Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier Solo Head

Every feature almost imaginable ( no reverb on the dual solo heads )
But is more than a complete package for a tube head.

I like em personally

Never personally had a problem

One of those company's that respect all of their customers

Ok here is where I rant. First off the dual rec's are a unique sounding head with a very uniuqe eq set up ( Half a recto equals a dimed marshall ) except for one thing it is a totaly different sounding beast than marshall (even with el 34's). So far in this numerous reviews people have been stomping on them. Look if you don't like them that's cool buy an amp to suit you're needs ex if you want a Zakk Wylde sound buy a JCM 800, if want a tight thrash sound there are amps that nail the tone in spades. Just because it has a dimond grid face doesn't mean it will cover every metal tone out there and it isn't designed to give you a fender clean. Plain and simple it's a mesa boogie with a mesa boogie clean (sounds pretty fat usually) and a mesa boogie crunch. The dual recs are more agressive than other mesa boogies in sound but that doesn't make it a complete metal amp.
Otherwise it would have been called The Metal Machine or something stupid like The Doom Box Enforcer. In fact it is called the dual rec stands for the fact you can change the rectification of the power section from silicone diodes (more agressive) to rectifier tubes (old school sag) vintage sounding. Now does this sound like a feature in a thrash metal amp no. In short if you don't like an amp thats cool it's not you're sound people hype the dual recs because it apeals to them soundwise so no Mesa Boogie is not some corporation trying to swindle you of you're hard earned cash on overpriced items. In fact they are pretty reasonably priced for tube amps If you really think about it. An amp is a lot like beer you like some and others you're not to fond of you don't see me on harmony central trashing St Ides Malt Liqour.

This amp has more whisles and bell than any other amp (that I have used). The footshitch is without a doubt the best and smooth. Also, with three channels you can dial up soo many different tones. The power was good. Actually less than what I thought. We play very loud. Sometimes I think too loud. I do think that my Marshall DSL-100 and my TSL-100 has more.

The sound is ok, i guess. I have three PRS guitars, McCarty, custom 22, and a CE-22 w/trem. I think that the distortion is uncontrolable. Sometimes it's muddy and changes. Hard to say what I'm hearing but, uncontrolable is how I see it. The first, and I mean the FIRST time I played it after bring it home, it broke, blew up, something like that. I played it for two hours and then in a split second, it lost 90% of the volume. I was using a Marshall 1960A and 1960B cabs. The tone was still there. I took it back to the store. I tried out a Triple rectifier, same deal. I played a Peavey JSX, that was sitting beside the Boogie. The peavey sounded better and had less noise than the dual and the triple rectifiers did. I thought WOW, this peavey sounded better...a PEAVEY!

As I said, it messed up the first time I played it at high volume. I would not play this without a back up. Actually I would not play and amp without a back up (tube amp anyway). Just because it's a BOOGIE and cost more don't mean it's good!

Didn't give a chance. I can say the store was great!! They took it back. They told me they would do whatever it would take to make me happy. We did hook it up and it was still messed up.

I have been playing for 25+ years. I have been "clubing" since the age of 19. If it was stolen, I'd kick some major butt just because of the price of it. I would never buy another Mesa/Boogie. I always though that the Boogie Dual rectifier was the top shelf of amps...I was wrong. My Marshalls DSL-100 & TSL-100 are far better, without much noise. Now that I've got the PEAVEY JSX, I think I will be better off. I sure did like the way it looked but, thats all! For $400.00 more than the Peavey and less tone and control, I'll stick with what I have now. I can say again, the footswitch on the Mesa/Boogie are the best I have seen.

not sure when was made???

we play death and doom metal so guess that's why I have this amp!! haha. just use it in solid state, bold mode on modern (orange) channel 95% of time and clean channel for the rest. no effects... is more than loud enough. played through a Marshall 1960V with vintage 30's.

use emg81 in bridge pickup and an Emg85 in neck pickup but normally just stick to 81. have just changed all the tubes as the Mesa ones were a bit muddy. got JJ's in at the moment but might try some others when these die!
have put some KT88 instead of EL34's or 6L6's and they're flipping loud and fat. the amp smells hot though! haha.

one other thing I switch the loop active on at the back which lets me use the pot on the front as an overall master and push it that bit further. makes it a lot more potent without overload...

If i don't play well the sound can get lost with all the gain though, guess I'd better practice some more! haha

just one blown tube and fuse as part of it in the 2 years Ive had it. play for 5 hours a week at rehearsal, nice and loud...

don't have money for a back up!

never dealt with company but my fathers and electrical engineer so we can work out most stuff between us...

been playing it for two / three years? can't remember, first 'proper' amp. been playing guitar 'properly' for 4 years now. I love playing it loud and well and feeling the volume. is the best at gigs when it's miked up and the crunch covers the whole venue ;)

other band mate has a 5150II wjhich sounds a bit harsher but think it's down to not very good Sovtek 6L6's in there. we'll see what new tubes do? the two amps work well together in recordings etc

sounds good for heavy-metal/hard/moder rock fans. 3 channels : overdrive(raw) channels sound great at low volumes. Clean channel can be a little crunchy if you want. Good for recording cause you can use lower volumes but for live, d'oh I don't recommend that.

