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

[Will Cyrier]

Hi.

I just picked up a Mesa Subway Blues for my office at work.

Will this work with th' Blues?

I need cranked amp tone at work!

Best regards,

Brian




F-series Miscellaneous Tips

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y34/afraiddave/hal9000F-SeriesMixPotMasterRevB.jpg[/QUOTE]

Does th' Blues have a serial or parallel FX loop? This 'mod' is for the F's parallel loop.

[RonniePentatonic]

listen to this man.

:thu: Gotta love the F-Series

How do you feel about posting your settings? They sound pretty sweet.:thu: What type of axe and pickups are you using?


No problem. I used a Suhr Standard with a DSH humbucker and the neck single coil for the SRVish crunch sound.

Microphone was a Sennheiser E609 listening to a Vintage 30 in a 1977 Marshall 4x12 cabinet. Position was centered on the outer right edge of the dust cap with the mic angled slightly away from center.

Heres a pic of the amp settings, contour was ON.
http://members.cox.net/ronnie_ward/f30_settings.jpg

[bentfrog]

Hey Tommi

Nice tones.....unfinished and rough...but hitting the spot!!!!

Just joined the f-series thing...got an f-50...like its" diamond in the rough" persona. So many options. Anywho....Andy..could you give me details in regards to recording your posted clips...like the sounds!

[bentfrog]

Nice tones Ronnie

Contour on for mary had a little lamb?????

[RonniePentatonic]

Nice tones Ronnie

Contour on for mary had a little lamb?????

Haha!!!! Yeah. Thats one of the things i like most about this amp. I didnt change the settings at all from the Black Sabbath sound. Just backed off on the guitar volume knob, swiched to the neck single coil and thats what I got. Contour ON.

[bentfrog]

Hey Ronnie??

On a side note......what preamp, and recording media did you use for your "sabbath sound" . It really brought out the tone of your f-30 and I think everyone could use a good starting point for recording heavy tones that sound as organic as yours...:poke:

[lovED]

Hey F-Series bros,
This has nothing to do with the F-Series. Just a problem I want to come here with. I like coming here for my problems no one likes to give me crap. So, I was bidding on a Gibson SG-X on ebay and my high bid right now is 545.00.

I found and bought a SG-X from a private seller on craiglist for 510 including next day shipping!

I don't now what to do about GAYBAY! Do I call the seller. Do I just not pay?
I don't really care about a bad ebay rep. I just need to know I wont be arrested. Please help!
lovED

[Zachallard]

Hey F-Series bros,
This has nothing to do with the F-Series. Just a problem I want to come here with. I like coming here for my problems no one likes to give me crap. So, I was bidding on a Gibson SG-X on ebay and my high bid right now is 545.00.

I found and bought a SG-X from a private seller on craiglist for 510 including next day shipping!

I don't now what to do about GAYBAY! Do I call the seller. Do I just not pay?
I don't really care about a bad ebay rep. I just need to know I wont be arrested. Please help!
lovED

I doubt they can even track you to sue you haha! You should tell him that you changed your mind and maybe if you feel generous offer to pay his repost of the item? If its not to much? I mean cant be more than 20, 30$? Anyways thats just my opinion. Good luck.

[metareal]

Hi guys,

Yet another question on the same (by now huge) thread!
Has anyone modded their F-series to have an adjustable bias pot?
I really want to replace the bias resistor with a trim pot to fine tune different tubes in my F-50. Although I do not have a schematic and dont know where the bias resistor is. If anyone knows or has done this, could you please advise?!

Thanks
Ed.

[Lawton]

Hey F-Series bros,
This has nothing to do with the F-Series. Just a problem I want to come here with. I like coming here for my problems no one likes to give me crap. So, I was bidding on a Gibson SG-X on ebay and my high bid right now is 545.00.

I found and bought a SG-X from a private seller on craiglist for 510 including next day shipping!

I don't now what to do about GAYBAY! Do I call the seller. Do I just not pay?
I don't really care about a bad ebay rep. I just need to know I wont be arrested. Please help!
lovED

Hey. You need to retract your bid. The Ebay dialog box for that will ask you why -- just check the reason that's closest to the truth and then go from there. The reason I say retract is that doing this will allow the auction to continue without a disruption. If you win, but don't pay, you've kept the next lowest bidder from having the chance to win. Ebay has a setup to allow second chance offers (to next highest bidders) if the winner doesn't pay, but that's a hassle, and the second chance offer thing has been used in scams.

Whatever you do, don't just let the auction run and then refuse to pay after winning.

[whathappened]

hey again!

finally i retubed my amp with two TAD 6L6GC's... and i've got two tungsol's 12ax7 which i'll plug in tomorrow in V1 and V2 (do you agree with that?).
so i changed the fuse too and the amp works fine again. on the other hand there is still alot of noise (which i hope the tungsol's will reduce to "normal" level).

i also had a "discussion" with the owner of a small guitar shop, who sold me my new tubes. to make it short, in his opinion all new mesa's (dc, express, f-series and so one) don't have guts and sound like nothing.
ok, my opinion is: i agree with him in some points. i'm thinking most of the tube amps i've tested, which are less expensive than the f50 (like peavey classic, or some fender's) sound more natural than the f50. would you agree with that?
BUT: i like the "strange" voicing of my f50... it's just a question what you are looking for... any opinions on that?

greetings,
simon

[RonniePentatonic]

Hey Ronnie??

On a side note......what preamp, and recording media did you use for your "sabbath sound" . It really brought out the tone of your f-30 and I think everyone could use a good starting point for recording heavy tones that sound as organic as yours...:poke:

Hey!!! It was on the overdrive channel, contour ON. I posted a picture of my amp settings above.

My settings always seem to be different from everyone elses but hell...it works.

[lovED]

I withdrew my bid and everything is gravy! My new SG-X will be here tomorrow!
lovED

[lovED]

hey again!

finally i retubed my amp with two TAD 6L6GC's... and i've got two tungsol's 12ax7 which i'll plug in tomorrow in V1 and V2 (do you agree with that?).
so i changed the fuse too and the amp works fine again. on the other hand there is still alot of noise (which i hope the tungsol's will reduce to "normal" level).

i also had a "discussion" with the owner of a small guitar shop, who sold me my new tubes. to make it short, in his opinion all new mesa's (dc, express, f-series and so one) don't have guts and sound like nothing.
ok, my opinion is: i agree with him in some points. i'm thinking most of the tube amps i've tested, which are less expensive than the f50 (like peavey classic, or some fender's) sound more natural than the f50. would you agree with that?
BUT: i like the "strange" voicing of my f50... it's just a question what you are looking for... any opinions on that?

greetings,
simon

The F series has tons of guts my F-100 can destroy small venues. I love it's dark tone which i guess in a way isn't "natural" but is better.
lovED

[bentfrog]

Hey!!! It was on the overdrive channel, contour ON. I posted a picture of my amp settings above.

My settings always seem to be different from everyone elses but hell...it works.

Hey Ronnie

I was actually inquiring about your "recording pre" and recording media???

[hinrich]

Hey Everyone

I took Hal's advice and got myself an MXR M108 for my F30 combo and I'm thankful that I did. To be honest, I don't like the tones that Channel 2 has on this amp and I spent 2 years trying to get them. I tried a THD hotplate and returned it. I got a cheapo Behringer EQ pedal to control the volume, and I got more control of the tone so it was livable.

Then I just got the MXR yesterday and holy moly, this thing is solid. It's built like a tank and the quality of sound is amazing, let alone tone control!

I have a gig on Saturday night, I'll let you know how it goes! If any of you have preferred settings on your M108, I'd love to see them.

[RonniePentatonic]

Hey Ronnie

I was actually inquiring about your "recording pre" and recording media???

ROFL!!!!:o :lol:

Sorry man, was working on something else and on the phone when I responded to your post. Not a good multi-tasker, haha.

OK, its real simple...Sennheiser E609 > BOSS BR1600CD > M-Audio Audiophile 2496 > Adobe Audition. The preamps in the BOSS unit aint great but arent bad either, I run digital coax out of the BOSS into the digital ins on the 2496.

Hope I got it right this time!

[metareal]

Hi guys,

Yet another question on the same (by now huge) thread!
Has anyone modded their F-series to have an adjustable bias pot?
I really want to replace the bias resistor with a trim pot to fine tune different tubes in my F-50. Although I do not have a schematic and dont know where the bias resistor is. If anyone knows or has done this, could you please advise?!

Thanks
Ed.

BUMP! :p

[opultaM]

So what do y'all have to say about Fender 6L6's? Anyone thrown them in here? I'm thinking the JJ's but then I saw the Fenders.

[opultaM]

Well I just ordered the JJs, so I guess the Fender question doesn't matter. I'll share my thoughts when I put them in.

[mudbuddy11]

Help! i was trying to buy a octron off ebay, and the seller asks me if I just want to buy it outright, I say ok, and ebay sends me an email for completing the transaction through 'square trade'. It looks legit, but I have to send money, western union only, to a 3rd party ebay agent in... get this... Romania. The agent would 'hold' the money until all looked fine. It looks legit, but I'm afraid its a phishing scam. Anyone done this? Is this on the up and up?

[Lawton]

Help! i was trying to buy a octron off ebay, and the seller asks me if I just want to buy it outright, I say ok, and ebay sends me an email for completing the transaction through 'square trade'. It looks legit, but I have to send money, western union only, to a 3rd party ebay agent in... get this... Romania. The agent would 'hold' the money until all looked fine. It looks legit, but I'm afraid its a phishing scam. Anyone done this? Is this on the up and up?

Hey. Western Union to Romania cannot be a good thing. I would not do it. Your funds are gone once you transmit them to Western Union (unless the money isn't picked up after 30 days), and you have no recourse whatsoever after that.

[lovED]

Lawton, you know your ebay! Thanks for your help. I got outta overpaying for an SG-X unscathed! I got one for a way better price in a better color. Im sooooo stoked on my SG-X.
lovED

[Will Cyrier]

Hi all. I assume with the vast knowledge exhibited in this thread, I would ask a question about guitar electronics. I'm rewiring my guitar since I've ordered a new neck pup. Setup: S-H with 1 vol, 2 tones, and a 3 way switch. Parallel wiring. My question is (and I know there are a lot of opinions) what pot values should I use? Here's my most recent conclusion:

-250k tone for my Single (Kinman AVn-69) with a .022 cap between ground and input tab
-500k tone for Humbucker (Duncan JB SH-4). Unsure about cap value--.022 or .047?
-500k Master volume for it all

Will this work? My logic is to keep the highs of the HB intact, while taming the highs of the single (just a little) with the standard 250k, .002 cap setup. However, I've found a wirogram on Seymour's site for a strat with 2 singles and 1 HB, totally wired up with 250k pots. I've spent some time reading and trying to decipher wirograms and schematics, so I'm relatively comfortable with this. But I'm still somewhat ignorant, hence the reason for my question(s). My main sound is blues/classic rock. PM me if you like since this isn't F related. :freak:

[bentfrog]

hey guys its me again, about the fuse y does it keep blowing out?
i recently swapped the fuse like 2 days ago and when i check the amp today it blew.
my amp uses 1000ma fuses but i had a spare 800ma so i used gav that a go.
just wondering y it keep blowing out

btw
i turn on the amp correctly on>stanby>on
and i turn it off correcttly on>standby<off
and i checked all the tubes and it seems to be working fine

My f-50 employs a 2 amp slo blo fuse.....unless your amp is different, due to european voltages (does that effect the current.....shouldnt), the 1000ma fuse is 1 amp and may be the problem.

[mudbuddy11]

that ebay sale was completely bogus. I sent the email to ebay and they confirmed it was a phishing scam. whew!

On another note, I just got in my keeley fuzz head, running into cot50, and it sounds killer. On the clean channel it sounds pretty beefy, but then on the gain channel with contour on, its a powersoaked monster. Still hear my tone, a little. If I stick the ds1 in there, even tho its a keeley mod, I still loose most of MY tone, and I could be playing a 200 dollar epiphone for all it mattered.

I'm still playing with the different combinations of stacking pedals, and I'm having trouble getting my cot50 to play nice with the morley wah on the drive channel. With both pedals off, I get horrible squeal. Not on the clean channel so much, but take either pedal out of the chain and it goes away. I have no idea why that is. Too much gain? Does anyone else have horrible squeal problems with the gain set to high? Volume is usually set about half, and the gain is about 9:30. Tube changin time?
Thanks for your help... this thread has been instrumental in helping me figure out how to use this amp. My old airline has one knob... volume, but its funny... I still think that amp's clean sounds better than anything else I've played.

This is a kindof complicated amp, and I'm looking for a 'ahem' a full beautiful clean tone... kindof reminiscent of a fender deluxe.... anyone have any suggestions for what you think is the best clean setup? Just fyi, my setup almost always employs a mxr 10 band in the effects chain with a pretty severe mid scoop, and the ends boosted... but i find I need that more with my humbuckers than my single coils. And I like the sparkle that the cot50 adds with the knob between 9' and 12'. I would scrap these settings if I could find the sweet spot in the amp. But I'll probably still use the cot50 to dial in the different amounts of breakup to play the different blues type sounds.

Thanks again, brotherhood. I know I've rambled a little bit. Your help, as always, is very much appreciated.

[Will Cyrier]

With both pedals off, I get horrible squeal.

Interesting. The only time I have any trouble with squeal is with high gain, high volume settings. But that's with pedals ON and gain cranked. Have you tried a different order with your boxes?

[metareal]

I dont want to sound rude, but can we please talk about the F-series on this thread!!! Not about guitar electronics or ebay generic questions!!! :cop:

It s already a huge thread, let s try not to overcrowd it any further!

Ed.

[Joeytpg]

I dont want to sound rude, but can we please talk about the F-series on this thread!!! Not about guitar electronics or ebay generic questions!!! :cop:

It s already a huge thread, let s try not to overcrowd it any further!

Ed.

hey dude c'mon, take it easy bro. This is the F-series lounge where we talk F-series amps related topics, but it's also where the F-series brothers come in and chat about what they like...... It's like a little brotherhood, so chill and enjoy, who knows what you might learn in here (BESIDES F-series amps stuff) :poke:
:wave:

[Will Cyrier]

I dont want to sound rude, but can we please talk about the F-series on this thread!!! Not about guitar electronics or ebay generic questions!!! :cop:

It s already a huge thread, let s try not to overcrowd it any further!

Ed.

Where does the F-series tone start anyway?

