Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier Solo Head Triple Channel

3 channels and seperate EQs,Solo boost,Footswitch,Bias switch, 3 modes per channel except first channel

I really like the heavy distorted sound. I am in a cover band and most of the new music out right now is heavy. So it fits me perfectly. I like the 2nd channel on vintage mode too.

It is very sturdy and built like a tank

Mesa was quick to respond to all of my emails

I really like it. I think that most people dont like to take time to "tweak" or adjust the EQ properly. Along with another poster, the EL34s are more to my liking.

3 independent channels with independent EQs
RAW,VINTAGE, MODERN voicings on channels 2 and 3
CLEAN and PUSHED voicings on channel 1
Bold/Spongy switch
Vaccum or Rectifier tube settings
Bias switch (allows you to switch from EL34s to 6L6s easily)
Solo feature
AWESOME FEATURES....BUT NO REVERB! (oh well)

Now, Im going to be honest and right to the point. Almost anyone who says that this amp sounds "steril" or "Muddy" or "like shit" is a moron or has had a bad experience. This is for one of three reasons:

1: The amp was screwed up to begin with (QUICK STORY): I was in Guitar Center looking to try out the Recto. So the assistant plugs me in and flips the switch...nothing happens. So I look at the back and say "Hey....somone took out the fuse..." The assistant grabs another one and sets it up. I plug in....this one sounds like shit....really bad....muddy as hell...Come to find out, one of the tubes were stolen from this one, and the ohms was switched to 4 instead of 16....Then the assistant tells me that people constantly go in there and steal peices (footswitches, FUSES, cables..) for their own Rectos.

2: They didn't take the time to tweak- Many people who sit down and scoop the mids, max the presence and treble, and dime the bass are dumb asses. READ THE MANUAL at Mesa's web site. It clearly shows how the EQ works together.

3: They didn't crank the amp like it is supposed to be cranked- The master volume set to 2 is not going to do it guys...it IS a tube amp...Have you ever heard a Marshall tha sounded good at low volumes.....I think not.

I have heard this amp sound like Classic EVH with full, rich sound (EL34s-Channel 2 -modern, with mids cranked)...and I have heard it sound like $1500 worth of shit.... The choice is yours.

No problems whatsoever, I would feel comfortable gigging without a backup.

Never had to deal with Mesa

What can I say....hopefully I am not the only one out here who knows how to tweak an amp such as the Recto.....Give it time, it takes a while to get "your sound"....Also, if you aren't looking for a Death Metal sound and more of a EVH or Early Metallica tone, go with the EL34s.

I got this amp in 2001. It has 3 channels. 1 clean channel where you can have it on pushed or clean. and channel 2 you can have 3 settings... raw, vintage, and modern. and channel 3 has the same (raw, vintage, and modern) but gives you more presence for soloing. It is 100 watts and is extremely loud!!

I play a les paul custom, and it sounds great. You can get many different tones out of this... from the fuzzy sound, to a fuzzy sound that is crisp (crazy i know), it just tears everything a new one.

heck yes you can depend on it... its a mesa what do you expect. nothing less than the best. i have not had one problem with it and i have had it a year. i had one tube blow but it was under warranty and got a new one right away, and nothing has happened since.

i called mesa and asked about different style tubes. and they called me back (they call back every call they get) and they were more than helpful in helping me find the right tubes... and if i ever had a problem needing service im sure they would be more than helful as well.

If it was lost or stolen, heck yes i would buy another one. The tone is just awesome. In my old band the other guitar player had a Marshall JCM 2000 DSL and the Mesa just blows it away.... Just listen to the band No Use For A Name their tone is amazing. After listening you will want a mesa!!