I use Ibanez RG series, Fender stratocaster and Gibson SG special.
I play british modern rock to punk rock and this is my gear for recording.But I will never use it for live cause the sound at lower volume is blurry, muddy, what can I say.But at lower volumes(which I use for multi-track recording) are cool.You can get loads of tones which are all so posh and original.Not noisy but hummy!Distortion is brutal as well for heavy metal fans if you maximise the gain control.

No idea.

Not yet!

I've been playing guitar for 6 years and I have loads of guitars, amps and tonnes of pedals. My question is: we all see that Mesa produces good amps but they are all expensive for the sound.They can honestly compete with Marshall's sound but can they compete their price as well? Don't think so!

These are covered amply in other reviews.

A couple of notes to previous reviewers:

Spencer- George Lynch is a wanker but Satriani is not? Hmmmm. Both are excellent players IMHO, Dokken's inherent cheesiness notwithstanding.

Michael- No, Zakk has ALWAYS used Marshalls, modified or otherwise, except for a brief flirtation with Metaltronix amps in the '80s. It is only in your fevered brain that "Zakk Wylde is a f*ckin liar!!!". Lay off the Crystal-meth. Your post made my brain hurt.

John Petrucci- IF that was really you, you are an oustanding player but I notice that as of 2004 you are playing through a Triaxis, which is a whole different animal.

Mud, bass, mud, bass. Can't cut through a band mix, only bury the rest of the band with sheer volume. Great if you are playing nothing but two-note chords using drop-d, drop-c, drop-whatever, but NOT good for solos or chords involving more than two strings. Low volume= Sounds like ASS!!! Clean channel sucks. I'd much prefer my Marshall JCM800 or even my Crate Blue Voodoo120(with a nice overdrive pedal), which is less than half the price.

Man, look at these reviews! It's a love-or-hate amp, that's for sure. Personally I don't QUITE hate it but I SURE AS HELL don't love it.

- Bought used, brand new condition
- 3 channels: clean, 2 overdrive
- No effects

Enough features, very versatile, but could have used at least a reverb for the price.

Using an Epiphone Les Paul w/ stock pickups and a Music Man Petrucci 6-String w/ custom Dimarzio pickups.

Sounds absolutely beautiful. Very quiet, toneful, and the clean, when not pushed too hard, is especially dynamic in response to the playing style.
The distortion goes as far as anyone should ever need, and Ch. 2 on vintage mode with the gain and presence backed off, using the neck pickup, can acheive a very nice SRV-like blues sound.

I wouldn't be afraid to gig without a backup, or even chuck it down a flight of stairs.

Never dealt with them, but heard great things.

Been playing 3 or 4 years, I can't remember. Would shoot the guy if stolen. I love everything about it, but, again, could use at least a reverb. I was comparing this too a Marshall TSL100, but went Mesa because Marshall's quality control seems to be lacking lately.

This is a 2004 Dual Rectifier Solo head. It's so versatile I'm convinced that the only other amp that could be any more versatile is the Road King. You can get any sound you want out of it. It has three full independant channels w/ different modes on each Channel one has clean and pushed. I assume you know what a normal clean channel sounds like so I'll skip that but the pushed mode gives you a nice classic first Aerosmith album sound when tweaked correctly. Channel two offers raw, vintage and modern. Raw has excellent bluesy soloing capabilities, while vintage can go from an awesome classic Alice Cooper warmth to an over-the-top gain onslaught of Megadeth shred tones, the modern mode in channel two is a little too pingy for me but some might appreciate it. Channel three uses the same modes as channel two. I've only used the modern mode in channel three, and let me tell you, it's a gain monster. Turned down it's loaded with preamp gain but when you start turning it up past 9:00 it gets extremely ballsy. Giving you more bottom end than Anna Nicole Smith befiore she dropped the cow.
This amp has a built-in variac with the spongy or bold feature. Bold (what I usually use) gives you a really tight end and loads of headroom. Spongy offers a more scooped low end and mid range(for those of you that are into In Flames or At The Gates).
The amp also features a silicon diode or vacuum tube rectifier. The diodes give you maximum headroom, and the vacuum tubes give you more of a vintage feel supplying that warmth to your sound that your looking for. I try and use all the features on the amp to give it a full workout.
I use this amp in my bedroom playing to albums, at band practice, and jamming at other friends' houses. It gives me all the power I will ever need.

This amp sounds great. i use an epiphone Les Paul Standard w/ EMG 81 pickups in it. It develops no noise unless you play at loud volumes, then you get the normal feedback. I must warn you though, because it's a tube amp, the louder it gets the more your sound will cange. So if you buy this amp you may dial in your sound at a normal houselold level, and then get to band practice and turn your amp up, your sound will completely change. My suggestion to this is to get the amp a little louder once and a while to develop your live sound. There's no point in buying a 100W monster and leaving it at a normal room level and micing it through your P.A. fool around with it as much as posible. I use this amp through a Berhinger stereo cabinet because i can't afford a Mesa cab yet. It sounds awesome with a $300 cab, imagine how it will sound through the real deal.

