Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier Solo Head Triple Channel

its a 2000 or 2001. 5 channel footswitch effects loop.... the standard things you find. 100 watts solid state and tube rectifier.
channel one has 2 sounds.
2 and 3 have three sounds all distortions.

im using a 2000 gibson SG special (the one with an ebony fret board).
i mostly play punk (ink and dagger and refused not blink 182).
its good for that stuff. but thats it. the distortion is just over used at this time. everyone plays these things.

i played this amp exactly once i put it on standby and went to used the bathroom and i turned it on again and all the gain dials stoped working!!!!

i took it back to guitar center and i bought a Marshall jcm 900. and got the diffrence in price back.

i have been playing five years. and every amp i have had i have molested and abused. (i like to know i really am using the amp). and i treated this amp too nice for an hour and it died. the marshall didnt do that. basicly i wish it worked because it was fun to have.

Three channels....one clean...two dirty...Loads of tonal options.

I use several different guitars. Mostly Parker flys though.
I waited several months before I rated this head. I have owned many amps. This amp suits my needs the best. The clean channel is entirely better than previous Dual rects. Much more head room. It also has a pushed switch that I ignored because of the older rects. that I had owned. The pushed sound from the older models only added "honkey" sounding midrange. The voicing on the new model is reminicent of a marshall type tone. I now use this alot. I only wish it were footswitchable.

Channel two is over the top gain. I only use the gain at around 1/2.

Channel two is voiced a little different than channel two. The presence seems more responsive and really adds more treble and works the midrange control. I only use this channel for solos and leads.

Things to take note of are the effects loops and solo controls. To activate the solo volume control for all the channels the effects loop needs to be engaged. unfortunately this reduces the overall head room of the amp. 100 watts feels more like 30 or 40. The clean channel really suffers. For this reason I dont use the effects loop.

I havent had any problems at all so far. I have owned several marshall heads and had many problems with them. especially the Tsl 100. Too many times back to the shop with that one.

Have not dealt with them.

I would recommend it to anyone. You really need to Work with it to dail in the sound that works for you. Its in there so give it time. It can be sloppy if you max everything out. Believe it or not...i run alomost every channel flat and get a incredible tone. My sound man loves it. I constantly get compliments. I have been told from guys I dont even know that have heard of my band...."hey you are the guy with that awesome tone".

This amp is 2001. It really kicks ass i mean mudvayne uses it. This is the best amp in the world but there is one that is in 2nd place but only if used right and its much cheaper. Its the Gorilla TC-35 Tube Cruncher. It is only 35 watts so you have to hook up at least 3 of them together or run it into a P.A. to get the tone but if you do that and turn the distortion all the way up it sound just like mesa boogie. Anyway this mesa boogie amp has 3 channels and they all rule but i would just use the 3rd heavy channel for my mudvayne.

I have a friend named Zack and he owns this amp and has a PRS guitar his dad is a lawyer and they make lots of money. The only thing that sucks is that he plays a bunch of Arab music like Santana WTF but one time I jammed with him using my guitar which is tuned to B and i rocked. it just shows this is versatile since you can play arab music and mudvayne on the same amp. I also play some Malmsteem he is from the 80's and can play really fast and this amp does that too. The only thing you cant really use this amp for is like an acoustic guitar but who would be that stupid?!?!!?!?

this amp is a tank i mean it can survive a mudvayne tour and a korn tour and a slipknot tour too i think

this is what really makes this amp way better than my gorilla's other than than being able to switch channels which i dont use. mesa boogie is from cali yo which means you can speak to them in english. i think gorilla is from cyberia which is somewhere in china so you cant reach them. boogie is the best i bet they will fix anything

this amp is the holy grail of all amps and if someone stole it from zack i bet zack would like attack them and get the amp back he's a big kid. we're only in the 8th grade but he's 6 foot tall and weighs 200 pounds and plays fullback. the only amp to compare it to is the gorilla and maybe the peavey 5150. this amp rules but its too expensive for a kid like me. if you're an old fart with loads of money and only want 1 amp get this. if you're like me and need mesa boogie tone for crate money buy a bunch of gorilla's an hook em all up.

