Mesa/Boogie F-30 112 Combo

Dont' know year of manufacturing, think 3 years ago, before the Express era anyway.
versatile enough, 2 channels, bright switch on clean and a contour on the drive/gain channel.
Way enough power boys & girls... no more >100 watts for me, cooking a low wattage is the way to go...

Les paul, classic with a SD JB in the bridge and a 59 in the neck (no great match IMHO, but that's another story)
In a classoc rock/pop cover band. Amp has to be versatile..
And, here's the story, what a sound, what a distortion. Smooth and brutal. Is this possible ? Yeaahhh it is. This is a marshall sound at its best. Balanced, light crunch to good singing solosound. I also recently purchased a Marshall silver jubilee, but its gotta go. ice pick marshall rubbish, why o why do i even try. Boogie for me, all the way. Really boys and girls, this is the sound for me.oh, almost forgot, thsi baby sounds terrific on low volumes. I also had a month with the MB express, forget it. The F30 blows 'm all away...

I'ts a boogie, i'm not expecting any problems, but you never know.
none thusfar. Only a month under my wings so don't really know.

never dealt with Customer service.

As i mentioned, also got a people's favorite, marshall jubilee. forget it, ice queen trebly, yak.
Mesa is king, all the way, versatile and only concerned with one thing, SOUND. And value for money, buy 'm now...since the express came out, these baby's are a steal

Features are pretty straight-forward with this amp; gain, treble, mid, bass, reverb, and master volume for each of 2 switchable channels. The amp has a clean channel, a drive channel, and a contour channel, which increases the gain and scoops the mids. A parallel effects loop, with a level control is available via the back pannel. The amp is 30 loud tube watts, which is certainly enough power for me, and the stock 12" speaker sounds great. This can be a very versatile amp, and could easily do anything from country to metal, and anything in between. It may not provide enough gain for EXTREME metal, but it has more than enough for anything I play; the gain knob is usually at about 9 o'clock, and rarely ever gets past 11 o'clock. About the only thing that I think would be a good addition to this amp would be the ability to switch it to a lower wattage setting, like 5W or even 1W for lower volume environments.

I use this amp with several different guitars with both double and single coil pickups (Gibson '58 Les Paul reissues, Gibson Howard Roberts Fusion, Gibson EDS-1275 doubleneck, PRS Custom 24, Fender '52 Tele reissue...) and a few effects (volume pedal, wah, chorus, phaser, and flanger in the front, and an RSP intelliverb in the effects loop) and it does a great job with everything I plug into it! I play a variety of different styles of music, but a lot of classic and progressive rock, and this amp is very well suited for those styles (and many more!). There is some slight operating noise at high volumes, but nothing out of the ordinary for an all tube amp. The clean channel can range from being very clean to being quite crunchy with the gain control increased. For me, this works out well, but for a player who needs a very clean sound at a very high volume, the headroom may not be there. I love the drive channel! If I set the gain at about 9 o'clock, I get get a great crunchy overdrive sound that will clean up when the guitar's volume control is backed off on. Another thing that I like about this amp (and the main reason that I decided on the F-30) is that, although it sounds best with the master volume half way up or more, it also sounds very good at low volume levels. This is an area where a lot of all tube amps that I was auditioning did not do so well. All in all, a fantastic sounding amp!

The amp seems very well built. I have had the amp for several years now, and have never had to do anything more than change the power tubes. Seems, so far, like this amp will last a long time. I would have no problem gigging without a backup.

I have only needed to deal with Mesa/Boogie once. Shortly after I got the amp (within a month), the volume started dropping here and there, and the sound became very "fizzy". When I decribed the symtoms to the Mesa rep, he had me check the appearance of the power tubes (one of which was glowing red, much more than the other). He determined that I had a bad tube and proceeded to send me a new set of tubes. The tubes arrived within a matter of days and the problem was solved and has never occurred again. The rep was friendly, knowledgeable, and helpful. If I ever have another problem with this amp, I would feel very confident about dealing with Mesa/Boogie. It appears that they are genuinely appreciative of their customers and stand behind their products.

I have been playing for more than 30 years now, and I have owned a fair bit of gear over the years. Ironically, this is the first all tube amp I have ever owned. I had searched for a tube amp that sounded great at both high and low volumes for a few years before comming across the F-30. I also had a hard time finding an amp that could produce the kind of overdrive sound that I liked - thick, rich, and big sounding, but not fizzy/fuzzy and overly distorted. I wanted to be able to play chords with intervals other than roots and fifths and have it sound clear and pleasant. This amp does everything I need it to do. Unfortunately, this model has been discontinued, so, I guess I will have to find a used one if I ever need another!

Features have been covered enough already, but I'll just say that everything I would want out of a gigging amp is there. It doesn't have a billion different knobs and sliders, but it doesn't have to.

This is an excellent sounding amp, to say the least. You can get some really pristine clean tones out of it, as well as some really MEAN sounding distorted tones. All in all, this is an excellent all around amp. For the stuff that I play (classic rock, hard rock, old school metal), this is easily one of the best sounding amps I've worked with.

Volume wise, the amp is plenty loud, and cuts through the mix really well. I've gigged quite a few times with the F-30, and have not had any volume issues at all...except being told to turn down at times. :)

As a side note, I've tried using the amp with an attenuator, and found that the amp actually sounds just fine without one. As with any amp, it doesn't really come alive until the speakers are pushing some serious air, but it doesn't need to be cranked to sound good. The stock speakers also sound just fine, and I don't feel the need to change it.

