Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier Solo Head

I have owned the 2001 3-Channel Dual Recto for 8 years. ALL TUBE!!!

*POSITIVE*
The front panel is very straight-forward. 3 channels - independent master, gain, prescence and 3-band EQ on each channel. Each channel is also equipped with a mode toggle switch so you can play around with different tones.
The back panel is a tad bit more confusing, but if you take it one section at a time, it's very easy to understand.
*The slave out if very handy for direct recording or running a seperate power amp.
*Speaker output jacks are self explanatory.
*The effects loop section is where I got lost when i first got the amp. Everyone's tone tastes differ so just experiment with some different effect units and see what you like. I typically run my amp completely dry w/ no effects in the chain.
*The external switching jacks are used with MIDI devices that utilize a switching system(ie, Voodoo Labs GCX)...very handy when you're using multiple preamps, effects...
*My favorite part about this amp is the fixed bias switching, along with the selectable rectifier mode and power setting(bold or spongy).

*NEGATIVE*
*This amp doesn't have a ground lift, so if you run a switching system like I mentioned above, you may get a little his...it's a bit annoying, especially when you're in the studio.
*This thing needs reverb!!! If you're like me, and you don't use any effects at all, it's still nice to have a nice big sound that only reverb can provide.

Even though the good outweighs the bad, but because of that I can only give it a 9 for the features.

*First off, as it is with all tube amps, do not expect this to turn you into a guitar virtuoso. It's the exact oppsosite. Tube amps expose every single flaw with your guitar playing. You have to work to get those solos to sound good.*

Let's get techy! I play in a hard rock band(nickelback, sevendust) and I need tight punchy rhythms with searing leads. This is how I run my Dual Recto:
Tube selection play a HUGE roll in tone!

** PLAY IN THE 6L6 POSITION, TUBE RECTIFIER MODE W/ THE BOLD SETTING**
PRE AMP
V1 - JJ ECC83(standard)
V2 - JJ ECC83(high gain)
V3 - Tung-Sol 12AX7(standard)
V4 - Tung-Sol 12AX7(standard)
V5 - JJ ECC83(standard & balanced)

POWER AMP
2 - JJ GZ34(rectifier tubes)
2 - JJ KT88(outer sockets)
2 - JJ KT66(inner sockets)

FRONT PANEL:
Red Channel(great rhythm tone)
PRESENCE: 10:00
GAIN: 2-3:00
LOW: 9:00
MID: 12-1:00
HIGH: 10-12:00

Orange Channel(fabulous lead tone)
PRESENCE: none
GAIN: 3:00-max
LOW: 12:00
MID: 2:00-max
HIGH: none

Green Channel(best clean tone)
PRESENCE: 1:00
GAIN: 12:00
LOW: 11:00
MID: 12-1:00
HIGH: 2:00

I've experimented with all makes and models, and have read extensive reviews...simply put, I did my homework! This combination of tubes sounds great for a good solid rhythm, tight and focused leads, and the cleanest, warmest, fattest clean you'll ever hear!


I run an Ibanez S7320, equipped with a Seymour Duncan Distortion in the bridge postion, and a Seymour Duncan '59 in the neck position, into the Mesa Dual Rectifier, into a Marshall 1960A 4X12 w/ Celestion Vintage 30's. If you play a similiar setup, you will not be disappointed!

I've gigged extensively all over the country and have never had any problems. But I do carry extra tubes with me just in case! The mesa workmanship and craftsmanship is second to none, so I never worry about it breaking down.

A buddy of mine, who was faithful Marshall player told a joke. "You always have to have two Marshall heads. One on stage, and one in the shop!" That is not the case at all with my mesa head, or any I've ever owned.

I've contacted the techs at Mesa and have gotten swift responses to my question...usually in the same day...it was always about tubes and channel settings.

I've never had my Dual Recto worked on, nor has it ever been in the shop. Just remember, a tube amp will turn on you in a split second of you don't treat it kindly and gently.

