2015 Mesa Triple Rectifier Multiwatt

Overview

I acquired this amp from Guitar Center, where it was a store return due to a damaged power socket. Luckily, it was just the plastic socket itself that was cracked, so it was a very easy fix using a $3 part. Not bad considering the price I got the amp for, however it was missing the footswitch, and at $201 for the 6-button footswitch and 7-pin cable, that’s a pretty expensive omission… but pretty normal for Guitar Center purchases (I wonder where all of the footswitches go?). Of course, a rare credit where it is due here, the store did notify me of the damage and even supplied me with a photo when asked, before shipping the amp to me - I hope that trend continues for other purchases.

On to the amp itself, it’s the evolution of the 3 channel Rectifier series amps which were made from 2000-2009 (and sold like crazy!). The Multi-watt amps like this one were made from 2010 to present - this particular one is dated 2015. These amps are sometimes called “Reborn” Rectifiers due to the marketing material from Mesa, where the text “The Classic Reborn” appeared prominently, with Reborn in stylized red font, so the name kind of stuck.

Visually, the amp looks almost the same as the previous version, except now each channel has an extra 2-way mini switch. This changes the wattage of a given channel to reduce volume, and it simply engages only two power tubes in 50w mode to achieve this. The other changes on the front are very minor, with slightly smaller chrome dome knobs, and in this case a black jute grille instead of the more common chrome tread plate (which is still available, if desired).

On the rear, the functions are very similar but with slight updates - the bold/spongy power switch is now a proper bat-handle switch instead of a plastic rocker switch, and each channel has its own mini-switch to choose either the tube rectifiers or silicon diode rectifier. This is a huge feature in my eyes, because it allows me to set up one channel to use that looser, saggier feel but I can keep another channel with the tighter solid state rectifier (which is louder). And this goes hand in hand with the next change, both channel 2 and 3 are now identical in the same mode. Previously, modern mode in channel 2 had a different presence pot range than channel 3, but it was a common mod to make them both the same value. On this amp, both channels in modern mode are exactly the same, using some switching and dual-gang pots. In practice, this means you can set up these two channels to sound identical, and then make minor tweaks - such as using Ch2 Modern with SS Rectifier for a tight metal rhythm, then Ch2 Modern with Tube rectifier and slightly more volume for a killer lead tone. There’s a lot of different ways to set it up and it’s really well thought out. Continuing on the rear panel, the effects loop is now in series rather than parallel, and has a very nice level knob with a center detent to make it easy to set back to unity gain.

Overall, they did a great job evolving the same concept as the original 3ch recto, which itself was a good update to the 2ch models, functionally. Tone wise though, even I think the Rev G 2ch is the better sounding between them. However with extensive A/Bing, I will say I think a lot of people will prefer this multiwatt, even compared to the Rev G or even Rev F models. It’s still that same core rectifier tone, with aggressive highs and a full low end, but this amp is a bit tighter, punchier, and the leads feel a little less buzzsaw/thin. The old 3ch feels a bit more raw to me, the treble is more aggressive and the bass a little less polite, but that amp can also get boomy and it really needs a boost to tighten up for some metal rhythms. This multiwatt on the other hand is tighter, less boomy, but also a hair less aggressive in the high end - you really notice in palm mutes and especially palm mutes in the upper register such as when soloing. I don’t think it’s quite tight enough for the most discerning or articulate metal tones (it’s still not a Mark!), but it’s a great step in the right direction for general use - you can now turn the gain all the way up, go to drop D, and it still sounds equally great for some heavy riffing as well as having smooth sounding solos, while retaining that classic Rectifier series wide frequency range, wall of sound thing.

I’m mostly referring to heavier, high gain tones, but another nice improvement of this slightly reworked voicing and presence control change is how much more usable the Raw and Vintage modes are, as well as the clean channel’s Pushed mode. This is the first Rectifier amp that I really feel confident in recommending even for mid-gain crunch tones. On my older 3ch, I felt that especially on the aggressive presence sweep of channel 3, it made lower gain vintage sounds or any sound in raw mode a bit too brittle sounding. Channel 2 was better, but it still wasn’t a point I’d say the amp excelled at, even if it was very usable. Since that area had a lot of room for improvement, it’s no surprise to me that the multiwatt model leapt so far forward in that category. Raw and Vintage mode feel much better at lower gain settings and the presence control feels a little more intuitive now.