I bought the amp used, and while it came with quite a few dings and dents, there were no functional issues save from bad tubes. I think that speaks volumes about the build quality. :)

Bought this used, so did not have to deal with Mesa Boogie directly.

I've been gigging on and off for almost 15 years, and while I don't consider myself a professional, I am very serious about my music and my gear. I've researched and played through at quite a few amps before settling on the F-30 as my main gigging amp, in big part due to the solid tone that it produces, and the built quality, versatility, and light weight helped sealed the deal.

2004 model: clean,lead and contour channel, reverb. effects loop, recording out, 2x el 84; 4x 12ax7, quite not a feature-monster, but pretty versatile though.

first thing: the distortion is really,really,really ultra. you can get a brutally insane overdriven sound. problem is: the amp gets darker and sweeter and mid-heavy if you run the distortion flat out, so don't expect any mid-scooped metal in here. (the contour channel only makes the sound fatter and louder). reminds me somewhat of the fender hot rod deluxe...
nonetheless: the sound is really brutal and fat, just not the scooped-metal-kind. if you're expecting a rectifier you will be pretty disappointet, though the f 30 definitely has some rectifier genes.
to get that typical metal sound, i'm using an equalizer, and...here goes the metal !
the clean channel is very sweet, warm and vintage-sounding, no hi-fi sparkling clean, but nice fat and crunchy with a little gain dialed in. in combination with power tube distortion a very nice classic-rock sound, works well with the guitars volume (also in the od-channels)
one thing left: if you dial in bass to about 3 o'clock the sounds becomes flabby and muddy, so be careful with the bass pot!
this amp can get seriously loud, it's quite not as loud as my mesa roadking, but a little louder than my hughes and kettner edition tube 20, which really screams (and is tonally the total opposite, but also VERY nice)
i'm using this baby mainly with my prs-guitars, but it also sounds good with some of my cheaper guitars - yamaha, epi and ibanez,
very nice amp.

the amp has some noise, though it's not as noisy as some of the revievs said before (try changing the preamp tubes;) ) but even if i run it flat out, there have been no issues with it yet. though i must admit i'm a little concerned because of some of the earlier reviews, so we'll see.

the company always has been VERY helpful to me, great customer support.

a very nice amp, if you can get one on ebay or so, it's worth quite a bit of money, matches well with my other amps, (mesa roadking and hughes and kettner edition tube 20 ) i like the fat overdriven carlos santana attitude of this thing very much, if it would be stolen i'd definitely try to get another.
another word on that: don't go for the express series amps, they are a rather bad choice in comparison with the f series imho.

Features have been fully covered by other reviews. If I could design it, about the only things I would add is a tremolo and a separate reverb for the clean and dirty channels.

This is where this amp shines. I have a Gibson Les Paul Studio, Gretsch 5120, Dean Strat-wannabe, and my kid's junior strat and they all have a unique voice through this amp, and you can find some sweet tones for all. I have owned several amps in the past and have never heard such a difference in my guitars. I play anything from classic rock and blues to hard rock to rockabilly to metal, and this amp can cover it all. The cool part of this amp is that each knob really does something, you can't just max out all the bass, mid, treble and gain and hope to get a good sound from it. One of the sweetest aspects of this amp is the clean channel, give it some gain and it breaks up in a way I have not heard from many amps. Using the tone controls you can take it from a tinny crunch to thick syrupy tone heaven. Turn the gain down and it has some wonderful jazzy smooth tones. On the distortion channels, you want to keep the gain at or below about 12 oclock or you get really muddy and lose all the character of your guitar. I keep the gain around 7 or 8 oclock and just turn it up and let the amp breathe and let my humbuckers do the work. This amp is capable of very "metal" tones without the gain maxxed out.

For some reason, one of the retainers for the tubes is too tight. If I clip the retainer over the tube, it pulls the tube to the side and makes a bad connection and it makes a horrendous farting noise. I just leave the retainer off that tube and never have a problem. I guess if I were moving it around a lot i would look into that. Other than that, no issues with the amp at all.

Only called once, to order new tubes. Responded to my email that day.

I think this is a great amp. Seriously good tone if you dial it in. As with any good amp, can sound crappy if you set it crappy. Definitely not a "one trick pony". I have been playing off and on for 12 years or so. Had a Marshall AVT 150, Fender Princeton Chorus, couple other junk amps. Some day soon I am going to build it a Flame Maple case and redo the grille so it will look as good as it sounds. I wouldn't sell it and would hunt down and kill the perpetrator if it were stolen or lost.

30 watts, 2 channels, reverb, contour (lead boost), 1 X 12 speaker.
Nothing fancy, juat a great small amp.

Great

No Problems

No problems

I have had mine for almost 4 years and still love playing it. For years I played with as little equipment and effects as possible. But in the last year or so because of having to play more variety of music I put together a nice pedalboard that wound up being stereo out. I now run the F-30 along with a Deluxe Reverb RI that has had quite a few upgrades. Those two amps work together like nothing I've ever heard. I can turn them down to dinner music level or crank them to glorious sweet singing guitar heaven. The two clean channels compliment each other very well because of the different voicing and if you switch to the gain channel with just a little drive then "clean" sound of the fender still cuts through and adds great definition to the sound. If you are able to try this set up - do so - you will love it.

