Opinions / rep on Mesa Dual Rectifier Solo?

[shreddermon]

Tried one out today, and really liked it a lot. Very good high gain channel, good clean, the mid-channel was only so-so, though. Nice mode switching flexibility. And reasonably quiet, too.

I had been leaning towards a JSX, so tried the Peavey back-to-back with the Mesa. The Peavey's a very good amp - I still like it a lot - but the Mesa seemed quite a bit better, and a bit more tonally versatile, too. About the only thing the Peavey seemed to do better was the mid-channel. It's got a cool AC/DC or classic rock-ish crunch vibe going on there.

Mesa owners, sound out. Opinions and reputation, please.

[madryan]

I had the same dilemma going and I ended up with a nice used 2 channel recto. I have less into it than it would have cost me to get the JSX and IMO it's got an amazingly thick sound. I'm loving it. I ended up throwing EL-34's into it and playing around with the preamp tubes and it's sweet now. That being said the JSX rocks and I'll probably get one of those next. I'm really digging the mesa vibe tho...

[straycat]

wakeupdead has a dual recto that sounds pretty sweet

[jgcable]

The Mesa Dual Rectifier is one of the classic metal amps of all time.
Its reputation and popularity speak for itself.

[madryan]

The Mesa Dual Rectifier is one of the classic metal amps of all time.
Its reputation and popularity speak for itself.

The really sweet thing about it is that if you play around with it you can get pretty close to any sort of amp tone aside from really shimmery cleans. Mine's almost like a really fat Marshall clone. With the EL-34's it's really punchy and crunchy but sounds thicker than the newer Marshalls. Sounds thicker than the JSX, which is pretty sweet sounding. IMO you can't go wrong either way. All the Recto's I've heard live really cut through the clutter well.

[Boxcar Willie 84]

I love mine, wouldnt trade it for the world...I wouldnt think of it as just a metal amp, I find new useable tones in it every time i start messing with the knobs...

[jgcable]

The really sweet thing about it is that if you play around with it you can get pretty close to any sort of amp tone aside from really shimmery cleans. Mine's almost like a really fat Marshall clone. With the EL-34's it's really punchy and crunchy but sounds thicker than the newer Marshalls. Sounds thicker than the JSX, which is pretty sweet sounding. IMO you can't go wrong either way. All the Recto's I've heard live really cut through the clutter well.

I agree about the versatility. There are many great tones locked inside of a Dual Rectifier.

[wakeUPdead]

Dual Rectos are the shit man. You really are going to have to sit there and dial though. I've been through so many damn pups and Eq's its not even funny. But you have to dick around with them to really get what you want. All those tones I went through would probably work for anybody, but I'm a tweaker so it wasn't no hassle for me.

You can get instant results, but when your ready to venture off into tonal insanity - believe me its ready too.

EDIT: I believe I should also mention that when I feel burned out somewhat and I go play another amp I end up with the justification "this amp is just missing something! my dually blows this out of the water!"

[shreddermon]

I know what you mean. I sat there and played with the three channels, modes, and knobs for about 45 minutes. And I still felt like I hadn't scratched the surface!

Good thing I was in a dedicated practice room, or I would've been that obnoxious guy you often see at the local dealer, who keeps tweaking and playing and just won't stop.

[shreddermon]

BTW, how is the effects loop on these? Didn't think to try that, but it's pretty important to me.

[hippietim]

I'm not a Rectifier fan but I think they are substantially better sounding than a JSX. Go over to the Huge Racks forum and search about the loop. It has come up a number of times.

[wakeUPdead]

I know what you mean. I sat there and played with the three channels, modes, and knobs for about 45 minutes. And I still felt like I hadn't scratched the surface!

Good thing I was in a dedicated practice room, or I would've been that obnoxious guy you often see at the local dealer, who keeps tweaking and playing and just won't stop.

Well atleast you didn't have the obnoxious Guitar Center guy standing over you making corrections as you see how much affect a certain knob has.

I like to refer to that guy as Mr. Doucheass now.

[jgcable]

BTW, how is the effects loop on these? Didn't think to try that, but it's pretty important to me.

A Rectifier sounds the best with nothing in the loop but my opinion is that it is a pretty decent loop. Pedals or processors both work in it.

[shreddermon]

Thanks for the tip, Tim. Seems like a lot of useful info over at that forum. Now I'm a little wary, as I had been planning on running a Boss GT through the effects loop. Hmmm.

[madryan]

Also check out the boogie forum...

http://forum.grailtone.com/

ETA: The Dual Rec is essentially a live amp. They're not very good for just wanking around in your room seeing as they'll shake your whole house a quarter of the way up. If you pull two power tubes and one rectifier tube you get 50 watts which is much more realistic. It's almost as loud but you can get really good crunch earlier. If you aren't in a band or needing to be heard over a motivated drummer then the JSX is most likely a better amp. If you plan on playing in a group then both will be great. Remember that when playing live you need a pretty dry mix aside from maybe a little delay or chorus. Mix too wet and your sound starts sounding like ass at high volume.