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

[Pvt.Happy]

Man, the F50 combo is amazing with dirt boxes. I am using a few od's into the amp's front end, and the clean channel, with gain at just over noon, really complements almost everything in front of it. Beautiful channel. In fact, this could be considered the ultimate one channel amp, with the option of a very good od channel of its own. I am a pedal hound, and the F50 just might be the ultimate pedal amp.

I am curious. If anyone here owns a Stiletto Ace - the only amp I'd consider trading this bad boy for - how does the Ace take dirt boxes?

[BLY]

Today when i was going to play my F-50 after some weaks of the clean channel wasnt as before. When i set the master to like 12 o clock, it was still so low that i could stand in front of the speaker without any protection for the ears and it didnt feel loud. Normally i play that volume when i play with my whole band. The second channel seems normal tho. I havent heard any strange noices before or anything and today it was like this.

I've tried different guitars and cables, but its still the same.

Does anyone know what the problem may be?

Where do you buy cheap and good tubes for the F-50?

//BLY

[BLY]

After a while the same thing as above happened to the second channel too. I bought a new 12gx7 and tried in each of the preamp tube but nothing happened. When i had played the amp for some minutes after that the second channel started to get weak too.

Yesterday i tried a friends 6L6 and the amp feelt strong again so i though that was the problem, but when i put back my old tubes again the amp was loud so it wasnt because of the tubes. Then i realised that the right tube, when looking from behind, wasnt nearly as hot as the other. Booth tubes light up in standby, but when i put in the signal only one of the works.

Anyone know what can be the problem?

[Will Cyrier]

Wow, for some reason I thought this forum went kaput....I should have Googled it sooner. I am glad to see it is still going. Anyway, still have the F-30 and still love it. But she's been giving me trouble the past couple of gigs. The clean channel has been cutting in and out intermittently and without warning to the point I don't trust it anymore. Channel 2 is unaffected. I have swapped V1 to no avail. I am beginning to think that one of the solder joints near the tube socket is the culprit because I can get the sound to come back if I wiggle V1 a little. However, it soon disappears again without warning. Any suggestions?

[Dann'sTheMan]

Hi BLY and Will Cyrier,

I would usually suggest having a complete back up set of new Tubes to hand as this helps with the diagnosis - start by replacing them all to check if the problem disappears, and onlly then consider swapping back some of the older tubes (usually pre-amp tubes). I always replace my power tubes as a set, and only keep the older ones as back ups to get me through a gig.

It's also worth finding a good local tech - ask Mesa for some pointers. Keeping a tube amp well serviced is key to having a dependable gigging amp,

Big smiles,

Andy.

[SammyD]

Hey all. I brought my F-50 about a month ago now, brought it home and plugged it in and used a couple of clean settings stolen from this forum (thank you) sounded great! But I could soon smell a not so nice smell coming from the back of the amp, smelt like burning glass. So I turned it off, I also noticed when I turned the amp off standby mode I could hear a couple of loud pops. So I took it to a tech and 3 weeks later (today) I got it back with a new set of power tubes and a once over, sounds awesome even thou I haven't had the chance to crank it up yet.

Anyone got some advice on a cool grungy type gain setting on the dirt channel? Or maybe a pedal to use on the clean channel to get the sort of distortion I am after?

Here's a of the new family member sitting with my trusty Raidan Telecaster

[LaidBack95]

Hey all! I used to post here quite a bit, but have fallen off the face of the earth for a while :haha

Question: does anyone have the dimensions for the F-50 head? I would love to be able to convert my combo into a head.

Thanks!

[tech21man]

 

Originally Posted by Will Cyrier

Wow, for some reason I thought this forum went kaput....I should have Googled it sooner. I am glad to see it is still going. Anyway, still have the F-30 and still love it. But she's been giving me trouble the past couple of gigs. The clean channel has been cutting in and out intermittently and without warning to the point I don't trust it anymore. Channel 2 is unaffected. I have swapped V1 to no avail. I am beginning to think that one of the solder joints near the tube socket is the culprit because I can get the sound to come back if I wiggle V1 a little. However, it soon disappears again without warning. Any suggestions?