[MusicManJP6]

Anyone have some hiss in their clean channel on their F-30? I have some JJ EL84's and they make it worse. Anyone have a remedy for the hiss? PM me please. I don't venture here often...

[Mrmot]

Hey guys!

I have just tried the fx-mix master pot "mod" supplied by hal9000 and works amazing on my f-50 combo! I got a much better sound on loud bedroom levels (whatever that may be :lol:) with this method, cranking the master on 11:00 and lowering the fx-mix pot (actually raising it).. much tighter sound, more defined.. definatelly a big improvement!

:thu::thu::thu: to hal9000!

i also didn't have to solder anything, i just cut off a jack from some old non-working cable and wrapped the wires together and plugged this into return, used a regular 1/8 to 1/4 converter jack (all i had at hand at the moment :lol:) and plugged it into send and voila! It's not a gig-type solution cause the wires are not soldered, but for use at home it works great!

[Dann'sTheMan]

I dont want to sound rude, but can we please talk about the F-series on this thread!!! Not about guitar electronics or ebay generic questions!!! :cop:

It s already a huge thread, let s try not to overcrowd it any further!

Ed.

Hi metareal,

My fellow Brit. :) I hope you're finding the Lounge useful. One of the things that has amazed me about this little community, is that by and large, most of the posts have been F-series related. Most long threads on HCAF degenerate into something either off-topic, or narrow to the same group of people arguing about religion or politics or something without the bleakest hope of changing each others' minds. :p

I have no concerns that that will happen to the F-series Lounge - largely because of the relaxed and supportive attitude here. There's a lot of knowlege too, and it's a good thing when people turn to friends for help. I may have posted the first post, but this thread belongs to all of us. People do really "lounge" here, and pick up useful tips for getting the most out of the entire signal chain that make up their F-series rigs - that of course is why the thread was started. :cool:

Big smiles,

Andy.

P.S. If I've not been direct enough, I personally don't have a problem with the e-bay or guitar electronic questions. :thu:

[Dann'sTheMan]

Hey guys, I'm new here and have been reading a lot of this thread and it's a great resource for F-Series users. Thanks for the wealth of information! I bought a F-100 2X12 Combo last April for $600 and it has been amazing. I'll be sure to stop here if I have any questions or if I can contribute in any way to the thread. -Ken

Hi Ken,

Welcome to the brotherhood. :) It's great to see "recent" F-series owners picking up bargains, and then discovering this useful thread. Tell us more about yourself and the music you play! :thu:

Big smiles,

Andy.

[Dann'sTheMan]

Hey Tommi

Nice tones.....unfinished and rough...but hitting the spot!!!!

Just joined the f-series thing...got an f-50...like its" diamond in the rough" persona. So many options. Anywho....Andy..could you give me details in regards to recording your posted clips...like the sounds!

Hi bentfrog,

Sorry for the delay - I've been busy finishing up my work in Japan. I'm currently in China with the family for a brief vacation before head back to the UK. Can't wait to get my new EJ strat back to my F-50 rig (safely I hope) for some musical shenanigans. :p

Regarding my recording set up, the early ones were usually with an SM57 close miking the combo, into a v2.0 POD (I know :eek:) acting as a mic pre (gain at minimum on the tube pre-amp model for minimal colouration) into a laptop running Cakewalk Plasma Express - free with a Guitar mag way back when)

My usual setup (since "Triple Texture Guitars" actually) is my trusty SM57 close miking the combo into a Tascam US-122 into a laptop running Cakewalk Music Creator. Pretty modest, but still allows lots of fun. :D

Big smiles,

Andy.

[Dann'sTheMan]

My f-50 employs a 2 amp slo blo fuse.....unless your amp is different, due to european voltages (does that effect the current.....shouldnt), the 1000ma fuse is 1 amp and may be the problem.

Yes the European and American F-series amps use differently rated slo-blo fuses.

The fuses in my F-50 started to blow frequently (usually at power on) when I moved from Germany to the UK. I had just changed the tap on the Power supply to 240V (rather than the 230V it had been set to in Berlin). I checked with the UK distributors in case there was anything else I needed to do to make the amp "UK spec" and they said no, but that the fuse blowing was a symptom of potentially failing power amp tubes.

I made the tube change, and I've not blown a fuse since (a couple of years I guess). :thu:

Big smiles,

Andy.

[Dann'sTheMan]

that ebay sale was completely bogus. I sent the email to ebay and they confirmed it was a phishing scam. whew!

On another note, I just got in my keeley fuzz head, running into cot50, and it sounds killer. On the clean channel it sounds pretty beefy, but then on the gain channel with contour on, its a powersoaked monster. Still hear my tone, a little. If I stick the ds1 in there, even tho its a keeley mod, I still loose most of MY tone, and I could be playing a 200 dollar epiphone for all it mattered.

I'm still playing with the different combinations of stacking pedals, and I'm having trouble getting my cot50 to play nice with the morley wah on the drive channel. With both pedals off, I get horrible squeal. Not on the clean channel so much, but take either pedal out of the chain and it goes away. I have no idea why that is. Too much gain? Does anyone else have horrible squeal problems with the gain set to high? Volume is usually set about half, and the gain is about 9:30. Tube changin time?
Thanks for your help... this thread has been instrumental in helping me figure out how to use this amp. My old airline has one knob... volume, but its funny... I still think that amp's clean sounds better than anything else I've played.

This is a kindof complicated amp, and I'm looking for a 'ahem' a full beautiful clean tone... kindof reminiscent of a fender deluxe.... anyone have any suggestions for what you think is the best clean setup? Just fyi, my setup almost always employs a mxr 10 band in the effects chain with a pretty severe mid scoop, and the ends boosted... but i find I need that more with my humbuckers than my single coils. And I like the sparkle that the cot50 adds with the knob between 9' and 12'. I would scrap these settings if I could find the sweet spot in the amp. But I'll probably still use the cot50 to dial in the different amounts of breakup to play the different blues type sounds.

Thanks again, brotherhood. I know I've rambled a little bit. Your help, as always, is very much appreciated.


Hi mudbuddy11

Regarding your clean sound question, what guitars are you using; in particular what tonewoods are they made from, and what (power) pickups do they have? Oh, and what speaker set up are you using? open/closed back?

I can get Deluxe type tones all day with my Charvel Strat and my vintage Dynacomp. If you've not tried a compressor for your clean sounds, then it may be a good place to start. hal9000's audition setting "Single Coil Blackface Clean" is a great starting point too!" :p

Big smiles,

Andy.

[Will Cyrier]

Anyone have some hiss in their clean channel on their F-30? I have some JJ EL84's and they make it worse. Anyone have a remedy for the hiss? PM me please. I don't venture here often...

(PM'ed as well)

Hi Music,
I'm not an expert on this, but I own an F-30 and have some hiss as well. I don't know how much you're experiencing, but I do know that the F series (and most Mesas) employ a cascading type pre-amp where one tube cascades into the next until the power amp. If you have any spare pre-amp tubes lying around try swapping them into your amp, starting closest to the input jack and see what that does for you. V4 is usually a balanced tube so try to not mix that one up with the others. I think the JJ's might be amplifying the hiss a little more than stock Mesa tubes would since, in my experience, they have a little more top end to them. Hope that helps.

Will

[Dann'sTheMan]

Hey guys!

I have just tried the fx-mix master pot "mod" supplied by hal9000 and works amazing on my f-50 combo! I got a much better sound on loud bedroom levels (whatever that may be :lol:) with this method, cranking the master on 11:00 and lowering the fx-mix pot (actually raising it).. much tighter sound, more defined.. definatelly a big improvement!

:thu::thu::thu: to hal9000!

i also didn't have to solder anything, i just cut off a jack from some old non-working cable and wrapped the wires together and plugged this into return, used a regular 1/8 to 1/4 converter jack (all i had at hand at the moment :lol:) and plugged it into send and voila! It's not a gig-type solution cause the wires are not soldered, but for use at home it works great!


Hi Mrmot,

I'm glad that Loop Attenuation is working for you too! Don't forget that for live situations, hal9000 tends to use his G-Major for loop attenuation.

This is the way I've pretty much always run my rig, with an FX processor doing the attenuation. Pretty much always that is, apart from the first few weeks that I owned my F-50, when I blew out my ear drums (and the neighbours') with all tube tone! Stumbling across loop attenuation probably saved my hearing! :p

Big smiles,

Andy.

[mudbuddy11]

ok, switching pedals around, put the fuzz head before my cot50. Now there is no noise when everything off, but I cant turn on my cot50 on the gain channel, or I get squeal. This seems wierd... I'll try some more combinations tonight, but... ah, this is just wierd. Is there something I can check with a voltmeter? Is maybe the combined voltage too much for the gain channel. I'm thinking if I take my morley out of the chain, I wont have any problems, I dont know why, but I have a feeling.

dang

On the other hand, without these problems, these are some of the most musical pedals I've ever played. the keeley mod ds1, cot50, and fuzz head are just friggin killer. They each have their own distortion, and their own uses. I want to leave the cot on all the time to always give my sound that great something, sparkle or whatever. The ds1 is ala angus, and the fuzz is ala jimmy, so I basicly have 5 channels that I use...
cot alone on clean for classic blues
with ds1 for acdc or most marshall type rock
with fuzz for attempts at jimmy(could use a octron)
cot alone on gain channel with contour on for edgier rock
everything on the gain channel with contour on for over-the-top speedmetal

whew! I didnt know what I was getting myself into. I forgot to work too much these last couple weeks because I've been playing so much.

[Joeytpg]

Hey bros, I just finished writing a little raw demo of one of the songs that'll be included in my album.

you can hear it here:

http://www.soundclick.com/joeytpg

It's the one on the top.

Like I said, VERY raw, I'll post the finished product when done.

Equipment:

Guitar:
John Mayer Strat
(I wanted to use the Edwards, to compliment the Strat, but It need to be setup)

Amp:
My F-50

No pedals
Drums:
EZdrummer

Keys:
M-Audio Midi Keyboard

Recording:
Metric Halo ULN-2
Black Macbook C2D
Logic Express 8

Mics:
SM57 (guitar) --> I'll use the condenser too when I record the real deal.
AKG D880 (vocals) --> I don't like this mic too much for recording, it's more of a live mic, but It's a raw demo so I didn't really care much, I'll do most of the vocals with an Audio Technica AT2020 condenser I got here.

[mudbuddy11]

I'm thinking my pedal problem is something to do with my gain channel.... Is that something that failing tubes will do? This doesnt happen on my clean channel or any of my other amps.

DanTheMann,,, its with both my les paul and my washburn. the les paul is all original 97 double cut, and I use a burstbucker 3 in the washburn... Its light, not sure what wood they used...
I have the F50 combo, original configuration... maybe a beam blocker soon. I'm working with hal9000's blackface configuration right now. More on my findings later.
thanks

oh, and Dann... you da man.

[mudbuddy11]

I feel like a tard.

On the one hand... that blackface setting is it! thats what I've been looking for. It makes the fender single coil on my washburn sing out loud. Very cool.

On the other hand... making me mess with these settings, I was looking at the vintage gain... that's pretty much what I use.... but my volume was over half... cut my volume, and all those squeal problems are over. I'm still thinking its tubes, cause I'm thinking I should be able to just crank that baby.... and I still think that channel sound a little weak and flabby.

I'm also thinking of painting 11's on all my knobs, you know, so I can get that extra gas, you know, its one more.

[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 (http://www.generalguitargadgets.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=shop.flypage&product_id=19&category_id=7&manufacturer_id=0&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=45)

[metareal]

hey dude c'mon, take it easy bro. This is the F-series lounge where we talk F-series amps related topics, but it's also where the F-series brothers come in and chat about what they like...... It's like a little brotherhood, so chill and enjoy, who knows what you might learn in here (BESIDES F-series amps stuff) :poke:
:wave:


Hi metareal,

My fellow Brit. I hope you're finding the Lounge useful. One of the things that has amazed me about this little community, is that by and large, most of the posts have been F-series related. Most long threads on HCAF degenerate into something either off-topic, or narrow to the same group of people arguing about religion or politics or something without the bleakest hope of changing each others' minds.

I have no concerns that that will happen to the F-series Lounge - largely because of the relaxed and supportive attitude here. There's a lot of knowlege too, and it's a good thing when people turn to friends for help. I may have posted the first post, but this thread belongs to all of us. People do really "lounge" here, and pick up useful tips for getting the most out of the entire signal chain that make up their F-series rigs - that of course is why the thread was started.

Big smiles,

Andy.

P.S. If I've not been direct enough, I personally don't have a problem with the e-bay or guitar electronic questions.

Hi guys,

I definately did not want to ruin the thread's karma!
Although I have to admit I am getting a bit frustrated to the fact that it seems impossible to either get a schematic or more detailed circuit information on the F-Series ANYWHERE!!!
If I had a dual recto, a mark series amp, a caliber, an express, you name it, there are plenty of schems and infos but not about the F-Series!

Considering the amount of people that gather here that own these amps I think this could be a good place to try and get people to look around for some more infos, in mutual interest!!

If we manage to get a schematic I would be more than glad to share my findings in terms of mods and whatnot...

Ed.

[hinrich]

Speaking of "FRUSTRATION", I'm looking for an F30 head and it seems impossible to find one. I saw one on Ebay a short while back but that was it.

I already have the combo, but I want the head to leave with my 2x12 in the rehearsal studio so I'm not lugging so much weight around.

I'm just curious as to why it's so hard to find the head version? Was there not a lot in production? Or maybe people just don't want to sell it???

[Will Cyrier]

Hi guys,

I definately did not want to ruin the thread's karma!
Although I have to admit I am getting a bit frustrated to the fact that it seems impossible to either get a schematic or more detailed circuit information on the F-Series ANYWHERE!!!
If I had a dual recto, a mark series amp, a caliber, an express, you name it, there are plenty of schems and infos but not about the F-Series!

Considering the amount of people that gather here that own these amps I think this could be a good place to try and get people to look around for some more infos, in mutual interest!!

If we manage to get a schematic I would be more than glad to share my findings in terms of mods and whatnot...

Ed.

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

[mudbuddy11]

I cant find that f series schematic for ya. I tried. I've got to think they would send you a schematic for you to be able to work on it. Sorry I'm not more help.

[bentfrog]

Speaking of "FRUSTRATION", I'm looking for an F30 head and it seems impossible to find one. I saw one on Ebay a short while back but that was it.

I already have the combo, but I want the head to leave with my 2x12 in the rehearsal studio so I'm not lugging so much weight around.

