Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier Trem-O-Verb 212 Combo

2005 or maybe 2006 model--not sure, but it's new. Very feature rich. Tremolo, reverb, lots of knobs that take only a little bit of time to get the hang of. If you have read the other reviews, you know the features. In theory it is a very versatile amplifier, but I would never buy another one. The point of this submission comes up shortly. . . .

I play blues, classic rock, and country. The amp's tone was suited pretty well for all of those styles. It seemed to really like humbuckers, but it did well with single coil pups as well. The gain, though there is a ton of it on tap with this amp, has a sound that is a little too modern for me. I guess if you are in to a more modern, focused, tighter kind of overdrive, then it is fine for you. The clean is very nice, but not nearly as nice as a princeton or a twin. It doesn't have that nice shimmering clarity that really makes a clean tone CLEAN. Again, this amp has a lot of tones that are high quality, but there really isn't anything special about any of them. If you are looking for a unique or special tone to kind of define YOUR sound, then I would say that this amp is a little bit generic. Get something vintage and cool for half the price, dude.

THIS AMP IS A COMPLETE PIECE OF ****. Listen to this: I bought this BRAND NEW at Guitar Center. About three days later, it suddenly stopped working. All I could get for sound out of it was a buzz in the speakers. I was running it at LOW volume and LOW gain, and I had let it warm up for ten minutes before disengaging the standby. I have played guitar and used tube amps for fifteen years, so I figured it was simply a tube. I CHECKED ALL OF THE TUBES WITH MY TESTER, AND THEY WERE GOOD. I then called Mesa Boogie and spoke to some pencil-**** representative who assured me that it was merely the tubes even though I had told him the tubes came up good on my tester. He sent me a new set of tubes for free. I installed them, and the amp was still broken. I then took the heap of **** to Guitar Center, and I told them what happened. I was still cool about it; I simply assumed that I got a dud amp. They gave me a new one. EVEN NEWER THAN THE ONE BEFORE--IN THE BOX AND EVERYTHING. I took THAT piece of garbage home and was pretty happy for about two months. Guess what happened, though. . . . The sucker popped on me again. This time, I was ON STAGE. Again, the amp was running at low volume and low gain with a mic in front of it and with my power conditioner behind it. I went through the whole thing again with Mesa where they sent me new tubes, and it didn't work after I installed the tubes. I went to Guitar Center who would not give me my damn money, but instead, they gave me some piece of **** guitar that I immediately traded for a REAL Mesa Boogie--a Mark 2 B.
I learned later on that for proprietary reasons, Mesa covers their circuits in some kind of epoxy so no one can get in there and copy them (why anyone would want to copy this thing is beyond me). I spoke to a friend of mine who owns a music store, and he said that he knew another store owner who ordered twenty of these things for the Christmas season a few years ago. ALL BUT FIVE OF THEM came back with problems. The bottom line is that this amp has a circuit board in it that got spat out of a machine. These amps are NOT POINT TO POINT WIRED, AND THEY ARE ASSEMBLED QUICKLY. If you want a REAL Boogie that won't fart out on you, get a vintage Mesa mark series amp. They ARE point to point wired, and simply indestructible. I have played mine for several years at high volume, high gain, for multiple hours at a time. I have even dropped it on concrete. CAN'T kill it. It's legacy is really embarrassed by the likes of this newer garbage.

The amp had a long warranty, but no one was willing to do anything to fix it. They just insisted on throwing me tubes that I KNEW wouldn't work. They didn't listen to me, and they had little to no interest in fixing or standing behind their product.

Again, I just want to say that the newer Mesa stuff is garbage. It is over priced, mass produced, and these amps don't have any kind of "special" or unique tonal quality that would help make a musician stand out. I will admit that the amp sounds GOOD, but it's a very generic tube amp. I don't know how two of them blew up on me--maybe it was a sign from God that I could better suit my style and defining tone with different amps. Buy a Mesa Mark 2B and a Fender Princeton Reverb 2 (Rivera Era). You could probably get both for only a few hundred bucks more than this thing, and those amps are both very versatile and a hundred times better than the new Mesa junk.

I think you all know the features by now with all the reviews!

I play this amp with a 57 Strat reissue, a 52 Tele reissue and a 59 Les Paul reissue. All sound magnificent through it with no effects necesssary. Absolutely God tone! Breaks up real nice on the blues channel.