I would buy it again in a heartbeat if it was stolen! Overall I can only give it a 9, but only because there is no reverb option, or a ground lift. Other than those two items, this thing is a 10!

100 watts, 3 channels, loads of gain, decent sustain. It is a very versitile amp. I liked the cleans. As for everything else, complete garbage. This amp is the most TONELESS amp on the market. Absolutely NO note definition, sounds like a hair dryer, and much too much bass that can never be dialed out. And incredibly overrated. Just because ever band you see uses one does not make it a great amp.

This amp has no tone. If you're playing only one note, that's fine. Anytime you play more than 2 notes, they blend and become one sound, not two notes played as a chord. There enters the ****** "hair dryer" distortion that isn't even great for metal. It's loose as hell. And too much woofy bass that refuses to be dialed out, even with the bass at 2. People say that it sounds great cranked, but with 100 watts it's almost impossible to turn it past 4. Most people today are complete idiots. The most wattage you will EVER need is 40 to 50. It's impossible to get power amp break up with this amp.

Overall, terrible tone. Buy a 6505 or 5150, you'll achieve your goal better sounding and cheaper.

Never dealt with.

Again, never dealt with.

All hype, absolutely NO NOTE DEFINITION or TONE. Awful bass, takes a year by itself to actually find a decent setting. An overrated piece of ****, shame Mesa. I am a Mesa fan, but more along the Stiletto lines or Lone Star.

All you little metal/posthardcore *******, go with a 6505. And you'll actually sound good.

I have read certain reviews stating that this amp has more features than necessary, I find this hard to believe as I am a total novice when it comes to understanding amps and this one is VERY easy to understand and very useful to use. The 3 channel, five button floorboard is a doddle to set up and comes with enough instructions to use with immediate effect. I still have a bit of trouble with the effects loops (a bit of squealing going on) but I take that as my limitations, not the amps. It's a bit unusual not to see a reverb function, but I am not complaining because I have other things to look after that side.

I am using a Paul Reed Smith CE 22 which I serious considered parting company with due to dissatisfaction with the sound I was getting out of my Randall Head. As soon as this thing went into the dual rec it was like instrument sexual magnetism... These two were made for each other and should spend the whole of there lives together. The sound of the amp can best be described as Schitzophrenic... The clean sound is stunning clear,warm and bright. Anyone who barks out that this baby is a one high gain trick pony truly is as dumb as a bag of hammers. But the reputation of the High gain sound is warranted and then some!! The shear anger and agressiveness of the crunch is awesome... It sends shivvers down my spine just thinking about it. Plus the extra features of he Vintage and Raw sounds really round up the plusses and I cant fault the sounds at all.

Obviously the amp is spanking new so I really hope I dont need to comment on this for a while yet.

Not had to deal with Mesa yet

I will probably never own another make of amp again...

Has most of the standard features, however it is missing a reverb. 2 channels, orange and red which are footswitchable.

I'm playing an esp ec1000 with an emg 85 in the bridge. It is a very revealing amp, so if you're a sloppy player you'll definitely hear it. The clean channel is nice. Not fender clean but that is to be expected. The gain channel is what this amp is all about and this is where it shines. Nice bottom end with suprising top end clarity. I'm not going to name the artists that use this amp, but the list of hard rock and metal artists rocking this piece of equipment is quite lengthy.

I've owned this amp for 2 years and the only I've had to do is replace the tubes. It seems to be of a solid build and I expect it to last for a long time.

I bought this amp from http://mesaboogieonline.com and have had to call Mesa once. They walked me through the problem (tubes were dead) and were very easy to deal with.

