Good Mesa Boogie for grunge and hard rock from the 90s?

[papersoul]

Hi guys!

I recently started a 90s rock, hard rock and grunge cover band. I am really excited. I have a Bogner 20th Shiva and PWE Event Horizon and think I might grab another amp this summer. I really like Boogie's and I don't want to spend too much money on amps like I have in the past. Would like to stay below $1500 for a used head.

I was thinking Electradyne or maybe a used Royal Atlantic. I try to stay away from overly complicated amps and even though I had a Reborn Rectifier, the choices drove me nuts. My current amps are very plug in play and I much prefer that so I am leaning toward the Royal or ED. I also struggled with the rectifier to get the chewy lead tones I like. Although I played a 1998 Rectoverb that was very chewy and gooey! Why would that be!? Maybe the older rectifiers are more chewy and warm.

A Mark V would be nice but way too many options.

Thoughts?

 

[YellowJacket]

Well, the old 2 channel Rev G Rectos basically are grunge and hard rock from the 90s. Run one of these with a PRS and you're set! The Rev G set with Red channel to Vintage is great for crunch and you can set the orange channel to Vintage as well for a sweet lead tone. Then just use your volume knobs to clean up your sound!

The Electra Dyne is a great plug and play amp and it has great feel / response. It has more of a british (Coughmarshallcough) sort of a tone on the gain channels, and the clean is incredible. Not so much crunch as classic rock though. Maybe find these amps and give them a rip to see what you think?

 

[papersoul]

Well, the old 2 channel Rev G Rectos basically are grunge and hard rock from the 90s. Run one of these with a PRS and you're set! The Rev G set with Red channel to Vintage is great for crunch and you can set the orange channel to Vintage as well for a sweet lead tone. Then just use your volume knobs to clean up your sound!

The Electra Dyne is a great plug and play amp and it has great feel / response. It has more of a british (Coughmarshallcough) sort of a tone on the gain channels, and the clean is incredible. Not so much crunch as classic rock though. Maybe find these amps and give them a rip to see what you think?

Thanks bro! A friend of mine said the same thing and I played his and loved it! It was his Rectoverb. I was told a Tremoverb would be good too. But the old Rectos are not good at low volumes so it is hard to use at home for practice. How do I know if the one I am buying is Rev G? Is it based off a serial number? Like I said though it was tough to dial in for rhythm and lead, but with a good EQ pedal I think I could do it!

But there is no way to channel switch between red and orange.

 

[screamingdaisy]

How do I know if the one I am buying is Rev G? Is it based off a serial number? Like I said though it was tough to dial in for rhythm and lead, but with a good EQ pedal I think I could do it!

Rev G typically have a parallel FX loop, removable power cord, and a large Mesa logo on the front (same size as on current Rectos).
Ref F and earlier typically have a serial FX loop, attached power cord and a small Mesa logo on the front (same size as on current Roadster).

I can't remember what the serial number was at the change over anymore, but I want to say somewhere around 2200 (someone confirm?).

There's more differences, and it gets a bit messed up in the transition from F to G... but that's the gist of it.

But there is no way to channel switch between red and orange.

2 channel Dual/Triple Rectos have an Orange channel and a Red channel.

 

[papersoul]

I played my friend's early 90s 2 Channel dual rec and it was decent. I then played my friend's 1998 Rectoverb and it was unreal, amazing, so good!!!!! It is so much better than the 2011 Reborn Dual Rec I had. He said he will most likely sell it to me! Yipee!

 

[MarkMcQ]

For the grunge stuff, you could follow Cobains lead. He used a Mesa Studio Pre-amp with a Boss DS-1 and ran it into a solid state Crown poweramp. Most of that stuff you can pick up for decent prices on eBay, and you'll have a bit of cash left over to blow on other goodies.

 

[94Tremoverb]

A Dual Caliber DC-5 or DC-10 will nail the 90s grunge/hard rock sound. They're much more midrange-focused than the Rectos and more aggressive and direct than the Marks. They're also simple to operate and cheap.

 

[screamingdaisy]

A Dual Caliber DC-5 or DC-10 will nail the 90s grunge/hard rock sound. They're much more midrange-focused than the Rectos and more aggressive and direct than the Marks. They're also simple to operate and cheap.