Hi , I am back from my 2004 review. Go-a-head and scroll to #4. This F-30 is the **** if you are looking for a small light weight amp with features you need if you play out a lot. Great for you blues players with a push pull gain to take it from reg fender to deluxe. Great for you Metal MoFo's that want to throw your hair ( or the lack of, like I ) around in circular motion. I really dig the chan switch from clean to dirty. If you have a Strat you will really appreciate the tone in your mid switches. Heart warming for me with harmonics like no other. If you play on a an SG or Les you may have to roll off some of the gain and tweek a tad, but that's fun too..... right? It also has a "push over the cliff" (if you will), with a switch that takes the regular dirty to down right high end Monster-y ( if there is such a word) . I highly recommend lining 3 up in a store and plugging into each because they are all close to hand made still. Each one will sound different. ( Maybe one has been on the sales floor too long, good thing, or bad thing, use your ears.)

Keeps up with any amp under 100watts. Lot's of different tonalities can be obtained. Great distortion and lot's of it. Great amp for seasoned players. For you new-B's with $$$$ , this is a great buy, trust me

Very reliable , have had mine for 3 years and not a problem. It's a Mesa.

Never needed it

30 years playing in real bands

www.zipperheadrocks.com
www.rolloverrocks.com

Yes I would call my insurance company to replace if had to.

This amp is for the player that uses their vol knob on the guitar. If you do not know what I am talking about and just use your guitar full tilt all the time, don't bother with the clean chan. Use the the distortion chan.

Do you know what year the amp was made in?

No. Probably in the mid to late 90's.

Is the amp versatile enough for you and the styles of music you play? What are those styles?

I play straight up rock, blues rock, folk rock, roots rock. I find it to work well. It lets the guitar retain its woody tones very well. That's what I need. Nice tones. Breaks up nicely. Usual good amp stuff.


How many channels? Does it have channel switching? Effects loops? Headphone jack?

3 channels, foot switcher, reverb on it, too. EFX loop yes. Headphones yes. Silent recording switch on back.

The channels are a clean, crunch, and contour. I am mainly interested in the clean channel, but with much tweaking of EQ, volume and gain, I found the crunch and contour channels to be useful as well. At first I didn't like them. I had no use for that much distortion. But I learned to "tame" them by turning them on and cleaning them up as much as possible. That leaves just the perfect amount of distortion for what I need.

What features do you wish it had? Why? Are there features you never use?

Wish it had tremelo, but that's a Fender.

Where do you use this amp? Does it have enough power for you?

Use it in my home studio. More than enough power. Worry about neighbors at times!

Feel free to enter any other features (stereo, tube or solid state, etc.).

It's a tuber. When used in "stereo" with my Marshall or Fender solid state amps, I get a great FULL BALANCED sound! Probably everything the guitar has got to give comes out that way. (I rarely use one amp on its own anymore!)

What guitar and pickup styles are you using it with?

I usually use it with single coil Telecaster and Strat type guitars. Also Les Paul and Epiphone semi-hollow humbucker types.

Is it noisy? On what settings, and in what environments?

I think this thing is made with the studio in mind. It is very quiet for a tube amp. Just a little hiss that you can't hear once you start playing.

What kind of sounds can the amp make? How much variety?

Not a lot of variety. Just a warm reproduction of what your guitar has got. The contour and crunch channels give it that Boogie hard rock sound.

It's got a reverb tank. Can even get some surf sounds with it!

Is the clean channel distorted at high volumes? In what settings?
How brutal is the distortion?
Breaks up well. Nice warm overdrive for leads. Crank it and it howls! The crunch and contour channels give a poor man's Rectifier sound I guess.

Can you depend on it? Would you use it on a gig without a backup?

I had a Boogie Studio 22 that gave up the ghost after about 15 years of service so I know it's probably not immortal. This one still soldiers on after ten years or so. I use two amps at a time anyway, so no worries about backups!

Just gotta keep spare tubes around.

Great reputation, but no personal experience.

How long have you been playing?

Off and on for over 30 years. Seriously in the last seven or eight years.

What other gear do you own?

I'm a collector. Junkie? Six acoustics. Seven electrics. Four basses. Five keyboards. Electric drum set. About 50 analog pedals and 10 rack units. Three Boogie amps (Mark II, Studio 22). A Marshall Valvestate and Lead 12. A Fender Acoustasonic and Quad Reverb! Ashdown and Fender bass amps. God I'm sick!
Everything's old. Everything bought used in Pawn Shop raids or new in megasales in music stores. I ain't rich but I do invest a lot of time in the hunt!

If it were stolen or lost, would you buy it again or get something else?

I would consider it a sign, and resume the hunt for another Boogie of some sort! As long as it's in the same ballpark, it really doesn't matter if it's exactly the same kind or not.

what do you love about it? What do you hate?

I love it because it's a Boogie. One of the finer things in life! I would like a little more headroom, but I am smart enough to understand that this is the low F on the totem pole. Play a good song and who cares if it's good or junk? Good music sounds good even on AM radio!

I bought these amps about 4yrs ago. I play classic rock, blues, country, country rock, raggie etc. The amp has two channels, effects loop and a speaker off switch. I use the amp in big and small rooms, it has more then enough power.

The clean channel (channel 1) is the only one I use, the overdrive channel (channel 2) in my opinion sounds really nasty so I don't even bother with it, but the clean side is very nice. I can cover just about anything except super hard rock with this amp. All I can say is the amp sounds so good I get compliments almost every night.

The only thing I've ever had to do with this amp is replace the power tubes other then that it keeps on going night after night. I might add that I do have to replace a handle on one of the F -30s but that's a pretty small price to pay.

I've only had to buy tubes from them and they got them here in a hurry. Never had to deal with repairs.