I'm just curious as to why it's so hard to find the head version? Was there not a lot in production? Or maybe people just don't want to sell it???

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

[bentfrog]

I should mention that the store had a f-50 and an f-100 combo sitting amongst the newer boogies...pretty cool, dont know why they havent sold yet.....the f-50 was $1500 plus g.s.t. less 15%.......hmmmm, I should have asked if the f-30 head was discounted as well.........I may have to go back!!!

Theyre new, but it still seems like a lot doesnt it???:cool:

Peace

[joel3000]

Speaking of "FRUSTRATION", I'm looking for an F30 head and it seems impossible to find one. I saw one on Ebay a short while back but that was it.

I already have the combo, but I want the head to leave with my 2x12 in the rehearsal studio so I'm not lugging so much weight around.

I'm just curious as to why it's so hard to find the head version? Was there not a lot in production? Or maybe people just don't want to sell it???

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

[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. :)




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]

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]

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]

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]

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:

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y34/afraiddave/hal9000F-30HeadProtoFlamedMaple.jpg

[metareal]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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. :mad:

[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.

:)

I8wbdwRBku0

[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...:idea:

[Dann'sTheMan]

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...:idea:

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. :thu:

Hope it all works out for you. :)

Big smiles,

Andy.

[Dann'sTheMan]

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 (http://www.generalguitargadgets.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=shop.flypage&product_id=19&category_id=7&manufacturer_id=0&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=45)

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. :love:

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 :cool:, uses different compressors for different clean sounds: http://www.prosoundcommunications.com/english/video/michael_thompson2/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]

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. :cool:

[dulcetpine]

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. :cool:

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]

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

[lovED]

PS
They sound great!
lovED

[Sixtonoize]

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.

You're both correct and incorrect. Because how the F-series topology is set up (and because it's SO interactive), using a volume pedal in the loop isn't quite the same as turning the Masters down (like is most amps) because turning the Master volumes up actually drives the preamp tubes harder. This is why a lot of guys here use the loop attenuation method.

Attenuation in the loop, however, is NOT the same as using a power-soak device between the power tubes and the speaker, and will result in a different tone. Because mesa amps are very Preamp-based (unlike most Marshalls and their derivatives), a hotplate might not really provide as substantial a benefit as it would to other amps. YMMV. There are a lot of guys that post here that have used HotPlates and Weber Mass's, and have sold them because they didn't really do that much. I'd really recommend trying to borrow one before you buy.

[mudbuddy11]

so the loop is before the master volume on each channel?

[mudbuddy11]

so it goes.... input into gain... into tone controls... into fx loop... into master vol?

[Sixtonoize]

Nope...the masters come after the preamp, and they set the FX send level. However, the preamp sounds different at different levels, because of how interactive everything on the F-series is, and the fact that it's a tube-based FX loop. So, running a hotter Master level, and attenuating it in the loop, sounds different than just running a lower master level.

Signal Flow is like this:
Input-> Gain stage 1 -> Tone Stack -> Gain Stage 2 -> Gain Stage 3 -> FX loop send (12AX7 side 1) -> FX Loop Return (12AX7 side 2) -> Phase Splitter

So, when you turn up the Master level, you're driving the FX Loop send tube harder, which is why it sounds different, and why a lot of people like the Loop Attenuation Method.

[mudbuddy11]

so what I'm getting in the end, is that I can turn up my vol knobs to where I want the tone, pull down the volume an my volume pedal (last in fx chain), and it will be closer to an actual attenuator with this amp than it would be with a marshall or something like that. I get to drive the master volume... the only thing missing is really driving the 'fx loop return(12ax7 side2)... so yes i'm right in that it was changing my sound, but that is pretty good considering the money I could spend on a hotplate.

Thanks for your help. Now I just need to fix the eb jr, to have a complete range.

[jrico216]

I like this amp but I think I need some help. I don't feel as if the amp has a good response when I play a power chord or solo. Maybe a better word would be "attack". Can anybody give me any tips here?

Another problem I'm having is the treble, bass, and mid does not seem to be doing to much.

I like a good tight distorted sound and play a Gibson SG. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

jrico216@roadrunner.com

[Joeytpg]

I like this amp but I think I need some help. I don't feel as if the amp has a good response when I play a power chord or solo. Maybe a better word would be "attack". Can anybody give me any tips here?

Another problem I'm having is the treble, bass, and mid does not seem to be doing to much.

I like a good tight distorted sound and play a Gibson SG. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

jrico216@roadrunner.com

Maybe you need new tubes man. Check into it.

[Will Cyrier]

I like this amp but I think I need some help. I don't feel as if the amp has a good response when I play a power chord or solo. Maybe a better word would be "attack". Can anybody give me any tips here?

Another problem I'm having is the treble, bass, and mid does not seem to be doing to much.

I like a good tight distorted sound and play a Gibson SG. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

jrico216@roadrunner.com

Jrico216

Welcome to the forum, you've come to the right place. How loud are you running your master volume?

Will

[mudbuddy11]

I would look at your setting and your tubes. From my very limited experience, I would say that you should try some of HAL9000's settings, and if doesnt sound like what it should, then look at your tubes, or see if your speaker is blown. Change your strings too, I know that sounds nutty, but you could give it a try.
I just recently discovered the 'Single Coil Blackface Clean' and vintage high gain.Dann's Settings (http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y34/afraiddave/hal9000sF-SeriesAuditionSettingsrevA.jpg)
I still drive the clean channel with my fuzz head and cot50,,, and with a humbucker, my real trick for sound is a 10 band eq in the fx line with a severe mid scoop... +12db on low and high, straightlining down to -6db in the mids. This is something I've found I only really use on my 490/498 pickups in my les paul. The fender single coil and the burstbucker 3 in my washburn dont need it so much.

[jellybelly]

Hi guys, I'm new to the idea of getting a boogie, I tried a lonestar about 6 months ago and was sold on the mesa clean-tone: I've got my heart set on a second-hand f-series of some description, as its more of the 'straight forward no bells or whistles' style which I like. I've found two suitable candidates: an F50 1x12 in mint condition and custom colour for £695 and a F100 2x12 in 8/10 condition for £750, (plus the F100 is a bit of a distance away so add £40 for P&P). My question is specifically about how they will sound live: I've tried an F-50 and loved the clean tone, but I've only ever gigged with a fender 2x12 deville or a marshall half-stack before, will I be disappointed with the sound of a 1x12 amp? I guess there are plenty of extension cabs about but the main point of a combo is to keep it all quite compact. Also I'd almost certainly run the F100 at the half power (60W) mode. I hope you can help me, cheers for any opinions in advance!

[hal9000]

Hi guys, I'm new to the idea of getting a boogie, I tried a lonestar about 6 months ago and was sold on the mesa clean-tone: I've got my heart set on a second-hand f-series of some description, as its more of the 'straight forward no bells or whistles' style which I like. I've found two suitable candidates: an F50 1x12 in mint condition and custom colour for £695 and a F100 2x12 in 8/10 condition for £750, (plus the F100 is a bit of a distance away so add £40 for P&P). My question is specifically about how they will sound live: I've tried an F-50 and loved the clean tone, but I've only ever gigged with a fender 2x12 deville or a marshall half-stack before, will I be disappointed with the sound of a 1x12 amp? I guess there are plenty of extension cabs about but the main point of a combo is to keep it all quite compact. Also I'd almost certainly run the F100 at the half power (60W) mode. I hope you can help me, cheers for any opinions in advance!Welcome to the forum jellybelly! :)

The F-50 1x12 combo is a big sounding amp because of the widebody design, so it really doesn't suffer from the small sound that some combos exhibit. Of course, the F-100 is going to sound bigger due to having two speakers and larger transformers, but either is ridiculously loud. Plus, the F-100 2x12 is every bit of 81 lbs, so that's also a consideration.

The only real caution I have with a combo is to make sure you position the amp to fire towards your ears and not your knees (and potentially audience members). With the wide spread of a 4x12 slant, you usually have a lot bigger sound field to work with, but a 1x12 can be rather small.

[jellybelly]

thanks for that Hal, food for thought to be sure! I think, all being said though, that the F100 would be a bit more of a 'no compromise' option; I won't have to worry about extension cabinets etc in the future, also I love Vintage 30s more than any other speaker! Thanks for the fast response, hopefully I'll get it in time for a recording session next week and I'll be able to post some clips! thanks for the warm welcome too!

[metareal]

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

Hi all,

Following on my quest for a schematic for the F-50 I can confirm that Mesa's customer support is great and they are willing to give out schematics for the power section and the PSU section! This is more than enough for the tweaks I would like to do. I also have to say that I was surprised by how neat and tidy Mesa's schematics are, much nicer than many competitor's I have seen. The adjustable bias point mod will be very easy to do...

On a last note they are still not giving out chematics for the pre-amp section because as they say "the amp has only been discontinued for a short while". I feel it s probably because the same exact preamp section is currently being used in other amps (the Express?).

Thanks
Ed.

[petesvilla]

I made the bias adjustable in my F50 ages ago and loaded it with a pair of KT66's. It was well worth doing! The switchable effects loop series/parallel is also useful if you use your effects that way.
My latest little mod that I'm evaluating at the moment is using channel 2 as a clean channel not overdrive. (most of my playing is clean)
What happens in the F50 preamp is that when you switch from channel 1 to 2, half a 12AX7 is pulled down before the main input preamp. (slightly unusual way of doing things) By preventing this happening, you end up with 3 different clean channels when you switch. i.e. channel 1, channel 2 and channel 2 + contour, all clean. Channel 2 passes through a slightly different tone stack and so is voiced a bit differently. I'll try and report on it at a later date when I've had time to listen to the sounds in more detail.

Cheers,

Pete

[mrelusive]

I made the bias adjustable in my F50 ages ago and loaded it with a pair of KT66's. It was well worth doing! The switchable effects loop series/parallel is also useful if you use your effects that way.
My latest little mod that I'm evaluating at the moment is using channel 2 as a clean channel not overdrive. (most of my playing is clean)
What happens in the F50 preamp is that when you switch from channel 1 to 2, half a 12AX7 is pulled down before the main input preamp. (slightly unusual way of doing things) By preventing this happening, you end up with 3 different clean channels when you switch. i.e. channel 1, channel 2 and channel 2 + contour, all clean. Channel 2 passes through a slightly different tone stack and so is voiced a bit differently. I'll try and report on it at a later date when I've had time to listen to the sounds in more detail.

Cheers,

Pete

was that bias mod hard to do? i don't know very much about electronics, but i have a couple friends who do.... and they know nothing about guitar amps... I'd love to try kt66s or kt88s but i wasn't sure if they'd fit or how they'd sound, etc..

[pedrozepelim]

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.

:)

I8wbdwRBku0

I saw your video with the EQ in the loop. Liked it a lot.
how do you, and all the other guys that do the same, use the eq in the loop so the tone can be nore tight? Do you use a V shape? What does it works?

[metareal]

I made the bias adjustable in my F50 ages ago and loaded it with a pair of KT66's. It was well worth doing! The switchable effects loop series/parallel is also useful if you use your effects that way.
My latest little mod that I'm evaluating at the moment is using channel 2 as a clean channel not overdrive. (most of my playing is clean)
What happens in the F50 preamp is that when you switch from channel 1 to 2, half a 12AX7 is pulled down before the main input preamp. (slightly unusual way of doing things) By preventing this happening, you end up with 3 different clean channels when you switch. i.e. channel 1, channel 2 and channel 2 + contour, all clean. Channel 2 passes through a slightly different tone stack and so is voiced a bit differently. I'll try and report on it at a later date when I've had time to listen to the sounds in more detail.

Cheers,

Pete

Hi Pete,

Great to here someone else has done it himself! What value cermet pot and resistor did you end up using in place of the load resistor?

That s quite an unusual setup you have in mind "3 clean channels"...Did the KT66 give you a lot more headroom? How do they sound overdriven in the F50?

Cheers
Ed

[petesvilla]

Hi Ed. I can't remember the values, I'll have to pop the chassis out and have a look for you. When first setting up the bias I use a fixed resistor + a trimpot so that I can get a pretty wide sweep with the screwdriver whilst listening for the best sound. Once I'm happy with that and provided the static dissipation is OK I change to a fixed resistor + 20 turn trimmer. I do this so that constant vibration etc doesn't affect the setting by moving the variable res.
The KT66's just seem to give the amp more balls in general. I don't know how they sound as far as being overdriven is concerned 'cos I've never turned it up that far.:)
You need to remember of course that the KT's take 1.3 amps each for heaters instead of the 0.9 amps for the 6L6's. The F50 seems OK with this, there's no voltage drop on the heaters after changing bottles. Whether or not the F100 would be OK or not with 4X KT's I don't know. It's quite a hike in heater current at the side of the 6L6's.
To the OP, the bias mod is not difficult at all but you should really take it to someone who knows what they are doing. You've got to remember that these things can kill you if you're not careful.:eek:

Pete

[metareal]

Hi Ed. I can't remember the values, I'll have to pop the chassis out and have a look for you. When first setting up the bias I use a fixed resistor + a trimpot so that I can get a pretty wide sweep with the screwdriver whilst listening for the best sound. Once I'm happy with that and provided the static dissipation is OK I change to a fixed resistor + 20 turn trimmer. I do this so that constant vibration etc doesn't affect the setting by moving the variable res.
The KT66's just seem to give the amp more balls in general. I don't know how they sound as far as being overdriven is concerned 'cos I've never turned it up that far.:)
You need to remember of course that the KT's take 1.3 amps each for heaters instead of the 0.9 amps for the 6L6's. The F50 seems OK with this, there's no voltage drop on the heaters after changing bottles. Whether or not the F100 would be OK or not with 4X KT's I don't know. It's quite a hike in heater current at the side of the 6L6's.
To the OP, the bias mod is not difficult at all but you should really take it to someone who knows what they are doing. You've got to remember that these things can kill you if you're not careful.:eek:

Pete

Hi Pete,

You are right, there could be issues trying to draw so much in a F100...I wont be doing a swap for valves of a different type for a while, as I only just got a set of Harma valves off watford valves which are 6L6s that should break up a bit more than the standard type (which is what I like). This probably makes the valves slightly hotter than the mesa speced ones. Which would cause my amp to be slightly under-biased, resulting in a harsher more brittle sounding amp (which is what I am experiencing).

I will install a trim pot so that I can bias the amp right for the valves I currently have.

