Mesa/Boogie Rect-O-Verb 50 Series 2 112 Combo

this amp has many great features that i personally love. It has two channels. Clean consists of a switch that you can switch from clean to pushed. The dirty channel consists of raw/vintage/modern. i usually use modern for high gain crunchy distortion. This amp is very diverse, If you mess with the settings you can make alot of different types of tones. Consisting of the mars volta type "Orange Amps" to chiodos heavey distortion "Engl Amps".

I run a Fender American Ash Telecaster(single coil pickups) Gibson SG Standard(Humbuckers) and a PRS McCarty Soapbar( Seymour Duncan P-90) through this amp. They all provide a unique type of tone and style that i use on a daily basis depending on what music i want to play. This amp is not that noisey even with the single coils and soapbars. If you're a consiterable distance away it should sound grand. The distortion is amazing, very crunchy and hard. Lots of head room but can be washed out on some occasions. Thats why there's a solo button on the footswitch(great feature). Suits my styles very well

This is where i ran into some problems. Everything on this amp has been perfect and flawless except for the Effects Loop. If you are a delay freak like me, this amp is going to drive you up a wall. Many problems with this feature. I have a boss dd-20 twin delay pedal which i love. The only feature on this pedal that doesnt drive the rect-o-verb nuts is the analog delay setting. reverse/dual/modulate/twist settings are out the window. Once you stop on the delay the amps starts making a sound known as "motorboating" sounds like the amp is about to explode in your face. I know this isnt the pedal because i have plugged many delay pedals into this amp including the boss dd-6 and it has done the same thing. Once i plugged the dd-20 into my fender hotrod deluxe it was perfect. Too bad the hotrod distortion is horrible. So i am pretty much stuck in a rut. If the effects loop on my rect-o-verb cant be fixed i think ill consider trading it in for money and saving up for an Orange Rockerverb 50 head(my favorite amp head). If it can be fixed i'll definitley keep this amp it is a very very nice rig.

I havent delt with Mesa too much. From what i'v heard they are very dependable but dont take my word for it

I have been playing for about 2 and half years. Yeah i know you're probably thinking "what the hell does this kid know about guitars and amps if he has only been playing for 2 1/2 years?" Guitar is pretty much my life. i play every day as much as i can. Its all i do. My current invetory is the PRS McCarty soapbar, Gibson SG Standard,Fender Telecaster,00028ec(eric clapton) martin, OM8V Larrivee. Mesa Boogie Recto-o-verb, Fender Hotrod Deluxe, Mesa Boogie recto slant cab(oversized), boss dd-20 giga delay. I have been fortunate enough to have a father that has the same passion i do about guitars/amps/ and music. Collecting guitars/amps is a hobby of my father and I which is something most kids dont have the oppurtunity to experience. So I am very greatful for all te things that i have. But if there was one thing i wish i had, it would be the Orange Rockerverb 50. I played this head at the guitar expo in Pennsylvania and was absolutey blown away. Considering i played this amp with a extremely dumb guitar called a warrior this thing sounded unreal. The 3 spring reverb which is tube driven was the most clear chimey reverbs i have ever played with. Ths distortion was very crunchy and had tons of headroom. The clean channel was amazing. I dont mean to get off on a tangant sense i'm suppost to be reviewing the mesa but this Orange amp is my all time favorite amp head and will continue to be until i play something that blows me away more.

This is an update to the review I left right below. I love this amp, but I wanted the FX Loop to be a serial loop instead of parrallel. The other night I got ambitious and pulled the chasis out of my combo and started tracing the FX loop connections. I was able to convert the loop over by changing only three wire connections. Now I love this amp more than ever. I can put anything in the loop now and I don't get any weird feedback or anything. It's great. I would not consider this a design flaw in the amp. Parrallel has it's perks and may work perfectly for many people, but I personally, for my setup, prefer a serial FX loop. If you want directions on how to convert your amp over, email me at mr_fender@hotmail.com

Amp still sound as fantastic as it did before. This mod does not affect the sound of your amp at all. Now, the FX devices you plug into the loop, that is another story. For that I STRONGLY suggest true bypass. This will keep your great boogie tone completely untouched when your loop effects are off. If you don't have true bypass effects, get or build a true bypass box for the whole loop. These amps use no-connect shorting jacks for the effects loop, so your amp will still work exactly the same when there is nothing plugged into the FX loop jacks. The only thing this mod does is remove the dry mixed sound from the effects loop signal path. That's it. If you were crafty, you could put in a switch to go from serial to parrallel configurations also.

