Mesa/Boogie F-100 212 Combo

Mine is a Mesa F100 2003 model. This amp is so versatile and suits my different syles. From Blues > Rock > Classic rock > Heavy metal. It has 2 chanels, Clean and Dity. It also has a contour channel which contours on how you attack the strings. This amp is pure POWER. From 60W to 100W, you can select whether what power you would like to unleash.

You guys know the other features, go to the Mesa website.

I mainly use a Gibson Les Paul with 490R/498T pickups. I was blown away by the clean channel of this amp. It really holds its own. Also, you have the "bright switch" for that fender cleans.

Man, the distortion channel of this amp is awesome. It is wicked! Sometimes i don't even have to use my effets pedal to get the evil distortion that it has. Must be the 2 V30 Black shadows.

It is really not noisy at all.

BREWTALITY!!!!!

This amp is a tank!!! if the marines go to war using an amp...this would be their arsenal for annihilation.

Maybe this will take forever to break down. Have it for a few years now and no problem at all. Nada!

You can't break this thing. It will break you first before it does.

If there's anything that can beat Mesa Boogie's customer service, then i will start going to church.

5 year transferable warranty...can't get any better than that.

I've been playing with this monster for over a year now and this thing is wicked!! One of the best combo amps that Mesa made. I really don't know why some people who gave review ahead of me (never even owned) gave disappointing reviews.

You just can't go to GC or your local music store, try it out and give your judgement. You have to own it and use it a lot to be able to critique this amp.

Also, you must learn how to dial in different tones that would suit you best. If you don't have the patience to do this, then just get a solid state amp which is Plug and Play.

Warning: this amp is not good for novice musicians. But great for well seasoned ones.

This amp rules!!!

This was a 2002 model with V30's 2 channels with seperate reverb on each channel(very nice) bright switch on channel 1 I really liked the simplicity and layout the 60/100 switch was handy too

I played mostly guitars with humbuckers les paul with burstbuckers, les paul with rio grandes, les paul deluxe, prs custom 22 with 3way toggle and coil tap, and a strat. my effects consist of a mt2, keeley DS-1 ultra, sparkle drive, Keeley BD-2 phat mod, boss dd3, guitar exciter. The clean sound this amp delivers is very good not like a super reverb or twin reverb but just as good in a diffrent way. the clean is really warm it can be jazzy to nashville twang. Channel one is where it stayed most of the time. I play constantly 3 times a week or more every week and this setup lets me play whatever the situation calls for. country to jazz, classic rock to new metal. The amp has tons of sustain. I was not impressed with the distortion it seemed weak to me even with diffrent tubes

This is were I have my issues with this amp. I gigged at least 3 times a week sometimes more for the first 4 months no problem. then i had gig just after sound check a fuse blew i put in another and bareley got through the night before it blew another. I had to have a set of tubes imediatly and all i could get was groove tubes i hate groove tubes. I put them in and it ate them too it started getting microphonic sounding i changed preamp tubes still squealing. i took it to get it repaired in nashville i got it back with the same problem but they did fix a noisy pot for $85. I put another set of tubes in new mesa 12ax7's and sovtek 6l6's and still had the squeal I called mesa they said it must be the preamp tubes and sent me another set that didnt fix it the squeal it was only on channel 2 so I bought the keeley bd2 and ds1 and let it be. I had to use it i was consantly playing, then it got worse and one day had no sound then the sound just came back the reverb would get really dirty sounding if i turned it on i called mesa again the said it had to be preamp tubes they sent me 3 preamp tubes i put them in it still was broke i called and i sent it back. mesa called 2 weeks later and said one of the reverb cables had a short in it and everything was just fine they sent it back to me guess what it still squealed. I called back again they said it sounded like a preamp tube i told them i have 20 preamp tubes lying around and they all do it but the sent me special preamp tubes that didnt fix it either so i had to sell it. it did make it through hundreds of gigs and reherseals and never left me stranded at a gig i did have to work on it at few shows and did have to play an outdoor gig in 60 watt mode because it ate another power tube

The best part of the amp was customer support Tim Mckee is a super guy and did his best to help me. he did not charge me for the tubes that i got from the company even though they werent in warranty and i wasnt charged to ship the amp to mesa he had ups pick it up. This is the guy all other customer support people should be judged by. Thank you very much Tim

This is a great amp I believe i just got a lemmon an amp like this should last a lifetime. I had a lot of problems but i belive overall it is a quality amp. I used this thing alot.

I gave the earlier review about my amp blowing a tube the first day and said I would give another review once I got it working so here goes...I like the simplicity of this amp since I use a lot of high-end effect pedals I appreciate the straight forward clean/distortion channel.