Just one question, if you are concerned about vibrations moving the variable resistor, why dont you replace the trimpot+resistor ensemble with just one single resistor since you are soildering there anyway? I dont see how two trimpots with different sweeps but of the same type would have different chances of moving off the set position. Seems neater anyway, so that you dont end up with a soilder point (between trimpot and resistor) which is off the PCB.

Thanks!!
Ed.

[mikebecker330]

Has anyone ever used the mute switch and line-out? Do you still need to have your speakers hooked to the amp or does the amp soak the signal? Does signal from line-out sound decent? I'm just wondering if I don't need to bother buying an attenuator to run the f-50 head as a slave to a power amp. I want to do this for effects clarity and better sound integrity.

[Lawton]

Has anyone ever used the mute switch and line-out? Do you still need to have your speakers hooked to the amp or does the amp soak the signal? Does signal from line-out sound decent? I'm just wondering if I don't need to bother buying an attenuator to run the f-50 head as a slave to a power amp. I want to do this for effects clarity and better sound integrity.

Hey. Yeah, with my F30 I use the line-out (along with a Beringher Ultimate DI) to run into the board. It works very nicely and the tone is quite good (better than alot of amps that have DI features, IMO). I think Mesa does a good job with this feature (as you would expect -- they've produced excellent DI-use preamps for years). For live sound applications where I want better signal isolation I will use the mute switch. I always leave the amp properly loaded, though. I believe the manual suggests that this is the best practice.

Good luck with it!

[Tommi Inkila]

Has anyone ever used the mute switch and line-out? Do you still need to have your speakers hooked to the amp or does the amp soak the signal? Does signal from line-out sound decent? I'm just wondering if I don't need to bother buying an attenuator to run the f-50 head as a slave to a power amp. I want to do this for effects clarity and better sound integrity.
I asked this from Mesa and they said that the speaker should be connected. The cheap solution is to buy cheap speaker and solder it to a speaker cable and use it as a load for the power amp. I bought 4" 100w speaker... and the tone is something special :) In silent mode you don't hear it.

The tone from the line out is okay for demoing but not that good. Well, the clean is usable.

[dulcetpine]

I need help with a reverb issue I am having with my new F-100 head. It doesn't work.

http://acapella.harmony-central.com/forums/showthread.php?p=26172257#post26172257

that is the link that I will be checking for answers from (it is in the DIY thread), so if you think you could help follow the link, it has the whole story...

[MusicManJP6]

I need help with a reverb issue I am having with my new F-100 head. It doesn't work.

I've heard of the reverb springs coming disconnected. Reconnecting them can be an easy fix if this is the case... Or check your reverb tube...

Best of luck!

[Joeytpg]

I saw your video with the EQ in the loop. Liked it a lot.
how do you, and all the other guys that do the same, use the eq in the loop so the tone can be nore tight? Do you use a V shape? What does it works?

Hey pedro, thanks a lot.


Well the EQ in the loops goes like this (thanks to Hal9000 that helped me out) a cable that goes from Loop:send jack to the EQ pedal Input and another cable taht goes from the pedal output to the loop:return jack.

I have a weird EQ going on, I'll post it later for you because I don' remember now (and it's not the typical V shape)

[Joeytpg]

guys I need an opinion here.

I made this clip in search of tone opinions. I'm going to record a few Rock/hard rock songs (just for fun since, the music I write is pop-rock) and I'm searching for a good solid tone.

It's the F-50 miced with the SM57 into my metric Halo > Macbook into logic exp. 8. The guitar is my Edwards Goldtop. (no boost, no eq in the loop)

what do you think is needs, lacks? Do you think I nailed it?, leave it as it is?

By the way, what you hear is basically two guitars, one panned -60 to the left the other 60 to the right. The one in the left has an OD pedal plugin without much gain, just to change the tonal characteristic of the amp a bit, since it's the same amp and the same guitar (might try another guitar for extra flavor). Some EQ, some compression.


http://www.soundclick.com/joeytpg

the first on top.

[pedrozepelim]

Hey pedro, thanks a lot.


Well the EQ in the loops goes like this (thanks to Hal9000 that helped me out) a cable that goes from Loop:send jack to the EQ pedal Input and another cable taht goes from the pedal output to the loop:return jack.

I have a weird EQ going on, I'll post it later for you because I don' remember now (and it's not the typical V shape)

Hey, Joey! I know how the FX loop works. I have several effects in there. I just like to know what the eq settings are so the sound gets more tight and "metal".

[Joeytpg]

oh ok pedro, sorry bud hehehe, I didn't know, so I asumed you were asking me too :D

I'll post a pic of the settings when I get home, but I remember I did this. Everythind set flat, then started moving each knob until I found what I liked

[pedrozepelim]

oh ok pedro, sorry bud hehehe, I didn't know, so I asumed you were asking me too :D

I'll post a pic of the settings when I get home, but I remember I did this. Everythind set flat, then started moving each knob until I found what I liked

Thanks, Joey!

[opultaM]

I threw the JJ's into my F100 last night before rehearsal. I didn't notice much of a difference from the stock Mesas, but who knows...

Also, I read up on biasing fixed-bias amps (such as Mesa) and was fascinated by what I learned, but have decided that I'm totally uninterested in that level of tinkering at this point. I figure, Mesa made it a certain way, so I might as well use it that way.

[mrelusive]

http://acapella.harmony-central.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1875320

made a thread for a quick test recording of my f-50... but the tone sounds a little off to me. if you have any suggestions, can ya help me out in that thread?

[mudbuddy11]

pedro, I use a typical v setting in my eq.... mids all the way down to -6db, and the lows and highs straightline out to +10db at each end. volume is at 0 and gain is just a little positive. I find that works great on my les paul, but not so well on my burstbucker or american fender single coil... they dont seem to need it as much, or maybe I have to dial in something different for them. I would also recommend just sitting down with a flat line, and move each knob until it sounds like you like.... actually, now that I think about it.... if you have a loop pedal, put that before the eq, and throw on a couple chords and a quick neck run, and have that looping as you adjust the eq,,,, that way you are hands free to mess with the eq... it can take a while to dial everything in... I may try that today and see what I come up with.

[mrelusive]

pedro, I use a typical v setting in my eq.... mids all the way down to -6db, and the lows and highs straightline out to +10db at each end. volume is at 0 and gain is just a little positive. I find that works great on my les paul, but not so well on my burstbucker or american fender single coil... they dont seem to need it as much, or maybe I have to dial in something different for them. I would also recommend just sitting down with a flat line, and move each knob until it sounds like you like.... actually, now that I think about it.... if you have a loop pedal, put that before the eq, and throw on a couple chords and a quick neck run, and have that looping as you adjust the eq,,,, that way you are hands free to mess with the eq... it can take a while to dial everything in... I may try that today and see what I come up with.

a looped phrase for EQ testing!!! GENIUS!!!! i can use it for mic placement and everything... nice!!!

now to find a guitar lick i won't get sick of hearing for 30 minutes at a time....

[dulcetpine]

I am having issues with my FX loop. I just got a Verbzilla reverb pedal from line6, which i was trying to run through my fx loop. When I activate it, it keeps reverberating until there is an unbearable feedback, which i have to immediately switch the pedal off. It also doesn't sound as good in the loop, but it was the only way to use the pedal with channel 2.

When i use it going direct into the front input jack it sounds amazing on the clean channel, but garbage with any sort of of distortion (which i expected). Since i really only use reverbs and delays as effects with distortion, i need to be able to use my fx loop. What am i doing wrong? Has anyone else experienced this?

**Update**

I can't tell if it is the pedal and how it reacts with the loop. I know this FX loop is parallel, but what is nice I thought about the line6 tonecore pedals is that they had an option for a 100% wet signal, no origial signal option--which is ideal for parallel loops. its just i get this horrendous feedback that creeps up immediately as soon as the pedal is activated. this even occurred when i turned each channel's master volume all the way down. what the fuck? is it the pedal? is it the loop? how do i diagnose what it is? pedal sounded awesome in front, but that doesn't work with distortion... i just dont' know.

Pedal: 100% wet
FX Mix (boogie): tried all settings, f series manual says as close to 10% as you can...

[dulcetpine]

anyone out there?

[Will Cyrier]

anyone out there?

Hey mon. It's funny this came up because I was reading my manual two nights ago for the heck of it and read the part about the loop being as close to 10% as possible. I do the exact opposite with my Line 6 DL4 delay modeler where I run my Mesa loop at full blast (90% on mine) and then set the delay mix on the pedal. This sounds best to me. I haven't tried any outboard reverb so I don't know about that. Try the above and let us know what you come up with.

Summary:
Mesa loop mix--90%
Delay mix--controlled at pedal

Hope that helps,

Will :thu:

[dulcetpine]

Hey mon. It's funny this came up because I was reading my manual two nights ago for the heck of it and read the part about the loop being as close to 10% as possible. I do the exact opposite with my Line 6 DL4 delay modeler where I run my Mesa loop at full blast (90% on mine) and then set the delay mix on the pedal. This sounds best to me. I haven't tried any outboard reverb so I don't know about that. Try the above and let us know what you come up with.

Summary:
Mesa loop mix--90%
Delay mix--controlled at pedal

Hope that helps,

Will :thu:

doesn't work so well with the verbzilla. when the effect level was low there was no feedback, but you couldn't hear the reverb at all. very frustrating. i need my delay and reverb, wtf.

[mynameistaken]

I just modded my FX Loop to serial. It was pretty easy and hopefully I did it right. Need to tape off that one end better. It now sounds a lot better when I attenuate it with my GT-8.

[dulcetpine]

I just modded my FX Loop to serial. It was pretty easy and hopefully I did it right. Need to tape off that one end better. It now sounds a lot better when I attenuate it with my GT-8.

is that something i should consider doing for a pedal based effects loop? i have been reading that the tonecore series is based on instrument level inputs, and that effects loops fuck with them...

[mynameistaken]

is that something i should consider doing for a pedal based effects loop? i have been reading that the tonecore series is based on instrument level inputs, and that effects loops fuck with them...

I think your levels might be set too high on your Verbzilla. Have you tried turning your mix knob down on the Verbzilla? Or does it have any kind of level knob on it?

If I run too much signal from my GT-8 my F50 makes a terrible sound like its going to explode.

edit: leave your F-50 level all the way up on you FX loop.

[dulcetpine]

I think your levels might be set too high on your Verbzilla. Have you tried turning your mix knob down on the Verbzilla? Or does it have any kind of level knob on it?

If I run too much signal from my GT-8 my F50 makes a terrible sound like its going to explode.

yeah man, when i do that, there is no feed back, but then again, there is no discernable effect either. it makes the pedal pointless...

http://www.line6.com/support/message.jspa?messageID=33345

On the line6 website, they said that it was an instrument level pedal, meaning it had to go in the front. that means you can't really use it with a distortion otherwise it will sound like sheeeeiiit. i regret buying this pedal now, and it is too bad, it sounds so nice when plugged up front on the clean channel.

reverb, delay, and distortion are a HUGE part of my playing style, so i need to figure something out. i dig the spacey atmospheres generated with them...

i used to use a line6 flextone, and then a boss GT-8, but was never satisfied with the amp sims (they sucked...), so i got a boogie and love the base tones, they are near perfect. but i need those effects...

[Will Cyrier]

yeah man, when i do that, there is no feed back, but then again, there is no discernable effect either. it makes the pedal pointless...

http://www.line6.com/support/message.jspa?messageID=33345

On the line6 website, they said that it was an instrument level pedal, meaning it had to go in the front. that means you can't really use it with a distortion otherwise it will sound like sheeeeiiit. i regret buying this pedal now, and it is too bad, it sounds so nice when plugged up front on the clean channel.

reverb, delay, and distortion are a HUGE part of my playing style, so i need to figure something out. i dig the spacey atmospheres generated with them...

i used to use a line6 flextone, and then a boss GT-8, but was never satisfied with the amp sims (they sucked...), so i got a boogie and love the base tones, they are near perfect. but i need those effects...

Have you tried the GT-8 as effects only in the loop of your Mesa? My Tonelab SE sounds killer. No amp/cabinet models on, just effects. Again, I run my Mesa loop mix at full blast and mix the effects with the pedal/processor itself. Hopefully you can return that reverb pedal and find something that works better for your application.

[dulcetpine]

Have you tried the GT-8 as effects only in the loop of your Mesa? My Tonelab SE sounds killer. No amp/cabinet models on, just effects. Again, I run my Mesa loop mix at full blast and mix the effects with the pedal/processor itself. Hopefully you can return that reverb pedal and find something that works better for your application.


i sold my gt-8 to buy my googie, so no dice there, i just don't have it anymore. i have been scouring the net and can't seem to find a consensus on reverb/delay pedals which function well in a parallel effects loop.

I can't spend a fortune on anything, actually, i can't afford much at all. if i sell the pedals that I just got perhaps i can get a G-sharp...

i prefer pedals or something that is at my feet that i can see, the footswitch for the g-sharp only says 1-2-3, no LED's or anything.

[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...:idea:

Well my amp has returned to its birthplace and is awaiting surgery; next week or two they say. I thought I would post a picture of a discovery I made last night. Can you say, firehazard? :eek:

http://i150.photobucket.com/albums/s82/willc_photo/F30_cab_top.jpg

[dulcetpine]

wow

[mudbuddy11]

Is the mesa's reverb not enough for ya?

[mudbuddy11]

dulce, is that quote from on walden pond?

[OverDriven]

Well my amp has returned to its birthplace and is awaiting surgery; next week or two they say. I thought I would post a picture of a discovery I made last night. Can you say, firehazard? :eek:

http://i150.photobucket.com/albums/s82/willc_photo/F30_cab_top.jpg

I'm confused...why would that be a fire hazard?

[dulcetpine]

Is the mesa's reverb not enough for ya?

i like amp reverb, which is spring, and that colors the tone very nicely, but i love the depth and placement of the listener that a nice deep hall reverb has, so gimme both!

**today i purchased a stereo memory man with harazai, and it is cool as hell. fuck line6 and their instrument level delay and reverb... it belongs in the effects loop

[Will Cyrier]

I'm confused...why would that be a fire hazard?

Maybe not literally, but the amp was clearly arching inside the cabinet. Good thing the shield there. BTW your rig sounds awesome.

[mudbuddy11]

I know what you mean,,, and I actually use my marshall echo head as a reverb.... very fast repeat, and quick decay... it has that nice big hall sound if you get it right.

