DC-5 or F-30

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Ive owned an F 50 and even though it was pretty cool it just doesnt compare to the DC's or Mark's IMO.

My DC10 sounds VERY similar to my Mark! Its like a juicier version of the Mark IV. I highly recommend a TS9 to tighten up the bottom end. You wont be disappointed.
 
shredmaestrobri said:
I see. Is the DC-5's tone closer to the Mark IV than the F-30?

Alright thank you. I've received a trade offer for my F-30. Dc-5 to an F-30. That's why I'm asking.
 
I have an f-30 and love it. That said I would go for the dc-5 just for the wattage for it but bear in mind that in not any way I would sell or trade the f-30 for any other mesa amp.

Oh and if the dc-5 does not have a graphic eq, I would not even bother it.

Hear the f-30 in action here, and tell me if it is DT enough for you

http://www.soundvenue.com/artist/mandenmedhegnet

There is a clip petrucci with contour. I have never heard something really better from any mark and especially a dc player or clips. Andershoeg sorry for always reffering to your clips but you are the man, man.

I don't think that the f-30 has a real clean channel for live use, so I would go for the dc-5 for that route.
And a studio or quad preamp or a mark III is probably better for the petrucci thing anyway. I understand that many love the dc series and I would like to buy one one day but never did it sound "mark" enough for me. More of more raw great sound in its own right.
 
giorikas81 said:
I have an f-30 and love it. That said I would go for the dc-5 just for the wattage for it but bear in mind that in not any way I would sell or trade the f-30 for any other mesa amp.

Oh and if the dc-5 does not have a graphic eq, I would not even bother it.

Hear the f-30 in action here, and tell me if it is DT enough for you

http://www.soundvenue.com/artist/mandenmedhegnet

There is a clip petrucci with contour. I have never heard something really better from any mark and especially a dc player or clips. Andershoeg sorry for always reffering to your clips but you are the man, man.

I don't think that the f-30 has a real clean channel for live use, so I would go for the dc-5 for that route.
And a studio or quad preamp or a mark III is probably better for the petrucci thing anyway. I understand that many love the dc series and I would like to buy one one day but never did it sound "mark" enough for me. More of more raw great sound in its own right.

Thank you for the reply! The clips were great as well.

I love my F30 like you do - a reason why I didn't push through the trade. There's also a quality in it that I really like and can indeed do DT tones and progressive stuff so long as there's an eq in the loop (IMHO).

I actually am targeting to buy a 2x12 mesa recto cab to better make the most out of it.

If ever I'd buy a new Mesa (probably a Rectoverb), I'd still keep this little monster. HEy, it's my first all-tube amp and Mesa/Boogie.=D

I really find the F30 mark-ish more than recto; the loose recto gene is there though.

Have you tried putting a 2x12 or 4x12 mesa cab to complement the F30?
 
Actually yes!!! But it didn't work...It did but only as you describe it as a compliment. I added a marshall 4x12 but the V30 in the combo was higher (sitting on top of the cab) and had the advantage of getting more power:
The v30 was connected to the one 4 ohm out and got half the power...
The 4x12 was connected to the other 4 ohm out and got half the power but then split it to the four speakers (each getting a quarter).

As a result the speaker of the f-30 was prominent. The 4x12 seemed to fill out the bottom end on mutes slightly. Not bad.

Andhershoeg who made the clips run his f-30 with a recto 2x12 along with the combo speaker and ditched it for the sake of a new thiele, a combo that many favor in harmony-central's f-series lounge.

The f-30 also seems markish to me than recto, but more aggresive than the studio preamp or the triaxis I have/had...also fuller and as result less tight/dry. Still you can play metallica/DT with ease if not with the exact sound.

As a result if you add bass and flub it a little, it will remind me of some recto settings.
I gigged a rect-o-verb in one occassion. Great amp. The leads where absolutely fantastic. Fluid enough with clatity. Sweet and authorititave at the same time. The big cab favors it. The cleans sterile and cutting, something that I expected as I was not running a glassy fender, but did the job just fine. The high gain channel for rythm playing was great in its own right but did not have the smoothness or as tight as my f-30 studio etc. But hey! It is a recto!!!

My next move will be adding a thiele. Just for personal reasons, as I gigged the f-30 with the DI, miced and unmiced to several live situtations and it still delivered a full sound.

How does the eq in the loop responds? I tried some but didn't like it as I found the parallel loop to "colour" the sound. But some people liked it and use the mxr 10 band eq...
 
giorikas81 said:
Actually yes!!! But it didn't work...It did but only as you describe it as a compliment. I added a marshall 4x12 but the V30 in the combo was higher (sitting on top of the cab) and had the advantage of getting more power:
The v30 was connected to the one 4 ohm out and got half the power...
The 4x12 was connected to the other 4 ohm out and got half the power but then split it to the four speakers (each getting a quarter).

As a result the speaker of the f-30 was prominent. The 4x12 seemed to fill out the bottom end on mutes slightly. Not bad.

Andhershoeg who made the clips run his f-30 with a recto 2x12 along with the combo speaker and ditched it for the sake of a new thiele, a combo that many favor in harmony-central's f-series lounge.

The f-30 also seems markish to me than recto, but more aggresive than the studio preamp or the triaxis I have/had...also fuller and as result less tight/dry. Still you can play metallica/DT with ease if not with the exact sound.