Okay, I am no objective tone expert but I know what *I* like. I play melodic hardcore punk rock, surf, and some more ambient stuff. To my ear, I can get almost any sound out of this. I usea Peavey Valverb rackmount tube reverb/tremolo (awesome unit!) with this to get a wet Dick Dale sound out of it.. It really does sing this way; my roots blues/rock roommate loves the surf tones it has, believe it or not. Everyone says this is a one-trick pony but I have got to voice my opinion here. I use it with a nice American Fender guitar with a Seymour Duncan humbucker and a Recto 4x12. I have spent a considerable amount of time messing with the knobs. If you have a proper setup similar to this and spend a fair amount of time working with the amp, I am convinced that you can find a variety of tones which will suit your style, regardless of what it may be. Still, this is a high-gain amp and is most useful for harder styles of rock. I just can't believe I get away so effortlessly with the warm surf tone I get though! Try it out!

I had heard that the clean was weak. It is no Fender Twin, but it beats the heck out of any rock head in its price range.

This has 3 channels, with a nice Bigfoot footswitch that serves channel switching as well as the FX loop and the extra "Solo" output volume. It has an effect loop with its own mixing controls so you can set your effects 100% wet and mix it onboard to preserve the voice of the amp. I like that feature a lot. The slave out can be used to connect another power amp.

I do use all three channels: a proper clean rhythm on the green channel, a crunch rhythm that just barely breaks up on the orange channel, and a hard-assed "chunk" rhythm on the red channel. I do not solo or play much lead work. I don't use the tube rectifier, but I might some day. I plan on using this for years, so who knows how my needs will change. I use the 6L6's and probably will always use 6L6's so the bias switch doesn't do much for me.

It gets a 7. Not because I desire more features, but there is the Road King and all those other crazy heads with features up the wazoo. To me, this is a perfect fit.

I play a Fender American Telecaster with a Seymour Duncan Hot Rails humbucker in the bridge position. I play all-bridge when I do rock, and either middle position or all-neck when I play surf or bluesier lead lines.

As for the punk rock I primarily use this for, the amp blows me away. To put things in to perspective, though, I was accustomed to my ADA MP-1 and solid state power amp. That was nice, but this is awesome.

I originally looked in to this when I learned that lots of my favorite guitar sounds (Avail, snapcase) are created with Dual Rectifiers. I prefer the common tone of this amp over any of the Marshalls I have seen but I must say my Marshall experience is nil. Just about every band around Minneapolis plays Marshalls, though, and I really wanted to carve a niche for us.

If you ask me, the amp is exremely versatile. I have never had the privelege of hearing the "old" 2-channel recto clean, but this new green channel is totally new. I actually enjoy the clean (I did not expect to, to be honest) and I love picking surf or folk with a nice tremolo and light reverb in the loop. Believe that.

With the humbucker and the gain at a modest, sensible position (about 1 o'clock) I swear the thing is off.. until I start playing. Kinda neat. I use a quality speaker and guitar cable, and I plug straight in to the head. I use my tuner on the slave out.

To my ear, the distortion is beautiful. Leave the gain at 1 o'clock or below, and you will easily hear note definition between the strings. I am really impressed by this.

I use the clean channel with its preamp volume up a lot more than the distorted channels (clean is always "quiter" on tube amps). Still, it only breaks up if I want it to. Again, impressive.

I am nervous about it purely due to the investment it was. I am as careful as I can be with it. Still, things happen. I let friends carry it and they bang in to things with it. It rides around in trunks of cars for days at a time. It puts up with random cold and hot temperatures. All in all, it performs famously considering this.

I gig without a backup but I am always nervous about it.. I'm just a nervous wreck, though.. Get backup tubes.

The warranty is only a year. That is pretty lame, but I doubt I will need it. I am an electrical engineer and they are allegedly fairly good about releasing schematics and manuals. I'm not worried.

I have been playing for about 8 years on and off. If someone stole it, I would try to get another as soon as I could afford it. I would miss it dearly.

I love its appearance, versatility, and the way it makes me sound like a better player than I am both on recordings and live. I hate the fact that all these so-called "nu-metal" bands are using these because I get pegged for one of "those" a lot. There is so much more to this amp, I am telling you. Also, the rubber handle on top scares me so I carry it in my arms.

I chose this originally because snapcase and Avail, two of our major influences use them. Also, I see Marshalls all too often and I wanted something different.