[mudbuddy11]

I have a question about ground isolation. I just bought a morley abc-y pedal, and its not isolated. I want it to run my gain pedals off my guitar, then into all 3 of my amps, so I can switch, or combine... my question is... since my mesa has a ground plug, and is grounded, and both of my other amps are NOT grounded,,, have no ground plug, and acutally cat give you a little shock under the right circumstances. So... could I damage anything when I turn it all on? I'm thinking I might have to buy a line isolator, but figured I would just see if I had a bad buzz sound when I turn it all on..... I can live with that,,, but can i HURT anything?

[OverDriven]

Maybe not literally, but the amp was clearly arching inside the cabinet. Good thing the shield there. BTW your rig sounds awesome.

Holy shit! I must be blind...I totally did not see the burn mark :eek: That really is a fire hazard.

Thanks for the comment on my rig!! :thu:

[bowen71]

I just modded my FX Loop to serial. It was pretty easy and hopefully I did it right. Need to tape off that one end better. It now sounds a lot better when I attenuate it with my GT-8.


Wait a minute!
Is that all it takes to make the switch to a series loop? Looks like all you did was unhook the left wire and hook the right wire to the middle post on the pot. I thought there would be a lot more to it then that.

The parallel loop is pretty much the only thing I don't like about the F-series.

[Lt_Core]

Wait a minute!
Is that all it takes to make the switch to a series loop? Looks like all you did was unhook the left wire and hook the right wire to the middle post on the pot. I thought there would be a lot more to it then that.

The parallel loop is pretty much the only thing I don't like about the F-series.

I've never used an amp with a series loop, only parallel. What's the main difference between the two?

[bowen71]

With a parallel loop you can't send your whole signal through it. Like on the F-series you can only dial up to 90% of your signal through your effects, the rest of the sound goes straight through and mixes with your effect sounds(I am pretty sure). So even thought I keep my loop knob at full 90% I don't have silent tuning and some of my effects like harmonizer and flanger sound weird like that. (I use a Boss ME-50 in the loop)

Series the whole signal goes through your effects. Most everywhere I have read says multi-effects like my ME-50 sound best with a series loop, if you are running it in the loop like I do.

I have a buddy that is pretty smart at wiring and stuff like that and he thinks there should be a way to put a switch on the back of the amp to switch back and forth between series and parallel.

[Will Cyrier]

Will the mod affect the tube that drives the loop in a negative way (V3 I think)? Does the pot even need to be there or can you just wire the "right" and "middle" wires together alone?

[katnifbor]

I am having issues with my FX loop. I just got a Verbzilla reverb pedal from line6, which i was trying to run through my fx loop. When I activate it, it keeps reverberating until there is an unbearable feedback, which i have to immediately switch the pedal off. It also doesn't sound as good in the loop, but it was the only way to use the pedal with channel 2.

When i use it going direct into the front input jack it sounds amazing on the clean channel, but garbage with any sort of of distortion (which i expected). Since i really only use reverbs and delays as effects with distortion, i need to be able to use my fx loop. What am i doing wrong? Has anyone else experienced this?

**Update**

I can't tell if it is the pedal and how it reacts with the loop. I know this FX loop is parallel, but what is nice I thought about the line6 tonecore pedals is that they had an option for a 100% wet signal, no origial signal option--which is ideal for parallel loops. its just i get this horrendous feedback that creeps up immediately as soon as the pedal is activated. this even occurred when i turned each channel's master volume all the way down. what the fuck? is it the pedal? is it the loop? how do i diagnose what it is? pedal sounded awesome in front, but that doesn't work with distortion... i just dont' know.

Pedal: 100% wet
FX Mix (boogie): tried all settings, f series manual says as close to 10% as you can...



Hey Dulcetpine,, I recently picked up my third F-50 in as many years. I owned a rectoverb for a while and owned a stiletto deuce until last week and wound up selling it off for family matters and went back to the nice and compact f-50 again. Couldnt be happier. It sounds even better than I remember the other two.
Anyways I read your post above about having trouble with the verbzilla in the effects loop. I had to go and register for this very reason in hoped maybe I can help. I also use the verbzilla in my loop,, its the last effect on my board that runs through the loop. Ive had no issues with it at all and think it sounds incredible through it. As did it through my deuces serial loop.
I notice no difference in sound between my deuces serial and the f50 parallel.

I run the loop mixture knob on the rear of the f50 at full 90%. If you lower it, I find that you hear less of your effects,, thats what the mix knob on the zilla is for,, fine adjustment.

On the pedal I have: Mix @ 1:00 o'clock
Decay @ 1:00
Time @ 8:00
Tone @ 10:00
I also have the loop cables running in the upper input and output jack ports. In mono.

Ive messed with the settings on the pedal numerous times and never had any feedback or any other problems ever,, so I dont really think you need to have the pedal set up n any particular way.
Honostly from the beginning the first thing I thought of was, you need to swap out that V3 tube. I bet its gone microphonic on you.
Hope this helps some.

[mynameistaken]

Will the mod affect the tube that drives the loop in a negative way (V3 I think)? Does the pot even need to be there or can you just wire the "right" and "middle" wires together alone?

Thats a good question about the pot, I was kinda wondering that myself. I just followed the instructions that somebody posted on this thread. I can't tell much difference in the way the effects sound but it sounds much better when the volume pedal is down around 50% now. I use my GT8 to attenuate the amp and changing the loop to serial improved it a lot.

Somebody with more knowledge will have to answer your other question about the V3 tube.

So far it works fine for me.

[dulcetpine]

Hey Dulcetpine,, I recently picked up my third F-50 in as many years. I owned a rectoverb for a while and owned a stiletto deuce until last week and wound up selling it off for family matters and went back to the nice and compact f-50 again. Couldnt be happier. It sounds even better than I remember the other two.
Anyways I read your post above about having trouble with the verbzilla in the effects loop. I had to go and register for this very reason in hoped maybe I can help. I also use the verbzilla in my loop,, its the last effect on my board that runs through the loop. Ive had no issues with it at all and think it sounds incredible through it. As did it through my deuces serial loop.
I notice no difference in sound between my deuces serial and the f50 parallel.

I run the loop mixture knob on the rear of the f50 at full 90%. If you lower it, I find that you hear less of your effects,, thats what the mix knob on the zilla is for,, fine adjustment.

On the pedal I have: Mix @ 1:00 o'clock
Decay @ 1:00
Time @ 8:00
Tone @ 10:00
I also have the loop cables running in the upper input and output jack ports. In mono.

Ive messed with the settings on the pedal numerous times and never had any feedback or any other problems ever,, so I dont really think you need to have the pedal set up n any particular way.
Honostly from the beginning the first thing I thought of was, you need to swap out that V3 tube. I bet its gone microphonic on you.
Hope this helps some.

thanks bro, but i just sold the verbzilla on ebay because i didn't want to deal with it. i hope i didn't make a mistake (i can always buy another, i actually made money on the deal...)

I just purchased a Electro-Harmoniz Stereo Memory Man with Harazai (fucking sweet ass pedal) and I have had no problems with it whatsoever in the loop. It is like audio gold. I have always been a fan of their gear, so i figured i'd opt for a Holier Grail reverb pedal and see if that floats my boat. I truly would love the Holiest Grail, but that is out of my price range at the moment.

If the V3 tube had in fact gone microphonic, i assume that i would hear it on the EH pedal, which i do not, therefore i am inclined to believe that line6 just doesn't like this amp (the admin at the line6 forum even said that these pedals are for instrument level, and not for the loop). of course, when i tried it was the only pedal in the loop, so before i ship this pedal out i will plug it into the loop in front of the memory man.

I wanted to use that pedal, because the cave and octo functions sound fucking sweet... if it works before i ship it, i will be pissed...

thanks bro.

[dulcetpine]

revived...

[bentfrog]

Yes the European and American F-series amps use differently rated slo-blo fuses.

The fuses in my F-50 started to blow frequently (usually at power on) when I moved from Germany to the UK. I had just changed the tap on the Power supply to 240V (rather than the 230V it had been set to in Berlin). I checked with the UK distributors in case there was anything else I needed to do to make the amp "UK spec" and they said no, but that the fuse blowing was a symptom of potentially failing power amp tubes.

I made the tube change, and I've not blown a fuse since (a couple of years I guess). :thu:

Big smiles,

Andy.
o.k.

[bentfrog]

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?

no

[bentfrog]

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!

no

[dulcetpine]

http://acapella.harmony-central.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1881858

I am having an issue with my new reverb tank for the F-100. Please post to the link if you have any ideas.

[mudbuddy11]

I dont know what to tell you... i would start with an ohmeter and check to make sure you have some resistance.... not 0 and not infinity.

[ErikHoppy]

If anyone knows of anyone unloading(selling) either an F-50 or even an F-30, please let me know!

I've been G.A.S'ing or an F-series for years, and finally came up with some cash, so I want to get one finally! I'd love to be able to call myself part of the family! :-)

Thanks

[Will Cyrier]

If anyone knows of anyone unloading(selling) either an F-50 or even an F-30, please let me know!

I've been G.A.S'ing or an F-series for years, and finally came up with some cash, so I want to get one finally! I'd love to be able to call myself part of the family! :-)

Thanks


F-30s
http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?sofocus=bs&sbrftog=1&dfsp=1&catref=C6&from=R10&satitle=Mesa+F-30&sacat=-1%26catref%3DC6&sargn=-1%26saslc%3D2&sadis=200&fpos=ZIP%2FPostal&sabfmts=1&saobfmts=insif&ftrt=1&ftrv=1&saprclo=&saprchi=&fsop=1%26fsoo%3D1

F-50s
http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?sofocus=bs&sbrftog=1&dfsp=1&catref=C6&from=R10&satitle=Mesa+F-50&sacat=-1%26catref%3DC6&sargn=-1%26saslc%3D2&sadis=200&fpos=ZIP%2FPostal&sabfmts=1&saobfmts=insif&ftrt=1&ftrv=1&saprclo=&saprchi=&fsop=1%26fsoo%3D1

F-100
http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?sofocus=bs&sbrftog=1&dfsp=1&catref=C6&from=R10&satitle=Mesa+F-100&sacat=-1%26catref%3DC6&sargn=-1%26saslc%3D2&sadis=200&fpos=ZIP%2FPostal&sabfmts=1&saobfmts=insif&ftrt=1&ftrv=1&saprclo=&saprchi=&fsop=1%26fsoo%3D1

Try and get the serial from the seller and call Mesa to see if it's still under warranty. That would be a bonus and put my mind at ease if I were buying. Good luck!

[pedrozepelim]

Well, I boght a Boss GE7 EQ. Tryed it in the loop. Even with all the bands flat it changes the tone a little when it's on.
Started to do some experiments, and this is (for now) the settings I'm using:
Amp: Gain: 12:00h Treble: 2:00h Mids 10:30h Bass 10:30h (contour on)
Boss EQ: all bands flat except the third one from the left a little boosted and the 4th is cut a little.

I've tryed a lot of settings. This one is the best I could find. It cuts alot of "meat" from the tone of the amp, if you know what I mean. There's a lot of body of the tone that goes away, and i cut the mids just slightly. It gets more defined, thats true, and more metal, but I think the tone looses some character.

I'll keep on trying...

[Sunlit]

Hey I'm a new member and just subscribed to this thread. I own a Mesa Boogie F-50 head. I can't give any opinions or setting tips yet though, because I haven't bought a cab yet. I plan on getting an Avatar 2 x 12 with Vintage 30's when tax money comes in :thu:

[Dann'sTheMan]

Hey I'm a new member and just subscribed to this thread. I own a Mesa Boogie F-50 head. I can't give any opinions or setting tips yet though, because I haven't bought a cab yet. I plan on getting an Avatar 2 x 12 with Vintage 30's when tax money comes in :thu:

Hi Sunlit,

and welcome to the F-series family! :) I see you're from Louisiana - I had a wonderful time listening to live music in New Orleans at the end of last year. If one of the bands on Bourbon St had been playing an F-series, I don't think I could have been grinning any more! FWIW, my favourite band was using a LoneStar, so I guess Boogie tones generally make my ears smile. :p Tell us more about the music you'll be playing once you're cabbed up. :cool:

Big smiles,

Andy.

[Sunlit]

I do have a question about the F-50 with vintage 30's. Like I said, I'm planning on buying an Avatar cab with 2 vintage 30's (closed back.)

I've read reviews about vintage 30's, and most people say that midrange is very high in these speakers. I generally like bright highs, subtle midrange, and somewhat fat bass. I've read that the vintage 30's have poor bass response. I like to hear a defined difference when clicking my Les Paul's switch, and honestly, I don't use the one in the middle that much ;)

I'm sure some of you play through vintage 30's. (And maybe even PAF type humbuckers.) What are your experiences with playing through these speakers and this amp? Will I get the sound I want out of these speakers? Or will the midrange dominate too much as most reviews suggest?

Thanks.

[mrelusive]

sytarted another thread about this... and it sank so beautifully.

Just wanna know if this recorded sounds decent for striaght-up power chord rock. it's triple-tracked with one hard left, one hard right and one middle track... compressor before limiter on the left and right racks, nothing on the middle.

any advice at all would be appreciated.

[mynameistaken]

sytarted another thread about this... and it sank so beautifully.

Just wanna know if this recorded sounds decent for striaght-up power chord rock. it's triple-tracked with one hard left, one hard right and one middle track... compressor before limiter on the left and right racks, nothing on the middle.

any advice at all would be appreciated.

Are you boosting with the BM?

[mrelusive]

Are you boosting with the BM?

oddly enough, no. i moved my guitar room around and forgot to plug the BM back in. I usually use it to tighten up my sound for chuggy type stuff, but for this recording i backed off the gain (it's at like 11 o'clock or so) and tracked one side with the bridge humbucker and the other side in the middle position with both pickups on. i think the middle track is the neck pickup, but i can't remember.

[mrelusive]

here's one i did a looooong time ago with the BM in there... wish i could rememebr the settings so i could tweak it a bit.

[mynameistaken]

cool clips. i like your tone better in the first one.

[Will Cyrier]

I like both of the tones you've come up with. They each have they're own application. I think the first one would work well for power chord rock; like you said. Second one...straight up metal baby :thu:

[Alchemist]

some F-30 contour high(er) gain riffing.... gain set on 6

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqQws-shUG0

[mrelusive]

some F-30 contour high(er) gain riffing.... gain set on 6

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqQws-shUG0

i dig it! Usually these youtube clips are total half-ass jobs and don't sound good at all, but this actually gives a really good example of what that puppy can do... i can only imagine how much better it sounds in the room with you!

