Mesa/Boogie F-50 112 Combo

I play blues, rock, jazz, classic rock, 80's rock, modern rock, progressive rock. This amp can do it. 50 watt tube. Has contour switch. I use this for practice at home, with band, and at gigs. It has plenty of power for me. If I need more I can either hook it up to a 4x12 or we will just mic it.
Also has an adjustable effects loop on it. Very cool.

My main guitars that I use with this amp are a Les Paul with EMG 81 85s, Shecter Hellraiser FR with 81 85s, and an Ibanez Jem with evos. Has a very tight crunch channel and the contour switch IS GREAT. It really brings the aggressive side to the amp out. Clean is very clean, great channel. I have no idea why reviewers would want more distortion than what this amp has to offer. If you are doing stupid detuned flappy string kind of "metal" and all you want is white noise, then sure you may need more. In the real world, this amp really gives a great tone for a wide range of music. I am knocking off 1 point for the reverb because it sucks.

I don't gig without a backup, but this thing is built tough. I don't see this one crapping out on me anytime soon.

I have not dealt with the company. Comes with a 5 year warranty.

I have played for 22 years.
Other Gear:
2005 Ibanez Jem
Les Paul Custom
Schecter Hellraiser with FR
Strat knockoff with Texas Specials
Peavey Ultra Plus 120w Head (AWESOME HEAD!!!!)
Peavey XXX cabinet
Bunch o' pedals

I love the versatility of the amp. I was actually in the market for a Mesa Roadster Dual Recto Combo. I played it, then played the F50 and loved the crunch channels so much I went for the F50.
I wish the reverb was better. Very lame reverb.

This amp is exactly what I need:
- Loud enough to play gigs, its more like 65 watts (no need for a PA)
- Small enough to carry around and use in my home studio
- 2 Channels+ contour (essentialy 3 channels)
- Reverb (pretty good)
- Bright Switch (gives a Vox AC30 type tone)

I don't really use pedals, so its nice to have reverb and drive built in.

There is nothing else I need from an amp.

I play blues (40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, modern blues), classic rock (the Eagles, Zep, CSNY, the Band, etc..), older top 40 stuff (Marvin Gaye, The Temptations). This amp is absolutely stunning.

A lot of Mesa purists buy this amp thinking it is going to give them great hard-rock/heavy metal tones....but it wont. It can do the Metal thing pretty good, but not as good a Triple Rec. This is why some of the reviews are bad. But, if you use the amp to play the styles of music it was designed for, you can't get a better amp. It sounds like my old Fender Vibrolux on steroids.

The clean channel has lots of head room, the drive channel has vast tonal options. It can do Zep, John Mayer, BB King, Colin James, SRV, Clapton, Santana, Steely Dan, and everything inbetween.

Been good to me so far.

Been playing for close to 20 years now.

Other gear I own presently:
- '57 reissue Strat (made in 1982)
- Epiphone Riviera (made in 1968)
- 1971 Telecaster
- 1973 Martin D-28
- Ibanez something-or-other acoustic (don't bring my Martin to gigs)
- Bunch of recording gear
- 70's Fender Champ (silver face)

(I bought most of this gear in the late 80s, thats how I was able to afford it)

Gear I have owned:
- Countless other guitars
- 70s Fender Bassman 10 (combo)
- Fender Vibrolux "Custom" reissue
- Marshall BluesBreaker (overrated amp)

Comparing it to other products:
-sounded like the Lone Star Special (compared at store) but was easier to use and cost less
-it sounds like the Vibrolux Reissue that i owned a couple years back, but with more balls
-better than the BluesBreaker
-better than the Dual or Triple Rectifiers (for blues)

What I love about it:
- Compact size
- Sleek looks
- Fabulous tone !!!!!!!!! (this is the big one)
- No need for a PA
- Drive Channel and Reverb built in
- Mesa quality

What I hate about it:
- NOTHING. There isn't one thing that I even marginally dislike about it. Well, it would be nice if it came with a bodybuilder to carry it to my gigs for me.

Anything I wish it had:
- I wish it had built-in Delay (only because I am too lazy to use a pedal)

If it was lost or stolen I wouldn't be able to afford to replace it. Although, If I had $1400 to replace it with, there would be no other amp that I would even consider.

Named a lot in previous reviews, basically 2 ch 1x12 50 W with reverb tube amp combo.

I play a Gibson Sg, line 6 Fx stomp boxes, good gear.

Difficult not to feel very disappointed for me, being such a mesa fan over the years.

The clean channel is good, very easy to set and has very nice and elegant tones in it.

