In this comparison video, Lasse Lammert tackles the age-old question: are the older two-channel Mesa Boogie Rectifiers better than the new ones?
I myself have a decent level of experience with some of the revision F and revision G Rectifiers and I personally feel like they just have a little something extra to them that the newer versions don’t possess. In my opinion, I feel like the orange channel of the revision F rectifiers with a clean boost in the silicone diode mode is the end of the road for heavy guitar tone, but that’s just me… Additionally, I feel like Mesas never do particularly well with SM57s. Even though the 57 is a classic time-tested microphone, I feel like it always adds a sad amount of high end and a chubby amount of loose low end to all Mesa Boogie amps. For whatever reason, I’ve come to really enjoy the sound of small diaphragm condenser mics (particularly the Neumann KM184) on Mesas. They preserve the incredibly tight low-end quality that we love about rectos and they don’t add a nasty “jar full of bees” quality to the high end.
Lasse demonstrates both clean and distorted sounds in this two-part series and I have to say that in these videos there isn’t a huge difference; even with headphones. I will say though that I DO like the clean channel on the newer rectos better. You be the judge!