UberMetalDood
New member
... Just kidding. Not really, but this is a good review with some audio 
Part 1 - Speakers:
I ran my new Mini Rect head through the Eminence Lightning speaker of my Blues Junior. It was a little too bright and my only other option was a Texas Heat which I didn't think would reduce the sizzle, so I went out and bought a Lonestar 1x12 cab loaded with the Black Shadow speaker. The Mini Rect cab looks cool and it's closed back, but it's also $70 more. The Lonestar has the same speaker and I like the airiness of the open back.
The speaker swap did the trick. It really balanced out the sound and it started sounding awesome. I since tried a Celestion V30 and it's even better. I can't wait to try a Man-o-War or Legend V128, when I finally decide which one.
With the Eminence Lightning, which is a good speaker, it felt all wrong. The response was too spongy, almost resistant. It's still pretty new so maybe it just needs break-in time. In any case, the Black Shadow made all of the difference in response too. Now it's quite responsive.
Part 2 - Features:
This amp does not have reverb, but it has an effects loop. I ran my Line6 M9 through it for some reverb (a bit of reverb used in the sound clip), delay and flanger. I use effects subtly but even with the effects mix high, it sounds great. The FX loop is one of the best. There is also an FX loop bypass switch to cut it all out of the circuit if you need.
There are two channels and four modes:
Clean (clean & pushed)
Drive (vintage & modern)
The most astonishing thing about the Mini Rect is the clean channel. It literally made me decide to get rid of my beloved Blues Junior. I'm always so impressed with my Blues Junior clean tones that I always keep one around, but the Mini Rect has it BEAT! It's sweet, clean, pristine, jangly, shimmering, etc... All of the descriptive words used to describe Fender cleans apply here. I have not played clean as much as I have in the last few days. It's that good.
As if that's not enough, you also get a "pushed" mode which is can stay very clean itself, but it's like having a clean boost on. Just when you thought the cleans couldn't get any better, you switch on pushed mode and sing.
As if THAT'S not enough, you get a 25w and 10w switch on each channel. That adds a whole other dynamic to each mode. Now you can literally get everything from a boutique vintage tweed low-wattage tone to a very loud Fender Twin type of tone.
Over on the gain channel you have vintage and modern mode. Vintage is kind of where I like to dwell, but even though the modern voice is hyped as a brutal metal type thing, it's actually a really good modern sounding tone. There is a lot of gain on this channel, but not until the gain gets around 2:00. There is a whole array of blues, classic rock, and 80's rock tones up to about 12:30 on the gain dial. From 12:30 to about 2:00 can do lots of modern rock and 80's rock. After that you get into some pretty heavy distortion and liquid solo stuff.
Modern mode is voiced differently. It doesn't have the same breakup and has more definition. They say it's more aggressively voiced, so I guess so, but there are a lot of sounds you can work with in this mode.
Part 3: Overall Tone
Having spent some quality time with the Transatlantic 15, and having a very difficult time deciding between it and the Mini, I can give you a little contrast. Overall the TA-15 is a bit more open sounding than the Mini Rect, whereas the Mini Rect is a bit stuffed. Comparing the clean channel between the two is like comparing the clean channels of a Bogner Ecstasy and a Shiva. Personally, I'm slightly more impressed with the Mini Rect.
The clean tone of the TA-15 is kind of more along the lines of a classic Mesa Clean tone. It reminds me of a few Mesas including the Lonestar, Royal Atlantic and Electra Dyne. In contrast, the cleans of the Mini Rect are a bit of a departure. They're just different and Mesa has raised the bar big time because you just don't expect that kind of sound from a high gain channel switcher.
The Mini Rectifier has an aggressive edge, but it can also be smooth and liquid if you get the hang of the controls which are difficult to comprehend at first. It has a lot of low end which I tend to use sparingly. You really can get a whole pallet of tones from classic rock to metal and everything in between.
It's very punchy and has a lot of single note definition for solos. You can really feel the notes when you pick. Palm mutes are percussive. Chords roar with authority. Mesa Boogie wasn't lying when they said that this thing is not a toy. It certainly isn't a trimmed down, weak little brother. It's a full-fledged rectifier that has stepped it up a few notches in the tone department.
Man I'd be remiss if I didn't mention how insane all the harmonics are. This amp squeals like no other. Your harmonics will scream like a banshee. Artifical harmonics, tap harmonics, natural harmonics all come out at will.
The last thing I should cover is is how dynamic it is. Even in modern mode, there is still a pretty good degree of dynamic response. You can control a lot with just your pick. In pushed mode, the dynamics are magical. I'm seriously trying not to exaggerate on this. Boutique amps usually have the edge in this category, and you would not expect such a feature rich, high-gain amp to have this quality.
