Looking for a Mesa Combo

[metfan]

Hey everyone,

I was wondering if the F-50's gain channel could cover heavier types of music. Think Metallica (load era), Hoobastank, or even Linkin Park.

(I don't like some of those bands too much but do like their guitar tones).

Thanks

 

[pau_leader]

I would say the F-50 is perfect for...

Garage
Punk
Indie rock
Some Metal


I think the amp is versatile. But if you want more heavy, go with the Single Rectifier! They only sell the amphead no combo.

Now the Rectoverb is one Awsome amp! And can handle all those bands you listed. Not to say the F-50 cant. It is really a unique amp in sound imo.

Try both!

 

[Surfcaster]

I've discovered that I'm in disagreement with some in this forum in regards to this issue, but I feel like my F-50 can handle the heavier types of music...I wouldn't have a problem using it for any Metallica stuff. Now you probably won't get that low end thunk without a 4x12 cab, but I think you could get enough gain.

JMHO. YMMV.

 

[metfan]

I do have a line 6 POD which I could use in between my guitar and the F-50 (neutral setting/tube preamp model with a drive boost).

Maybe this would give it that extra push if it did indeed need it?

 

[Surfcaster]

Yeah, it might. In fact, I logged on just now to suggest using some kind of boost pedal in front of the amp if you found you needed more gain. There's a number out there you could use. I have a Zoom PD-01 that's an overdrive pedal/boost pedal and works great for either...lots of boost ability and it does a nice job pushing the front end of an amp . I got mine on e-bay for $45. The new Digitech Bad Monkey is supposed to do a pretty nice boost too, for pretty cheap. The POD might work, too...certainly worth a try!

 

[no soul]

well I play in a metalcore band (much more agressive than anything mentioned in this thread), so crazy heavy distortion is a must. Both guitarists usually play w/ single rectos live (one of which I own). I also recently picked up an F100 combo. Both guitarists practicaly fight over it. Matter of fact, we are recording now, and out of our small collection of amps, both guitarists opted for the F100 over all else.

We dont boost it or anything either.

The F50 and F100 in contour mode have PLENTY of gain for all the styles mentioned. The basic design of the F series lead channel is a Fender Bassman done up with Dual Recto values.

F series clean also destroys the clean sounds of any Recto ever. Single rectos do have pretty nice cleans, but they really dont compare to the F series.

The F is also much more clearer than Rectos. In a live mix the F can cut them in half.

I love my single recto, but if I had to choose between it and my F, then the recto is going to have to go.

 

[TheRazMeister]

I guess I'm the ying to No Soul's yang. But NO WAY does the F series beat the Recto in anything...This gets back to the Series 1 to Series 2 debate he and I have. I have a series 1 and it was MUCH better than the F-50 I tried...no comparison. I was all set to buy a Koch duotone when compared side by side to a bunch of Mesa's, then I traveled to a different store and tried out the series 2, the F-50 and the Lonestar. The Lonestar was head and shoulders better than the others. I went to a 3rd store and tried a used series 1 ROV and walked out a happy man. One thing I will say is that I may not be a traditional Mesa guy and would probably have gotten a Soldano (for the dirty sound) if I could've found one within my price range. That being said, I play everything from Church Hymns to 80's style metal (UFO, Gary Moore, Van Halen etc) with my ROV.
Remember that opinions about sound are subjective, what I like in a clean tone (deep, elastic, warm, rich) may not be the same as someone who prefers U2 or Police type cleans (glassy, clear, high end, chime-like), but then again, that's what Vox AC30's are for.

F series clean also destroys the clean sounds of any Recto ever. Single rectos do have pretty nice cleans, but they really dont compare to the F series.

The F is also much more clearer than Rectos. In a live mix the F can cut them in half.

I love my single recto, but if I had to choose between it and my F, then the recto is going to have to go.

 

[metfan]

I tried out the F-50 today actually and a single recto PLUS a rect-o-verb.

