F-50 and Maverick questions

[stevestrat]

Hello all!!

After playing my Maverick since '92, it's come time to get a new Mesa. More on the reason for switching from my 'Mav later.

I'm curious to know how the F-50 sounds compared to the Stiletto and the Dual Rec and even my old ‘Mav? I've played a Stiletto and a Dual Rec and neither of them really did it for me. The Stiletto was too bright, and the Rec was just too darn over-the-top metal sounding.

I love my 'Mav but I want something with more gain and more oomph, and I haven't played an F-50 yet but I thought I would ask all the current guys why they picked an F-50 over all the other Mesa gear.

Thanks for your info.


Part 2...My poor sick 'Mav

The short story is that the clean channel has a low frequency buzz that won't go away with new tubes, or different speakers. I need to take it to the shop, but has anyone else had this problem with their Mavericks?

Steve

 

[Brewski]

Hey Stevestrat,

It was easy to say why originally picked an F-50 combo as my first tube amp. It was about half the price of some of the other Mesas that I had looked at. I bought it used in mint condition. I was considering an LSS/LSC at the time. I wanted an amp that was pretty versatile without killing my wallet, considering this was my first foray into tube amps.

It has a very nice clean channel and in addition, with the 2nd channel and the contour I can still get into some of the high gain music. It is not a recto amp, and from what other recto players have said, it's blasphemy to compare an F series one on one to a recto. The amp will get you into metal territory, and you'll need a pedal to take it further. It has some very nice tones, although the 6L6's can be a little dark and it has a lot of bottom end, which I don't mind. You just back off on the bass, depending on what you like.

If you like your Maverick, I think that you may like the F-50, although, everyone hears something different or is looking for a specific tone. If you get a chance try one to see for your yourself. You can get some good blues and classic rock tones with it, and other nice clean sounds. So it would land somewhere between your Maverick and the Recto family. A weak spot to look out for is the reverb. It's not that great and if anyone has suggestions for a better reverb, I'm all ears.

It can be a loud amp and can shake the floor while being nowhere near wide open, although I usually play it at a more sparing volume.

I hope that helps you a little.

 

[TheRazMeister]

Steve,,,,what he said down below 8) . The F-50 has a wonderful clean and the gain is an 8 if the recto's are a 10. For me the 8 wasn't enough but the F-50 is certainly a worthy contender. I will caution that it has its own sound and please try one out and don't go by our word.
Story....
I went amp shopping and was at the store the same time another fella was looking for a Mesa also. He played a thru a Maverick and I played thru a Nomad. Both of us playing a very similar heavy rock style riffing (as in Dokken, UFO, Whitesnake...not Metalica). As we got up to try other amps, I commented how I liked the amp he was playing and didn't like the Nomad. He looked at me and said the exact opposite. He was impressed with the sound I was getting and not what he was playing thru. I eventually ended up with a Rectoverb and he got an F-100. Even though our styles were the same our ears weren't..

Hey Stevestrat,

It was easy to say why originally picked an F-50 combo as my first tube amp. It was about half the price of some of the other Mesas that I had looked at. I bought it used in mint condition. I was considering an LSS/LSC at the time. I wanted an amp that was pretty versatile without killing my wallet, considering this was my first foray into tube amps.

It has a very nice clean channel and in addition, with the 2nd channel and the contour I can still get into some of the high gain music. It is not a recto amp, and from what other recto players have said, it's blasphemy to compare an F series one on one to a recto. The amp will get you into metal territory, and you'll need a pedal to take it further. It has some very nice tones, although the 6L6's can be a little dark and it has a lot of bottom end, which I don't mind. You just back off on the bass, depending on what you like.

If you like your Maverick, I think that you may like the F-50, although, everyone hears something different or is looking for a specific tone. If you get a chance try one to see for your yourself. You can get some good blues and classic rock tones with it, and other nice clean sounds. So it would land somewhere between your Maverick and the Recto family. A weak spot to look out for is the reverb. It's not that great and if anyone has suggestions for a better reverb, I'm all ears.

It can be a loud amp and can shake the floor while being nowhere near wide open, although I usually play it at a more sparing volume.

