Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier Solo Head

I bought a 1999 2 Channel Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier off eBay a while ago. It's one of the last 2 channels made (before Mesa decided to ruin their guitar heads). The clean channel is nothing amazing (when used with a humbucker) but I play music that doesn't call for incredible clean sounds live (if you use a single coil it's not too bad). All the whiners below me are probably just upset because they expected this head to be perfect for everything including Dashboard Confessional.

I use a Peavey Vandenburg with an EMG-81 in the bridge through a Marshall JCM900 1960A 4x12 cabinet (not one of those Bitch Metal 1960AV cabs, THE REAL THING!) & there is only one way to describe this amp.................REDONKULOUS! The head is quite sensitive though so you need half a brain to get a great sound out of it. If you think you're as musically retarded as the people below me, save yourself some money & buy a cheap solid-state head. I use a Rocktron Hush Super C through the effects loop & the sound is as tight as I could hope for. I play everything from pop-punk/indie/screamo (almostbetter.com) to hardcore (Hatebreed, Sworn Enemy) to metal (Lamb of God, Unearth, Killswitch Engage, etc.) & this head is perfect for everything. However, if you are playing basement shows, this head is probably too much for you. A friend of mine uses the single rectifier through a mesa 2x12 cab & that competes pretty damn well with mine (especially with the clean channel boost).

I know quite a few people with recitifers & we all know there is no need for a backup. A rule of thumb I live by is....if you take care of it, it will take care of you. My head looks like it came from the factory yesterday!

I've never had to deal with them.

If you don't like this head you should probably either stop playing music or start playing folk & all that garbage. THIS HEAD IS NOT FOR THE WEAK. If you don't play heavy, hi-gain music...this head is not right for you. If it was stolen (which would be hard because I baby this thing) I would definately chase down the bastard, get it back & steal enough money for another one so I could use two live (haha). Like I said before, if you don't like this head you're probably not playing the kind of music this head is tailored for.

Just a comment to John Petrucci about his techs comments (assuming it is John) regarding the so called "that the parts are the best he has ever seen in an amp".
If your tech actually said this I would seriously go and find someone who has a clue about amps.
While Boogie has in the past used good (not the best however) construction and parts things have taken a slide as of late.
For example take a look at the transformers (size) they are using on the Dual Recs and compare them to say even the MKIIIs or earlier. Big difference....

Don't fall for the Maketing hype.

Ahhh, the "legendary" Dual Rectifier. This head's got as many features as a NASA space shuttle, which in itself seems like a good idea, but... I don't own one, and you're about to find out why.

Let me just state that too many features, high wattage and a cool diamond plate front panel do not add up to good tone. I try to play any style I can get my hands on, from country to hard rock, so a versatile amp is a necessity for me. This Mesa certainly isn't it.

Out of curiosity, I decided to try one of these heads, seeing that almost every review of this thing is rated at "10". I went to the store early one Saturday morning and brought along my trusty Tom Anderson Drop Top (for the record, this guitar sounds great through everything I've plugged into.... til now, that is).

What is it about this amp that people love so much? I tried the clean channel first, since no amp is worth anything to me if the clean sound blows. Well, the clean channel on this head blows donkeys. While not completely useless (I suppose if you run effects through it), it's lifeless, sterile, bland, boring... you get the picture.

Now, onto the crunch channel. Right... I've heard tube overdrive pedals which can kill this thing in terms of "usable" gain (and that meaning you can actually use distortion while retaining dynamics in your playing). Typical Mesa sound. Deep low end with top end capable of killing small animals. Sounds almost passable (and I'm being generous here) at low volumes (on a good day) but turns to complete shit when cranked. How useful is that? I won't even comment on the modern channel. I'm not a metal/Korn/Creed fan so it's of no use to me, although I did try both overdrive channels for lead work... Needless to say, it doesn't do much good.

I've had the occasion to hear these amps used in a live situation a number of times. IT DOES NOT CUT THROUGH THE MIX AT ALL. One guy had his cranked up so loud that I thought my head was about to be chopped off. Noise, and just noise, period. It completely obliterated the band.

I'll offer a rating of "1" since this forum will not allow me to rate it any lower.

Mesa are known for their quality. I use a Boogie Rectifier 1x12 which I love. In terms of this amp's reliability, God only knows. It sounds broken, that I can tell you.

