[ninja636]

I just saw one in a PAWN SHOP of all places. It looked fairly NEW. It even had the stock valves in it still!!! They wanted 999.99 bucks for it. Is that a good price? I started asking about their layaway plan, and if I couldn't pay it off in 60 days would they extend it. They told me to come back or call tomorrow and talk to the owner, but that for a nominal fee he probably would. I'm gonna go back in the morning and see him, and maybe take some pics of it. What is so amazing is this is podunk USA, I NEVER thought I'd see an amp like that in a pawn shop around here.

Edit: Now that I think about it I don't know if it was a Dual or Triple Rec.

[MrSandMan]

$1000 is a good deal. I think anything thing under $1150 is good. You may want to consider the valves need replaced, if not now, sooner than later. Obvoulsy if it's a triple it require more $$ to retube it (six 6L6 or EL34 while the Dual Recto take a quad).

Although, I do think the Triple sound better than the Dual. Not sure if it's just my ears or if I'm insane. Is this the 2 channel or a 3 channel? does it have the Dust cover, footswitch, and manual.. and all the cords?

You might be able to flip it for around $1150 - $1200 if you decide that it's not for you. Nice find bro!

[ninja636]

It's a dual rec, and yeah it's the 3 ch. version. It comes with a dust cover, foot switch with cable, and a speaker cable. No manual though, but I downloaded one off the Mesa website. It's got new tubes in it according to them, but they replaced the 6l6's with el34's. That's cool though, I'm not much for clean playing anyways, I know the 6l6's have a sweeter clean tone.It's been there for about 2-3 months now, I told them if it's still there in 2 weeks(when I get paid again) I'll come put 300 bucks down on it. He said he'd work with me on the layaway deal. Man it was soooo clean looking, I thought it was brand new. My wife forgot her new digital camera though. I'm not gonna hold my breath, an amp like that at that price is bound to get snatched up by somebody. If it does they had a Jackson USA Soloist in there that looked like someone got pissed off at, 300 bucks. Maybe I'll get that as a project, a BIG project judging from the shape it was in, instead.

Edit: I forgot, the owner said he gets a lot of his stuff from auctions and surplus buy outs, and thats where this amp came from, some store that went out of business somewhere.

[MrSandMan]

Even sweeter not having to retube it. EL34 sound really good too, the 6L6 have more sag to my ears.. while the el34s are tighter.

I hope you get it, sounds like a killer deal. Think of it this way, it's money in the bank since Mesa products hold value.

[MatrixClaw]

It's not a bad deal.

I usually see 3-Channel Dual Rectos in the $1200 range.


However, for some reason the 2-Channel versions I see for much less, there's actually one for sale here right now on CL for $1000. Which doesn't make sense, because the 2-Channel versions sound better.

I say go for it if it's a tone you like. Make sure you know how to use the amp first before you dismiss it if you haven't played it yet. A lot of people think they're very loose sounding amps; however, they CAN be dialed in for a nice, tight sound, you just need to have a good understanding of the active EQ and how it works.

[MrSandMan]

Exactly, some guys will run the 3-channel with the treble all the down on 0-2. Very odd eq'ing indeed.

[ninja636]

If I get this amp, it's gonna set me back to January on getting my recording rig. I was gonna get that first, and wait till the first of the year to get a Bugera amp, and save up for something better. But if I get this amp now, wait to get my studio stuff, then if I want, I'll sell this and use that money to get a Splawn, or maybe another Randall. I've also been checking out FJAmods custom built amps. A friend of mine has one of these(Dual Recto) and he loves it, it does sound pretty awesome. He was telling me that the rectifier tube has a lot to do with the "sag" this amp has, and to choose one that sounds good to me. This is all french to me, all I've really played through mostly were solid state and hybrid amps(Randall V2 that was stolen). I had tube amps in my youth, but back then I wasn't really concerned with tone as much as being loud. Like I said, if it's still there in 2 weeks, it's mine. While it's on layaway, I can start saving up some cash to order the lopoline cab and speakers for it. What speakers sound good with this amp? I was planning on some Swamp Thangs, but my friend told me it would have too much lowend then.

[MrSandMan]

Celestion V30s and Black Shadow (celestion knock off) are what Mesa use in their cabs.

[ninja636]

Originally Posted by MatrixClaw

It's not a bad deal.

I usually see 3-Channel Dual Rectos in the $1200 range.


However, for some reason the 2-Channel versions I see for much less, there's actually one for sale here right now on CL for $1000. Which doesn't make sense, because the 2-Channel versions sound better.

I say go for it if it's a tone you like. Make sure you know how to use the amp first before you dismiss it if you haven't played it yet. A lot of people think they're very loose sounding amps; however, they CAN be dialed in for a nice, tight sound, you just need to have a good understanding of the active EQ and how it works.

Hey dude, I gave you a point for your Mesa Pricelist link, that and the info from you and Sandman both helped me decide to possibly(I say possibly cause they might not have it in when I get the funds) get this amp. My friend that has one of these helped me out a lot too. He's playing his through a Marshal 1960a cab. I don't like the tone he's got, but he showed me he can dial in a tone close to what I want, then told me it's his cab and speakers. Did you ever get your lopoline? Hows that mutha sound?

[MatrixClaw]

Originally Posted by ninja636

He was telling me that the rectifier tube has a lot to do with the "sag" this amp has, and to choose one that sounds good to me.

This is true. However, for playing metal, you will most likely use it in its Solid State Rectified mode, which means you don't even need to bother with a good Rectifier tube, just leave what's in there. The SS Rectification will give you a tighter sound where-as the Tube Rectification will give you more sag and a looser sound, good for classic rock but not really for metal where tight, mean mutes are needed.

As for speakers, I liked how my G12T-75s sounded in my 1960 with my Mark IV, but that's pretty much the only amp I've liked them with besides Marshally voiced amps. I'd go with Vintage 30s, they just seem right with Mesas

Originally Posted by ninja636

Hey dude, I gave you a point for your Mesa Pricelist link, that and the info from you and Sandman both helped me decide to possibly(I say possibly cause they might not have it in when I get the funds) get this amp. My friend that has one of these helped me out a lot too. He's playing his through a Marshal 1960a cab. I don't like the tone he's got, but he showed me he can dial in a tone close to what I want, then told me it's his cab and speakers. Did you ever get your lopoline? Hows that mutha sound?

Thanks dude, took me a while to type that one out, they don't sell the Mark series anymore and can't remember if the Trem-O-Verb is on there or not, but I figured I'd just leave them for reference for people.

The Rectos have lots of tones in them for sure, a lot of people just seem to write them off because they have no idea how to work the EQ and just get frustrated after a while. Once you get a good understanding of it and all the different switches on the front and back you'll be in good shape for just about anything you want to play. My next amp is probably going to be a 2-Channel Dual or Triple Recto to mix with the Nitro, should sound HUGE.

I still haven't gotten the Lopoline! They said there was a "good chance" it'd be out by Wednesday and be here on Friday, but it still hasn't been sent out yet. They better send it tomorrow or I'm gonna be pissed