[Alchemist]

i dig it! Usually these youtube clips are total half-ass jobs and don't sound good at all, but this actually gives a really good example of what that puppy can do... i can only imagine how much better it sounds in the room with you!

thanks, the camera seems to do a pretty decent job of capturing the sound in the room..... not bad for a built in mic

[RonniePentatonic]

some F-30 contour high(er) gain riffing.... gain set on 6

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqQws-shUG0

Sounds good, just like my F-30! :p I didnt know you dabbled in teh metal.? Need to hear more from you my Canadian brotha.

[Alchemist]

Sounds good, just like my F-30! :p I didnt know you dabbled in teh metal.? Need to hear more from you my Canadian brotha.

I used to be a metalhead in my youth, now I'm a grumpy, in my early-mid 20's and I like jazz, blues, and fusion :p

I still play metal for fun, I'll probably track some more metal stuff when I have the time :)

[MusicManJP6]

Nice clip! Sounds a bit like my F-30 as well... :lol:

So, I had an epiphany this weekend. I sold my Roadster Saturday morning and was left with just the F-30. I've had the F for about 2 months or so and always liked it, but never really LOVED it. So, I was a little bummed to see the Roadster go, but I never used it anywhere but my living room so it was kind of a waste to have such a nice amp. Anyway, I had always used my effects with the Roadster and played the F-30 with no effects. Well, once the Roadster sold, I decided to plug up the effects to the F-30 since it is my main amp now. I got a Keeley modded BOSS Blues Driver as a partial trade on the Roadster (very partial), and thought i'd give it a try with my other effects while I was at it.

So, after hooking everything up, I was astonished at my new found tone! The main tone improvement came from the MXR EQ in the loop. I set it for a slight V shape and it brought the amp to life! The second tone improvement came from the Blues Driver which added sustain, saturation, clarity, a little gain, and a bit of compression. Combined with the contour and delay, it was a tonal masterpiece! I had a jam session that night and was floored the whole night at the tone pouring out of the amp.

I was so impressed with the tone that the next day I recorded this video:
http://s178.photobucket.com/albums/w262/musicmanjp6/F-30/?action=view&current=F30tonetest.flv

I hope it will encourage other people to give the F series amps a chance. A little tweaking and it can sound just as good as amps that cost twice as much...

Let me know your thoughts on my new found tone!

Here's a close-up of the pedal board:
http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w262/musicmanjp6/miscellaneous/100_1602.jpg

[crazytrain]

This is excellent! A whole library of getting to know and use my new amp at it's fullest potential.Sweet!:thu:

[FiveIron]

are there really this many secret to the mesa f series? such a mediocre amp... such a huge following.

[Alchemist]

are there really this many secret to the mesa f series? such a mediocre amp... such a huge following.

thanks for playing..... run along now

[Sunlit]

I usually don't bump or repeat unanswered stuff, but I am about to make a purchase today. I was wanting some opinions, here is what I posted the other day:

"I do have a question about the F-50 with vintage 30's. Like I said, I'm planning on buying an Avatar cab with 2 vintage 30's (closed back.)

I've read reviews about vintage 30's, and most people say that midrange is very high in these speakers. I generally like bright highs, subtle midrange, and somewhat fat bass. I've read that the vintage 30's have poor bass response. I like to hear a defined difference when clicking my Les Paul's switch, and honestly, I don't use the one in the middle that much

I'm sure some of you play through vintage 30's. (And maybe even PAF type humbuckers.) What are your experiences with playing through these speakers and this amp? Will I get the sound I want out of these speakers? Or will the midrange dominate too much as most reviews suggest?

Thanks.
"

If anyone could help me, I'd appreciate it.

[MrVisual]

I do have a question about the F-50 with vintage 30's. Like I said, I'm planning on buying an Avatar cab with 2 vintage 30's (closed back.)

Do it. I have a Stiletto cab with V30s and it sounds better than about anything. Compared to the combo it's warmer, bigger sounding and has more crunch and clarity. With a boost pedal you'll have an arsenal of different tones.

[Will Cyrier]

are there really this many secret to the mesa f series? such a mediocre amp... such a huge following.

Do you feel better now?

[opultaM]

So we recorded our album this weekend. Mixing right now (i can't get out of work, but i'll be there on saturday). I'll let you all know how the F100 sounded.

[crazytrain]

So we recorded our album this weekend. Mixing right now (i can't get out of work, but i'll be there on saturday). I'll let you all know how the F100 sounded.

Can't wait to hear your F-100 man.I just bought one and my whole opinion just changed on tube amps(this is my first).Without any pedals,contour on chan.2 and about 9 o'clock on the master is the meanest monster I've ever heard.Excuse me guys for ranting,but I'm floored by this amp!I can't wait to afford some of the custom jobs some people here have done to their F series amps to get the sound I want.:)

[lovED]

You know I was a bit skeptical about Vintage 30s myself. I've played through a few different cabs and I must say they give me just what I need. I've not gotten a chance to try many other speakers. The GT12-75s in my 1936 are a bit harsh a little too much mid and treble a bit too peircing and they hate the pickups in my Les Paul Special. I've really been itching for a Mesa Oversized or an Orange cab with 30s.
Anyhow, my rock band is doing some demo recording all this weekend. This will be my first time recording with the F-100. I've just recently changed the preamp tubes. I can't really afford to change the power amp tube at the moment. I do hope to get some great tones. If anyone has any suggestions for when I record It would be much appreciated. Any good tips to get a good tone with the amp. The tones I get at practices are kickin' but I'm just wondering if any of you had any tricks you used while recording.

So we recorded our album this weekend. Mixing right now (i can't get out of work, but i'll be there on saturday). I'll let you all know how the F100 sounded.

I'd really love to hear from you.
lovED

[RonniePentatonic]

thanks for playing..... run along now

:lol:

[opultaM]

You know I was a bit skeptical about Vintage 30s myself. I've played through a few different cabs and I must say they give me just what I need. I've not gotten a chance to try many other speakers. The GT12-75s in my 1936 are a bit harsh a little too much mid and treble a bit too peircing and they hate the pickups in my Les Paul Special. I've really been itching for a Mesa Oversized or an Orange cab with 30s.
Anyhow, my rock band is doing some demo recording all this weekend. This will be my first time recording with the F-100. I've just recently changed the preamp tubes. I can't really afford to change the power amp tube at the moment. I do hope to get some great tones. If anyone has any suggestions for when I record It would be much appreciated. Any good tips to get a good tone with the amp. The tones I get at practices are kickin' but I'm just wondering if any of you had any tricks you used while recording.



I'd really love to hear from you.
lovED


Yup, my the G12T75's wer ethe same for me. So I now use a Roadking cab: open back C90s and closed back V30s. We mic'd up both sides and decided to record with the v30s. I will say that while tracking I preferred the sound of my Eternity OD on the clean channel over the F's OD channel. But I think it may have depended on the part. I'll get more in depth when the mixes are done. Bassist came home with a couple of mixed tracks yesterday but the weather stopped me from getting over to him to hear it.

A plus: we have one song where we trade off some solos. Mine are more melodic and less extreme while the other guitarist goes over the top and shreds all over. During recording we decided to extend the solo section and let our engineer do a solo too (he's the Warr guitarist in Behold...the Arctopus and Dysrythmia). I haven't heard it yet but apparently he puts us both to shame (which I don't doubt given his disgusting technical proficiency)

He actually liked the V30s so much in my cab that he decided to order an Orange cab with V30s for his own rig. This guy is a ridiculous player, great engineer, and fun to work with.

[hdhv]

recently got the schematics of mesa Boogie for the poweramp and supply of the F-50.
Tried to find the Bias resitor (15K) on the circuitboard but cant find it.
Can someone poit it out to me? I am familiair with electro but not with printed circuitboards.
I measured biasvoltage on pin 3 which was -39.4V, which is a bit low I think.
measuren on PIN 5 to the chassis of the amp and measured 1032 V (Twice the plate voltage?)

The pictures of the circuitboard and the schematics are enclosed

256850

256852

256854

256856

256857

[hdhv]

Sorry, can not upload more than 5 files. How do I get the PD'F files of the schematics in my signature so you all can have a look at it?
Otherwise ask me and i will mail it to you.

[triumph7]

Look for a resistor with Brown-Green-Orange stripes for 15K. A fourth stripe may be present indicating the tolerance of the resistor but the first three stripes are the ones that tell you the value. Good luck.

I would like a copy of the schematic for future reference, schutteallen(at)hotmail(dot)com.

[snakum]

Weeeeellllll ... looks like I'm back in the Brotherhood tonight.

After selling the F-100/Recto rig last year because the Laney was smoking good and WAY easier to tote around, I started missing having a Mesa Boogie again. So I've been playing all sorts of Mesas and trying to decide what I want, and I've narrowed it down to the new Express 5:50 1x12 or an F-50 combo.

Still deciding ... I dunno ...

I really liked the 5:50's Burn channel. Pretty tight grind coming out of that and it's very Marshally with the mids boosted. Plus the contour is now adjustable.

I'm thinking .... thinking ...

[opultaM]

Weeeeellllll ... looks like I'm back in the Brotherhood tonight.

After selling the F-100/Recto rig last year because the Laney was smoking good and WAY easier to tote around, I started missing having a Mesa Boogie again. So I've been playing all sorts of Mesas and trying to decide what I want, and I've narrowed it down to the new Express 5:50 1x12 or an F-50 combo.

Still deciding ... I dunno ...

I really liked the 5:50's Burn channel. Pretty tight grind coming out of that and it's very Marshally with the mids boosted. Plus the contour is now adjustable.

I'm thinking .... thinking ...


Guy i know just got hte Express 212. Sounds great. Crystal clear, nice presence, creamy.

What kind of Laney you play?

[snakum]

I've been playing an LC-50 combo (6L6s) for over a year now. I really do love the little thing ... amazingly flexible, louder than any combo I've ever owned.

I really like the Express 5:50, but I have read of a few reliability issues, and I know one guy personally whose had problem already. I know the F-50 is bullet-proof, so I may just stay with the F-series and give the express time to get straightened out.

[opultaM]

I've been playing an LC-50 combo (6L6s) for over a year now. I really do love the little thing ... amazingly flexible, louder than any combo I've ever owned.

I really like the Express 5:50, but I have read of a few reliability issues, and I know one guy personally whose had problem already. I know the F-50 is bullet-proof, so I may just stay with the F-series and give the express time to get straightened out.


Any pics of your guitars? I was considering a Legacy for a bit but ended up goin gwith the Deulxe American Strat w/noiseless singlecoils. A big change for me since i had been playing a 7string USA Schecter with Hums for 8 years. But the G&Ls are nice guitars. guy in my band had a Comanche and an ASAT (looked great in blueburst)

[turtlechaser]

I just found an F-50 1x12 combo at a great price at a small music store. The clean channel was amazing, but the dirty channel was very 'papery' and thin. The reverb was also very cavernous too. Does that sound like a preamp tube or something small or something serious? Thanks...

[snakum]

Any pics of your guitars? I was considering a Legacy for a bit but ended up goin gwith the Deulxe American Strat w/noiseless singlecoils. A big change for me since i had been playing a 7string USA Schecter with Hums for 8 years. But the G&Ls are nice guitars. guy in my band had a Comanche and an ASAT (looked great in blueburst)

I need to take some pics at practice Saturday. I've owned three G&L Legacys, and currently gig with two of them set up and ready. I put a Duncan Hot Rails p'up in the bridge position of both, and I maintain them religiously so they stay in tune, intonate perfectly, and always return to pitch when dive-bombing. I haven't owned a USA Strat since I bought my first G&L. For me ... the Strat is just not as good a quality of guitar. But that's just from my own experience, having owned five or six Strats over the years, including a '63 non-trem. An HSS Legacy, with the G&L neck and middle p'up bite, covers every tune under the sun. I'd never go back to a Fender.

[snakum]

I just found an F-50 1x12 combo at a great price at a small music store. The clean channel was amazing, but the dirty channel was very 'papery' and thin. The reverb was also very cavernous too. Does that sound like a preamp tube or something small or something serious? Thanks...

More than likely it just needs a retube (I never cared for Mesa's tested Russian and Chinese jobbies) with JJs to smooth it out and some time tweaking the settings. As simple as they are, they still take a little work to dial in if you're not used to them. The F-series wouldn't have a damn near 'cult' following if they weren't stellar amps.

I'm actually choosing another F-series over a new Express. I want a known quantity in tone and reliability, and I never trusted early models of anything. LOL.

[opultaM]

I just found an F-50 1x12 combo at a great price at a small music store. The clean channel was amazing, but the dirty channel was very 'papery' and thin. The reverb was also very cavernous too. Does that sound like a preamp tube or something small or something serious? Thanks...


How loud did you turn it up? Could also just be that at music store levels it doesn't sound good. My OD channel sounds awful under about 10 oclock. But that's just a tube amp. Turn it up and you're happy

[opultaM]

I need to take some pics at practice Saturday. I've owned three G&L Legacys, and currently gig with two of them set up and ready. I put a Duncan Hot Rails p'up in the bridge position of both, and I maintain them religiously so they stay in tune, intonate perfectly, and always return to pitch when dive-bombing. I haven't owned a USA Strat since I bought my first G&L. For me ... the Strat is just not as good a quality of guitar. But that's just from my own experience, having owned five or six Strats over the years, including a '63 non-trem. An HSS Legacy, with the G&L neck and middle p'up bite, covers every tune under the sun. I'd never go back to a Fender.

If I end up getting a Tele ever, I'll consider G&L again. although i might also just pickup a cheapo mim instead. just for kicks!

Also, how are the hotrails? Was your Legacy SSS before you switched the bridge to the Hotrail?

But yeah, get those pics up!

[MrVisual]

I just found an F-50 1x12 combo at a great price at a small music store. The clean channel was amazing, but the dirty channel was very 'papery' and thin. The reverb was also very cavernous too. Does that sound like a preamp tube or something small or something serious? Thanks...

The F-50 is probably the thickest sounding amp I've ever heard. There has to be something wrong :)

[Will Cyrier]

although i might also just pickup a cheapo mim instead. just for kicks!

If I ever get another guitar, I might buy MIM and slap some Kinsman noiseless pups in it for $220 or whatever a set costs. They are amazing and truly noiseless, more so than my Duncan JB humbucker. I know a guy that plays a Dan Gosh tele; absolutely amazing guitar...and expensive.

Will

[mynameistaken]

I just found an F-50 1x12 combo at a great price at a small music store. The clean channel was amazing, but the dirty channel was very 'papery' and thin. The reverb was also very cavernous too. Does that sound like a preamp tube or something small or something serious? Thanks...

