Mesa Rectifier VS Modelers! (The Ultimate Comparison!)

Thanks for watching my comparison video of the MESA/Boogie Dual Rectifier (3ch) vs the Fractal Audio Axe Fx III, Line 6 Helix, Neural DSP Quad Cortex, Boss GT-1000, St. Rock Amperium Live, Headrush Prime, Hotone Ampero II Stage, Fender Tone Master Pro & Fractal Audio Axe Fx III! Let me know your thoughts in the comments below! Cheers!

Gear used in this video:
- Schecter E1 Apocalypse Red Reign
- Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier
- Fractal Audio Axe Fx III
- Line 6 Helix Floor
- Neural DSP Quad Cortex
- Fender Tone Master Pro
- St. Rock Amperium Live
- Headrush Prime
- Hotone Ampero II Stage
- Boss GT-1000
- ML Drums by ML Sound Lab
- Cubase 13 Pro
- ML Sound Lab Cabinet Impulse Responses
- Fractal Audio LB-2 X-Load
- Klotz Cables & DI Box

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Disclaimer: this video is not sponsored but I got some of these modelers as payment for videos. As always all thoughts and opinions are 100% my own!

Keywords: metallica, sonic drive studio, james hetfield, meshuggah, deftones, rhythm, guitar, amp, tube, modeler, line 6, helix, fractal audio, axe fx, fm3, fm9, hx stomp, tonex, neural dsp, quad cortex, gibson, les paul, custom, standard, esp ltd, phoenix, black metal, deluxe, 1000, ec1000, ec1000t, baritone, prs, mushok, 9-string, 8-string, ibanez, meshuggah m80m, fishman, fluence, seymour duncan, nw44, schecter, hellraiser, e1, apocalypse, ml drums, ml sound lab, grit, meld, cubase, slate digital, steven slate audio, phoenix-7 sc607b, sc608b, adam jones, will adler, tutorial, lesson, tones, settings, new, firmware, free, mesa boogie, marshall, orange, soldano, friedman, peavey, evh, laney, redseven, victory, wangs, lichtlaerm audio, walrus audio, engl, bluguitar, driftwood, hughes kettner, pedal, djent, death, rock, crunch, classic, ola, fluff, blackstar, randall, dsl50, jcm 2000, ds20hr, dsl1000hr, 6505, 6505mh, 1992 original, xxx, satriani, astro 20, slo100, diezel, vh4, vh2, ksr, revv, generator, jvm410h, jvm210h, jvm205, boss, tube screa,er v30, ownhammer, rock-box, essentials, low-tuned, bogren, sc20, sv20, plexi, jubilee, 2525, invective, mini, leviathan, iridium, mercury, preamp, jmp1, dual, triple, mini, rectifier, mk iic+, mkv, kraken, mkii, fireball, 25, 100, powerball ii, savage, special edition, founders edition, slash, 5150, iii, el34, 6l6, single, or15, tiny terror, dual terror, or30, ad30, rockerverb, 50, mkiii, purple, nightmare, archon, mt100, mark tremonti, tubemeister, black spirit, grandmeister, deluxe, toontrack, superior, ez, drummer, ironball, ironheart, ht, clob, venue, jj jr, emg, jb comparison, rig, capture, kemper, profile, free, preset, headrush, amped, digital, analog, hotone, ampero, roland, me90, leptop, daw, kreative devices, desktop, music production, mixing

[BaianoPR]

I'm really impressed how the dual rectifier sounds exactly as a dual rectifier.

[mgmusic]

Dual Rectifier - @4:22
Axe FX - @4:28
Quad Cortex - @6:49
Ampero Stage - @9:02
Line 6 Helix - @11:21
Amperium Live- @13:35
Fender Tone Master Pro - @15:50
HeadRush Prime - @18:44
Boss GT 1000 - @21:01

[JStillwell-wmln]

The Tone Master model is based on a 1992 2-channel Dual Rectifier Solo head Rev F on the red channel with modern voicing, bold power amp mode and silicon rectifier. We were going for maximum 90's nu-metal vibe.

[FuzzySnuggz]

It's crazy how close the Tone Master is to the real thing. If I didn't have a Quad Cortex already, I would definitely be eyeing the Tone Master now!