I've been playing for roughly 40yrs and I've went thru a bunch of equipment in my days, everything from double stacks to transitor crap. If these amps where ever stolen I would buy another one in a heart beat. What I love the best about the F-30s is what the sound guys say about it and the crowds. The only flaws that I can see in the F-30 is the reverb is wimpy and the distortion side just sucks but I didn't buy the amp to play metal, I just love the clean channel

Made in USA, two channels + contour. About 50lbs. Stealth design and looks. Built like a tank.

I play a custom shop strat with SCs. It is perfect for ANY style music. The amp can get kinda noisy, but that is typical of amps that can achieve such massive amounts of gain. I can get fenderish cleans and marshall type gain. Awesome. The clean channel breaks up at high volumes but in a good crunchy kind of way. And the distortion kind get brutal in contour mode without have to crank the gain up.

Changed pre-amp tubes. No problems.

Awesome amp. Period

2+1 tube amp. All Pointed out by all the others
30W SO LOUD!!!

There are 2 kinds of amps: the ones with a thousand options and sounds and the ones with their own voices. This little big amp DO HAVE his voice! And what a voice!
Very well crafted, Beautiful (but not Fenderous) Clean channell. I love the countour channell (I know, is not a "channel", but the sound is so different with it!). When I try it I was toughtfoul about the non-countour distorted channel. But now I like it very mutch.
It hasn't got a metal distortion, but if you play LOUD it goes wild!
Obviosly is a single cone combo, so you can't have the sound of a good cabinet, but the bottom end of the F30combo is impressive.

a little Noisy like a good tube amp would be

I think you can hear it on line on my band internet site for march 2008 (we're mixing the new album): www.lastazionedeipensieri.it
I play a Schecter C1 Classic wuih Duncan's pu.

I bought it used, I think it has 4 or 5 years but is almost new and perfect.

dunno

It has ONE sound x channel. But I like'em a lot.
try before you buy. But if you buy you'll be satisfied.

The amp is a nice lightweight 1x12 combo with dual channels for lead and clean. It has a seperate drive bass mid and treble, reverb and volume control for each cahnnel. These can be footswitched with the supllield footswitch. It must be noted that the footswitch is really nice and chunky with 3 bright lights on it one for rythm, one for lead and one for contour (this is an extra boost facility that lives on the lead channel). There is a pull bright on the rythem channel. Around the back of the amp we have a send and return which has mix control as well as extra speaker outputs. The footswitch input is tuced around the back too. There is also a silent record out put and speaker kill switch. Typical boogie they've thought of everything!

Wow. I have to say that this amp is a perfcet pro gigging amp. It is not too expensive and there are loads around 2nd hand now for not too much. It is relativly lightwieght so it is easy to carry upstairs or to practice or whatever. It is easy to shuffle in front of the support bands gear when you take the stage etc. It is loud enough for pub gigs with great power tube break up. Cracking crispy vox crunch. The overdrive is very thick and 'classic' and the boost on the contour gives the top end a bit extra for the odd solo. For decent gigs it always mic'ed up and there is plenty in the amp for stage volumes. If I ever get to Wembley then I will have to plug it into a 4x12 I suppose!
The overall sound is very valey very classic and nice and thick. Impressive stuff.
Unlike the earlier reviewer I find the reverb a bit too long which can sound a bit 'splashy'. This is of course purely subjective. I suppose I could change the reverb tank if it really bugs me in the long term.

Boogies I have found to be very reliable but we shall see. Class A amps have a habbit of frying so we will see.

I am very pleased with this amp I have gigged it for 6 months and its perfect. Ligt loud and fullsome. What more can one want for...

(sorry for my bad english... i'm french) I got this amp since more 2 years. I bought it cause i got a 5150 for repetitions with my band and gigs and i would like to found a sound similar in a little amp to play in my flat. Well, my choice goes normaly to Mes/boog.
My F30 was built 3 years ago. It has 2 channel with an "coutour extension", that you play like a third channel (with your footswitch).
The tunings are simples (like on 5150), gain bass mid treble, reverb, master. ok, same for the second channel, there is a non-adjustable fx loop. There is a headphone jack. I use it especialy with an Ibanez S540 LTD with EMG 81 and 85 pickup, i use and Dean DS 92 with Dimarzio superdiso in bridge and Hot Rails Seymour Duncan in neck. I use this amp only at home and it has too much power for what i do with it. 30 tube power watt (it kicks all ass). It is easy to use, it's some kind of plug and play, that i want (remember 5150)...

i play first metal (thrash metal exactly) and then some blues/rock.

Clean :
from a pure and fine clean to a grass clean with some crunch in the back (i can get the same sound as on the intro of ... and Justice for All - Metallica). If i turn the gain to the max i get a pure hard rock sound that i can turn with the neck pickup in bluesy disto.
So 11/10 for this channel.

Crunch, is a little bit limp, flabby, but with powerful pickup it's ok. You can get easely marshall sounds (cause, in part, of the EL84), you can play some old 80's Slayer.

with the contour option, you have kind of Metallica Black Album sound ! it's enough at home. I have record with it some tracks for my thrash metal band and the result is pretty good !

contour channel is a little bit noisy with my EMG pickup.

it's a solid amp, the name mesa/boogie is a waranty ! I just have a tube prob (but i'have experimented something with 3 cabs...).
You can blindly depend on it.

never deal with them, so i can answer.

It's a very good and versatile amp, with classic sound but very good sound. At this moment i hesitate to sold it to buy a Mesa express head 5:50 but i can't choose for this moment.

Features are ok,clean,distortion,crunch channels.
Brite switch on the clean channel.

