Bought another F50

[elvis]

I had an F50 combo a couple years ago, and sold it to move to a stereo rack rig (Studio pre and 50/50, and now a Triaxis/2:90).

But I missed that lovely gritty tone and easy-to-carry F50. So I bought another last night. I just love the amp. This one's a head, and I'm playing it into a recto 1x12. I get to use it at practice tonight.

I A/B'd it with a 5:50. I really liked the features of the 5:50, BUT it's basically a 4-channel amp that you can only use 2 channels at a time. I like both modes on the rhythm channel, but the lead channel has either a bit too little gain on crunch, or too much on burn. I really wanted to like the 5:50 and get that instead (not much price diff, both are used). But the F50 is just perfect. Sometimes simple is beautiful.

I'm just not going to sell my amps any more.

:mrgreen:

 

[elvis]

Played with my band last night. After a couple years of a complicated rack setup, the F50 with a couple pedals was a nice breath of fresh air. I can't get a bad tone out of it (at least for classic rock & blues), and it reminded me why you can play with just an amp and the volume knob on the guitar without a lot of stomping. I actually didn't have the amp's footswitch with me, and found that I didn't really need it. It has just the right amount of gain for me, and it was so easy to move and set up. Just a beautiful experience.

One of the reasons I sold my last one was that there were times I wanted just a bit more gain out of it. An OD808 solved that problem perfectly. Wish I'd thought of that before. It gives the same result as "burn" on the 5:50, but it's foot-switchable.

In fact, the 808 gave me the equivalent of clean/crunch as well as crunch/burn. Now I'm not so upset that I didn't get the 5:50.

 

[greyblooz]

Thanks for this post.

I had a similar dilemma initially, but needed a speaker mute/headphone jack, so I got the F-50 for half as much. The extra switches and contour knob would have been nice, but it's good to know that can get those extras with pedals so I'm not missing anything.

Of course, it would be nice if I didn't have spend time buying/trying/tweaking pedals and worrying about things like batteries and cables (so I can spend more time playing) but for the most part I found that I don't even need my compressor and booster with this amp.

I am messing with a Nobels ODR-1 in front of the F-50 but that pedals is more about top and bottom than mids. Maybe a "mid-hump" pedal is the way to go, since I run this amp with the MID knob all the way down.

Will you replace the tubes?

 

[elvis]

If I understand your question correctly: Yes, I always replace the tubes when I buy an amp. So I've purchased a BUNCH of tubes recently, as I just got the Triaxis and 2:90 as well. Ouch!

Anyway, I generally start out with a stock Mesa set to see what the amp sounded like when it left the factory, then adjust as I feel necessary. Mostly I stick with the Mesa tubes, as I'm easy to please when it comes to tone. I focus a lot more on my playing, and I'm either ignorant or deaf to the subtle shades some people seem to shoot for.

Anyhoo, I never trust what an amp's been through, so always start with a fresh set.

 

[elvis]

Ran my F50 last night like this:

In front:
Line 6 G50 wireless
Boss Tuner
Bad Horsie II Wah
MXR EVH Phase
Maxon OD808

In the loop:
Boss DD-? Delay
Boss GE-7 (just for level boost)

WOW! It was soooooooo much fun.

 

[elvis]

Retubed the F50, played for 10 minutes, and it died

Got frustrated, considered returning it, went to bed. Got up in the morning today, swapped a couple tubes, and it's fine. A brand new 12AX7 went bad in position #2 after 10 ****ing minutes. Played for over an hour today, all is well.

Tube amps... What kind of idiot would use them???

:?

 

[greyblooz]

Tube amps... What kind of idiot would use them???

:?

The same kind of idiot who would stay up all night playing his strat after restring his guitar with heavy strings without set-it up, then sleep in a storage closet at work the next day before going to a jam session, carry his own tube amp over tables rather than use a solid and predictable Yamaha F-100 or Roland JC-120, plug in new pedals without tweaking them and then start playing tunes nobody else knows without tuning up. I was that idiot last Thursday.

In other words tube amps are for risk takers. You don't actually know what they're going to do, and that's what makes them fun. I always know what a JC-120 will sound like: warm and hard like the iron my wife uses on my shirts. But they're everywhere you go, so I've invested much time in money trying to find pedals to get it to sound like a tube amp. All the other guys at the session that plugged into the JC-120 sounded fine. When I played through my F-50, two of the ladies sitting at the bar got up and went outside! However the lady at the front table came up to me to request a song. Yup, a tube amp is like a box o chocolates. You never know just what yer gonna get.

 

[elvis]

Cool story!

I had a JC120. I'll take my F50, SP and Triaxis over that cold dead thing any day of the week and twice on Sunday.

Though I do have a PSA-1 in my rack with the Triaxis. Just in case...

 

[DTJPPR]

I did the same thing. I used to have an F50, used it for a couple years, and then ended up selling it to buy some recording gear. Biggest mistake I ever made! The F50 is an amazing piece of gear.