As a result if you add bass and flub it a little, it will remind me of some recto settings.
I gigged a rect-o-verb in one occassion. Great amp. The leads where absolutely fantastic. Fluid enough with clatity. Sweet and authorititave at the same time. The big cab favors it. The cleans sterile and cutting, something that I expected as I was not running a glassy fender, but did the job just fine. The high gain channel for rythm playing was great in its own right but did not have the smoothness or as tight as my f-30 studio etc. But hey! It is a recto!!!

My next move will be adding a thiele. Just for personal reasons, as I gigged the f-30 with the DI, miced and unmiced to several live situtations and it still delivered a full sound.

How does the eq in the loop responds? I tried some but didn't like it as I found the parallel loop to "colour" the sound. But some people liked it and use the mxr 10 band eq...

This is getting me more excited to get the 2x12 recto cab! LOL.

I really love the F-30 a lot; I just got back to my laptop from playing it. :)

It has a very smooth distortion which I like.

AS for the EQ in the loop, I can't play the F30 without it. The EQ is what makes me get close to that dark, heavy and Mesa sound I have in my head. You should try it.

As for the parallel loop, that's why currently I'm waiting for the tech to mod mine to series/serial. :) I bet it would really rock some more.

As a reiteration, get the MXR 10-band EQ; I personally couldn't play the F-30 without it.
 
The loop in my F30 now is series. Wow. Big difference from before in terms of running the MXR 10-band eq.

Much better and fuller!
 
ok - bumping this to spin the question a bit...
i have, and love, an F-30 - run it with a newly acquired mesa 3/4 back 112 cab.
i want a second amp - not to replace the F-30- but to complement it... something that give me more flavors from the boogie menu...
lately i've been wanting a 6L6 sound...
i haven't played a DC-5 in many moons...

here's the question - do the DC-5 and F-30 sound different enough to justify having them both?
the obvious answer to anyone on this board will likely be yes - but really - i want more of a 6L6 clean and nastier distortion to go with the sounds i love out of my F-30... and yes i fully intend on messing around with a full stereo setup!

thoughts? suggestions? input?
 
Basically I was thinking of buying and an extra mesa power amp.

Reasons?

Think of this senario.

You got the f-30.
You get the power amp (It takes 6L6 or EL34 or mix as the 2:90 for instance).
You got an extra cab as you said.

In one side runs the f-30.

The other side will be the power amp with the tubes of your choice running the other cab.
You can feed, whatever you like in it. It has two channels. One channel can be a marshall pre. Or whatever pre. Or a modeller. The other can be the signal from the f-30 preamp. This means you can have combinations such as.


cab driven by 6L6 and whatever pre plus f-30 (EL84) combo.

cab driven by EL34 plus f-30 (EL84) combo.

Cab driven by 6L6-El34 and f-30 (EL84) combo.

Cab driven by one channel 6L6 and f-30 speaker driven by the other channel. That would mean, that you get the f-30 preamp driving a 6L6/EL34 power amp.

Next would be something weird.

You can send the fx send signal of the f-30 into the one channel of the power amp and run the f-30 as a combo at the same time. This would mean an f-preamp driving the two speakers with EL84 and 6L6 at the same time. You can experiment with the v30/c90 speaker combination as to which suits which power tube character. Now think that certain power amps are simulclass and think of the combinations for class/power tube/preamp/speaker you can achieve. Endless. Still I believe variations of the original f-30 sound plus whatever preamp you will get.




Another suggestion is adding a good solid state amp alltogether. Maybe a peavey bandit which can be found for really cheap or a randall for aggresiveness, sizzle and punch. There are certain things that I have in mind that need solid state tightness/harshness etc. Combining it with the tube sound may be "adventurous"!
 
The fact you can brake these things into whatever pieces you may need at a gig is also something that I like!!! You could take the f-30 alone, the extra cab or the power amp with the cab and a pre or the whole set. Gonna need a good A/B pedal though!
 
dudleydawson said:
ok - bumping this to spin the question a bit...
i have, and love, an F-30 - run it with a newly acquired mesa 3/4 back 112 cab.
i want a second amp - not to replace the F-30- but to complement it... something that give me more flavors from the boogie menu...
lately i've been wanting a 6L6 sound...
i haven't played a DC-5 in many moons...

here's the question - do the DC-5 and F-30 sound different enough to justify having them both?
the obvious answer to anyone on this board will likely be yes - but really - i want more of a 6L6 clean and nastier distortion to go with the sounds i love out of my F-30... and yes i fully intend on messing around with a full stereo setup!

thoughts? suggestions? input?

Yes they are different. But I'd rather get a Mark or a Rectoverb if you're looking to get another Mesa.

Also, last jam with my friend's DC-5, it was able to hold up with the DC. I actually cut through the mix more than him. Haha.
 
that little ******* seems to sit in the mix great without dominating it! Instead of thunderous sounds, it has sweet sweet midrange which you know, that basic note is. It seems to say here I am and we're gonna rock nicely instead of pumping thunderous lows etc (which it can't anyway...). Love it!!!

I put a danelectro cool cat drive (not that much gain...) in the clean channel and it was like mimicking the lead channel, tighter with additional tone controls. It behaves like a gain stage instead of a pedal!!! Amazing performance live...As a result I had the gain channel + contour set only for lead sounds instead of rythm sound which got to play lead with a boost. I got mid full, gain 2:30 o'clock, bass noon, treble a bit cut and volume way up. It liquified my nuts!!!
 

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