Mesa F-series Lounge. Come on in and share your secrets.

[Ogi-wan]

12AX7=100 12AT7=60 12AY7=45 12AV7=41 12AU7=20

I've replaced V1 with a 12AY7 as I don't play metal and wanted to try to reduce the amount of hiss, especially on the clean channel. The change hasn't eliminated all the hiss, but it has tamed my F-30 somewhat. Now that the speaker has broken in, classic rock and blues sound beautiful! I play mostly on Channel 2 (sans contour). Hope this helps.

 

Originally Posted by whathappened

is there a rule like "the 12at7 produces 2/3 of the 12ax7's gain"?

 

[Curtis.Fagan]

I am now selling my F100. If any of you folks in here would be interested, please PM me, I'd like it to go to an enthusiastic purchaser.

Please see my spam for price.

Love,

Curtis

[metareal]

 

Originally Posted by Will Cyrier

Hi Ed,

I think I read awhile ago in this thread something along the lines of, "Call Mesa, maybe they'll give you the schematic." I have no idea if they are willing to do that, but I have heard good things about their customer service. It might be worth a try. I remember searching for one online and came up empty handed. Are you an EE?

Peace,

Will

 

Hi,

I suppose I could try that as a last resort, but I seriously doubt it that they will be willing to give their official schematic...Maybe through a dealer...I ll see what I can come up with "offline"...

mudbuddy11 thanks for the feedback.

I ll update if there are any news...

Ed.

[Sixtonoize]

 

Originally Posted by joel3000

ISTR that a combo can be converted to a head, depending on how desperate you are.

 

That's right...Mesa will sell you a head box, so all you have to do is transfer the chassis and reverb tank. The only real down side is that they want $250 for the head box in question. The up side is that you can get any custom options you want (for a fee, of course), and have the world's most pimped out F-series. (No offense, Hal9000)

[hal9000]

 

Originally Posted by metareal

Hi,

I suppose I could try that as a last resort, but I seriously doubt it that they will be willing to give their official schematic...Maybe through a dealer...I ll see what I can come up with "offline"...

mudbuddy11 thanks for the feedback.

I ll update if there are any news...

Ed.

 

Call Mesa and ask for the schematic. That's how I got mine, but I'd rather not distribute it here.

[hal9000]

 

Originally Posted by Sixtonoize

That's right...Mesa will sell you a head box, so all you have to do is transfer the chassis and reverb tank. The only real down side is that they want $250 for the head box in question. The up side is that you can get any custom options you want (for a fee, of course), and have the world's most pimped out F-series. (No offense, Hal9000)

 

None taken. I don't think of my F-100 as pimped out, rather it's refined for my taste.

Now, this is pimped out:

[metareal]

 

Originally Posted by hal9000

Call Mesa and ask for the schematic. That's how I got mine, but I'd rather not distribute it here.

 

Hi Hal,

Thats great news! Did you tell them that you had to do some repair work to the amp or did you simply ask for it, i.e. "Hi, I own an F-50 can you send me the schematic?"

Thanks

Ed.

[hal9000]

 

Originally Posted by metareal

Hi Hal,

Thats great news! Did you tell them that you had to do some repair work to the amp or did you simply ask for it, i.e. "Hi, I own an F-50 can you send me the schematic?"

Thanks

Ed.

 

Yeah, when I called Mesa I talked to Mike B. about mod'ing the FX loop to be switchable between series and parallel with a push/pull pot, adjusting the contour filters, and change the reverb's driver/recovery circuit more to my taste. I haven't really had the urge to plunge deeper, but I may eventually get around to it.

So, I definitely had a reason other than wanting know what makes the F-series tick, and my understanding is that once a Mesa amplifier line is canceled, they will give out the schematic.

[metareal]

Sounds very reasonable...I will try and let you know.

If I do manage to get around modding the F-50 for adjustable "fixed bias" I will post my findings...

[hinrich]

 

Originally Posted by bentfrog

Hey...

I saw one at a local music store here in Calgary recently while doing some shopping. Its going for $1100 cdn plus g.s.t. Theyd probably deal on it since its probably been there for a while. Id have bought it to go with my f-50 combo....but I was told I had enough amplifiers and there was mention of divorce....ha ha. I havent seen any f-30 heads anywhere else for some time now.

Peace

 

That's strange, the combos were $1,100 in Toronto before the F series was discontinued. Can you give me the name of this store?

[Progdude]

Sup fellow F owners, dang, something happened to my amp..

I had a chance to REALLY crank it up today, and it was just pure coincidence when I was doing some power chords, that I turned the amp to see the back side and saw 1 tube glowing with a bluish color and the other one nothing, just normal glow so It was ok.

Then, after a minute or so, the bluish color starts to turn red, and I wasn't thinking, I was just like.. "It's perfectly normal, looks cool." then it turn REAL red like a lot, and I heard a small boom, something popped, and then no sound from my guitar and quickly turned off the amp, I checked the cable and it was conected to the guitar, so it had to be the tubes... what do I do now? the fuse looks OK, i'm no rocket scientist but... heck :S

[Progdude]

Update: I swapped the power tubes and clicked standby and power on, nothing, seems that the amp just died, I would guess it has to be the fuse, and if it IS, where can I buy a new one, how much do they cost and what else can I do in case it isn't the fuse? thanks.

