Mesa F50 head or combo - anyone have/had one?

[Chud]

I have a potential trade offer for a Mesa F50 head I'm considering. It's pretty much equivalent value to what I'm trading, so not worried there. I've just never played one, and my experience with other Mesa-Boogies in general is pretty limited. I've read that it does really nice cleans with lots of headroom, and goes all the way to near rectifier-style distortion with good crunchy crunch in between.

I'm looking for something that has a lot of variety in what it can do in whatever the next head I pick up is. I'm a fan of both Marshall and Fender cleans for different reasons and for different things, but I also love the more mid-forward Supro cleans. Ideally I'd like an amp that has its own clean character that sets it apart from the classic clean sounds while still drawing from them. From what I've read, this amp does that.

One minor issue is that my current set up is all 16ohm - all of my cabs and my Two Notes Captor X - and the MB only has 8 and 4 ohm taps. From reading on MB's site and from other users, MB's transformers are beefy enough to where running 8 into 16 full out shouldn't be a problem, and Two Notes give typical recommendations for small mismatches only, so it shouldn't be a big issue but I'm also running a relay driven amp/cab switching system so just being extra careful. Lol

Anyone own or have owned one of these that can provide some thoughts? Thanks!!

 

[That Cal Webway]

I would be interested too on responses as I'm thinking of either the 50 or the 25 Fillmore head.

 

[Chud]

How about head OR combo? Lol

 

[Dacious]

Glacial Fender like cleans with no breakup. Nice reverb even if chip driven/recovered. Good dirt channel. The F-series was the first one they really sorted the switchable clean/dirty balance. Cleans are really nice.

Well built amp. I picked up a cheap deal with a faulty inrush thermistor causing fuses to blow. 50c in parts and it was a goodie. Sold it for double. I got an Express to replace it. Another deal.

 

[Jason TwoNotes]

I have a potential trade offer for a Mesa F50 head I'm considering. It's pretty much equivalent value to what I'm trading, so not worried there. I've just never played one, and my experience with other Mesa-Boogies in general is pretty limited. I've read that it does really nice cleans with lots of headroom, and goes all the way to near rectifier-style distortion with good crunchy crunch in between.

I'm looking for something that has a lot of variety in what it can do in whatever the next head I pick up is. I'm a fan of both Marshall and Fender cleans for different reasons and for different things, but I also love the more mid-forward Supro cleans. Ideally I'd like an amp that has its own clean character that sets it apart from the classic clean sounds while still drawing from them. From what I've read, this amp does that.

One minor issue is that my current set up is all 16ohm - all of my cabs and my Two Notes Captor X - and the MB only has 8 and 4 ohm taps. From reading on MB's site and from other users, MB's transformers are beefy enough to where running 8 into 16 full out shouldn't be a problem, and Two Notes give typical recommendations for small mismatches only, so it shouldn't be a big issue but I'm also running a relay driven amp/cab switching system so just being extra careful. Lol

Anyone own or have owned one of these that can provide some thoughts? Thanks!!

Hey Chud! Have you read this?

Based on what you said, you should be fine with that slight mismatch, but make sure you have read this before you do anything!

Can I mismatch the impedance of the amp and load box ?

What mkight happen if you do, and what you can expect to happen

www.two-notes.com

 

[wildschwein]

I have a potential trade offer for a Mesa F50 head I'm considering. It's pretty much equivalent value to what I'm trading, so not worried there. I've just never played one, and my experience with other Mesa-Boogies in general is pretty limited. I've read that it does really nice cleans with lots of headroom, and goes all the way to near rectifier-style distortion with good crunchy crunch in between.

I'm looking for something that has a lot of variety in what it can do in whatever the next head I pick up is. I'm a fan of both Marshall and Fender cleans for different reasons and for different things, but I also love the more mid-forward Supro cleans. Ideally I'd like an amp that has its own clean character that sets it apart from the classic clean sounds while still drawing from them. From what I've read, this amp does that.

One minor issue is that my current set up is all 16ohm - all of my cabs and my Two Notes Captor X - and the MB only has 8 and 4 ohm taps. From reading on MB's site and from other users, MB's transformers are beefy enough to where running 8 into 16 full out shouldn't be a problem, and Two Notes give typical recommendations for small mismatches only, so it shouldn't be a big issue but I'm also running a relay driven amp/cab switching system so just being extra careful. Lol

Anyone own or have owned one of these that can provide some thoughts? Thanks!!