I was using a les paul custom with classic 57 pickups. I'm now running an american strat with stock pickups (i took out the texas specials I had put in, they sounded bad) The amp does not have as much hum as any of my marshalls so it seems to work out better in studios and live venues with nice pa systems. The amp has a pretty big range of distortions once you get to tweaking with them...the recommended settings are pretty dead on. The clean is very warm although I'm used to Fender reverb so it seems a little dry. Sounds good at a higher volume like most amps. This isn't a "metal" amp so if that is your forte' skip this one. Shredding just doesn't sound good through it.

Like I said it blew a tube the first time I turned it on and I had to wait a week to get it going but have had no problems since and I have been across a good part of the country with it stuck in a bouncy u-haul. My rating is without regard to the initial problem which I am hoping was just a fluke.

Again, I wish they were open at least five days a week. They were quick to send me replacement tubes but offered no apology for my hassles which would have been nice, but hey, they are Mesa Boogie.

I have been touring for about eight years and own a number of amps because I worked for Musicians friend for a few years. I still choose to play my Fender Deville when I am alone but the F100 works better in a band/live setting. My other guitarist plays through a Marshall TSL with 4 12's and it can get every bit as loud. I would probably not buy it again if it were lost but I do like the amp a lot. People complain about the weight which is what I love about this amp..it is very solid and has insane castors so you can load things on top and roll it into the club with ease. Nothing I really hate about it, I feel it was money well-spent. I wish the footswitch connected on the right side instead of the left because the cable runs across you if you use a pedalboard and the power chord is a little on the short side.

This amp has very basic features. Clean, overdrive and a contour to add that extra crunch. This 100 watt 2x12 combo has a switch to go back and forth from 60 watts to 100 watts...very handy. Control knobs are simple and tidy, however there is no separate channel or tone knobs for the contour disortion. Which means you can't really go from metal disortion to bluesy distortion or classic rock distortion without adjusting distortion on the amp.

I play all kinds of styles of music, with all kinds of guitars. Mainly a washburn limited edition (HH) and a standard american strat. Both guitars sound quite well although with the fender plugged in there is something lacking... This amp is meant for rocking out!!! It can pull off blues and classic rock and does have a suprisingly nice clean tone, but for all intensive purposes this is by far a hardrock/metal amp. This amp has great distortion...among the best I've ever played. However this amp was a huge pain in the ass for noise problems. Rattling, buzzing, hissing....you name it. I was told by mesa repair guy that this was due to the high power and high gain properties of the unit. I thought that was crap, it made way too much noise...so much noise infact that I had to return it. The music store first offered me a brand new one but I played it in the sound room for like and hour and it made huge amounts of noise aswell so my problem was not an isolated one ...too much noise for my liking. So if you are looking for a versatile amp with great disortion and arent planning on spending the dough on the f-100's bigger brothers and can get by the noise this amp would be great for you. However if you dont like noise and are looking for a amp with an awesome clean channel...STAY AWAY from the f-100

I owned this amp 7 months before I returned it. I took it back to the dealer 3 times for repairs because they couldnt get rid of the noise. I didn't have to spend any money but they did have to replace a preamp tube. This amp always worked for me but made lots of noise.

Mesa repair guy was excellent. He explained alot of stuff to me and did warranty repairs no problem. I never had to deal with the company themselves, just the local mesa repair guy. If you buy this amp from a liscensed dealer you should have no problems getting repairs done quickling, properly and often for FREE!!

I owned this amp for 7 months and played it at a few gigs and several rehearsals. Although this amp has great distortion and a surprisingly warm clean tone (way better than marshall clean) I had to return it because it made way to much damn noise! I personally would not buy this amp again. I originally chose this amp because it was very versatile and was very loud..great for gigs! I do wish this amp had a second distortion channel so I could have two totally different distortion sounds ready to go, but the contour feature is quite cool!

The layout is very simple, but it has everything it needs; I like having an amp I can simply plug into and sound amazing on. The only thing i would have liked to see on this amp that isnt there is a solo boost, like what is on the rectifiers. Other than that, this amp has everything else it needs. Lots of volume, good for any style, and i like the 100w/60w switch. reverb is nice, very clean and natural sounding.

im using a modded music man with a Dimarzio Fred in the bridge and a PAF in the neck, both are tappable. i mostly play rock and metal, but i am also in a band playing everything from Horace Silver to Ronnie Earl to The Allmans to The Counting Crows to the Dixie Chicks, this amp can do it all, and amazingly well. The only thing i dont particularly like is at really low volumes, low notes are very muddy and almost broken up. im not taking off any points for this though because the volume needs to be really low, so low that it is pointless to have it so low.

have you ever heard of someone having a problem with a Boogie?
Me neither.