Clean channel is great.
distortion is ok if you like classic rock.
Not enough for metal.
You would have to go with a rectifier for that.

Didn't have it long enough.
Played it for about a month and took it back.

Did call them and they were very helpfull on the phone.

I have played everything from solid state to tubes.
I cannot afford a rectifier. So i an getting a soild state for
now.

2 channels, foot switchable (also 'contour' and reverb are foot switchable as well). 30w all tube combo, 12" speaker. 2 EL-84 power tubes, 3 12ax7 pre-amp tubes. Bought it brand new, came with all the goodies incl the cover which I think is kinda cool. This amp is HEAVY and for 30 watts it is LOUD. Actually has a headphone jack (which I've always found odd that lots of Mesas have this feature?), FX send and return. Bass, Treble, Mid, Gain, Vol and Reverb for each channel, a feature I really like.

One thing I REALLY wish: has this contour switch which is a little bit of a boost and some sort of mid-scoop only for the hi-gain channel. REALLY wish it just had a simple boost foot switchable capability that worked on each channel. Also, the channel and contour buttons each have a light, but the reverb foot switch doesn't. ??

Main feature it has that I like? TONE, and lots of punch. The clean channel gets a little hairy when you get the gain up around noon and the vol past 2 o clock or so. It's a sweet clean--it's not Fender clean, it's Mesa clean, and I think it's beautiful in it's own right. The reverb on this amp is really good too, unlike a Mesa DC-5 I had before, the reverb was worthless on it.

This is a great, giggable amp if you play rock and roll. I will say, the span on the gain control for "rock and roll" type rhythm work is narrow; go much past 9 o clock and you're into Mesa type gain, which is awesome in my opinion. But there isn't a lot of Rolling Stones type gain on this amp. The clean side with the gain close to dimed is close to that, but not really. Again, it's nice in it's own right, but different. You'll have to try out, see if you like it.

What this amp does really well is badass crunch, with lots of bottom-end. One thing I should point out, I use the amp as a combo at home, but run it into a Marshall 1960A cab for gigging, and it has PLENTY of low-end and PLENTY of hi-gain crunch which sounds really nice live. VERY punchy too--you can hear yourself up there, even with Bonzo over there on the drums (that's our drummer, like John Bonham incarnated).

The clean is acceptable--nothing like Fender sparkly clean, but as I mentioned above, good in it's own right. Maybe a little more like Voxy clean that has a little edge to it. Works for me!

I hate to rate this without years of gigging it behind me, but I will say this. I had a microphonic tube right off the bat--this amp had set at a dealer for well over a year and probably got played a lot in the shop. I contacted Mesa, spoke with a knowledgeable tech/engineer whatever, and he is sending me 2 power tubes and two preamp tubes for my trouble--nice!!

See above, from everything I hear and have seen in my short span of ownership, they're the BEST.

This will be the amp that I use the rest of my gigging career, probably through at least 2008. I'm a satisfied customer.

Great features available. The reason I bought this amp was for the features. 2 channels plus a contour switch for 3 footswitchable sounds. Reverb, two sets of EQ yadda yadda yadda.

Awesome! I use this for blues with my stratocaster, rock with a music man axis and metal with my Epiphone Junior (emg-81 does it). This is a very versitile amp. I put gain at about half way for my stratocaster, gain all the way for the music man, and gain all the way with contour on for metal. Its not very noisy with humbuckers but the single coils are a little buzzy. At high volumes it sounds very good but as others have said, a closed back cabinet is a little nicer for bottom end.

No problems yet and not expecting any based on mesa's reputation

Haven't needed them

Great amp! For thsoe who say it isn't a metal amp, try hooking it up to a guitar with an EMG-81 or another active pickup, that helps boost the gain and sustain to unbelievable levels.

I bought a 2006 model of the F-30 112 combo. It's got 2 channels, and channel 2 has a mean switch on it (contour). All channels are footswitchable. This amp is great. It can do anything. I play it clean and it sounds as good as a fender with a little more grit to it. Channel 2 is awsome, it needs a lot of time spent with it to get it right, but the end result is out standing, contour is over the top. It's not quite recto but close enough. The amp a lot of natural low end so keep the bass to a a very low amount. I personally play a heavy southern rock style of guitar so this amp sounds great for me. I also play jazz and blues from time to time and this amp will do it. The only thing it wont do is heavy, heavy metal. It's just not big enough to get that tone. The tubes in this amp is more british than modern american. For most styles of music this amp is great if you spend some time with it. Hard core and metal just require bigger amps. This thing is as close to an all in one amp as i've ever seen. The 30 watts is loud as all. I play in a church band and we have a huge 600 seat sactuary and this thing fills it. We mic the amp but most of the time never need it. This amp can play anywhere, it just needs to be miced in big venues, but so do big amps. This thing has all the power I will ever need, but play it. You may need 6L6 tone, i like EL84 tone. Play around. You may not like it. That doesn't make it a bad amp. you just have a different sound in your head.

The F-30 sound great. All the channels are great and produce the sound that I need. It creats the sound in my head. Again, It has EL84's. It's going to be more AC/DC and not PANTERA. It all depends on what you want. If you want more modern sound go with the F-50 or F-100. If you want more modern than that go with a recto. It sounds great for what it is, but all amps do different things and will sound different. Again, play with different stuff you may like it, you may not. It just depends on what you want. It will get noisy at really high volumes, but hey it's a tube amp. What do you want? When played at recording/ practice voulems there is no noise. When turned up to about 10:00 there is a litle noise on the distorted channels, but that's to play live. You will be miced,and it's nothing to get your pants in a bunch over. Again, it's a tube amp.