Still going strong. No problems at all.

Mesa/Boogie is great. These guys will go out of their way to make sure you are happy with your amp.

This is the best amp I have ever used. After converting the loop to serial, I love it more than ever now. It sounded awesome before and still sounds just as awesome, but the serial loop just makes my life a bit easier. For full details on the sound and features of this amp, check out my first review below.

All-tube 50 watts, 1x12" Celestion Black Shadow speaker, 2 channels, parallel fx loop, 5 modes (clean, pushed, raw, vintage, and modern)... you know the rest. If you don't, go to www.mesaboogie.com and find all the details. Very versitile amp. Plenty of features, yet still very straight forward and simple to use. Like most Boogies, its 50 watt rating seems pretty modest. This puppy can really scream, yet still sounds remarkably good at low volumes as well. It's got everything I need. I do wish the fx loop was serial and not parallel. It can be a pain, but I hear it can be rewired to serial quite easily. This is definitely a top notch professional grade instrument that is very well made.

I'm playing a Fender strat with a bridge humbucker into a custom built pedalboard (all true bypass) in front of the amp, and have a Boss DD-20 Giga delay in the FX loop. This amp sounds fantastic. It is replacing a TriAxis / 2:90 rack setup that I got tired of lugging arround. It covers all of the same tones, and is a lot less to haul arround. In fact, to my ears, the Rectoverb sounds a bit more lively and responsive than my rack setup did. Just seems more alive; it's hard to explain. My rack setup sounded more "processed" and flat compared to this amp. Here's my breakdown:

Channel 1 Clean: This one is your traditional "clean" sound. Quite rich and chimey. You could say "Fender" like cleans. It has plenty of clean headroom, yet can still be driven hard to get a great old school overdriven sound. Everything from 80's cleans to SRV grit.

Channel 1 Pushed: This one sounds more like a "Marshall" type clean to me. A bit "Plexi" like - More throaty and lots of upper midrange. Set low it's clean and spanky, but dial up the gain for a great crunchy lead sound that is very tight and responsive. I find my Hendrix and Stones and even old school AC/DC type sounds in here.

Channel 2 Raw: This one continues right up the Gain stairway. Raw is a lot like Channel 1 Pushed, but with more low midrange and girth and less highs. It's very ballsy and fat. This is a very "Classic Rock" guitar sound. Think old school Rush and Def Leppard. It's a very ballanced and responsive sound, great for rhythm riffs and power chords. Lots of fun.

Channel 2 Vintage: This is the real Recto sound that most people fall in love with. Very ballanced and smooth. Great for leads and heavy riffing. Enough gain to kill small animals (be warned). This one covers your hard rock and metal needs: think Metallica, Ozzy, Dream Theater, etc.

Channel 2 Modern: The name says it all here. This one covers the modern wave of hard rock and metal, even the dreaded "Nu-Metal" sound. If Vintage can kill small animals, Modern can easily take out a medium sized dog or even a small child. Be careful with this one. Obscene amounts of gain here. IMO anything past 2:00 on the gain knob is just way too much. Modern is VERY touch sensitive and tight for those speed metal runs. This one is FAT. A lot of highs and a lot of lows. Yet back off the gain and it cleans up quite well.

Don't let this box you in. The channels and modes all overlap and offer a huge variety of sounds. The EQ's on both channels are very powerful. Those with brighter sounding guitars, like my strat, will want to back off those highs, or else expect an earache. This amp covers it all for me. From Country to Blues to Rock to Metal, it's all in there somewhere.

