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Thoughts on Mesa Boogie Rectoverb 25
Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2020 1:28 am
by Marshmallow
Hey all thinking of getting the Mesa Rectoverb 25 for $700 here in japan. What are your thoughts on these compared to the other mesas like Filmore, lonestar, mk 5 5:25 etc.
How are the cleans? How well does to take pedals and hows the gain on this compared to the other amps?
Never had the chance to try them.
Re: Thoughts on Mesa Boogie Rectoverb 25
Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2020 7:38 am
by NippleWrestler
I love them. I have an early dual rec and am a Mesa fanboy.
The clean is really nice. Mesa have refocused their efforts there in the last decade. The 2000s rectos weren't really known for their cleans but before and after that they're great. 25w isn't enormous headroom but you knew that already. If I were looking for an amp to play clean and use as a pedal platform there's better options, but who buys a rectifier for that?
The chug is great. I'd say it's about 85% of its big brother's and it's missing some low end girth but again 25w vs 100w. El84 vs 6l6 etc etc. Not to say it's bad. By all accounts it's fantastic. But buying one to get the quintessential dual rec chug might not happen without a boost or maybe some EQing.
The Fillmore is different. That's an amp aimed squarely at the vintage sound. The Lonestar I haven't tried but that looks to share a lot with the rectoverb.
The Express series is one I've never got along with. Fat mushy flabby gain isn't my thing. But I sold mine to a guy in a room band and he loved it. It always sounded like being on the neck pickup to me, zero cut through.
The rectoverb has a bunch of modes too. It's not clean or chug, there's a vintage mode and a pushed mode on the clean channel. Vintage is my favourite. Tons of gain if you need it but easily dialed back to something like a crunch and very dynamic. I've done whole shows by using the volume knob and leaving the amp controls alone.
I have a 100w Tremoverb these days. It's where my amp search ended.
Re: Thoughts on Mesa Boogie Rectoverb 25
Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2020 7:57 am
by robthemac
I had a Rectoverb 50 for years. Used it 90% as a clean amp. Really nice warm sound without losing definition. Not as bright or glassy as a Fender, but great spring reverb and much more versatile.
The first channel, 2nd mode did a nice light crunch sound. I could never quite dial in a mid-gain tone that I was happy with. Did the Mesa high-gain thing just fine though. Never tried it much with pedals.
It was stupidly heavy. But I don't think that will come as a suprise.
Re: Thoughts on Mesa Boogie Rectoverb 25
Posted: Wed Jul 29, 2020 9:16 pm
by Marshmallow
NippleWrestler wrote: ↑Sun Jul 26, 2020 7:38 am
I love them. I have an early dual rec and am a Mesa fanboy.
The clean is really nice. Mesa have refocused their efforts there in the last decade. The 2000s rectos weren't really known for their cleans but before and after that they're great. 25w isn't enormous headroom but you knew that already. If I were looking for an amp to play clean and use as a pedal platform there's better options, but who buys a rectifier for that?
The chug is great. I'd say it's about 85% of its big brother's and it's missing some low end girth but again 25w vs 100w. El84 vs 6l6 etc etc. Not to say it's bad. By all accounts it's fantastic. But buying one to get the quintessential dual rec chug might not happen without a boost or maybe some EQing.
The Fillmore is different. That's an amp aimed squarely at the vintage sound. The Lonestar I haven't tried but that looks to share a lot with the rectoverb.
The Express series is one I've never got along with. Fat mushy flabby gain isn't my thing. But I sold mine to a guy in a room band and he loved it. It always sounded like being on the neck pickup to me, zero cut through.
The rectoverb has a bunch of modes too. It's not clean or chug, there's a vintage mode and a pushed mode on the clean channel. Vintage is my favourite. Tons of gain if you need it but easily dialed back to something like a crunch and very dynamic. I've done whole shows by using the volume knob and leaving the amp controls alone.
I have a 100w Tremoverb these days. It's where my amp search ended.
robthemac wrote: ↑Sun Jul 26, 2020 7:57 am
I had a Rectoverb 50 for years. Used it 90% as a clean amp. Really nice warm sound without losing definition. Not as bright or glassy as a Fender, but great spring reverb and much more versatile.
The first channel, 2nd mode did a nice light crunch sound. I could never quite dial in a mid-gain tone that I was happy with. Did the Mesa high-gain thing just fine though. Never tried it much with pedals.
It was stupidly heavy. But I don't think that will come as a suprise.
Yea thanks for the detailed comments. I've been thinking about the filmore too but still focused on the rectoverb as I can get it for cheap. I do love the sound of mesa gain. I will use both clean and gain depending on the live situation. During Jam sessions I only ever use the amp gain. I'll have to look for one here in Japan and try it out.