I have had only a minor issue. The volume knob did not function right once and jumped from one volume setting to the next with a lot of crackling in between. I brought it to an authorized repair guy after talking to MB tech support and for about $30.00 it was perfect and I have had NO problems since.

With regard to the dude who gave it a very low rating in the 2005 time frame.....buy a clue. Your amp was broken. You said you bought it used. What did the previous owner do to it?? Did you call MB tech's. They are awesome and could have been of immense help to you and resolving your issues. I can tell by the symptoms you reported that it may have been (1) dropped (2) exposed to moisture (3) extreme heat/cold (4) all or some of the above.

Awesome. They stay with you until the problem is resolved. Only needed them once in the 15 years I have owned this VERY reliable amp.

Amazing. Might buy another one to have as a spare.

The features are great. The reverb and tremolo make this a better amp than the dual rectifier solo head in my opinion. I have never gotten great cleans out of mesa amps (except for reggae kind've stuff). The modern high gain channel dominates any other amp for a great metal sound though I think.

The sound quality is great and the better your ear, the better the sound. I noticed that with the EQ I could get okay tones but with my 32-band graphic equalizer I can get amazing tones from Rammstein's Du Hast tone to Marilyn Manson's the beautiful people tone. I've really found that ABing the tone of this amp with a sansamp psa makes the best sound.

Pretty solid, the amp was made in '93 and it still sounds as good as ever in 2008. It hasn't broken down and the only problems I've ever had have been with tubes.

Customer support with Mesa is the best, whenever I have a question or need advice, I call up their store and they usually can tell me exactly what I need to hear.

If this were stolen or lost I would definitely buy it again. Best amp I've ever heard after I shape out its tones with EQ and my ear. I wish it had a better clean channel and more versatility but that's why I use a sansamp psa along with it and a tc electronics g major.

This amp was made in '93. It features 2 channels with a total of 4 types of gain, channel footswitching, effects loop, reverb, tremelo, bold/spongy switch, silicone diode/tube switch, and 6L6/EL34 switch. I the reverb is ok, but I rarely ever use the tremelo or the blues channel and I really wish it had a built-in EQ like the Mesa/Boogie Mark series do.

Though it won't out-shine a good Fender, I find the Clean setting is quite nice despite what some other reviewers have previously written. Using 6L6 tubes combined with the right settings, this amp can produce a very pleasant, solid ring.

The Classic High Gain setting is also very nice and smooth; "full" is the best word for it. It produces the highest saturation of distortion offered on the amp, though it might lack too much bite for some. Great for bedroom soloing or a heavy rhythm sound that isn't ear piercing. However, this channel does not reach super high volumes and may prove insufficient for some jamming sessions or live gigs without a p.a. system.

The Blues setting is, oddly enough, by far the loudest. It's also the most complained about feature on the amp. I personally find it to be flat and somewhat sterile sounding. It's just one of those extra settings that you'll never use... even for blues.

The fabled Modern High Gain setting is what we all buy Rectos for. Huge bottom end and the tone that everyone and his mother have been using to play metal for nearly the last 2 decades. I do like it, but it never really quite matched the tight, distingiushable, controllable distortion that I had in my head. I ended up spending hundreds of dollars on different types of power tubes, preamp tubes and even a reissued Ibanez Tube Screamer, but it never really nailed "my tone". That huge bottom end was just too loose for any articulate rhythm work or fast palm muting no matter what I did. I was stuck playing an amp that did not inspire me to create fast paced riffs or replicate the exact tone I listened to a thousand times on my favorite Metallica and Rammstein albums. I also found that the distortion thinned out a lot and became badly ear peircing as I cranked the volume.

My biggest complaint about the amp is that it has blown an LDR transistor (i think that's what its called) 3 times in as many years that I've had it. Luckily, I live within driving range of the Mesa/Boogie store in Hollywood so I don't have to go through the trouble of mailing it across the country to replace a $10 part. Still, this particular amp has not lived up to Mesa's reputation of ultra reliability.

Mesa's customer support is awesome. They've been very helpful every time I had a question or brought the amp in for repairs. However, I've had to pay full price for all repairs since the 5 year warranty ended around 1998.