If we're talking grunge/early 90s rock I agree with this.

Early 90s grunge and rock was fairly straight forward... Marshall [with or without dirt pedals] (Alice in Chains, Smashing Pumpkins, Temple of the Dog, Pearl Jam), Peavey (Soundgarden), Fender + Stomps (Tad, Mudhoney, Nirvana, Screaming Trees). If I had to pick an amp for this current production amp for this era I'd probably choose a Stiletto. More midrange/in your face aggressive than a Recto.

The second wave of grunge and what was now termed alternative tended to follow a fairly similar trend. Off the top of my head Bush was using Big Muffs and Silverchair was using a Metalzone. Greenday and Blur were using Marshall Super Leads. In a slightly different direction I think NoFX was using a Mark III during this era while Offspring and Pennywise were using Mark IVs.

It wasn't until around 1994/1995 that the Recto started to step to the forefront via Soundgarden's Superunknown and Korn's Selftitled. Then around 1997/98 with Creed, Limp Bizkit and Blink-182.

Long story short... if I had to pick a current production Mesa I'd lean towards a Stiletto (JCM800/Modded JCM800) or an Electra-Dyne (Plexi/Modded Plexi) for early 90s grunge/rock and a Recto for mid to late 90s rock/alternative. If I could pick anything I'd probably go for a JCM800 for a more AiC kind of vibe or a Mesa DC-10 for a more aggressive sound.

 

[SonVolt]

it wasn't until around 1994/1995 that the Recto started to step to the forefront via Soundgarden's Superunknown and Korn's Selftitled. Then around 1997/98 with Creed, Limp Bizkit and Blink-182..

Oh the pain it brings me to see Mesa and Creed in the same sentence. It's like sex when you gotta pee.

 

[papersoul]

I already have the midrange Marshall or british thing covered with my 20th Bogner Shiva with EL34s and PWE Event Horizon.
I like variety so some nights it is fun to bring a totally different sounding amp to a gig. So, I want the Mesa to not be like my british sounding Shiva or PWE! Those both replaced my Marshalls, including a Plexi!
I definitely don't need a Stiletto since I have those sort of tones covered. I also don't like do-it-all amps, so I avoid modular and digital and amps with 9 millions switches and knobs.

My friend's my friend's 1998 Rectoverb is unreal! He played some 90s covers in his original band when I saw them and he covered Pearl Jam, Collective Soul, Foo Fighters and Tool and all sounded GREAT on the Rectoverb. I thought his series I sounded better than the series II! He said I can buy it from him!

I think any of my amps, 20th Shiva to PWE Event Horizon which is one of the best british type amps I have ever tried and the Rectoverb should cover me. I would only take one amp to a gig but that is the beauty...some nights my tone would be better suited for some songs than others, but the audience won't care. I mean my buddy's cover band would pack the house and they would cover it all from Led Zep to VH to Creed to AFI and Metallica and some nights he would take his Rectifier and some nights the Marshall DSL. Nobody ever complained when he played Pearl Jam or Led Zep with his Rectifier nor if he played Creed on his Marshall DSL 100.

Example - another friend of mine was in a classic rock and funk cover band. His amp was a Mesa Rectoverb!

 

[papersoul]

What do you all think of the DC-10 and DC-5? I tried the Electradyne for a while but I like amops I can get full use out of at home and gigs, meaning it must be good at all volumes without extra gear. My 20th Bogner Shiva and PWE Event Horizon both sound great at any volume from whisper to roar! Dual Rectifiers and Rectoverbs, the Electradyne I ended up moving away from for those reasons.

One modern amp I have used that is very versatile and sounds incredible from bedroom to stage is the Fryette Sig:X. No attenuator needed, same with my other two amps.

Because I play a lot at home, I can't be struggling with volume, nor do I want even more equipment to get the volume down when I need to, LOL.

Nice thing about the Sig:X is it is great at any volume, is versatile enough that I can get Marshall type tones and heavy modern tones to rival a Rectifier. It is on the stiff side which you might think is not best for 90s....but keep in mind many of those bands use old Marshalls which were unforgiving!

 

[papersoul]

I am going to get an Electradyne and some pedals.