Te OD Channel (overdrive) is completely useless for me, sounds like real real real ****, it is very ironic for me to have a mesa amp behind my back and to find a 150 $ overdrive pedal near my feet. Terribly disappointing. I also own a rectifier solo head, F-50 is not even starting to get slightly close to this great rectifier series heads.

Brain-melting useless sounds are what you??re gonna get out of this amp if you use the overdrive chanel. No definition at all. I wish it had the pressence knob of the rectifier series. Did not expect this from mesa, this amp doesn??t worth the price nor the brand. Should be s 500 $ amp.

Looks well built but front pannel on/off/stby switches crush easily, watch out.

Need to import replacements.

I bought this amp becouse i got tired of going from one place to another with head & cab and i thought mesa could have achieved the miracle, well, i was wrong.

This is a nice but heavy small amp with nice clean tones you can overdrive with a nice overdrive pedal. Amp OD is completely useless and awful sounding.

Not tha versatile, not that good, not that light, not that cheap... I think it??s a nice "almost" amp.

Nice clean.

Buy a nice overdrive pedal and say goodbye to the (by the way useless too) amp footswitch.

By the way, how am i suppossed to know if the reverb is on (apart from listenin to it) if i can??t see a led indicator in my footswitch? Don??t fret anyway, reverb is useless too, sounds like shit.

Not that versatile for me at the time, bought it like four months ago and gigged it for a few times by now.

I Play a Gibson SG, line 6 DL4 and MM4 stomp boxes.

I bought this amp (second-handed) when i got tired of head & cab moving from one place to another. I also own a rectifier 150w solo head.

This amp is ok at the time for this portable porposal but it??s not even close to my big mesa gear.

I??m very disappointed with the drive channel. I??m not in hard rock sounds anymore so i thought i could get some nice overdrive sound out of this amp, now i know i was wrong, it??s very ironic for me to look at the floor with this expensive amp on my back and find a 150$ overdrive pedal near my feet.

I??ve been playing for about 15 years and, by the time, this overdrive channel is completely useless for me. Really, really sucks.

Clean channel is good for its size, a bit noisy though, but you can easily get some elegant (bit clipping) tone out of it. I like this modern mesa tones out of a small (but heavy) amp, this really worth it.

Seems strong builded but the on/off/standby switches on the front pannel are very easy to crush.

This is a very nice clean small (but heavy) amp, not even close a blackface or similar amps, but elegant, quality clean tone in the end.

Overdrive channel is completely useless for me, get ready to buy some overdrive pedal and say goodbye to your amp footswitch. Disappointing. Didn??t expect this from MESA. Loud - brain melting distortion. Completely useless contour mode also.

If you are tired of moving your head & cab from town to town, this amp could be an interesting option for you. For me is not definetly THE AMP but it works ok at home and road.

Don??t pay more than 500 or 600 $ for this amp, doesn??t worth the price.

I regret to say all this about this amp, i??m a huge Mesa/Boogie fan but this amp doesn??t worth the brand at all.

Well lets see.... My F50 combo has about everything I need. Switchable channels with all the controls I need on each channel.
A decent reverb for a change on a Mesa. Contour which in effect makes three channels since you can switch it with the foot pedal. What else do you want, a blender or fries..... Seriously it's got everything I need.

I use the following guitars through it;
2001 Fender American Strat 3 texas special single coils
1964 Fender Musicmaster 1 single coil in neck position
2003 Fender Mexican Tele 2 single coil standard pickups
1962 Sears Danelectro Lipstick tube pickup
1980 Yamaha SBG200 - Stew Mac Golden Age Humbuckers

I play all styles except classical and death metal. This amp will do them all pretty much without any pedals whatsoever. Occasionally I will use a Boss BD-2 bluesdriver and CE5 chorus.

The amp is dead quiet except if you get around flourescent lights but what amp isn't. This amp does not work well with a POD XT unless you just use the effects and turn off everything else. Not many amps work well with POD's anyway.

The thing about Mesa Boogie products is you have to know how to set them and you have to experiment to know the settings required for each type of guitar. I have owned numerous Mesa products over the last 43 years of playing so I feel qualified in making this judgement. I have owned numerous Fender and Marshall amps too. They are easy to set. Ask a long time fender or marshall amp user to plug into your F50 and play it. They will most likely get horrible sound if they adjust it like their favorite non Mesa amp.

I can adjust this amp to sound like a Fender, Marshall or Mesa. The clean is just unreal. Maybe not quite as good as a Twin Reverb but pretty close. You can also get high volume high headroom clean too. Set the gain very low on the front end and then turn up the master very high. Distortion is good too and can run anywhere from blues to metal with no problems at all. Another thing I have found is that if you experiment, the amp can do these things at very low apartment friendly levels.

