F-30 or F-50 or ROV?

[mlpmt]

To be, or not to be: that is the question, but the real question is: which of this combo's is more versatile from jazz to metal ???
Thanks in advance guys!
A future MESA owner[/b]

 

[pau_leader]

F-50!

 

[Brewski]

They're two different animals, but the F-50 has a sweet clean for doing jazz and can get into metal territory. I picked up an F-50 because it is very versatile, and am playing alternative rock, classic rock, country, and blues. We haven't got to the opposite ends of the spectrum with Jazz or Metal, but the F-50 will handle it.

 

[TheRazMeister]

There are those who will disagree with me (especially on the F-30)

The F-50 has the best clean of the 3 -very, very nice, I just find the breakup to not be as aggressive and gnarly as I like. I'm not a metal-head but I like a plexi on steriods type sound with notes flying off the guitar and amp....which I guess is a Soldano lol!! (Van Halen brown sound, whatever that means!)
If you get an F-50, get a tubescreamer or Zakk Wylde ZW-44 overdrive
(that will compensate for the slightly less "gain" than the F-30) and you should be extremely happy with the amp.

The F-30 has a great overdrive and good cleans. I was very pleased with the playability of the gain channel. Sort of a "Panama" type sound. The F-30 may be a good choice but I'd probably opt for the F-50 between the 2 if money is not a consideration.

The ROV has the most gain of the 3 but the cleans aren't as "tingly" as the F-50, although I like the clean tone ALOT.
The ROV is VERY heavy (80+ lbs I think) and will get on your nerves if you take your amp from home to practise often
I have an ROV and the cleans do fine for me. I don't know what you mean by Jazz but if it's Pat Methany tones, the ROV does that nicely. It just doesn't "fender" you like the F-50 can. I get great warm sounds out of my ROV and would definitely buy one again if weight wasn't an issue.

Hope this helps.

To be, or not to be: that is the question, but the real question is: which of this combo's is more versatile from jazz to metal ???
Thanks in advance guys!
A future MESA owner[/b]

 

[no soul]

F-50, just swap the speaker for a V30 and you are set.
Better yet, buy the F100.

Seriously, why does nobody like the F100??

 

[TheRazMeister]

No Soul, I can't speak for others...but the only one I tried was a used one at Guitar Center and I was underwhelmed by the overdrive tone. The clean sounded fine, especially with a single coil pickup. My only other reference is a sound clip someone posted which also sounded underwhelming (is that a word ). Again, I may be a little different in that the gain tone comes first and then I work back to the clean. This doesn't mean there's anything wrong with the amp, just that my 1st 2 points of reference did not give me a reason to consider the F-100.

F-50, just swap the speaker for a V30 and you are set.
Better yet, buy the F100.

Seriously, why does nobody like the F100??

 

[Surfcaster]

F-50, just swap the speaker for a V30 and you are set.
Better yet, buy the F100.

Seriously, why does nobody like the F100??

Personally, having both the V30 and the C90, I'd take the C90 over the v30 with my F50 any day.

As for the F100...the F50 has way more power than I'd ever need, so there's no point in having the F100...I've never even plugged into one. Personally, I don't think I'd ever need more than 50W (tube watts, anyway). In fact, I'm having a custom 18W amp built for me and expect it will still be plenty loud.

 

[tele_jas]

I'll be the odd man out here... I'd say go with the Rectoverb! I have one and chose it over the F30 and F50. I also chose it over the lonestar's. I got it mainly for the Rectifier Distortion, but when I went looking for a new amp recently for a more "country" clean flavored amp, I never thougt about trying my ROV until one day I had my tele out and grabbed my ROV instead of my Fender Deluxe and was totally blow away with what I heard!!! I used to use my Deluxe with a Tubescreamer or my V-twin, but with the ROV you can turn the gain all the way up on the clean channel and it gets that nice bite to it of a deluxe or vibrolux turned up to about 6 or 7, but without the volume (if you don't need it). Plus you get the solo boost for leads and then a dirty channel too!! The Raw mode on the v2.0 ROV's is great for a semi distortion or classic rock distortion, the vintage can do this to with the gain down a bit more.

I truely do like my Rectoverb!! I just wished it was a 2x12 for what I do.. So I bought a Soldano 2x12 empty combo cab I'm going to try to put my Chassis in so I can keep my Rectoverb but have a 2x12. I don't know if I'd recommed that for everyone, but I wanted to try it. I'll know if it works probably by next weekend.

Good luck!! It's a hard choice, and you'll find tones you like in all boogies.... It just depends on what you really need as to which amp to get.

 

[TheRazMeister]

Tele, I'll support you on that because honestly, if the only thing that mattered was the sound, I'd still buy an ROV. I truly believe it's what end of the spectrum you want to come down from. If INCREDIBLE cleans and good distortion is your taste...the F-series is the way to go. If GREAT overdrive and good cleans is your bag...the ROV fits the bill. Again, I personally start at the overdrive and work back. Others start at the clean and work forward. Either way you win...I would own either proudly.

BUT!!!!! the ROV is still too darn heavy :roll:

I'll be the odd man out here... I'd say go with the Rectoverb! I have one and chose it over the F30 and F50. I also chose it over the lonestar's. I got it mainly for the Rectifier Distortion, but when I went looking for a new amp recently for a more "country" clean flavored amp, I never thougt about trying my ROV until one day I had my tele out and grabbed my ROV instead of my Fender Deluxe and was totally blow away with what I heard!!! I used to use my Deluxe with a Tubescreamer or my V-twin, but with the ROV you can turn the gain all the way up on the clean channel and it gets that nice bite to it of a deluxe or vibrolux turned up to about 6 or 7, but without the volume (if you don't need it). Plus you get the solo boost for leads and then a dirty channel too!! The Raw mode on the v2.0 ROV's is great for a semi distortion or classic rock distortion, the vintage can do this to with the gain down a bit more.

