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...).

not sure when it was made. this amp is not versatile at all. it has two channels. effects loop. if you need to know the feature just check the boogie web site. this amp has plenty of power very loud.

i use a prs single cut 245 and a mccarty. the clean channel is very good. probably the best mesa boogie has done. the od channel is absolutly horrible. i don't know why people are rating this channel so high is sucks. it is the worst od channel i have ever herd on a boogie. i know some people are saying it is close to the mark series, not even close. this channel is very fluby and not tight just sounds like crap. i don't even use it any more. the contour option makes it a little better but it is still crap. i'm real not sure what boogie was doing by letting this od channel out of their factory compared to all the other great od channels they have put out. i have own several boogies and this is by far the worst. if the clean channel wasn't so bad *** i would have sold this thing.

i've never had any problems with this amp. it is a boogie built like a tank. but a tank that fires blanks

boogie has great costumer support, i have never called them about this amp but i have called them about other boogies i have owned and they have been awesome

over all this amp is not that great. the clean channel is very good but the distortion really brings it down. i wish they would have released it with out the distortion channel then i would give it a 10. i have owned a couple of boogies anf they were good amps but this amp shouldn't even carry the boogie name until they fix the od channel. boogie is known for overdrive not clean. if it were stolen i wouldn't care. probably the worst od i have ever herd on a tube amp. my fender deluxe has better over drive than this pos. if your after a great clean then this amp is for you, if your after overdrive buy a mark. i know people are gonna tear me apart for writing a bad review on this amp but i don't care it sucks.

This is really just an addition to my review from over two years ago. I have been reading a few reviewers comments here regarding reliability.

My experience with Mesa gear (and I've had a reasonable amount of it over the years) is that I have NEVER blown up a Mesa product. There are, however, some simple things you can do to help yourself.

1) Get the tubes out of the back of this amp and make Christmas decorations out of them or something - for a world class amp, Mesa put abysmal tubes in their amps! Do this with almost any other brand of tubes and it will improve the sound and cut down on noise.

2) Get a flight case for it! I'm constantly staggered by the amount of people who put this amp (or any other tube amp) in the back of a truck or car with just a slip cover on it. Would ou do that with your TV? - it is a precision instrument, albeit a damned well built one, and it needs looking after.

3) Sh*t in, sh*t out! - I learned the hard way - if you want a great guitar sound, get great guitars. This amp shows up average guitars badly. Same comment for effects.

4) Everything on ten doesn't work with Mesa amps! Forget what you learned to do with a Marshall. Gain needs to be at 12 o clock or possibly a little more - get it to 3 o clock and it's unusable. Bass on the gain channel shouldn't exceed 9 or 10 o clock. Ever.

Just my thoughts - feel fre to disagree!

This amp was made in 2007. I purchased it new, but discounted (with Mesa's blessing) at a local dealer. This amp is quite a versatile, tone monster. For the styles I play, progressive, modern rock, heavy rock, some metal, it cover's a lot of ground. I do suggest players spend a bit of time with the Mesa, regardless of which model it is, as it doesn't respond like any other amp out there. This amp will even cover blues! READ THE MANUAL!!! Of course, this amp has 2 channels, footswitchable, with available contour that's also footswitchable. Reverb is included. It also has, and this is nifty, a silent recording/headphone jack in the back. That alone is a feature worthy of its price tag. Virtually NO tube amp, much less a Mesa has that feature. Beneath the jack is a switch that cuts off the speaker when you put the jack into use...neat. Since I'm between bands and am going to animation college full time, I play at home. However, be aware, this is ONE LOUD AMP. This thing will rattle tables and pictures off walls at 9 or 10 o' clock on the dial. Plenty of power...Also, it can be run through extension cabinets to give the sound more sonic girth. Also, very cool...At this point, it has most of the features I'd ever use. I've used more complicated amps, such as the Line 6 Flextone Heads and combos and ended up not using virtually half of the features. Of course, it's all tube, which is a great thing. I do wish it had the duo-class power switching capabilities of the Express series as well as the contour knob, but those are minor grievances. One hell of a deal for the price tag. I'd also like to point out the fact that Randall Smith uses premium components, like porcelain tube sockets with silver contact point. No other amp company does this to my knowledge.

This amp, as stated earlier, can cover a lot of sonic ground from shimmering clean, to British Invasion pop, to full out metal massacre. While it's not a Rectifier, it shares similar circuit design and therefore has more gain girth and range than the newer Express series. The contour switch on the lead channel will take you from mild rock rhythm to near Godsmack-like chug with the roll of the gain switch. I've spent about 4 days with it so far and I've been able to coax the different sounds I've mentioned. I have READ THE MANUAL as a guide. This amp doesn't respond like any other tube circuit out there, much less solid state or digital. The controls are highly interactive and it has more gain than I ever thought humanly possible from a tube circuit. Now, for the channels.

Clean: Very verstatile, especially with the pull-bright switch on the gain knob of the clean channel. By using the gain knob and master volume, you can range from a fat clean sound a'la '59 bassman, or a shimmering clean with sparkle. It will break up as you get the gain knob and master volume past the 1-2 o'clock range, as the manual dictates. This is what it's meant to do. It is a very warm clean sound that can get as fat or as bright as you need it. The Fender heritage is there. With gain cranked, it will get to the soft clipping of the older vintage amps of the 60's and 70's, especially with hot pickups.

Dirty: This channel is cool. It goes from a blues-like clip and howling lead to a full on huge crunch. Again, it takes time to get there and READING THE MANUAL! ( getting it yet? lol). It will also hid the very smooth, creamy, liquid gain solos with ease. I've found with small tweaks of the gain and treble knobs, which are the most powerful knobs on this amp, you can get an amazing variety of sounds with this channel. I have found that if you have either very cheap, or extremely fat pickups, this amp will respond accordingly. Kick in the contour with the apprpriate settings and it gets really damn close to the Rectifiers, and a bit warmer in my opinion.

This is also amazing. This amp is extremely sensitive to any issue in your sound chain. EVERY PIECE. If there is a bad solder connection either in your guitar or cable, you will hear it. If you have poor, worn cables, you will hear it through this amp. If you are using very bright pickups, the amp will reflect this. For instance, I've have a set of the Mustain Live Wires in one of my guitars and they sounded completely different, much like the samples on duncan's site, through the mesa and then again different through my Vox practice amp. If you have a battery that is low, you will hear it in this amp. First, check everything else. Eliminate your guitar, cables, pickups, batteries, solder connections first before you panic about the amp. If you play a cheap guitar, it will sound cheap. BTW, this amp rocks with a PRS!
I use a PRS CE24 with the HFS/Vintage Bass pickups, with monster cable. I season to taste with other guitars with EMG's and other passives, monster cable and a Danelectro Cool Cat chorus, and Boss OD-1 distortion for a little extra grease. For me, it's am amazing amp. I tend to play Modern rock and progressive like Dream Theater or Vai/Eric Johnson like stuff.
This amp is remarkably quiet for such a high-gain monster, but it will hiss a with extreme gain settings and will become microphonic if you use extreme settings of gain, treble and reverb. AGAIN, THIS IS ALL IN THE MANUAL!!!!Also, the amp is incredibly responsive the the dynamics of the room you are in.
Bottom line, this thing can be as smooth or as brutal and punishing as you want it. If it still has too little gain, get a pedal or go play another Mesa...Awesome amp for me. CAn't wait to hook it up to the chorus pedal for some sweet sounds.

Now, considering it has the best warranty in the business and Mesa is so cool with their customers, I'm not worried. Mesa's have a history of being bulletproof and very easy to maintain. I would gig without a backup comfortably, although I'd always keep spare tubes around. It is a tube amp, after all and therefore, will not always perform at peak condition. So far, it hasn't broken down, whether at the dealer I bought it from or for me. I'm close to the dealer I got in from and they are very candid with me. Like any tube amp, you gotta change tube and watch the fuses. I don't have enough experience with it yet to really rate it, but am very confident in both Mesa/Boogie and the amp, but will give it a solid 9 so far given my inexperience with the amp thus far

I haven't dealt with Mesa yet, but I do know that they take care of each and every customer. They also support their dealers so well. I have no doubts that I have an incredible support staff behind me. My warranty is 5 years, which covers parts and labor and service. Pretty damn good if you ask me! Tubes are also covered for 6 months. I actually look forward to working with them. As the rating says, incredibly kind and helpful

I have been playing for eighteen years solid and have been in numerous bands, both professional and amateur. I'm also incredibly picky about my tone. I change pickups like I change underwear and am constantly trying to grow as a musician and technician. I own several guitars, a Marshall JCM2000 DSL50 head, 1960A cabinet, a few pedals, many spare pickups...etc. I've owned Line 6, marshall, Carvin and many others and have yet to find an amp that sounds as good as this one. I admit, that I had to WORK with the amp and change my mind about settings since it's so different from every other amp I've ever worked with. It actually has tone controls that work and shape the tone. Mesa's have a learning curve, and every mesa owner will or should tell you this. But, I've yet to find such a rewarding instrument to work with. i use instrument because it really is a tone generator of its own accord. I wish it had a solo boost function that was footswitchable. That should have been carried over from the solo rec's but so is life. I love the thick, warmth of the tone and really appreciate the fact that it's so sensitive to the other factors of tone like cable, pickups, soldering connections and such. I actually heard how good my PRS guitar is and how crappy the cheap stuff is. I don't really hate anything about it. I do know I'll have to rethink my pickups choices.
WOuld I buy it again? Hell yeah. But since it's discontinued, I'd have to go for a mark IV. (my next purchase!!!)

it has a decent amount of features, pretty much all useful. It is effectively a 2 channel amp that behaves as a 3 channel with the contour engaged. There is a significant tonal difference between the gain and contour mode. Nothing crazy about this in terms of features like a Mark IV but there's more to this than a DSL, easy.

I love the tonal palette of this amp. Its fantastically broad and does so much so increadibly well. This is a REAL mofo amp that you can use to cover so much ground. Its not all accessible from channel selection but its all in the knobs. So many people comment about how great the clean channel is and i'm totally there. It can fake it well as a class a amp in this channel or it can be as beefy as a bassman. The clean channel growls or shimmers and the notes flutter in a 3d landscape with silky highs and tight bass. you need to control the bass as it can get out of hand but it is controllable.
The gain channel is tough to dial in as i find there couls be more highs and clarity but thats my personal opinion. Of course you can dial it in but if you use the contour as well live the highs really come forward and these 2 modes aren't that well balanced. I really enjoy how warm the gain modes are in this amp. Alot warmer than a DR or DSL i find and the gain grain is alot finer than a marshall which i'm finding more and more i can't stand comparitively. Meaty mids in this mode.
The contour is just blissful. Huge mids, strong tight bass (as long as you can dial it in right) and defined highs. This is my favorite part of this amp. To be honest, it p**ses on my other guitarists' DSL and its so much bigger and warmer at gig levels that a Dual Recto or Triple Recto. Love this amps tone! There is certainly room for improvement in the scope of the world of tone but theres so much you can do with this amp, and you can do it all so well. Such an underestimated amp.

No problems with it. Never broke down.

Overall, i'd rate this an 8 because there is room for upgradability in terms of tone and features. However this thing in the studio sings because its so tweakable.
I've had this amp for over a year now so i'm well over my honeymoon period and it continues to impress me time and time again.
I play rock, hard rock, pop, and rock blues with a strat and tele. Since i use single coils i throw an MXR 10-band eq in the fx lopp (post gain) to add more buckerish beef but it keeps the dynamics of a single.
My bands' myspace with clips is http://www.myspace.com/tripmeter

As below, two channels, very straightforward set up. Probably the simplest Mesa Boogie on the market to dial in a tone that you like. Plenty of power, and delivers smooth drive all the way to mayhem distortion at both low and higher volumes.

Channel switches with an audible 'click'/'pop', which is annoying as all hell.

The reverb is lousy on this amp--apparently this is a problem that is epidemic among the F series. Another annoyance is the lack of an indicator light on the pedal for whether the reverb is on or off. Why?

Clean tones are superb, very warm with good bottom end, and sparkly highs. When the amp is pushed a little, some break up is inevitable, but it's not as bad as many Mesas.

The distortion is outstanding on this amp; the 6L6's deliver excellent warm drive, and with more gain a more full-bodied distortion is possible, with rich harmonics and sweet, lush feedback. Stepping on the 'contour' button unleases a rectifier-style distortion that adds piles of harmonics.

I have been through 3 F-50's. Why? Because I love the tone. Why 3? Because this is one lousy, undependable amp.

Amp 1: lasted one gig. During the first song, it decided to start crackling and popping for about 4 songs. Then it rumbled and crackled the next time I turned it on. Swapped out all tubes--same problem. Exchanged for amp #2.

Amp 2: Worked fine for about a year, then died on stage. Repaired, and worked fine for 5 months, now back in the shop.

Amp 3: Picked it up as a "back up" to amp 2 for a low price as Mesa has discontinued this line...hmmm...it lasted 20 minutes in the rehearsal studio and began making all sorts of noises. Tech (former Mesa employee) can't figure out what's wrong, and when he called Mesa, they admitted that there's something amiss with the F series and that they don't know exactly the mod to fix it.

Stay away from this amp. It's not worth the money and aggravation.

the folks at Mesa are awfully nice, but that only goes so far when the amp is not fixable!

I've been playing for 20 years and have been around the block with gear. I've had a range of amps, from Fenders to Marshalls to Mesas. The F experience has really colored my view of Mesa Boogie. I think there's a real problem with this amp line, which led to them discontinuing it. If I had to do it all over again, I would NEVER have bought the first one (or gone on to amps 2 and 3).

Same as before, exept the tone now is amazing, still ok with the reverb.

Wow, what an improvement! I wrote the review below that said that I was overall not happy with my Mesa Boogie F-50, however, my oppinion has come full circle. I replaced all the preamp tubes with two GT ECC83S in the V1 and V2, the main tone generating sockets, and two tungsol 12ax7s in the V3, effects loop, and V4 power phaser. The GTs smoothed out the tone of this amp completely, no more harsh highs and too much lows, now I have roaring mids with the warmest sounding overdrive i have ever heard. This also warmed up the tone for the clean channel as well, even though I was happy with it before, but now it is better. The tungsol 12ax7s are a cool little tube. They aren't very warm tubes, this is why i put them in the V3 and V4 slots, but they completely cut the noise out of pretty much everything, so if you run pedals through the effects loop, it brings down the noise of the pedal alot. I tried these in the preamp, and they completely got rid of the single coil hum when i used my strat, but i ended up liking the ECC83 for the tone better. GET RID OF THE CRAPPY MESA BOOGIE PREAMP TUBES!

hasn't blown a new tube yet.

didn't use it

really amazing amp

Overall, my first experience with Mesa Boogie amps has not been a good one. This amp has two basic channels, clean and distorted (distorted has a contour setting as well, so three initial tones). A footswitch, this honestly is really unhelpful because the led lights only work when the overdriven channel is selected, the switch for the reverb is useless because there is no LED light to indicate whether or not the reverb is in use. However the overall layout of this amplifier is extremely simple, I wish all amps could be this simple.