[hal9000]

 

Originally Posted by Progdude

Update: I swapped the power tubes and clicked standby and power on, nothing, seems that the amp just died, I would guess it has to be the fuse, and if it IS, where can I buy a new one, how much do they cost and what else can I do in case it isn't the fuse? thanks.

 

The tube glowing red probably arced or physically shorted causing the fuse to blow. If you get a chance, check out the diagnosing tube problems section of the F-series manual. Sometimes blowing power tubes can also take out grid resistors. If you smelled any burning electronics near the back of the amp, it could be the grid resistor. Visually inspecting a fuse isn't enough. If the fuse element still looks intact, you either have to verify connectivity with a multimeter or you don't know.

The fuse for an F-50 is a 2 Amp Slo-Blo, whereas an F-100 is a 4 Amp Slo-Blo. The rating of the fuse should be one the one you're replacing.

[Progdude]

 

Originally Posted by hal9000

The tube glowing red probably arced or physically shorted causing the fuse to blow. If you get a chance, check out the diagnosing tube problems section of the F-series manual. Sometimes blowing power tubes can also take out grid resistors. If you smelled any burning electronics near the back of the amp, it could be the grid resistor. Visually inspecting a fuse isn't enough. If the fuse element still looks intact, you either have to verify connectivity with a multimeter or you don't know.

The fuse for an F-50 is a 2 Amp Slo-Blo, whereas an F-100 is a 4 Amp Slo-Blo. The rating of the fuse should be one the one you're replacing.

 

thanks really helpful, btw, I immediately started to smell the back of my amp when I turned it off, and good news, didn't smell like something burning or anything, the only thing was that the tube went red and the amp popped, and it won't turn on with new tubes.

[Joeytpg]

Sup brothers....another quick video for you.

Fender John Mayer sig strat + F-50

Don't pay attention to the occassional out of key singing, just learned that song that day, and it's kind of weird/hard to play and sing it at the same time.

[Will Cyrier]

 

Originally Posted by Will Cyrier

So my amp farted out on me yesterday morning, right before I left civilization to return to college at Washington State University. I took it to a local music store and the engineer looked at it and was surprised to fine countless "solder balls" throughout the interior of the amp. He said it was from the manufacturing process and that I should contact Mesa. Problem is, this thing is out of warranty. I thought I had fixed this problem by taking it to a repair guy this past summer and was really happy with it, until now. What would you do? Do you think I should call Mesa and see if they can do anything for me? I'm over 5 hours from the nearest "authorized" repair facility. I love the tone of this thing but this just sucks...

 

I called Mesa today and gave them the low-down since a local amp repair guy couldn't fix my issue. I have tremendous crackling in all channels even with the speaker muted! But it turns out my warranty is valid and now the amp is on its way to California. Good news. The only thing that's up in the air is the non-Mesa tube usage. Customer service (Marcus) said that if they determine the JJ's fried my circuit board, then I would have to eat the repair, but if not, everything is covered except the cost of new tubes if needed. Moral of the story, call customer service! I should have a long time ago...

[Dann'sTheMan]

 

Originally Posted by Will Cyrier

I called Mesa today and gave them the low-down since a local amp repair guy couldn't fix my issue. I have tremendous crackling in all channels even with the speaker muted! But it turns out my warranty is valid and now the amp is on its way to California. Good news. The only thing that's up in the air is the non-Mesa tube usage. Customer service (Marcus) said that if they determine the JJ's fried my circuit board, then I would have to eat the repair, but if not, everything is covered except the cost of new tubes if needed. Moral of the story, call customer service! I should have a long time ago...

 

Hi Will,

I'm glad to see that Mesa lived up to their excellent customer service reputation, and in practise, the way they deal with non-Mesa tubes is not so harsh as the wording on their warranty card for the Americas.

Hope it all works out for you.

Big smiles,

Andy.

[Dann'sTheMan]

 

Originally Posted by mudbuddy11

Never mind on almost all counts. Putting the fuzz after the cot50 stacks way better than the other way around. I lose definition from the fuzz to the cot, but cot>fuzz, I get all sorts of trebly gain and a huge volume boost. Now I'm thinking the cot will be a lead boost, and it works very well in that spot.. I've spent the last few hours playing, and there is nothing wrong with my gain channel. I had been poo-pooing it, thinking it didnt have the muscle or vintage tone I was looking for. I thought it needed a retube. I was thinking my older classic amps sounded better on the clean channel, but the mesa is really just about as good in my opinion. The 50's 5w airline may still beat it, but this is just about as sweet,,,, I still may be able to dial it in.