I would suggest actually reading the manual. There are examples of sounds diagramed in the back and this will get you to a good starting point and then tweek from there. The manual for instance will tell you not to turn up the bass very high when using the distortion channel.

This is the best modern tube amp I have owned.

Amp is reliable like all Mesa Products. Thats one reason you pay extra for a Mesa. I use JJ tubes from Bob at www.eurotubes.com. He matches them so no problem. Some reviewers say stock tubes are junk and i agree. I dont gig without some kind of backup even it's just a pod or Sansamp

Always helpful when i have called

Been playing 43 years and own too much gear to list. Some is listed above. I have a 1963 Princeton and a 59 Champ as well as a stereo rack setup. I would by another if it were stolen

First of all, if you're looking for an amp with lots of features, this is not for you. It is a stripped down rock machine with two 6L6 tubes providing 50 watts. The speaker is a single Celestion Vintage 30. This amp is so LOUD you may be able to blow away most stacks that are in the same price range. Really, really insane! Not suitable for bedroom practice. If you want that get an F-30.

All this comes in a small package, not too heavy for a tube amp. Fits in any car and on any stage.

2 channels with separate gain/tone/volume controls. Channel 1 goes from clean to crunch and channel 2 goes from crunch to lead. Channel 2 has a contour switch that takes the mids to a higher frequency providing a tighter (English) sound.

And there's reverb and an effects loop with blend control, and some external speaker jacks. That's it. The channels and reverb are operated with a footswitch that is connect through a MIDI cable. Please note that the amp does NOT have a MIDI interface. This means you have to buy a Mesa footswitch.

Each channel can sound the way you want to, as long as you need only two channels you're fine. I play Metal, but I'm in a cover band that does heavy rock music. I don't like lots of knobs and switches so this is suitable for me.

What I really miss a lot is a footswitchable effects loop so I can turn on multiple pedals at once. Very few amps have this and I don't understand why manufacturers fail to see that this is one of the most useful features in any amp.

I am rating it a 6 because I feel it is all you need but it still is quite simple, features-wise.

I play mainly Rock and Metal, using a Jackson Stealth Pro, an Ibanez RG7421 and an Ibanez Universe, all Di Marzio equipped. That goes through a Digitech Whammy III and a plain simple Crybaby wah.

This amp oozes quality. No noise, hiss or hum. Nothing. If you hear any hiss on when playing distorted you're having it at extremely loud settings. At that point I can say the signal to noise ratio is incredible!

As said, the clean channel stays sparkling clean if you want it to. Great note definition, and when playing chords you hear every detail. Crunch sounds are also possible but I'm not using it for that.

The distortion channel does everything from AC/DC to Deathmetal like Cannibal Corpse with the contour switch engaged. Turn the contour switch off and you get more low-mids and a smoother sound, great for leads in rock music or 70's rock sounds.

I tried an ENGL Screamer 50 and a Marshal DSL 401 in the store, and this thing blows them away. I was used to playing a 5150 stack and combo, and a HiWatt stack, so going back to a 1x12 combo was a big downgrade for me. But when I heard this thing I was just flabbergasted! This beast can hang with any style of music in any band.

Really, try this before buying anything. Really worth the money.

All the knobs and switches feel rock solid, the housing too. Build quality is just a bit better than most other brands. This is built like a tank!

Never needed this, so no rating.

I would never sell this amp because of it's size, sound and loudness.

Compared to other combos:

Marshall DSL 401: Less loud, less definition, great distortion but the clean won't stay clean on high volume levels. A new 401 is still cheaper than a used F-50, so the 401 is also great value. But if you have the cash get the F-50.

ENGL Screamer 50: This amp has lots more features and essentially four channels gain wise. The tone controls of the channels are not as versatile though. Build like a tank too. This is serious competition for the F-50 if you want to sacrifice just a little bit of tone in trade for features. A new Screamer costs the same a this one used.

Peavey 5150 2x12 combo:
Shared EQ, so less versatile. If you get the tubes biased and replaced for JJ's or something like that you will sound great. Better value but less quality.

Although I'm currently renting this amp, I've learned to love this baby, the distortion is tight and very dark. The clean channel is impressive too. However, I'm uncertain of the amps history. Cranking the drive all the way seems to make a wurring sound, possibly a pre-amp tube in need of fixing? I don't know. The effects loop; when I hook up a delay to the effects loop say the TC Nova Delay, the amp starts rumbling like a Apache Helicopter. This is the first tube amp I've rented (and may very well own) Tone wise? Awesome....