I've played on and off for 10 years and out of all the amps that I have owned, this would be on the top of the list. For hard rock or metal I don't see how you can go wrong.

at first glance the amp looks pretty bare, volume presance bass mid treble gain. and for the first two days that you own the amp you'll think to yourself "what the ****! No reverb?" untill you read the manual and lear how to used the back of the amp. the spongy/bold and rectifier switches switch turns your amp from a low headroom tube monster that bares its fangs as they drip with saturated vaccume tube ditortion into a gain addict hell bend on getting its next fix and then into a slick haird salesman whose clean lines will make you buy anything. add in the baziliion combinations of vintage/clean/raw/pushed/modern variations and tehres enough variety to make your head spin. 9 because of the non traditional features, not a 10 because of the lack of traditional features. yes, it has no reverb =[

if you bought the amp you already know what kind of sound you want. you just dont go out on a whim and throw 1.5k down on somthing you havent researched.

it sounds great with all the guitars ive played through it, each one has its own unique quirks to it, youll just have to play around with it.

but believe the hype, the brutal distortion is there, the bassy punch, the raunchy mids, the singing gains... all of it



the best advice i can gove on getting the saound you want form it is to
1. read the manual

and
2. call a friend who plays the drums and jam. Its 100000% easier to find that sweet tone you want when you can tune the amp against the sound of a drummer.

the amp is not a one trick pony as some people say, but youll never find that out untill you crank it. people who buy this amp for bedroom shred and so on will be pissed off when thay realize that this amp sounds liek **** with the volume on .5

in terms of tones its got everything that I've found i need, a clean chanel that distorts nicely for some kick *** blues and jazz

a pused channel for that long-haired-tight pants 70's and 80's rock

to a gain thats is so raounchy that you feel as though you should appologize. like after every palm mute you feel as though you should find and old woman and say "excuse me but im so sorry that my amp sounds so damn bad***." then because of how bad*** it sounds you'll continue to chug the shit out of whatever instrument your runnign through that beast.



but seriously the amp nails all the tones that youve heard people on the raidion play it for


metallica, the darkness, all time low just to name a few

so many tones are possible with this amp


JUST MAKE SURE TO READ TEH MANUAL!

built like a motherf****** level 70 warrior speckin prot and fury

for non -WoW players


its built liek a tank. ive had no trouble

havent had to deal with them

hell of a sweet amp, betles cover bands probably wont liek it, but then again, ive never seen a beatles cover band buy mesas, so i guess thats a problem noone will ever have


the average rocker will love this thing to death

so will metal heads, blues masters and just anyone looking for great tone and great playability

for being made in the mid 90's it has alot of features

Ok first thing is first change out the ****** Mesa Tubes because they make the amp sound very grainy and who ever leaves them in and thinks that the stock tubes sound good does not know what they're talking about. So my secret for my tone that I get from mine is from the JJ tubes that I ordered from eurotubes.com and right now I have (5) high gain 12ax7's and (4) 6L6GC's which will truly bring the amps true tones out. And the orange channel either on crunch mode or clean mode is actually really full sounding after I swapped the tubes out, and the red channel is really amazing with brutal lows and the way to sparkling highs and also what I have noticed is that Eminence speakers sound better with this head than Celestions in my opinion.

Mine was made in the mid 90's and still preforms like a champ

Any time I have called Mesa to ask simple questions they always are very polite and if they have do some research about a certain question they will call you with in that hour.

For the price range you can not go wrong also you can run the amp in solidstate mode or all tube mode and the amp can take almost every tube for the power section. I have owned a 2005 peavey Jsx, 2002 Mesa Road King Series 1 which is probly one of the most versatile amps ever made and now I currently own a Rivera K TRE and this Dual Rectifier and of course the Rivera has more gain but also alot more money and the Rivera is spec out for certain speakers and is not a fixed bias amp like the dual rec but I like each amp because is good in it's own way.

This is a 1999 model, so it is a 2 channel example (not the later 3 channel models). The channels are named 'Orange' and 'Red'. My configuration is currently set at 'Orange' for clean sounds and 'Red' for gain settings. The channels are assignable. By this I mean that each channel can be given a tonal characteristc - such as 'Vintage', 'Modern', 'Clean' or 'Variable High Gain'. This function is accsessed via a switch on the back of the head and allows for customisation of your channel settings. This is made easier by the fact that each channel has the same controls (Gain, Treble, Middle, Bass, Presence, Master) and channels are footswitchable.