This amp is all over the place, its amazing! It has 3 seperate channels with different setting for each channel. The first channel (clean) has either a clean or pushed setting which gives you the opinion of two highly useable sounds. The second and third channel have Raw, Vintage, and Modern settings which gives you 3 levels of distortion on each channel! The third channel has a much higher treble setting making the second and third channel very different and allowing for many possiblities of sound though this beautiful sounding amp. It has channel volume, gain, presence, treble, mid, and bass knobs for each of the 3 channels, along with a master volume and solo volume knob. The Solo allows you to choose a proper volume for your soloing work that can be activated by the footswitch that is included with the amp. You can also choose between the tubes you use, giving this amp so many possibilites that I've had it for over half a year and haven't reached all its capabilities.

I'm currently using a Jackson guitar with an EMG-81 in the bridge and it sounds #@&%$*(% HEAVY! Plus it has one of the best clean tones I've heard from any amp. I also use the three channels to gain different sounds for soloing and other areas of playing. The sound is consistant and thick when you want it to, and clean and smooth when you need it too. You can get the clean channel very loud with minimal distorting. I've used other amps before that give off way more distortion on clean settings when you turn them up. This amp is just so clean and beautiful sounding I've only even recieved complements on it!

Well I've only had it for just under a year but it still sounds like it did out of the box. I've never had any troubles with the tubes or anything at all.

Never had to deal with them but if there service is as good as there amps then this category deserves a 10!

This amp is reliable, has AMAZING tone and sound, I've never had one problem and to top it off, it looks awesome. If anything ever happend to my amp I'd rush out and buy a new one, maybe a triple rectifier because that extra 50 watts would only add to its tremendous power. If you are at all worried about spending so much on this amp, you shouldn't be, I've never regreted buying this from the first time I flipped the power switch.

Here is another follow up to my reviews from the "other" Dual Recto/Triple Chan board.

***If you can't get good tone out of this head, here are some hard-learned suggestions.

DO NOT USE THE F/X LOOP. Turn the switch on the back to "Loop Bypass". Do not use the "overall" output knob next to the "solo" control. Again, turn the switch to "Loop Bypass". With the loop function off, you will now have pure control over your 3 channels. The "overall" volume function served to crush the life of each individual channel. Ignore it...get rid of it...bypass the loop and be forever happy.***

Now, after one year of living with this amp, I am pleased to say that the tone is simply fantastic.

1978 Les Paul Custom into the Dual Recto into a stock Marshall 1960A slant cab is pure heaven. The clean sound is sweet and reminds me of old 1950's live rock. Very VOX in nature with great warmth and jangle.

The "Vintage" dirty is THE best guitar sound I have ever heard.

Since I have bypassed the LOOP function, even the "Modern" dirty sounds great. I can now use the "Modern" or Thrid Channel as my solo channel.

The cover that comes with the head sucks. You really must invest in road cases. I have already taken a large chunk out of the leather in the front...

n/a, have never needed to call for help. Yet.

Out of the Les Paul, the Clapton Strat and my old Telecaster, the Les Paul really sounds the best with this amp.

The strat and tele are great companions to my VOX AC-30.

I would get the same model should something happen to this amp.

I wish, however, someone at Boogie would explain why that stupid "LOOP" function changes the ENTIRE gain structure as it does. I nearly walked away from this amp as a result of the tonal dog shit that can occur as a result of the loop being activated.

Final words...BYPASS THE LOOP!

Rock on.

OH MY GOD! This amp is awesome. absolutely the answer to my prayers. I hate bad sounding guitar amps, and this definetely does NOT sound bad at all. All the distortion a kid could ever want with room to spare. Normally to get a good distortion sound I'd have to crank the gain to ten and scoop all the mids. on this thing, I get a great tone with the gain at 75-80% and the mids at 40%. The only thing I dislike is the clean channel. It took me experimenting for a month to get a good clean sound. but now that I did, its awesome. I use channel 1 for the clean, like its intended, channel 2 for my full-out heavy overdrive sound, and channel 3 for my crispy, mildly distorted tone. channel 2 has more beef to it than 3 does at a lower gain level and it suits my style better, so that's why I use the channels in reverse order

I play moderately heavy art-influenced rock similair to a hybrid of a perfect circle, deftones, radio head, dave matthews band and in flames. I use a PRS ce24 maple top guitar tuned to standard tuning and run it through about 10 fx pedals to generate un-guitar like sounds. don't read this wrong, I didn't mention anything about sounding like shit the way korn does.