DannsTheMan, I've been thinking of a compressor to even out my sound, and was thinking of wiring together a orange squeeze clone kit. Can you recommend any? I was looking here hope I linked that right

 

Hi mudbuddy11,

Regarding compressors, in my limited experience, they all behave quite differently. Some go for a transparent, studio compressor type of approach. The one I use, a 1978 MXR Dynacomp really colours the tone, but I love what it does, making things warmer, and fattening up clean tones beautifully. I also use it to clean boost the front end of my F-50, something which the vintage ones do better apparently, as they tend to have hotter output levels. I'm now back in the UK, and had a blast yesterday running my new EJ Strat through my rig.

I have no idea how the OSQ kit that you highlighted sounds. I'd suggest trying as many as you can, so that you can narrow in on what you are looking for from such a pedal. Then you'll be in a better position to choose and decide if the OSQ kit is likely to take you in the right direction. Check out how session maestro, Michael Thompson , uses different compressors for different clean sounds: http://www.prosoundcommunications.co...on2/index.html

Big smiles,

Andy.

[mynameistaken]

Can anyone refer me to some clips of a F-50 with some sort of overdrive or boost in front of it? Along the lines of a TS9 or bad monkey. I am sure there are some buried in this thread somewhere.

Thanks!

[dulcetpine]

Does anyone know the signal output flow of the FX loop on the F series? The reason I ask is that I like my distorted signal to be behind any type of delay. I am curious if it is better for me to run my boss space echo in the F/X loop instead of the input jack.

I don't know this because I do not have my head yet (tuesday it comes in).

[Will Cyrier]

 

Originally Posted by dulcetpine

Does anyone know the signal output flow of the FX loop on the F series? The reason I ask is that I like my distorted signal to be behind any type of delay. I am curious if it is better for me to run my boss space echo in the F/X loop instead of the input jack.

I don't know this because I do not have my head yet (tuesday it comes in).

 

I'm like the opposite personally but if you want your distortion behind your delay, then run the delay into the input jack. I think the loop is the last thing in the pre-amp before the power section so if you run channel two (distortion) with your delay in the loop, the distortion will be going into the delay. Hope that helps. You're in for a treat on tuesday.

[dulcetpine]

 

Originally Posted by Will Cyrier

I'm like the opposite personally but if you want your distortion behind your delay, then run the delay into the input jack. I think the loop is the last thing in the pre-amp before the power section so if you run channel two (distortion) with your delay in the loop, the distortion will be going into the delay. Hope that helps. You're in for a treat on tuesday.

 

if the delay is in the loop and the distortion is going into the delay, wouldn't it make the delay effect clearer? i would think it would because the distorted sound is being repeated, not the repeated sound being distorted. the latter seems to me as though it would 'muck' up the tone.

I will try both ways to be sure, I just wanted to make sure I had enough guitar cables to do it right.

Thanks man, Super Tuesday!!!

[Will Cyrier]

 

Originally Posted by dulcetpine

if the delay is in the loop and the distortion is going into the delay, wouldn't it make the delay effect clearer? i would think it would because the distorted sound is being repeated, not the repeated sound being distorted. the latter seems to me as though it would 'muck' up the tone.

I will try both ways to be sure, I just wanted to make sure I had enough guitar cables to do it right.

Thanks man, Super Tuesday!!!

 

Whatever sounds good to you! I have a DL4 and when I run it in front, it sounds great on the clean channel, but when I switch to the gain channel, the delay is overpowering (even with its mix knob under 10%). It could be the pedal. I've known guys that put delay in front, but for my application, it just seems to work better in the loop. I wouldn't say either tones are mucked up, just that the order (in my experience) really affects the amount of delay I hear. Have fun experimenting, let us know what you end doing.

Will

[mudbuddy11]

Thanks Dann... that vid kinda sealed it for me... the OSQ pedal is a copy of the orange squeezer he was talking about... still only one control, but it shouldnt be a bad pedal to get me started with compressors. This is probably going to get me started on a whole line a pedals to get.... so far my immediate wish list is... foxrox octron, digitech jamman, digitech whammy, teese pic wah, and a keeley modded bd2. Thats $1000. Add a keeley compressor and a orange squeeze and a barber tone press... $500?

On another note.... do I have to buy a hotplate or something like it for volume attenuation, because I'm already using my fx chain? I'm thinking the answer is yes. I have a eb jr volume last in my fx chain to help attenuate volume, but first off, I bought a broken volume pedal, and it doesnt do a full sweep, and second I'm not sure I like that sound.... I swear its changing my sound, but I could be crazy. I was thinking that theoreticly the vol pedal would be the same effect as attenuator, both just reduce the volume of the already driven sound.... while one soaks power that would normally go to the speaker, and the other just effectively turns down the volume of the speaker driver. Its all post gain, post effect, so the overall difference should be minimal, am I right? do I need a hotplate too? or not? I'm just afraid to buy a hotplate and have the exact same sound as with the vol pedal.

[lovED]

So I put in some new preamp tubes in my F-100 yesterday. They are Groove Tube 7025 Silver Series. Supposedly these aren't made anymore. They sound great! They gave my clean channel so much more sparkle and presence. Channel two sounds great too. Excellent crunchy gain. They sound great. I recommend them. I've got two left if anyone is interested. I'll do both of them shipped for $20.

lovED