Extremely reliable. Never had aproblem with it. I'll change the tubes when they need it.

Mesa's customer support is excellant. If you call them when they're not open, they call you back the next day.

I've been playing for 10 years and i've used several solid state and tube amps. I tried a Marshall TSL100 and a Mode Four. They sound nothing like this miracle of an amp.

This is just for the guy like 2 reviews below about the midrangy weak sound. Even though you played through the VHT, mesas usually sound best through their own cabs. I thought the same when i bought my Dual but that was through a Marshall. Now i know marshall is more midrangy and won't stand up to the VHT but when i went to the Mesa, things just clicked. All stars aligned. And the EQ's aren't like normal eq's. It took me some time to get used to them. If you use them like a normal eq that would be on lets say a marshall, or peavey, or Bogner, of course you would get that piss poor sound. I did too. Try to sit with it for a little bit. You will definitely change your mind.

This amp has it all, every parameter of each channel can be tweaked, i especially like the voicing switch (raw/vintage/modern). My only complaint is that the FX loop controls seem over complicated. The solo button on the f/s is a great idea!

I use a Gibson Les Paul, SG, Ibanez Cutlass Custom and a Fender Cyclone. This amp sounds amazing! My last amp was a tsl 100 and this totally beats the crap out of it. I mainly use the middle channel on the vintage setting with gain about half way. I also really like the pushed setting on the clean channel, you can get some really cool rhythm sounds from that with a higher gain setting. Everyone has an idea what a dual rec should sound like but the thing is it is up to YOU what it sounds like, i have had the thing sounding like a twin, a plexi and an AC30 (not as convincing as the others). I cannot fault the tone of this amp!

I had a few problems on the last tour we did with fuses. The amp comes with a 2amp fuse and the fuse blew twice (mean fiddler and cardiff barfly if anyone knows about their dodgy power!). Put a 2.5 in there and it hasnt budged since. The amp is very reliable apart from this minor finishing glitch.

Great manual. Havent had to deal with any other support.

The amp is great for hardcore punk/metal but it is great for any style you throw at it, you just have to spend time getting the right sound. My dual rec has just come back from a UK tour being used by my band (The Mingers) and Leftover Crack. The amp stood up kindly to all comers. I am a former Marshall lover, but the TSL grew tired and had to be replaced so i thought....why not!

Has anything you need. Two completely seperate channels, good effect-loop and many options for switching channels & fx-loop. In terms of controls to tweak this amp it has it all. In terms of sound I can only recommend the clean channel....

I play a Strat with a Peavey EVH PU at the bridge, a B.C.Rich Bich and a custom 7-string guitar. The clean channel of this amp sounds excellent. It has that special sparkle and sounds simply great. Nothing to improve hear. It breaks up to early for my taste but thats the only negative. Now the distortion channel: Quite the dissapointment. Mesa has the reputation to have an excellent fat and smooth distortion sound. To me thats not true. I play that amp through a VHT 4x12 box, because the amp stands in our rehearsal space.
I was so happy to see this famous amp sitting there someday because the guy from the other band bought it. I have to admit that there is nearly NOTHING I like about the distortion channel. It sounds very harsh and midrangey and has not enough gain for my taste, although my PU is quite hot. To me the distortion channel sounds not American at all. It sounds very marshall-like: thin, harsh and weak. The only thing that is good about the channel is that it cuts through VERY well. I give the clean channel a 10 and the distortion channel a 4. It's okay but nothing more.

The amp seems quite reliable. It gets played at least for two rehearsals a week and at quite high volumes and so far it never failed.

Never dealt with them.

I play for 8 years now and studied guitar at the MGI which is the german version of GIT. I play everything from Jazz to Death metal and usually play in several bands. I build custom guitars and have owned alot of amps. Additionally I do alot of mixing&recording so I have quite educated ears. I really tried to like this amp, but I hate the distortion channel so much that I often take my 5150 with me to the rehearsal room so that I do not have to play the Mesa. I like amps with that FAT and smooth American distortion that simply sounds HUGE.
Pinch Harmonics ala Steve Morse or Petrucci are quite essential for my style as well. This is an area where the Mesa is OK but not as good as other amps I played. In my opinion if you search for the huge and fat distortion channel Mesa is famous for then check out a Peavey 5150 or Triple XXX or a Soldano. They are far better in this respect. I could imagine that this amp sounds great in a band with two guitarists as it cuts through quite well and sounds not muddy. I am the only guitarist in my band and for that application the Mesa is way to weak and thin sounding. I would only use it for the clean channel on recordings, etc. because here it REALLY lives up to it's reputation. If you search for THE distortion look elswhere....even marshall sounds fatter and smoother....To be fair: I think this amp is a good amp. The distortion channel sounds very brutal and harsh which might exactly be what some players are looking for.
But it is not nearly as good as it's reputation and especially not as good as it's high price....