NAMM 2025: After teasing its return last week, Mesa/Boogie has now officially launched the ’90s Dual Rectifier – a reissue of the holy grail high-gain guitar amp that defined the sound of heavy music in the 1990s.
As was noted when whispers of the Dual Rectifier’s revival first began circulating online, this latest release continues the Gibson-owned amp brand’s current trend of reissuing Golden Era tube amps, after the return of the Mark IIC+ at the back-end of 2024.
Like the Mark IIC+, the Dual Rectifier is one of electric guitar music’s most celebrated and revered amps and, as asserted by the Gibson Gazette, is comfortably one of the most modeled guitar tones in today’s digital amp landscape, having been replicated by Universal Audio, IK Multimedia and many others.
Now, though, players have been given another opportunity to play the real deal, with Mesa/Boogie launching an updated-yet-faithful take on the iconic amp head.
For a brief history lesson, the Dual Rectifier first arrived in 1992, after spending a few years in development during the late 1980s as Mesa/Boogie sought to cater to heavy, high-gain guitarists.
It became a hit for guitarists across the entire genre spectrum, and over the years was played by the likes of Foo Fighters, Alice in Chains, blink-182, Tool, Korn, Limp Bizkit, Soundgarden and countless more.
First and foremost, this new take has been described as a “faithful recreation of the tube amp that redefined high gain and provided much of the soundtrack of a generation”. As such, it comes suitably dressed up, with a Black diamond Plate grille and Black Bronco vinyl that pays homage to the source material.
Furthering the faithful vibe, this new edition offers a foot-switchable dual channel design that covers the “scorching high-gain crunch” and “expressive cleans”. Specifically, three distinct sounds are categorized into Red, Orange and Green modes.
These channels are dictated by a no-nonsense control panel comprising Master, Presence, Bass, Mid, Treble and Gain parameters, as well as a Loop Active Master knob, which works in tandem with the FX loop.
Under the hood, the 100-watt head comes packing with five 12AX7 preamp tubes, four 6L6 power amp tubes, and two 5U4 Rectifier tubes.
Naturally, Mesa/Boogie has also fitted the returning amp with some choice upgrades in a bid to make it more attractive to modern players. As far as performance goes, the general clean tones have supposedly been “improved and enhanced”.
For functionality, Mesa/Boogie has also fitted a Variac switch, which works alongside the amp’s switchable rectifiers – which, in turn, toggle between tube and silicon diode rectifier modes for a varied sound – in order to further tailor the amp’s response.
Through this, players can fine-tune the response for a fierce attack for tighter riffs in ‘Bold’ mode, or an “elastic” feel for more expressive playing in the ‘Spongy’ setting.
Furthermore, the rear panel also now hosts a Channel Style Select Switch that has been marked as a “cloning configuration assignment”. Effectively, it works to reconfigure the amp by changing the overall tonal character of its channels.
In other words, if players wanted two high-gain Red or two mid-gain Orange channels – rather than one of each – that is now a possibility. Rather niche, but no doubt useful for some players.
“It certainly wasn't easy,” reflects Tommy Waugh, Mesa/Boogie's Amplifier Product Manager, of the amp's creation. “We had to go through some older Recs, going back through each part of the circuit to see what made each thing special, because there’s so much inside this amplifier – what were the best things of this circuit, and what could we improve upon?
“We got to the end and realized we had a cleaner, meaner, better Rectifier. There’s no denying it.”
The price tag for the ’90s Dual Rectifier is yet to be confirmed.
Head over to Mesa/Boogie to find out more.
In related Mesa/Boogie news, firm founder Randall Smith – who left the company last year – recently recalled how the brand got its Boogie name... and how he developed his hammer test.
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