I was extremely impressed by the clean channel on this amp. It is extremely warm, full, and rich sounding with alot of headroom without the tone breaking up and distorting. Channel 2 on the other hand is aweful, this may be the worst sounding distortion i have ever heard out of a tube amp. My solid state Crate GLX212 actually sounds a lot better than the mess that this amp produces. The tone is completely aweful it is extremely muddy, the tone does not smooth out at all as the level is turned up, and the highs are extremely harsh sounding. Overall extremely dissapointed. The reverb is also extremely disapointing. It sounds completely harsh and unnatural. Overall the distortion channel is pathetic. The speaker that this thing comes with also sounds pretty bad due to the fact that there is so much bass, even when it is rolled all the way back. I give this a generous five for the outstanding clean channel.

I have had this amp for around six months and this amp has aready blown 2 preamp tubes in it. I am going to replace the tubes with Tungsol 12ax7 and maybe a couple of GT ECC83, and switch out the powertubes to see if the tone on channel two improves.

Getting ready to call if the tone doesn't improve with new tubes.

Good Clean, Distortion is aweful

You know them already, but here goes:
50 very loud tube watts, 2 footswitchable channels w/ contour switch on CH2, bright switch on clean ch, reverb (f/s), FX loop with mix control, silent recording switch, 2 additional speaker outs.

Very simple, easy to use front panel. I love it!

Use it mainly in pub/club gigs. Overall, I LOVE the simplicity in the layout. HOWEVER, the reason this gets 7 is because of the grill at the back.

For those who don't know, they have put this mesh/grill over the back of the open cab to protect the power tubes. Great idea right?

Sure, EXCEPT that you can't get your hand in to plug/unplug the footswitch cable or the power cable, which for whatever reason are located on the underside of the amp section, inside the cabinet. WTF?

You need to take the grill (4 screws) off every time you plug/unplug these, or alternatively leave the grill off and, consequently, the tubes exposed since they are so close to the back of the cabinet.
STUPID STUPID STUPID! I'm in transit a lot, and playing at pubs where I would REALLY like these tubes to be protected, but I still need to plug/unplug the footswitch cable a few times a week. Why on earth aren't these very commonly used sockets more easily accessible? I really just don't understand what they were thinking...

Other than this, the features are fantastic - really easy to use.

Using heavily modded Pacifica (w/ 2x Duncan Stag Mags), Ibanez Artcore Custom AS105, Tele Thinline, through a whole bunch of effects. I play funk and pop stuff mainly, and some mellow indie rock stuff (like early radiohead, wallflowers, jeff buckley etc).

The amp has tremendous versatility. The clean is fantastic, and I can't for the life of me get it to break up at any volume I've pushed it to...this is very nice, especially for the funk stuff.

The AS105 is STUNNING through this amp. The single coil guitars sound great, but at times can be a little too bright in the clean channel (even without the bright switch), especially on the Tele. I think the F-50 is tailored better to humbucker-equipped guitars, but that's just my opinion.

The overdrive is awesome - anywhere from a subtle/mellow clipping to an all-out metal assault...not that I use it in this capacity. The harmonic spread in the OD is beautiful... it just sounds RIGHT. And quiet. Love it.

All the sounds this produces (and there are many) are so usable. And there is PLENTY of volume there.

It's Mesa.

Hasn't faultered yet.

I only gig with a backup because I have had previous unfortunate experiences of people spilling beer/water straight into an amp. Otherwise it wouldn't worry me.

Never had to deal with Mesa, and wouldn't be suprised if I don't.

The store I bought this from, on the other hand, need a serious talking to about customer service. They lost the cover (the replacement still hasn't arrived), gave me the wrong footswitch cable (and gave me a cable that was already used), and still haven't found the warranty card. It may seem trivial, but when I'm spending that much money I expect a little bit better service. And it's not like I suddenly walked in off the street and suprised them, they knew that I was coming to buy it for a week. Thanks guys!

I've been playing for about 11 years, professionally for about 6.

I've only owned the amp for a few weeks, but have been playing it/looking at it/borrowing it etc for a few months...

I would definately buy another if lost/stolen (or at least my insurance company would).

I've owned a few amps - Roland JC120, Marshall AVT50H + Cab (ouch), Trace Elliot Supertramp Tube, Yorkville Traynor YCV40, Fender Deville.

I played this against Marshalls, Peaveys, other Mesas, Fenders... This blows them ALL out of the water. Other than the clean on my old Jazz Chorus, this amp wins all categories hands down. I know we all say it, but I doubt I'll ever buy another amp...

It only gets a 9 because of that stupid thing with the grill covering the footswitch and power cable sockets. Seriously guys... the rest of the amp is SO user friendly, what the hell happened?

Other than that, I LOVE it.

- 2 channels: clean and gain, 2 gain modes; normal and contour
- push-pull bright knob on clean
- FX loop
- 3 speaker outs (8 and 2x4 ohms)
- black shadow celestion c90 speaker
- spring reverb
- 2 6l6 and 4 12ax7 tubes
- recording/headphone out (but who cares)

I'm giving it a 7 because its great for its price range in comparison to a fender supersonic, dsl, hot rod. but not by much and for more you can get more features. Personally, tone trumps features. i don't care if it has 5 channels, if not one of them sound good then its garbage

tone is king, this is what makes me buy an amp. Keep in mind that everyone's idea of tone is different.

I play an SSS AmSer strat and an AmStd tele with a splittable SD little 59 in the bridge. I play rock like FooFighters, Jimmy Eat World, G'N'Fn'R, Velvet Revolver, Audioslave... you get the picture. if you can relate to these things then read on.

This really is a good amp. The clean has been compared to a blackface fender kind of tone but i disagree. Its way more 59'bassman kinda tone. Very nice, stiff yet elasticky, tight in the bottom if you don't give too much bass and increasing both gain and volume will put you into a vibrant SRV kind of od... especially if you have a TS9

the regular gain is good. its easier to push this channel loud than the contour mode i find. i havn't really played any of the vintage mesa's before but i could possibly compare this channel to a less bright marshall jmp thats not quite as aggressive. Really good vintage vibe thats great for ac/dc stuff. Its fairly versatile too, for recording purposes you can use this channel plus an eq pedal in the FX loop to pull off just about any tone. Seriously!

The contour mode is where most people live who use this amp. Its a good channel and opens up the gain mode and sticks it into a fatter recto territory. Its bright, huge bottom, the mids aren't scooped (thank goodness) and its aggressive though slightly compressed. I've played/gigged/tested many different kinds of hard rock amps like:
2 and 3 channel double and triple rectos, dsl's, stiletto's, the express series... and several others that i can't really think of. I personally prefer this amp to all others mentioned. It is much warmer than the other mesa's i've played and it is bigger sounding and offers smoother gain than the dsl's.

This amp is a well designed and well built amp. Its an integral part of my tone structure.
9 because there are better gain amps out there but they have lousy cleans

overall, this is a great quality amp for hard rock. if you need really tight bass for metal kind of stuff there is better out there but for rock and hard rock this is hard to beat

Features already covered, this is an update to my previous review

Sound would get hard and brittle or get icepicky highs. The solution seemed to be JJ gold pin tubes but they actually seemed to contribute to the problem. Tung-Sol 12ax7 did the trick, this is suppose to be like a Brimer. I used 1 Tung-Sol in V1 (first tube closest to the cabinet wall) followed by a JJ 83s in V2 and Groove tube Mullard clones in V3 and V4. A Tung-Sol in both V1 and V2 seemed to make the amp sound unfocused but the JJ in V2 fixed that.

very good so far

have not used them

very good quality amp

Two channels, clean (with bright switch) and distortion (no bright switch), each channel has it's own tone controls, reverb and master volume control. Distortion channel has two tonal modes, one is bright and the other is darker. 6L6 tubes, effects loop, foot switch.

I agree with previous reviewer that this amp can get those ice-picky highs. The Celestion C-90 speakers helps tame this but when trying other speakers the ice-picky highs becomes even more noticable. One can use tone controls to geat advantage as they really work well to adjust and dial in a wide variety of sounds including taming the ice-pickyness to a degree.

JJ Gold pin tubes helped get rid of some if the ice-pickiness problem.

Running JJ 6V6 power tubes also helped but theres a drop in over all output (volume) but this may be nice for small gigs.

The clean channel is somewhat bland and sounds rather solid state and does not respond to playing dynamics as well as some other tube amps (like a Fender). The clean is not like a Fender, it is however a clean 6L6 sound and can stay quite clean at loud volumes, it does not break up early.

The reverb is strange sounding not sure what Mesa\Boogie was trying to achieve here.

The distortion is plentifull, lead runs are very distinct and not fizzy like some amps get when in using the distortion channel, power chords can be a bit mushy. Rolling back the distortion gain to about 11:00 position and then using a low gain overdrive stomp box (something like a Digitech Bad Monkey) works well to drive the amp distortion over the top for a more metal type distortion.

It's a small package than can play loud (still some what heavey to lug around)

This amp is really built solid, no problems yet.

Never used them

It's a nice amp and quite versitile, Clean channel stays very clean and theres plenty of distortion for most styles, it gets a bit brittle sounding wich can be annoying.

2006; straightforward layout with two channels, standard mix of controls including reverb, footswitchable between channels with added contour (gain bump) in lead channel. Among the Mesa line, which includes some insanely knobby-switchy high-end layouts, the F series is deliberately designed to be straightforward. It offers a wide range of sounds, easily accessed. However, as is the case with Mesa products, the interactive knobs make it essential to be careful in making basic settings. A wide range of tones is definitely possible, so unless you think and listen in making settings, it's easy--really, really easy--to have what "looks" like a mainstram setting that actually sounds truly horrible.

As above, a wide tonal range is accessible, which means that many terrible sounds are also easily accessible. It took me a lot of fiddling to get settings that worked for me--I think the amp tends quickly towards icepick-harsh shrieking--but the great sounds are definitely there. Also, because of the solid-state rectification, it's necessary to be careful to get the kind of responsiveness you want. the amp can go from very hard and brittle to bouncy (which I freaking hate) to quick, smooth, and liquid. so whatever you wan tis in there, but lots that you don't is in there too. Don't blame Mesa if you don't get your tone. One big problem with this baby is noise. The circuit, and the tubes supplied, are both excessively noisy, and, at the preamp stage, shrill and harsh...chalkboard/fingernails harsh. I could not dial out the hum and noise, no matter how long and hard I tried. I've played tube amps forever, and I "get it" about tube noise, but this was far worse. No decent amp should hum so loudly--nearly as audible as the most quiet notes. But some tube swapping in the first two preamp positions helped incredibly. I tried AU7s, and found that I had to go through a million individual tubes in order to find one or two that would work. (NOS RCA cleartops, highly regarded, shrieked and fed back, as did many, many fine tubes in this circuit.) I finally found a couple of great Brimars and they cut the noise wonderfully, gave me a much more articulated and complex tone, and did not really inhibit the amp's ability to act in the high-gain manner expected of a Mesa amp. More recently, I tried a pair of 5851s (I think I've got that number right -- I'm too lazy to look it up) and got just where I wanted to go. The amp is genuinely quiet at idle, and the response and clean tones are beautiful, yet it's still ready to rage at high gain. For a long time, I despaired of ever getting this amp to fulfill its advertised claims, as I found it brittle, incredibly over-reactive to high frequencies, and just noisy and sharp, but getting the tubing down, and working the controls very carefully (see above) has brought me to the promised land. It's a great amp, but its range and versatility can result in some lousy situations if not dialed-in and adjusted right for you. Ratings= 6, at first, 9 or 10 now.

Except for the need to swap tubes for tonal reasons, it's built like a tank. Mesa takes quality control very seriously, and they do good work. This particular model is fairly simple in design and layout, and you can see how well it's made. In the Promised Land of the U S of A, by the way.

I dealt a lot directly with the folks in Mesa/Boogie, Sunset Blvd, and by phone and email w/ the guys in Petaluma (home office) and they were responsive (often immediate; they even made a follow-up call a few months later!) and they were helpful, sincere. Thanks.

I have many amps and needed a do-it-all unit that could work at bedroom volume as well as auditorium-sized venues. This has proved to be a great choice. I own all kinds of stuff, from misc. vintage guitars to spiffy pedals. The F-50 handles both my single-coil stuff and my humbucking guitars really well, though I need to watch the treble carefully, as that can spin out of control really quickly (as though the amp is a treble addict). Very, very useful amp. I've considered using an attenuator with it, but have not done so as my setup seems to allow for a good "preamp distortion" tone at low volumes when I can't run the power tubes at any appreciable level. Would love a 50/20 switch!

I reviewed this a few months after I got back in 2004 and feel that it is worthy of an update. I have made a few changes that have taken this from a very nice and versatile amp to the best amp I own. My amps include a Marshall Silver Jubilee 2550, JCM 900, 1987x Plexi Reissue, Vox AC30 Reissue, Fender 65' Deluxe Reverb Reissue.
In my opinion the stock speaker was thin, fizzy, and harsh so I replaced it with a Celestion Vintage 30 and it is a great match for this amp (not sure why it did not come loaded in this amp). I also replaced the power tubes with a set of TAD (Tube Amp Doctor)6L6GC-STR which are just fantastic - they are much smoother and lush sounding than the stock ones. To put this amp over the top, run it through a Marshall cabinet loaded with 2 Vintage 30's on top and 2 G12H30's in the bottom. This combination is just unbeatable!!

The amp sounds great with all of my guitars but I prefer my strat with Fender Fat 50's in the Neck and Middle and a Duncan Hot Rail in the bridge. The clean channel is superb with the neck pick-up and the settings as follows: gain 12:30, treble 1:00, mid 8:00, bass 12:00, reverb 8:30 and the bright switch on. This gives a very glassy fender like tone.
The dirty channel matches up great with single coils and humbuckers. I have tried tons of different settings and find that the best setting is shown in the manual as the Blues Power. Gain 10:00, treble 12:00, mid 10:00, bass 11:00, reverb none. Kick the contour on and you get a great Metallica sound.

Very well built, reliable, and consistent amp.

I called once to ask a question and they responded very quickly. Based on what I have read I have to believe they are very good.

This is a great amp with just a couple of changes. I have not played through anything that is this good and as versatile. I would buy this again without any hesitation.