I use channel 1 for the clean, like its intended, channel 2 for my full-out heavy overdrive sound, and channel 3 for my crispy, mildly distorted tone. channel 2 has more beef to it than 3 does at a lower gain level and it suits my style better, so that's why I use the channels in reverse order. The clean channel actually cleans up when you turn the volume up higher, which is nice unlike most amps that get distorted when you turn the volume up. oh, something you should know, when the fx loop is engaged, the presence control doesn't work on channel 2 and 3 when they are in the modern modes. Kinda weird, but that's what it says in the manual that came with it.

It's built like a friggin' tank. far better than the nearly road useless marshall jcm 2000 tsl. I replaced my marshall with this fine mesa because the marshall kept dying at rehearsal and I couldn't risk it dying on stage. so, I did what was logical... I bought a mesa.

Never had any problems.

Holy hell! buy this amp.... don't waste time and money, don't buy a marshall jcm2000 tsl. marshall makes really nice stuff, just not that amp... it doesn't even compare to the sheer durability of the mesas. Not to mention the tone you get with this thing! absolutely amazing. once you find your sound on it, you're all set.

clean sound really sucks, not loud enough, for that matter, the whole amp really isn't very loud, better hope you have a mic in front of it, you can be drowned out by your bassist, unless you are a bedroom rocker, then...
retube it with e 34 ls's, the 6l6's really bite. do you think boogie would part with good tubes in every amp they produce? i think not. also , this head sounds best with vintage 30 loaded cabs, forget about any other speaker , played it through my Bag End 2x12's and it sounded terrible, oddly, because the Bag End speakers are sonically superoir and can handle way more bottom than the Celestions. I have a Marshall 30th anniversary 3 channel amp which smothers the Mesa in terms of sheer volume, clean tone and the "classic rock" tone, but for todays modern rock, nothing compares to the distortion, mid cut and chug of the Rectos. It does fart out with 6l6's though. Solo boost is a great thing too. Ive had a mark III, mark iv and a tri axis..the recto is the best for distortion and lead tones, look elsewhere for clean. Its a simple amp to use, dont have to tweak it for hours to get a good tone either.

so far so good after a month of full volume crankage.

boogie support is second to none, could only wish every company in every industry had customer support like they do.

This is a New 2001 Mesa Dual Recto Triple channel. I purchased it to replace my 2 channel recto. Obviously, it's a tube amp. The amp is pretty much the same as the 2 channel, just with a crap load more options to choose from. I play pop punk, so it suits me well. It's got the three channels which is a nice change from the older model. It also has an FX loop swith and a solo switch, which are nice. The footswith has 5 buttons, one for each channel, one for Solo (basically a volume boost), and one to turn on or off your FX loop. Each channel has it's own separate eq's which is nice. Also, there is a main output pot and a solo output pot. The main ouput adjusts what it says. It's great because you can turn your amp up and down, but keep each channel's level at the same spot, so you don't have to adjust 3 outputs. The solo output basically adjusts the amount of volume you want to add when you hit the solo switch. I love it for when my other guitarist drowns me out a little, I just hit the switch and I'm slightly louder. However, these two output controls only work when the FX loop is in use. So what if you don't use your FX loop? I don't use mine, so what I did was take a 6 inch patch cord and go right from the send into the return and set the levels both at about 1 o'clock. This makes absolutely no difference in sound, but allows you to use the main output and the solo output. Try it out. I don't think there are any features you can add to this amp. There are so many options, it's wonderful. Each channel also has a choice of tones. Channel 1 has either the 'clean' or 'pushed' options. Clean is a bit more subdued... the only real diference I noticed was that pushed is a bit louder and a bit more crisp. I keep it there. Channels 2 & 3 have the Raw, Vintage, and Modern options. I keep channel 2 on vintage and get a mild distortion out of it. Channel 3 is on Modern and basically causes incontinence when I crank it up. Mess around, you can get a lot of sounds out of it, but it's really meant to be a heavy distortion amp. We all know that or you wouldn't be reading this. This is my only amp so I use it to practice and to play at shows. I have the matching 4x12 cab and it rocks.

