mini rectifier mesa boogie good bad ugly?

[gishlullmoon]

i want your opinion if you have one......

can you get good tone at bedroom/basement levels?
i'm asking here to see the majority opinion...

how does it sound different in the 10 watt mode?
is there should know about before buying it?

i'm trying to get as many opinions as i can get.... i have gotten a few opinions saying it doeson't do anything at low volumes and i've heard its a good bedroom amp. i don't really know what to believe.

 

[Al Rose]

i want your opinion if you have one......

can you get good tone at bedroom/basement levels?
i'm asking here to see the majority opinion...

how does it sound different in the 10 watt mode?
is there should know about before buying it?

i'm trying to get as many opinions as i can get.... i have gotten a few opinions saying it doeson't do anything at low volumes and i've heard its a good bedroom amp. i don't really know what to believe.

https://www.thegearpage.net/board/index.php?threads/mesa-mini-rectifier-club.1055628/

Try the above.....

Al

 

[kselbee]

Personally, I think the amp is great at bedroom levels, but these things are subjective. But I can get a monster lead tone with lots of gain and sustain and just over a whisper.

 

[Phletch]

I've had a Mini Rec for coming up on 3 years now, gigging regularly with it and done some home recording (at "bedroom" levels). While it sounds OK at "bedroom" levels, there's just no denying that it sounds best when turned up. When it's turned up you just have a larger tonal palette to play with (ie, you can use less gain with more volume to get sustain and a fuller, less fizzy sound, cleans sound bigger and fuller, etc.).

Regarding the selective wattage, there really isn't a major volume difference between the 10W and 25W settings - the "feel" is the major difference - and any differences are more noticeable at louder volumes; you won't really notice any difference at bedroom levels. The idea with the 10W setting is that the clipping threshold (headroom) of the power section is lowered, the sound a bit more compressed, and if you're finding that threshold at 10W it's still LOUD. And, yes, the Mini Rec is designed to take advantage of some power section clipping, not just rely on the preamp to do all the OD work.

Overall, I highly recommend the Mini Rec for just about any kind of music you play. The amp is that good, imo, of course.

 

[cardinal]

I thought the bigger Rectos sounded better at low volume.

 

[gishlullmoon]

i had a tirple recitifer while it was good at low volume, it wasn't saturated(?the term i',m looking for??) enough.... i just couldn't get enough sound i wanted from it without going deaf... i found it not usable so i sold it a few months ago.....im not bashing the amp i just can't use it.

 

[cardinal]

i had a tirple recitifer while it was good at low volume, it wasn't saturated(?the term i',m looking for??) enough.... i just couldn't get enough sound i wanted from it without going deaf... i found it not usable so i sold it a few months ago.....im not bashing the amp i just can't use it.

Just curious: what kind of Triple? I owned a three channel that sounded almost awesome but I couldn't quite figure out. Bought a Rev G two channel and have loved it since taking it off standby.

Anyway: it might be worth it to look at different Rectos (Dual, Triple, Tremoverb, Single, Roadster, Roadking, and all the different versions of each). And check out the mini if you can. Some folks like them, but it didn't do anything for me.

 

[gishlullmoon]

my triple was a three channel from early 2000s.. it wouldn't of made a difference they are all too loud!! im goin for the mini

 

[Ryan84]

It has 2 EL84's....

That's the biggest problem.

The Rectifier's need 6L6's to sound correct and really thump.

They should've called it the Mini Britishfier. That's more fitting tonally.

Any variation 2 channel, 3 channel or Reborn sounds better. Don't buy a mini.

This mini amp fad is going to pass. When the dust clears people are gonna realize only a handful of models, whether it's Mesa or Marshall etc were any good AT ALL.

When you go small you have to sacrifice a circuit and tube section. Plus the new Mesa's, the multiwatts let you switch to lower wattage anyway.

 

[cardinal]

my triple was a three channel from early 2000s.. it wouldn't of made a difference they are all too loud!! im goin for the mini

To each their own. Hope you dig it!

I've played a Rev G Triple, early-2000s 3-channel Triple, and the new multiwatt 3-channel Triple. The non-multiwatt 3-channel sounded noticeably harsher and colder, which made it very difficult to dial in at lower volumes. The others can be much warmer and smoother, and they dial up pretty easy at low volumes IMHO.

 

[djw]

There's no denying that the EL84 power section of the Mini doesn't produce the same kind of goods as the bigger 6L6-driven Rectos. And a lot of the larger Mesas now have a low-power setting that will get you close to the low-output neighborhood of the lunchboxes like the Mini, TA-15, etc. All in all the bigger amps have more going for them.

However, what the Mini has going for it is that it's a small but great sounding amp, that weighs 12 pounds and is easy to take wherever you go, and it's versatile enough to use in a lot of different contexts. And it's a lot of fun to play with. Takes pedals really well. Just lots of fun.

Bedroom levels? Sure, I guess. Sounds better loud, but they all do.

