Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier Solo Head

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.

This Dual Rectifier was made in 1999. I play in a hardcore/post-hardcore band and this amp is more than enough as far as versatility goes. 2 channels (but there are 3 available channels you could assign to the 2). Clean, Vintage, Modern. Great effects loop, no headphone jack. The only feature I wish it had was an additional 8 ohm output. I'll explain later in the "Sound Quality" portion...

All tube, 100 watts, use it at the jamspot, and when playing shows. *shrug* Chances are, if you're looking at buying a Mesa/Boogie, then you know ALL about the features that a Dual Rectifier has.

If you're looking to hit a tone, be it a Fender-ish clean, Marshally crunch or balls-to-the-wall high gain massacre, this amp can do it. SOOOO much variety. The clean headroom is amazing, and the distortion is insane. Again, if you are looking at getting one, you know what they sound like, and what they can do.

I'm running a Gibson SG (with a Seymour Duncan Custom SH-5 in the bridge), and a G&L ASAT Classic. This amp sounds great with single coils and humbuckers.:]

Now, the reason I wish it had 2 8 ohm outputs is that I'm running this amp with an Orange PPC412 and an Orange PPC212 (both are rated at 16 ohms). Mesa/Boogie tells me that I can run them from the 4 ohm outputs without damaging the amp, but I would feel better if I had the impedance matched up properly, rather than a safe mismatch.

I run an ISP Decimator through the loop, so the amp isn't noisy at all. Even when I'm not running the Decimator, the amp is fairly quiet, considering how ballsy it is.

As stated above, I play in a hardcore/post-hardcore band. Imagine Thrice meets He Is Legend meets Glassjaw meets Misery Signals, and you're sorta there. This amp is perfect for the job.

Lots of people claim that the tone these bands rock is all gain, all scooped, and whatnot. Here are my settings that make my heart melt:

Vacuum Tube Rectifier
Bold
Red channel to Vintage
Presence: 12:00
Bass: 1:00
Mid: 2:30
High: 11:30
Gain: 2:30

Here's the only beef I had with the amp. When I got it, there were stock 12AX7A's in the pre-amp, and the amp sounded harsh and brittle. So, I threw in some a JJ Tesla in the 1st preamp stage, NOS JAN GE 12AX7's in the next 2 slots, and then Chinese made 12AX7 in the remaining slots. Stock Mesa 6L6's in the power section. HUGE difference.

It's a Mesa/Boogie. These things are built like tanks.

I've had to deal with Mesa/Boogie on 2 occaisions. First, it was with my old F-100 as I was having impedance problems. They weren't open when I initially called, but the following day, one of their techs called me back and discussed the issue at great length, making sure I understood it all. The second time I had to call Mesa, was to track down the back retainer bar (the aluminum one that protects the tubes), as the Dual Rec I bought didn't have it. I was expecting Mesa to charge me like $50 for the bar, and they said that it was just $6. :]

I've been playing guitar for about 6 years now, and the gear that I own is as follows:

Yamaha (Soldano) T-100
Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier (2 Channel)
Orange PPC412
Orange PPC212
Gibson SG
G&L ASAT Classic
Line6 DL4
Boss TU2

If this amp were stolen or lost, I would probably have a coniption. I love this amp...so much. I would definitely get another 2 channel Dual Rec. Maybe one from '96...

The ONLY thing I dont like about this amp is that I can't remove the front baffle to customize it. Even then, meh.

Everyone who knows Mesa will know this amp and its dual channel monstrosities. Both channels can also be altered by a switch on the back making the sound muddy (spongy) or hellatight (bold). Orange and red stand for 'semi' clean channels whitch can be distorted with the gain switch. Ofcourse you got yer standard 3way eq plus the presence button to determine how well you are able to put some high-body in this ultra blubbery massive powerbox.

There is no point in arguing over taste... I play an extreme form of metal and am not fond of the mesa distortion options as they make a slightly detuned guitar sound very unclear. I love what this thing does however when you take distortion from digitech because this amp boosts like no other. This is not an amp to get a versatile guitarsound with... just the best clean you can imagine. Either clean channel set without a lot of gain and only half the volume make your pants flap and your walls shake.

Anecdote... I bought this amp 6 years ago. It had been used around the house for about 3 years and as soon as I got it, RectumFryer was unleashed at least 3 times a week for some 5 hours. After that it was used for 2 cd recordings, 70 gigs and 2 4-week tours. 3 bands played their entire set on it each and every night because we all prefered it over the 5150 and triple rec that had been rented. Footswitch didn't last the tour (it was ruined by Cephalic Carnage feet) but as soon as I had found a decent guitarsound to record a third cd... the tubes went. After replacing them I found a sound only slightly better than on the 9 year old beat-up tubes. RELIABLE AS HELL!

no experience with that because of a guitarcentre in my hometown... just replacing the tubes.

I have compared this amp (i.c.w. a Jackson Kelly (duncan design hb's), Marshall JMP1 pre-amp or digitech RP1 distotion) to 5150's, Marshall 9100's, JCM8 and 900's, multiple Randall's and triple recs... nothing comes close... maybe the triple, and I have yet to test the JCM2000 but I think I can expect what will be the conclusion of that. If you have normal E or D tuned guitars the distortion in this amp creates a very pro buzz and run this thing through some decent vintage Celestion speakers and you're unbeatable. So much so that on live video recordings another guitarist will be pushed aside in every frequency.

C'mon, You know the features. Has everything but Reverb.

This is the rock and metal standard. Like it or not, Rectifiers are here to stay. So many people use them which means if you want to be different, get a Laney VH100R or something. Dual rects don't have the high compressed gain of the 80s metal years, but they have a low end that has yet to be duplicated. I find this a very enjoyable amp all around. The Marshall TSL is very special too, and with reverb!

Never a problem.

Always great support from Mesa, no matter how big they've grown.

Great amp. This isn't the only great amp out there, try out as many as you can.