Mesa Boogie Triple Rectifier Solo Head

Purchased at Guitar Center in Boston MA for $1699 for it's pro level performace.

The crunch and tones of the distortions are beautiful and it offers a wide range of options in adjusting it yet it is reasonablly easy to access these options. It is also build like a tank which is nice when transporting.

The clean channel on this unit is very dry and boring. Even with effects runs through it, it is lacking. If you were to buy this amp you need to couple it with a second amp with a nice clean sound - I use a 1967 Fender Bassman blackface so when coupled with the Mesa the system is beautiful.

Extreme quality with the construction - it is as solid as a truck.

If you want a distinctive distortion sound that is wonderful to record with - If you want an amp that solid and will never bust - you already own an amp with a great clean tone - and you have $1600 in you back pocket this is your amp.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

Picked up this amp head with a matching cab with vintage 30's i guess i can't stand vintage anything but that's what the half stack they recommended was so i went along with it.
I wanted a marshall jcm2000 triple lead
but they pushed me on the mesa.
i paid like $1500 for the thing i guess i don't know they said it was the same price as the marshall and i didn't check that very carefully so.. yea. I got it at guitar center in burbank IL.
It was close to closing when i came back for it and they were kinda pushy, they sold me a flanger without even showing me it first, and they didn't even give me a reciept.

It has good crunch and the chiks will dig it. it has a lot of sound options.
And is very high quality professional and all. I mean what can you say about it.
Of course it's an awesome it head i mean it's one of the best heads in the world some would argue the best if you want a more killer amp system than this you are gonna need a rack period. But that's not my opinion that's just the truth it's the most gnarly wicked head money can buy. The road king is a tiny bit better but not by much it's just a little fancier.
it doesn't have all the bells and whistles of modelers like line 6 or any stereo heads but if you want effects and modelers your best bet is a nice effects loop on a solid all tube head or a rack with a effects loop. the slave output is a beautiful thing too. you can run a powered sub a stereo combo a slew of other amps or whatever and all that. I couldn't be without that. The effects loop is nice with wet/dry levels and true bypass.
The attack is nice and the crunch is ready to start bordering on dull it's so smooth!
And that's about enough i guess.

They forgot to sell me the foot switch!
It's a pain to operate without the footswitch.
No headroom! you have to switch to el34's and take 50 watts off the head for it to be compatible with the cab they sell it with! it's 150w head and a 150w cab!
I don't wanna give up my precious wattage! I guess i'll just have to get another cab! huh ya don't think they planned that do ya?

very rugged of course, I hear you could drop this head off stage and it would be ok! leather coverings, very pretty.
nice logo design and metal at that.
chromeplated steel head grill.
Man, tubes are just sexy looking! is that wierd? i love this amp!
Seriously i'll never buy another solidstate amp ever maybe a preamp for this but with my crate glx120 in the slave output i don't think i'll be needing one anytime soon.

Well this is the best head you can get but there is the road king if ya have a few hundred extra and nothing else to spend it on. I would get that i guess but it has the same tube and controls just a different interface.
But i recomend a fullstack with enough headroom to open up the wattage on this bad boy!
And also it has a lil bit of harshness in the tone with 6l6's if you are a new player it could be destructive to you're development to try learning on this i wouldn't say learning on a solidstate would be better but definately for a newbie a marshall jcm 2000 tsl would give you a more 'easy listening' sound if you can dig what i mean. like the way you hear the tones and pitches and get to know your guitars abilities and learn what directions you want to expand you're own in. the truth be told i play hardcore and listen to scarling, lacuna coil, and type o but know how to play bluegrass, spanish styles, and blues, even r & b you can't know what you know til you know what you don't know!

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

150 watt all-tube (14!).

UTILIZATION

No, the configuration is not simple, the parallel effects loop has a lot ... The "sweet spots" knobs nevertheless easy to find with manual and volume appropriate, so ... strong.

SOUNDS

So yes ... it suits my style of music (jazz-funk fusion, blues, rock atypical) BUT ... it must be modified to obtain a frequency response of low correct, otherwise it is inbitable and effects loop in a thick layer REFOUT losing momentum. I tested quite a rack FX and curiously, they are simple pedals that do best shoot, cum laude for tc flashback and his girlfriend mini hall of fame: a big sound that pierces the mix. Greg Howe no longer separated from his, even with his usual power amp rack.