 

[gishlullmoon]

to tell you all the truth i dug the sound of my throttle box i used to have into my traynor mark III (which has el-84s) it wasn't that bad and sounded pretty convincing out of a marshall 1960A cab...... but i dont think my traynor can go thorugh a mesa cab, so i couldnt test it that way...

but yeah i went to the store and went to the mesa section i looked at everything couldn't find it and when i gave up it was sitting it the last place i looked.
it has a blue led. i think i still want the red one though. we played it thorugh the mini cab and it just wasn't enough, we plugged into a mesa 4x12 and it sounded a bit bigger. ill admit i dont know much about guitar the guy told me no one has settings on the amp like the way i was setting the mini rect. he said all settings on mesa are very interactive. but once i started playing he eqd it and it sounded good enough for me to want it. if all else fails ill get a throttle box run it thorugh the mini rec see what happens....i think bedrooms level fails but he turned it up probably a bit just over how i would have it set volume wise and it sounded good. if i get it soon i'll be back here asking for you guys settings.

he said "you have the bass dimed no one ever does that" lol

 

[djw]

but i dont think my traynor can go thorugh a mesa cab, so i couldnt test it that way...

Sure it can. Why wouldn't it?

 

[gishlullmoon]

im not sure what impendence it has, i dont see any settings or anything on the back about it and when i took it to get it fixed at a shop one time i told them i was playing througha 1960A and i said do i need to switch the impendence and they said don't switch it, i dont know anything about amps really and still don't i guess. I guess you mean it can go in the mesa too then huh ? i thought it couldnt because he said it could go in my 1960A which has g12-75 where as mesa cab has v30s???

 

[djw]

Speaker make doesn't have anything to do with it. You should be able to look up the output impedance settings for your Traynor and see whether it has an 8 ohm setting (I don't know if it's switchable or what)... generally that's the most common setting though, and most Mesa cabs are 8 ohm regardless of speaker complement. I think you would really want to be careful if your Traynor can only handle 16 ohms, but if has 4 or 8 ohm taps you'll be fine.

 

[djw]

...we're getting off topic here, but it looks like your Traynor MkIII has a 4 ohm output. Should be fine into 8 ohms.

 

[greatmutah]

Pros - great tones at more reasonable volumes and can get loud enough for gigging.
Pretty much all of the useful modes of the Recto.
Very versatile package.

Cons - EL84s don't have the best headroom of lower output tubes and tend to fall apart at higher volumes faster than their big bottle siblings. This isn't necessarily a bad thing but part of the Recto vibe is a cleaner/cooler power section with a saturated preamp section so you get the gain with a defined bottom end.

Bottom end not as big as big brother. This may or may not bother you. The Mini will be tighter. And I always boosted my Rectos to tighten them up anyway. But there's something about cutting loose on Modern mode and letting that tidal wave hit with a big power section.

Limited to power tube type - most Rectos allow you to either have EL34s or 6L6s. It's a subtle difference in overall tone but I like having the option.

The mini is by no means a bad amp and will sound great at low levels. I've just had 4 of the larger ones (a Single and 3 Duals - One Rev G and two Tremoverbs) so I'm a bit more biased towards the bigger ones.

 

[gishlullmoon]

Pros - great tones at more reasonable volumes and can get loud enough for gigging.
Pretty much all of the useful modes of the Recto.
Very versatile package.

Cons - EL84s don't have the best headroom of lower output tubes and tend to fall apart at higher volumes faster than their big bottle siblings. This isn't necessarily a bad thing but part of the Recto vibe is a cleaner/cooler power section with a saturated preamp section so you get the gain with a defined bottom end.

Bottom end not as big as big brother. This may or may not bother you. The Mini will be tighter. And I always boosted my Rectos to tighten them up anyway. But there's something about cutting loose on Modern mode and letting that tidal wave hit with a big power section.

Limited to power tube type - most Rectos allow you to either have EL34s or 6L6s. It's a subtle difference in overall tone but I like having the option.

The mini is by no means a bad amp and will sound great at low levels. I've just had 4 of the larger ones (a Single and 3 Duals - One Rev G and two Tremoverbs) so I'm a bit more biased towards the bigger ones.

 

[gishlullmoon]

in the triple rectifier i had i had 6l;6 in it at first but then i bought some jj el84s and switched out...........the differnece was huge not subtle (do not take offense) idon't know why everyone says the difference is subtle it is like 2 different amps when you compare the tubes with that amp. the el34s didn't sound anything like the records i play along with but maybe ears where playing tricks on me, later down the road after i got rid of the triple, i ve been playing the traynor and i had a throttle box through it and i got close with recto tone that sounded lie 6l6 and the traynor had el84.... probably because the pedal was designed to sound like a dual rec??--like with 6l6 type sound

all i know is is that the mini rec sounds pretty good at the store (i think if i liked the throttle box through the traynor i should love the mini right???

the one they have at the store has blue light in it, i want red but maybe i'll grow to like the blue also if all else falls throw throttle box in the mini rec see what happans

 

[Darkness]

It has 2 EL84's....

That's the biggest problem.

The Rectifier's need 6L6's to sound correct and really thump.

They should've called it the Mini Britishfier. That's more fitting tonally.

Any variation 2 channel, 3 channel or Reborn sounds better. Don't buy a mini.

This mini amp fad is going to pass. When the dust clears people are gonna realize only a handful of models, whether it's Mesa or Marshall etc were any good AT ALL.

When you go small you have to sacrifice a circuit and tube section. Plus the new Mesa's, the multiwatts let you switch to lower wattage anyway.

It's not going to pass. People don't dig carrying ginormous head cabs around just to jam with friends and play small gigs. The Mark V 25 can sound massive for a small bottle amp. It's like 16 lbs and I can carry it anywhere easily. Plus, it's cheap to retube the small heads. Quads of 6l6's and multiple rectifiers ain't cheap.
While I do agree that there is no substitute for the big bottles, the myriad advantages to the small footprint amps of today are going to be why they'll stick around for the long term.