“Faithfully recreated with modern upgrades, this amp defined ‘90s rock – powering metal, nu-metal, rap-rock, grunge, pop-punk and more”: Mesa/Boogie announces imminent return of the '90s era two-channel Dual Rectifier

NAMM 2025 might have us all focused on what’s new but maybe the biggest story to come this month in guitar amplification will have have us in a nostalgic mode, taking us all the way back to 1992 as Mesa/Boogie announces that it is to reissue its legendary two-channel ‘90s spec Dual Rectifier on 14 January.

In an trailer post on YouTube and Instagram, Mesa/Boogie promised all will be revealed soon, posting a teaser video with some sample electric guitar tones and quotes from Doug West, director of the Tone Lab, Gibson Amplifiers and Mesa/Boogie, and his colleague Tom Waugh, an engineering technician, designer and manufacturing specialist at the Petaluma, California-based company.

“The iconic 90s-era two-channel ‘90s Dual Rectifier is here!” writes Mesa. “Faithfully recreated with modern upgrades, this amp defined ‘90s rock – powering metal, nu-metal, rap-rock, grunge, pop-punk and more.”

There are no further details on the spec, whether the Mesa/Boogie design team took the opportunity to modernise the platform, perhaps adding onboard CabClone IR technology to bring it inline with the Badlander range of Rectifiers. That could be one modern upgrade.

But most of the people who will be jonesing for this reissue is how it recreates a special era in Mesa/Boogie design, when the Dual Rectifier helped raise the bar for metal guitar tone (not to mention rock, punk, etc).

In the teaser, West says the original tube amp’s legacy took everyone by surprise. “When we started the Rectifiers, we had no idea of the impact they would make on a generation,” says West. “It just exploded and it changed everything.”

Official Trailer: The MESA/Boogie® 90s Dual Rectifier - YouTube

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In his recent YouTube series, Mesa/Boogie founder, Randall Smith, said listening to V8 engines revving up on a dynamometer was an inspiration for the sound they’d make. The harmonic overtones were similar.

“We were listening to those engines while we were doing the Dual Rectifier, going, ‘Listen to that, man!’ First of all, we were expecting them to blow up [makes engine noise]. The thing is just screaming!” said Smith. “And we’re listening and it’s like, ‘Man, that’s a heavy metal harmonic – that’s got a huge fifth harmonic in there,’ the American V8. Ha! I swear that’s where some of the relationship [to] why heavy metal sounds so recognisable, it just sounds so powerful and badass.”

How to EQ a Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier Rev F - YouTube

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Today’s player, however, has plenty of examples of the original Dual Rectifier’s power without visiting their local mechanic. If you were a rock or metal fan during the '90s the Dual Rectifier will be all over your record collection.

The question is whether these reissues will hold up against the original. Tommy Waugh sounds confident they will. “When we got to the end of this thing, we realised we had a cleaner, meaner, badder Rectifier,” he says.

We shall soon see. We’ll bring you all the specs and details when the new old '90s-style Dual Rectifiers drop on 14 January.