I've dealt with them in the past (I used to own a Triaxis). Never had any trouble getting answers from them. Good customer support from what I've seen.

The most overhyped, overpriced, piece of crap system I've seen. They go from upwards of $2K here in Canada (give me a fuckin' break) and that's without the fancy diamond-plate or snakeskin finish. Like my former Triaxis (which was also way too damn expensive), this thing does not deliver, unless you like that razor blade sound (mind you, the Triaxis' clean channels are really cool).

If you scroll down the page in this forum, you'll see a submission from John Petrucci which was sent some years ago. He rates this thing a solid "10" while kissing Randall Smith's ass in the process (nothing like an endorsement deal to cloud up your judgment, right John?). Funnily enough, he uses a few Mark IIC+ heads in his rig now, and not the Rectifier. He woke up and smelled the coffee as well. I think Mr. Petrucci is a phenomenal player with tone to match (which does not come from a Rectifier, sorry to say).

Bottom line, if you want solid tone, get an amp which basic features, a good set of tubes and a good cabinet. I'll be buying a Bogner Shiva next year (which is completely in a separate league than the "legendary" Dual Rectifier). I wouldn't use a Dual Rectifier even if I was given one with a full endorsement. I care about my tone, and hopefully you'll stay away from this joke of an amp if you care about yours.

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How can you say one dimesional without overstating it??
If you want chain saw rhythm go for it....The lead licks can sound punchy and nice but his amp is far too touchy..the prescence control is way out there....
You have to literally reset all your controls going from one distrtion mode to the next as volume is strongly affected..not real practical in my opinion.
If you play more than one style of music steer clear of this pricey beast.

Struggled with it for 3 weeks.......took it back...wouldn't know.

I replaced this with the Boogie F-50 and I am much happier. Has the tone and drive this thing does without going overboard and is far easier and more versatile to use.
If you wanna rip the walls down, go for it. Has power to spare...tone is another story.

u know, if u didnt know all the features by now, what are u doing looking at the reviews.

the sound is amazing, but if u never want to leave the overdrive channel, buy the single rectifier, because there isnt that much of a volume difference between the two, only in clean. and the single gives the ability to push it.

never had a problem.

i called them once to ask there opinion of the single, the said what i said, if your gonna stay in over drive get the single.

for an overall id say it was good. ive been playing for four years now, and i own the dual and single. like i said buy the single. it cuts through the mix and its more affortable. ill give it a six because i like the single better.

Early 90s (probably 92 or 93) model, 2 channel dual rectifier solo head. I love this amp and will get inot why later. I bought it off ebay and am fully impressed with its functionality. 2 totally seperate channels, each with master, presence, eq and gain. Back panel has modern to vintage voicing for the gain channel and dirty or clean for the clean channel. Also has speaker cab outlets for 16, 8, or 2 4 ohm jacks. Effects loop with send and return levels. This thing is massive and comes with 4 EL34s or 6L6s (switchable), 5 12AX7s, and 4 rectifier tubes. It also has a loop master control on the front panel which works like a master volume for the entire amp. 100W of tube power, where can you go wrong.

I am playing through a Fender Deluxe Super Strat and an Epi Les Paul. The amp is paired with a Carvin Vai Legacy 4x12 cab with Celestion Vintage 30s. I started out with a Marshall AVT 4x12 cab and it sounded awful. The Carvin cab made the difference. I could write a whole review on just the cab but let's stick to the Mesa.
I am currently in two bands, a current main stream rock band that also writes originals, and a wedding and party band that plays mostly 60s and 70s rock. This amp is versatile enough for both bands. The clean channel is gorgeous with the Strat. It actually sounds so good, I quit using my Epi for both bands I'm in. The Strat has the Super Strat single coil pickups that are a few winds short of the Tex Mex single coils (like those on the SRV strat). The low chunk on the gain channel with the single coile turned down is killer. And when you turn them up, watch out. We even play Disturbed and Godsmack covers and the Strat sounds good.
In other words, this amp can make almost any guitar sound good. The only reason I wasn't happy with the Epi is it's just a cheap guitar and the clean sounds were not very bright. The distortion was out of this world, but not much better than the Strat. I think the humbuckers on the Epi are just old and crappy. I plan on replacing them so I can continue to use my first and most beloved guitar.
This amp is a little noisy when cranked, but a Rocktron Hush Super C will clean that up and not suck up your tone.
The coolest thing about this amp is the modern to vintage voicing for the gain channel. It actually does make a big difference. The vintage channel has more of a smoothe mellow sustaining distortion. Midrangy punch with sublte variations and harmonics on the higher end. The modern channel is balls to the wall Dimebag distortion. I don't use this channel much, but have punched it in the recording sessions a few times. The modern channel is a bit noisier of course.
I am using Svetlana EL34s, Electro Harmonix 12AX7s, and Groove Tubes GZ34 rectifier tubes (instead of the stock recifier tubes). This thing sounds alot sweeter than when I got it just by getting some quality tubes in it. I also like the difference of the GZ34 rectifier tubes as opposed to the stock ones. They don't seem to sag as much.
Another option on the amp is to switch off the tube rectifiers and go solid state. If you want to do this, just save your money and go buy a Peavey Triple XXX tube head. My rhythm guitarist uses one of these and honestly the mesa sounds just like it on solid state rectifiers. That's really the only difference between the two amps. It sounds like crap basically, so DON'T DO IT!!!!!!!