Havent had to deal with them. i know there is a warranty, but i dont even know how long it is or what exactly it covers. im not too worried though.

Ive been playing about 7 years now, and i think this is the most perfect amp i could have gotten. It has that amazing Mesa/Boogie tone all over it, for about half the price of most of thier other products. when i was shopping for an amp, i was pretty much dead set on getting a dual rec head and 4x12 cab, but after hearing the F-100, i had to have it. i did a side by side, and in my opinion it blew the rectifier out of the water; just as loud and ballsy as the 4x12(as far as i was concerned, but those of you who can notice a difference, it is very easy to get a 2x12 extention cab),smoother lead, reverb, it cleans up much nicer at lower volumes and gain settings, and it was a lot easier to dial in a good sound than any other boogie ive ever tried. the only thing i miss is the solo output, but i will just run a volume pedal thru the fx loop to take care of that. anyway, this is an amazing amp which i would reccomend to anyone in the market for a high end amp, it is just as good if not better than almost anything out there, i love it.

I think everyone else has covered the features. I like the features of the amp. It has everything needed in an amp. Stomp boxes can always be used for variety. It has more than enough power. I leave mine on 60 most of the time. 100 watts is too much for most places.

I use an 86 G&L Skyhawk as my main guitar and a 92 LP with a flamed maple top as a backup. I am getting an American Strat soon though. The amp was rather harsh when I first bought it. I've had it for about a year now, and it's broken in some. I leave a compressor on all the time to smooth out the tone. The clean is decent, but it has alot of lows. The OD channel is also decent. The gain goes from nothing to alot, so you have to play with it some. I leave it low and use a stomp box to fill in the rest. The OD channel has alot of mids. Overall, you have to play with the EQ's and gains on both channels to find a good setting. I never use the contour switch on the OD. It makes it too harsh. I leave my gain on about 3 and use the neck PU for a good blues sound. A good stomp box will give a good drive for Rock. The low end isn't tight on this amp. It sounds muddy on low-note solos. It just doesn't have very much bite down there.

I use this amp without a backup. It had a bad hum in it for a while, but I think most of it was humidity. It eventually went away. I've only changed one pair of tubes in it in a year, but I don't run the volumes very high due to smaller venues.

I have a 3 year warranty and I think 90 days or so on the tubes. I've never had to deal with customer support, but I think it would be hard to mess with. The company is in California, and I live in Georgia. a certified service center has to do the repair if needed.

I've been playing for about 5 years now. I play different styles, but mostly praise and worship with blues and rock style. I use the visual sounds stomp boxes and like them. I might be putting this amp on the back burner before too long. I'd rather have a Fender. I've played them and like them better. probably a Concert Reverb because I want the tight tone of the 4-10's. This is a decent amp, but I don't think it's worth the price. It takes time to break it in and dial in the right settings. I do like the features though.

Like all good amps there are very few knobs so you don't have to worry about coming across some hideous 80's metal guitar sounds

I was using a les paul custom shop with classic 57's and I played on it for about an hour in the store. I was bored with the clean as I'm coming from playing a Fender Deville that has a really warm clean sound. I like the distortion quite a bit because of the sustain and the cool feedback sounds you can get.

Well I liked it enough to buy it, however the f-ing thing is now sitting in my living room for the third straight day...a tube blew the second I turned it on for the first time so I've never heard it in my house.

I give them a seven because they are only open 4 days out of the week...kind of lame...I bought the amp on Friday...it never worked...have to wait until Monday to even find out what they will do...It's my understanding they will send me new tubes because of the six month warranty...nonetheless I will have my amp for at least a week or two before it even works after dropping nearly $1,500 on the thing

we shall see if I ever get it working

The other reviewers pretty much have the specs covered. i think the features are great, the price is good too. could have more options, none more needed though.

