Mesa Boogie 90's Two Channel Dual Rectifier Solo Head "Reissue" Released

[tbonesullivan]

I think I mentioned in the IIC+ thread that Mesa was also working on a "90's Rectifier" reissue, and it now is out, at the princely sum of $3499 MSRP, which is quite a bit more than the Multi-Watt Three Channel Dual Rectifiers with more bells and whistles were at $2699. I guess this kinda means that the transition to a "reissue" brand is complete. It definitely DOES sound awesome. It's got a series effects loop, the clean mode on the orange channel was revoiced so it actually sounds good, and all the switching components used back in the 90s that they don't make anymore have been swapped out. Mesa has NOT said whether it is closer to a Rev G or Rev F Dual channel, though since most of the Two Channel Dual Rectifiers were Rev G, I would assume that is what this one is based off of.

Still, that's a pretty steep price, especially when compared to amps that have impeccable build quality like Soldano and Friedman.  You can also pick up OG used Rev G Two Channels in very good shape for quite a bit less than $3500, even ones that are well maintained and have been sent back to Mesa for servicing. Rev G's are not massively priced unobtanium like the original Mark IIC+ is, so I honestly don't see nearly the same level of demand. I guess time will tell. I've got a Dual Rectifier Tremoverb combo, so this is of zero interest to me, but I can see people who don't have an early rectifier wanting to get one with a warranty and no obsolete parts inside going for this.

The Ola Demo:
 

The Mesa Demo / Walkthrough:

 

[LucSulla]

This guy nailed it so hard four months ago.

 

[tbonesullivan]

1 hour ago, LucSulla said:

This guy nailed it so hard four months ago.

 

Yep... though he did mention that the Dual Channel reissue had been in the works for a while, with a prototype picture posted in October 2023, almost a year before Randy was fired. I've also seen some recent captures from videos Randy has been putting on youtube where he talks about how many long time members of the company were actually part owners of it, and he was a minority owner by the time it was sold to Gibson. It just seems like there is more to it than just "not wanting to do reissues".

But yeah he's also right that people are gonna buy them. I have no clue why, just like he has no clue why people keep buying plexi reissues, but people will buy them.

[LucSulla]

2 hours ago, tbonesullivan said:

Yep... though he did mention that the Dual Channel reissue had been in the works for a while, with a prototype picture posted in October 2023, almost a year before Randy was fired. I've also seen some recent captures from videos Randy has been putting on youtube where he talks about how many long time members of the company were actually part owners of it, and he was a minority owner by the time it was sold to Gibson. It just seems like there is more to it than just "not wanting to do reissues".

But yeah he's also right that people are gonna buy them. I have no clue why, just like he has no clue why people keep buying plexi reissues, but people will buy them.

What I don't think he nailed is Dave wanting to do much work on Mesas and the local tech thing. Dave hates Mesas as near as I can tell, and I've had two great local techs do work on my amps, one of whom did a better job of fixing my Mark V than the Boogie recommended guy in Austin. 

Yeah, there are a lot of guys who are just going to make whatever it is worst in a Mesa, but there are local techs with a ton of experience with them too. It isn't real hard to suss them out either. 

[Ua D]

Oops edit.  Missed that the switch for bold spongy is in the front now. (mine lives on the spongy and tube rectifier settings))

Yeah, owning a Tremoverb also for the last 25 years, this doesn’t fire me up.  The chrome chassis versions were always cool though. I’m sure they’ll sell out instantly.

 

Edited January 15 by Ua D

[RobB]

Gibson has an excellent marketing team. I guess DualRecs are cool if you’re into that kind of tone. 

What was Mesa’s original target with the OG DualRecs, Metallikatz/Slayer/Anthrax fans? Seems like everybody used these until the 5150 arrived.

Edited January 16 by RobB

[tbonesullivan]

19 hours ago, RobB said:

Gibson has an excellent marketing team. I guess DualRecs are cool if you’re into that kind of tone. 

What was Mesa’s original target with the OG DualRecs, Metallikatz/Slayer/Anthrax fans? Seems like everybody used these until the 5150 arrived.