This is one of the most versitle amps I have used. It is great for all the styles I play: every thing form jazz, to blues, to classic rock, to heavy metal. It also has lucious sounding reverb. It has wide range of jazz, rock, and metal sounds, but it range of blues sound is very narrow. It has three channels: clean-lightly distorted, lightly distorted-heavily distorted, and heavily distorted-total meltdown. Its 6L6 tubes get great distortion. The only thing I would add would be a boost feature to the foot switcher.

It is a somewhat noisy amp. I use the Gibson Custom Shop 1959 ES-335 Dot Reissue, and it sounds great with the '57 humbuckers. I have used Fenders, Marshalls and Voxs, and this amp sounds very rich in comparison. Its clean sound unique, but the distortion with the gain at about 10 o'clock sounds like a crancked Fender Twin.

I have only had I for four months, and nothing has happened.

I have only had I for four months, and nothing has happened.

This is overall and amazing amp for all styles. It is very easy to use. If something happened I would immediately buy a new one.

This amp kicks ass! I bought it in 2005. All I do is turn down my volume on my Hamer Monaco Super pro and I get nice. Turn up my guitar and the amp is killer tone. The more the tubes warm up, the more wicked it gets, love it! Great club amp!! My 5150 took a back seat.
I do wish my reverb switch had a light on pedal like the contour and clean.

It just kicks for rock and blues. Very fat clean channel

I trust this amp, but I always have a back up.

Never had to call them.

I been playing for 35 years live and in the studio. I use a 5150 half stack also. This amp rocks for my needs. I do use a OD3 on my clean channel, so I have three different sounds plus my contour for lead work. I don't use the contour in the studio for tracking, just the gain channel. If it were stolen I would replace it. I do wish it had a distortion gain on the clean channel like my 5150. The tone is worth the trade off.

The layout is very straight forward. 2 channels clean/gain separate controls for each. There is an f/x loop with a knob to control the amount of f/x mix. There is a recording / headphones jack and line outs for cabinets. The controls are sensitive turn the treble a little bit for instance and you will hear a big difference.

This thing sounds fantastic. I play hard rock and metal. I tried a Marhall, Fender, Peavey, Vox and a Soldano. The only thing close was the Soldano but at twice the price. The clean channel is sparkling clean anf the gain channel I actually have to turn down the gain or hit the contour button on the supplied footswitch and the gain is over the top. I use a Gibson LP custom, SG supreme and some custom shop Bc Riches with various pickups Dimarzio Super 2' Paf, Emg's anf the amp just sounds amazing. The different woods/pickups can really be heard thru this amp.

No problems but I have only had it a short time.

I had to call customer support , I left a message and was actually called back in less than 15 minutes. I could not believe it. The problem was my stupid mistake I could not hear anything out of one channel I had the master turned down- D'oh

But they were very friendly and fast in their response

I have been playing since 1984. I have played all types of amps. I traded my Vox for this amp. I really liked the Vox,a great amp, but this is just a grand slam.

This amp gets an 8 here because the front and back panels are simply laid out. I gigged the same week I got the amp with minor tweaking. Mesa controls are typically more sensitive to setting changes than most other amps. Mesa puts a beggining guideline for settings in the manual, and this will give you a reasonable starting point.

I gave the F-50 an 8 inthis category because it is not an end all be all amp. It leans more towards a classic rock type amp. The clean is Fender-ish (Great Clean), and the gain is Marshall-ish at times. I have the latest model 2006 which has the latest greatest tubes in it which make a huge differance. Mesa swithced from the Russion 6L6 to the new Chinese 6L6 and 12 AX7's. If you have an older F-50 the switch to these new tubes is a must. I play in a Classic rock band and have been for the past 14 years. We cover 300 tunes from oldies to 80's mainly. I have been able to get what I need out of this amp. and feel it is worth the money. I had an F-30 and it did not have enough power for outdoor gigs, so I traded it for the F-50. I also had a Mesa Mark 4 that was excellent, it was actually overkill both in power and weight for basic clubing. Mesa is a good product, that sometimes takes a little getting used to, as well as adapting to the sound. Once you use Mesa for awhile other amps seam weak IMHO.

If you don't read the manual and use tubes other than Mesa you will blow tubes on a regular basis. I made the mistake of trying Groove tubes and blew them up. I called Mesa and they clued me in that they have a higher rating sustem than others and basically require you to use their tubes. Some people claim they are blowing fuses this has not been the case with myself or our rythm guitar player. He has had his F-50 for almost two years. He has also changed his tubes out to the new STR 440 chinese and pre-amp tubes as well - Big Improvement.
Most people also don't realize that there is a break-in period for tubes and speakers. You must work with the amp for awhile to get the sound and feel you want.

Mesa has been very friendly and handled any issues promptly and proffesionally.

I have read many of the other reviews and I am confused as to how people buy $1100.00 amplifiers, and then complain about them. I would want to keep that to myself. Anyway, I have been playing for 36 years with 20 of that being proffesionally. I am a Tone fanatic and have a fairly complicated set up. HBE, Fulltone, Analogman etc. The F-50 gets an 8 overall because it has it's limitations, but is a good amp for small to medium gigs, and it gets the job done. For added punch I run a Homebrew HBE powerscreamer through the front end. This gives me a whole world of options and sustain. I do use the amps gain channel, but sometimes run the clean channel with the powerscreamer. It just opens up the options when I need them. Last note: The effects loop is quiet if used correctly, and the reverb is ok for live use. Mesa is good stuff. If it were stolen, I would replace it. Thanks

THIS REVIEW IS FROM DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE, BECAUSE I USE THIS AMP ONLY AS A PRACTICE AMP. It's how I made it work that way (around the house) that some may find interesting / helpful. Some reveiwers have lamented how loud this amp is, and I agree.
The features we all know by now.
I sure like sound from the deeper cabinet.
Foot switching channels, gotta like it.
And yes the reverb on the footswitch could use a light, orrrrr, you could just listen.

Fender released a Tweed Twin reissue a couple of years ago and on the advertising cardboard sheet they put on top, it said, "if you want a low gain sound use 12AU7 preamp tubes instead of the 12AX7's. The low gain also produces low VOLUME. And this preamp tube substitution works on numerous amps including the Mesa F-50.
Does it change the sound? Of course it does. Turn the base down. The Mesa tone stack is verastile enough that I can redial in thickness(with single coils) or thinness/clairity with buckers and mahogany. In fact with volumes now at reasonble home levels this amp becomes MORE versatile. The gain and master volumes can now be adjusted to produce thick or thin tone. On single coils I turn the gain up to thicken. And with buckers the gain down and master up to keep the neck clear. Also I can get a good grinding rock sound out of the drive and contour channels at a reasonable home volume.
TECH TALK I get the best results and lowest volume 20% using all four preamps as 12AU7's.(especially in the drive channel) It's not even loud enough for rehersal with 4 12AU7's. But you can also put them in only V1 & V2 giving say 50% volume or in V1, V2,& V3 giving 35% volume.
Buying a few tubes cost a lot less than buying an attenuator.
Finally about sound quality. This is a well built, full, clear, tonefull amp. As the young salesman, who sold me the F-50 said to me, "I struggled with Fender amps for years trying to find my sound, until I bought a Mesa." And I would agree. Not that Fenders are bad because I've had a couple good ones, but the Mesa F-50 is fuller and more versatile. Great clean channel. I personally have limited use for any drive channel and this one is to grindy for me. Good rock voice though. Fender Supersonic drive channel is sweet.

V2 tends to blow a 12AU7 every now and then. This is not a problem for me, because I'm getting what I want(low volume) buy using it. So for me it's worth it. Doesn't affect the clean channel when it goes.

Typical solidly built Mesa. Thats half the reason I bought it.

Yes I would buy another one again. I'd also consider a Fender Super sonic. I traded a Fender Vibrolux that I had converted back to a VibroVerb circuit for the F-50. It's not that the Mesa sounded better.Actually the I liked the VibroVerb more. (had 12AU7's in it to) Both amps were real good sounding. Just that the Mesa was clearly a better built instument/cabinet with a few more features. (Mid control, drive chanel)
So for you home practicers, which most are, the F-50 doesn't have to be to loud.

I bought my f-50 brand new in 2006. As far as versatility goes it could be better, but it gets the job done. If i was looking for an amplifier that had 4 channels and all kinds of power selections i wouldnt have bought this. But i bought the f-50 because i was looking for a combo amp that is loud enough to gig and has a clean channel and dirty channel. It suits my needs

Right out of the box it sounded excellent. The clean channel is excellent, and has a lot of headroom as far as volume goes. It will stay clean at high volumes no matter how you eq it. Very warm articulate clean sounds. The gain channel is also very good. I usually stay away from the contour becuase i like to play more of a classic rock style and not metal, but the countour would work well if you play that style. There is a lot of gain on tap with this amp. Probably more gain than most people will need. I usually down turn it past 2 oclock. It is easy to get good blues crunch with the gain low. And to get heavy rock sounds all you have to do is turn the gain up. Which means that the eq knobs do what they are supposed to which doesnt include needing to eq the amp to get a good distortion sound. The gain knob takes care of that by itself.

It is a mesa. I always gig with a backup, but im superstitious. But this thing weighs about 60 lbs, and is built very well. Has a nice metal plate on the back to protect the tubes, and a nice case for the footswitch.

I have been playing for about 12 years now, i also own a mesa dual rec. and a mesa nomad. In my opinion this amp beats them both. If it were stolen i would definately look into getting another one. Maybe used becuase it would take a long time to shell out another $1,100. The footswitchable reverb is an awesome feature becuase so many other amps have the reverb but no switch for it. Overall an awesome amp.

2006 2 channel with contour boost, 50 watts, very simple controls, I bought this for 1200.00, had and I mean had as I sold it, a burgundy tolex with a wicker grille. has all features needed

This is why I sold it. The wasnt any variation or control in the distortion channel, it was at a whisper or wayyy too loud, master volume control stunk, Clean channel was good, push pull pot, contour switch had a good sound but way too high in volume. The sound/ cabniet/speaker had no thump. I bought a Crate v-32 1 12" 30w watt class a amp cause it was cheap. For 2 hours, I a/b'ed the amp, playing as loud as I wanted or any varation. My wife walks in and says that 1 amp sound clear and like thunder and was was good but didnt have the dynamics. I cked all tubes in Boogie, all was fine, before I sold it, I took it to church. Wife and I play in a hi-gain soft bluesy, clean praise worship band and the crate smoked the boogie at hale the price.Heck, Billy Gibbons/ZZ-top Toured last year with the 50 watt version of the crate, talking to the sound guys/roadies asking them where really were the amps he was playing thru, walked back stage and not any amps at all to be found but the crates.

didnt have it long enough who cares, never paid 1200 for any thing in my life musically, close but this amp didnt do it for me

awesome customer support

played 35 years, own a aex-502 yamaha, wolfgang, strats, les paul, Id never buy a boogie again, heck found a older dc-5 at a store cheap, cleaned it up doubled my money..ck out the Crate v series or palamino series[same amps]

I've owned this amp for almost a year now and have since also bought a Dual Rectifier Roadster. I currently play in four projects (church band, cover band, experimental band and a hard rock band). I jam with many other musicians in many different styles. I've played and owned various other high and medium-quality amps too, so this review will be as fair and informed as I can make it.

This is a 2005 Mesa/Boogie F-50 1X12 Combo with a custom gold grille (which is really just a vintage looking dark brown). The custom grille is the reason it was $1700 and not $1400 (Canadian dollars remember), an expensive option but I feel it was worth it because now the amp looks sexy as hell. :) The amp excels for any style of music where you need a full sounding, Fendery clean channel and a fat, gainy lead channel. It's versatile, but certainly not the be-all-end-all of amps.

Features:
This is a very simple amp (for a Mesa). Two channels (gain, treble, mid, bass, reverb, master). The clean channel has a push/pull bright switch and the lead channel has an optional contour mode (which acts like a V-shaped active EQ). It has a parallel loop with a mix control and a record/headphones out with an optional speaker mute for silent recording. The footswitch has three buttons; channel 1/2, contour on/off and reverb on/off. You can use the internal MC-90 speaker or a 4 or 8 ohm external cab.

I wanted a simple, great looking, no-nonsense amp with great tone and that's exactly what I got. It's perfect for what I use it for. If you want more options in a similar package, get a Lone Star.

The Clean Channel (10/10):
This might be my favorite clean channel ever. By itself it was pretty much the reason I had to own this amp. It's really full and bouncy sounding. Single notes are big and fat, chords ring out clearly. You can dial in as much grit as you'll need or keep it pristine clean. The lack of a presence control isn't an issue, as I find the voicing is perfect regardless of the guitar I'm using and is very tweakable with the bright knob and treble control. The bass/mid/treble controls are very effective and regardless of where they're set, never sound bad - just different. It's the kind of clean tone you never want to stop playing. I a/b'd this amp against the Lone Star and felt the F-50 had a slightly nicer, cleaner, snappier tone. This channel goes from dark and fat to spanky and bright and everywhere inbetween without breaking a sweat. Sounds like whatever guitar you put through it. Single coils quack, humbuckers sound full.

The Lead Channel(s) (9/10):
With the gain low, it shimmers and crunches. Turn up the master for some overdrive and it gives a cool American version of AC/DCish tones. Turn up the gain and it sings and sustains for days. It's smooth and fat with more gain than you'll ever need. Perfect for gainy leads of any kind. With the contour mode on, it gets pretty angry (use a 4X12 extension cab and it'll get close to recto territory). This channel is very versatile and can sound great. The reason it doesn't get a 10 is because it tends to make guitars sound alike and can get muddy with lower tunings or overly bassy guitars. If you're playing smooth, gainy leads with 'the right' guitar, you'll love it.

Reverb (9/10):
It's not the best reverb I've ever heard, but it's very good and very usable. I find it sounds best when either very little is dialed in for a bit of a distant sound or when it's all the way up, for a drenched effect (think weird Radiohead guitar effects). In the middle, it can sound excessive without really 'helping' much, but if you're going for an overkill effect, it's great and very full sounding. There's lots on tap.

I've played a lot of amps and this is definitely one of the better sounding ones. All things considered (price, looks, features) I think it's a steal and I'm very happy I bought it.

I have yet to actually contact Mesa/Boogie. I own two of their amps and have friends who've owned Mesas for years. The only problem I've seen to date was with this amp and it's so minor that I'm not even going to bother trying to get it fixed.

Basically, the power cord comes loose sometimes where it plugs into the amp. It's a bit annoying when I'm on stage and all of a sudden my amp dies, but if it's going to happen it always happens right away (during sound check) and is easily fixed by just pushing it into place. After I do that, it always stops causing problems for the night. If this problem didn't exist, the amp would get a 10.