This is a good amp. The 2x12 combo is nicer than most people would imagine and I actually prefer it to my brother's Triple Recifier Head and closed 2x12 speaker cab.

With that said, the Tremoverb may suit other people's tastes closer than it does mine. I simply found the sound of the Modern High Gain to be too loose and too nu-metal sounding.

Also, nowadays everyone uses the Recto. Just like Marshalls during the 80's, it's not special or unique anymore. Just the same old tone that gets lost in the mix on every new mediocre metal album that comes out. But when I bought it, there were other really great amps that I've never even played or listened to until recently. I am now the proud owner of a Mark IV and this thing totally hits the spot. When playing the Tremoverb and Mark IV side by side, I can see that each has its strengths and weaknesses, but the Mark IV with its built in EQ is the tone that I've been trying to squeeze out of the Recto for years.

Well, what can I say.

My Mesa was bought from a friend who claims ... (i hope) ... that it was one of the first actually built and was taken around to all the main peeps in the guitar world to show what this baby can do. It has silver trim behind the knobs on the front and he says this is the thing that is different (please someone correct me if I am wrong).

I use this for playing live to venues of anything between 50-500 audience and it will quite comfortably gobble up any size of crowd without having to turn it up past a quarter. The twin channel is fantastic for a lead/rythm gain switch and the tones you can get from fiddling with the various switches, gain/presence/treble/middle/bass/volume knowbs is astonishing. I use a les paul with a couple of custom pick ups and I can get pretty much any sound I want. My grandparents came over and asked if I could play some Burt Weedon (if you don't know, look him up and you'll see what a daft request this was) and then Brothers in Arms by Dire Straights and got both sounds with ease. Awesome.

See above for some of the sounds. Also get some sweet, dirty metal sounds from it without pedals. With pedals it manages them with ease, though if you have some cheap distortions the quality of the lead gain on the amp will comfortably show them up as such. Will also do blues, jazz, reggae, a bit of 80's pop and many more. True, the trem is a bit dodgey and the reverb isn't very clear, but who cares when the rest of the amp sounds this good. When I use the lead channel for solos it cuts through like a lightsabre through butter; everyone can hear you clearly for miles around, something all lead guitarists crave for, right?

Had a fuse go once because we practiced in a real dive of a studio and it was down to their dodgey electrics. Other than that it is indestructable. I've dropped it twice and it's totally fine in the all the 8 years I've owned it. If there was a nuclear holocaust there would be only cockroaches left, playing guitar through Dual Rectifiers.

Never needed to as the thing will never die!

I've been playing guitar for 15 years and not owned a great deal of stuff. My amp before this was a very old Peavey Classic valve/transistor combo and as such no comparison. What I have noticed is the reaction I get from guitarists from other bands that turn up with their marshalls and fenders and how sad they look when I start to play, longing for an amp that can punch you in the balls like this one can. A truly amazing amp.

p.s. I've recently been helping a military drum troop with about 20 members, all slamming the hell out of snares and whatnot. They have to tell me to turn it down every practice!

I bought mine new at Apple Music in Portland, OR in '97. It's actually very easy to get some kicking tones out of, a bit more of a challenge to get YOUR tone out of. Its in there but its so versatile that it can take some fiddling around to get it. This thing is ridiculously loud. I can't even imagine anyone thinking that they need the 150watt Triple Rectifier...I am using the 6L6 tubes and have two of them pulled out so its 50watts. Remember to change your speaker ohms if you do this. The tremolo pretty much sucks(sucks volume for sure), I use a Voodoo Labs pedal for this and get a much better effect without a ton of volume loss. The reverb is pretty springy sounding and can really become over bearing, but then again I really don't like reverb that much (always too tinny for me). Both the trem and reverb are footswitchable if you buy a switch for each. The effects loop is choice and very controlable. I just wish that the volume knobs for the effects loop were on the front of the amp instead of the back. Makes accessing them during gigs a pain in the buttocks. That alone knocks the score down a notch. I put this up against every higher end tube amp that I could get my hands on when I bought it and this is the one that came out on top. But then again, I couldn't afford VHT and couldn't find an Orange. All that said, I love my Dual Rectum Frier (as my bandmates call it)....