This thing is built very sturdy. It hasn't let me down so far.

They are great. I called to see what other tube options there are for the amp. They called me back and told me that because of the way the amp is biased the only tubes that will work properly are mesa tubes. The bias in all mesa amps is a permanent bias. You will never have to pay someone to do it. Saving money is good. Their tubes are actually very good on the price, and they work great. They also took the time to explain how to properly retube the amp (one at a time). That's great customer service if you ask me. They took the time to explain things to a new commer to mesa products.

I've been playing for 10 years and always went with solid state or marshall. Boy was i wrong. They aren't any more expencive than a good marshall. My advice is to play as many amps as you see fit. You may not like this amp. You may like it after some tweeking. This amp truelly does take some time to get it to sound great, but it does. It's not really expancive, and it gets the job done.

2006 model, I play just about all styles of electric guitar, rock, jazz, blues etc. Two channels plus, has channel switching etc. I use this amp as a professional guitarist and it has PLENTY of power for me.

Sounds fantastic at just about every setting, very subtle controls in a nice way. The clean channel isn't too clean, can do everything a nice Fender can do and more, we really don't want too clean a channel and if you want it will do "sterile" clean too. The overdrive channel is stunning also, sings from the lowest amount of gain to overkill gain. Of course I like the less gain since I use .o11 strings and get sound from my hands. I use four warmoth strats, a warmoth tele and a new Les paul VOS. All of the guitars have been Pleked. Most have lindy Fralin Pickups

No problems with reliability. Don't use a backup amp

Yes, they are very customer service friendly. 5 year warranty

Jeez, I'm giving this a 9.5. I've been playing since childhood ( about 36 years ) I'm a guitar tone nut and own about $15,000 worth of vintage narrow panel tweeds, plexi Marshalls, Supros, etc. My amps and I are on plenty of records/ CD's. Plus I've loaned them to many a great guitarist to record with. This Mesa F 30 is an incredible amp that I wish I had for most of my career. Its so easy to use and get GREAT sounds. One of the best sounding amps I've ever used considering its price, newness and ease of use. Stacks up very favorably against just about anything out there.

2005 f30 1x12" combo, 2 channels, clean + dirty, w. a contour-mode on channel 2, loop, reverb, footswitch included, you know the features. Playing rock, hardrock, metal, and alot of other styles. Mostly using it at home for practice, but take it to rehearsals once in a while.
Well, for features it has got what i wanted when buying it. Knew what i wanted. And not missing anything, so it got to be a 10 here.

Using the amp with fender telecaster deluxe (single coils), patrick eggle(humbuckers w. split-switch), and an ESP(humbuckers). Sounds good with all the guitars. Can do cleans very nice, crank the gain on the clean channel, and there is some very nice bluesy tones there. Channel two have that vintage, liquid voicing that boogies are so famous for. NICE! Push the contour-button, and you almost enter the rectifier-area: a lot of crunch and metal sound, but it is NOT a rectifier! Close, but only almost!
The amp can be a little noisy on channel two at very high volume settings, but not that i didn't expect that from an amp driven by only two el84. That being said, this amp can be insanely loud!!! If you are playing rock, blues, or anything not involving "chugga-chugga", i think this amp will deliver. Haven't used it live, but at a gig where everything is miced i think this amp will do it. Only "negative" thing i can think of is it can sound a little thin at high volume, it hasn't got the low end when being pushed. Nevertheless, amazing how it holds up in a band-sit anyway! Plug it into a ext. cab, and you got the bottom end. Tried it with a mesa boogie 2x12" 3/4-back cab, and the sound is just BIG! Nothing missing in the low end!!!
For the noise at high volume, and the missing low end in a high volume band sit., i give it a 9 here.

Well, when i bought it the tubes were rattling a bit. Tried to get it fixed, but they "couldn't figure it out...the amp sounded fine to them!".....well, on my way home from the repairman i dropped by another music instrument store, thinking "hey, wonder if the repairman ever tried other tubes!?"......bought a couple of new tubes (groove tubes, btw)....and no more rattling! Fixed it myself. Other than that, it has never let me down. giving it a 8 for the rattling factory-tubes.

Never dealt with them

I have been playing the guitar since 1983, mostly rock and metal, but also some cover-bands, a little blues and such. I own a lot of gear; pedals, guitars, studioequipment, cabs, and yes: even SOME cables! :-) Did compare it to the marshall 601 combo, and what a disappointment! The marshall sounds like you are playing into an empty can that has been holding cat-food! Well, maybe not, but i love the mesa sounds, have had some triaxis/2;90 setup, have a single retifier, so i knew that i wanted mesa....maybe not fair enough for the marshall..... If it was stolen i would get it again if i had the money. Mesa Boogie is really expensive here in europe!
The amp sounds really good, with the "exceptions" mentioned earlier, low end missing on high volume...but that is expected with a 1x12" combo with an open back design rated at 22 watts! Other than that, i can't complain, and think it is one of the most versatile amps i have ever had, have ever played, and have ever wanted. I have had a lot of different amps, guitars, pedals, rack-setups, a.s.f. in the past, and nothing of it has been as versatile as this little devil. well, maybe the triaxis was a little more versatile, but when it comes to "grab-and-go", nothing (that i have tried!) beats the f30. The triaxis is capable of a lot of different sounds, but to find them you have to go through a lot if parameters to get there. I had the triaxis for about 7 or 8 years, sounded good and all, but got tired of tweaking. Too many options, when all i wanted was to play the guitar :-)
Overall I think this is a very fine amp that can do almost every genre. Some better than others, but it does a pretty good job overall!! For that, I will give it a 9.

