Help regarding an amp

[MesaNoobie]

Hello, I am a happy mesa F-50 user, and my friend is having a go at a new (used) amp, we play mostly Iron Maiden, Metallica, Dream Theater and similar stuff, and my friend has a budget of 800~ dlls, I recommended him to buy an F30 or F50 since I own one and it gets me most of those tones, however, we would like to know which one of mesa's amps can get us those tones and at that price range.

Amps in that price range that I know of:
Nomad
DC-??
F-Series
.50 Caliber

All suggestions accepted, and it would be really cool if someone could tell me what's the real advantage/disadvantage of these amps.

Thanks.

 

[Elpelotero]

you might be able to get a used mark3 at that price range. that would really nail the metallica sound.

 

[MesaNoobie]

Hmm, and what's the difference between the mark 3 IIC+ or something like that? and also enlighten me about the difference also of all marks 1,2,3,4 please

 

[ToneAddictJon]

I would second the Mark III
the mark series seemed to go from super smooth to more aggressive and then back to a little smoother in the IV. That's my take and experience with them, so if I'm wrong.... well that's happened to many times to pretend it would surprise me

 

[Elpelotero]

Hmm, and what's the difference between the mark 3 IIC+ or something like that? and also enlighten me about the difference also of all marks 1,2,3,4 please

that is like 20 years or more of amp history to cover! too much! do a search as there are MANY threads on here talking about each.

In summary:
MarkI=Carlos Santana sound.
MarkIIA and MarkIIB= Rolling Stones sound
MarkIIC=well...wait till the next one below
Mark2C+=the Metallica sound and John Petrucci sound
Mark3=3 channels. not as smooth as the 2c+
Mark4=3 channels. smoother than the mark3, but not 100% of the C+ sound.

So basically a C+ is the tone people go for. The mark3 (depending on which version, there's several) and mark4 can get very very very close, but not quite capture the feel of the amp. The mark4 has lots of features that make it one of mesa's best all time amps. The Mark3 sits in the middle of the two amps. It's a beast though, don't be fooled.

 

[MesaNoobie]

Thanks guys, he's leaning to the mark 3 at the moment, however, if he doesn't finds the mark 3, what's the next best thing in mesa's arsenal? (Inside his budget).
Thanks!

 

[holdsworth]

Hmm, and what's the difference between the mark 3 IIC+ or something like that? and also enlighten me about the difference also of all marks 1,2,3,4 please

that is like 20 years or more of amp history to cover! too much! do a search as there are MANY threads on here talking about each.

In summary:
MarkI=Carlos Santana sound.
MarkIIA and MarkIIB= Rolling Stones sound
MarkIIC=well...wait till the next one below
Mark2C+=the Metallica sound and John Petrucci sound
Mark3=3 channels. not as smooth as the 2c+
Mark4=3 channels. smoother than the mark3, but not 100% of the C+ sound

John Petrucci used Mark IVs for LTE2, and he uses them on his latest album, Systematic Chaos. He still has his IIC+ amps but at the moment he seems to favour the Mark IV tone. Also Metallica used the Mark IV for the whole of the black album, and some of AJFA. Mark IIC+ was the Master of Puppets era, FYI.

My advice to this chap is save your bucks and get the Mark IV. It's more articulate than a III, and more versatile than a IIIC+ (and 3 for that matter). Mark IIIs are a compromise.