 

V2 could be the culprit in the sense that it is the first preamp tube and not V1. But if it is the clean channel only you should try to follow the signal path of it. Also clean all the pots and switch which affect the clean channel I guess

[J.Paul]

Hi folks,

Just got an F50 combo last week (though it's only been in my possession for a day~I put it in the shop and have been on the road all week). I've started monitoring this thread from post 1 (I'm up to page 61 / post 1211 not including the searches) so when we get home I'll have a checklist of stuff to try this month and will report back.

These include :

~attenuating with an RC Booster

~channel / loop switching via Gmajor, Roland GP100, Pedalsnake, GRX4

~test the head going to Marshall 2x12 (1936), Marshall 1x12 (AVT)

~will the roadcase for my Dr Z Maz 38 fit the F50?

~POD as a simulator from the speakers/phones out

~does SIR stock the F50 as backline (Nashville, New York, LA, London)?

I will most probably not use the DIN custom cord (as described by Andy - Dannstheman) method as it seems to be a proprietary approach and I like to rotate my pedalboard with whatever amps I'm using that day (Randall RG80SC-112, Marshall 25/50, Dr Z Maz 38)...besides if I have to use midi and loop routing and all that mess I'll just use my rack (Vtwin, Trio, gmajor, time factor,GCX, ground control).

Great tips and advice here in this thread and I hope to contribute with whatever I can.

[Dann'sTheMan]

 

Originally Posted by J.Paul

Hi folks,

Just got an F50 combo last week (though it's only been in my possession for a day~I put it in the shop and have been on the road all week). I've started monitoring this thread from post 1 (I'm up to page 61 / post 1211 not including the searches) so when we get home I'll have a checklist of stuff to try this month and will report back.

These include :

~attenuating with an RC Booster

~channel / loop switching via Gmajor, Roland GP100, Pedalsnake, GRX4

~test the head going to Marshall 2x12 (1936), Marshall 1x12 (AVT)

~will the roadcase for my Dr Z Maz 38 fit the F50?

~POD as a simulator from the speakers/phones out

~does SIR stock the F50 as backline (Nashville, New York, LA, London)?

I will most probably not use the DIN custom cord (as described by Andy - Dannstheman) method as it seems to be a proprietary approach and I like to rotate my pedalboard with whatever amps I'm using that day (Randall RG80SC-112, Marshall 25/50, Dr Z Maz 38)...besides if I have to use midi and loop routing and all that mess I'll just use my rack (Vtwin, Trio, gmajor, time factor,GCX, ground control).

Great tips and advice here in this thread and I hope to contribute with whatever I can.

 

Hi Paul,

and welcome to the Lounge and to the "Brotherhood". I enjoyed the music on your website - I'm a fan of all of the Nashville cats. You may have picked up that I originally bought the F-50 because I thought it was a one-stop solution for so many of Dann Huff's tones. I hope the amp works out for you.

Regarding your questions:

- the F-50 generally uses Mesa's "Widebody" format like the new MkV (some of the earliest models could also be ordered in the original "Narrowbody" design (like the MkIII)). I found these details on the old Guitarist review (http://www.mesaboogie.com/Reviews/gu...GuitarF-50.pdf), but it's in new money:

DIMENSIONS: 475 (h) x 575 (w) x 270mm (d)

WEIGHT (kg/lb): 25/50

- If the RC Booster doesn't work out as an attenuator, do try a volume pedal or even your G-Major (I know it works great with that).

- Regarding whether the F-50 will be available through the Rental companies like SIR, I'd be surprised to be honest. It's now discontinued, and even though it a critically acclaimed design, I'm not aware of many big names that ended up touring/recording with them. You can check out the roster here: http://www.mesaboogie.com/gallery_artist/art_gall.php (Kevin Eubanks is obviously well known, but he's better known for playing his Blue Angel on the Leno show...).

