Poor man's 2C+ rig

nightlight

nightlight

Well-known member
Managed to snag a Mesa Boogie Quad and a Rectifier Stereo 2:100 power amp. Wondering what the pairing would be called. Rectomark?


Quad 2.jpg


Power Amp 2.jpg


I also snagged an Axe FX III at about the same time (there goes my budget for the year), and I'm thinking about pairing them all up for a nice mini-fridge rig.

Axe.jpg



Has anyone out here tried out a Quad? I keep hearing it's like a Mark 2C or Mark 2C+ on Channel 1 and a Mark III on channel two.

Pretty excited, it's like a dream rig for me.
 
Owned a quad back in the day. Lead channel modded to IIC+ spec. Ran it with a Strategy 400. Later bought the real thing. Quad was still very nice but the differences we noticeable.
 
Tone Monster said:
Owned a quad back in the day. Lead channel modded to IIC+ spec. Ran it with a Strategy 400. Later bought the real thing. Quad was still very nice but the differences we noticeable.
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Sadly. I don't see them coming down in price. This will have to satisfy that itch.

How did you like the Strategy 400 power amp? I'm thinking that the Mark preamp and Recto power amp combination will either sound like shite or glorious.
 
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nightlight said:
Sadly. I don't see them coming down in price. This will have to satisfy that itch.

How did you like the Strategy 400 power amp? I'm thinking that the Mark preamp and Recto power amp combination will either sound like shite or glorious.
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They are fantastic. Musical but very tight. I think I’ve owned every Mesa power amp sans the Coliseum and the recto. It was the best. 2:90 was a bit smooth and the 500 was a bit surgical.
 
I've got 3 Simul C+ amps set to different tones, all Sylvania power tubes. Clean to mean, EV speaker cabs, nothing does it better for me.
 
I have a quad and love it. I use my MK V as power with EL34’s and it rips. Clean in Ch 1 also gets some nice lighter rock tones when you max the gain. Close to AC/DC with hums and a good dirty blues tone with SC’s. The 2nd channel has a little more gain available then CH1 but also is a little smaller sounding. The lead setting on Channel 1 is my hard rock, heavy metal jam on that preamp. Had a Studio Pre and it was great as well. I prefer what I’ve heard out of the pre’s over any MKIII head I tried.
 
Had a quad, strat 400 and the Recto 2:100. Quad sounded great with the Strategy and should sound great with the 2:100. If you get a shorted end cable you can use that to keep the modern setting engaged. For certain stuff modern sounded great. Congrats!
 
paulyc said:
Get a tetanus shot before handling that footswitch !
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Haha, just had one about six months ago. Good for the next 10 years now.

phil b said:
Had a quad, strat 400 and the Recto 2:100. Quad sounded great with the Strategy and should sound great with the 2:100. If you get a shorted end cable you can use that to keep the modern setting engaged. For certain stuff modern sounded great. Congrats!
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Thanks, that's some good info.

skoora said:
I have a quad and love it. I use my MK V as power with EL34’s and it rips. Clean in Ch 1 also gets some nice lighter rock tones when you max the gain. Close to AC/DC with hums and a good dirty blues tone with SC’s. The 2nd channel has a little more gain available then CH1 but also is a little smaller sounding. The lead setting on Channel 1 is my hard rock, heavy metal jam on that preamp. Had a Studio Pre and it was great as well. I prefer what I’ve heard out of the pre’s over any MKIII head I tried.
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Cool, nice to meet another user.

Joey B. said:
I've got 3 Simul C+ amps set to different tones, all Sylvania power tubes. Clean to mean, EV speaker cabs, nothing does it better for me.
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Neat. I have an EVM-equipped Thiele cab that I'm planning to run it through.
 
In my opinion, the Quad preamp and 50/50 power amp is the beast, if you want the best Boogie tone for heavy rock and metal. I've owned many MESA/Boogie Mark IIC+, C++, III, IV, V amps and a studio pre, and was able to compare all of them side by side. Without question, Quad was by far the one for me.

When it comes to clean tone, I'm similar to Ola, "it's good, who cares about clean?"
 
I know what I’d call that pairing: Fucking Awesome.

That footswitch, too! Looks like it’s been through an actual war!
 
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