When I got this amp, two of the preamp tubes quickly became microphonic. They were fine at first but quickly went south and caused feedback problems at high gain levels. I'm not going to blame Mesa, since they don't make their own tubes, despite the fact that they relabel them. A quick visit to my Mesa dealer fixed the problem, they gave me free replacement tubes (which sound slightly better anyways) and the problem has not come back.

These two things have been minor and I wouldn't hesitate to buy from Mesa again (and I have). Their amps are built like tanks as far as I'm concerned.

In all honesty, this amp can take a lot more abuse than I expected from any amp. I've accidentally ran the amp without a speaker load plugged in before a couple times (I'm a dumbass, I know) but it hasn't had any effect on the amp. I've done this with my Roadster too. The one time I did that with my Marshall JCM800 (an amp that should be rock-solid), it blew the fuse and a power tube right away.

Like I said, I've never dealt with them personally. But I only hear good things about their customer service from others.

I'm a bit of a gear nut. I go to stores often and try their equipment out in hopes of finding better stuff. This amp is the result of me doing a lot of researching and trying every piece of gear I saw. It fits my needs perfectly and I'm very happy with it, even a year later.

As stated, I also own a Dual Rectifier Roadster (2006) and a JCM800 2204 (1989). Before these I owned a Peavey 5150 (modded) and a Laney TF200 Combo before that. The amps I owned before those were beginner amps that aren't worth mentioning. I currently play a Gibson Les Paul (with Seymour Duncan JB and Jazz pickups), a Carvin DC-127T (with a Seymour Duncan Full Shred that I don't like very much) and a modded Squier Bullet (which will get a lot of work done to it in the coming months). I'm looking for 'the right' PRS at the moment too.

I've been playing for about 6 years now and have been obsessed with guitar equipment the whole time, only buying the best I could afford after a lot of research. So hopefully anyone reading this review understands that I know what I'm talking about and am not just praising the amp for the simple fact that I own it. It really is that good...maybe not for everyone, but near perfect for me.

Feel free to contact me with questions.

Features have been earlier noted, so I wont waste time.

Tone controls are VERY versatile, so any kind of tone can be achieved.

Best clean by FAR outside of a Fender. I think it has to do with the 6l6's that are in this. Very warm and resonsive. Reverb is nice when used in moderation.

Gain channel with its contour switch really allows for just about any kind of mile OD to all out Metallica. I'm getting pretty close with my strat, so I imagine Buckers will get even heavier.

Amp is not noisy at all, and I'm using single coil custom '54's, so they're about as noisy as Fender makes 'em. Still no problem.

Neat thing aboutt he gain control: When you crank it up, it doesn't just get Fuzzier, so to speak. You can actually hear it get more defined and clear. Its really the best sounding amp I've ever played.

With the fact that it weighs a ton and comes with a 5 year warranty, I'd say Mesa is pretty confident that it will last.

If warranty is the criteria, they get a ten.

Been playing 10 years, owned a Blues Jr, own a silver face Champ, had a ton of SS amps, pod xt, gnx3.......
Nothing comes close. I wouldn't reccomend it for anyone that doesn't wish to know how bad they really are...The amp is very articulate. Even on its highest gain settings, you can arpeggiate a chord and still hear every note. Truely amazing. Its alot of cash, so I spent hours upon hours trying every amp I could get my hands on up to around 1800.00. This was the OVERWHELMING choice for me.

Mine was made 2004 and much said about this amp. What I can say is that it has a great versatility as it is reasonably future proofed. In addition to this it has pretty much everything you would expect from a higher end Amp at this kind of price.
Seperate eQ for each channel is essential and obviously here with a perfectly able Reverb. A prescence for the "contour" stage would have been a healthy addition just to sculpt the lead sound slightly if required.

The main reason I am posting is because of the sound. First things first everything good you have heard about the clean channel is true. It is hugely versatile and will allow you to pick get funky bluesy jazzy, ballady - whatever, pump the gain slightly and you are moving -towards another animal altogether. Still this is really limited (in my opinion) by the 1x12 configuration. I bought the 1x12 as I thought the Mesa would get it on the button. However I can only state that I was slightly disappointed with the sounds when you pumped it up to gig levels. No doubt the amp still outclasses anything else for the money BUT it is only when you plug this into a decent 4 x 12 cab that this baby starts to really sing. At this point the whole amp becomes a breathing object of desire and fulfillment. Through a decent cab the sounds are so much richer and wider in soundstage (as you would ecpect). I can honestly say that My band are blown away by how sweet this can sound - it screams with my Les Paul and is beautifully glassy clean with my Strats. The contour I underuse as I am happy with the ist stage and kick in a tubsescreamer to solo, but all in all the Amp is great WHEN plugged thru a decent cab. Stick it at home to practise on its own at low vol and its fine, crank it up without a cab I think it struggles.. Got to say though that at volume the amp is noisy as hell, and this amp would be impossible without a noise gate at gig vols..

Had a problem with it shorting went back to the states (I AM UK) and came back to me within 3 weeks. Xcellent service leant me an F-50 in the interim too.. No probs since touchy wood

I have asked a question ref matching the amp to various cabs and I got a same day response, though a little short in response.

I have had a number of amps over the last 20 years, mostly combos but a few heads too including H&K, Laney, fender etc.
I wish it had a little more drive, past 1pm the dial doesn't seem to do too much on the drive channel, though I've got to say that as we play heavy rock and not death metal we tend to get away with it. Would have liked a presence knob for the "contour" stage as sometimes it can be harsh..

I would keep this amp as a backup and am looking at the H&K Triamp mk2 as my main amp, this will always be a favourite and I will always use it studio and smaller gig.. It would be replaced

2005 model that I got used. I am the second owner. It is a two channel, three "mode" amp, all tube. Channel one clean, channel two dirt, and channel two with contour for high gain. Footswitch included, for channel switching and reverb on/off. Effects loop, headphone/silent record out, which I never use. The front panel is very simple and looks almost bare bones, but you can dial up a great range of sounds from this simple layout. I play it in my apartment, and let me just say that I can't turn it up at all unless no one else in the building is home, and I have earplugs handy. It's ^%$#@!& LOUD. Louder than a lot of 100 watt halfstacks I've heard.

I play an early nineties deluxe strat plus with lace sensor pickups (neck blue 50's gibson sound, middle silver hot single coil sound, bridge red humbucker sound). This is probably the most versatile amp I've ever played on...I play a variety of styles, and it does them all quite well. The clean is amazing - very fat, rich and full, with very well defined top end. Plenty of headroom before the clean breaks up. My clean channel is a bit noisy, but I think I just need to replace one of the preamp tubes and it should be golden. Even with this minor problem, it still sounds awesome. Mid gain bluesy/overdrive sounds are great too. I can sound like B.B. King in a second using the neck pickup. It NAILS an AC/DC vintage high gain sound in the channel two contour mode with the gain set at 9 o'clock (of course you need a humbucker for this). Very Marshally, but almost sounds better than a Marshall in my opinion. High gain sounds are great too, in ch 2 contour with gain around 2 o'clock to 2:30. You can get a great hard rock/borderline metal sound - think Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness era Smashing Pumpkins. I play a lot of that because I'm in love with Billy Corgan in a non-sexual way. The distortion in this mode is pretty wicked, but it won't do death metal (not that I want it to anyway).

No problems with it so far - like I said, it needs a preamp tube replacement, and the power tubes could stand to be replaced every once in a while, but this is just par for the course with a tube amp. It's built like a freakin Sherman Tank - the thing weighs probably close to 55-60 pounds. Very impressed with Mesa build quality. Even so, the dip$%^&s at UPS (they suck! It was packed to survive nuclear holocaust, and they still damaged it. they also left it sitting outside my apartment when I specifically asked them not to. so ^%$# you, UPS!) managed to damage it during shipping - not a big deal though - just a small split in the vinyl at the top corner.

I've talked to Mesa a couple times, because I was looking for an authorized repair place to repair the damage UPS did, and also asking them about preamp tube problems. They've always been very prompt and courteous. Good company.

This thing is awesome - I love it. If it were lost or stolen I would cry like a little girl, then save up for a new one. As versatile as amps get - sounds great in a variety of situations.

The features on this amp are amazing, the clean and dirty channels and the contour option make this an amp I can use on everything from clean jazz to slightly dirty blues, right up to heavy metal. the back side of the amp offers more options too. the two 8ohms outputs mean if for some reason the 12 inch speaker doesn't do enough I can run two extension cabs from it and add more power even though I don't think I'll need to the headphone jack also puts a grin to my face since I can play late at night and not worry about hearing "Turn that down it's 3 AM!"

I play in a rock band that has everything from clean acoustics, to thrashy sounding songs. on the acoustic stuff I mostly use the clean channel with an ebow produces great clean tone. when we play the harder stuff it's just a tap of the footswitch into to the dirty channel and I'm good to go. as I said above you can use this amp on all different styles of music. I play it with my PRS Custom 24 and each pickup setting I havn't come across a sound I didn't like or if I wasn't 100% happy I would just do some quick tweaking of the nobs and then it's back to perfection.

this amp has been through a bit it's been rented out from where I work, and I know some people don't take care of gear and care even less about gear that isn't theirs, this amp still sounds crisp and not a single problem has come thus far

Havn't had to do this yet

I loaned this amp out from my work a little under a week ago and it's not going back when I brought it to band practice the singer, and rhythem guitar player and I sat down and played with it for a bit to make sure the sound would fit our bands style. after about 3 min we decided it's staying.

I just purchased the 1x12 F-50 Wide Body Combo from Guitar Center for $1099. I would like to say that my initial thought is that it is worth every penny. I needed a very versatile amp and was also considering the Mesa Lone Star special (which has HORRIBLE distorted sounds, so I tried this after and was AMAZED at house great it was). Its basically a 2 channel with a gain boost (contour) switch which can be activated via the footswich which adds a lot of flexibility to this amp. I wish it had 3 full channels but I can't complain because the contour switch does add a lot to the sound so it is almost a 3 channel amp. I was orginally looking for something in the 30 watt range. But this sounded much better than the f-30 and I couldn't pass it up.

For my playing style...I need something that can play alternative, country, rock, oldies, pretty much anything BUT metal. I like Weezer, and Blink 182 as my favorite modern bands and play alot of their stuff. But like I said I need versatility to play just about anything and this amp provides it. I use a Fender American Deluxe Telecaster plugged in direct (no pedals) and get AMAZING tones out of this amp. The cleans are absolutely beautiful with good reverb sound on the amp. I am very impressed by the cleans. The 2 channel had all the options I needed in a good combo amp. The distortion is very crisp and has a good deep tone to it. It sounds very good and has lots of sustain. The contour switch kicks in some more gain/sustain and seems to give it a little more dynamics in the separation of the lows and highs. I was somewhat concerned up front that I wouldn't have good low end sound from a 1x12 but this amp quickly changed my mind. It sounds great. This amp is loud and I couldn't imagine playing with anything more. This will be perfect for me. It has very little noise but you can hear that its on. The reverb sounds very good! Overall, a very versatile great sounding amp all in a small but loud package.

I can't see having much of a problem with it other than the tubes needing replacing and maybe some nicks in the tolex. I will probably use this without a backup when I start playing out but will bring some spare tubes just in case. This amp is built pretty solid. Also comes with a nice cover to keep it nice looking.

Comes with a 5 year warranty on the amp that is transferrable. I haven't dealt with them on this amp but I have called there and emailed several times about other products and questions and they were extremely helpful.

I've been playing about 12 years and own my Amer Deluxe Tele (2005) and this amp along with a Taylor 30th Anniv 814 Acoustic. I just sold my American Deluxe Fat Strat to get the tele which sounds much better through this amp. When looking for an amp I was very concerned about the tone. I first bought a Mesa Triaxis/2:90 rack setup with TC G-Major and Rack Tuner and Mesa 2x12 cabinet. It sounded great but it was WAY too much to carry around and pretty complex for my needs right now. I sold that and bought an Orange Rockerverb 50 Head and 2x12 cabinet which I sent back. It wasn't the sound I was looking for (it was more of that classic midrange Brittish type sound). Then I went to Guitar Center and played a few combos like the F-30 and F-50, Mesa Lone Star Special, Fender Twin Amp, and a few more. This was the most versatile and complete sounding amp with the best overall tones out of any I tried and it was a great price (well...compared to the $3200 i spent on the rack setup and the $2300 on the orange amp). The best thing about this amp is it is very portable but has lots of good features, awesome tones, and is a good price. TRY ONE! You will want to buy it...guaranteed! (I use a Fender Amer Deluxe telecaster to get these tones....another great buy!) THIS AMP IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!

Amp was made in 2005. Features 2 channels ( clean/dirty) with a Contour feature on the footswitch that really adds some clarity to each channel when engaged. There is a headphone jack which is ok for clean sounds but awful ( as all are) for distorted tones. I am not sure I have much use for this function. The amp also allows for a recording function which disables the external speaker and allows to you to plug straight in for recording. Have been able to get some nice tones using Live 4 on my MAC.

I wish this amp had a "solo" function/boost like my Dual Rectifier has.

This amp is 50watts. Plenty loud for club playing. Not a great pick for a bedroom amp even though I do use it as such. This amp is proof that 100 watt heads are overkill unless you are playing Madison Sqaure Garden. More than enough power to handle any gig on my local circuit.

I primarily use an Ernie Ball Musicman and an EVH Wolfgang. I also have a Les Paul black beauty, Les Paul 1960's Neck, PRS Singlecut, Mike Mushok Sig baritone guitar, a Neil Zaza cort NZ-1 and an old Jackson soloist. I play modern covers ( Nickelback, Incubus, Disturbed,etc) , original instrumental music and dabble in jazz.

The clean channel on this amp is excellent. I wish my Dual Rec had this good of a channel. Sounds great for jazz and blues. The distorted channel is not as aggressive as a dual rectifier. However, I run a Zakk Wylde Overdrive pedal in front of this and get all the tone I can stand for modern rock and shredding. Without a pedal in front I am not so keen on the channel. Of course I feel the same about my dual rectifier. Put a TS-9 or Zakk Wylde overdrive in front of this amp and you will not be disappointed.

No troubles yet. My dual rectifier died on stage a few weeks ago( turned out to be routine pre amp tube issues ) so I picked this up as a backup. I run this amp thro a Mesa Boogie 2x 12 cabinet or a 4x12 cabinet. I may use this instead of my dual rec for portability and better clean channels.

Most Mesa reliability issues come down to routine maintenance and tube changing. I have had no issues with this amp yet but I know from using a dual rec for 5 years that these amp are easy to maintain.

5 year warranty on this amp. I have had to have my dual rec serviced and Mesa was great about getting me to an authorized repair shop. In the end it was blown preamp tubes( I had only been changing rectifier and power tubes and was too ignorant too realize the 5 preamp tubes that I never changed in 5 years.). Mesa was very helpfull despite my stupidity.