Part 4 - Controls:
It can be very tricky to configure your tone on a Mesa Boogie, and the Mini Rect is no exception. In fact, I had a harder time figuring it out than the Express amps. You can't start at 12:00 and start going from there. I haven't been able to get a great sound with anything much above 12:00, and certainly not the bass. You have to keep the bass no more than 11:30 even on the clean channel.
In the manual, Mesa Boogie has done a great job of providing sweet spots for each control, however, from my experience, the sweet spots are a bit left of what they suggest when your volume level is lower. Many of their settings work if you play at the volume they suggest, but that's LOUD.
The multi-class wattage thing plays a big role in the sound you achieve. Whenever you switch to 10w, you have to back off of the gain and increase the volume to match the 25w setting, but then it's spongier with more power amp distortion. It's almost like having a third mode for each channel.
Part 5 - Power:
It's LOUD. I think the Blues Junior is a pretty loud 15 watts, and the Mini Rect is about 10 watts louder. I'm using a 1x12 cab and that's enough volume for most gigs. I'm pretty sure that a 4x12 would be loud enough for pretty much a medium size venue.
Part 6 - Nuances:
One thing that you first notice is that the modern mode has a huge jump in volume so you have to adjust channel 1 accordingly if you plan to switch to the clean channel.
Gain is a tricky thing on the Mini. The manual suggests that the gain be set no higher than about 3:00. I haven't needed any more gain that that so I'm not worried about squeezing any more out of it. If you want a more open but saturated distortion, you have to use modern mode as it sounds a little less stuffed in high gain.
There are a couple of other little things, but I'm tired of typing and I don't want to take all the fun out of it.
Part 7 - Aesthetics:
Yeah it definitely looks cool and is built like a tank, but something really neat about it is that you can order different colored plating for it. Stock comes with the chrome diamond plate grill and powdered black chassis, but red, blue, pewter, black combinations with either powdered black chassis or silver chassis is available. They're $99 each so if you want to personalize yours just a little, it's a cool option.
Part 8 - The Audio Sample:
Ok this is not the best audio and it's not the best playing because it was just something I recorded very quickly for the purpose of this review, mainly because I aimed to augment the reading with the audio. This is a low volume recording done in 10w mode. It was just something I whipped up in a matter of minutes so I can't remember exactly how I set everything up.
I used two strats. I think the rhythm was done with a Seth Lover. The lead was a Custom Custom. I had a little reverb from my Line6 M9, but that was all as far as effects go. The track could be mastered better but I don't want to fool with it. Without further ado:
Mesa Boogie Mini Rectifier Low Volume Demo
Part 1 - Speakers:
I ran my new Mini Rect head through the Eminence Lightning speaker of my Blues Junior. It was a little too bright and my only other option was a Texas Heat which I didn't think would reduce the sizzle, so I went out and bought a Lonestar 1x12 cab loaded with the Black Shadow speaker. The Mini Rect cab looks cool and it's closed back, but it's also $70 more. The Lonestar has the same speaker and I like the airiness of the open back.
The speaker swap did the trick. It really balanced out the sound and it started sounding awesome. I since tried a Celestion V30 and it's even better. I can't wait to try a Man-o-War or Legend V128, when I finally decide which one.
With the Eminence Lightning, which is a good speaker, it felt all wrong. The response was too spongy, almost resistant. It's still pretty new so maybe it just needs break-in time. In any case, the Black Shadow made all of the difference in response too. Now it's quite responsive.
Part 2 - Features:
This amp does not have reverb, but it has an effects loop. I ran my Line6 M9 through it for some reverb (a bit of reverb used in the sound clip), delay and flanger. I use effects subtly but even with the effects mix high, it sounds great. The FX loop is one of the best. There is also an FX loop bypass switch to cut it all out of the circuit if you need.
There are two channels and four modes:
Clean (clean & pushed)
Drive (vintage & modern)
The most astonishing thing about the Mini Rect is the clean channel. It literally made me decide to get rid of my beloved Blues Junior. I'm always so impressed with my Blues Junior clean tones that I always keep one around, but the Mini Rect has it BEAT! It's sweet, clean, pristine, jangly, shimmering, etc... All of the descriptive words used to describe Fender cleans apply here. I have not played clean as much as I have in the last few days. It's that good.
As if that's not enough, you also get a "pushed" mode which is can stay very clean itself, but it's like having a clean boost on. Just when you thought the cleans couldn't get any better, you switch on pushed mode and sing.
As if THAT'S not enough, you get a 25w and 10w switch on each channel. That adds a whole other dynamic to each mode. Now you can literally get everything from a boutique vintage tweed low-wattage tone to a very loud Fender Twin type of tone.
Over on the gain channel you have vintage and modern mode. Vintage is kind of where I like to dwell, but even though the modern voice is hyped as a brutal metal type thing, it's actually a really good modern sounding tone. There is a lot of gain on this channel, but not until the gain gets around 2:00. There is a whole array of blues, classic rock, and 80's rock tones up to about 12:30 on the gain dial. From 12:30 to about 2:00 can do lots of modern rock and 80's rock. After that you get into some pretty heavy distortion and liquid solo stuff.
