Just to throw an iron in the fire, the combos are so beautifully made and I'd be happy on a desert island with the Mark IV or the Rect-O-Verb.....jamie

There are a lot of differences between models of the rectifiers, you've just got to give them all a try. If it were me, I'd never give that much for a rectifier. But if I would, i'd probably go to the Dual, since the triple has too much power.

this is gonna be a long one so take a bathroom break, get a glass of water & come back ready to read . . .

I would honestly say, especially in my area no one knows more about Mesa Rectifiers than myself. It's not me trying to be cocky, it's the truth. I myself have owned a 1999 2 Channel Dual Rectifier (still own it) & a Mesa 4x12 Oversized Slant cab w/V30's (I have since sold this cab to my guitar player & replaced it with a VHT that I love just as much, if not more). That same friend (my guitar player) has owned a 2 Channel Single Rectifier, 2 Channel Dual Rectifier & 3 Channel Dual Rectifier (still owns it) along with 2 mesa 2x12's (one vintage, one modern) & now has my old 4x12 Oversized Slant. Another friend of mine has a 1994 2 Channel Dual Rectifier & used to have a 4x12 Mesa Recto Standard but since jumped on the bandwagon & bought a VHT 4x12 (but mine was custom made for Gavin Rossdale [Bush] so fuck him, hahaha!) A fourth friend of mine (I said this was going to be long) bought a brand new 3 Channel Triple Rectifier but has since sold it because he got endorsed by Mesa & had a custom 3 Channel Triple Rectifier made for him. Point being? We've fucked around with our equipment.

First things first, I bought a Dual because 100w is way more than I'll ever need no matter if I play Hellfest or Warped Tour or local shows. I also bought a 2 Channel because in my opinion they're better than the 3, plus I hate 50 knobs on my head, 2 channels & I'm set. We have compared & compared & recorded & A-B'ed & done probably everything you could imagine plus some (oh yeah, I left out the ABY pedal). Here's the conclusion I came up with . . .

The 2 Channel Dual Rectifier is by far my favorite because not only is 100w perfect but the Single Rect. DOES NOT have Rectifier tubes, it uses the solid state rectifiers that are found in every amp. The triple is too much everything for me & you can push your speakers more with 100w than you can with 150w, unless you're always using a full stack. But then again, if you're using a full stack in the studio, you need to sit down & reevaluate your life, seriously. The dudes that say a 1x12 is perfect & a 4x12 is overkill obviously don't play the music the rectifier is made for. I play everything from pop punk to hardcore to metal to metalcore, so on & so forth. We have used mesa 2x12's in studio before & it's just not in your face enough. Miking 2 - 2x12's is the same deal, but the 4x12 is just oh so right. As for the oversized & recto standard cabs, I would go with the oversized. It seemed to distribute the natural bass better because it was bigger & sounded nicer.

So my pick for the season is 2 Channel Dual Rectifier through a 4x12 Recto Oversized cab.

One of the guys I record is a guitar freak and has pretty much every great guitar amp out there. He has the single, dual, and triple rectifier. After days of screwing with guitar tones we went with the single. We got more out of the amp without having to crank the shit out of it. With the triple we were approaching 11 before getting a tone that we were looking. My opinion of course.

Brian, it surprises me that you went for the Mesa cab... I play hardcore (metalcore to be more specific) and found myself fighting the bass knob constantly with the mesa cab... I switched cabs with my other guitarist and was much happier (he had a marshall 1960)

by the way, what bands are you in?

the version of the mesa 4x12 you want depends mostly on the style of music you're doing. the oversized will have a much thicker low end, which will make your chords sound a lot more fat. pretty much the only situation you'd be better off with the "traditional" sized cab is if you needed a really tight low end, for playing thrash, tehcnical deathmetal or prog rock or something. the traditional may also have a better midrange response as the oversized is voiced to boost the lowend so much. personally I'd use a traditional size cab only, but that's because I want my low end to match up with the rest of the sound as far as response and speed goes. and I play really fast material.

xbrianx wrote: the Single Rect. DOES NOT have Rectifier tubes, it uses the solid state rectifiers that are found in every amp.

Are you sure about that? I have the single Rectifier Solo head and I'm pretty sure it has Rectifier tubes.

RecordingArt wrote: One of the guys I record is a guitar freak and has pretty much every great guitar amp out there. He has the single, dual, and triple rectifier. After days of screwing with guitar tones we went with the single. We got more out of the amp without having to crank the shit out of it. With the triple we were approaching 11 before getting a tone that we were looking. My opinion of course.

This has also been my experience when dealing with Mesa Boogies. Thats why after trying the Triple, Dual, and the Single I ended up going with the Single. It's a perfect studio amp.

I've been playing for 30 years and have owned countless "Big Name" rigs but I gotta say the Mesa Boogie Trem-O-Verb 100 Watt Combo is by far the best amp I have ever heard or played in my entire life. I have been told by everyone that it's considered the "Holy Grail" of all the Recto's. I can easily describe it as Recto with soul. The other Recto's just seem very "cold" to me. The T-Verb is actually a 4 channel (mode) amp that goes from clean, to bluesy to vintage rock (Marshall like) to crush your frigging skull crunch with ease!