Everything you need to know about speaker loads is on page 8:

https://mesa-boogie.imgix.net/media/User%20Manuals/F-Series.pdf

 

[Chud]

Hey Chud! Have you read this?

Based on what you said, you should be fine with that slight mismatch, but make sure you have read this before you do anything!

Can I mismatch the impedance of the amp and load box ?

What mkight happen if you do, and what you can expect to happen

www.two-notes.com

Everything you need to know about speaker loads is on page 8:

https://mesa-boogie.imgix.net/media/User%20Manuals/F-Series.pdf

Thanks both, already read through both of those and then some. The main reason I brought it up is just due to the additional complexity of my system going through a relay driven switcher (see video here: ) and the Two Notes, but it shouldn't really be that much of an issue with the Mesa.

 

[JL_LI]

I never played an F50. I have an Express 5:25 and love the cleans. Four channels, 5 watts or 25 watts takes you from quiet clean to loud clean to distortion to brain bleed without the need for pedals. It’s actually the only piece of gear that I’m 100% satisfied with.

 

[Chud]

I never played an F50. I have an Express 5:25 and love the cleans. Four channels, 5 watts or 25 watts takes you from quiet clean to loud clean to distortion to brain bleed without the need for pedals. It’s actually the only piece of gear that I’m 100% satisfied with.

Those look pretty sick. I may have to see if I can find one to play.

I think the trade for the F50 is off the table, thanks all for the info and all.

 

[Dacious]

Those look pretty sick. I may have to see if I can find one to play.

I think the trade for the F50 is off the table, thanks all for the info and all.

If you're looking for a good Mesa that's got close to blackface Fender and still does a good distortion the Express is a great go-to with multimode channels and separate gains, eqs, masters.

I had a 5:25 110 which was a kicking small gig amp and very versatile. The contour control which became the 5 band eq in later versions makes it just about a guitar-cable-amp setup.

 

[naveed211]

My buddy had an F30 back in the day that I played quite a bit. Obviously lower wattage and different tubes, but I’d expect the voicing to be the same.

I recall it having big but flat cleans, good for a pedal platform, as he often ran it.

The gain channel was not quite Rectifier level, not quite as balls to the wall saturation, more of a poor man’s Mark IV in voicing, which is an amp I’ve owned. More “refined,” but didn’t sound as rich as the MKIV.

Not really my thing anymore, but it was a pretty nice amp. I’d put it in the camp of their Studio or DC series. A good solid overall relatively affordable amp that gives good tone, doesn’t blow me away, but a good amp for what it is.

 

[Colo Springs E]

Had an F30 combo a couple years, and briefly had an F50 head and small cab. LOVED both of them! I stuck with the F30 longer, as the F50 was just very powerful, and moving around a combo was a bit easier (I was gigging at the time).

I love Mesa amps. I also had a Roadster head atop a 2x12 cabinet. Again, WAY overpowered, but four channels was great for gigging... I used no pedals other than the supplied 4-channel / reverb selector footboard. Basically had it set up as clean, clean boosted, dirty, dirty boosted. My talent level is crap, but I often got compliments on my tone.

 

[ping-ping-clicka]

who owns a Mesa John Petrucci Signature JP-2C tube electric guitar amplifier head

Mesa/Boogie JP-2C Mark IIC+ John Petrucci 60/100-watt Tube Head - Black Taurus

60/100W Tube Guitar Amplifier Head with 3 Channels, Dual 5-band EQs, Reverb, Footswitch, MIDI-switchable Effects Loop, CabClone Output, and MIDI

www.sweetwater.com

Mesa/Boogie JP-2C Mark IIC+ John Petrucci 60/100-watt Tube Head - Black Taurus

60/100W Tube Guitar Amplifier Head with 3 Channels, Dual 5-band EQs, Reverb, Footswitch, MIDI-switchable Effects Loop, CabClone Output, and MIDI

www.sweetwater.com

 

[Jazzcaster21]

I have had an F50 for years and love it, and it's my second MB. It's very versatile, has great cleans, plenty of drive and works well for everything I've done. It's also very user friendly with two separate EQs for each channel. Plus, I can record directly out of it, put it in silent mode, and not bother the household! The clean channel has some break-up too when the pre-gain is cranked all the way up and the master volume is around 4-5.

The lead channel is a touch more sensitive with the gain settings and takes a little bit more tweaking to find the sweet spot. The amp also takes pedals well.

I am now considering getting the Fillmore 25 combo instead of a Fender DR Reissue.