F 30 Q.

OK. So i went to my local dealer to see the M/B stock they currently have.

I don't own a M/B yet, and want to get one soon, however the cheapest models thay have are 2 F30 combo's. Does anyone have one? Are these a good introduction to the M/B way of amping? They cost $3k AUD. and for me that's a lot of money, considering i'm currently not gigging, not actively seeking gigs and not even jamming. Oh, and plus i have a 4 month old daughter who costs a lot too.

Is it worth bying a smaller amp, when down the track i'm looking at getting a Roadking and a 2x12? Or would it be smarter to wait, save a bit more then get something like an F50 or Nomad for an extra $1-2k?

Any help appreciated.

hmm, well I know how you feel but...

Can you play the amp at home at a 'reasonable' volume? since you have a daughter. also, i bought mine (F50) with a view to jamming and gigging. I do jam, but never gig. I hope to this year if I can sort a band... I just feel you would be like me, and find youre not using the amp as much as you should/like to.

I liked the F30, its a good step onto the ladder imo, but the F50 was more... open, I considered both. As for volume, both can do more than needed. But, if the F50 is THAT much more, then it might not be worth it! If youre looking for gain, I would pick the F over a Nomad, again, I tried the Nomad 45 (no exp of the other ones) and it didnt cut it for what I wanted!

I think I had more to say, but Ive forgotten... :S

Good luck!

PS, have a look at the F50 owners thread, there might be some info in there you could use

Thanx. I think i may go with the F30, as you say i do have to keep it down a bit.

My TB25R has a headphone jack so that's kewl for home. The F30-50/Nomad would be more for jamming and gigging in the future. I'd like to think that eventually the gigs will be paying for the more expensive equipment i want.

Any one else?

P.S. This coming Saturday i will be going to my local shop again. This time i will be having fun with a Road King running through a bunch of 4 x 12's (they don't have any M/B 4x12's in stock) and having a great time in general.

I will be actively seeking gigs this year. It is decided.

I just went to the M/B website to have a look at the F30.

I noticed a couple of things, perhaps someone can explain them to me.

The F30 has a Record/Headphone output: is this Stereo? I would imagine not, also i take it the swich turns the speaker off but still allows the headphones to work - why the option? Do people like to record direct and Mic the Amp?

Also, the F50 has a couple of Speaker options, does the F30?

I will go to my shop to try it out on Saturday, just thought this info would help me make the choice.

Thanx,

I can only answer the Q's about the line out. Its mono. I used it to record what I play direct to MD while jamming, thus I can record easily what I played incase I get any ideas and cant remember them later on. Dont know about the speaker options, mine was 2nd hand and it cam with a black shadow speaker... thats all!

Hi there,

I just bought an F-30 112 last weekend.

It was my first time trying a MB, I was dumbfounded by the tone. Just beautiful. Anyway, I bought the 30W because I wanted to be be able to overdrive the tubes without extreme volume (I'm a family man too). I'm still trying to get a good tone at higher volumes. This thing is loud! Lower volume produces beautiful cleans and nice warm chunky distortion.

The label next to the headphone jack reads mono and stereo, I just looked at it this morning. The switch apparently shuts off the power tube side of the amp for headphone use or line out. I tried playing through both the headphones and the external speaker but the headphones don't work with the speaker connected. You get one or the other ... not both.

Nice reproduction through the headphones as well.

My amp came with a Celestion Vintage 30, I don't think there was a speaker option.

I'm really happy with this amp! I've heard people say that they like the sound of the El-84s vs the F-50 setup. Hope this helps.

^^^ i just recentply got my self an f-30 as well and im loving it! Yeah, shes loude, and i think that 30 watts may be even underrated. I can say that she stands proud and loud against my friends 100watt solid state 1x12 combo.

Ive never owned any other tube amp before so this is my first, but im liking the el84's. Crisp in the clean and gets real nasty in the gain when u cant it too.

I also have a 5 months old at home so i really dont get to crank it until i go to a friends house, and being that i play it SOOO low at my place i havent even begin to find its tonal abilities. I will say that in the clean channel she is really sensitive to the tone controls and has alot to offer.

Plus who can beat the fact that your getting so much tone and power out of such a small package.

It looks like a small little amp to people but when u power it up and let her rip it shows its true colors.

I work at Guitar Center and just ordered an F30 (i get a free vinyl color
option too ). I was absolutely blown away at how cool this thing sounds.
I did more research and found out some reasons why:
1) EL84's are a smaller version of 84's which are common to british amps.
i was never really a mesa fan because they primarily use 6L6's. case in point: we had a
mid 90's 2-channel tripple rectifier come in and someone had installed
el-34's. one of the BEST metal sounds ive ever heard.
2) solid state rectifier. much more dynamics than a tube rectified amp.
no brown outs.
3) tube buffered fx loop (very uncommon for affordable amps)
4) paralell fx loop (also uncommon for affordable amps)
i plugged this thing in to a marshall 4x12 and was astounded. amazing, even at lower volumes (and yes, this amp will stomp any 100 watt solid state amp for volume and tone). my plan when i recieve my order is
to primarily run it thru my 4x12 for all my metal sounds.
for recording i will mic the 4x12 and then double track using the open
backed combo using front and rear mic'ing techniques.
this amp is killer. also, mid gain and clean or clean-pushed are astounding
as well. great bluesly over drives or classic rock to hard rock crunch.
go check one out and crank it!!!

er... the amp has EL 84's which are a smaller version of
*34's*. heh sorry.
by the way, does anyone know where i can find a schematic
for the F series?
email me direct. thanks!!