Over the past thirty some years Mesa Boogie has emerged as one of the preeminent manufacturers of guitar amplifiers and heads. In particular, Mesa has help shape the modern high-gain sound that is prevalent in so much of hard rock and heavy metal. Mesa’s Triple Rectifier Solo head ($1300-$1500 on ebay, $1800 at Guitar Center) (hereinafter the “Triple”) is an extremely popular and potent machine that every serious hard rock professional guitarist has to consider when shaping his sound. It isn’t perfect and it’s not for everyone, but it is one well-made rock and roll amplifier. Let’s take more detailed look:

The Triple is a 150-watt head that is powered by 6L6 tubes (switchable to EL 34’s with bias adjustments) in the power amp, 5 12AX7’s in the preamp and 3 UG4’s (switchable to a silicon diode) in the rectifier. This amplifier is LOUD and will drive 2 4x12 cabs at 8 ohms with ease. The amp is so loud that it is obviously inappropriate as a practice amp because you’ll deafen yourself and band mates when you’re hosing around in your basement. It’s intended as a performance amplifier and should be treated as such. It’s called a triple rectifier because there is one rectifier tube for each pair of power tubes, which is intended to reduce power sag at high volume levels. The Triple is heavy and sturdily constructed with leather corners, aluminum front, chrome knobs and a cool nameplate. Reliability is reputably excellent and the Mesa people provide excellent service.

This is a three-channel amplifier: Clean, Vintage and Modern (the latter two are the high gain channels). Each channel has independent controls for Presence, Master, Gain, Bass, Mids and Treble. There also is also an Output Controls, which is essentially the Master volume control, The Solo control (controllable by footswitch) is a cool item that, when used (at other than very quiet and super loud volumes) will boost your volume to a preset level for soloing.

The Gain control is optimized for each channel and as it increases boosts the low and low mids with good attack and sustain. The three EQ controls are straightforward although its important to understand the Treble control is the first in the signal path and will shape the other frequencies. Presence increases frequencies that are higher than Treble. Master controls the volume of the individual channel and should be matched to produce the same volume for each channel, which respond very differently.

The three channels have a total of eight modes, which are controlled by one switch for each channel. The Channel One has the lowest gain in its Clean selection and added gain in the Pushed mode. Clean works great with single coils for single leads and rhythm, Pushed will be great with humbuckers and guys looking for lots of crunch.

Channels Two and Three have three similar, very different sounding modes distinguished by their increasing gain levels: Raw, Vintage and Modern. Channel Two is a moderate gain channel that is ideal for vintage 1970’s style hard rock. It is much warmer than Channel Three, the trade-off being less gain.

Channel Three is frankly why you buy this amplifier: massive amounts of head-pounding, face-melting gain. The Presence knob (again, optimized for each channel, a very important feature on this amp) adds tons of high-end harmonics and is most powerful in Channel Three. (You can even call Mesa if you find that you want the Presence to act the same on two channels (if you’re a player who doesn’t monkey with his settings much) and they’ll set you up.) Even though Three is the true modern channel, you can still coax plenty of vintage sounds out of it in the Raw and Vintage settings.

So, without waxing too eloquent about it, the Triple will provide an extraordinary amount of sound options to the discerning guitarist: tight leads, chunky rhythm, searing blues, vintage power chords, head-banging gain and all points in between. It will take a lot of time to understand what this amp can do, so test it thoroughly if you’re considering it. Also note that, while most guys who comment on this amp like it a lot, there is a small, very vocal minority of heavy metal players who think the Triple is a piece of poseur junk and is blown away by high-gain amps built by Marshall, Peavey and the like. It think that’s a serious exaggeration, but you should know about the downside. I will leave it for you to judge that—buy what fits your needs—but caveat emptor.

The reverse of the Triple is a massive number of inputs jacks, selectors and the like including tons of features like Slave Out, numerous external speaker jacks, switching jacks, and FX In/Send jacks with controls. What is really, important though, are a couple of things. First, there is a bias selector that allows to select EL34s if you want to install them to obtain a true Brit rock vintage sound. Second, there is a Rectifier select switch, offering a Tube rectifier for warm vintage sound or a tighter, louder solid-state Diode selection for real modern work. Finally, the Power switch permits you to select between Bold for maximum power and headroom, or Spongy, which reduces the power, permits a “browner” sound and overdrives the tubes at lower volume.

The manual is among the best in the business. It provides very detailed description of each control and setting, describes their interplay, provides sample settings that demonstrate what the amp is capable of, and has numerous diagrams and technical information. It gets a “best in class” award.

I’ve personally only touched the surface of what this amp can do. It’s well constructed, versatile, offers tons and tons of gain and headroom, and is packed with an enormous number of very useful options. I find it hard to believe that a good guitarist wouldn’t like a lot about this amp, even if it isn’t perfect. The question then arises, who should buy it if its such a great amp, and my feelings are thus: This is an expensive amp (easily $2500 for the head and two 4x12 cabs used) that is designed for the performing guitarist who plays modern, high gain music and requires tons and tons of headroom for larger venues. You are paying a LOT of money for the gain and volume. It is therefore almost useless as a practice amp or for small venues because you can’t crank it. So here’s who should NOT buy it: 1) Guys who can’t afford (obviously) 2) Guys who play small venues 3) Guys who do not need high gain sounds. This last is very important because there’s no need to pay for gain that you can’t use. So, if you’re a clean, vintage, or blues player, I think I would look elsewhere.

If you do like the Triple’s options but not its volume, you can always pick up a 100 Watt Double Rectifier. But there are other alternatives, even in the Mesa family, and those include the Lone Star, Stiletto and Road King combos. These all offer great sound with either 6L6’s, EL34’s, or both (in the Road King) and in either a 1x12 or 2x12 provide good volume that you can crank and overdrive.

At any rate, none of this is damning with faint praise. The Triple is a powerful amplifier in both volume and sound variety. High gain guitarists really have to give it a close look.

Other amp reviews from buffoonery:

Marshall Super 100 JH
Peavey Classic 30 Combo
Crate Power Block
Roland Micro Cube
Mesa 5:25 Express
Mesa Stiletto Ace
Fender Cyber Twin
Line 6 Vetta II Combo
Mesa 5:50 Express
Line 6 Spider III 75
Mesa Lone Star Combo
Vox Valvetronix AD60VT
Mesa Stiletto Deuce
Mesa Triple Rectifier Head
Fender DSP 65
Peavey Triple XXX Head
Fender Super Sonic 1x12 Combo
Hughes and Kettner Switchblade 50 Combo
Fender MH 500 Metalhead
64 Fender Vibroverb Custom Blackface
Mesa Dual Rectifier Roadster
Peavey Penta Head
Peavey JSX Joe Satriani Signature Head
Line 6 Spider II Head
Crate Acoustic CA30
Line 6 Flextone III Plus
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And you may also be interested in a few books such as:

Hugo Pinksterboer – Tipbook Amplifiers and Effects
Ritchie Fliegler – Amps: The Other Half of Rock and Roll
Michael Ross – Getting Great Guitar Sounds: A Non-Technical Approach to Shaping Your Personal Sound




Recommended: Yes