I don't think I have ever heard of anyone calling the F-50 thin but yes the reverb does suck ass.

If I ever get another guitar, I might buy MIM and slap some Kinsman noiseless pups in it for $220 or whatever a set costs. They are amazing and truly noiseless, more so than my Duncan JB humbucker. I know a guy that plays a Dan Gosh tele; absolutely amazing guitar...and expensive.


I bought a cheap MIM strat that ended up costing about a grand after all my upgrades including a new neck.

I think the Duncan JB is a great pickup for the f-50, its my favorite.

[snakum]

I played an F-50 for the first time in a while, less than an hour after wringing out an Express 5:50 tonight. After playing the F-50 again I was reminded how 'big' and thick and tight it can be when tweaked properly, and how wonderful the clean is. It seemed to sound a little tighter than the F-100/Recto rig I owned. I was trying to make the final decision on a Mesa combo ... Rectoverb vs. Express 5:50 (new) vs. F-50 ... all three combos were excellent, though the Recto was a little too heavy for me to lug around without a cart.


I brought the F-50 home about an hour ago. :love:

I got a mint widebody combo (#008XX) with pedal, cover, beam-blocker, and paperwork for $700.

Not bad.

Not bad at all.

I get to wring it out for REAL at practice tomorrow. :D

[snakum]

Also, how are the hotrails? Was your Legacy SSS before you switched the bridge to the Hotrail?

Yeah ... they were both SSS Legacys. I love the Hotrails traded out on the bridge ... an HSS config gives me a lot of flexibility, and the Duncans are as hot and chunky as a passive humbucker can be.

[snakum]

yes the reverb does suck ass

Can't argue that one. LOL. I leave mine OFF and just keep a bit of delay dialed in.

[mudbuddy11]

I think reverb on the gain channel may 'suck' a bit,but I dont mind it at all on the clean channel. Of course I still use a little delay, but is it that bad????

[opultaM]

Yeah ... they were both SSS Legacys. I love the Hotrails traded out on the bridge ... an HSS config gives me a lot of flexibility, and the Duncans are as hot and chunky as a passive humbucker can be.

Maaaaaan, in a perfect world, i could swap out the bridge SCN in my strat for a stacked or railed humbucker which, when tapped, would switch over to a noiseless single coil..

i don't think that'sd possible at this point though. Am i wrong?

[Will Cyrier]

I can't turn the reverb up past 9 without it sounding totally cheesy. I've been using my Tonelab SE for mod, delay, reverb, and loop attenuation. Sounds great but it takes a lot of real estate with my comp and TS9 pedals next to it.

[hdhv]

Hi Guys ,
Nice talking about guitars and pickups, but anyone can help me?!

recently got the schematics of mesa Boogie for the poweramp and supply of the F-50.
Tried to find the Bias resitor (15K) on the circuitboard but cant find it.
Can someone poit it out to me? I am familiair with electro but not with printed circuitboards.
I measured biasvoltage on pin 3 which was -39.4V, which is a bit low I think.
measuren on PIN 5 to the chassis of the amp and measured 1032 V (Twice the plate voltage?)

The pictures of the circuitboard and the schematics are enclosed

256850

256852

256854

256856

256857

[snakum]

Maaaaaan, in a perfect world, i could swap out the bridge SCN in my strat for a stacked or railed humbucker which, when tapped, would switch over to a noiseless single coil..

i don't think that'sd possible at this point though. Am i wrong?

Not in a single coil footprint. If you wanted to route the body for a full-sized humbucker there are a few coil-tapping p'ups available. To be honest, though, of the ones I've played they don't really capture that bell-like '50s Strat tone.

One day someone will inevitably come up with a coil-tapping Single/Hum in a single footprint, that actually sounds like a SC and is noiseless. Matter of time. :idea:

[MrVisual]

Me and the other guitarist did some recording recently, here's what we got.

256978

The backing track is straight from Guitar Pro and it sucks :D But I think we managed to get a decent sound in one day. I've never used a microphone before btw.

Ibanez SA260 (with a custom made Alnico V pickup) -> Digitech Bad Monkey -> Mesa F-50 head-> Mesa 4x12 Stiletto cab -> Shure SM57 -> Presonus Firepod

[mudbuddy11]

if you can email me the schematic at mudbuddy@yahoo.com, and I'll see if I can work it out.

[mudbuddy11]

sorry, thats actually mudbuddy11@yahoo.com

[mudbuddy11]

I cannot find a brown-green-orange anywhere in the pics, but would like any of you guys to look at the brown-green-black off each tube socket... I have to stress, I'm just guessing at this point, but I'm trying to help...(((floundering)))

[bentfrog]

anybody have the full schematic for the f-50??? cant find it!!

[triumph7]

I cannot find a brown-green-orange anywhere in the pics, but would like any of you guys to look at the brown-green-black off each tube socket... I have to stress, I'm just guessing at this point, but I'm trying to help...(((floundering)))

My guess is that the resistor is hidden under the 220uF capacitor. Follow the trace on the circuit board from your bias supply wire. The first parts on that trace should be either the 15K resistor or the diode. Also it may not be a traditional resistor, it could be a precision device (no stripes) with the value printed on it.

[lovED]

My band finished the demo this weekend. The finished product is up on our myspace. I recorded one track with my Mesa F-100 through a Vintage 30 and a Heritage 30, and another track through a Vox Ac30 with the Vintage 30 Heritage 30 cab. I'm very happy with the tones. It sounds like but on myspace but, I'll try to have actual sound clips of just guitar soon.

Sharpshooter. (www.myspace.com/sharpshooterde)

lovED

[ejk]

Hey I've got an F30 head on the way. Has anybody ever tried a Warehouse V30 clone with one? Think this would be a good match?

[Mrmot]

one question about the "speaker mute" switch on the F-series

Does it apply some sort of load to the poweramp section or is the poweramp section completelly disengaged with this switch and you only hear the sound from the preamp?

I'm guessing it's the latter but it would be really cool if it was actually some sort of a dummy load and then you could buy a Palmer PDI-09 for instance, which is just a DI box with great cab sims (and cheap, around 100$) and put it after the speaker jack and then cook the powertubes (which results in a great sound on my F-50) and record this way in complete silence, without the need of buying some expensive dummy load...

[opultaM]

So we finished the album yesterday. Mastered and everything. Sounds pretty damn awesome. i'll try and get some clips up soon. probably a may/june release

[opultaM]

Not in a single coil footprint. If you wanted to route the body for a full-sized humbucker there are a few coil-tapping p'ups available. To be honest, though, of the ones I've played they don't really capture that bell-like '50s Strat tone.

One day someone will inevitably come up with a coil-tapping Single/Hum in a single footprint, that actually sounds like a SC and is noiseless. Matter of time. :idea:

And i will be on that line to buy when they make it. You'd think there'd be a decent enough market for this that someone would've invested in the R&D. I mean, it's basically a perfect pickup we're describing here.

someday

[Will Cyrier]

Well my amp has returned to its birthplace and is awaiting surgery; next week or two they say.

Got my amp back from the factory today. I only had to pay for shipping to Mesa. They covered everything. Turns out there was a "small arc between pin 6 and adjacent filament trace on V4b." I almost forgot how good this amp sounds, especially with my new Kinsman single coil in the neck position. Peace.

[mrelusive]

Got my amp back from the factory today. I only had to pay for shipping to Mesa. They covered everything. Turns out there was a "small arc between pin 6 and adjacent filament trace on V4b." I almost forgot how good this amp sounds, especially with my new Kinsman single coil in the neck position. Peace.

Play on, playa!

[Dann'sTheMan]

sytarted another thread about this... and it sank so beautifully.

Just wanna know if this recorded sounds decent for striaght-up power chord rock. it's triple-tracked with one hard left, one hard right and one middle track... compressor before limiter on the left and right racks, nothing on the middle.

any advice at all would be appreciated.

Sounds good to me :thu: Liked the metal one too! :cool:

Big smiles,

Andy.

[Dann'sTheMan]

some F-30 contour high(er) gain riffing.... gain set on 6

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqQws-shUG0

Great job, Alchemist - great tone from that built in mike. Your music room seems to be a place of endless fun - great selection of amps in your harem! :cool:

Big smiles,

Andy.

[Dann'sTheMan]

Nice clip! Sounds a bit like my F-30 as well... :lol:

So, I had an epiphany this weekend. I sold my Roadster Saturday morning and was left with just the F-30. I've had the F for about 2 months or so and always liked it, but never really LOVED it. So, I was a little bummed to see the Roadster go, but I never used it anywhere but my living room so it was kind of a waste to have such a nice amp. Anyway, I had always used my effects with the Roadster and played the F-30 with no effects. Well, once the Roadster sold, I decided to plug up the effects to the F-30 since it is my main amp now. I got a Keeley modded BOSS Blues Driver as a partial trade on the Roadster (very partial), and thought i'd give it a try with my other effects while I was at it.

So, after hooking everything up, I was astonished at my new found tone! The main tone improvement came from the MXR EQ in the loop. I set it for a slight V shape and it brought the amp to life! The second tone improvement came from the Blues Driver which added sustain, saturation, clarity, a little gain, and a bit of compression. Combined with the contour and delay, it was a tonal masterpiece! I had a jam session that night and was floored the whole night at the tone pouring out of the amp.

I was so impressed with the tone that the next day I recorded this video:
http://s178.photobucket.com/albums/w262/musicmanjp6/F-30/?action=view&current=F30tonetest.flv

I hope it will encourage other people to give the F series amps a chance. A little tweaking and it can sound just as good as amps that cost twice as much...

Let me know your thoughts on my new found tone!

Here's a close-up of the pedal board:
<snip\>

Hey MusicManJP6,

Great post! I missed the video link the first time round, but I really enjoyed what you posted. I use my OCD in a similar way to your Blues Driver, on oth the clean and dirty channels. I liked the tones you were dialling - as they still had that big fat F-series tube tone shining through. The other trick that I use, is a clean boost on the Clean channel - I use an old Dynacomp, but I suspect any pedal that can hit the front end hard, without introducing dirt, would work. Thanks for sharing! :)

Big smiles,

Andy.

[Dann'sTheMan]

I usually don't bump or repeat unanswered stuff, but I am about to make a purchase today. I was wanting some opinions, here is what I posted the other day:

"I do have a question about the F-50 with vintage 30's. Like I said, I'm planning on buying an Avatar cab with 2 vintage 30's (closed back.)

I've read reviews about vintage 30's, and most people say that midrange is very high in these speakers. I generally like bright highs, subtle midrange, and somewhat fat bass. I've read that the vintage 30's have poor bass response. I like to hear a defined difference when clicking my Les Paul's switch, and honestly, I don't use the one in the middle that much

I'm sure some of you play through vintage 30's. (And maybe even PAF type humbuckers.) What are your experiences with playing through these speakers and this amp? Will I get the sound I want out of these speakers? Or will the midrange dominate too much as most reviews suggest?

Thanks.
"

If anyone could help me, I'd appreciate it.


Sorry I can't help - I use the C90 in my combo. I did like the sound of the vintage 30 in Mesa cabs e.g. the traditional Recto. I've never tried an Avatar cab, but they seem to be well respected. :cool:

Big smiles,

Andy.

[Dann'sTheMan]

I played an F-50 for the first time in a while, less than an hour after wringing out an Express 5:50 tonight. After playing the F-50 again I was reminded how 'big' and thick and tight it can be when tweaked properly, and how wonderful the clean is. It seemed to sound a little tighter than the F-100/Recto rig I owned. I was trying to make the final decision on a Mesa combo ... Rectoverb vs. Express 5:50 (new) vs. F-50 ... all three combos were excellent, though the Recto was a little too heavy for me to lug around without a cart.


I brought the F-50 home about an hour ago. :love:

I got a mint widebody combo (#008XX) with pedal, cover, beam-blocker, and paperwork for $700.

Not bad.

Not bad at all.

I get to wring it out for REAL at practice tomorrow. :D

Welcome back into the brotherhood, snakum. :) I'm a fan of the Express line too - I helped a band mate choose one, and he gets some sweet tones out of it with his Anderson. The Expresses run out of gain and attitude just when the F-series are getting warmed up, but they do the clean and blues thing really well imho. :cool:

Big smiles,

Andy.

[Dann'sTheMan]

Me and the other guitarist did some recording recently, here's what we got.

256978

The backing track is straight from Guitar Pro and it sucks :D But I think we managed to get a decent sound in one day. I've never used a microphone before btw.

Ibanez SA260 (with a custom made Alnico V pickup) -> Digitech Bad Monkey -> Mesa F-50 head-> Mesa 4x12 Stiletto cab -> Shure SM57 -> Presonus Firepod

Hi MrVisual,

Sounds sweet imho. Tight playing too - great job. Really impressed that you were able to get such good tracks down at your first attempt - I look forward to hearing more from you. :)

Big smiles,

Andy.

[Dann'sTheMan]

My band finished the demo this weekend. The finished product is up on our myspace. I recorded one track with my Mesa F-100 through a Vintage 30 and a Heritage 30, and another track through a Vox Ac30 with the Vintage 30 Heritage 30 cab. I'm very happy with the tones. It sounds like but on myspace but, I'll try to have actual sound clips of just guitar soon.

Sharpshooter. (http://www.myspace.com/sharpshooterde)

lovED

Great job lovED,

The guitars are beautifully blended, and I really like how the AC30 compliments the aggression of the F-50. Great tones, and tight playing - two thumbs up from me. :cool:

Big smiles,

Andy.

[Dann'sTheMan]

Hey brothers!

There has been a tonne of great clips recently, and I'd love to include links to them in the Clip Archive at the top of this thread. If anyone is up for it, would you do the hard work for me, and PM me the text and URL (in the same format as the other clips in the Archive) - so I simply have to copy and paste them in (I probably wouldn't find the time to do this otherwise). :cool:

Big smiles,

Andy.

[Dann'sTheMan]

one question about the "speaker mute" switch on the F-series

Does it apply some sort of load to the poweramp section or is the poweramp section completelly disengaged with this switch and you only hear the sound from the preamp?

I'm guessing it's the latter but it would be really cool if it was actually some sort of a dummy load and then you could buy a Palmer PDI-09 for instance, which is just a DI box with great cab sims (and cheap, around 100$) and put it after the speaker jack and then cook the powertubes (which results in a great sound on my F-50) and record this way in complete silence, without the need of buying some expensive dummy load...