Regarding the DIN cable set up - totally understand. One thing that may be worth considering though is having a selection a these cables that work with your different amps. I'm helping a friend integrate a G-System into his rig, and he runs either a Marshall TSL 1/2 stack or a Mark IV combo. My recommendation to him is that he makes up two switching cables for each amp set up - setting up the MIDI to switch between Clean, Rhythm and Lead tones with the appropriate amp.

I look forward to hearing how you get on,

Big smiles,

Andy.

[Dann'sTheMan]

 

Originally Posted by SammyD

Hey all. I brought my F-50 about a month ago now, brought it home and plugged it in and used a couple of clean settings stolen from this forum (thank you) sounded great! But I could soon smell a not so nice smell coming from the back of the amp, smelt like burning glass. So I turned it off, I also noticed when I turned the amp off standby mode I could hear a couple of loud pops. So I took it to a tech and 3 weeks later (today) I got it back with a new set of power tubes and a once over, sounds awesome even thou I haven't had the chance to crank it up yet.

Anyone got some advice on a cool grungy type gain setting on the dirt channel? Or maybe a pedal to use on the clean channel to get the sort of distortion I am after?

Here's a of the new family member sitting with my trusty Raidan Telecaster

 

Hi SammyD,

Welcome to the brotherhood. Glad to hear a new set of Power Tubes sorted your Boogie right out.

Regarding your question, do you have any examples of the type of "grungy" dirt you're after? I suspect you should start with the Contour channel, but some more clues regarding where you'd like to end up would be useful.

Big smiles,

Andy.

[SammyD]

 

Originally Posted by Dann'sTheMan

Hi SammyD,

Welcome to the brotherhood. Glad to hear a new set of Power Tubes sorted your Boogie right out.

Regarding your question, do you have any examples of the type of "grungy" dirt you're after? I suspect you should start with the Contour channel, but some more clues regarding where you'd like to end up would be useful.

Big smiles,

Andy.

 

Hey Andy, thanks for the reply

When I got this amp I was really after a Nirvana clean/dirty sound. I love the cleans, it works perfectly but I couldn't find a dirty sound I liked (well I did like it, it was just never exactly what I wanted) so after a few experiments with pedals I now stick either a Rat or TC Crunch Box in front of the clean channel and BOOM, it's the sound I wanted

I really haven't played the amp as much as I should of, it's defiantly a loud beast and I've only had one band practise since I got it. Really need to crank it some more

[hahavishnu]

heres one for you all.......i axed b4 but got naewhere......

sorted thanks

[hahavishnu]

another question.....whats the clean channel like when the preamp is high........is it usable? the manual says the best position on the pre amp is 11 bells through 1

[J.Paul]

OK

I (finally) got my F50 out of the shop since my last posting.... over 5 weeks for service?

It needed 11 FET chips and the Nashville pro electronics place all the techs use (Randolph and Rice) went out of business that week, so they had to order them from California then it got caught it Christmas traffic...that's what I was told. It's probably more a case of they're too busy scratching balls to work on my amp, also a lot of peeps come off the road in November and have gear serviced. I don't care what the excuse is. If a reliable amp is gonna take 5 weeks to service then

Strike 1 for the F50

During that time I traded stuff for a roadcase w/ casters. It fits. Yay.

I got it home Thursday night and got re-aquainted and spent the next day integrating my pedalboard with it.

The volume pedal attenuator works well. I tried the RC Booster, a Katana, and a Korg exp2....

~The RC sounded flat and lacked sparkle plus the volume only goes up and doesn't go into - db.

~The Katana worked well when I tested it (goes into - db and retains the tone), but the next day when I started to install there was a problem with some hums and ground loop type of sound. I suspect it's an issue with my Katana and am not interested in expending the life energy to troubleshoot and solve the mystery.

~I've sold all my Ernie Balls (except for the one I'm using), and my Visual Sound Volume is dedicated to my other pedalboard so I used a cheap Korg exp2 expression/ volume pedal and it works fine. There doesn't seem to be any loss of tone, which is hard to believe because that thing is a piece of crap.I'll be using this until I can replace it with an EQ pedal (boss, mxr). Anyone have good experience with the Fish n Chips??