I hope that helps you a little.

 

[stevestrat]

Hey thanks for the info and the insight guys!! I'm planning on heading to Seattle in the next few weeks to get some playing time in on one. This post is really to see what they guys are saying who own them and have played them for awhile.

I like your mention of how the gain is somewhere around 8 if a Recto is a 10. That's the kind of info I can use because to my ears, that's about where I hear my sound.

Thanks again!!

 

[Jops]

Hi Steve,

Good luck with the shopping. FWIW I own a mav and have had extensive use of an F-30 when I was between amps. I also looked at the F-50 when making my purchase of the Mav. I found the Mav and the F-30 to be the most similar with the F-30 having a ton more gain esp with the contour. There wasn't really any similarities with the F-50 at all, mostly due to the lack of mid hump that the mav has. But sometimes a complete change can be good. Have some fun shopping!!

Jon

 

[LPClassic]

I have two Maverick 4x10 and one F-100, the clean on both are very good, of course I prefer the clean of my maverick over almost anything but the F-100 is really good ina more sparkling type, on the other hand the gain is much more intense. I have tried the F-50 and is very similar to the F-100, but I think the "extra" speaker make it a little more deep bottom.

Hope you found what you are looking for.

 

[Hollowbody Heaven]

I'm in a classic rock band with a bunch of 50'ish guys and although I've played through Marshalls for 20 plus years, I recently moved to the F-50 combo.
I"ve got 2 of them- one on top of verticle 2-12" slant Mesa cab and I'm looking for another slant cab for the other one. I keep one at practice and one at home.
Excellent choice IMHO.

-HH

 

[hal9000]

Steve, check out this huge thread over at HCAF. The first post has a clips section so you can see how the guys are using the amp and the kind of tones people are getting: Mesa F-series Lounge @ HCAF

I chose my F-100 because I preferred its tone on clean and overdrive to every other Mesa in the lineup including the Rectos and Mark IV. What I really love about the amp is the sweet clean channel and the fat lead tones. Also, the rhythm tones in contour are great for most metal stuff with a tad less gain and a smoother voice than a rectifier. With my G-Major I run the F-100 as a three channel amp since I can equalize the volume from OD to Contour which makes it even more versatile. So, although I really liked the rectifiers I only thought they were superior in the modern metal rhythm category, where for everything else I preferred the F-100. Also, compared to the Mark IV, the F-series is much simpler to use. If I had to choose an amp to replace the F-100 it would certainly be the Mark IV which is my second favorite Boogie.
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[Surfcaster]

Just to add to the great recommendations for the F50 here. It's a great amp that's very versatile. In reading an interview with Randall Smith it sounds like he basically built it as a rock amp. Though there are some whole love it for jazz and others who love it for metal. I use mine for all of it. I play a lot of 80's hard rock/pop metal and I find the amp covers that very well with gain to spare. And with a clean boost in front you can get those higher gain modern recto type sounds.

Part of the reason I picked the F50 was the price; however, I picked the F-50 over the similarly priced Nomads because frankly I thought it sounded better, the reverb was better and just the overall tone. But I wasn't just comparing to other Mesa's. I spent several months trying out a number of other 1x12 tube combos...Marshall, Crate V-Series, Fender, Traynor. I really wanted a Marshall, and while I'd still love to get a JCM800 half stack, I wouldn't buy any Marshall combo in production today even for half price. The only one that I'd consider is the TSL122, but at half price it's the same price as the F50 at regular price.

There are two new tube combos out there now that I would consider seriously if I was in the market for a new amp, and that's the Peavey VlalveKing and the Crate Palominos...I recently tried out both amps and was very impressed with each of them...the Palomino a bit moreso than the ValveKing. But both are great amps and the price is definitely right! Though you'll get a better quality cabinet with the F50.

 

[stevestrat]

Lot's of great info and sound bytes too. You guys rock!!

Thanks a ton,

Steve

 

[prometheus]

surfcaster, what do you mean by "clean boost" do you mean a distortion/overdrive in front of the clean channel? thanks BTW if those were your clips @ harmony central in the lounge i couldnt get them to work. thanks