Mesa/Boogie Mini Rectifier Twenty-Five and Mini Recto 1 x 12 cabinet
132 Guitarist January 2012
£1,099 & £449
GUITAR AMPS
rhythms. If it lacks anything,
it’s the air and space of an open-
backed cabinet and, of course,
reverb. The clean mode will
overdrive if you push the gain
pot – most satisfying in the
more elastic-feeling 10-watt
mode – but much better for that
in our opinion is the next mode.
‘Pushed’ immediately ups the
signal’s gain for a much
stronger, more urgent tone.
Cleans are punchier here, but
it’s when you head on into more
crunchy low-gain rock and pop
rhythm tones that it gets really
exciting. With a Telecaster for
example, and in 25-watt mode,
the combined thump and sizzle
from open-position chords is a
sound you’ve heard on
countless records from the
Stones to the Georgia Satellites.
Flicking down to 10 watts
smooths out the dynamics,
compressing on the note attack
and blooming more as they
sustain – if you like the way
50-watt Marshalls react when
cranked, you’ll recognise some
of that here, albeit at much
more manageable volume
levels. If you’re adept with
mic’ing, that becomes an
absolute godsend for recording.
And so it goes with channel
two’s ‘vintage’ mode. It’s a bit of
a misnomer unless by ‘vintage’
you mean a heavily modded
classic rock head, fat, saturated
and with a plenty of loose
bottom-end resonance. It’s just
lovely for late seventies/eighties
rock riffing and solos –
humbucker-loaded Strat with
a maple fretboard and a Floyd,
anyone? Or perhaps knock back
the gain and bass, and let a Les
Paul push those mids in a
heavier Gary Moore or
southern rock direction. Now
the closed-back cab’s tightness
and direct projection becomes
a real boon.
The final mode, ‘modern’,
gets much closer to what people
associate with the Rectifier
name. More presence, a tighter
bottom-end response and more
cutting mid-range brings the
rock tones into the nineties and
beyond, where the overall more
focused sound handles
crushing gain levels and down-
tuning in a way the older amps
never could. The Dyna-Watt
circuit is a real bonus here
because despite the 25-watt
rating, the way the Mini
Rectifier handles its playing
dynamics means that, while it’s
obviously not able to out-shout
a 50- or 100-watt Dual
Rectifier, it will surprise you
with its volume, poise and sheer
size of sound, even through that
single 1 x 12 cab.
Verdict
At this price, the Mini Rectifier
has a hard road ahead. On the
one hand, how many rock
guitar player’s egos will allow
them to even countenance
spending over a grand on such
a tiny box and ‘only’ 25 watts…
plus the cabinet, of course? On
the other, how many of us are
fed up with carrying around
huge, heavy amps that fewer
and fewer venues will allow us
to crank up?
Therein lies the Mini
Rectifier’s raison d’être:
because in any real-world
playing situation where a 50-
or 100-watt valve amp is just
too much, this little box does a
thoroughly convincing job for
all rock styles. It lacks reverb,
and the omission of a speaker-
emulated direct out feels like
an oversight, but if what you
seek is a go-anywhere, no-fuss
rock amp for small gigs, the
Mini Rectifier absolutely fits
the bill.
Mesa/Boogie
Mini Rectifier
Twenty-Five
£1,099
USA
All-valve two-channel,
four-mode head with solid-
state rectification
25 watts, switchable to
10 watts
5 x 12AX7, 2 x EL84
Both channels have:
gain, treble, middle, bass,
presence, master
Single-button switch
for channel change included
Valve-
powered effects loop with hard
bypass option, 1 x 8-ohm, 1 x 4-ohm
speaker out. Padded gigbag with
carry handle
5.5/12
321 (w) x 150 (h)
x 172mm (d)
None
Large range of
Rectifier Series models in 50, 100 and
150 watts. See website for full details
Mini Recto
1 x 12 cabinet
£449
USA
1 x 12 speaker cabinet
60 watts
@ 8 ohms
: 1 x Celestion V30
: 460 (w) x 500 (h)
x 280mm (d)
: 14.5/32
: Slant and angled cab
options. Custom finishes at extra cost
: Mesa produces
a large range of guitar cabs – see
website
Test results
The Bottom Line
We like: Sound; looks; build
quality; simplicity in use
We dislike: No reverb;
expensive compared to its
mini-head competition
Guitarist says: Tiny,
surprisingly loud and chock
full of great tones. A
preconceptions gauntlet
thrown down for rock
guitarists everywhere
How many of us are fed up with
carrying huge amps that fewer and
fewer venues will allow us to crank up?
Each channel has two preamp modes, and also two power output options
http://vault.guitarist.co.uk
GIT350.rev_mesa.indd 132 11/30/11 9:59:55 AM