I'm attenuating at least -15 db (in my estimation)

with the gain at 1 oclock puts my master for bedroom levels at 9 oclock and auditorium levels at 2 oclock. I suspect this will eat tubes faster (I'll search this thread for confirmation of this). Has anyone experienced the F50 going through tubes quicker when using the volume pedal attenuation?

I like Andy's suggestion of using a different snake for different applications and will inch into that this spring as I have more time,money,patience.

For now I'm only using the green/clean channel

It sounds fine with my pedalboard (will probably post some youtubes) but I'm missing out on a whole other dimension by not using the red/dirt channel. The contour with gain at 10 oclock is a tone you just can't get with pedals. .....so much goodness.

[J.Paul]

Today I replaced the Korg EXP2 (attenuator in the fx loop) with a Fishman Powerblend.

It's cleaner, has an EQ, is buffered, and has an additional output that I can route to a Palmer, POD, or other speaker simulator for a direct line to the PA. It's too big for a proper mounting in the back, but I'm storing it back there anyways for now.

The signal chain is

fx send ~~>to pedalboard via pedalsnake~~>Radial PB1 (lead boost) in ~~>out to amp via pedalsnake ~~>in to powerblender~~>out to fx return

It sounds better to my ear like that. For some reason it didn't like going from the fx send into the powerblend down the snake to the radial then back to the fx return...just sounded a bit duller that way

[tech21man]

Cool, although the loop is already buffered!

[J.Paul]

 

Originally Posted by tech21man

Cool, although the loop is already buffered!

 

Yeah I know

but I'm cash poor and no one is trading EQ pedals on Craigslist this week.

When I was installing I tried using the other output to the Powerblend (which isn't buffered) and the volume reduction doesn't work on that output.It's fine for now.

[rdamato]

Anyone swap the stock C90 for something a bit less brittle sounding??

Ron

[Pvt.Happy]

Hey all... A live vid of my band, Stupid {censored}ing Dinosaurs, taken in September 2011 Facefest 16 in Vancouver BC. I am playing my Mesa F-50 112 combo. Due to the short set (it was a benefit/festival kinda thing) and cramped space, I didn't bring my pedalboard or my extension cabinet for the show. I used the amp gain with contour for the heavier songs and a Boss OD-3 (a criminally underrated pedal!) for the punkier ones. Amp reverb on the clean song. This was recorded and mixed in Cubase, I think, and because everything was miced, the sound is quite decent.

Enjoy. I hope this gives some idea of the capabilities of this amp live!

Here is the link:

 

 

 

[hahavishnu]

secrets eh? OK, i rode my auntie..........and uncle

[blackmonday]

Anyone know a good source for replacement knobs for an F50 combo? Haven't called the obvious place yet (Mesa)... The Amp got hit on the side, and sheared off the channel 2 treble pot and the knob is nowhere to be found.

[JerEvil]

I recently acquired this fella here

Loving it so far.

[Dann'sTheMan]

 

Originally Posted by JerEvil

I recently acquired this fella here

Loving it so far.

 

Hi JerEvil,

Welcome to the F-series brotherhood - hope your F-50 continues to put a big grin on your face like mine has. Your F-50 looks like it's just come from the factory - great score! So what kind of music are you using your Boogie for?

Big smiles,

Andy.

[Dann'sTheMan]

 

Originally Posted by blackmonday

Anyone know a good source for replacement knobs for an F50 combo? Haven't called the obvious place yet (Mesa)... The Amp got hit on the side, and sheared off the channel 2 treble pot and the knob is nowhere to be found.

 

Hi blackmonday,

hal9000 did a fantastic job in cosmetically upgrading his F-100. He found identically sized knobs at Sam Ash. Check out the full tutorial here:

http://acapella.harmony-central.com/...ostid=15419386

Big smiles,

Andy.