I think it was honestly more oriented towards lead players, as the whole point of adding the valve rectifier was to get more "squish". It was SLO-based, like the 5150, and really designed more for 80s style metal and hard rock. It became popular with the "Nu Metal" crowd, however they usually boosted it, sometimes to get more gain, but usually to get a tighter bass response for "chug chug chug" / "djent djent djent".  Which is, of course, funny because it was designed to be smooth with kind of bass rising up from the depths. Pretty much to sound like Metallica.

There was some variation in the early production models, with a bunch of different revisions, with the G being the most numerous. The F is thought to have the tighter low end, sounding "almost boosted" plugged straight into the amp, which is why it's a bit more desirable than the much more numerous rev G.

A salient point to make is that the rectifier sounds good at lower gain levels as well, and was used in the studio by lots of bands in the 90s.

[RobB]

59 minutes ago, tbonesullivan said:

It was SLO-based, like the 5150, and really designed more for 80s style metal and hard rock. 

I think I saw a video interview with Soldano where he suggested the DualRec/5150s were “tributes” to the SLO, or some such. 

[LucSulla]

2 hours ago, RobB said:

I think I saw a video interview with Soldano where he suggested the DualRec/5150s were “tributes” to the SLO, or some such. 

I will dig up Mike Soldano throwing a metric shit ton of shade on Randall Smith on an early episode of Tone Talk later and link it.

i never did like Recs much. I was still rocking Marshalls and dreaming of a Bogner in my teens and 20s while everyone else I knew was doing Rectos. A couple of the most heated arguments I ever had with producers back when we were testing out development deals was renting one for recording. That’s at least one argument I never lost.

 

 

[RobB]

46 minutes ago, LucSulla said:

I will dig up Mike Soldano throwing a metric shit ton of shade on Randall Smith on an early episode of Tone Talk later and link it.

Oooh! BooteekAmpGuy drama! Bring it on, lol. 

I purchased a HR50 from Michael Charvel about 15yrs ago. Amazing amp! That thing blew doors with a treble booster. I’m getting a similar tone with the SLO30, albeit more, “girthy.”  I am firmly in both the Soldano and Splawn camps. They just get the sound I like. 

Edited January 17 by RobB

[LucSulla]

18 minutes ago, RobB said:

Oooh! BooteekAmpGuy drama! Bring it on, lol. 

I purchased a HR50 from Michael Charvel about 15yrs ago. Amazing amp! That thing blew doors with a treble booster. I’m getting a similar tone with the SLO30, albeit more, “girthy.”  I am firmly in both the Soldano and Splawn camps. The just get the sound I like. 

I warmed the Quickrod up the other night and marveled at how killer that amp is. I’m trying to book some bigger rooms in the next few months just as an excuse to break that sucker out and let it eat. 
 

The SS you sold me has been getting the nod lately over the JEL-20 as well. 

[RobB]

17 minutes ago, LucSulla said:

I warmed the Quickrod up the other night and marveled at how killer that amp is. I’m trying to book some bigger rooms in the next few months just as an excuse to break that sucker out and let it eat. 
 

The SS you sold me has been getting the nod lately over the JEL-20 as well. 

Glad it’s still in rotation. The SS got me hooked into the Splawn thing. Instant gratification without obsessive knob-twiddle. Scott gets it. 

“Let it eat”, lol!

[LucSulla]

Here you go, @RobB. 

And I remembered it wrong. Mike tried to bite his tongue, but Dave just shit all over the Rectos, after which Mike thanked him. 

 

Edited January 17 by LucSulla

[tbonesullivan]

Yep, that's the video. Friedman goes right after them, and if you look at the schematics, he's right. The values of the components and the design, at least on the schematics, for the Dual Rectifier 'cold clipper' are pretty much identical to the Soldano SLO. The same with the Peavey 5150 / 6505.

I do not know however if those cold clipper values were the same throughout the different versions, and it's not like Soldano invented the cold clipping circuit. In the end the Rectifier and SLO don't really sound that similar IMHO.