I think it would be neat if it had 1 rack space, maybe for a tuner or for my Valverb. Then I would have one self-contained unit!

I could not be happier with my *investment* in this head.

if you don't know about all of the features go to mesa's websight

I have played a lot of amps, ie marshalls, vox, matchless, but this is by far my favorite. I play with a '54 reissue custom shop strat, a '72 reissue tele thinline and a '76 ibanez lawsuit explorer and it rocks on all of them. The only complaint i have isn't the amps fault but the pickups in the strat, it gets mushy(not extremely mushy but noticable) at higher distortion levels. Everyone else has talked enough about the distortion channel, which both rock, but i am amased with the clean channel. i also own a fender twin reverb and have just about decided to sell it since the clean channel on the duel is exactly that(clean). I really do have a hard time telling the two amps apart, but i won't be selling the twin since the pushed setting on the first channel is so sweet. the pushed setting is like using a ibanez tube screamer and/or a klon centaur on the twin, gritty but when you use those overdrives you get alot of noise, but with the pushed setting you get all of that with out the noise and the high end that can peel paint. the only reason that i didn't give it a ten is because no amp is perfect(this one almost is though).

The thing weighs a ton, and everything is supposed to be hand wired so it would stand to reason that is bullet-proof, but i will be purchacing a heavy duty anvil case to transport it.

never talked to mesam

i didn't just go out and by this, i tried a absured number of amps out(marshall, matchless, vox, sunn, randal, orange, old mesa's, and even some custom built amps) and this one won hands down. i almost purchased the marshall triple super lead but i am so glad i held out a little longer
This is a brand new 2001 three channel duel rec. to be honest i wasn't sure about the new three channel since the old two channels where so great(why change a good thing). But i really like being able to use all of the different settings w/o going back a changing everything all the time and i can't hear any differance between this one and the original. If this amp where stolen i would actually cry, cause it is to expensive to replace. This amp is almost perfect....

See Mesa's Website. The amp was built in 2001. The footpedal that comes with the amp is awesome. I love the 'Solo' button that allows a different overall volume setting. This is a great feature!!
The owners manual is very good. Read the damn thing!!!! It will save you a lot of time trying to dial in your tone. Also, it's available on their webite in a .PDF file. I would recommend reading it before you try or buy the amp so you will know what it does and how to work it. READ THE MANUAL!!!!

I am playing a PRS CE24 and a PRS Singlecut with this amp. I use a Vox Wah, a Line 6 MM4, and a Line 6 DL4 in front of the amp. I have nothing in the effects loop but I leave it on so I can use the overall volume knob on the front of the amp. This is a great feature because you can set each channel so the volume is equal and then use one knob to set stage volume. Very Cool!!!

I am in a alt rock/pop band and we are not the type of band you would normally associate with this amp. But, I use it well.

I had a 2 Channel head about a year ago and I sold it because the clean channel did not cut it for me. The 3 Channel head has a much, much nicer clean channel. It's very clean and sparkly. When I play my CE-24 with the coils split it is very hard to believe the tone is coming from a Dual Recto.

Channel 2 and 3 have three modes each, Raw, Vintage, and Modern. The Raw is crunchy-like but can get nasty, Vintage and Modern have that all out balls to the wall distortion. Channel 3 is very different than Channel 2, especially in the presence control. You really have to experiment with it.

Ok, now here goes my rant. Although this is a high-gain amp you don't have to crank the damn gain up to '10' and scoop the mids. It will sound like shit!!!! For my band I have it set up with Channel 1 being very clean and Channel 2 and 3 set for some distortion but the voicing is different between the two. Ok, as far as distortion goes, I like note articulation while strumming not super buzzy compressed crap. So, I dial in the gain to about 10 O'clock and then ride up the master volume to fill in the sound. It sounds huge like this. I have had guitar players come up to me after gigs and were amazed at how they could hear every note in my chording while still having a distorted tone.

EQ: As with all Mesa amps the EQ is very touchy. You cannot approach it like it's a Marshall or Fender. The EQ settings effect the gain and vice versa. I would start with the EQ knobs on 12 o'clock and go from there. This amp has a huge bottom end to it. I am also using it with a 4X12 with Vintage 30's. On my distorted tones I set the Bass to about 12 O'clock, Mids at 10 O'clock, Treble and Presence are different then most amps. I like to back the treble off to about where the mids are and then ride up the presence to about 1 or 2 O'clock. It sounds fairly bright this way and helps a lot with note definition.

