what kind of high gain tones can you get from an f-100 combo

[thor von clemson]

I am looking for an amp with the mids, treble, and clean of the Dual Rec but with a tighter low end than a DR. Many people have suggested the F-series and the Mark Series. The F's are more affordable, and I could get a combo amp to run to a 4x12.

I am wondering if the F series can take off where, to my ears anyways, the DR leaves off. I heard some clips of that dude from Scenery Channel who uses the F-50 and they sound pretty good. Now obviously clips sound different than the real thing, but the F-100 combo would be perfect for me if it can do what I am asking...

Anyone?

 

[SeasonOfPain]

I bought the F-50 for that exact reason: I already have a Mark IV, and I also wanted a more Rectifier-ish sound without the loose low end. Also, you could likely get by with an F-50; believe me, it's 50 watts are *extremely* loud, and I have no problems at all with clean headroom.

And yes, Tommi's Scenery Channel clips are awesome, but that sound is actually very easy to achieve with the F-series (having the skill to record it properly is another matter altogether).

 

[Russ]

I second that about only needing 50 watts. Unless you need the extra headroom it is advised to use the smallest wattage necessary. It will be cheaper to maintain also. A good 18 watt tube am will play a decent sized club. 30 watts can play a large indoor venue. 50 watts can play a bigger one or an outdoor venue. 100 watts are really only necessary in the largest open air venues and older large establishments without a PA (not very common anymore). Really 100 watters can be considered stadium rockers. You will not likely get full appreciation for it unless you are attenuated if you can't crank it and even then your tone will get sucked by the attenuator. 150 watters are kind of pointless unless you are going for extremely loud TR loose bottom without as much as much mud. I think many amplifier manufacturers try to oversell the public. Really a 4x12 is a lot of sound too. You might even be able to get away with a single 12 or a 2x12 for most gigging.

 

[WillShred4Food]

The Scenery Channel clips sound like that because the dude can seriously play. I shouldn't speak for another guitarist, but chances are he could dial in those tones on most heads. Don't get me wrong, the F-50's a fine choice, and perhaps the right choice. I'm thinking about getting one after hearing those clips!!

I agree that 50 watts is easily enough. I play in a VERY heavy band, and my 2 Channel Dual has never had the master volume past 9:00. I read that people need to have them louder than that all the time on this board, personally I like being able to hear the drums.

If I were you I wouldn't get an F-Series combo, though. All the F-Combos I've played are open back, and therefore it's difficult to get low end that's anywhere near as tight as a recto. You heard me right. (Although the F100 Combo has V30's which might indicate it's closed back, you might want to research that) I'd suggest you get an F-50 head with a traditional recto 2X12 (If that's too expensive check out avatarspeakers.com)

 

[diamondschwin]

I agree that 50 watts is easily enough. I play in a VERY heavy band, and my 2 Channel Dual has never had the master volume past 9:00. I read that people need to have them louder than that all the time on this board, personally I like being able to hear the drums.

well if you actually follow mesas advice, the channel volume for any channel on the modern mode shouldnt be past 930 or 10, so thats where i keep mine, balance my volumes on the other channels to that and then run the master volume up, also my send level in my effects loop is a little lower because im using pedals that run at -10 and the effects loop is +4 so im making up for these thigns in the master voluem section, its all a balance, depending on where your channel volumes, send and return mix levels are at your master volume will react accordingly, so dont assume we all run our amps super loud and mask the drums, maybe you are just making up the volume somewhere else that we arent

 

[thor von clemson]

so the f50 should be enough eh? I will definately have to go check one out though.. Any other thoughts?

willshred- I am thinking since the F-50 is fairly inexpensive compared to a lot of tube amps I will be able to pickup a Mesa 4x12 to go with it.

 

[WillShred4Food]

Yeah they are really affordable. Man, I played an F-30 combo today at work for a couple hours. Those amps sound really good. I'm trying to convince my other guitarist to get one. If he dosen't, I might. An F-50 head through a traditional recto 4X12 should sound sick, dude.

 

[SeasonOfPain]

A closed-back cabinet will definitely sound bigger than an open-back combo. I demo'd the F-30 and F-50 combos before buying, but mainly because they were right next to a Mark IV combo at the store. This made it easy to get a good approximation of tonal differences between the three, since I already had a Mark IV combo. There was a world of difference when I played through a Mesa Rectifier 4x12 cab.

One possibility to consider, if you have the budget, is to get a combo F-50 and also or later get a Mesa 2x12 Cab. The horizontal sounds almost a big as the 4x12, and a single person can actually carry it. The vertical Mesa 2x12 is even easier to move (side-handles and casters), but the horizontal 2x12 sounds bigger. You would then only need to move the combo around for smaller gigs or practice, and/or bring the 2x12 for larger gigs or if you want a bigger sound.

 

[WillShred4Food]

The cool thing about doing that is you get the advantages of the closed back cab with the open back combo. The closed back is articulate while the open back sounds expansive. I never liked my open back cab alone, but when I ran it stereo with my closed back cab, it's the best sound I ever got. It's a shame I had to sell that open back . . . .

Sounds like you've got a lot of cool options. I should say this, though. My experience with the F-50 combo at work is that unless I ran it through the closed back, it didn't get the tight low end you're talking about.