Haven't had a problem with it and it looks far from brand new.

Mesa is awesome, call em and see.

I've been playing guitar for 10 years now and have played through several different Fender amps with pretty much the same guitars and setup I have now. You can't beat a Fender amp for clean sounds, but the Mesa teamed up with the Vai cab is a close second. I compared this amp to the Peavey Triple XXX, the Marshall JCM2000 DSL, and a Fender Hot Rod Deville. The Mesa blew them all out of the ocean. Considering price, versatility, customer support, outrageous online resources, reliability, and drop dead gorgeous looks, I would kill someone if they stole my Mesa because it took me 5 months to find this thing so that I wouldn't have to buy one of the new 3 channel clones they make now. If Mesa would just come out with a long tank reverb for these things, I think God would play one.

1997 Mesa Dual Rectifier 2 Channel Head, good for extreme metal. Lead channel is pretty good while the clean channel suffers. Effects loop works great and has its independant volume. Plenty o tube cranking power.

I am playing a custom BC RICH beast, and a Jackson Rhodes Peformer, both with an EMG 81-Bridge 85-Neck set up. I am a pure metal player. I have always heard of the great and mystical mesa dual rectifier....it is this god of an amp that anyone who plays heavy music must have. FORGET THAT!!!! dont get me wrong, it does sound good....but i dont believe that its all its cracked up to be. I was very happy with the Peavey XXL solid state head that I have been using and only got the Mesa because of an outrageous deal a friend gave me on it. As it turns out I would never use it (the mesa)as a "stand alone head"....SO I bought an AB/Y box to run both heads at once. The Peavey XXL is able to reach really crisp high end tones that the Mesa can not handle where as the Mesa's low end responce is much better than the Peavey's. (im running my 4x12 in stereo of course) I have a Line 6 POD running through the effects loop of the Peavy which then goes to a behringer stereo EQ and to a Lexicon MPX 110. This is great because it allows me to run both the lead channel on the Mesa and the lead channel on the Peavey at the same time creating KILLER distortion tones. It also affords me other interesting opurtunitites such as running the lead channel on one head but the clean tone on the other to make some interesting effects. The Peavey has 3 channels on it (overdrive 1, overdrive 2, and clean) each of these has three different settings on it....so combined with the 2 channels on the mesa, im running 11 switchable channels PLUS everything on the POD and Lexicon. (all of this is being played out of a peavey 4x12 with 30 watt celestions in it) also (I am using the 6L6 tubes in the mesa)

The Mesa I bought was used and by the looks of it, it had been through MANY gigs...but it still holds up and sounds good.

Easy to work with, returned emails the same day.

I have been playing for 8 years and have owned TONS of gear (both good and bad...both expensive and crap!) I believe that I got lucky when I purchased this head because I turned it into something it wasent and gave it extra features....by it self, the mesa is all looks and volume. I think it lacks the tone that people associate with it. HOWEVER now that I am using the set up that I am (running it in stereo with the Peavey XXL) I would NEVER get rid of it. If god was in a death metal band, his amp would sound like this!!! My only real problem with it is that it hisses a bunch...but what are you gonna do? So I give it a rating of 7 on its own but a solid 10 when it runs with the peavey.