Recitifier settings: I prefer the tube rectifiers. The diode switch adds more bottom end boom to the sound and can be useful. I just prefer the tubes, but play around and see which works for you.

Power Select: This is the pseudo-variac thing. It will lover the volume of the amp because it decreases the voltage hitting the tube plates. Depending on your tone desires you may like it. But running it at lower power decreases overhead. It is more noticeble in the clean channel. I would imagine that a set of EL34's set in the reduced power mode would sound cool if driven hard, i.e., lots of master volume with a little gain.

While this amp will certainly do metal and stuff like that, don't overlook it for other music. It is incredibly versatile within the generic 'rock' genre.

One more thing: Better tubes will really enhance the clarity of the amp. Try Svetlanas they are the best current production 6L6's. I did try EL34's in the amp but I did not like it. I lost a considerable amount of headroom and sparkle in the clean channel.

Mesa's amps are built very well but I never gig without a backup. My backup is a Mesa Mark IV that stays at home for practicing while big brother is at the rehearsal space.

Mesa's customer support is top-notch!!!!! I had a tube fail in the amp and they immediately sent me a new one. If you have to leave a message they will call you back.

I have been playing for 20 years and have been through more gear than I want to admit to. I have had Marshalls, Fenders, and others. There are other amps out there that I like, but this amp is the first one that does pretty close to what I need in one box. This amp will probably not be my last. But, I love it!!! I am completely satisfied with my tone right now and I have not been able to say that for a long time. I would defintely replace it if something happened. GET YOU GEAR INSURED!

I submitted my first review under just dual rctifier so I wrote another under triple channel. 2001 Three channel head w/ footswitch channel switching and solo boost feature. No reverb but I personnally prefer that. I play casually and jam with friends retired from fulltime gigging. 100 watts is enough power. I dont use the FX loop (yet!) I play everything from blues to Pantera. I dont gig like I used to but I was on a quest for new tone and versatility that my old Marshall couldn't give. Don't get me wrong I will never part with my Marshall but quests are good for the soul!

I play a gibson 67 reissue v and kramer pacer/baretta strats with seymour duncan seymourizer, Dimarzio tone zone and Steves Special pickups. I was looking for a tighter crunchier distortion than my Marshall has. More along the lines of John Pertucci. My marshall is an amazing sounding 1979 mkII 100 watt but no versatility. Good for EVH and Schenker tones but I wanted to modernize. I read some blistering reviews tearing these amps apart But I remind those guys everyone makes different sounding amps One Marhsall can sound like crap and another take your breath away. Its all relative! With that said I was on the hunt narrowing my search to VHT pitbull or Dual recto after reading the reviews on HC. I wanted to play both vht and mesa but I could not find one dealer who had a VHT in stock and I am not going to fork out 2000.00 bucks without playing it. So I went to my local mesa dealer took all my stuff, guitars effects, marshall 2x12 cab w/ vintage 30's and arranged to plug in really turn up and play. And play for two hours I did. Tweaking the knobs every which way flopping between slicone diode and tube rectifers. Well I really didnt want to like the amp since I was a Mesa basher for quite a few years. I played dc-5s and owned a stuidio .22 and could not dial the muddiness out of these amps no matter where the tone controls were. So I got an poor opinion very early on with mesa. Mind you my Marshall screamed so it was easy for me to think they all sucked. But time after time I would hear guys getting these rip you genitals off crunch with boogies that was difficult for me to get with my jmp even with 6550's. The more I played it the more I liked it, The dual recto that is and I have had it nearly two months and continue to like the tones I get. I have AB'd it with my Marshall even though everytning is basically a bassman circuit how different they sound! WOW! To the guy who says the lead tone dont cut, Maybe so on the amp he played but not the case with mine. I find like others have said you must be careful with cranking on the tone controls too much and sends it into crap city they are very touchy as compared to my marshall. AS you turn up the gain to like 7 or 8 in channel 3 the single notes warm/smooth up, sustain and they lose there crunchiness of channel 2. With the gain on 5-7 in channel 2 the amp is very crunchy like like the beginning of Train of Consequences for you Megadeth fans and Pull me Under(dream theatre). The clean of channel one was very acceptable not SRV clean but if you want that then you will need to buy and old bassman or plexi marshall. Yes ,SRV played Marshalls also, Look in the background on his last Austin City LImits Show. I thought the amp reproduced the John Pertucci tone/The crunchy stuff really well. He also owns a bunch of different amps so aside from getting a triaxis you can't get em all with one amp. The triaxis is 1400 alone and I am not much of a rack gear guy. I think the distortion is what I am looking for but you have to decide for yourself. I read alot of reviews from guys saying they just spent 3500 dollars on a bogner and are not happy with them. Tone is in your fingers and good amp can bring the best out but if dont have the chops it can also reveal all your weaknesses. Anyway I hope this was an objective review. Make sure you play before you buy!