After reading reviews, the reverb is a lot better than I expected. It's not as smooth as the Fender Tube Reverb, but still adds that touch of depth and sweetness that only a good tube driven spring reverb can. Look out Dick Dale!

One of the most suprising aspects of this fine amp is the lack of noise. Even on high gain settings, it is still remarkably quiet. It is MUCH quieter than my TriAxis/2:90 setup was. I love it.

At first I was worried that this amp would not be able to offer me all of the sounds I had from my TriAxis, but I've had this amp for a couple of months now and not once have I missed my old setup. This is a fantastic sounding amplifier. It's so responsive and harmonically lush. It just feels good to play. I'm extremely satisfied with it.

Bought it used. Previous ownder had no problems with it, and so far I've had none either. I trust the Boogie reputation. I had my old TriAxis / 2:90 setup (also bought used) for over 3 years and I never had one day of trouble with it. If you take care of your equipment and don't buy junk, it will last you a very long time. I've said it once and I'll say it again: You get what you pay for.

I've called them a few times for some general info in the past, and they were always very helpful and nice to me. Never had to send anything for repair, so I can't comment on that.

I've been playing for about 8 years now. I've had my fair share of gear, and this is by far one of the best pieces of musical equipment I have ever purchased. I tried a whole bunch of amps before deciding on this one, too many to list. This is one of the few products that I've found lived up to its reputation. The only thing I'd change is making the fx loop serial instead of parallel. Other than that, I'm extremly satisfied with it and would highly recommend anyone interested to go out and try one for yourself.

I love this amp.
You know what the set up is. I agree with the first dude, cut back the highs a bit and don't go crazy with the presence like you might with a marshall or a fender, it's actually reccomended you put the presence at about a quarter in the manual to prolong tube life and give you a wider fatter sound, on the clean channel cutting back the presence gives you a more oldschool 65' twin sound, not as deep, but as close as i've herd any non-fender come to that clean haven that is '60s fender blackfaces.

if you wanna hear this amp in action you can check out my band's record at www.homebymidnight.com

This amp can dial any tone. Another idea however, is to run an "isobar" (which is one of those computer powerstrips) it won't affect the tone or anything, but it will cut out alot of yout noise, especially the good old 60 cycle hum on the distorted channel. it'll still be there, but alot quieter. this helps in the studio and on stage, but still, nothing cuts out a hum when you're not playing except your volume pedal/knob...just roll it down and you'll be hum free. without any help, this thing hums up a storm...but i kinda like it, it's a real beast, and your job as the player is to tame it. if it didn't have this hot sound it would be hard to pull our feedback and guitar rumble for effect, (if you know what you're doing, it's very easy to get the nice feedback or rumble you want out of this beast, yet it's also easy to control.) I use the amp with my 1996 Fender 50th anniversary Fat Strat and my 1969 Gibson Les Paul Custom as well as tons of other guitars. It actually sounds pretty sweet with an acoutsic electric (clean ofcourse). The Fender gets the best feedback over my Gibson. I use alot of different pedals and rack effects but the tones of this amp without any effects are so good i've stopped using any distortion pedals or anything like that cause this amp just blows them out of the water and they become obsolete. also when recording with this or any amp, if you've got good software, it's always best to superimpose all your effects. just go clean and distorted, the computer will do the rest better than any stomp box or rack unit you've got. as far as micing this amp, live...sm57 or E609 riget at the center of the speaker...don't mess with weird mic placements live. in the studio i prefer the E609 over the sm57 but both do the job, when i record, i use both and i use an akg 414 in the room and a D112 at the back of the speaker. It is 4 tracks but nothing compares to the quality i can score from this setup. amp sounds best in a smallish room, about 10 ft by 10 ft is as big as i would go...also, if you've got the option, use tube mic preamps on all the mics. if you've only got solid state preamps i wouldn't even bother, they sound crappy...just go direct with the mics if you haven't got tube preamps. tube is freeking awesome. nothing compares to tube. i guess i'm a purist but it's sweet...