3 channels and the most versatile amp I've owned. Don't believe what all people say, go try it out in the store and it will raise your eyebrows. I user this head with a 4x12 Mesa oversized. I dare someone to prove me wrong. It's a wall of power.

Great clean, great distorted sound. High gain is great for leads. No need to search any further. I've found my rig.

1 week old, but I don't see it breaking. It's built like a friggin' rhino.

Never had to use it yet.

I've been playing serious guitar for a good 6 years in an all original alternafunk band called "INK".(www.INKMUSIC.net)
We've been noticed by major labels in NYC. I've played a PEAVEY classic 50 for years, until I found Mesa. Wow, what an amp and it takes alot for me to ne impressed.

it gets the job done. youve seen the other posts

i have a 62 strat, a fender waynes world strat, a san dimas charvel, a gibson les paul custom with emgs, and a fender american standard tele. while this amp has overwhelmingly powerful distortion, it has NO tone. its just choppy staticy noise basically. i guess its alright if thats what you want. if you like to shred. but even the best of shredders have amps that have tone. and typically speaking, mesas are hype. they have come down a lot since they started. originally, all mesa was doing was building hot rodded fenders. and we all know that fender amps have legndary tone. but mesa started coming out with all these new features and it takes away from the tone. Remmeber, every pedal you use, every effects processor, every stage of amplification you run your signal thorugh, theres going to be a loss in tone. with all the stuff mesa throws into their amps, you are really just paying $4000 to lose tone. i play alot of neoclassical, blues, i do shred too. but the one thing remains a fact - tone is your god... no matter how well you can play, if your amp sounds like shit, nobody wants to hear it. as a guitarist, your one mission is to find that sound. tone is where its at. I personally would not reccommend buying this amp, unless all you want to hear is noise. I would reccommend getting a good hand, point to point wired amp, with a twin style circuit, and a bias selector, so you can switch from EL34's or 6l6's.

never had any real problems other than lack of tone

never dealt with them

no tone. just noise. great if you like that. but i dont know why any one in their right mind would like that..you might as well pick up a solid state marshall for what you get out of this package. too much money.. not enough tone..

1996 Dual Rectifier, presumably the best one Mesa has ever produced though those rumors are entirely bullshit (I know this).
Versatile? Let's be honest we're not talking about playing simon and garfunkel folk on this (not that there's anything wrong with that music). Two channels, footswitchable with comprehensive effects loop variations (optional footswitch for that too). Headphones? Nigga please =)
Is it loud enough for me....Well no; considering it gets by for Pantera, Metallica, Creed, Nickelback this thing just whispers. Gimme a fuckin' break. All the featuers a guitar amp needs. Want more, go buy a line 6 and be one of those guys.

This is not my first tube amp nor is it my first Mesa. I've owned several others. This one has the most brutal, bone crushing distortion available for the money. Dual recto eats the Triple rectifier for breakfast and shits it out for dinner.
I play everything though, so it only fullfilled my desire to get metal tones. And that it did so in a fantastic way.
EL 84 tubes sound nice and give you great dynamics of sound, more musical than 6L6 and on this amp, with it's sensetive EQ, they do well.
Not noisy at all considering it produces intense gain. Not the best amplifier out there for doing what it does but certainly a very solid brand due to affordability and value.

But enough beating around the bush, onto the sound:
Here's all I'll say about this amp's sound: Genghis Khan Overdrive.

If you even have to ask then you don't deserve one.

Run through Gibson Flying V, Hamer Standard, Hamer USA centaura and a few strats. No obnoxious feedback or unwanted sounds at all. Just that really heavy sound that you know and love. No Doubt a well built machine for this purpose.

Stellar for metal players out there. Not too much else though. I'm more of an alternative/hard rock/rock and roll type of person though, but it is superb for getting unmatched stage volume and chilling range of sound. From the lowest lows to the highest solos you play it'll deliver the sound you're looking for if that music is metal. And please tell me you're not a fan of Linkin Park, or nu-metal....THis thing is exploited by people who don't know shit about tone so they buy their PRS customs and Mesa dual rectos and just crank them up b/c they know no better.
While this amp is great at deliverying a good sound, it is still a very standardized sound. Varies with taste. Look around and find YOUR Tone, and if this amp has it than good for you!