Regarding the effects loop, Mesa are quite renowned for their complex operating systems. Shared by both channels is the 'Active Loop Master control' which controls the over all level of effects. When it is engaged in this function, a yellow LED on the front panel illuminates. There are various settings for the effects loop (which can be altared via a pot on the back of the head), but I have settled on the setting 'Red Auto' - which just seems to push the valves more.

Speaking of valves, this model comes with 5 12AX7 preamp valves, 4 6L6 power amp valves and the two rectifier valves, of which the designation escapes me. There is a feature that allows you to switch the bias between 6L6 and EL34's (again, via the rear of the head). Thus adding to the flexability of the amp. There is no denying the fact that Mesa amps are loaded with features, and all the supporting paraphenalia from Mesa does a good job of explaining the features, but the only real way to get to grips with the features on offer is to get out there and play one (if you can!).

I would not say that I have a simple set up, but I do not have over kill either, before I start, here is a list of effects I use:

ProCo Turbo Rat
Boss Bass Flanger
Electro Hamonix Small Stone Phaser
Electro Harmonix Mini Q-Tron Envelope Filter
Jim Dunlop Crybaby Wah
Boss Pro 21 Band Graphic EQ (Rack)
Boss Pro Stereo Noise Surpressor (Rack)

In terms of Guitars, I play a 1990's Fender Japanese Strat (with Stock Pickups), a 2003 Mexican Fender Tele (again with stock Pickups), a 2005 Gibson SG Special (Open Coil Stock Pickups) and a 19?? Gibson Les Paul Standard with EMG 81's and 85's.

The first thing I noticed with this amp is that IT WILL NOT COVER DODGY PLAYING *cough cough*. Every sound your guitar makes will come through your speakers. At the risk of sounding unimaginative, the Strat sounds like a Strat, clean and bright and the Tele sounds choppy and sharp. The clean setting on the Mesa really brings out the character of these guitars, as when set right, the clean comes very close to a Fender clean - I could imagine running this head on clean through an old Blonde 4x10 and not being a million miles away from a Bassman. Increasing the gain adds a little purr behind the clean so we are now into Plexi clean territory, and with the gain pushed all the way, you can do your best Hendrix impression until you achieve Rock superstar status or you asphixiate on your own sick - either way it sounds rather nice. The Strat and Tele when used with the high gain settings do not translate well. This is only my opinion and preference, but I do not like single coils when played through a high gain setting - they squeal, hiss and general sound brittle - however like I said this is only my personal preferance. I am sure if you like the sound of high gain single coils, this would work wonders.

The SG just sings through this amp - the cleans are warm and full, giving just a little bit of break up when pushed, but the real joy on this channel with the SG comes when the clean gain is set to 10 - it does not do a bad impression of a JCM 800, only with a little more gain, and with my TurboRat in the front end, I can get all those desirable classic rock tones - lets break out the big haircuts and little trousers people!

Channel 2 is pure Mesa - you know the tone that every amp emulator tries to tries to copy? This is it. Humbuckers make this channel - I find gain set to about 3'clock is the best setting, as (with the right EQ) you get all the gain, bottom end and top end definition and well as mid punch. Push the gain any ore than this and you get a horrible kind of 'mush' sound where you tend to lose your tone for the sack of bags of gain. Again this is down to taste, but I like to keep my tone, even when I am playing at higher gain settings. There is no doubt about it, Mesa's forte is the high gain sound, but for me the real surprise is the clean channel and how versatile it is.

Before I go any further I must apologise to Active Pickup enthusiasts -but my Les Paul with the EMG's does sound awful through this amp. I bought the guitar with the Pickups already installed because it was a bargin price at a closing down sale. I was using a Carlsbro Nu-Tone Stack at the time and thought the guitar sounded bad because I was not playing through a great amp. I think I was wrong because it still sounds bad through the Mesa. For me, the highs are too harsh, the lows to wooly and the mids do not exist - maybe I have a duff set of Pickups, I change the battery in a regular basis and it still sounds pap.