I have been playing for 22 years. I have an extensive pedal collection and use : Vox Clyde Mccoy wah> Digitech wammy> Zakk Wylde Overdrive > Analogman Comprossor> Boss Tu-2 Tuner> Boss Noise Suppresor> Analogman modified Boss TR-2 Tremolo> Analogman Mini-chorus pedal. I always have delay on ( boss DD-20) in the FX loop.

I would consider buying another one if mine was stolen. I wish I could take the clean channel out of this and put it in my dual rectifier. The distorted channel is good but not as aggressive as a dual rectifier. I wish it had a solo boost.

Bought new 11/05. You know the features by now and it's plenty amp for me. The only feature I wish it had was a volume control for when the contour is kicked in.

First off, the last poster must have been playing a defective amp. The clean channel on this thing is pretty amazing to me. I play with a guy who has an old fender twin. The sound is so similiar its scary. I hate when peaple review their amp and say it has Fender cleans. My last tube amp had pretty nice cleans but I could easily hear the difference. This is a bit tougher. It's been very quiet with my humbucker guitars on both channels.

The lead channel also suits me well. I'm a classic rock guy that ocassionally likes to get a little heavy. I've yet to turn the gain past 10 o'clock. This is a good pure rock sound and just hitting the contour from here makes it scream. It'll sustain for hours.

Two months. So far so good. I'd bring fuses and tubes to a gig.

Other than being slightly overpriced, I'm totally happy with it so far. I've said enough.

F- 50 made in 02/03, with the black shadow 12 inch celestion

I play in a part time clubbing blues r and b band- was thinking I would get rid of my peavey classic 50 and relace it with the f-50- use a strat mainly. Tried one at rehearsal. sounds like shit, could not get a decent clean tone out this amp no matter how hard I tried. I play a range of swing, jump, and chicago blues with some rock material thrown in. The only thing this amp was good for was highly distorted lead. I was amazed at how bad this amp is. I am so glad I didnt spend the dough and rented it first. The store wanted $800 for the amp.

maybe mesa is only for thrashers that want muddy sounding distortion.

?

?

this was a terrible soundng amp, all the low end notes were just mush and sound just rumbled- not tight at all.

Features already reviewed. If your looking at this then you know what the features are. Pretty simple layout, 2 channels, contour mode and reverb.

Oh my god. When I got this amp in the mail (widebody) I let it fire up for about 10 minutes and let it rip. Soo good.
It's not overly bright, it's fat, full, and round. The slightest movement in the gain knob can make a whole world of difference. The amp is very versatile, it also takes to pedals well.
There is a bit of noise, but all tube amps are a bit noisy. I expected it. It is very managable noise anyway.
The clean channel is one of the best I have heard. So is the contour mode. This amp compliments my playing style soo well (Alternative rock).
It can get muddy when I need it, it can shimmer when I need it, so NOT a one trick pony.
The Speaker, or th esound that comes from the speaker is very dimensional. Very Big. Loads of depth. 3D. It blows the shit out of my AVT150H and AVT412. More rich sounding, and it brings out the sustain in my Gibson SG Standard. Makes my Fender Stratocaster sound like the guitar it is.
I was thinking about replacing all the tubes, or maybe just th epower tubes with electro harmonix. I heard it makes it a tad more clear, not that it is unclear, but it could use a little bit of rounding out. Nothing a change of tubes can't handle. I can wait though.
It's an amazing thing. Playing this amp actually makes me feel like a better musician.

This thing looks like it will last a long time. Regular upkeep is needed, as it is for every tube amp. Kinda like an oil change in a car.
I will be using this live, and have no worries.

Havn't dealt with em.

I am soo glad I bought this amp. It gave me motivation and a deep breath of fresh air. I wanted a stripped back amp with very little components. That is what I got. Two channels of bliss. The reverb is ok, not the best, but it IS analog so that's good. I love the recording output. I love the simple layout. I was soo sick of the billion knob setup of my AVT150H. This mesa boogie makes the marshall AVT series sound like a transister radio. Even though it's 50 watts it is more than enough to blow the eardrums right out of any crowds skull. I plan on adding a Marshall 1960AX cabinet soon. That will complete my setup for a while. Maybe later I will get the Soldano Hot Rod 50. But those days are far ahead. I am totally happy with this combo, and will be satiated for a long while.

I bought this 2002/2003 Mesa F-50 combo off of ebay almost 2 years ago.

2 channels, with a bright pull-switch on the clean channel, and a boosted lead sound on the distortion channel. Onboard spring reverb, which kicks some serious ass. An effects loop that I've never used. Recording output and speaker mute.

It has a little too much power for my needs. The 50-watt rating is over-kill for the mic'd shows I usually play. The volume controls aren't very useful at lower volume settings, going from too-quiet to far-too-loud within a few degrees' turn.

Generally, it's taken care of my needs pretty well over the past 2 years.

Rating:
Clean Channel -> 9
Distortion Channel -> 5 (through the onboard speaker), 4 (through my Mesa 4x12), 6 (through a Marshall 4x12)

I play a 2002 Gibson double-cut LP, with some really hot pickups.

This amp is definitely more suited to a rhythm guitarist.

Clean
-------
The clean channel sound amazing, going from pure clean to moderately distorted with a flick of the gain control. This is perfect for my jazzy-ska rhythm style. Once the amp has been warmed up for several hours, it generates the greatest clean sound I've ever heard.

Distortion
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The distortion channel is why this amp gets a low overall score; it's terribly muddy and undefined. When it's time for my band to switch into power-chord chorus, I always find myself wishing it were louder, with more bite.

There are 2 modes of operation on the distortion channel: standard and mid-boost. The standard distortion is useless; it sounds like a pillow has been placed in front of the speaker. The mid-boost mode adds more volume and mids, resulting in a slightly more defined sound, I use this mode exclusively.

I've tried cutting the mid and bass controls, raising the treble, playing through different speakers, but nothing will entirely get rid of the lame mud. Even if this did help, you're not supposed to fight your amp for good tone.

Playing through a Marshall 4x12 helps the situation quite a bit, though.

Speaker
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The 12" Black Shadow speaker isn't the greatest, either. It flabs out on the bass at the high end of the volume spectrum.

I've never had any major problems with this amp. I have a few peeves, however.

The fuse is difficult to seat properly in it's socket. It's come loose on me a couple of times, once right before a set which caused me to switch amps.

The 12" Black Shadow speaker flabs out with too much bass at high volumes.

On the plus side, the amp is built like a freakin' tank. It gets mistreated as all regularly gigged gear does

I've never dealt with Mesa.

The previous owner ordered a replacement LED directly from the company and they shipped it to him for free, so that's a pretty good sign.

This amp isn't the cure to the search for perfect tone, but I'll probably keep it because of the clean channel.

Very simple control scheme 2 channel amp with a pull bright function for the clean channel and a contour function for the dirty channel. Although this is 50 watts it is almost as loud as a 100 watt marshall stack. Finally, it does have a reverb tank.

This amp is quite versatile but won't nail any death metal/heavy metal tones. It can go as heavy as metallica. So basically, from country to hard rock is covered. The distortion is as heavy as the dual rectifier but with a much different tone.

Too soon to tell.

Warranty is excellent and Mesa people are easy to contact compared to all other major amp manufacturers save Line 6 perhaps.

This is an excellent amp for shows and practicing.

2004...see Mesa website for details.

2 channels, but the 3rd contour one really kicks in some Marsall-esqe/recto influence there. More than enough power. Clean is the best I've heard...up to this point anyway.

Beautiful clean sounds. Suits my style perfectly, because i wanted a stripped down amp, with little options like mesas other amps (tweed, crunch,lead switches etc..) they all sound juicy, like in the lonestar, but this is simple, yet has all the tone u ever need for classic rock, and maybe some high gain influence, although that is NOT what this amp is meant for. More like a 3 channel amp really.

Your vol knob on the guitar has a great deal of influence as sell, and you really need to find your sweet spots with this amp. More than loud enough for club and some bigger venues. No issues there. Im thinking of an extension cab, like the recto 2x12 for some closed back addition to the open on this combo.

I guess so, but after getting it, I noticed the clean channel had some hissy noise creeping into it, but , like usual, and what happens 90% of the time, its the tubes. Mesa has sent me 2 new 12ax7's (actually not the problem, but too late, they sent them anyway) and 2 x6L6's since one of the 6L6 was giving some white noise. It was intermittent , but driving me a bit batty nevertheless. Now its back to bliss, sounds fantastic. Im really starting to explore this amp more now with my 59 R.I Les Paul with Burstbucker pickups in place (original were '57's but not quite on par as the burstbuckers, and they are more true to original 59 pick up specs anyway)

Mesa is second to none. For that reason alone, plus the fact that Randall and team do this because they love doing it, puts them at the top of the heap.

Great amp. Nice weight (wont break your back) and if you cant find a useable tone, or setting with this amp, then you may as well pack it in friend. If your into death metal, high gain, get a recto, and dont be writing reviews here saying the amp sucks cuz you cant get that Linkin park type of distortion,(although contour kicked in is pretty close). Been playing for 22 years or so, and have a PRS custom 24, Les Paul R.I 59, Stratocaster, early 80's Squier Tele (great axe!!) and a Yamaha 1984 SA800(complete rip off of Gibson 335, and way better built compared to today). I play all sorts of styles, yet its my own, with influences of Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton, Santana, and whoever else.
Mesa is great. The only other compelling amp I would like to try is an Orange Rockerverb 50, and the new Vox AC30CC but i have heard some issues with that chinese box. Orange costs a lot more and uses the 6V6 tubes, which as far as I know, are very close to 6L6 (fender) I would like therefore to look into an EL34 based amp, and maybe a hear a Stilleto calling me,,,,the deuce to compliment the 6L6 sound. Could switch back and forth, or combine them.

Just as a response to Lufla below...for one, I'm sorry you had such a bad experience...or maybe your expectations were artificially high.

Anyway, I've had my F-50 nearly two years now, and still love it...and it's one of the first production models...before the widebodies were made. (Original review below)

My effects loop is dead quiet...always has been.

Bottom end...I've got plenty of it. If you need more, run it through a multi-speaker closed back cab.

Tone controls...I will grant you that the tone controls are very subtle at high gain settings...but most other tube amps are the same way at high gain. But even a modestly discerning ear can perceive the difference and adjust appropriately. On the clean channels, I have more than adequate tone control.

Reverb...I agree with you here...to me, this is my biggest complaint about the amp...the reverb is very dry and sterile...but for the tones I get out of the amp, I can live with it.

As for the clean channel, it's one of the best I've heard!

As for "Chunk" when you hit the strings, I get plenty. But keep in mind this is a 1x12 cab...if you really want chunk, hook up to a 4x12 closed back!

Fuses...I'm still on my original fuse, and I've cranked the thing (to my ears disdain) on numerous occasions...that's two years, no fuse problems!

No cracking coming out of my speaker...unless the gain is cranked, then that's pretty normal for any amp.

Excellent...have called them a couple of times and they are awesome...even sent me a replacement part at no cost when the fault was obviously user error!

This amp won't do everything, but I've played lots of amps...even boutique amps, and have yet to find one that will. This amp blows away most of the competition in it's price range, including any Marshall DSL or TSL combo, or Fender Hot Rod series.

My biggest complaint about this amp, besides the reverb issue, is that the low gain sounds aren't quite warm enough for me (wouldn't measure up to a Dr. Z amp)...though it can be reasonably warmed up with an external EQ pedal, or you can run a OD pedal for that, too.

I bought this amp in the 2004. The F-50 has two indipendent channels, but the contour option on the crunch channel allows you to have almost 3 different channels. The push/pull gain control for the clean channel enables an useful bright mode. Controls are quite basic but not so intuitive (tone control are very effective and may radically change your sound); anyway, once you have found the eq. that best fits your instrument, you can get most of the sounds simply changing the gain control.
The amp has also send/return ports and the possibility to drive an external cab, which I plan to do in the future.

The sounds are huge. They tend in general to be a bit cold (e.g. compared to Marshall), but you casn dial in a wide range of sounds, from beautiful vintage sounds to high gain metal sounds. It can be very bluesy if you want.
The clean channel is beautiful and very dynamic, even though less loud than the crunch channel. With gain upper than 12:00 this channel is a bit crunchy, and it may be not so easy to have very clean sounds at high volumes. Generally, when playing with my band I keep channel 2 at 9:00 and channel 1 at 12:00 to match the volumes (though this is probably due to the dynamic - using a compressor would probaly easily match the volumes).
The amp anyway is *very* loud, and the best sounds need a good volume: not very suited for playing it at home.

Very good construction, even if currently I'm having some troubles with the output valves, which tended to be a bit microphonic.

Good support until now.

I've been playing this amp for one year. In my opinion is not so easy to get used to this little beast, but when you lear how to use it you have a complete control over your sound. The only things I'd like to see improved is the overall volume of the clean channel and a more general warm feel.

I have one of the early smaller body F-50s -- bought it used from original owner -- in mint condition. Features have been reviewed -- I think this has all the features I could want in a basic amp -- nicely voiced, yet different channels. More than enough power for just about any situation -- i play in a variety band and this suits me well.

Cleans are simply amazing. OD channel is quite good and sensitive to pickups, attack, and gain. Again, really quite versatile. It is a tighter OD than I am used to -- nice, but tight -- less sag, I guess. The versatility is why it warrants the 10.

no problems -- i gig without backup.

have not dealt with Mesa.

Been playing 30 years -- I love the amp for versatility and size -- again I do not have the widebody version -- it's in the F-30 size box with the F-50 chassis. I think only a few hundred of these were made -- works for me. Very good amp for the money -- especially on the used market.

1x12 Widebody Combo with 50 Watts Class A/B Power (2 Sovtek 6L6GC, 4 Sovtek 12AX7) and a Celestion Black Shadow C90 Speaker. Hand-built in the Petaluma, CA in 2003. Two fully independent channels with independent Gain, Bass, Mid, Treble, Reverb, and Master controls for each channel. The 3 button footswitch controls Channel 1, Channel 2, Contour, and Reverb. Pull Bright (Channel 1), Contour Switch (Channel 2), Long Tank Spring Reverb, Parallel FX Loop w/Mix Control, Record/Headphone Output, Silent Record Mute Switch, Slip Cover (a nice touch).

