Mesa Rectoverb 25 Head: Yay or Nay?

[rlord1974]

Thinking of grabbing one as a lightweight back up amp for club gigs (sick of carrying a second full size head to collect dust behind my rig during the show) and as a gran 'n go for quick rehearsals.

What's the verdict on these? I've never seen one in a shop so would have to order without having heard one in person.

P.S. I have no interest in a Mini Mark V:25 so let's not go there as an option!

 

[Speeddemon]

P.S. I have no interest in a Mini Mark V:25 so let's not go there as an option!

Why not?
It's smaller, lighter and way more versatile than the 25W Rectoverb.

 

[rlord1974]

P.S. I have no interest in a Mini Mark V:25 so let's not go there as an option!

Why not?
It's smaller, lighter and way more versatile than the 25W Rectoverb.

I don't need that much versatility and never "scoop" my mids so the GEQ is pretty much overkill for me. I want simple and easy to dial in. The less to go wrong and/or tweak the better. The hallmarks of a good, straightforward back up.

If I can get a decent clean and good Vintage High Gain tone out of the Rectoverb 25, it will fit the bill.

 

[Chris6870]

I have one. I like it. I had the V:25 and the Mini Rec also. I prefer the Rectoverb. For high gain chugging, I don't like it. For classic rock kinda tones, clean, and crunch, I like it. That's what I use it for. For high gain stuff my Mark IV is much better.
The cleans are great and the clean /pushed mode is really nice and the dual reverb controls are cool.

This is one of the better sounding demos

 

[Fuego]

Mesa nay. Engl yay.

 

[Chris6870]

Mesa nay. Engl yay.

I considered the Ironball. Being that I was buying used I chose the Mesa due to the warranty, customer support and build quality. Mesa has a transferable warranty excellent support and stellar build quality, Engl.. Not so much.

 

[cardinal]

I had the same impression as BrokenFusion. Nice enough rock amp and back up. I wouldn't want it for a main amp because I wasn't a huge fan of how it did with high gain, but it wasn't bad.

 

[andross182]

I enjoy mine, bought it for what I thought would be a quieter 25w practice amp at home, and came to found out its anything but! This thing is LOUD, loudest 25 watts I have ever heard. The volume taper on the master volume goes from off to loud annoyingly fast, and since it doesn't have a master volume its hard to find a low volume sweet spot on it.

I do enjoy it for gigs though. Only annoying thing is that to foot switch the reverb you need a second pedal and second cable, which would be a side affect of Mesa using the same board as the mini rec but just adding a reverb tank to it.

 

[born_hard]

check out the new Engl Rock master , too. has a built in attenuator.
Its not bad either.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwSMk1sVDVs

 

[jinch0]

You should take a look at the victory kraken or revv 7-40

 

[Speeddemon]

Mesa nay. Engl yay.

and stellar build quality, Engl.. Not so much.

I see this repeated on a select few forums many times...
How many of you actually have an Engl break down on you?
How many have seen/experienced a broken-down Ironball?

I have both the Ironball and the Mark V:25 sittin' here.
Yes, the Mesa has awesome build quality and eye for detail. But hey, so does Engl! I have owned a Savage 60 (bought it used) for a few years, with lots of gigging; been gigging and weekly rehearsing since '07 with an Invader 100, and now I have the Ironball almost for 2 years.

Never. One. Glitch.
Build quality is great. The Ironball is super heavy duty with a metal enclosure (like the Mini Rectifier).
So instead of just rehashing what you've "heard someone else say on a forum", judge the stuff from first-hand experience.

@Rlord1974; if you're US based, I can imagine that the Ironball may be a less actractive deal than the ROV25. Here in Europe it's totally the other way around. The ROV25 is ALMOST TWICE THE PRICE of the Ironball. (1640 euro's vs. 875 euro)
Nevertheless, I think you owe it to yourself to at least TRY the Ironball next to the Rectoverb.

When I bought mine, I A/B-ed it against the Mini Rectifier (and to a lesser extent the JCM1H) and gain wise, I found the Mesa way too flubby and fizzy. The Engl sounded tight, controlled, yet huge. And it can do awesome in-between crunch sounds.
I will say that the Mesa's clean *is* a lot more complex, refined and nicer than the Engl's. The Ironball's clean channel however lends itself to be cranked into JTM45/Plexi-ish tones, plus it has a footswitchable gain boost.
I've done some awesome AC-DC and Boston-like tones on it.

 

[Fuego]

There's. A comparison video of the Mesa to the Ironball. No contest. Listen for ur self. Poor build quality? It's German! German engineering is top of the world.name one German product that isn't better or at least as good as its competitors. Those who talk about quality have never even seen one probably. I'm not even talking about the rov. I'm talking mini mark vs Ironball. Ur deaf if u think it sounds better. Why are Americans like this? " I think whatever sucks, even though I've never played or felt one."

 

[PBGas]

There's. A comparison video of the Mesa to the Ironball. No contest. Listen for ur self. Poor build quality? It's German! German engineering is top of the world.name one German product that isn't better or at least as good as its competitors. Those who talk about quality have never even seen one probably. I'm not even talking about the rov. I'm talking mini mark vs Ironball. Ur deaf if u think it sounds better. Why are Americans like this? " I think whatever sucks, even though I've never played or felt one."

Well....the VW Diesel is apparently not doing real well these days......certainly not a leader in the emmisions dept. I kid.......

 

[andross182]

There's. A comparison video of the Mesa to the Ironball. No contest. Listen for ur self. Poor build quality? It's German! German engineering is top of the world.name one German product that isn't better or at least as good as its competitors. Those who talk about quality have never even seen one probably. I'm not even talking about the rov. I'm talking mini mark vs Ironball. Ur deaf if u think it sounds better. Why are Americans like this? " I think whatever sucks, even though I've never played or felt one."