I use this amp mostly with a Les Paul studio. It sounds very nice. One problem is that when you have high gain on the 'modern' setting, it gets a bit fuzzy when you're not playing... a lot of hiss. I bought a Boss NS-2 and reduced it significantly, but did not eliminate it. Get a gate, you'll have no problems. The only other thing I use other than the amp's footswitch and the gate is a volume pedal. No fuss, no muss... whatever that means. Basically, if you're reading this you know what this amp is all about. It's VERY LOUD and it has great tone. If you wan't one, save up and get it, it's worth it. At least to me it is. Make sure you try one out at a store first though... don't take my word for it.

Built rock solid. I never had a problem with my old Recto, so I'm assuming the same goes for this one. Just make sure you change your tubes every 6 months or so (the preamp tubes that is). You'll sound good forever that way.

I called them a couple times, they get back relatively quickly and have always helped me out.

I think I covered everything in the other areas. I've been playing for 15 years or so. This is my only amp and I have 2 guitars, a Gibson Les Paul Studio, and a Hamer Standard. They both sound damn good in this amp. If stolen, I'd WANT to get a new one, being able to afford it is a different story. The amp rocks, bottom line. If you want one, go try one out and get it. Be patient and you'll get the sound you like, but keep in mind, this amp is made to be heavily distorted. The only problem I have is the price. 15 hundred bucks for a few pieces of wood and some electronics hardly seems fair, but i guess you pay for quality. Sure I can pay less and drive a Hyundai, but I'd rather have the Ferrari.

lots of great features on this amp. 3 gain voicings each for channels 2 and 3, 2 gain voicings for channel one, plus a master volume boost for each channel. wow! not to mention the bold/spongy switch and rectifier switch whick each have dramatic effects on the tone and responsiveness of this amp. cool fx loop options, alternate channel switches for each channel for using a midi loop switcher like the digital music gcx to change channels via midi-- something i wish my marshall tsl100 had.

i use a prs ce22 maple top, a fender 52 reissue tele, and a peavey wolfgang stoptail. the wolfgang has dimarzio pickups, the tele has harmonic designs, and the prs has the stock dragon bridge pickup with a harmonic design z90 in the neck. i play hard rock (a la tool, soundgarden, etc.) not metal.

i really tried to love this amp, but it just doesn't cut through the mix when i play with my band. too muddy, fizzy, and compressed, not enough upper mids. this may be partially due to my bass player using an 8 string bass, but my marshall tsl100 cuts right through and sounds fantastic, and the boogie just plain doesn't. it sounds amazing by itself, though. but really what i've figured out is that the dual rectifier just doesn't have the character that a marshall has. i know that all the nu-metal kids like this amp because its like sooo heavy, dude, and it has so much gain and bottom end, but all this turns to mud the minute your bass player and drummer start playing.

i will say this, however. if you are in a two guitar band, and your other guitarist uses a marshall, the dual rectifier makes a nice partner. a boogie and a marshall together is a match made in heaven. where the boogie is weak, the marshall is strong, and where the marshall is weak, the boogie is strong. together they're unstoppable. but overall, if i had to choose, i'd take the marshall every time.