OVERALL OPINION

The idea of ​​the supercharged Fender is good but the mod is needed for itself, as well as systematic change lamps preamp m .... originally fitted. I tested an arsenal of lights before finding the config beam and there: it takes the sheet, patience and a very precise idea of ​​the sound you want to get. Be careful with specs V3 and V5 which should be more respectées.De to ride well, an amp needs linearity in its different floor, so no need to play the dinette with such brand V1, V2 such other etc ... The LPS provides best in V1 but also works out of phase. I would not give my recipe because it works for me and my mod, but not worth breaking the bank with gold pine mule or a testicle box. My favorite channel? Orange vintage, well adjusted, it registers in serious beam dirty rock, red being more modern. A lil blues to Oz Noy? Orange raw gain at noon. A session of country? green channel gain pushed to 10:00 ... Disfiguring the goddess? modern red channel gain at 15:00 ...
One last thing: 150 watts it makes noise effectively but also, do not like those who advocate turning a lamp power to rotate 100 watts or better, fuck a power attenuator. In both cases, the output transformer that will release and all the power stage with besides seen mounting in push / pull, I'm curious to hear the sound it must be rotten with lamps less since there was more than a half-signal (and therefore more expensive than a lamp that takes instead of two). Typically, the transformers are very good: the master to zero, we have that treble and upper midrange. Works really hard into 4 ohms stereo in his 4X12 same brand, and if the need arises presence, the variac bold and correct diode bridge transmit a free layer.
A very good amp that forgives nothing and smartened fingers well but after the effort, the comfort of the mix and sound to die for .... I recall the sorcerer's apprentice the mod I'm talking about above MUST BE PERFORMED by a professional, given the tensions in games (400-500 volts). This is a classic changing face of the first hour, with no multiwatt, I would not advise it for a different model than the one in question here.

All Tube Amp 150Watts, plus brand new a priori.

2 channels, clean and saturated paramtrable in three choices, clean and crunch switch-saturated modern derrire.

Pramplifications 2 (diodes or lamps), medium bass rglages Acute each channel + master prsence and gain for each channel also.

Two types of power

line out with volume paramtrable

effects loop with lamp dedicates an input, output power 2x4ohms, 1x8 ohm, 1x16 ohms. Switch to channel and effects loop. Assignable effects loop one channel or both.

UTILIZATION

The configuration is simple but long since rglages are fine and the sound is trs diffrent depending on whether one is close or not to baffle
The sound is excellent, the attacks are clear and trs prcises Drout in which beginners must "relearn" to play means all errors.
The manual is tlchargeable recently. It contains a bit of everything but is generally satisfactory.

SETTING THE The effects loop is what is most dlicat, dedicates the lamp that changes the volume gnral does not help.

SOUNDS

It should be (very) well what I do, ie the mtal saturated. It's the sound of saturation dclenche headbanging throughout the room and puts a smile on lvres other musicians. Crystal clear sound is clear and easy prcis but drool on the big attacks, we feel that the head is made for the saturation.
This gives the lamp a prampli trs his warm, bluesy rock and then heavy mtal type. With prampli diodes, we obtain a more cold but more prcis, and it is the one that can push the saturation to its limits. ie trs away while remaining clear.

All the above effects are not suitable, I used a Boss GX700 and his silent rotten (grsillant digital). Since I have a G-Major TC Electronic is even better than the sound is still not as good effects ... The same problem arises with the effect INSRE pedals in the loop.

It is noted that the head does its full potential that grows in an adaptive baffle. A mesa 4x12 cabinet quip in cllestion vintage 30 is the references. In the baffles in ENGL clestion also gives a vintage 60. For the less fortunate marshall speaker cabinets lack safe but when even give satisfaction.

OVERALL OPINION

Trs trs good amp, much like any mesa boogie complt but without major weakness.

I've had almost 3 years and am fully satisfied.

The effects loop seems to me the only improvement, capricious and parallle. Bypass the same changes when the sound ... and less powerful. It is the only black spot.

Have a flight case for not rglages that are lost in transport is strongly recommended.

Change all the lamps of all is quite expensive (about 300/2000F), are strongly advised to remove the lamps that are not used (the rectification circuit lamps in my case) to make some economy. This amp is fairly robust if we do not heat shock on it and if we let be the ventilation. Do not entrust Repair Tool as aggressive rparateurs MESA / Boogie if it can be biting your fingers.

If you count the weight of the head and the cabinet that goes derrire must be tough to carry a minimum throughout and have adapted vhicule. Having said that price you can almost buy a car expr