Good so far, I dont knnow if like the fact that I cant Bias it but only time will tell. I have heard that mesas tubes are not as good as they claim and to try svetlanas 6l6gcs. I like svetlana they make nice tubes on par with the old gold lion tubes from the UK. The fit and finish of the amp is great on par for a 1500.00 amp.

Mesa has a huge network of dealers now.

Been playing 15 years. I own a Marhsall stack, and a Sovtek tube midget which jams for a 250.00 amp. I would have liked to compare with a VHT but I didnt want two Marshall sounding amps. If your ears like it, it is your sound!

Amp was made in late 2000. I bought this amp brand new especially for the newly added third channel, which I was pleasantly surprised they added! (It sure beats the hell out of the Nomad. Why they discontinued the DC series is still a mystery.)
I believe this amp has all the features I'd want.
I use this playing in a variety of clubs, frat parties, etc, & so far, has been more than enough with plenty of power to spare.

I use this amp with a variety of guitars; a 77 Les Paul w/Duncan '59's, a Les Paul Studio Lite w/496R & 500T, a Tele with a Gibson 498T humbucker in the bridge position & a Gibson 490R (I think) in the neck position.
I play a wide variety of rock 'n' roll from Chuck Berry to Buckcherry, with a side order of Southern twinged country stuff.
First, I'll start with the clean channel. It is MUCH cleaner & glassyer than my previous Dual Recto. In fact, that was the "nail in the coffin" on my decision for buying this amp. Previously, I A/B'd my old Dual Recto with a Peavey Classic 30 (which had a beautiful clean sound). Although the Boogie may not be as clean as that or say a Fender Twin, etc., it certainly gets the job done without breaking up like my old one did. It has a clean/pushed switch, but I definately use the clean.
The second channel is probably the most versatile one, because it takes off from where the clean channel leaves off. I really like this channel for some of the classic rock stuff we play. I have it set to the "vintage" setting, & get kind of an "Orange" amp sound of it.
The third channel absolutely kills! It also took about an hour to set, too! It is totally different & a lot more sensitive than my previous Recto. My only suggestion is to pay special attention to the presence knob! This makes a world of difference.
Another suggestion before trying out one of these amps is to check the back of it & see what the FX loop send knob is set to. When I first played it in the store, it was loud at low volume levels. It turns out some jackass had it (FX send) turned up all the way, instead of at unity gain. After turning it down, the amp sounded so much better! Duh!
Also another suggestion is to try out different speaker cabinets. There is a big difference. The recto cabinets are very ballsy & loud. Personally, I use an old Marshall (early 70's) 16 ohm with Greenbacks, which gets a great crunch. Depending on your musical style, definately try out a number of cabinets!!!
Yet another suggestion is to consider the spongy/bold switch on the back (again, depending on venue situation). The bold setting will give you the full 100 watts of unbridled power. The spongy cuts the power & gives you more control over the overall volume. Just a suggestion, though.

Funny thing happened when I bought this amp. The store had two of them, & I took the first one home. The master volume control on the second channel was F'd up. I wiggled it & the volume was cut in half. Apparently either an oversight from the factory, or more than likely, an overzealous idiot who previously played it in the store.
Needless to say, I took it back & exchanged it for the other one. I've had it for about a month & no problems.
I've never had any problems with Boogies - I've owned four of them. I always play with a backup (my lead singers rig, which is also mine - he's too damn cheap to get his own) because freak things do & will happen. So I still stand by my rating of 9 because of that one incident.