I mainly use a couple of different Gibson Les Pauls, especially a '90 Classic Plus. I have used my Carvin Bolt, Ibanez AK85, Ibanez Universe, and Ibanez RG 550/770 that I built out of two guitars with this amp. The Les Pauls absolutely rip through this thing. The AK85 is loaded with Gibson PAFs and sounds real warm. The Univers sucks anyway IMHO so I really don't know what to tell you there. The Bolt and the RG scream through this thing and you really have to keep the high EQ trimmed down or you will hurt people, including yourself. The clean channel is good and you can get a fairly good fat spanky sound and a fairly good round sound with the gain turned way down. Turn the gain up and you will clip the pre tubes, nice. It is very quite in the clean channel. The high gain channel is so good. Nothing punches quite like a Mesa in the gain dept. The vintage tones remind me of a modded JCM 800 that my buddy had, really cool. When you have your guitar volume off and the amp is on the high gain channel it makes a pretty loud hiss. I avoid this by switch channels between songs. If you play jazz or indie stuff there are better amps. For rock, metal, progressive, this is the stuff.

This thing is bomb proof. I gig the hell out of this, record with it, practice several times a week with it, and no problems. The edges of the tolex are showing a fair amount of wear, but so would you if you got schlepped all over hell and back. I did have one problem. I, like a neglectful fool, didn't change the tubes for a long time, like eight years. I was having saturation loss and massive break up in the power tubes. That is truely my own fault and since I have change the tubes I am back to that kick ass tone.

Never had to deal with that end of Mesa, after all, this thing is bomb proof. I hear very shining feedback from others in this area though, but I can't honestly make a remark here.

I've been playing well over 20 years and have had many different amps. There wasn't anything else that I had that was as cool or versatile as this amp. I would still like to check out some of the Hughes and Kettner tube amps, and something like a Victoria or a vintage Fender Princeton for some clean stuff. That's probably just the gear head in me wanting more toys. If you have a bad back, don't get this amp, it's damn heavy. If you have a good back and love sweet tone, this is a good choice to at least take a look at. Too bad Mesa doesn't make it anymore. Would have gave it a higher score on value, but these really aren't that inexpensive.

Well its got 2 channels and 2 modes per channel. Channel 1 (clean & vintage high gain) and channel 2 (blues & modern high gain). At the back are a bold and spongy switch and a silicone diode or tube rectifier switch which all give the amp different characteristics. The effects loop is amazing. The reverb sounds good but im not a big fan of the tremelo effect. Its not the greatest, but to bad a quality effect just I never use it and have no need for it thats why the amp for me still gets top marks!

Well the 2 channels and 4 modes plus the bold/spongey, silicone diode/rectifier tubes setting are all incredibly versatile and you can get any tone and level of gain you want pretty much out of this bad boy. It sounds simply incredible! This is my first valve and mesa amp and Im pretty sure it wont be my last. Im a high gain rock player and its perfect. The only problem is that the clean channel though very crisp and bright can slightly distort at louder volumes. It hadly used clean so not really a problem At the moment I'm using a THD hotplate with bright and deep switches on and a sonic maximizer in the effects loop and to be honest I am in heaven with this baby!

Well only had it for a few months now but I don't expect anything to really go wrong with it any time soon. Tube amps can sometimes go funny i am aware and that is all part and partial to using a valve amp but this think is build like a tank like all mesa amps to the highest standards available.

Ive never dealt with mesa customer servicebut know of the mesa reputation. Also a note for the guys at coda music here as there customer service is second to none. They helped me out with every aspect of purchasing and information regarding this amp so thanks, you guys have been excellent once again.

I bought this amp new in 1993 after test driving what were the top of the line amps at that time. It has been my sole amp and has been continuously gigged for the past 14 years. It is probably overly versatile for my uses - I have never tried switching the tubes from the stock 6L6 to EL34s, and I rarely use the channel cloning mode. The features are easy to use - the only reason I give it a 9 is the tremelo effect is not very good when compared to some other tremelo effects I've heard - also, the tremelo switches sometimes accidentally switch on when loading the amp in and out on its side, but that's no big deal - you just flick it off when you turn the amp on!

I play it through a series of guitars (American Standard Strat, PRS Santana II, Tom Anderson chambered Tele, G&S ASAT Classic Semihollowbody) and it works with all of them. I can basically dial up any tone, clean or distorted, that I want. What is most amazing is that I have NEVER relied on a distortion or overdrive pedal, despite a full pedalboard full of effects (which I have run both straight and throught the effects loop). This amp gets that patented Boogie lead gain tone that is not to be tampered with. It is a little noisy when single coils pups are run through it.

