Members paydirt Posted October 9, 2005 Members Share Posted October 9, 2005 Hi Guys, I'm new around here, but who better to ask then the experts, Right? I am a bedroom warrior, but I really want a tube amp to get the "Tone" I've been chasing for years. I finally decided on a Fender Blues Jr. for the following reasons. It is the right size, has THE Fender reverb built in, low wattage, but plenty of volume, famoues Fender cleans, etc. I have plenty of dirt pedals to get me the "Tone" I want. Think cranked Marshall. Now I go down to my local guitar shop and I play into it for about an hour, and agin think, This is it. Now the rub. Sitting next to it is a Mesa F-30. I plug my guitar into it and WOW! , ther eis the Tone"I have been searching for. No pedals, just guitar --> F-30. Only thing is, I need a $1,000 dollar amp like I need a hole in the head. Now I can't even look at the Blues Jr. without thinking about the F-30. A couple of people have said that the gain channel on the F-30 gets a little gritty and maybe I should look at the F-50 instead. Now we're talking about more money and more power then I'll ever need. What do you guys think about the F-30? Is there anything else I should be looking at in the 30 watt range to get that sound?Thanks!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members hondro Posted October 9, 2005 Members Share Posted October 9, 2005 well i'm guessing that the mesa is more of a metal amp the fender is really a vintage style amp, its such a low wattage that a lot of people "crank" them, to get a NATURAL overdrive, no distortion pedals needed its kind of like a modern fender champ so if you want a vintage sound (especially Neil Young, who is famous for his use of Fender Champs) keep the blues jr. if you want metal and high gain, get the mesa IF the mesa is a metal amp, i'm not familiar with it though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members CAC Posted October 9, 2005 Members Share Posted October 9, 2005 I own a Mesa F-50 and am a pretty big big fan of the Mesa F-series. I was actually close to buying a Fender when I discovered the Mesa. It was quite a bit what I wanted to spend, but to me it was worth it. If you are willing to spend $750 to $1000 it will allow you to purchase an amp that will be quite a bit more versatile if not better sounding than the Blues Junior. The Mesa is my favorite combo in that price range, but if you want an amp with good distortion and cleans that will not break the bank I would also recommend checking out the Traynor YCV series, especially the YCV 50, a Reverend Kingsnake, and a Rivera Clubster or Chubster. All of these amps are well under $1000 if you buy used and will give you good cleans and distortion. Don't worry too much about the power. If you're going tube, a 15 watter and 30 watter will both be plenty loud, but the higher the wattage the more headroom the amp will give you. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members CAC Posted October 9, 2005 Members Share Posted October 9, 2005 Originally posted by hondro well i'm guessing that the mesa is more of a metal amp the fender is really a vintage style amp, its such a low wattage that a lot of people "crank" them, to get a NATURAL overdrive, no distortion pedals needed its kind of like a modern fender champ so if you want a vintage sound (especially Neil Young, who is famous for his use of Fender Champs) keep the blues jr. if you want metal and high gain, get the mesa IF the mesa is a metal amp, i'm not familiar with it though If it's the F series I would definitely describe it as more of a vintage voiced amp. It can do metal, but its real strength I believe is its cleans, bluesy breakup, and classic rock sounds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members paydirt Posted October 9, 2005 Author Members Share Posted October 9, 2005 Thanks guys for the info, I'm pretty much sold on the Mesa. Even the cleans sounded better to me. What I was really cuious about was the comment on the High gain channel of the F-30 sounding gritty after a while. How do you like the F-50? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tlbonehead Posted October 9, 2005 Members Share Posted October 9, 2005 Originally posted by paydirt Thanks guys for the info,I'm pretty much sold on the Mesa. Even the cleans sounded better to me. What I was really cuious about was the comment on the High gain channel of the F-30 sounding gritty after a while. How do you like the F-50? Why look at so few models. And you say you want a 30 watt model and yet the one you were planning to buy was a 15 watt model. A dual EL84 power section is plenty loud. So I would include them in any possibilities. Have you played a Crate V1512? By all means try one before buying something else. A Mesa Subway Rocket might be exactly what you want. They run about $500. Peavey Bravo for about $200-250 will give you a similar vibe,as will a Bedrock 600 series. Almost forgot the two old standby. Peavey Classic 20/30. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tnjpekar Posted October 9, 2005 Members Share Posted October 9, 2005 keep shopping, if all you have tried out are two amps, you are missing a whole lot of gas time. keep trying them out, you may find something that suits you even better. also, you may want to look into the used gear market once you have identified what you are looking for Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members CAC Posted October 9, 2005 Members Share Posted October 9, 2005 Well the Mesa F-50 is a great all around amp. I'm not sure if it spot on nails any particular fender or Marshall tone, but I don't really care. I use it for sparkly clean tones to 70's and 80's hard rock and it covers those styles just fine. I can also get a really great Metal chug tone ala Slayer, but I don't go there too much. I think you'd probably be happy with the Mesa, but I would follow the other recommendations and try as many amps as you can before you buy. I know that there are a number of people on this board that would not choose the Mesa so it's all personal preference. As far as the F-30 goes, I have tried it, but to me the F-50 sounded a bit fuller and cleaner so that's the amp I went with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members J Bone Posted October 9, 2005 Members Share Posted October 9, 2005 Don't get a fender and accept cranked marshall sounds from a pedal...it won't happen everyone has tried it's impossible...F-30 is nice if you're not gonna need the extra volume...good versatile amp and the f 50 will be a little different but not a lot for the money unless your gonna want the extra volume....try a bunch of amps out but don't expect cranked marshall from anything except a marshall...line 6 does it pretty good, vox digital is alright, but even they can't copy it exactly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Dann'sTheMan Posted October 10, 2005 Members Share Posted October 10, 2005 Hi paydirt,Welcome to HCAF I'm a little biased, but I say trust your ears - if you've found the amp that gives you the tones you have in your head, then grab hold of it - it doesn't matter what badge it is wearing. A lot of guitarists search for years for their dream sound, many never find it. With me, I also found the sounds in my head with Mesa's F-series. For me it was the F-50, but the F-30 quite rightly has its fair share of fans. These amps are outrageously versatile, and owners are using them in bands as diverse as gospel, metal, jazz, motown, all flavours of rock... you name it. Check out the links in my sig for the F-series Lounge, where there is a wealth of insight including differences between the F-30 and its bigger brothers. My sig also contains a wide range of clips of just some of the tones I've been able to capture. I've owned my F-series for almost two and a half years, and my amp consistently puts such a huge grin on my face, Big smiles,Andy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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