Well if the amps are anything like their cars...they are over engineered and cost an arm and a leg to repair!

 

[slyym]

Is ENGL German? I always thought it was short for England! Silly me!!!

 

[Bluplirst]

There's. A comparison video of the Mesa to the Ironball. No contest. Listen for ur self. Poor build quality? It's German! German engineering is top of the world.name one German product that isn't better or at least as good as its competitors. Those who talk about quality have never even seen one probably. I'm not even talking about the rov. I'm talking mini mark vs Ironball. Ur deaf if u think it sounds better. Why are Americans like this? " I think whatever sucks, even though I've never played or felt one."

Ok, so all German made equipment is superior and all Americans are biased without experience? A lot of Americans have tried and use Engl and many have noticed the cheaper internal construction and components.

Take your head out of your ass.

 

[Speeddemon]

yeah, he's overstating it. There's quality German gear and quality US gear. And both countries can produce crap too. Even with more emissions!

But that video he referred to is very telling.

But the Mini Rectifier is NOT the Mini Mark. And whenever the Rectifier may be too mushy, the Mark might actually be too tight. The thing is, it's easier to dial OUT the too-tightness on the Mark, than to dial in more tightness/less mush on the Mini Recto, outside the use of certain boost/drive pedals.

Having the Ironball *and* the Mark V:25 here at home, I'd say I'm quite qualified to point out any differences or similarities between them.
Similarities:
-both 2x EL84 amps
-both very lightweight and compact (14" wide, less than 16lbs)
-both 2 channels.
-both capable of (nice)clean and super high gain, as well as in between tones.
-both have reverb (with a reverb control on the back) and an fx-loop.
-both have speaker-emulated recording outputs
-both have a headphones output
-both can turn on an internal load for silent recording.

There are of course differences. And enough for me now to keep them both.
The Engl is easier to setup and easier for instant gratification if you haven't read the manual. The Mesa not so much.
The Mesa is louder, has more bells and whistles and 2 full featured channels (e.g. no shared EQ).
The Engl has a great power soak switch (20W, 5W, 1W, off), a Master volume knob, footswitchable reverb, Master volume boost (pre-set) and pre-gain Boost.

For a quick grab and go type of thing, I would slightly gravitate towards the Engl, as the Mesa's alot pickier about speaker cabs, guitars and has more tweaking possibilities, that can also make it harder to quickly setup.

Oh, and lemme throw a curveball that's sort of a mix between the Mini Recto and the Ironball, in terms of functionality:

 

[CaseyCor]

I don't understand why more amps don't use digital front ends, especially with the mini/lunchbox amps (finally) becoming more widespread. The Wouldn't it be great to have a Mark V:25 with digital controls? Meaning, the same type of physical knobs/switches/sliders it has now, but once they are dialed in you can save a digital preset and then change the controls. With this design, the Mark V:25 could be even smaller. Just one set of EQ controls, the switches, and the 5-band EQ on the front. Pick a channel, pick a mode, dial it in, save it, and repeat. Recall your setting with a pedalboard/onboard LED.

The Mark V:25 is awesome, but the number of sounds available at any given time are low. Once you dial in the 2 sounds you want, changing those up requires completely changing your settings on the amp. You can set up a clean sound on Channel 1, and a high gain sound on Channel 2 for your typical metal stuff, but when you want to switch to a lower gain rhythm rock sound on channel 1, and change Channel 2 to represent a lead sound for rock music, you have to change everything. You can switch modes on Channel 1 to get the rock sound easily enough, but chances are you'll need to re-EQ the channel as well. Same for Channel 2.

A digital front-end would allow you to dial in all of these tones and save them. You could still make minor adjustments to the active preset with the controls, but the basics of your sound are always there. This idea isn't without precedent either. The H&K Coreblade has a digital panel that works very well. This tech could be used to make these mini-amps a lot more versatile, and even smaller.

Does the Mark V:25 not have a "global" master volume? I never noticed that before (haven't played one). That's an odd omission.

 

[kalt]

Why are Americans like this? " I think whatever sucks, even though I've never played or felt one."

Seriously? What the fuck kind of comment is that?

I think the question you should ask yourself is "Why do non Americans feel the need to generalize about Americans?"

Don't be a douche.

 

[Speeddemon]

The Mark V:25 is awesome, but the number of sounds available at any given time are low. Once you dial in the 2 sounds you want, changing those up requires completely changing your settings on the amp. You can set up a clean sound on Channel 1, and a high gain sound on Channel 2 for your typical metal stuff, but when you want to switch to a lower gain rhythm rock sound on channel 1, and change Channel 2 to represent a lead sound for rock music, you have to change everything. You can switch modes on Channel 1 to get the rock sound easily enough, but chances are you'll need to re-EQ the channel as well. Same for Channel 2.

Ehm, the same holds true for most 2 channel amps. Even a pseudo 3 channel amp like the EVH 5150III 50W... So that's not really a valid point to make the Mark V:25 sound sub-par or not enough-featured.

A digital front-end would allow you to dial in all of these tones and save them. You could still make minor adjustments to the active preset with the controls, but the basics of your sound are always there. This idea isn't without precedent either. The H&K Coreblade has a digital panel that works very well. This tech could be used to make these mini-amps a lot more versatile, and even smaller.

"Digital" is probably one of those words certain marketing depts would like to avoid if possible. Guitarists are generally a conservative bunch when it comes to gear. Heck, one of the few reasons why tubes are still available!

Does the Mark V:25 not have a "global" master volume? I never noticed that before (haven't played one). That's an odd omission.

I agree on that. Something that the Engl Ironball *does* have!