Basic features, you have heard it all before. Got rid of the amp before I had a chance to use the direct out for recording. Used it at one gig and let a friend borrow it for another. Seemed to do the job but required a bit of tweaking to dial in the sound in both cases. It's plenty loud but noisy even for a tube amp.

Nice clean sound but cranking up the volume and the gain causes the noise to become a little overbearing. Channel two has a lot of grit but the distortion is not all that pleasing. I have other el84 amps that sound much better when being driven really hard.

Hey, it's a Mesa, should last forever if you don't trash it. Mine was an early issue and was on it's third owner when I picked it up. It was a little more noisy than new ones in the store but I think it had some need for recapping. Way to many crackles and pops even after I replaced with all new tubes. I'll give it a 7 because it was old.

I called Mesa about the noise. They recommended a local tech for any repair work but I sold the amp before doing anything more with it. The guy at Mesa was very nice and had a great deal of patience.

Overall, a nice little amp. I could see myself purchasing another if the price was right. It's a very compact little amp that is great for bedroom and very small venue but I'd stick it on top of a 2x12 at least for a club to broaden the sound a little.

* Year: 2006 240VOLT Version
* Play Everything from Jazz to Prog-Rock to some NuMetal (with more notes added... jk;) )
* 2 actual Channels, but acts like a 3 Channel, great pedal but wish the pedal-cable was longer or an extension was available.
* Has the effects loop, recording out, silent speaker shut-off, headphon jack etc.
* I bought this amp on a whim because I had a gig to do in Italy and planned on taking my hot-rodded Laney combo as I have done for the past 20 years... unfortunately as of the beginning of this year (2006) the lazy-ass baggage handler sissy-bitch union won't allow checked baggage over 70pounds, so i had to get someone to come to the airport, pick up my amp, jump on the flight to Italy and Hope that I could find some high-gain amp in Rome within the 4 days before the gig. Since I have other boogie amps (dual recto/rec pre/v-twin etc), I called mesa, got the distribuitor's name/phone in italy, called and all they had was a dual rectifier full stack and an F-30... hmmmm the dual-recto full stack was (get this) 4700 EUROS, yes folks that's $6345 American Dollars... cough..cough... and the F-30 was 2100 Euros (2835 U.S. Dollars)... cough cough... why does my rectum hurt???.... with not many options and time running short I went down to Cherubini (the only place in Rome you can get a boogie)... cranked up the f-30 and... much to my amazement, it sounded awesome... ok... i'll buy it... fortunately the employee in the amp dept. was a fan and had tickets to my show and I only paid 1400 Euro (that's still $1890, almost exactly double of the list price here in the US)... played through the gig... perfect,perfect,perfect... more gain and more sustain than even my hotrodded Laney....

* I use a variety of RG Ibanez guitars, most have dimarzio X2N pickups at the bridge and superdistortions at the neck...
* This little F-30 turned out to be much better suited to the songs I play as it acts like a 3 channel, versus the Laney where I was using 2 channels plus pedals (basically I've done away with all the pedals except the weeping demon for gigging in Italy, and am actually right now looking for a used F-30 on eBay for here at home in the US also)
* The F-30 "Mic'd properly" can actually do a modern recto sound... but requires that you or your mixer guy how to get that sound if you need it. but it does do hellacious distortion, definitely creamier than my recto for leads and tracks very very well for high speed lead work.

* I would only assume its reliability is the same as my other mesa stuff, basically bulletproof... no issues ever... (I take care of my gear, so i'm not sure if i'm a good measure of how much any gear can withstand abuse)

* Mesa Customer Service is the Model of Proper Customer Service, the guy I talk to (just questions usually, especially when I was in a jam with the recent italy gig thing)... since EL-84 tubes are hard to find in Italy (and because someone at the store turned on the amp before removing the plastic foam tube protectors which melted on the EL84s)(Cherubini didn't even have them), Mesa sent me a bunch (free), just to keep at home in italy as spairs... not that's what I call customer service!!!

* Never hesitate to call Mesa, even if you think the issue isn't due to a defect...

Playing since I was 13, own tons of gear... if the f-30 was stolen or lost, I would have to track down the culpable party, tie his head with his ear facing the speaker to the f30 and let the howling begin... if not, i'd still replace it.

* in US prices, there is simply nothing out there under a thousand with this much tone period!

I bought my F-30 new in the December of 2005, when I wanted to move from modeling to tubes. Beforehand I just used a POD XT for my tone and plugged into various amps. There was also a more growing need to bring my own amp for the gigs (I used to borrow one always, even at the rehearsals).

I use both channels, but the lead channel contour stays always on, and I don't need the reverb or effects loop. I could use a second distortion channel though. There's more than enough power in this small beast. These are very loud 30 watts. Must be the combination of the EL84 tubes and V30 speaker. I've played shows without PA and the volume has never been past halfway.

One complaint for this section is the safety grill in the back of the amp, which blocks the access to the footswitch jack. I've had the plug come off and it's really hard to get it back in. I hope it won't happen during a gig.

I play a Gibson SG and PRS Santana SE into a POD XT Live (for effects) into the front end of the F-30. The XTL boosts the signal a tad, giving the distortion more clarity. My band Jermaine plays a mix of soft post hardcore and indie rock. The other guitarist plays mostly just powerchords with a dark tone and I play chords and octaves higher with a more mid-heavy tone. In many cases, the bass player is the only one defining the chord progression.