The amp has had to be repaired once or twice in 14 years, for the same problem - an evil humming squealing noise that surfaces very rarely which is likely related to the tubes although it has persisted even after replacing all pre amp and power tubes. One of the speaker cable wires had to be resoldered a single time, but that's probably b/c I keep pedals cables in the back of the amp and knocked it over the years. The leather handle broke after 12 years, but that's only a $14 part (see below)

I would give an 11 here if I could. I truly can't speak highly enough. They return voice messages I've left and are always very helpful in answering questions and trouble shooting on the phone. My handle had to be replaced after 12 years, but then the replacement broke about 1 1/2 years later. They shipped me a new one for free despite only a 6 month warranty.

I would buy this amp again, although I would be inclined to consider one of the 3 channel Mesa amps. Those didn't exist when I bought this one . . .

1998 Mesa Boogie Tremoverb 2x12 Combo. I bought this thing brand new from a collector in 2005. I use this with an Ernie Ball John Petrucci Model 7-String/Piezo and a Carvin DC135 6-String. I play everything from old school blues to classical to death metal.

100 Watts, Class A/B Power / 4x6L6, 6x12AX7, 2x5U4
Bias Select Switch (6L6/EL-34)
2 Channels, 4 Modes (Clean, Vintage High Gain, Blues & Modern High Gain)
Independent Gain, Bass, Mid, Treble, Presence, Reverb and Master Controls per Channe
Channel Cloning
Rectifier Select Switch (Tube/Silicon Diodes)
Bold/Spongy "Variac" Switch
Spring Reverb
Assignable Tremolo w/Speed & Depth Controls
Parallel FX Loop w/Send & Mix Level Controls
1 Button Footswitch (Channel Select)
Slip Cover

This amp is without a doubt the best low-volume friendly amp I've come across. The volume taper is clean and smooth, and you can dial in just the right amount easily. The tone at low volume is near perfect both clean and high gain, and as the volume increases the characteristics and details of both channels bloom to a greater degree. The tremolo and reverb features are among the best I've heard. The amount of different tones this amp is capable of is sick.

First off, you can play anything from simple folk tunes to technical death metal without pedals on this amp. It's quiet at extreme volumes and just kicks your ass when opened up properly. The clean has gobs of headroom and punch. Enough to slap somebody walking by if you wank hard enough. You can get just about any sound you can dream of with a touch of with Mesa character. The Tremoverb can wail the blues with authority, and the distortion is tight, crisp, and saturated. The amp response is phenomenal, and as you roll off the volume the grit fades into a glassy clean. Be warned... This amp can put out some serious balls and chunk.

It's a Mesa, so expect quality throughout the entire amp. It's built like a tank and could take some serious abuse. Everything inside the combo is locked down nice and tight. Great workmanship here.

No idea, but I assume they are helpful to non-retards.

It's a heavy amp, but for what it does there is no comparison. You just can't get the same tone from a 1x12 or 4x12 setup. The Tremoverb has a tightness and focus all it's own. I also like being able to pull two tubes and drop it to 50W.

Mine is one of the early ones. Important features are: Two channels, rvb, tremelo, effects loop, line level off the SPEAKER!, everything can be controlled with a foot switch (I use a midi octopus for the above functions.)

This is a very versitile amp. The dirty channel is amazing. On gigs I find that I rarely get off this channel and use my guitar volume to clean up my sound. My target sound is a cranked hand-wired hot rod plexi which I also own. You can also do SRV to death metal with this amp.

My only complaint is a sterile sounding clean channel. My target clean is a BF Fender Deluxe reverb which I also own. I get closer on the dirty channel than the clean one - but the amp has to CRANKED. The clean channel is pretty clean (buzzes here and there) and is pretty damn good, not the same league as the dirty chan though.

If anything this thing is well made, has never broken on me. Never used a backup. It is as heavey as you would expect from Mesa. I would recommend the head/cab version if it sounds the same.

There're GREAT!

It is definately pro gear. If you can't gig with this one you might as well hang it up. I'm thinking about the Voodoo Labs mod for the clean channel, other than that I don't think you can do any better in a circuit board amp with these features.