I went to the local guitar shop to give this amp a serious test. that meant over an hour in the ioslation room with my custom tele, playing everything from jazz, to classic rock, to metal, country, etc. I've searching for a loud, professional, versitle amp. i play jazz, both solo with an archtop, and in trios and quartets. clean sound is very important.
the clean sound on this amp was decent, however, there was some strange buzz. my tele has kinman humbuckers, copper shielding EVERYWHERE, shielded wire, and shielding paint. the room had no computers or neon lights. the noise wasn't very loud, but annoying.
The clean sound rates a 6 for sounding fairly bland, and having the noise issue.
Hving read the reviews here, i thought the overdrive/distortion channel would be perfect for me. i'm a very technical player,lot's of cluster chords, harmonics, and fast runs. i need good definition in an overdrive channel. the music i play isn't metal, and i rarely use much gain, (my previous set up was a 60's bandmaster with a eq peal for overdrive.)
the sounds of this channel were highly disapointing. they were grainy, undefined, mid-heavy, and one dimensional. i'm a professional guitarist, and have spent a lot of time in studios, so i know how to eq amps. i spent an hour running through settings, even the ones suggested in the manual. i tried out the amp with ales paul custom, to just see if regular humbuckers would help. they did not. there was plenty of distortion availble, lot's of sustain, but i couldn't bring myself to like the amp. i was very let down.
the distortion rating-4

don't own it, wouldn't own it, but i've had plenty of boogie in the past, it's very well made stuff.

mesa is a great company to deal with.

This amp promises a lot, and fails to deliver. It's 100 watt setting my have something to do with that. the f-50 was incomparably better. however, the amp i fell in love with was the rectover head. far better tones all around, better looks, higher stand of construction.
i never thought i would like the rectifier sound, thought it was for young rich kids who covered sloppy playing with sloppy distortion. but the sparkling cleans, girty overdrive, harmonically rich crunch and violin sustain were all there... so much for presuppositions.
BTW, i tested TWO f-100's to make certain it wasn't a bad tube, or floor model. they sounded identical-identically disappointing.

2002 mesa boogie f-100 series 2x12 combo. simple arrangement, clean and dist. channels with enhancements on the gain. all tube, 4x6L6 configuration with 12ax7s in the preamp. switchable 60 and 100 watt features make it scalable for practice or big gigs. also comes with reverb.

guitars played are humbucker based. this is a solid hard rock amp, literally, 95 lb. construction...almost a metal amp, not really. the clean is left to be desired, similar to marshall.....the reverb is not as exceptional as marshall. this thing is super loud on either wattage and has punch, the dist. is high-gain, more of a vintage type sound than a marshall scoop deal. records well but drowns out everyone and deafens the drummer. pedals clean up the dist., but boss metal zone is the best one i used with it.

construction seems flawless. always carry spare tubes and fuses tho.

n/a

honestly i ran a taste test with this amp and for the money it is worthless. buy a dual recto head...........against an ampeg reverbrocket combo and ashdown peacemaker combo this thing failed. the ampeg was the best deal at half the price. better clean tone in the 6L6s LIKE YOU WOULD EXPECT. the mesa doesn't cut it. ashdown is like a marshall EL34 tube amp (full stack) in a box. do yourself a favor and check your options before you buy this overpriced/overrated tone machine.

this amp is hands down a hard rock amp. more than rock, not quite metal. 2-channel, clean and distorted, with a contour option to boost the overdrive, plus reverb. switchable 60-100 watts make it ideal for practice or gigging. all tube, 4x6L6 power and 4x12ax7 in the preamp. 2x12 celestion vintage 30's sounds awesome. distortion channel is powerful but overrated, the clean is better like a marshall but not as thin. all around useful amp.

i use humbuckers on guitars built for sustain...SGs, teles, les pauls. i play punk, hard rock, metal, a little blues. i found the trick is buy an amp for good clean and let your foot pedals shape the tone. stock distortion always sucks in my view. this thing will rip your head off if you play it too close, feedback galore, but that can be cool if it is your thing. tonal controls have a wide range. unlike most amps you can hit the sweet spot with the treble/mid/bass near noon, your pickup plays a big part, and the gain can really thicken the sound. for overdrive i used a boss metal zone and this amp can sound as heavy as two full stacks. literally, the drummer could barely hear himself. killer!

mesa are the most hardcore amps ever built, tanklike construction from here in the US. their reputation precedes them and so does the price. you get what you pay for. smart guys always carry extra tubes and fuses. don't be stupid, i've seen guys spill beer in their amps live and short 'em out. smarter guys keep a solid state combo in the trunk.

don't expect i'll have to deal with mesa but i heard they're generous people.

been playing awhile, i'm something akin to a gear mad scientist. always tweaking, getting bored, selling on ebay. revolving the debt to the next amp it seems. stupid of me, i just wanted something solid that has tone. this is one of the better 6L6 amps i've seen, they have good dynamics. EL34s are your standard rock tone and EL84s boutique. i would recommend ampeg reverbrocket or orange if you want good comparison. or a hand wired vox if you can find/afford it. do yourself a favor and get a good distortion/eq pedal to boost the clean, you will like the tone and it will slice heads off. straight 8's on this review.