50 Watts
2 Channel w/ Contour
2 6l6GC Power Tubes
Separate EQs with a bright switch on the clean channel

Beautiful Clean Channel. One of the best I have heard. Throw an analog delay in the loop and it sounds like heaven. That applies to Single coil and humbuckers. Takes pedals very well.

The drive channel has been described as a cross between a recto and a Mark IV. I can definitely hear the recto influence. Its a little dark and can certainly get brutal. Plenty of bass and thump for chugga work. I think the key to finding your tone is to put a quality EQ in the loop. If you do and boost the 800Hz you can get some bright Marshall type tones out of it. The pre-gain EQ is not the best so to really get the most out of this amp get an EQ for post gain tone shaping.

I personally don't like the contour. Its a little harsh for me. I also don't like the reverb.

1.5 Years and running strong

Very helpful and quick to return emails and phone calls. I had a rattle in one of my power tubes and they sent me a new one for free.

Superb amp for the money. Very versatile with a EQ in the loop. Great for gigging or home use.

Everyone knows the features; Great, versatile, but i'm only giving a 7 because there is no reverb on mine for some reason. It doesn't work at all. If i crank it all the way, there is a slight alteration of tone, but no reverberation at all...

if anyone has any suggestions, send me an email. 'preciate it.

I play this with a danelectro 56 pro, and I am completely satisfied with the combo. Playing a lot of shred/metal (I know, i need another guitar)I get magnificent 'Trooch and early metallica, megadeth and testament tones. Even with my single coils in the non-humbucking neck position, which i usually use since bridge twangs too much for my style of music, there is barely any extra buzz of hum noise. killer, brutal, slaying distorted tones. One thing: it takes a lot of finicky work to dial in this amp. the marshall "everything on 10" approach doesn't work. everything for me is between 2 (roughly 7 o'clock) and 5 (11 o'clock). Another thing, this amp is really,really loud, but you don't even need it cranked for crazy gain and awesome tones. the only other amp in this price range with a clean tone that rivals it is a Roland Jazz-Chorus, which doesn't work for shredding. obviously.

other then the reverb problem, which has been there since i bought it, no problems.

i think i have a 4 year warrenty, but it's like 6 months on tubes, which is already long gone. tubes are cheap though. I haven't even tried to get help for my reverb problem yet, i dont mind that much, it just muddies it up when your playing at 238 bpms

For the price, great value. Cant go wrong with a boogie. WHen i bought this there was also an f-30 head for sale, but it was only about 100$ cheaper, and didnt sound as good (el34's vs 6l6's) when your through in a 500-800$ cab, 't'aint happenin

I think everyone knows the features by now.....All I'll say for, realistically, two channels you can get a lot of sounds out of this amp.

Sound quality, while takes a lot of tweaking even after having it for over a year and a half, is amazing and continues to get better. The clean channel is amazing and so is the distortion channel. I play a lot of different styles: Metal, Blues, Jazz, Rock, etc.... this amp covers it all. To the last reviewer, either you're tone deaf, a tool, or you don't understand tone in general. You have to understand that Mesa Boogie, in particular this amp, are tricky to EQ correctly. Yes, the gain channel is quite dark but what the hell makes you think running a mahogany bodied guitar is going to make it better? I play one Jackson RR24 with a Dimarzio Evolution bridge and a Jackson RR custon with a Dimarzio Evo 2 bridge and Dimarzio PAF Pro neck. Both guitars are alder bodied with maple necks and ebony necks; altogether giving me a very bright guitar. The dimarzio pickups both have very dark characteristics too so to even this out I replaced the speaker with a celestion V-30 and BAM! A VERY nice, well-balanced tone that is organic as hell and WILL melt faces. It also helps that I run a BBE Sonic Maximizer and DBX 215 EQ in the effects loop, making an already great sounding amp sound greater.... The tone, most likely, just wasn't for you but don't go as far as saying that the gain channel is horrible when I can prove you wrong real fast on that.

I've had it for a little over a year and a half now. Never dropped it or anything but I've also never had problems with it. So far I haven't gigged with it but I really don't feel obligated to have a backup. I've never suspected this amp of any problems so I feel very confident in it.

I love this amp. I'm 19 and it's my first tube amp but I love this thing. I've worked in two different guitars shops for the past 2 and half years and I've yet to come across anything that sounds as good as my F-50 rig. If some ******* stole it, I would indeed buy another one (that is if I didn't find the person who stole it...).