MESA F-50, why was I not made aware of it?

[TheRecordFable]

I recently picked up a Mesa F-50 112 combo and it has to be one of the best sounding amps I've played.

Anyone else play an F-50?

[Administrator]

[FredZepp]

"Verdict: No amp is tested by us more critically than a Mesa, they cost a substantial amount and promise a lot, and we try to make extra certain they deliver. The F-50 delivers, big time. Behind that ‘stealth’ design is a huge range of sounds that are easily accessible from the simplest of control layouts. It’s got all the essential features you need, and tonally we think it’s one of Mesa’s best ever; combining Mark I, Mark II and Rectifier influences with low noise performance for a superlative result. It isn’t cheap, but it’s one of Mesa’s most affordable amps with no compromise on tone or build quality. We think it’s one of the best designs ever to come out of the Petaluma workshop and it fully deserves our Gold Award for such awesome performance at a very realistic price. "

Mesa F-50 review

 

I've never tried one.. here is a very positive review. My Dean Markley tube amps from the 80's are kind of a mesa clone with cascading gain , etc. , so I love these kind of versatile amps....

[rjsanders]

several of the advanced players around here (Tim Volpicella, Terry Hiatt, John Wedemeyer, et al.) play Mesas. Lonestars are particularly prevalent now, but they also have other examples.

 

(tho Tim recently has become most enamored of his Swart AST )

[TheRecordFable]

I'll post clips soon...A you tube video might be in order.

I never was a fan of the rectifier sound (YUK).

The F-50 clean channel honestly blows fender out of the water and channel two can do it all.

[tulk1]

I had a Mesa F50 a few years back. It had a very good sound. But there was something about that amp that fatigued my ears. Others in the band mentioned it, too. We liked the amp, it was very easy to transport, very versatile. But by the end of a rehearsal we were all going "wtf is wrong here?" The only change being the F50. Weird, huh?

[TheRecordFable]

I had a Mesa F50 a few years back. It had a very good sound. But there was something about that amp that fatigued my ears. Others in the band mentioned it, too. We liked the amp, it was very easy to transport, very versatile. But by the end of a rehearsal we were all going "wtf is wrong here?" The only change being the F50. Weird, huh?

 

The stock MESA tubes do add an odd mid range boost.

I'm replacing the tubes with the upgrade kit from Eurotubes.

I've been in contact with Eddie form Eurotubes and he said changing the tubes will make a great amp even better.

[Mikenov]

I tested a bunch of Mesa's when I was looking at the Orange. I played the new HUGE one, something tronic I think, the Express 50 and the Lonestar. Didn't bond with either. Then I asked about this old F50 they have in the corner collecting dust. It was a head unit though. I plugged it in and I found it was right in my sweet spot. Nice gain. Nice clean. usuable volume, and you could clean up the dirty for that just gritty clean sound i love so much. I thought that was the best Mesa I had played and it was by far the cheapest. I guess the Express series replaced the F series and was supposed to be an upgrade but I really dug the much simpler layout of the F50 because you didn't need a degree from MIT to figure out how to tweek it for a good tone.

[tulk1]

The stock MESA tubes do add an odd mid range boost.

I'm replacing the tubes with the upgrade kit from Eurotubes.

I've been in contact with Eddie form Eurotubes and he said changing the tubes will make a great amp even better.

 

That could very well be the case. At the time I wasn't into swapping tubes like I am now. Could have made a huge dif. In fact, the first thing I did with the Lone Star was dump the Mesa pre's and put in a NOS/Vintage set from Lord Valve. Thinking back, there are a couple of amps I wish I'd tried that with before dumping them.

[TheRecordFable]

I tested a bunch of Mesa's when I was looking at the Orange. I played the new HUGE one, something tronic I think, the Express 50 and the Lonestar. Didn't bond with either. Then I asked about this old F50 they have in the corner collecting dust. It was a head unit though. I plugged it in and I found it was right in my sweet spot. Nice gain. Nice clean. usuable volume, and you could clean up the dirty for that just gritty clean sound i love so much. I thought that was the best Mesa I had played and it was by far the cheapest. I guess the Express series replaced the F series and was supposed to be an upgrade but I really dug the much simpler layout of the F50 because you didn't need a degree from MIT to figure out how to tweek it for a good tone.

 

No doubt mike the simple design is great. The back holds some decent options like three speaker outs, headphone out also for straight to the mixer input recording, and of course the FX loop with wet dry pot.

[TheRecordFable]

That could very well be the case. At the time I wasn't into swapping tubes like I am now. Could have made a huge dif. In fact, the first thing I did with the Lone Star was dump the Mesa pre's and put in a NOS/Vintage set from Lord Valve. Thinking back, there are a couple of amps I wish I'd tried that with before dumping them.

 

I recently sold my Prosonic it was an amp I wish I could of kept but it got way to hot...like melt metal hot.

Changing the tubes would have made no difference and she was getting pretty buggy so she had to go.

I made a mint on it though so all is well with F-50 runs smooth and cool.

[JeffB]

I had a Mesa F50 a few years back. It had a very good sound. But there was something about that amp that fatigued my ears. Others in the band mentioned it, too. We liked the amp, it was very easy to transport, very versatile. But by the end of a rehearsal we were all going "wtf is wrong here?" The only change being the F50. Weird, huh?

 

 

The stock MESA tubes do add an odd mid range boost.

I'm replacing the tubes with the upgrade kit from Eurotubes.

I've been in contact with Eddie form Eurotubes and he said changing the tubes will make a great amp even better.

