Mesa Rectifier Rev G vs Multi-Watt

[EOengineer]

One of my big gear regrets is selling the Rev G Recto that I bought with my high school summer job money and subsequently gigged for a decade. I loved the hell out of that amp, but had to make some big moves out of college and that amp became a down payment on a car so I could commute to my first post college job. Not proud of it, but it is what it is. Many of us have been there.

As I’ve built up a really nice collection of amps over the last few years, I’ve started to think about that amp again, but I’ve also heard consistently positive things about the multi-watt.

Does anyone here have direct experience with the Rev G and multi-watt versions of the dual rectifier? I don’t really need a Swiss Army knife amp as I don’t play in cover bands and tend to use specific amps for what they do best, which IMO would be the vintage and modern high gain (orange and red) channels.

Is there any compelling reason to choose the multi-watt over the Rev G?

 

[la szum]

Pretty sure @Orvillain recently bought a Multi-Watt and loves it to pieces.

 

[MirrorProfiles]

I have used both a lot (I own an early Rev G). They’re not quite the same but they’re close enough not to worry or pay significantly more for one over the other. Rev G is a bit more “caveman” to use, which I like. Multiwatt is probably a better amp over all (based on channels/features etc)

 

[Deadpan]

I have a RevG Dual and Triple and had two multi watt Triples, still have one. Had a non multiwatt 3 channel dual also.

Multiwatt are more raw with the RevG being a bit tighter and less raw.

The RevG Triple is my favorite. With an eq in the loop the multi watt are pretty fantastic though.

 

[EOengineer]

I have a RevG Dual and Triple and had two multi watt Triples, still have one. Had a non multiwatt 3 channel dual also.

Multiwatt are more raw with the RevG being a bit tighter and less raw.

The RevG Triple is my favorite. With an eq in the loop the multi watt are pretty fantastic though.

I’m inclined to think the Rev G is where it’s at for me. I can’t stand the 2000s 3 channel version, always felt like the vintage and modern channels lost their openness and became way too compressed. All saturation and no crunch.

I guess I need to get some time in front of a multi-watt to see how I feel about it.

 

[TSJMajesty]

I guess I need to get some time in front of a multi-watt to see how I feel about it.

I have one and I recently went tone-diving on it and I was really surprised at how versatile it is, for being known for modern rock. I had a crazy-good classic rock tone coming out of it, and using my volume knob, lots of other tones as well.

 

[Orvillain]

Pretty sure @Orvillain recently bought a Multi-Watt and loves it to pieces.

guilty as charged!

 

[paisleywookiee]

I heard the Badlander is great too, and just like a Rectifier, except it sounds totally different.

 

[MirrorProfiles]

if anyone cares how similar they can sound. Allow a certain amount of % for me spending less than 1 minute dialling these in, could probably even the differences more by adjusting settings a bit.

 

[GreatGreen]

Those clips aren't identical but they're about as close as two amps can get without being identical. I hear a tiny bit more mids in the MW, but like you said that could easily be due to the < 1 minute of dialing them in. The character of the distortion sounds almost exactly the same between the two amps.

 

[MirrorProfiles]

harder to compare orange channels because they're just different and if you dial them in by ear you just kind of go in circles and they still end up different. At like for like settings, the MW is more polite - but with the MW you can use the presence knob. Turning it up doesn't really match the top end of the G though, it adds in quite a lot of 1k area, and you'd probably balance things with the treble knob. If you dial by ear, I think the main difference is that the Rev G has a bit more lower midrange, and the MW has a midrange focus around 1k. Quite interesting to compare side by side, ultimately they both sound unmistakably like Rectifier's but I wouldn't use either channel in the same way.

 

[paisleywookiee]

if anyone cares how similar they can sound. Allow a certain amount of % for me spending less than 1 minute dialling these in, could probably even the differences more by adjusting settings a bit.





View attachment 16494

Not different enough for me to not want the nice stuff on the multi-watt, like the better loop and the 50w mode.

 

[EOengineer]

Not different enough for me to not want the nice stuff on the multi-watt, like the better loop and the 50w mode.

I say this having a Rev G literally in the mail, the multi-watt is the only other rectifier that I’d consider outside the 2 channel models.

There’s huge value there with the versatility of the different voicings and settings. The cleans are drop dead gorgeous. Crunch is perfect on the vintage gain. If I ever need an all-in-one amp solution, that’s probably where I’d start.

IMO these multi-watts are overlooked solely because there’s still some stank on anything identifying as a Recto decades after the nu metal thing.

 

[la szum]

IMO these multi-watts are overlooked solely because there’s still some stank on anything identifying as a Recto decades after the nu metal thing.

Totally! You could never do the Nu-Metal thing tuned down to B and have an amazing amp with
all the versatility you could ever want.

 

[paisleywookiee]

Totally! You could never do the Nu-Metal thing tuned down to B and have an amazing amp with
all the versatility you could ever want.

Let’s be honest, the treadplate doesn’t help the image. I hate treadplate

 

[la szum]

Oh man, I don't know? Should we save the Treadplate for the workbenches and the tailgates of our trucks?

There is something very Bro-tastic about it, I have to admit.

 

[JiveTurkey]

I'm about as un-Bro AF as you could ever be but I like the treadplate

 

[MirrorProfiles]

There’s huge value there with the versatility of the different voicings and settings. The cleans are drop dead gorgeous. Crunch is perfect on the vintage gain. If I ever need an all-in-one amp solution, that’s probably where I’d start.

Have to agree. Really was an important part of the “multi channel amp” story and arguably still the benchmark of what variety of tones and controls a guitarist expects from a flagship amp.

Treadplate is bro AF, but sort of suits a lot of the genres associated with it. Including BUTTROCK, nu metal, industrial etc. It’s a bit tacky but it looks better than Peavey’s Triple XXX, and I’d take it any day of the week over snakeskin

 

[paisleywookiee]

Oh man, I don't know? Should we save the Treadplate for the workbenches and the tailgates of our trucks?

There is something very Bro-tastic about it, I have to admit.

Personal preference, that’s all. However, if I have to, I’ll take an all-black Recto.

 

[Deadpan]

Posted in the other thread but wanted to post here as I will add some other RevG Rectos also.

Here is the 50th Anniversary MW Triple Modern through a Mesa 2x12 mic'd with a single SM57. Setting matched to @MirrorProfiles

I tried to match the level to the other clips but there were some variances, so I aimed for in between.