Purchased new in February 2004. The F-50 is very versatile and is easily able to cover the Jazz/Blues/Folk/Rock/Pop I play. I wish it had more reverb control (mix, dwell, etc.), but it?s just not that kind of amp (i.e. jazz-oriented). I infrequently use the Contour Switch, which is essentially a switchable mid-scoop with bass and treble boost, but it?s pretty effective as a boost for distorted solos. I use this amp at home and at band practice. It?s ridiculously loud and easily keeps up with a full band with power to spare. It does lack a some of the amenities that Boogie likes to include on their higher-end amps, such as a 3rd channel, user adjustable tube bias, switchable tube/solid-state rectification, a pentode/triode switch, a lead boost, footswitchable effects loop, adjustable poweramp output/attenuation, etc. So, features-wise it's pretty basic for a modern high-gain tube amp. It has no onboard effects, but I consider that a plus. I give it a 7.5, which rounds to 8.

I use it with a 2000 Hamer Artist with 2 Seymour Duncan Seth Lover humbuckers, a 1993/2001 USA Stratocaster with 3 Fender singlecoils, and a 1965 Baldwin Double-Six with 3 Burns Tri-Sonic singlecoils. The amp is able to cover the Jazz/Blues/Folk/Rock/Pop that I like to play and sounds great with every guitar I play through it. I immediately swapped the stock Sovtek tubes for Electro-Harmonix pre and power tubes, which made Channel 1 sound much fuller and sweeter and Channel 2 less harsh. Channel 2 always has some background hiss, but that seems to be the norm for high gain amps. Channel 1 also has some background hiss at higher volumes. The background hiss on both channels is completely unnoticeable when playing. Also, both channels will generate microphonic feedback if you combine extreme gain and treble settings, but the manual specifically warns about that. Channel 1 can go from squeaky clean to super fat and slightly crunchy and Channel 2 can go from on-the-edge to brutal near-Rectifier distortion. The Gain knob on Channel 2 is very sensitive and quickly jumps from almost clean to lots of gain, so it can be difficult dial in a nice in between sound with the amp alone; I need to use the guitar?s volume knob to fine-tune the distortion. I give it a 9.5, which rounds to 10.

This amp is VERY solidly built. I?ve my F-50 for 1 ? years now and have never had any problems with the amp (tubes don?t count). In particular, I?ve never had the fuse problems a few reviewers have encountered. I originally replaced the stock power tubes with Svetlana Winged C's, but one quickly developed a short. So I replaced both with Electro-Harmonix power tubes, which are very sturdily built, and I haven't had a problem since. (In case anyone?s curious, I heard no difference between the Svetlana?s and E-H?s.)

I called Mesa/Boogie to inquire about the best way to utilize a multi-effects pedal with it. I got their voicemail, so I left a message and they called back within an hour. Not only did they give me great advice about the pedal, but I happened to mention the power tube failure in passing and, with no questions asked, they sent me a new set of power tubes. Also, their 5-year transferable warranty is tops. Other companies should take note. Quite simply, Mesa/Boogie has phenomenal customer service. And it gives me an extra sense of security knowing that I live little more than an hour from their Petaluma factory. This category gets an unqualified 10.

I've been playing guitar for about 6 years, electric for the last 2. I also own a 2001 Hamer Artist, a mongrel Fender American Standard Stratocaster, a 1966 Baldwin Double-Six, and a Zoom GFX-8 multi-effects pedal. If lost or stolen, I check out other amps, especially the Mesa/Boogie Lonestar and Mark IV (both are pricey, though). But I?d probably end up buy this amp again because it?s reasonably priced, exceedingly well made, produces a wide variety of great sounds, has a great warranty, and is made right here in California. The only downsides are that it?s relatively heavy for a 1x12? combo and has more gain than I really need, so the amp could be a little less hissy. Some feature that I wish it had are an adjustable boost switch for each channel, a post effects loop graphic EQ, more reverb control (mix, dwell, etc), and a variable output power switch so that you could get power amp distortion at less than ear splitting volumes. All but the latter are rectifiable with pedals, however.

I?d like to end with a note to the misguided reviewers who are disappointed because the F-50 doesn?t sound like a Rectifier: The gain structure of the F-50 is intentionally different from and less brutal than Rectifiers. Furthermore, no 50 watt 1x12? combo is going to sound like a 100 watt head pumping through one or more 4x12? stacks. Mesa claims that this amp will do rock, not nu-metal (or whatever you call that soulless melodically and harmonically challenged garbage), and it does so in spades. If you want that ultra-heavy Rectifier sound, buy a Rectifier and a few stacks for your down-tuned 7-string I-wish-I-could-play-bass-but-I-have-no-soul riffs. Don?t try to save money and whine when you don?t get the sound you weren?t promised and apparently couldn?t afford. Also, it doesn?t sound like a Marshall (though it?ll come close enough for me). If you want a Marshall, buy one. If you want a great sounding versatile amp with a unique voice, buy an F-50. I give it a 9.5, which rounds to 10.

I bought this amp in 2003. The amp, theoretically, would be versatile enough for my styles, but see next point "sounds". I play mostly rock and blues with no effects excect a wha. The features are already familiar to you, so I won't repeat them. I give it a 5 because there's nothing special about the features the amp has (considering the price).

I use a Framus Diabolo Custum with Seymor Duncan Picks and a Gibson Nighthawk Custom right through the amp, that's all. These guitars (Framus rocks) are both very very good (I've had a few)
My Mesa experience is as follows: (Only based at the F-50)
If you see a live video (e.g. Linkin Park, Dream Theater, etc) you see these people rock through Boogie amps, and you think, wow this sound is huge, I need to own one of these. So I went straight to my next Boogie dealer and bought the F-50, because I needed a versatile Combo and Mesa Engineerung claimed in it's brochures that this one would be the perfect choice to rock. At first I was really satisfied with the sounds coming out of the amp , but as days went by I recognized that I was blinded by the light.
Clean Channel: Sounds well but I owned at the same time a fender Deluxe 112 and this one was as good as the Boogie (1700 Euro to 700 Euro)
Gain/Highgain Channel: Nice, if you like Santana (in fact, even this combo doesn't catch the sound), but there is no bottom and the chords always sound loose, theres no "chunk" when you hit the strings. (Meanwhile I am working in a Music Store and have heard several F-50s but they're all the same). Every crappy amp modelling digital device gets that better.
EQ Section: Dial in what you want, but nearly nothing happens. You could donate the knobs for the poor, because the amp doesn't need them.
Reverb: Clean: lower standard. Distortion: which reverb ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
Effects loop: This loop is humming (not only at my Combo, but also at five out of five others) Poorly done.

This thing (and some others, too) eats fuses like candy. Need I say more ?? Furthermore there is a "cracking" coming ot of the speaker, when not playing.

Never dealt with them, but I know some of the german distributors. They are wrong, when recommending a Boogie amp!!!

I play since 8 years and I am gigging seriously. Because of working in a music store I have heard and owned a lot of stuff and I just can say that the Boogie F-50 was the worst peace of equipment I have ever owned. BOOGIE SELLS A DREAM TO YOU BUT NO REALITY.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
If you are interseted in guitar amps rather than in (*got no name for that*) I would recommend everything from Engl, Hughes & Kettner Triamp, Diezel and the Micro Cube (for practice).
Especially for all of you in Europe: Mesa is way too expensive for a bunch of badly wired "things". Buy something different !!! There's no American Dream of guitar amps, but good old Europe.....
Consider the PRICE (1699,- Euro), now I wouldnt buy it for 300,-
And: very important to know: A F-50 with guarantee and new sells in Ebay Europe for about 900,- Euro, so you see what the real value of this product is: about 50 percent off,of the recommendet price. Do you know a product that looses faster it's value. Please donate the money to the poor, rather than spending it to this company.
They are kidding at us !!!!!

50 watt, all tube, 2 channel amp. The dirty channel has a contour setting for lead boost. 1 x 12" speaker.

Each channel has independant settings for GAIN, TREBLE, MIDDLE, BASS, REVERB and MASTER VOLUME (in that order).

Effects loop included (with mix control), along with a silent recording switch for the line out.

This amp is simple, but includes everything I need and nothing that I don't.

Finally, the included footswitch has 3 buttons. Channel select, Contour (only takes effect when on the lead channel), and reverb on/off.

I'm using it for playing in a church band, as well as my rock band. So I'm using it to cover everything from hymns to heavy rock.

First of all this amp is surprisingly low on noise, for a tube amp.

The clean channel is amazing, the 6L6 tubes give it a "fender like" clean sound, with the gain on 5-6 it gives that great fat clean sound. Winding the gain to 8-10, gives an awesome SRV, clean but dirty blues sound.

As for the lead channel, it has gain in abundance, I tend to keep the gain around 5, which gives a thick overdrive, perfect for chunky rhythm guitar, you'll be surprised that it's just a single 12" speaker doing all the work. Kicking in the contour gives it a sweet, singing lead tone that's just the perfect boost.

The only slight (and it is very slight) issue I have is that the volumes for the clean and dirty channels don't quite match up. When playing a song that has clean and dirty parts, the clean channel will need to be about 2 notches higher to match up.

Finally, this amp is plenty loud enough. Using the dirty channel, I gigged with it on 4 to a hall with 200 people in, I had to turn it down!!

This amp is built to last, everything about it suggests typical Mesa quality.

I think this amp is very reliable. As long as you always carry a spare set of valves and fuses, I can't see that they'll every be a problem.

Have not had to deal with them. Although the manual is very well written, and I've heard nothing but good things.

But as I've not dealt with them myself, I'll leave no opinion.

I've been playing for 8 years, and have played my Variax, US strat, Les Paul and Ibanez S1220 through it.

My set up is Guitar -> Crybaby -> Jekyll & Hyde Overdrive -> Adrenalinn -> Digitech Whammy -> Line 6 DL4 -> F50. I love it!

At #1200, it's not cheap, but if it were stolen or lost, I'd get another one I'm sure. It's easily the most versatile amp I've ever played.

Crafted in Pentaluma in the year of our lord 2004. Your basic, widebody F50. Combat black, handbuilt military sound machine.

This F50 gets down and dirty in an orgy of Jackplug intercourse with one gretsch Tennasee Rose Special, one Epiphone Elite LP and when shes feeling fruity, mainly weeknights, a Fender Jaguar with SD quarter Pounders. (Thats a lot of variety going in, and a lot more when you start turning the dials.)

I like most here wanted something unique. I wanted something that was made with care, consideration and above all made out of passion as opposed profit. All my life I have taken great pleasure in simply playing guitar. I get lost in it, vanish and feel reedemed on rentry into earths orbit.

This amp sounds like me. It takes my fingerprints and mine alone. If an amp can be an instrument then mesa are its makers. Each and every sound you ever need is in here, you just have to stop fiddling and play.

I have used it for gigs and I depend on it weekly. There are fuse blowing issues, which can be solved by simply uping the fuse ampage by a few decimals.
On the tube front, well lets say she burns like a bright star and consiquently burns tubes faster than most amps i've owned. I have no quarm about such things. I pay for new strings weekly, I pay for petrol in my bike, I pay for the power in my walls, I live in a world which costs money. The Mesa is a thoroughbred and shes needs to be looked after. Tubes are tubes. Use them and replace them.

Mesa are stunning on support. I use email contact and each time a response comes back within 24 hours. ( I suggest writing emails as it a more formal, logged method of enquiry.) People tend to respond better than phones. Ringing up and screaming will get nobody nowhere.)

So far Ms F50 has only required the basic servicing of tubes. She has traveled Europe with me, she will travel to America with me. She was made for me.

If she was taken away from me I would console myslef by remebering the times we spent together, recanting the many melodies she would sing and sleep well in the thought she were making someone else equally as happy. Then, like all lost loves, i'd go out and get another one.

Mine has a custom Llama wool covering and the knobs are hollowed out and laquered bumble-bees...

Ok, maybe not but I couldn't think of anything new to add!

Built like a tank with slightly less armour and slightly more knobs on the front.

OK .. here goes. Got it home, loved the clean channel, HATED the overdrive channel. Not very happy until ....

This is the first amp I have ever owned than needed breaking in. Once it had been used at gigging levels for a few weeks it was transformed. Now I love both channels equally. Odd huh?

This amp is exceptionally versatile ... Does work better with a Boogie open back 1x12 cab, works equally well with a Marshall 4x12.

I use PRS guitars (CE22 and Artist Pack Single Cut Trem ... goddam you Gibson!!!!!) and it makes them both sing. I've even retired my trusty Orange AD15 and Cornford MK50H as the Boogie does the lot.

Gets a 9 because of the first week stress!!

Nuff said.

Have never managed to blow a Boogie up. Not planning on doing it now either.

Never needed them (touch wood..)

I strayed from Boogie for a couple of years but now I'm back. You know what they say, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. For the money it's phenominal. My only adverse comment (in Europe at least) is that the rear metal guard makes it very difficult to get to the pedal-board and power leads .. however, I'd rather this than smash the valves on a regular basis.

Everybody allready knows the features, so I'm not gonna list them here.

The features are pretty simple, but give bang for your buck. Everything is practical and easy to use.

The only clear drawback is that there is no light for the reverb on the footswitch (can't see if it's on or off).

The silent practice mode is a killer aswell. I use this a lot in the evenings. It doesn't capture the true essence of the F-50, but it's pretty good for headphones.

I run my ESP LTD EC-400AT through a GE-7 equalizer and 535Q wah to the F-50 combo. Man it sounds good! The cruch is so schweet. And the lead tone is exactly what I was looking for.

The distortion is not as brutal as in a Mesa Recto, but that wasn't what I was after. The distortion is more suited for oldschool heavy / speedmetal.

This combo is insanely loud, I can't crank it at all because it would destroy my neighbours.

The clean channel is very crisp, but I don't use it much. It's very dynamic. It has a pull-bright switch, but I don't really notice any difference with it being engaged.

It nails very large variety of sounds. From country to (oldschool) metal.

I'm giving it a 10 because I just absolutely love it. You have to try it out first if you're a metalhead.

I bought this badboy couple months ago. Haven't had to contact anybody. Working just fine.

It is very well built. Everything is top quality.

I'm not gonna rate it, because I haven't had it for very long.

Haven't dealt with them. Warranty is 5 years if I remember correctly.

I've been playing for 10 months now. The F-50 is propably going to be my main amp for years to come. I was thinking of getting the Mark IV combo, but it was almost double the price.

The F-50 is a very versitile compact power house at a very reasonable price.

2 channels with contour, reverb, footswitch, 50 watts, 1x12, effects loop, headphone jack, 1 6l6 powertubes, the amp was made in 2004, i play mostly rock, alt/hardrock mixture....suits all styles beautifully...plus the clean channel is a nice bonus which i was able to use in the broadway show at my school "guys and dolls", great jazzy clean, it can also be distorted by pulling the gain knob...i use this amp in small venues running through a 4x12 marshall jcm 800 cab, plently loud enough!!!!!!!

i use a godin lg with p -90s.....surprisingly still sounds awesome, (gibsons sound much better however!), i prefer to have the clean slightly distorted, and it sounds great...i use crunch on channel 2, i find contour is too much, so i use it only for lead parts, it can be noisy, so i use a BOSS NS-2, and it does the job. this amp can basically cover any style your looking for, rock, metal, jazz, blues classic rock....you name it!! very versatile amp....easy to get those clean ployd sounds!!

very reliable...8 months so far and original tubes...still sounds the same as when i bought it, BEATUIFUL!