Yep, the mids. Dry?

The C90's are not my favourite speaker they seem to lend an element of harshness or mids that fatigue my ears. Even mesa combo cabs have a specific honk that bugs me.

Ive got a mesa head shell that I used for the F50 and Nomad that I bought as combo's. Between converting my combo's to heads and using anything other than a c90 I pretty much cured what I didnt like about either amp. When I got the Lone Star I just got the head. When I play the LS combo I have a hard time adjusting to the different sound. Its something that cant be fixed with the tone control's. Its the speaker and cabinet colouring the sound.

With the F50 and Nomad I swapped out tubes trying to get rid of it and then one day I ran a fender through th mesa's speaker's and found that the fender acquired the same mid honk. I swapped out speakers to v30's but the mid thing persisted so I tried other cabs.

Couldve saved a bundle on tubes if I did that first. YMMV

[TheRecordFable]

Yep, the mids. Dry?

The C90's are not my favourite speaker they seem to lend an element of harshness or mids that fatigue my ears. Even mesa combo cabs have a specific honk that bugs me.

Ive got a mesa head shell that I used for the F50 and Nomad that I bought as combo's. Between converting my combo's to heads and using anything other than a c90 I pretty much cured what I didnt like about either amp. When I got the Lone Star I just got the head. When I play the LS combo I have a hard time adjusting to the different sound. Its something that cant be fixed with the tone control's. Its the speaker and cabinet colouring the sound.

With the F50 and Nomad I swapped out tubes trying to get rid of it and then one day I ran a fender through th mesa's speaker's and found that the fender acquired the same mid honk. I swapped out speakers to v30's but the mid thing persisted so I tried other cabs.

Couldve saved a bundle on tubes if I did that first. YMMV

 

I like how the C90 lets the 50 watts breath, the headroom is amazing.

I think a tube upgrade will be just what the doctor ordered.

[number1armadillo]

I had one several years ago. I liked the amp for awhile, but the reverb was never quite right and finally quit all together. Trying to get it repaired was a joke - never did happen. I added a Holier Grail reverb in the effects loop. As far as using it with the band It sounded best when used with an extention cabinet. I finally traded it for the amp I really wanted and still play 6 years later - Fender Twin Reverb!

[crazypedaler]

Hey There,

 

I recently started playing again after a 15 year hiatus. I played a few months through the silverface Twin I bought used in the early 90's when I knew nothing about amps. I wanted something more versatile, so I got the F-50 based on reviews. It blew me away at first, but eventually I realized something just wasn't right after several hours - a sort of fatigue as others have mentioned in this thread. So the story is, it didn't stop my urge to find a more versatile amp. I have now bought three used amps I totally love (this recession has been really hard on sellers...), and I choose which to play any given day for which tone I want - kit-made 5F1 Champ circuit in a pine box head, Mojave Coyote, and Heritage Colonial. For playing at home, the F-50 never wins against that competetion (usually the Colonial does), but I'm still keeping it, thinking it's so easy to adjust and versatile for playing covers or with other folks.

 

Cheers!

[TheRecordFable]

It doesn't make sense an amp at first sounding awesome then not.

This usually happen when G.A.S. strikes and I make up any reason to not like something to have to buy something else.

I've been playing this thing non-stop for two days and all is well here.

I'm a fan of the traditional and vintage gear but I truly prefer the F-50 over others I've played.

Today I bought new tubes from Doug's tubes and I'm excited to upgrade this already bitchin' amp.

The non Tinnitus ear of the beholder.

[crazypedaler]

Hey again,

Well, I don't deny I have a bit of GAS these days, and I'm sorry the thread sort of threw rain on your parade, including my post.. What I like about the thread you started is that it gave me an idea that perhaps the speaker is the part of the amp that bugs me personally, which is very correctable. So I'm going to do some more experimenting - the F-50 has a lot of really nice features and I still want to love it, truth be told. I don't know if you ever heard the F-50 sound clips that used to be on the web, there was a site (F-50 lounge) that had maybe 40 of them, ranging from clean through crunch to lead to metal, with some great players such as Tommy Inkila submitting them, all pretty much on "Guitar > F-50" rigss. Very impressive amp.

Cheers,

Kurt

[JeffB]

Im sorry as well for not congratulating you on you new amp purchase instead of going off on the nit picking tangent I did. Poor form on my part.

I was reminded today when I was showing an F50 head owner a Mesa Express. Despite the external switching option, 5/50w option and a few other features he walked away content with his F50, and I have to admit in this side by side comparison I did prefer the F50. He had it very well dialed in with his guitar and pedal board.

Easy sometimes to forget the fun of a new amp and the tweaking of it.

One thing that struck me was how well this guy got his pedals to sit with the F50, particularly the humble Bad Monkey. Surprised me as I had trouble striking a happy balance with some I was using at the time.

 

Hows it sounding with the Tube swap?

[TheRecordFable]

No worries all good in the hood...

It sounds great, when I ordered the tubes Dougs has an option for early late or average breakup, I chose late.

Maybe it's my ears but she truly sounds better the mids warmed up and the overall depth was enhanced.

This is the make and order that was decided on...2 TAD 6L6GCs, in V1 a Electro Harmonix 12ax7, in V2 and V3 Penta Labs 12ax7s, and finally in V4 a Sovtek 12ax7.

I installed and let warm up longer than usual and played for hours with a smile.

My apologies on my post, but it's like having a baby you think is cute but in reality might be a little rough around the edges.