The clean channel does what it should and the lead channel with the contour gives me my basic drive tone, which is very controllable with playing dynamics and volume knob/pedal. I don't find much use for the non-contour lead channel. I could use a third channel for a light overdrive though, but like just mentioned, I can do that with a volume pedal.

I can't really get a metal tone with this amp. This amp sounds best when the gain is way below halfway. Even then, there's much of it. Also, the distortion channel eq's don't seem to do very much. I have to turn off most of the mids and bass and turn the treble high, but then again, that gives me my tone.

A major complaint is the hiss on the distortion channel. No matter what I do, it just stays there. I wonder if it would go away with changing tubes.

Mesas are known for reliability, but I've had a Mesa power amp blow fuses and know two people with Rectifiers having constant trouble. My F-30 has been good for me since the beginning, but I won't trust any amp 100% ever. 6 months of playing and nothing gone wrong yet.

I'm halfway of my year-long warranty and I haven't had to deal with that yet. On my previous Mesa poweramp, I got it fixed when it broke down, so I can tell they do their job well.

I've played now for 11 years and this is almost the perfect amp for my current situation. It gives just the sound I want and fits the band, and my playing style. Like mentioned, I could use a third channel, but I can live without it, and it's not typical for combos of this size anyway. I hope I don't get a GAS if something like that comes around.

I think I tried an Orange AD30 combo and a Marshall TSL before making my decision. Marshall lacked in tone, Orange in versatility. The F-30 just felt best with its great tone and compact size. A huge discount for Mesa products in the shop at the time helped a bit, too.

2006 model, blond Taurus with tan cane grill. Very loud, with really fine clean tones, rich and sparkly. The clean channel is all I need, as you can get some gain with it, however lots of gain on channel 2 if you want it. I wish they made a 2x12 combo. The clean channel is cool for blues and rock.

I use a cheap Strat and a cheap PRS soapbar. Classic rock, blues, some country. There is some noise, but it is not intrusive on my amp. The clean channel is very fine, and has real good body and richness without being muddy. For me, its great, very soulful.

too new to rate

I wish they answered email.

Playing since the 60s, so far very satisfied with this amp, only time will tell. Will probably get a 1x12 extension cab for it. I would probably replace it if it were gone. I had a Marshall JTM 30, which is also a 30 watt 1x12 combo, 10 years old, and I like this amp quite a bit better, has more guts and bottom end, and I think it is made much better, but it is more expensive, too. I considered this amp and a new Marshall dsl-40, decided on the Mesa due to its superior clean tone. The Marshall was nice, too. I think Mesa is trying to do its best work, and is giving the player a very good product at all price points. At this point in my life, I buy affordable, good sounding guitars, and am trying to put my money in the amp.

Bought used, it's a 2005. The amp is actually more versatile than I would normally need. I play a mix of styles from country to metal to jazz. Whatever pays. It's a 2 channel tube amp (EL84's) with a contour switch for more aggresive gain. 30watts and LOUD for it's size. It blows away the EL84 equipped fender blues junior which is actually a little smaller but not nearly as loud. I usually prefer a good single channel tube amp since I use my pedals to sculpt the sound after I have a good beginning tone so I probably won't use the 2nd channel at all.

I'm currently playing a Gibson ES-135 with '57 classic pickups and a Hamer USA Daytona (strat) with Lindy Fralin vintage hot pickups. Channel 1 sounds great (clean) and breaks up nicely at high volume. You have to play with the EQ though. These things are BASS heavy. With both guitars I have to run the bass at 3, the mids at 7 and the treble at 9. The second channel is even more bass heavy. The second channel I have to run the bass at 1 or less, the mids at 5 and the treble at 9+. The distortion settings on both Channel 2 and Channel 2 + contour are pretty muddy. Notes don't ring cleanly but I didn't buy the amp for the 2nd channel. The first channel rocks and that's all it needs.

Boogies have always been very rugged for a "boutique-like" amp. They use a hefty circuit board and good tube sockets. Of course with any tube amp you have to have a backup just in case something drastic happens on the way to the gig (mine's a Peavey Bandit, sounds like crap but NEVER breaks). Amp has never broken down and shouldn't. I take very good care of my equipment.

Never dealt with them and never want to. If they're as snotty about their customer service as they are about sales then I would never, ever, deal with them.

I'd rate it pretty high overall. It's a great little amp, that's loud, easy to carry and has great tone on Channel 1. It's all I need. There are and always will be better amps than this one out there but I believe there are few under it's price. Maybe a couple of the Fenders, particularly the '65 reissue deluxe or maybe a good twin reissue but the only other better amps cost a lot more. Try one of these, you'll be surprised.

I'll skip this and go straight to my verdict.

I've been playing for 16 years now, and I've had the same ideal guitarsound in my head, but never found it in any amp. I think I've been through the most now. Marshall, Peavey, Crate, Engl, Bogner, Matchless, Vox, Fender, Orange, Egenater, CustomAudio, Diesel, Carvin, Line6 and many more. I've spent a fortune on racksystems, stacks and combos in my quest for the ultimate guitarsound. There's allways been something missing untill I tried tha F30 for the first time 6 months ago. I actually started to cry because I was so glad. This amp is just me! I can't think of anything that I don't like with it. It's perfect!!!!

Never had any problems with Mesa in the past.

Mesa customer support is very good, but I've never had to complain about anything.

Well as I've allready mentioned, I've bee through the most of them, but never found my sound. Most of the amps I've had are really good, but they didn't have my sound. The F30 is perfect for me, so my rating would of course be 10.