I would not say that I have a musical style, I just like good tone, and the Mesa does deliver - you have to spend a little time getting your head around all the features and find 'your sound', but the reassuring thing is, you WILL find YOUR sound. It is plenty loud enough for any gig and still sounds good at lower levels for rehershals etc.

I am giving this a 9 only because of the potential pitfalls of too much high

Soild construction, no tears (as I bought it flight cased) and looks like it is 9 months old, not 9 years. I would gig without a back up as it has just been seviced by a qualified Mesa Engineer in Suffolk. Needed revalving - but it was the first time since the amp was new, so I guess its pretty awsome.

Well well well, it can't be all good can it?

Bought the amp used of eBay - it did not come with a footswitch - not a problem I thought, I will buy one. Could not buy from Mesa online as they will only ship to the US. Had to speak to the UK distributor, and despite the fact I was dealt with by a very friendly operative, was staggered to find out that a single button, single function 1/4" Mono jack foot switch with the words 'Mesa Engineering, Rectifier' printed on the cost ??79.95 plus postage and packaging. Come on Mesa, we all know your gear is pricey, but nearly ??100 (including postage) for a footswitch? Thats a bit like daylight robbery.

I am giving a five for the friendly, almost apologetic operative, but thats only because he was nice - Mesa's approach to the niche market leaves a bit to be desired.

Been playing 15 years, I have listed my guitars and effects, so I wont list those again, but in terms of amps I own:

Mesa Dual Rectifer Solo Head,
Marshall JCM 800 2204 with JCM 800 4x12,
Marshall JCM 900 4100 Dual Reverb with JCM 900 4x12,
Vibtage 1970 Marshall 4x12 with Original Celestion 25watt Greenbacks
Orange PCC 4x12 with Celestion Vintage 30s
Carlsbro NuTone 250watt Head with 600watt 2x12 Flared and 400watt 1x15 Nutone cabs
Randall RG 200 2x12 combo.

To be honest, the Mesa stands out from them all - it has the growl and headroom of the JCM800 and the gain of the Randall. It is like all my other amps rolled in to one. There is a reson great amps become great amps (Fender Bassman, Fender Twin, JCM800, Plexis et al) and I firmly believe that in years to come, this amp will be up there with the greats, if it is not already. I only wish it had reverb. If it were lost of stolen, I hope my insurance would pay out, because I would get another one.

three channel amp each with three modes, pretty good, at least better than most amps for the price.

The myth about mesa/boogie amps is that they are muddy, boomy, and just harsh sounding, but that is not true. I bought this amp in search of that gut-wreching punch and high slice, i found it. mesa's take alot of time to get the sound you want, you have to play around with it for days, but once you dial in that tone, its perfect. clean channel is not that impressive, you realy cant get it super clean at high volumes, but when on the pushed mode, its a very classic, mild gain, just perfect for that older stuff. I play metal and blues and this amp works perfect. like i said you have time and paitence.

very reliable, i dropped the head and cab down the stairs and worked perfect the next day.

mesa sure beats the competion for the price.i've owned alot of different amps and mesa seems to have such an aggresive sound to it. most amps out there try to get the gain through the roof, but mesa works on the heaviness and the crushing tone. if yo have to the money buy it now. take my word, go to a mesa dealer and try one, you'll love it.

This amp was made in 2005 or 2004. I got it in early 2005. This amp is not versatile at all. It is a one or two trick pony. However those two tricks it happens to do very well. This is a 3 channel amp, FX loop, no headphone jack. It has more than enough feautres for me. (I dont use the FX loop that often). I use this amp at home, band practise, and at club shows. It has WAY more than enough power. This thing could shatter your ears if you're not careful.

As I said above, this amp has 1 or 2 usable sounds. I have had it for 2 years now and Im just beginning to unlock all the tonal possibilites with Channel 3, in my opinion the only channel worth using. The distortion, especially in the modern setting, is absolutely brutal (in a good way) and shrill. I do not like this setting as I am not a metal player. I switched to Vintage mode on this channel and I find it much tighter, punchier, and well-rounded.