i work at a music store which sells mesa boogie, and believe me when i say that mesa's quality control department needs a major kick in the pants. i would say that 40-50% of the rectifiers and nomads are either bad out of the box or go bad within the first month, and that just plain sucks. on the bright side, most of the problems (maybe 70%) are due to bad tubes. EASY fix. about 25% are due to bad pots. a little more of a pain in the ass.

however, once once these problems are properly fixed they seem to be more reliable. but my rectifier spent three of its first six months in the shop for one thing after another, and that's a real bitch after spending $1500.

great customer support, i'll definately hand it to boogie in this department.

just not my bag tonewise, i really don't see why so many people like this amp as much as they do, unless they're just playing by themselves, because they just don't cut through the mix in the average heavier-sounding band. would make a great second amp combined with a marshall or something similar but i wouldn't want this as my only amp

This amp was made in 2001, and I just recently bought it. It has 3 channels and a total of 8 different modes to switch between. Channel one is clean, and the other two are gain channels. The amp is rated at 100 watts, but it sounds much louder than most other 100 watt heads. Most of the other features have already been covered, so just read them or check out Mesa's web page.

Here is where this amp really shines. Let me start by saying that I play many different types of music, ranging all the way from country to metal. Mostly I play hard rock and metal though. My main guitar is a Gibson Les Paul with a Duncan Distortion in the bridge and a '59 in the neck. This setup really suits this amp well. The clean channel is exactly that, clean. It can be deep and full or come very close to that sparkling Fender sound. Most people don't care too much for this channel on this amp, but it suits me fine. I like it alot better than the clean from any Marshall I've played. If you dial in a little more gain on this channel, you get a cool SRV type sound, even with the Les Paul. Channel two is probably the most versatile as far as range of tone goes. With the Raw option, you can acheive a very good blues tone that nails BB King's sound. On Vintage, you can get anything from AC/DC to the Allman Brothers and any other southern rock sounds you might want. Switch it to Modern and you have a great lead setting. I pretty much dialed in the exact sound from the early Van Halen albums on this channel. Channel three picks up where channel two leaves off. This channel is a little more difficult to dial the sound in, but when you get it, man does it sound awsome! I started out hating this channel, but when I found my sound, it instantly became my favorite. I use this channel in the Modern setting for heavy metal rhythm guitar. My setting along with the Duncan Distortion brings out some of the heaviest sounds you could ever imagine. I play alot of Metallica, Megadeth, POD, and even Ozzy stuff on this channel and it sounds amazing. Just take the time to read the instruction book to get an idea of where to start on this channle and go from there. Once you get the sound you're looking for, you'll be glad you put in the extra tweaking time. I am amazed every time I play this amp at the range of high quality tones available. I really think you can find almost any sound you want with this amp. The only place I found it isn't great for is country, but it's a high gain amp anyway, so why bother playing if for country. Get a Fender for that.

I've only had this amp for about a week, so I can't really say how reliable it is yet. I know several other people that own Rectifiers, and they've never had any problems with theirs, so hopefully mine will be the same.

I haven't dealt directly with Mesa yet, but I hear their customer support is top notch. Hell, they even give a 6 month warranty on the tubes that come with this amp. Try to find another company that will do that.

I am very satisfied with this amp. I've been playing for nearly 10 years, and this is the best sounding amp I have ever played. I would recommend trying it out before you buy it, because it may not be for everybody. Most people that like any kind of rock music will like this amp though. It has tons of tonefull distortion and a great clean channel as well. I use mine with a 2x12 vertical Recto Cabinet, and this gives my huge bass response. The Mesa 2x12 sounds much better than most 4x12 in my opinion. The only cab that would sound better with this amp is the 4x12 Recto cab. If you need a big sound for less money, or if you just want something more portable, check out the Mesa 2x12. It sounds great. Before I bought this amp, I spent nearly 6 months trying out all different kinds of amps. I tested Marshall, Randall, Peavey, Crate, Hughes & Kettner, VHT, and even Soldano, but the Mesa beat all of these. It is a great amp, and would make any guitar play happy.