Haven't had a problem at all...i gig without a backup constantly. it is tube, obviously, so if you keep them in good shape i wouldn't expect any problems. comes with a nice slip cover too. i'm thinking about buying a case for it cause i gig alot, but they're like $200...maybe if i find a used one. it's definately worthwile if you gig as much as i do... if you'r considering a case or something, just think how nice it would be to wheel this 80 pound moster around rather than carry it. I've seen tons of mesa's with ripped off handles. carry it from the sides, i actually find it best to use a hand truck if available otherwise i just carry it between 2 people. with 2 people it feels light, alont it's a monster. The best way to get it around is still a case, i woudn't want to put casters on it cause i wouldn't want to drill holes in it, but if you do get casters, make sure they lock.

Never had a problem but about a weeks after i sent in my warranty card i got a phone call just touching base and wondering how i liekd it and letting me know if there was anything i needed to clal a certain number and ask for a certain dude. i like that. that made me feel pretty comfortable about it.

Exceptional amplifier. But it's expensive... i'd buy it again if i had to... I'm only a 16 year old kid, but i have been playing since is way 4 years old, so i know as much as any of the geezers out there. This amp rocks. If i needed something with more channels or options, i'd stay with Mesa and get a different model, but mesa is definately the way to go.

if you wanna hear this amp in action you can check out my band's record at www.homebymidnight.com peace.

2002
i play a lot of rock, but this amp can be used for just about anything (REMEMBER all you that like a more rock sound, turn those highs all the way down, MESA has really weird highs!) 2 modes of clean channels, and 3 modes of distortion, anything from bluesy to metal! 2 footswitchable channels with external switching!, i use this amp in my studio, but also play it with bands and the distortion on it is great for recording or live, thats the reason i bought it!, the only thing i wish it had was 1 more footswitchable channel.and when switching between clean and dirty there's a momentary delay, if you dont time your swites right you'll notice, and its all tube, 50 watts, so it cranks!

Im using a 52 fender telecaster reissue with texas special pickups, plenty of low end even for a guitar with single coils! the overall sounds of this amp are very crisp, you can dial in whatever sound you desire at any volume and it comes across just as you want it with very little noise interference!, just dont turn the highs up or it'll sound spongy.

no problems yet! except the effects loop doesnt work very well on this one, i'm a bit of an amp tech, its probably just bad jacks, but still, you would figure mesa would put better jacks in their stuff.

havent had to deal with

ive been playing 8 years, i just got rid of a fender twin 2x12 to get this amp, if it were lost , stolen or otherwise molestered i would get another one somehow!, i love the overall sound of this thing, wish the footswitching was a little different, but oh well and i wish mesa took more time with their input jacks and switching, but oother than that, good job, glad to see they at least upgraded it from the v.1 that everyone has problems with.

2003 mesa boogie rect-o-verb 50 series 2.
The rectoverb is a 50 watt 2 channel, single input 1 x 12 combo. Features include gain, treble, midrange, bass, reverb, presence, and Master volume. There is an output knob as well so you may match your two channels then bring the overall volume of both up together. There is an effects loop on the rear of the amp. Each channel has independent controls and they are identical per channel as I described above. I play in an rock-electronica group that mixes music like Chemical Brothers, Prodigy, and Fluke, with Jimi Hendrix, Smashing Pumpkins, and U2...
This amp has all the features one would need for general "plug and play" styles, on stage or recording. The Mark IV for example has tons more features like direct recording options, speaker mute, power attenuation, and knobs that push and pull to do all kinds of fancy stuff. The rectoverb is more simple in comparison. I play this amp on stage and in recording sessions and I'll tell you that all the other reviews are correct... For 50 watts, it sounds like it could have 80 - 100 watts under the hood. It's very powerful, in that it provides plenty of headroom. Turning the volume knob from down to up provides a smooth increase in volume that won't make your tone go from thin quiet to cranked in 1/3 of a turn like some amps. It's very loud. I'm sure it will compete in a band situation where Marshall 100 watt amps are involved. I'll give it a 6 for features. This does not mean it is less versitile than an amp with more features. I would get lost with more features anyway. The Mark IV would be a 9. Way too musch stuff for me.