Modern mode is voiced differently. It doesn't have the same breakup and has more definition. They say it's more aggressively voiced, so I guess so, but there are a lot of sounds you can work with in this mode.
Part 3: Overall Tone
Having spent some quality time with the Transatlantic 15, and having a very difficult time deciding between it and the Mini, I can give you a little contrast. Overall the TA-15 is a bit more open sounding than the Mini Rect, whereas the Mini Rect is a bit stuffed. Comparing the clean channel between the two is like comparing the clean channels of a Bogner Ecstasy and a Shiva. Personally, I'm slightly more impressed with the Mini Rect.
The clean tone of the TA-15 is kind of more along the lines of a classic Mesa Clean tone. It reminds me of a few Mesas including the Lonestar, Royal Atlantic and Electra Dyne. In contrast, the cleans of the Mini Rect are a bit of a departure. They're just different and Mesa has raised the bar big time because you just don't expect that kind of sound from a high gain channel switcher.
The Mini Rectifier has an aggressive edge, but it can also be smooth and liquid if you get the hang of the controls which are difficult to comprehend at first. It has a lot of low end which I tend to use sparingly. You really can get a whole pallet of tones from classic rock to metal and everything in between.
It's very punchy and has a lot of single note definition for solos. You can really feel the notes when you pick. Palm mutes are percussive. Chords roar with authority. Mesa Boogie wasn't lying when they said that this thing is not a toy. It certainly isn't a trimmed down, weak little brother. It's a full-fledged rectifier that has stepped it up a few notches in the tone department.
Man I'd be remiss if I didn't mention how insane all the harmonics are. This amp squeals like no other. Your harmonics will scream like a banshee. Artifical harmonics, tap harmonics, natural harmonics all come out at will.
The last thing I should cover is is how dynamic it is. Even in modern mode, there is still a pretty good degree of dynamic response. You can control a lot with just your pick. In pushed mode, the dynamics are magical. I'm seriously trying not to exaggerate on this. Boutique amps usually have the edge in this category, and you would not expect such a feature rich, high-gain amp to have this quality.
Part 4 - Controls:
It can be very tricky to configure your tone on a Mesa Boogie, and the Mini Rect is no exception. In fact, I had a harder time figuring it out than the Express amps. You can't start at 12:00 and start going from there. I haven't been able to get a great sound with anything much above 12:00, and certainly not the bass. You have to keep the bass no more than 11:30 even on the clean channel.
In the manual, Mesa Boogie has done a great job of providing sweet spots for each control, however, from my experience, the sweet spots are a bit left of what they suggest when your volume level is lower. Many of their settings work if you play at the volume they suggest, but that's LOUD.
The multi-class wattage thing plays a big role in the sound you achieve. Whenever you switch to 10w, you have to back off of the gain and increase the volume to match the 25w setting, but then it's spongier with more power amp distortion. It's almost like having a third mode for each channel.
Part 5 - Power:
It's LOUD. I think the Blues Junior is a pretty loud 15 watts, and the Mini Rect is about 10 watts louder. I'm using a 1x12 cab and that's enough volume for most gigs. I'm pretty sure that a 4x12 would be loud enough for pretty much a medium size venue.
Part 6 - Nuances:
One thing that you first notice is that the modern mode has a huge jump in volume so you have to adjust channel 1 accordingly if you plan to switch to the clean channel.
Gain is a tricky thing on the Mini. The manual suggests that the gain be set no higher than about 3:00. I haven't needed any more gain that that so I'm not worried about squeezing any more out of it. If you want a more open but saturated distortion, you have to use modern mode as it sounds a little less stuffed in high gain.
There are a couple of other little things, but I'm tired of typing and I don't want to take all the fun out of it.
Part 7 - Aesthetics:
Yeah it definitely looks cool and is built like a tank, but something really neat about it is that you can order different colored plating for it. Stock comes with the chrome diamond plate grill and powdered black chassis, but red, blue, pewter, black combinations with either powdered black chassis or silver chassis is available. They're $99 each so if you want to personalize yours just a little, it's a cool option.
Part 8 - The Audio Sample:
Ok this is not the best audio and it's not the best playing because it was just something I recorded very quickly for the purpose of this review, mainly because I aimed to augment the reading with the audio. This is a low volume recording done in 10w mode. It was just something I whipped up in a matter of minutes so I can't remember exactly how I set everything up.
I used two strats. I think the rhythm was done with a Seth Lover. The lead was a Custom Custom. I had a little reverb from my Line6 M9, but that was all as far as effects go. The track could be mastered better but I don't want to fool with it. Without further ado:
Mesa Boogie Mini Rectifier Low Volume Demo
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