I truely do like my Rectoverb!! I just wished it was a 2x12 for what I do.. So I bought a Soldano 2x12 empty combo cab I'm going to try to put my Chassis in so I can keep my Rectoverb but have a 2x12. I don't know if I'd recommed that for everyone, but I wanted to try it. I'll know if it works probably by next weekend.

Good luck!! It's a hard choice, and you'll find tones you like in all boogies.... It just depends on what you really need as to which amp to get.

 

[tele_jas]

BUT!!!!! the ROV is still too darn heavy

I'll 2nd that and 3rd that!! This is the heaviest dang amp I've ever owned!! It even outweighs a '73 Fender Twin, I had a few years ago, by 7 lbs!! And here I am adding another speaker to it!! I've gotta be nuts!!

 

[Brewski]

[I'll 2nd that and 3rd that!! This is the heaviest dang amp I've ever owned!!]

Just for kicks, I tried picking up a a Road King Combo. I emphasize "tried". Yikes!

All of the the amps mentioned above are fine amps. It's just a matter of what style of music you'll be playing mostly, pricepoint, and what you're willing to lift. One of the employees at Guitar Showcase said that he felt that the Rectoverb sounded more musical to him. I ended up with the F-50 because I was happy with the sound, the weight, and the price point. So, it fit my criteria the closest. I am happy with it, and I've gotten a number of grins from a friend and fellow player who has a LSS. He said that he liked it as well.

I can't and would never knock the sound of a Recto. I might have one in the future. I guess that's why there's so many different amps on the market.

 

[opunake]

What is the weight difference between the three?

 

[Brewski]

What is the weight difference between the three?


I think that the F-30 is somewhere around 40 lbs, the F-50 around 50 lbs., and the Rectoverb around 10,000 GVW. Actually I think that the Rectoverb is around 80 lbs roughly. I wish that Mesa would state the dimensions and weight on their products. Try searching the web, the dimensions and weight are nearly as well kept secrets than how the pyramids were built.

 

[opunake]

Thanks - the ROV is a serious piece of hardware.

Pete

 

[no soul]

No Soul, I can't speak for others...but the only one I tried was a used one at Guitar Center and I was underwhelmed by the overdrive tone. The clean sounded fine, especially with a single coil pickup. My only other reference is a sound clip someone posted which also sounded underwhelming (is that a word ). Again, I may be a little different in that the gain tone comes first and then I work back to the clean. This doesn't mean there's anything wrong with the amp, just that my 1st 2 points of reference did not give me a reason to consider the F-100.

F-50, just swap the speaker for a V30 and you are set.
Better yet, buy the F100.

Seriously, why does nobody like the F100??

uhhhhhhh, you do know its the same pre amp youre getting in the F50 or F30 right????

 

[no soul]

and if you guys think a ROV combo is heavy, try the F100 or Roadking.

My F100 outweighs my Marshall 4x12 !

 

[Michael]

Yeah weights a problem due to mobility, not performance, cars weights a problem for performacne, amps no.

Basicly i agree with you guys never picked up a ROV but i gather my TOV is heavyer. Stil amps are abotu tone, that what you get, if weights such a huge problem theres rack mount alternatives.

Michael

 

[TheRazMeister]

As far as the pre-amp, all I know is by the time the F-30 gets to the EL84's, something changes in the sound and it sounds better than its big brother. Again, I'm not dissing the F-100 and for that matter the F-50, they're great amps...just not my favorite Mesa boogie flavors.

No Soul, I can't speak for others...but the only one I tried was a used one at Guitar Center and I was underwhelmed by the overdrive tone. The clean sounded fine, especially with a single coil pickup. My only other reference is a sound clip someone posted which also sounded underwhelming (is that a word ). Again, I may be a little different in that the gain tone comes first and then I work back to the clean. This doesn't mean there's anything wrong with the amp, just that my 1st 2 points of reference did not give me a reason to consider the F-100.

F-50, just swap the speaker for a V30 and you are set.
Better yet, buy the F100.

Seriously, why does nobody like the F100??

uhhhhhhh, you do know its the same pre amp youre getting in the F50 or F30 right????

 

[cnumb44]

The EL84s in the F30 are going to yield a different sound quality than the 6L6's in the F50 and ROV. I have played both the F30 and F50 and like them both. I would have chosen the 50 over the 30 just because I thought the sound had more longitude (clean to crunch).

 

[TheRazMeister]

I like the longitude comment....I found the same to be true. My personal numbers would be if 1 was great clean and 10 was great distortion
The F-50 1 to about 7-1/2
The F-30 3 to 8 or 8-1/2
If I was strictly playing gain stuff, I'd get the F-30...If I needed more versatility I'd get the F-50. Again, nothing against the F-100, I just haven't had someone (or myself) show me their value in terms of tone compared to the 30 and 50.

I will say that I tried a Floyd Rose Guitar with single coils thru the clean channel of the F-100 and man the thing was "gittin' ".

The EL84s in the F30 are going to yield a different sound quality than the 6L6's in the F50 and ROV. I have played both the F30 and F50 and like them both. I would have chosen the 50 over the 30 just because I thought the sound had more longitude (clean to crunch).