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Mesa/Boogie Badlander 25 head
A bold sound for a new Rectifier era
The Badlanders grew out of Mesa/Boogie's legendary Dual Rectifier amp and the feedback from players who have used them for decades and wanted the same MESA gain that feels great and sounds huge, but with tighter bass, more articulated highs and reduced mids. The Badlander 25 Head delivers that recipe in a small chassis and a power range that has its own gritty character. For guitarists who lean towards rock and like British-tinged tones with American gain, the appeal of the Badlander 25 is obvious — many of those sounds sound massive through speakers and deliver a breathtaking performance even without a live cabinet.
The Badlander 25 Head provides the Rectifier-inspired voice and performance of the Badlander 100 and the Badlander 50, offering a red-hot, ultra-portable low-power option for those who don't need high output. The same simple 2-channel format, in which the modes Clean, Crunch and Crush can be selected, suits this small EL84-powered amplifier perfectly.
A simplified Badlander version
The key features and options of the larger models remain, with only the power amp, transformers and chassis revised. Sonically it's hard to pick a favourite among the three Badlander models, as each has its own character and application, but the 25 wins on adjustability and portability.
Like all Badlanders, the Badlander 25 Head is equipped with the CabClone™ IR interface, which simplifies recording and cabless live performances. The integrated CabClone IR Virtual Cabinet Simulator & Reactive Amp Load ships with the following eight original Mesa/Boogie Virtual Cabinet IRs, which can be assigned to the respective channels:
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4x12 Rectifier Standard (Closed Back)
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4x12 Rectifier Traditional (Closed Back)
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2x12 Rectifier Horizontal (Closed Back)
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1x12 Rectifier (Closed Back)
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1x12 Thiele (Closed Back, front-ported)
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2x12 Lone Star (Open Back)
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1x12 Lone Star 23 (Open Back)
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1x12 California Tweed 23 (Open Back)
The CabClone IR is designed as an open system and is compatible with selected third-party IRs. A simple USB port allows free access to download, save and use your preferred IRs with capacity for additional storage slots. A USB 2.0 A-to-B cable (not included) is required to manage the IR file directory. The same selection of Rectifier closed-back and Boogie open-back cabinets as before is also included, offering a wide palette of sounds.
For guitarists seeking a gigantic tube tone in a package that fits in a travel bag, the Rectifier Badlander 25 is the top choice!
Recommended pairings
As complementary speakers we recommend the speaker cabs from the Mesa/Boogie Rectifier and the Mesa/Boogie Boogie Cabinet series. This series combines the best of all Mesa/Boogie cabinet lines into a new range of open-back cabinets.
All Mesa/Boogie Rectifier amplifiers are made in Petaluma, California. A matching amp cover and a one-button footswitch for channel switching are included.
- Channels: 2
- Country of Origin: USA
- Dimensions (WxHxD): 8.5" x 18.5" x 10"
- EQ: Gain, Bass, Middle, Treble, Presence, Master
- Gain Levels: 3 per channel
- Housing size: Medium Size
- Impedance: 4/8 ohms
- Includes: Footswitch and cover
- Inserts: Series
- Power: 10W/25W
- Power Amp Valves: 2x EL84
- Power Range: 16 - 30 W
- Pre Amp Valves: 5x 12AX7
- Special Features: Power can be reduced from 25 to 10 watts, tube-powered effects loop, three different style modes per channel, Mesa CabClone™ Cab Simulator, headphone output
- Technology: Valve
- Weight: 8,6 kg
More than 25 years, two generations of guitarists and several musical trend cycles have passed since the Rectifier series first unleashed its crushing wall of gain on the airwaves. In that time many have imitated, copied, dissected and plagiarised it, but it remains firmly at the heart of heavy music - a true rock icon. While the Rectifier has undoubtedly left the largest and deepest footprint in heavy music and still calls that world home, it has also become the amp of choice for a long list of chart-toppers outside the heavy realm. The current Rectifier series includes heads and matching cabinets as well as the feature-packed Badlander models.
In the late 1960s Randall Smith, one of the most famous amp repairers in the San Francisco Bay Area, was inspired to build his own amplifiers after developing a fondness for the tweed circuits of the 1950s. He loved their organic sound, the effective controls and the way the tone gently moved from clean to distortion and back again when the gain control was used.
To push forward with his own amplifier designs and concepts, he settled in Pentaluma, California in 1969 and worked on further developing his amps.
The characteristic, heavily distorted sound of his Mesa/Boogie amplifiers was initially the result of an electrically mis‑dimensioned preamp. Founder Randall Smith wasn’t sure whether the preamp’s output would be enough to drive the power amp, and he built it with four twin triodes, of which the first seven triodes are still used today to amplify the input signal.
Many years later Mesa/Boogie has grown into one of the major global players in the market for high‑end guitar and bass amplifiers and is a leader in the development of modern amp designs and circuits. The American company also holds several patents on special features and circuits, such as Multi‑Watt™, Dyna‑Watt™ and the Mesa CabClone™ cab simulator, which you’ll certainly come across when browsing our selection of Mesa/Boogie products.
Of course, a maker of such innovative and high‑quality products has by now also gathered a large fanbase among professional musicians who got hooked on Mesa/Boogie amps. The best known users of Mesa/Boogie amps include the already mentioned Carlos Santana, Larry Carlton, Angus Young, Robben Ford, Eric Johnson, Keith Richards, Pete Townshend, Adam Jones, Mark Tremonti and Dave Grohl. Of course these aren’t the only famous Mesa/Boogie users, and Mesa/Boogie also boasts a large and steadily growing following among studio musicians and hobby guitarists. Maybe you’ll soon be part of the next generation of the Mesa/Boogie fan community?
