REVIEW > Mesa/BooGie
MESA/BOOGIE
MINI RECTIFIER
TWENTY-FIVE
BY JORDAN WAGNER
Even in this golden age of amplifiers, effects, and guitars, sometimes you
get the sense a piece of gear is destined to
become a classic. The Mesa/Boogie Dual
Rectifier, with its brilliant compact design
and wealth of delicious tones, might just be
one of them.
Boogies can divide players’ opinions. But
even if some aren’t fans, everybody remembers the first time they heard the roar of
a cranked Rectifier. These amps produce
very distinctive tones that have been used
by countless bands and emulated by scores
of imitators. On the heels of the success
of their low-wattage TransAtlantic series,
the company has now released the Mini
Rectifier—a conveniently packaged 25-watt
rendition of the big, bad Rectifier head.
Despite its tiny size, the Mini demonstrates
why the Recto sound has endured through
waves of musical trends and fads.
Clean and
pushed modes
on channel 1
Assignable Multi-Watt configurations
for each channel
the itsy-Bitsy rectifier
The California-built Mini Rectifier is
tiny—you might even say adorable looking. It’s a dead ringer for its older Dual
and Triple Rectifier brothers, but at less
than half the width, depth, and length of
those mighty heads. Apart from the power
and standby switches, and the diamond
plate front panel, literally everything is
shrunken—right down to the size of the
knobs and the air vent on the top of the
aluminum chassis.
Under the hood, the Mini is a true
Rectifier through and through. The preamp
circuit was lifted directly from the company’s famed Dual Rectifier amplifier and
shares every detail of that particular preamp. A total of five 12AX7 preamp tubes
populate the circuit, which in turn drive
a dual-EL84 Dyna-Watt power amp that’s
rated at a full 25 watts. It’s also a fixed-bias
design, which reduces maintenance worries.
premierguitar.com
PREMIER GUITAR FEBRUARY 2012 147 Vintage and modern modes on channel 2