I liked the gain channels equally on all of them, but the F-50 clean channel is INSANE!!!!

I've honestly never heard a better clean from a combo! (I know most will disagree here!)

 

[TheRazMeister]

Listen guys, are you gonna make me go and try another F-series or what 8) . I'm willing to give them a 2nd chance but in honesty I think there's a disconnect somewhere here. The F-50 I tried was a toy compared to the Lonestar and finally to my series 1 ROV. Did I luck out and get a great one? Who knows.... But I am open to discussion. As a side note, for you New Yorkers, there is a studio called Ultra Sound http://www.ultrasoundrehearsal.com/ that has every nasty amp you can imagine, Dumbles, Dr.Z's Matchless, VHT, Bogner...I'm drooling as I type :wink: a guitarists dream come true. Check out there equipment section...(PS- they use DC5's, dual Rec's and Heartbreakers)

I tried out the F-50 today actually and a single recto PLUS a rect-o-verb.

I liked the gain channels equally on all of them, but the F-50 clean channel is INSANE!!!!

I've honestly never heard a better clean from a combo! (I know most will disagree here!)

 

[Surfcaster]

Yeah, the clean tone on the F-50 is sweet...thought I've heard good reports about the clean tone on the Lonestar, too. But the F-50 does both clean and massive grind better than any other high gain combo in it's price range...or even above it. I can hardly believe the Marshall DSL 401 is now selling for over a thousand bucks!!! That's one of the cheesiest amps I've ever played...I'd sooner buy a cheap solid state. Even the TSL 601 doesn't hold a candle to the F-50...and Fender...never learned to do a decent high gain. And I was tempted once by a Koch Twin Tone, but in the end, realized the F-50 was still a better amp for several hundred dollars less. The F-50 just plain rocks!

 

[Surfcaster]

Hey RazMeister...just saw that you're in Richmond...I'm in Harrisonburg a couple hours west of you. My favorite music store is in Richmond...Richmond Music! I don't get there often, But I could spend hours there...and sometimes do, with all the Mesa's, Bad Cats, Matchless, Dr. Z, Koch, Marshalls, Peavey's, Fenders. That's where I tried and fell in love with the Dr. Z Maz Sr. Need to go try a Lonestar out there someday. Of course, we usually hit GC when we're there, too. We've tried a couple other places, but it seems these have the best selection. Any other cool places I should check out next time?

 

[TheRazMeister]

Surf....the only other store that carries decent amps is Metro Sound and Music which is downtown near Virginia Commonwealth University (on Broad St). They have some classic amps in an isolated room...mostly used and the selection changes, but he gets some cool vintage stuff. He's supposedly a Mesa dealer but doesn't have the biggest selection. Richmond Music is far and away the best store for a variety of great tube amps. The Lonestar is more in the league of the DR Z's, at least IMHO. It's not necessarily my type of amp but I'd own one in a heartbeat if the price was right. The other thing to keep in mind in our tone comparisons is the type of guitar we all use. I've got a Ibanez AR2000VV which has a very thick tone and a Guild X-88 (my 80's days) with EMG's.

Hey RazMeister...just saw that you're in Richmond...I'm in Harrisonburg a couple hours west of you. My favorite music store is in Richmond...Richmond Music! I don't get there often, But I could spend hours there...and sometimes do, with all the Mesa's, Bad Cats, Matchless, Dr. Z, Koch, Marshalls, Peavey's, Fenders. That's where I tried and fell in love with the Dr. Z Maz Sr. Need to go try a Lonestar out there someday. Of course, we usually hit GC when we're there, too. We've tried a couple other places, but it seems these have the best selection. Any other cool places I should check out next time?

 

[vulture2600]

guys, go try the f30, seriously.

 

[Surfcaster]

The other thing to keep in mind in our tone comparisons is the type of guitar we all use. I've got a Ibanez AR2000VV which has a very thick tone and a Guild X-88 (my 80's days) with EMG's.