? duno, never talked to them, but the warranty seems pretty convincing

I have been playing for 7 years, i also own a marshall jcm 800 head, and this little thing KILLS IT!! maybe ill but it in the 100watt head version, ITS THAT GOOD! wanna buy a PRS next thought...maybe when i get the money in 5 years! to anyone looking for something loud, simple, reliable, and very versatile.....i would strongly recommend this amp. ps...the cabinet makes it sound better

2003 f50.
No mater what tipe of music you play,this amp is far to loud!
I never use channel 2,its imposible to get a decent sound.If anyone says they can get a good sound out of this channel,they dont the first thing about guitar sounds.
I have used this amp in theatres holding 1600+ people and the dam thing is still to loud.

I use a 2003 Gibson sg standard/stright in no effects.
I play mostly rock,AC/DC,MAIDEN etc.The sound I use for AC/DC is ok its the third channel with the gain at about 4.
But again i must stress (THIS AMP IS FAR TO LOUD).
For those of you out there who have some big gig experience you will know that valve amp have to be pushed to get the #1100 worth of sound that you pay for.This is imposible with this amp.I have played in some of the best venues in my country and never had this amp above louder than 3.Any louder than 3 and the drummer might as well stay at home.I will give this 3 purly because buying this amp was one of the biggest mistakes ive ever made.(Dont buy this amp unless your playing huge outdoor gigs all of the time)

Frigin fuses!

Never want to speek to them,have no respect for them after taking my hard earned money for this 100% impractial Amp.

I have been playing for over 20 years and am an experianced big gig performer.The sound is ok,nothing beter to say about it.Clean channel is the best.2 is rubbish 3 is not bad,but i have very little need for this amp.Its like buying a car that goes to 200 mph, and only being able get it to the 70mph speed limit.
RUBBISH.IMPRACTIAL.COLD.IMPRACTIAL.IMPRACTIAL.IMPRACTIAL!

50 Watts, Class A/B Power / 2x6L6, 4x12AX7, 2 Fully Independent Channels, 3 Footswitchable Sounds (Channel 1, 2 & 2 w/Contour), independent Gain, Bass, Mid, Treble, Reverb & Master Controls per Channel, Pull Bright (Channel 1), Contour Switch (Channel 2), Long Tank Spring Reverb, Parallel FX Loop w/Mix Control, Record / Headphone Output, Silent Record Mute Switch, 3 Button Footswitch (Channel 1/2, Reverb & Contour) and a slip cover. The F-50 is plenty powerful for small and medium-sized clubs. You might want an extension cab if you have a loud drummer or if you want a tighter/fuller sound. True to Mesa form, the controls are very sensitive. Learn to use descretion. Spend a little time getting used to the controls (especially the treble and mid) and you will be rewarded with a lot of great sounds. Compared to a Mark IV, it's a piece of cake. Compared to an old Fender Bassman, it is quite complex. Just depends on what you are used to. Most players used to modern amps will have no trouble with it.

I use a '98 American Telecaster with a Duncan '59 (neck) and a Duncan Nashville Tele (bridge), a stock 2000 Les Paul Standard, and a '48 Supro Lap Steel. Sounds wonderful with both single coils and humbuckers. I bought the F-50 to play with a cover band that plays a broad range of material--Don Ho, Led Zeppelin, Carpenters, Buck Owens, Funkadelic (all over the map!!). The F-50 does it all wonderfully. Especially country! Now I use pedals for fun, not for necessity. I can easily gig with the amp alone and have a great sound for everything. The clean channel is the star here. Very "Fendery"-- clean and sweet at lower volume, raunchy when you crank it. Think Fender Bassman with more control. However, this channel can be a bit noisy at low volume, but you won't notice it on stage. The high-gain channel is a nice bonus. It will do the pretty Mesa sing thing, but can also get quite raunchy. The contour function is really nice. I think of it as a "modern" switch. It pumps extra gain to the channel and imparts a soft "V" eg. I use it for solos and modern rock sounds. It adds a lot of flexibility to this simple layout. The reverb is pretty but subtle. Those used to Fender reverb might be a bit disappointed. But it does sound very good. Independent controls on each channel are a welcome addition.

Mesa gear is very durable. Unfortunately, their tubes are not. I have had horrible luck with their tubes going bad. This is my second F-50. The first one made weird microphonic squeals that sent my German Shepherd running for the door. Then the reverb crapped out. I sent it back for another one. Same thing. I swapped out preamp tubes until it stopped. Problem solved. Now that I've sorted it out, everything has been great. Mesa does not recommend using other brands of tubes, but there are ways around it.

Great customer support. They were with me all the way.

The F-50 is a great amp for those who want a lot of good sounds in a simple layout. It has more of a vintage voice than a Recto, but it can do modern rock also. The F-30 is nice (sweet for slide!), but the F-50 has all the harmonics of the smaller amp with added punch and detail. Not too heavy for one hand carry (a bit heavier than a Hot Rod Deluxe). Slip cover and footswitch a nice bonus. Overall, it is a bargain"-priced Mesa that sounds way more expensive than it is.

I purchased this amp new in December 2004. It is an all tube design with a solid state rectifier. A single high impedence input feeding 2 channels, clean or gain, with a cascaded selection called "contour" in the #2 gain channel. Each channel has gain, treble,Mid,Bass, reverb, and master controls. A pull-bright switch is incorporated into the channel 1 gain knob. It's not marked or notated in the manual - but it's a helpful feature. The channels can be controlled by a footswitch or a toggle on the front panel.

The back panel has 3 speaker outs - 2-4 ohm outputs and 1-8 ohm for the 12" celestion Black Shadow 90 included with the amp. FX send/return jacks and the mix control knob. Recording/headphones out and speaker mute switch for silent jamming.

I gave it 9 because it does not have a presense control. The presense control is not really necessary as the amp is very versatile without it, but would have added one more frequency range to tweak if desired.

I play a wide range of styles including classic rock, blues, oldies, and country. I use a PRS custom 22 and a 71 Fender Telecaster.

For the first 3 weeks I was frustrated with the amp because I was unable to EXACTLY duplicate the 3 basic tones I use in my amp modeler equipment. Those sounds are similiar to the Roland Jazz Chorus, a vintage Fender tweed, or the classic Marshall tones. The key word is exact, and that is a mistake to expect to be able to duplicate any amp Exactly with a Mesa. It's a Mesa, not a Roland, Fender, or a Marshall. If you want these sounds exactly then buy one of those amps. The Mesa F50 will get you close and you can tweak the knobs to get close to most any classic or modern sound. But it's still a Mesa sound at the core.

Having said that, It's one of the sweetest sounding amps I have ever played. Great clean tone to very high volumes, great crunch in the clean channel with the gain/treble/mid/bass in the 12-3:30 range, and sweet ringing sustain in channel 2. Once I got over trying to make the amp something other than a Mesa F50, I began to love the amp for it's versatility to sound great in all the styles of music I play.

The humbuckers sound great with the bright switch engaged, or pulled out. It adds clarity to the clean tones. I like the contour mode in channel 2 with the humbuckers as the straight channel 2 is a little muddy for my taste. Although I have been experimenting with a crunch tone in channel 2 with the PRS that's sounds good with a little higher treble setting@ 1-2 o'clock.

The Telecaster really shines in the clean channel and you can dial in a very Fender like tone. The Tele is bright enough in Channel 2 without contour and can even be a little shrill with the contour on.

Another key factor to consider when using this amp is don't expect the best tone with it turned down. Set the master above 9 o'clock and it really starts to purr. Get up around the 11 o'clock position and you will not beleive how good it sounds. Of course your wife, neighbors, and kids will be running for the door. The volume is impressive for a small combo.. It could easily handle medium size venues. It is not a bedroom amp. I tried using a THD hotplate - but if you set the hotplate such that it gets the db's down to bedroom level the tone goes down with the volume proportionaly. You can't choke it off with out losing tone. I tried putting it in the closet and miking it but that produced lots of strange bass overtones and sounded poor.

I have not used the effects loop.

The headphone/recording out is useful if you have no other means of amplification. Otherwise, speaker simulation is of poor tone quality and no where near close to the sound produced normally through the speaker. In addition the master controls the output to the headphones and my mixer/headphones do not have enough headroom to handle much above just cracked off zero.

Light enough to carry and easily portable.

Very quiet in the clean and gain channels with the gain set below 12 o'clock. Above that you start to get some hum especially in contour. And more so if your using effects pedals that induce a little noise. THe contour channel amplifies the noise to a higher level. I don't have a noise suppresor.

Only owned it for 3 months - no problems.

They actually called me when they received my warranty info! They wanted to know if I had any questions or problems. Can you believe that? How often does any company ever personnaly call to inquire as to your purchase. WOW

I have been playing for 30 years and have owned/used many amps. Primarily vintage Fender blackface/silverface before they were vintage. Owned a Ampeg V-4 for a number of years and it had awesome clean tone. The Mesa is as good or better. I also owned an early Peavy solid state amp.(yuk)

Before purchasing this amp I spent hours and hours at music stores playing through everything that was available. This amp sold me because it was the most versatile, sounded the best, and was made in the USA.

I would buy another if it were stolen and I am seriously considering buying one of thier bass amps.

I am happy - it's a 10.

Separate tone controls for both channels. Very sensitive controls, can change the tone and texture with just a tweak. Very verstile amp, great with pedals (I only use a delay, chorus and tremelo through the loop).

Clean channel is as good as I have ever heard through a h8igh gain amp. Not a fender clean but more rich and unique in it's own right. I won a DRRI and nothing can touch it's clean tone but if I had to choose only one amp it would be the F50, because it's gain channel blows anything I have ever played through out of the water and the clean is almost as good as the DRRI.

I use the contour for leads and for more "modern" gain sounds. The gain channel without the contour and the gain set at about 12 o'clock is very "marshally", but with a little boogie attitude.

Best distortion ever, think marshall married to a recto. The leads are smooth and the sustain is forever.

The gain is as brutal as you would ever need it and as sweet and smooth as you could dream of.

can't tell no problems, except I did blow a fuse and called the rep on a Friday which is a day off for those guys, got a call two hours later anyway, seems that someone was in doing some extra work and called, that kind of response produces confidence.

see above

This is a very quiet high gain amp with a rich and wonderful clean channel and a distortion channel that can go from Marshall growl to recto gain (with less mushiness). Overall the best amp I have ever played thru and I have played through a lot of amps. I've owned a Marshall half stack, A PV 5150, a PV Delta Blues, a PV classic 30, and a fender cyber deluxe (fun little amp)...I currently own a DRRI and the Mesa F50 and I not looking for any other amps.

This amp does not have as many features as other more expensive amps but it dosn't need them. You probably know by now, two channels, clean and crunch with a contour feature that boosts the mids. Two independent eq control suites and reverb controls.

An excellent sounding amp. The reason I didn't rate it higher is that I had feedback issues with the amp even at low volume levels. As another reviewer suggested, I un-plugged the guitar and ran up the gain and volume to about 12 o'clock and it happend. It was too loud for practice at home but can fill any other venue. The feedback happend when the contour switch was engaged. I found myself playing with the contour all the time which is why I concluded that it wasn't my tone. Although this is a great sounding amp I prefer the Marshall sound. That with the feedback problem are why I returned it and picked up a Marshall half stack.

The amp seems very well built. I was impressed with the attention to detail. I have designed and repaired many electronic circuits in my twenty plus years of working and this is very well built. Having said that I only kept the amp for a week so I cant really say what the reliability would have been for me.

I contacted Mesa Boogie and they returned my call fairly promptly. They seem to be a very customer oriented company and have a dedicated customer support staff to help troubleshoot over the phone. Overall I am pretty impressed. I give them an 8 only because I did not have the amp long enough to really exercise thier customer support people.

I rate this an 8 because of the feedback issues. If not for this and if the amp was my tone it would get a 10. If you don't need the contour and the amp dosn't feedback this could be for you. This amp definately has BALLS!!!

Bought new in Dec of 2004 (I assume it's a 2004 model, and was new in box). 2 channels (clean and gain) with a footswitchable "boost" (contour), which spikes the gain, highs and lows, pulls out some mids and adds a little bit of volume. I think feature-wise it's just about perfect. Very versatile with everything I need (but not neccessarily want). Basic tone controls (no presence). Bright switch for clean channel. Separate reverb controls for both channels. FX loop. Headphone jack/Direct line out. Nice sturdy footswitch. 3 channels would make it perfect (for me), so I dropped it to an 8 for score.

I've been playing Bolt on neck strats and super strats through the amp so far. Soon a Les Paul will be joing my collection as well.

I play mainly 70's and 80's hard rock. Thin Lizzy, Gary Moore, Michael Schenker Group, Whitesnake, Iron Maiden, Scorpions, Badlands,etc. Basically classic Marshall sounds. So you would think a MESA would not suit my style well. However, with tweaking, the F-50 can get some very marshall-like tones. Not exact of course, but It will do 80's hard rock.

Clean channel is the best I've ever heard on any amp, including several 50s/60s Fenders. I rarely play alot on clean channels, but this particular one is so dynamic and pleasing to the ear, I find myself spending ALOT of time on it. From Wes Montgomery warms sounds, to country twang, to SRV with the gain up. Amazing Clean channel.

Channel 2 will go from vintage slight crunch to classic mid heavy MESA Mark series total saturation, and has more gain than I'll ever want or need. Even with my Strats stock pups I rarely get past 1 oclock on the gain control playing hardrock/metal styles.

Channel 2 with the Contour kicked in takes on kind of a recto-ish vibe. I find it difficult to get a good fat non-buzzy lead tone when I stomp on the contour, if I've dialed in the tone controls for CH2 w/out contour. So I keep the contour kicked in and then dialed in my sound. Basically pumping up the mids a bit for single coils, rolling back the gain and the treble/bass.

This is why I wish the amp had 3 channels. I could dial in channel 2 for chugga rhythm, and then dial in a lead sound I like too. Right now it's a bit of a compromise in the versatility department. However the darn amp sounds so good I'm not *too* upset.