I believe this amp has a one-year warranty.
I have only called Boogie once, not for a problem but a silly question. I left a message & they returned my call within the hour & answered my question in a professional, friendly manner.

I've been playing for over 12 years, professionally for five.
Other gear includes the Marshall cabinet (previously mentioned); Line 6 MM-4 modulation modeler; Line 6 DL-4 delay modeler; Boss octave pedal; and Cry Baby 535Q wah.
If it were stolen, I would beat the crap out of the idiot if I found him. If not, I'd buy another. If it were lost, I'd kick myself silly.
There is nothing I dislike about this amp, except I still wish they made the rackmount version for some reason. Oh well, can't have it all.
I have nothing else to share because I'm married & my wife won't let me.

2000 Three Channel You know what it is

This is where it get tricky. Some people think there going to plug into a amp and it going to know their ass off like this thing does. The problem is that you need to have good pickups, speakers and must be able to tone tweak. I could make this thing sound like dog shit or the holy grail just by tweaking.

Haven't had it long enough, but so far so what.

Tien Lawrence over at mesa is the coolest. I'd suggest talking to him if you can. Very knowledgeable. Be prepared to leave a message,he will get back to you. Also, Georgia the front lady is a tough lady, but very business. You have to be when 1000 people a day call and have of them don't know what the hell they need.

Killer head. I have a JCM 2000 and this head. Both rule for diffent reasons. Just remember one thing, no one amp will do it all! Why do you think Joe Perry has 20 friggen amps on stage. But, this amp was worth the wait, I believe this amp is made for MEtal, Hardcore. They tryed to make it more for other types to, which it really does good, but if you're looking for that fender sound, don't get a marshall!!!

New 2000 (2001?) Recto with the channels (and 8 modes). Basically, the amp has three channels: green, orange, and red. The green channel has two modes (clean and vintage), and the orange channel has three modes (raw, vintage, and modern), and the red channel has the same three modes as the orange channel (but they sound different, of course). Also, one of the biggest plusses of this new model is the footswitch. 5-buttons: Chan 1, Chan 2, Chan 3, Solo boost, and FX loop. The previous recto had one channel change button on it's footswitch, and that's all (ugh). The most featureful tube amp I've ever used.

Needless to say, this amp has many (many, many..) different sounds to play with (With all the different modes, and rectifier selection, and power section selection (spongy, bold), etc.). Some of the channels are very easy to get a great sound out of, some take just a little getting used to (hour or so, no big deal).

The orange channel is incredibly easy to tweak and get sounds out of, almost all of which are good. I know it's a cliche to say so, but this amp with just the orange channel would be a great amp.

The clean (green) channel is just that, a clean channel. If you crank the gain you can get a little purr out of 'er (which is nice) but the orange channel is better for that sort of thing. The clean is vastly improved over the the previous recto, and considering the type of amp it is, the clean is very nice (and versatile). You can dial in a nice warm clean, or get a bit more gain in there and get that "sparkling" sort of clean so many people love. Of course, it's not a little vintage blues combo designed to do that one thing very well and that thing only (like some of the nutbars who review these things expect them to be) but it does quite well for a 100-wat Head Of Death(TM) :).

The red channel is a little tougher to get a good sound out of. I didn't like the channel at all at first, and you probably won't either. However, once you learn to tweak it right, this channel has some KILLER heavy sounds. The sound cuts through in a band setting and sounds, well, killer... once you get a sound like the one I'm trying to describe, you'll know it. When I first started messing with the red channel it just sounded like muddy garbage, but you get used to tweaking it, and can get some great sounds (as a tip, go easy on the gain, at 1/2 it's super-heavy, it doesn't need to be cranked for anything).

Very versatile once you learn to tweak it.

I havn't had it for very long, so I really can't pass judgment here, but Mesa has a tremendous reputation for reliabilty.

Never called.

If it were stolen, I'd beat the bastard that took it to death, etc. etc., blah blah blah. :)

I compared it to lost of other amps (mostly mesas, some marshalls and other brands which have slipped my mind) and it was the hands-down winner in every department (well, the blue angel had a better gritty blues sound, but what do you expect..).

There's really nothing else I could want out of this amp. I can't emphasize enough that you need to get used to tweaking it before you'll be able to hear the full potential of this amp (especially with the red channel)