Yeah...easy to overlook when we get all excited about the amps themselves. I've got a Charvel Surfcaster Semi-Hollow (if you're not familiar with it, it's somewhat of a franken-guitar...mahogany body with quilted maple top, Jazzmaster style body, bolt-on neck with Fender scale, rosewood fretboard with jumbo frets, Rickenbacker style f-hole cutout, tun-o-matic bridge with wrap-around tail piece) with a DiMarzio Virtual PAF in the Bridge and a Kent Armstrong Hot Lipstick in the neck and a MIM Strat with Lace Sensors in it. So we would have some tonal differences in our guitars.

 

[TheRazMeister]

Absolutely about the guitars Surf....also, once again, the TYPE of clean tone is subjective. A strat thru a Fender may be nirvana for some while a hollow body thru a Roland JC might do it for others (I know these people lol!) In my case a Paul style guitar on the neck pickup thru a Mesa is my cup of tea. Although I will say I tried the Crate V32 Palomino (cl A 35 watts) and it was gorgeous. I would've kept it but it didn't "krank" well on the dirty channel, too ZZ Top-y at high volumes. It had a better low volume overdrive than the F-50 that I rejected. PS - I start with the dirty channel and hope for the best with the clean. I never really did give the F-50 clean channel as much a workout as the dirty

The other thing to keep in mind in our tone comparisons is the type of guitar we all use. I've got a Ibanez AR2000VV which has a very thick tone and a Guild X-88 (my 80's days) with EMG's.

Yeah...easy to overlook when we get all excited about the amps themselves. I've got a Charvel Surfcaster Semi-Hollow (if you're not familiar with it, it's somewhat of a franken-guitar...mahogany body with quilted maple top, Jazzmaster style body, bolt-on neck with Fender scale, rosewood fretboard with jumbo frets, Rickenbacker style f-hole cutout, tun-o-matic bridge with wrap-around tail piece) with a DiMarzio Virtual PAF in the Bridge and a Kent Armstrong Hot Lipstick in the neck and a MIM Strat with Lace Sensors in it. So we would have some tonal differences in our guitars.

 

[no soul]

Yeah, the clean tone on the F-50 is sweet...thought I've heard good reports about the clean tone on the Lonestar, too. But the F-50 does both clean and massive grind better than any other high gain combo in it's price range...or even above it. I can hardly believe the Marshall DSL 401 is now selling for over a thousand bucks!!! That's one of the cheesiest amps I've ever played...I'd sooner buy a cheap solid state. Even the TSL 601 doesn't hold a candle to the F-50...and Fender...never learned to do a decent high gain. And I was tempted once by a Koch Twin Tone, but in the end, realized the F-50 was still a better amp for several hundred dollars less. The F-50 just plain rocks!

couldnt agree more.


For anybody whod like to compare an F series to a Recto, the first thing you gotta do is make sure you are using the same speaker cab, trying to do the Recto thing with a F50 combo can be kinda hard cuz of the speaker it has.

And for those of you who dont seem to think the F series has a great clean, I think you either A) dont know how to dial in cleans or B) just dont know what a good clean is. The F series clean ch is a classic Fender clone, now tell me those dont have fantastic cleans?

 

[j37nm]

+++1 for the F50.

The drive channel w/o contour is incredibly thick, bluesy, great rock tones here.

the drive w contour is insane. I find it has plenty of distortion for metal. If you are a sloppy player who relies on distortion & compression, the F50 is not your cup of tea.

Both channels are FAT, violin sounding, with a #@#$load of dynamics. You better work on your chops if you want to play tight, fast rhythms. If you can, the F50 will have you smiling from ear to ear.

The clean is very nice. I find it is dark sounding, with too much low mids. I often find myself dialing up the mids & backing off the lows. It gives it the punch needed to cut through the mix. It can break up fairly quickly. this gives it the nice fender tweed sound.

You can't go wrong with the F50. I think it is the best overall sounding Mesa has to offer!