Mesa Boogie Mini Rectifier 25

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I've had this amp for 1.5 or 2 years or so. It's a cool little amp for sure. I have a fairly large collection of amps with some big 100w heads but also a lot of small lunchbox amps. This one definitely sets itself apart from the rest with it's true recto tone.

In comparison to my Dual Rectifier the Mini Rectifier sounds a bit more meaty in the mids but I have the 2000s 3 channel Recto so they will sound different by default since the mini Recto essentially is a multi-watt Recto from that range.

The amp is surprisingly versatile with it's 2 channels and 2 modes per channel but the wattage option that lets you choose between 10 and 25 watts also has a great effect on the sound. So here's my review with some demos of each channel and mode plus a little comparison of the 10w vs the 25w power setting. If you think this amp is too fizzy, definitely try the 10w mode.



Does anyone else here own one? How do you like it? Do you gig with it and if yes, how well does it hold up on stage?
 
I really want one, but they're kind of expensive. They're about as much as an EVH 50W, right? I think I'd rather have one of those for that money.

Really cool sound, though. I've always wanted to compare one to my LBX or my Dark Terror. How do you think its low-end fares against your other lunchbox amps? I struggle with low end from my EL84 amps, personally.

Love your vids, man!
 
Rex Rocker said:
I struggle with low end from my EL84 amps, personally.
Click to expand...

Pretty universal with 84s I think.
The mini sounds great but you're not going to get the big glass/big iron BEEF from it..
Think the best low end from EL84s I got was the Bogner Atma.
 
Donnie B. said:
Pretty universal with 84s I think.
The mini sounds great but you're not going to get the big glass/big iron BEEF from it..
Think the best low end from EL84s I got was the Bogner Atma.
Click to expand...

It all has to do with headroom. I have plenty of EL84 amps with huge bottom end. Some of them are 15, others as much as 40 watts and some in between. Obviously a 'low' wattage amp will have less headroom so when you turn it up the low end will start to compress sooner. So sure, at loud levels the small amps 'have less low end'. But with lower levels (recording, jamming, practice and even small gigs) the low end of EL84 amps can be just fine and definitely huge sounding. Obviously a 40w amp has more headroom than a 15w amp so it can appear to be that the 40w amp has a bigger low end. A lot of that also just has to do with how the amps are voiced etc.
 
Sorta off topic but I have an AC30 with monster low end. The EL84s in that amp sound huge.

I haven't played on one of these mini Rectos in a long time but lately have been wanting one.
 
Your demo sounded great! I had a Mini Rectifier years ago and I took it back to the store after 4 days of owning it. Maybe I needed more time with it to dial in a good sound. From what I remember the amp was really noisy (hissing) when I had the volume up past 3 o'clock. It could have been due to a bad tube but I wasn't jiving with it at the time. Also, I felt I was struggling to keep up with my drummer volume wise. Now I'll admit that my drummer plays loud so that could have something to do with it as well. In the end it all worked out because I wound up returning it and got an Orange Thunderverb 50 and an Orange PPC412 cabinet. I now have a Mark V 35 and in my opinion it blows the Mini Rectifier away.
 
Rex Rocker said:
I really want one, but they're kind of expensive. They're about as much as an EVH 50W, right? I think I'd rather have one of those for that money.

Really cool sound, though. I've always wanted to compare one to my LBX or my Dark Terror. How do you think its low-end fares against your other lunchbox amps? I struggle with low end from my EL84 amps, personally.

Love your vids, man!
Click to expand...
I had a Mini Recto, and an EQ in the loop brought the goods. Had a Mark V 25 too. Both were pretty killer amps! The Mark V 25 was the better of the two, but both are killer.

The tones of both are more musical than any EVH I've owned.
 
One of the biggest low ends in an amp I've had was an EL84 amp, 30 watt Grease Monkey. It was up there with a MW Dual Rec. Impressive, actually.
Speaking of the MW Dual Rec, I'm surprised how expensive and rare they've become since the announcement of Gibson. Crazy.
 
LPMojoGL said:
One of the biggest low ends in an amp I've had was an EL84 amp, 30 watt Grease Monkey. It was up there with a MW Dual Rec. Impressive, actually.
Speaking of the MW Dual Rec, I'm surprised how expensive and rare they've become since the announcement of Gibson. Crazy.
Click to expand...
I think the price spike on the MW is that you can't even order a new Mesa right now? They're production seems really jacked up, so supply is very low and you have to go used.
 
I played the Mini Rectifier back in 2013 at Guitar King (@Guitarjon you'll probably know the shop ) and I found it too flubby in the lows.
Now, I'm aware that it is a trait of Rectifiers in general, some more than others, but I prefer amps that don't *need* a boost.
Also it had this almost singing/fuzzy saturated thing going on when you use a neck pickup for high gain leads. My other EL84-equipped amps had that and it made me sell them (H&K Tubemeister, Carvin V3M).
Guitar King had the Engl Ironball in, which was just released back then, so I played that next to the Mini Rec and bought it on the spot. Saturated? Sure, but the neck pickup tone remained more open than what I've come to expect from an EL84 based amp. 🤘
I will say that the Mini Rec has better cleans than the Ironball, which are nice, but kinda bland. But for a quick grab 'n go rehearsal small tube head, the Ironball suited my needs way better.
Later on, I bought a used Mark V:25 (new prices are insane of that thing in Europe) and been enjoying that ever since too.
2 mods: Replaced the internal fan for a quieter one and replaced V1 with a vintage RFT.
 
Guitarjon said:
I've had this amp for 1.5 or 2 years or so. It's a cool little amp for sure. I have a fairly large collection of amps with some big 100w heads but also a lot of small lunchbox amps. This one definitely sets itself apart from the rest with it's true recto tone.

In comparison to my Dual Rectifier the Mini Rectifier sounds a bit more meaty in the mids but I have the 2000s 3 channel Recto so they will sound different by default since the mini Recto essentially is a multi-watt Recto from that range.

The amp is surprisingly versatile with it's 2 channels and 2 modes per channel but the wattage option that lets you choose between 10 and 25 watts also has a great effect on the sound. So here's my review with some demos of each channel and mode plus a little comparison of the 10w vs the 25w power setting. If you think this amp is too fizzy, definitely try the 10w mode.



Does anyone else here own one? How do you like it? Do you gig with it and if yes, how well does it hold up on stage?
Click to expand...


Enjoy your videos, didn't know you were on the forums. Keep up the nice work! (y)
 
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