Mesa F-50 for Jazz???

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JPMike

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Hey everyone,

I've owned quite a few Mesas in the past, including a Mark V, Formula Preamp, Triaxis, Road King I and always wanted them for high gain purposes. Through the years, my music interests and needs changed, so I am into jazz these days. I own a Fender Twin, Princeton Reverb, a Port City Pearl 1x12 and a Polytone Mini Brute II.

So I was looking for an amp, that would have the half power of a Twin and of course be smaller and more portable. I would go for a Fender again like a DRRI, or maybe a Pro Reverb or some custom company like Tone King or something to get that warm jazz clean tone. The thing is, I didn't want a Solid State Amp, neither a vintage clone of a Fender that would not deliver the tone I wanted.

One of my favourite players, Mike Moreno, I found out that in the past he was using a Mesa F-30 for his warm clean tone and to be honest, I really loved his tone and the way he sounded, of course I don't have his fingers nor his technique or his feel.

Anyway, that's not the case, I found a Mesa F-50 to a really good price and just couldn't resist and bought the amp. At the moment, the amp is in transit to me, I just can't wait to try and discover it. I know Mesa amps are not that easy to tweak, but I also read F-50s are not that hard to tweak instead.

So my question to you guys, can the F-50 deliver warm jazz clean tones?? I just ask cause I know people in here know what are they talking about. Also you recommend any speaker change??
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssndS3QtVXY
Here's a video of Mike Moreno playing the amp, and of his tone. I am sure he's playing the amp in this video.

Thank you in advance for your time and answers,
Mike
 
I'm a bit late on a response, but i had an F-50 for awhile, and it had the best clean tone of any amp i've owned personally so far. Definitely warm and fat, Seems like it would be great for Jazz to me.
 
When I got my F-50 I was absolutely pleased that the clean tones, though not talked about much, are really it's forte. It kicks absolute *** on clean. There is so much bottom on clean you have to dial back the bass and use the knob as a cut, and that's on a guitar with only .042's!

Furthermore, on your gain channel you can dial your gain/volume back to about 2, and crank your master - to get only a slightly distorted signal.

Add to that the contour for a twist during soloing - you then have three modes available at the footswitch.

This amp rules on clean. Much better than my Fender Champ. It slaughters a Jazz Chorus or Fender Twin for clean, if you ask me. It's right up there with Fender '65 Deluxe Reverb, or Supersonic 22.
 
Bostonpubrocker said:
I think it will put a big smile on your face. Awesome amp. I play Blues, Classic Rock and Country, mostly on the clean settings.

THIS.
I just got F-30 combo and when using clean channel gain cranked it's very nice for classic rock! From there you can go heavier with overdrive pedal and you get nice clean when turnin guitars volumeknob. Great portable combo for small gigs and rehearsals! And when you need it.. VERY loud!

And in my opinion F-30/50 is great for mellow jazz and warm clean tones.
 
By all means, your F amp has some of the best clean tones Mesa has ever produced, plus it's very pedal friendly. You'll love it for jazz....
 
I would think you would be fine. The first Mesa I ever tried out was an F30 and it blew me away. Since then I bought a Lonestar for its cleans, but the F series had great cleans from what I remember.

You should be fine for Jazz. I would say you would probably want to try a Celestion Gold for a speaker for Jazz.
 

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