[NoelFernandes]

You're a hero! one of the big difficulties of comparing rectifiers is that we can't know what models are being the original reference for that modeling. The same model of the same year of production sounds a little different from each other. The rectifier itself has changed a lot by it's versions, since 1992.
Great comparison!!!

[QuoVadis]

Fender TMP has updates and hot fixes, leap-frogging ahead. They just had a hot fix a few days ago. Sound and features are really making it a good purchase. People are impressed how fast and vast the improvements are.

[joesantangelo]

Amp still wins.

But this continues to make me happy about my purchase of the TMP

[RequiemDead]

It's the subtle frequencies of the Recto (and it's revisions) that for some reason seems to be so hard to capture/model. Everything nowadays is close enough to say, yep that definitely is a rectifier...but man, do I love the actual amp in all it's tube glory! Great vid, Jon!

[johnfinlay]

Those are pretty close, but you can hear small differences. Got my Badlander50 on monday and I’m loving it . Thanks for all the stuff you do for us 🤘🏻🤘🏻

[TheGooseChaseMusic]

Most of them sounded close, especially in the mix, but holy some of the dials on the modelers are set to extremes just to match.
Great video, as always.

[scottwhitlow]

Wow. What a great comparison! Can’t believe how far TMP has come after their latest firmware update. So close!

[decadence]

Based on a 2001, 3 Channel Mesa/Boogie® Dual Rectifier® Solo Head. The Dual Rectifier® was part of Boogie's more modern, high gain approach for that "big hair" sound. In contrast to the earlier Boogies, the Dual Rectifier's tone controls have more influence at high gain settings, so you can scoop the mids and increase the bottom end. We used Channel 3 on the Modern setting for this one with the rear switches set to Bold and Tube Rectifier®, respectively.
(It's from helix website)

[CountScotula]

Back in 1999 I had a Dual Rec with a Marshall 1960a cab and Twin Reverb that I toured with and I ended up selling them after I transitioned from serious musician to hobbyist.. 25 years later I've been so nostalgic for my old rigs. Just couldn't justify the cost and required volume levels to do them justice. I ended up getting a Tone Master Pro and I'm floored with how accurately I've been able to recreate my old setups. Literally transported back in time. I've been having so much fun diving back into guitar. The Orange Rockerverb and Deluxe Reverb are freaking nuts too. I hope Fender keeps the updates coming.

[dernetteherr]

Hi, the Headrush sound is terrifying the best is AXE Fractal and Quad Cortex Thanks for testing

[Walter_Hartwell_White_Sr]

I was shocked how accurate that tone master was

[Saurion]

Top 3 were the Helix, Fender and Axe FX in that order. Helix sounds the most rectifier-ish of the bunch IMO. The rest were like recto-adjacent but not really nailing the tone.

[joaoperrusi]

Wasn't expecting this at all, but my favorite was the TMP followed by Helix and QC respectively.... literally thought it would go the opposite way lol

[FungusLabel]

For a studio with limited budget I'd pick any of these modellers. They simulate tons of legendary amps so well - especially in the mix. However, I used a lot of digital amps and for some reason they never gave me same satisfaction as a tube amp, when playing in a room. There is something special about tube amps, so pick your real Mesa, Marshall, Peavey... etc. tube amp, while they still exist. Great video John.

[FastRedPonyCar]

After owning and using all of the modelers (besides the fender unit) I think that my conclusion is that they all can get a pretty decent approximation of the voice and vibe of amps but none of them get the feel of the amp 100% right and I'm okay with that because I get the limitations of the tech. I think even with a nice power amp or FRFR, the feel of the amp models are never an accurate recreation but if you remove the guitar cab and just focus on the DI sound of a real amp vs model/profile, the line gets blurred in a much more convincing way to the point where you'd be hard pressed to point out differences in a mix with other instruments.

All that is just a long winded way of saying "I think they're close enough for most people"

[АндрейПолевой-яи]

Thanks for that rectabatte! Please share your DI guitar tracks and recorded rectifier tracks to us, so we can try to get closer.
For example ampero (with different poweramp and amp settings) and amperium (different tubes, power amp tubes and impedance curves and so on...)