I play 2 guitars through this amp and they both sound very good, although a lot (and I mean a lot!!) of tweaking is needed to get maximum tones. The two I play are a PRS Custom 24 with HFS pickups and a Vintage Hot Rod Tele with a single coil, and a Seymour Duncan mini humbucker. Most on the tele I use the bridge pickup and it sounds great. Switch to neck and it sounds REAL creamy and fat. Almost Les Paul-like (no kidding!) I mainly use the bridge/neck pickups on the PRS. Depending on what I am going for they each have different sounds.

The style of my band is along the lines of Tool, Deftones, nine inch nails, and the like. That is why I dont use the 'modern' setting as I feel it just rubs my tone right out. I do a lot of rythym/lead combos (only guitarist) and I need to hear those notes as does my band. I run the presence quite high on channel three. (About 3 o'clock).

Overall the sound quality is really good, but its very much a love/hate amp and its not for the faint of heart. It takes a LOT of work to get good tones and there are many factors that go into it (I run a number of pedals).

Hell yes. I have had to replace the tubes once in 2 years. I do not run it very hard though. Totally would rely on this thing, and I do gig without a backup (until i got a new silverface to run side-by-side). This amp has never broken down, thankfully. I have heard back road reliability stories on this amp but I have never been affected. 5 year warranty is very nice to have.

never dealt with them.

I have been playing about 12 years. I run the PRS, VHR Tele, through a Framptone amp switcher, into a Zvex Fuzz factory, an Xotic RC booster, a Deluxe memory man, a stereo memory man, digitech whammy, and a Boss TU-2. I also have a Boss EQ in the FX loop of the mesa.

I really hate the clean channel on this amp, I really think it sucks. NO headroom! That's why I got a Vintage Silverface. But overall the Mesa is very good. If it were lost or stolen I would probably buy a Marshall JCM. I have never owned marshall. At the time the Mesa blew everything else in the store out of the water.

3 channels, no effects (it's not an Hughes & Kettner), solo switch for volume boost important. Pretty straight forward stuff. Ability to switch to EL34 tubes is nice, or take 2 power tubes/1 rectifier tube out to run at 50W.

Ch 1 Clean: clean channel sounds fine, but in "clean" there isn't a lot of headroom. In "pushed", you really get the headroom but the breakup also starts coming in.
Ch2/3: the same except for the presence control in Ch 3 is more active. For overall distortion sound, this is a great amp. I fell in love with it while playing an American style Strat and various Gibsons at GC. When I got it home, I noticed my strat doesn't sound as good (it's a Vintage, not the American. Oh well). The distortion is great but there is an element of "fizz" you get on the higher strings that I can't seem to dial out. I run the gain at 9-10 oclock adn it's still pretty distorted. This is not an amp that cuts like a knife, but rather bludgeons you like a blunt instrument. It doesn't really stand out in the mix, but it does provide for a very full sound. If that is what you're looking for, great distortion wall 'o sound, it's great. The Stileto seems like the exact opposite - it slices through your brain, almost painfully so. For classic rock a bit hard to tame, but overall I'm happy with it.

No problems.

Pretty good. You get customer service's voicemail most of the time, but they will call you back sometime that day.

In the world of high end tube amps, I'm thinking this is an 8. If I were a thrash metal player, I'd probably give it a 10. Always in the relentless pursuit of tone and quite frankly haven't found anything better yet. Dialed in a few great tone on Splawn, Marshall Vintage Modern but I didn't get the 3 channels and solo boost. I play through the V30 1 and 2 12 Roadster cabs. Built like a tank. No reason to ever sell the cabs, but will keep experimenting with heads. Too bad Mesa couldn't make a Recto/Marshall mix. They say Stiletto is an attempt at that but I can't get any bottom out of Stiletto. And it's hard to get the top out of recto.