Hi Mrmot,

Yep, as you've already guessed, the speaker mute is just part of the pre-amp circuitry, it's not post power amp. Also, it's not possible to defeat the speaker simulation, so using it to drive another cab sim may sound less than ideal. :p

Big smiles,

Andy.

[Dann'sTheMan]

Got my amp back from the factory today. I only had to pay for shipping to Mesa. They covered everything. Turns out there was a "small arc between pin 6 and adjacent filament trace on V4b." I almost forgot how good this amp sounds, especially with my new Kinsman single coil in the neck position. Peace.

Hey Will,

Glad it's sorted! You can go back to playin' some more now! :D

Big smiles,

Andy.

[Alchemist]

Great job, Alchemist - great tone from that built in mike. Your music room seems to be a place of endless fun - great selection of amps in your harem! :cool:

Big smiles,

Andy.


Thanks Andy :)

My music room is what helps me relax, hopefully I can fund another amp with the sale of one of my less played guitars, get a few more pedals and I should be set :)

[chasinmichigan]

Newbie here,

I have just purchased an F100 and 2 Behringer 4x12 cabinets. do i hook up the cabs to the 2 4ohm outputs in the back? is there any no no's (dont do's) here. can i hook one cab to the 8ohm and one to the 4ohm?. how does this work? if i sound ignorant its because i am and i dont want to screw anything up.

[MusicManJP6]

Hey MusicManJP6,

Great post! I missed the video link the first time round, but I really enjoyed what you posted. I use my OCD in a similar way to your Blues Driver, on oth the clean and dirty channels. I liked the tones you were dialling - as they still had that big fat F-series tube tone shining through. The other trick that I use, is a clean boost on the Clean channel - I use an old Dynacomp, but I suspect any pedal that can hit the front end hard, without introducing dirt, would work. Thanks for sharing! :)

Big smiles,

Andy.

Thanks for the response Andy! I was surprised no one commented on it until now. I've been thinking about grabbing a dynacomp for a while. I might try one out if I can sell my MXR Wylde... Thanks!

Adam

[Sixtonoize]

Newbie here,

I have just purchased an F100 and 2 Behringer 4x12 cabinets. do i hook up the cabs to the 2 4ohm outputs in the back? is there any no no's (dont do's) here. can i hook one cab to the 8ohm and one to the 4ohm?. how does this work? if i sound ignorant its because i am and i dont want to screw anything up.

Chas - it sounds like you're good. The Behringer cabs are 8 ohms each, which, if used together, presents the amp with a 4-ohm load. So, plug both of your cabs into the 4-ohm jacks.

A bigger problem, that I see, is that you're running your F-100 into Behringer cabs. It's kind of like putting ketchup on a $30 steak. I recommend getting ONE really good cab. A high-quality 2x12 will be JUST as loud (if not louder) that both of your 4x12s (and a helluva lot easier to carry), and have a much better overall tone and feel. I'm a big fan of my Carvin 4x12...it sounds great, handles anything I throw at it, and set me back a whopping $250.

Where in Michigan are you? I'm in the Southwest...Kalamazoo area.

[snakum]

If you're running an F-100 head ... I tried just about every speaker out there, and I never could quite bond with Vintage 30s (in my 2x12 closed-back recto cab). For me, the F-100 worked best with Mesa C90s, Eminence Tonker, Eminence Legend GB12s (greenback inspired). Your mileage may vary, of course.

Speaking of F-100s ... I must say, I love my F-50 combo more than my F-100 halfstack. I don't know if it's the speaker combination (C90), or using beam blockers, or the fact that I can turn it up enough to get the power tubes cooking without blowing my ears out (the F-100 was too loud even on 60 watts). Something about that F-50 combo just sings sweeter on all counts than the F-100, for me personally. Maybe if I'd been able to run it at 60 watts into a 4x12 cab of old greenbacks loud enough to get the power section working it'd have been different. I dunno.

For a while there I actually preferred my Laney LC-50 over my Mesa. But this F-50 is KILLER. I'm in love with Mesas again. LOL.

[snakum]

Now I just need another F-50 combo so I can run a stereo rig again. Sweet!

[chasinmichigan]

Chas - it sounds like you're good. The Behringer cabs are 8 ohms each, which, if used together, presents the amp with a 4-ohm load. So, plug both of your cabs into the 4-ohm jacks.

A bigger problem, that I see, is that you're running your F-100 into Behringer cabs. It's kind of like putting ketchup on a $30 steak. I recommend getting ONE really good cab. A high-quality 2x12 will be JUST as loud (if not louder) that both of your 4x12s (and a helluva lot easier to carry), and have a much better overall tone and feel. I'm a big fan of my Carvin 4x12...it sounds great, handles anything I throw at it, and set me back a whopping $250.

Where in Michigan are you? I'm in the Southwest...Kalamazoo area.


I live up here in the thumbnail very close to Port Sanilac. I made the decision to buy the Behringers after reading countless reviews. My concern was having enough speaker power to accept the clean channels head room. My thinking was "bigger is better" quoted from my wife (former goth chick) who also puts ketchup on her steak. Yes I am leary about the decision and am anxiously waiting the arrival of my new purchases 5 days and counting. I am hoping to be pleasantly surprised but i am ready to be dissapointed. thnx for the reply six. I will definately post when i get everything hooked up.

[mynameistaken]

Who is using an EQ in the loop?

If so what kind and what are your favorite settings?

http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Vine/6655/images/Boss_GE7.jpg

[lovED]

Hey guys. I've been playing my F-100 like it's no ones business and I must say I can't get enough of that 60 watt feature. I figure maybe I should look for something with a little less wattage but i'm like "i can't get enough of that F-Series tone". So, with that being said, i'm looking to trade my F-100 head for an F-50 HEAD. along with $250. If anyone is interested PM me.
lovED

[MusicManJP6]

Who is using an EQ in the loop?

If so what kind and what are your favorite settings?

My 6-band MXR EQ in the loop made my F-30 come alive! I use a slight V shape (VERY slight) and it sounds fantastic.

[MusicManJP6]

Hey guys. I've been playing my F-100 like it's no ones business and I must say I can't get enough of that 60 watt feature. I figure maybe I should look for something with a little less wattage but i'm like "i can't get enough of that F-Series tone". So, with that being said, i'm looking to trade my F-100 head for an F-50 HEAD. along with $250. If anyone is interested PM me.
lovED

Aren't the F-100 heads worth more than the F-50 heads? And if so, why are you wanting to add cash to the trade? :confused:

[lovED]

On the F-50 end.
lovED

[gregv]

My 6-band MXR EQ in the loop made my F-30 come alive! I use a slight V shape (VERY slight) and it sounds fantastic.

hey guys,

I was looking into buying an mxr 6 or 10 band eq in the last little while for my F30. I came across a sale for one on a website for where I live where a guy was selling a used, but in great condition MXR 10 band EQ for $70. I thought that was a pretty good deal.

I haven't tried it before and I was looking for some opinions on it. I know there have been mentions of it in some old posts but couldnt find them when I had a quick look in the forum. Thanks in advance!

Greg

[mudbuddy11]

i use the 10 band and 70 bucks is a good deal. buy it and you wont be sorry. If you are, I'll buy it from you.

[mudbuddy11]

I posted it not too long ago but I use a SEVERE v scoop and it makes the mesa sound great. I could use another one for a less severe scoop when I run the clean channel without distortion. I have a straigtline V... running from +12db on ends to -6db in the middle. It sounds great with my 97 les paul(stock 490/498), but the washburn with fender american single coil and a burstbucker 3 dont need it so much. The scooped mids make the mesa very beefy and very bright all at the same time. I think it makes a more 'authentic' vintage PAF kind of sound. I try to play everything from the blues to modern gain rock, and I find the mesa to sound very dry and thin in comparison when I dont have the scoop on... unless its just plain clean, but even then, you can use the scoop and just turn down the volume on the guitar. I could throw all the other pedals away, I think the eq makes my mesa.

[Will Cyrier]

hey guys,

I was looking into buying an mxr 6 or 10 band eq in the last little while for my F30. I came across a sale for one on a website for where I live where a guy was selling a used, but in great condition MXR 10 band EQ for $70. I thought that was a pretty good deal.

I haven't tried it before and I was looking for some opinions on it. I know there have been mentions of it in some old posts but couldnt find them when I had a quick look in the forum. Thanks in advance!

Greg

I'd buy it if I had the cash right now. You can also use it for loop attenuation so you can get those power tubes cookin'. :thu:

[mudbuddy11]

Going back to HDHV's problem with the bias resistor. He's trying to put a bias pot instead of the resistor... I thought I had read in this forum that someone had done that, I just cant find it...

now my question... why in the world would you put a pot in for the resistor. I understand that then you can adjust the bias manually, and maybe use a wider variety of mismatched tubes, but is that it? does it do anything for your sound? Does it help find a sweetpoint, or is it that you can turn the bias up increase the voltage to the tubes, 'soak' the tubes and cause distortion earlier?

[gregv]

I'd buy it if I had the cash right now. You can also use it for loop attenuation so you can get those power tubes cookin'. :thu:

thanks for the replies guys! Right now I am using Hal's soldering technique for loop attenuation but I am not familiar how to attenuate it with the Eq.

Would I just plug my guitar into the input with one cable and then the output to the amp with the other and crank the master volume on the amp and attenute it down with the volume on the eq pedal?? Or is there a better way to do it?

Thanks!

[Will Cyrier]

thanks for the replies guys! Right now I am using Hal's soldering technique for loop attenuation but I am not familiar how to attenuate it with the Eq.

Would I just plug my guitar into the input with one cable and then the output to the amp with the other and crank the master volume on the amp and attenute it down with the volume on the eq pedal?? Or is there a better way to do it?

Thanks!

To attenuate and equalize, you would put it in the amp's effects loop. It will act as a post EQ while allowing you to control the level of your amp.

In the scenario you mentioned, you would just be controlling the input volume, just like using your guitar's volume.

But, since you have Hal's soldering mod in place, you could do either and see what sounds best to you!

Will

[gregv]

thanks, i am gonna pick it up today and give it a try!!

To attenuate and equalize, you would put it in the amp's effects loop. It will act as a post EQ while allowing you to control the level of your amp.

In the scenario you mentioned, you would just be controlling the input volume, just like using your guitar's volume.

But, since you have Hal's soldering mod in place, you could do either and see what sounds best to you!

Will

[Will Cyrier]

Noise Gate pedals? Any recommendations? I've been looking at MXR's SmartGate, Boss's DS-2, and ISP's Decimator. They all claim the same, and all the reviews I've read are mixed and dog the competition equally. Primary use is for my pedal rig. I'm running a Homebrew CPR into a TS-9 into a Proco Rat. With any two in combination, the noise is very audible, all three...forget silent stops.

[Jeremy Morgan]

Hi all,

Would anyone be able to measure an F-30 combo for me? I'm thinking of getting one to replace/complement my Tech 21 Trademark 60, but need to make sure of the size first (I do the odd theatre pit gig where there's hardly ever any room!). I can't seem to find the dimensions anywhere.

Plus, if someone knows the F-30 weight, that would be great too.

Thanks!

[Will Cyrier]

Hi all,

Would anyone be able to measure an F-30 combo for me? I'm thinking of getting one to replace/complement my Tech 21 Trademark 60, but need to make sure of the size first (I do the odd theatre pit gig where there's hardly ever any room!). I can't seem to find the dimensions anywhere.

Plus, if someone knows the F-30 weight, that would be great too.

Thanks!

Hi Jeremy,

My F-30 is roughly 18.5"W x 10.5"D x 18"H and close to 45 lbs.

Good luck,

Will

[Jeremy Morgan]

Thanks Will, much appreciated.

It's quite a light and compact little beasty then...

[Will Cyrier]

Thanks Will, much appreciated.

It's quite a light and compact little beasty then...

Yeah, for a tube amp combo. I just picked up a Fender Blues Jr. last week that is slightly smaller (within 1-2" at most in any direction) and just under 40 lbs. For 15 watts it screams. The stock speaker sucks unless you buy the pricier Jensen loaded model. I picked it up as a backup amp.

Back to the Mesa. I'm in love with my F-30. I would like to have gotten a widebody F-50, but I didn't know they existed when I found my used F-30 at Guitar Center. But for size-to-power ratio, the F-30 rocks! :thu:

Will

[MusicManJP6]

I retubed my F-30 with JJs last week and it sounds even better now! Highly recommend the JJ retube kit. I also picked up a volume pedal and will be using it for attenuation in the loop. I have an EQ too that I might try using for attenuation, but I really like using it to sculpt the tone...

I also picked up a Keeley MT-2 for the heavier tones the amp does not cover on it's own... It's brutal!

[Sixtonoize]

I'd buy it if I had the cash right now. You can also use it for loop attenuation so you can get those power tubes cookin'. :thu:

Loop attenuation doesn't drive the power tubes any harder.

Sorry.

[Sunlit]

I just go my 2 x 12 Avatar speakers (vintage 30's,) just last night. I finally got to play my amp (Mesa/Boogie F-50) for the first time since I purchased it in December. This amp is awesome!!

I do have a question though. Does anyone know how to program the Boss GT-8 to switch the amps channels (and also to switch the reverb and especially contour?) I would love to be able to do this, so I wouldn't have the amp footswitch and my processor both on the ground. It would make it a hell of a lot easier, that's for sure.

I know I read something in this thread a few months back about the same thing, but I cannot find it. I tried the search thread tool, but it pulls up practically the entire thread, and I cannot read through all of these pages! :thu:

[mynameistaken]

Does anyone know how to program the Boss GT-8 to switch the amps channels (and also to switch the reverb and especially contour?) I would love to be able to do this, so I wouldn't have the amp footswitch and my processor both on the ground. It would make it a hell of a lot easier, that's for sure.


You would need a custom cable that converts the mesa 5 pin (or is it a 7 pin) into a standard 1/4" cable. The GT-8 basically just creates an open/closed switch. It could be done but it would be a good amount of trouble and it would only control one of the foot switches. I got The GT8 to work with another amp but it had a ground loop buzz that was painfully annoying.

[estring777]

Loop attenuation doesn't drive the power tubes any harder.

Sorry.


If you have the EQ in the loop, you can crank the master and then lower the output volume with the vol slider on the EQ. In a sense you are driving the tubes hotter but without the volume associated with it.

[Roccaforte Amps]

If you have the EQ in the loop, you can crank the master and then lower the output volume with the vol slider on the EQ. In a sense you are driving the tubes hotter but without the volume associated with it.




WHAT?

[Sixtonoize]

See, it only works because his F-100 is twice as loud as his F-50.