If you can get you hands on one DO IT. You will NOT be sorry!

Best place to find these now are on Ebay and they are becoming collectables and are highly sought after! Search for tremoverb and trem-o-verb so you don't miss anything.

BTW - The Trem-O-Verb 100 Watt Head is the same thing just without the 2x12 cab.

I still remember the first time I played a dual rectifier. It was definetly an eye opening experience. I haven't yet put together the money to get a single or double for myself (it all seems to go towards other gear somehow) but I plan to soon enough.

The Single Rectifier Solo only has the Silicone Diode (Solid State) Rectifier, hence Single Rectifier. The Dual has two rectifiers SS and Tubes. The Triple, has two Rectifiers same as the Dual since there's not a third type of guitar amp rectifier, but three Rectifier tubes. Tricky bastards Mesa. As for Mesa's I prefer the Triple Rect two channel model, for sound and headroom's sake. Though it's my secondary backup behind my Bogner Fish-VHT 2/90/2 rack and then Soldano SLO 100.

I too remember the day I first played a Dual Rectifier. I was hooked the minute i walked out the shop I told my mate I would do all I had to get one.

I spent my summer working hard and I got it in the end and I've never regretted in since. I opted for the old 2 Channel version. I had played both and I preferd the tone of the old one and also I like things simple. Not that there is anything wrong with the 3 its still a class act too. But I don't like the amps that cram two much into them. Just keep it simple.

There just something about them I can't describe. I play my 1980 Gibson Les Paul Custom into that and I can get some lovely tones on it :)

I only wish I had a full stack. I will one day...

Not to discourage you from the MESA but just wanted to share my story with everyone. Had a MESA Dual Rec 2 Channel Head...didn't like having to crank it to get the desired tone. And when I got that tone it didn't sound much better than the tone of my other guitar player's peavey triple X head. So I figured I'd buy a Triple X for 700 bucks sell the Dual for a grand and make away with 300 bucks or so. Later down the road my band broke up and I still wanted to play music but recently my wife had give birth to our first child so time and money wasn't in high supply. I sold the triple x i bought for 700 (same as what i paid) and I bought a randall rh200 solid state for 250 bucks just to hold me over and satisfy my playing and practicing needs. Well I started a new band and we are getting ready to record and play shows and I sold my randall and was in the market for a new amp. I saw that the Triple X's weren't being made anymore and also saw that Peavey came out with the JSX Joe Satriani model 3 channel head. I played one at my local music store and was amazed. Don't need to crank it to get nice, big tone. If you crank it the tone stays perfectly clear on the clean channel. If you crank the gain channels you don't introduce more gain unless you engage the "Tube Screamer" button that simulates an old tube screamer pedal and pushes the tubes harder. Plus, and this feature is unbelievable wonderful for recording, it has a full functional and variable noise gate. I'll never go back to MESA after playing this thing. I just hope they never stop making these amps. Oh yeah, and I got it for 800 bucks :lol:

Rain, where is the tube screamer button? I have one of the first JSX heads and mine doesn't have a button like that. Is that something new?

I've been playing for 30 years and have owned countless "Big Name" rigs but I gotta say the Mesa Boogie Trem-O-Verb 100 Watt Combo is by far the best amp I have ever heard or played in my entire life. I have been told by everyone that it's considered the "Holy Grail" of all the Recto's.

BiggieB's got it right. It's the best amp Mesa has ever made. I've got a nice collection of Fender, Marshall and Boogies and my sons Trem-O-Verb can do a good imitation of those sounds and few more that mine can't. It really does it all. If your gonna spend the coins for a Recto make it the Trem-0-Verb and you won't be disapointed. BTW he has the big Recto cab.

if it helps..

when i looked for an amp i was looking for over 50wt under 100w, ended up getting 2X40watt amp (trace elliot), and its powerful enough to barely come out put next to drums (have to crank full, plus full boost) but not so loud where you have to blast the people down the street to get tone.

IMO 80watt is perfect, anything over 100 is unnecessary since even on stage they usually mic their cabs.

A little Q:

Hey all I'm a new member of this site and I have a few questions to those who know alot about amps and all...

I've been trying to deside on bying an amp, i have a marshall cabinet 300 W- JCM 900 1960 lead. Now I was looking at amps like MESA witch i praise and Marshall JCM 2000... Now i dont know witch one is better or now, but from what I've herd from my own ear, i like the mesa better, it has better distortion and all, but the clean channel isnt all that. My friend came over my house now long ago and he brough a mesa Dual solo and it has like 3 channels, whitch is probably what i want to get but i want to make sure that i dont get regrets later on when i do so, im only 17 so i dont usually care 1,700 dollars in my pocket, so i have to make the right choise.?!?....

depends on the type of music man. if you play heavy metal, probably a mesa boogie. if you want a warmer tone go for a marshall. boogies have a very sharp cold tone to them compared to marshalls.

boogies have a very sharp cold tone to them compared to marshalls.

Huh?