock band: guitar/bass/drums/vox. Using a Les Paul, a Morley wah, and two cables, the amp produces zero noise with the gains no higher than 1:00 (60%). I have no trouble hearing myself in the mix during live use, and I don't find this amp to be muddy. I feel that the recto series in general can cover many styles, from Jazz and Country through Rock and Metal. By my mileage basics are:

Channel 1: Clean- gets Fendery deep cleans all the way up early Marshall gains.
Channel 2: Hi-Gain, get's everything from Marshall growl to Metal scream.
Channel 3: Similar to channel 2, but voiced for more treble and slightly deeper bass to my ears.

I used it the night after I bought it at a gig for the first time. I use two Mesa 1x12 cabinets, one atop the other. I had no problems dialing up the tones I needed, but then I also have prior experience with my Rectoverbs(the same amp but has 2 channels and reverb). Therefore, I understood how to use it reasonably well ahead of time. I love every tone that comes from these amps. Several people made comments to me about how great my guitar, as well as the whole band sounded the first night I used it. I have always been a Marshall fan, having previously owned 2 JCM800 dual channel models. I feel that Mesa's rectifier series of amps has gone beyond anything Marshall has produced in the last 15 years. For me, the sounds that are obtainable from these Recto's are the best sound I will ever be able to achieve with an amplifier. There's just nothing else made that beats it for me.

My Dual Rectifier is too new to tell, however, it performed flawlessly at it's first gig. I've also owned a Rectoverb 1x12 combo and a Rectoverb head for 10 months now and have had zero problems. I have not seen Mesa's level of quality and workmanship in any musical product I've purchased in my 24 years of playing the guitar.

Among the best for sure, going by my email experience. I believe they are getting very busy since the release of the Road King, so they're currently not answering technical questions via email. Phone calls are the only way to get answers. Like many others, I do find the one year warranty on any product costing $1,500. to be a bit paltry. For me, a 3 year warranty would be more acceptable.

I love my Rectoverbs, which are the amps that introduced me to Mesa last year. For live gigs I need 3 channels, and the 3 channel Dual Rectifier fits the bill better than anything I've come accross. I've tried other Mesa amps like the Nomads and F-Series, and don't prefer those tones. I feel that the big controversy over these amps has alot to with how well users are able to understand the concept behind the controls; some people have an easy time working the controls, and some don't. Others can't be bothered. It does take a while to learn the way the controls interact with each other, in conjunction with the tones you're trying to achieve. But, I suppose if I went out and bought a new Lamborghini Countach I'd have some trouble getting used to such a fine piece of machinery too, especially when I'm used to a Ford truck. In the end, it's all worth it. I want another one of these baby's for future expansion of my rig, or as a backup incase of tube failure. After that, I won't buy another amp as long as I live- it just wouldn't be necessary.