I play a PRS Santana SE and strats through several effects. My chain is this: Guitar -> Boss tu-2 tuner -> Jim Dunlop wah -> Robert Keely TS-9 Tubescreemer -> Danelectro DanEcho delay -> Electro-Harmonics holy grail Reverb -> Amp
Also, I play a Guild DV-52 acoustic with a Humbucker rare earth soundhole pick up through Pro-co Rat distortion pedal into a relatively clean channel. (think Ben Harper on Will To Live).
OK so.. This amp is designed to provide every possible inch of territory from brittle clean to high gain saturation (insanity) and it divys up the spectrum with Five Modes. They are as such:
Channel 1
Clean
Pushed
Channel 2
Raw
vintage
Modern

THE CLEAN MODE provides a "fender-ish" chime that can be pushed into overdrive using the gain knob or cranking the output to full like old amps. It's fairly dry, it doesn't have the "3-D" chime of a blackface fender. It can't.. There is no way. Overdrive circuits with Gain knobs don't provide the same tone dynamics as clean master volume amps like the fender. However, there is nothing to complain about with this clean channel. The tone is better than the fender deville series I have played. Better than Marshall clean, and not as rich as My Orange AD 30r. So there you go! The low end this amp provides is why I bought it. It is a warm amp with darker characteristics. Sweet clean channels are typically bright(Vox, Fender, etc..)

THE PUSHED MODE is like a clean amp turned up to provide tube saturation. This mode is fuller with more dynamic harmonic content. It's bluesy.. Fuller. The pick dynamics are pretty good too. You can dial in a dirtier sound here, and pick softly or turn down the volume to get clean notes. Pick harder, or dime the volume and you are back to nice warm overdrive. This Mode is my rhythm channel. I use pick dynamics and volmume to clean it up, then crank it to get really Killer Crunch. Think Pearl Jam, Southern Rock sounds, cleaner Soundgarden sounds, but rich midrange smooth and present highs(nothing harsh) and amazing lowend.




THE RAW MODE this channel is a little more midrangey than the pushed mode like some bass comes out of the tone but it provides crunch. Marshall tones live here, or fully cranked Fenders. My Orange is designed for this sound and no... the Rectoverb will not create the chimmey, complex crunch that the Orange will. Some people feel the Orange sounds better than vintage Marshall. However... the lowend and warmth of this Recto are so much more rich in my ear. Think Everclear on Sparkle and Fade, Heroin Girl, Santa Monica. Lotta southern rock sounds here too.

THE VINTAGE MODE This is pure old school Mesa Boogie. Carlos Santana, Bush, Early Verve( yes! Nick McCabe played a mesa Mark III)
This is a darker channel than the Raw Mode and Way fuller with rich Harmonic Overdrive. This is High-Medium gain or Low-high gain. This is my lead channel. It's darker so you can dial in mids and Highs which are harder to dial out then to dial in.

THE MODERN MODE
This is The Modern Recto sound! Massive high gain, with low end and ridiculous pick dynamics. Total touch sensitivity and floor rattling tonefull High Gain. I have played Peavey 5150 60 watt combos. Yes the gain is insane and more intense on a peavey, it is also laser sharp and less full and tonefull than the Rectoverb. And that folks is 5 pre amp tubes vs. 6. The Peavey is high gain mecca, and yes, to one dimensional for me. The recto sounds more balanced. Metal guys seem to prefer the Peavey. I like the Mesa because I can come home to a cleaner sound when I want.

Overall this is a modern sounding amp with tons of lowend and power, Good tone, not vintage or boutique good, but great tone for the entire gain spectrum that it covers.

Good so far! Had it a month.

No Idea, I would go to an amp tech anyway if possible, if not, you have to bug big companies for days or weeks to get help.

Great amp for live sound with huge versatility and power. Volume is plenty, tone is good, very good. This amp excels at Medium to high gain levels, and performs very well in saturated to overdriven levels. The clean is the only weak spot and it;s not that weak.