Few guitar amplifiers have left a deeper imprint on heavy music than Mesa/Boogie’s original 1990s-era Dual and Triple Rectifier Solo heads. With their crushing low end, harmonic-rich highs, and famously scooped midrange, Rectifiers defined a sound.
The reissued Mesa/Boogie ’90s Triple Rectifier taps directly into that legacy. Faithfully recreating the revered two-channel architecture while adding carefully considered modern refinements, this limited-quantity release gives Recto aficionados the tone, feel, and authority that dominated the heavy guitar world for much of the last three decades.
Introduced shortly after the Dual Rectifier’s debut in 1992, the Triple Rectifier took the Recto concept to its logical extreme. A larger power transformer, an additional pair of power tubes, and a third rectifier tube pushed output to a formidable 150 Watts. The result was more low-end growl, greater headroom, and a faster, more immediate picking response.
While later Rectifiers introduced additional channels and expanded feature sets, many purists still swear by the original two-channel layout. Mesa/Boogie’s ’90s Triple Rectifier reissue delivers exactly that, housing the legendary Orange/Vintage and Modern/Red modes that defined heavy guitar tones throughout the decade.
Adding welcome flexibility, Channel Cloning allows players to apply either mode to both channels, making it easy to set up complementary gain structures without sacrificing the amp’s core character. Mesa has also addressed one of the original design’s few shortcomings with an improved Clean mode, offering a level of crystalline clarity that was not available on the vintage units.
Despite its stripped-back ethos, the ’90s Triple Rectifier is impressively feature-rich. Each channel includes independent 3-Band EQ, Master, Presence, and Gain controls, providing precise command over the amp’s formidable voice. A Bold/Spongy Power switch delivers Variac-style response options, while the Rectifier Select switch lets players choose between tube and silicon-diode rectification for different feel and attack characteristics.
Further tonal flexibility comes from a Bias Switch, enabling seamless swaps between 6L6 and EL34 power tubes to fine-tune response and midrange character. A Slave output captures both preamp and power amp tone in line-level format, making the head ideal for pairing with modern IR loaders, while an onboard FX Loop ensures smooth integration with pedalboards.
Get the Mesa/Boogie 90s Triple Rectifier here for $3,699 and keep up with all our Mesa/Boogie coverage right here!