The amp DOES require some real tweaking. I find the tone controls very sensitive and interactive, and for the most part provide more adjustment than most will likely ever need. This is not like a Marshall or Fender where you crank everything up and it still sounds pretty good.In my experience, tone controls need to be set to 2 o'clock or lower most of the time, and the gain rarely needs to be above 1 o'clock on the gain channel, and I'm usually around 10-11 o'clock with the contour kicked in. If you start dialing up too much gain or bass, you get that oft mentioned flubby MESA bottom end, or harsh top end fizz if you go nuts with the treble. Be conservative and the amp will reward you with amazing tones of all types.

Well. Sad to say, this is where the F-50 will drop a few points. A couple weeks back I went to plug in my new PRS Custom 24, and the amp wouldn't work. Worked fine the day before (?) .It turned on, things lit up, could hear the gain through tubes, but no sound out of the speaker. Tried running a diff speaker cab. Still no sound, and yes I made sure the speaker mute wasn't on :O) While playing with the master volume I started to hear some funny crackling sounds and noticed a little "light show" behind the amp: miniature lightning storms in the 6l6's. I know MESA is well known for great service, so I'm not worried about it getting fixed. I have not been able to get the amp back to the shop though due to a move. Soon. I'm really missing this amp. Physically the amp is EXTREMELY well made. Gotta give it a 5 though because of the issue I'm having. It's quite disappointing to have such a wonderful piece of gear crap out on you when it's only a month old.

No opinion here yet. Hear all kinds of great things, but no personal experience.

Overall, barring the reliability issue, this is by far the best amp sound-wise that I've owned, which numbers prolly 2 dozen. Mostly Marshalls (reissues, 70's jmps, 90's jtms, rack tube preamps, several 800 series, 1980's solid state amps), but some Fenders, Laneys, Jacksons, Rolands, ADA and others too. I've played a bunch of MESA's over the years but never pulled the trigger 'til now. I was always a bit put off by the aforementioned Flubby/Fizzy sounds. However I was not aware of how sensitive the tone controls are on these amps, so perhaps I was missing out all those years due to my ignorance.

I should also mention this thing is LOUD. I mean REALLY loud. Noticeably louder than my Marshall 1987X reissue(scary thought, huh?). I do wish it had a half power switch and switchable bias (for EL34s) like other MESA products.

Best thing I can say is go play one. Be conservative with the tone controls, and have fun. Amazingly touch responsive/dynamic amp.

I would give it a 10 here, were it not for my reliability issue.

Amp was made in 2003. How many f-in' features do you need? It has two channels, with a clean as good as anything I've heard from a Fender. The crunch channel has a contour switch, which makes things slightly louder and more distorted. Comes with a footswitch. Has an effects loop, which is useless to me. I use a couple of stomboxes plugged in ahead of the amp. Used for practice at home, punishing the neighbors for their drunken parties until 3 AM, occasionally played in front of other people somewhere small. For the first, it's a bit much. I'd get a better sound out of it by turning it up more, but there's no reason to be rude most of the time. For the second two situations, excellent. More than loud enough.

Have an LP Classic 1960 Reissue and an American Standard Strat. I don't generally turn the contour switch on with the LP. The ceramic humbuckers are too hot, the distortion becomes a little unpleasant, and the amp mushes out. Other than that it seems pretty articulate. I'm too lazy to go through the process of dialing in different settings and then putting things back just to change guitars, and the plain crunch channel breaks up enough, and pleasantly. The Strat sounds good with contour engaged. The amp's not particularly noisy. Maybe just a bit of hum from use near fluorescent lights. I set my cell phone on it once. It made some odd noises when the phone rang. I like how the amp sustains. You can get the clean channel to start distorting with the gain turned past 12 o'clock, especially with the Gibson. Kind of a warm, gentle blurr to the bass notes. The crunch channel doesn't have the sort of heavy distortion one might get from a Recto, but that's OK. I've always thought Rectos sounded like crap. I'm an aging punk rock idiot, but I also play some blues. It'll do either just fine.

Nothing has broken. Appears to be solidly constructed. Perhaps the corners of the Tolex covering could have been reinforced with metal instead of plastic or scraps of leather or whatever it is they used. I've always tied it down when transporting it, and never dropped it. Every once in a while I notice some microphonics creeping in, or something sounds, well, just maybe the slightest bit off. This is the sign that the speaker has once again shaken a tube loose. The downfall of combos. You push it back in. Fixed. Nobody should use anything without a backup if they can possibly afford a spare. Shit happens.

Customer support? Why? What can they tell me I can't figure out myself? Warranty? I forget. I've never needed to look at it in the just under 2 years I've had the amp.

Playing off and on for years. Maybe 7 total. Much more the last 2.5 years, since I've decided to try and get as good as I possibly can before death or arthritic fingers rob me of the opportunity. If it got ripped off, I'd probably get another. For what I do, I just can't justify dropping the coin for a Bogner Uberschall. The guitars are extravagant enough. There's really nothing to hate about it. I think I covered the good stuff above. It stomped the Marshalls I played it against, and the Fender Tweed reissue didn't do the high gain thing.

This is a fairly straight forward amp by Boogie standards. two channels with contour and enough power to make you stand off to the side...lol...the best tones are at levels that could very well be uncomfortable. I use this in Blues Bars and in VERY large churches, playing heavy Christian rock. she excels, no doubt. Simple..effective

i bought this as a complement to my Fender Hot rod deluxe. the Fender has the best clean channel in the business and with an elaborate pedal board, i can cover anything. the Mesa has changed everything. the overdrives, distortions, compressor, all gone. the drive and contour give you sounds i only ever heard on Cd's (think Santana..smooth...hold a note and come back later)

Don;t know, but since I bought it on E-bay from a great seller, the warranty has been transferred and I don't expect any problems

Talked to a tech at Mesa about a slightly hissy clean channel and he was very helpful. A suspect pre-amp tube was all...very helpful. Called me back within 15 minutes.....

An absolute monster and I've played them all, no more stacks for me, just a 1 x 12 or a 2 X 12 into a PA and you can play ANYWHERE!

My F-50 1x12 Combo is from the earlier series with the short chassis (approximately 400 of these were made before Mesa decided to switch to the Wide Body chassis and "revoice" the circuit [I probably should have asked what they meant by "revoiced"). The specs are pretty wel known, so I won't repeat them here...it's a very basic amp, so that's why I give it a 8 rating; however, it has just about everything you'd ever need in a basic amp, and no silly fluff features. But a few things--the reverb is tube-driven (though it cuts out for a second by design when switching channels), and it's got a solid-state rectifier.

Here's where things get interesting. I first got interested in Mesa/Boogie amps after demoing a Trem-O-Verb with a 2x12 Recto cab years ago (1995-ish), well before I could ever afford anything like that. Later on, I acquired a V-Twin Rackmount preamp and a 20/20 silver face power amp that I used through my Ampeg VH-140C combo for the speakers. I decided that I didn't particularly like the V-Twin, but was blown away by the 20/20. After switching out the preamp for a Voodoo Lab Preamp, the whole system really woke up. So, I decided to build and all-tube three-stage amp setup while I made due with my VH-140C (best sounding solid-state amp ever, IMO). I sold off the V-Twin and 20/20 as a matching set (the silver faces look so nice together), intending to buy a 20/20 black face. In the meantime, I tracked down a narrow-chassis F-50 combo on eBay to use as a practice/experiment amp. I'm still kicking myself for selling that 20/20 just so some lucky person could have a matching silver-faced set...

Now, I tend to hate overly high-gain preamps (I also have a Mesa V-1 Bottle Rocket in which I replaced the 12AX7's with 12AT7's to tame it down a bit), so the other day when I stopped by GC to buy more Mesa 12AT7's, I found a clearance bin with four matched duets of GT KT66HP's. I bought three sets for $30 each (one #5 and two #6 sets). Unfortunately, they only had one 12AT7 in stock, but I had an NOS RCA 12AT7 that I picked up at a flea market.

The NOS RCA turned out to be noisy, so I pulled the two 12AT7's from the V-1 and replaced V1 and V2 in the F-50. The original 6L6's were "Red" code (which roughly equates to #4 on the GT scale), so I popped in the #5 KT66's. The original 12AX7's from the F-50 went into the Bottle Rocket. I love KT66's--the best combo amp I've ever heard was a GT Soul-O 45 with KT66's that I stupidly passed on at the same GC last year (for only $600, and they also made only about 400 of those).

Now, I recently picked up a nice used Rickenbacker 650 Dakota, so that's what I've been mostly playing lately. The F-50, even with the original tube complement, turns out to be very dark with the 650D, and still a bit too gainy/mushy on Channel 2. With the new tubes, it ended up even more dark sounding. I'm not real thrilled with the EQ versatility on the F-50, but more on this later.

So, back to the GC to look for some GT 12AY7's and 12AU7's. None in stock, but I saw the new Les Paul Studio Vintage Mahogany hanging on the wall and played it through an F-30 combo and the newer F-50 Wide Body combo, plus plugging in a 3/4 back Mesa 1x12 with a Black Shadow and another used 3/4 back Mesa 1x12 loaded with a Celestion G12 Century. The G12 Century sounded much like the Vintage 30 in the F-30 Combo (brighter than the Black Shadow). I liked the combo so much that I went home to get my F-50.

Returning to the GC, I found that my F-50 sounds dramatically darker than the newer Wide Body, but sounded *absolutely perfect* with that Les Paul (a special model made just for GC). I also tried a '52 reissue butterscotch Tele with similar results as long as both pickups were used.

At home again, I pulled out my Rickenbacker 330. A dramatically brighter sound--almost too bright, but very usable, especially with the neck pickup only (awesome blues sound, IMO). Rick 330's tend to have dramatic changes in the sound depending on the pickup switch settings. I really think that the voicing of this amp was probably designed around a Les Paul or a PRS. Therefore, my next guitar will be a Warmoth custom LPS-type. I've also got a couple of Epi's around that I should try through this setup (an early 80's Emperor F and a 90's Joe Pass that I inherited from my father).

The thing about Mesa preamps is that they get a pretty good approximation of power-tube distortion just from the preamp stage, which is not necessarily conducive to getting a solid power tube distortion sound. The best power tube distortion I have been able to get is by crankin

Haven't played a gig with it yet (mostly because I play bass in my current band), but Mesa gear is built to survive a lot, so I have no worries. Like any tube gear, bring extra tubes with you. I've never had any problems with Mesa gear that weren't related to bad tubes.

Mesa tends to get overwhelmed with tech support calls. Most times, you need to leave a message, and they'll call you back relatively quickly, with the answers you ask for and a feeling that you're talking to somebody who understands your obsession with gear. If you're lucky enough to actually get Georgia on the phone, she's a real sweetheart, so be nice to her!

Overall, I'm very happy with my amp--especially as I bought it specifically to experiment with! I'm still committed to buying more Mesa gear, particularly an F-30 combo, a 20/20 power amp, a Stereo 2:50 power amp, a High Gain Amp Switcher, and someday a Bass 400 and Buster Bass head. I love Mesa tube gear. It rocks, pure and simple. Oh, also, I've been looking at the new Lone Star--the fact that you can dedicate 4 tubes to a clean sound and 2 tubes to a distorted sound sounds like exactly what I need for the flexibility I'm looking for (which is the whole reason I'm in the process of experimenting with three-stage rigs). The Road King takes this concept even further (but too far for my needs).

Bought this F-50 in 2003. What a great amp! I previously had a MESA Blue Angel and a Peavey Delta Blues (which I still have). The Blue Angel was great for blues, but I play a variety from rock to top 40 to jazz. I really wanted amp amp with master volume and gain, as well as a great clean sound, which led me to the F-50. The Mesa F-50 is super loud. More than I have ever needed, even in big clubs. It has the best clean channel anywhere. Like a Twin reverb, but more useful since it's only 50 watts. The hi-gain channel gives great Marshall-like distortion and has the MESA hi-gain vibe when you kicj in the Contour switch. I have used the amp playing out at clubs 2-4 times a month. It is simple enough to make it easy to get a great sound quickly, but still has the flexibilty to

I play a PRS McCarty through the F-50. Alos have used a Strat, but I like the McCarty feel and sound much better, so that is pretty much all I use. I play classic rock, some new rock and top 40, a little jazz, wedding band music, some country. Been playing out 15 years. The amp is a little noisy and hissy when you crank the gain, but that is true with any amp, especially tubes. It's quiter than most. I did decide to add a gate pedal to my pedalboard to kill the hiss bewteen songs and that solved my problem. You can get real brutal distortion if you crank the hi-gain channel, but I have not used that on any song I play. I give it a 9, but I have never seen a perfect 10.

No problem in the last year of giging a few times a month. I just replace the 2 6L6 power tubes because they were starting to give off some low freq hum. New tubes fixed it. I'm OK with that since it's gotten a lot of use in a year. It's made really well and solid. It's a little heavy to carry, but that's part of the quality. I carry a DI box as a backup, but I have never had a problem at a gig.

MESA has good customer support. I've contacted them a few times about minor things like extension cabinet suggestions, adding casters, etc. They always get back to me in a short time with a good answer.

Been playing out 15 years. I regularly buy and sell various gear over the years. I keep my eyes on the latest amps, but haven't seen anything that interests me like the F-50. The MESA Lone Star is more flexibility that I need. Never owned a "boutique" amp. Can't justify the cost. I need something with top quality that works and makes me money, at a reasonable price. That's MESA.

I've had this amp for 2 years now, and I hope this is at least one honest and balanced opinion of it. You will read so many reviews on Harmony Central that say "this thing is crap" or "the speaker was unusable" or "it doesn't sound like a Marshall, so I think it's crap." These types of statements are essentially useless. Most amps are good amps with their own unique intent. If you don't like it, it may just be that it's not the amp for you. I am attempting to write a balanced view of this amplifier, hopefully you can benefit from my own experience.

Features for this amp: This amp has two seperate, individually voiced channels with seperate volumes, reverb and EQ for each. Try to find this elsewhere and you will find it hard. It has an effects loop that is excellent and the access in the rear is excellent for changing out tubes. My only gripe is with the quality and consistency of Mesa supplied tubes. I don't know if this is Mesa's fault really. It's just plain hard to find a consistent supply of new production tubes.

Here is where the subjectivity comes in, and I really hope you listen to this amp a lot before buying it. There are several things to consider here. What sounds do you want? Is is quiet enough for you? I'm going to evaluate each channel:

1) Clean channel - This channel is absolutely beautiful. I have considered selling this amp and getting something else, and the clean channel is my main determination for that. I really don't find anything that carries the chime and clean headroom in a new production amp. It can be warm, fat, thin, glassy, whatever you need. The EQ is very effective. This channel is beautiful. With the gain up high, you can even get some sizzle out of it. I wouldn't expect it to make a cheap strat copy sound like a Pensa-Suhr, but it will sound it's best. One gripe on the clean channel is that it is somewhat noisy - hiss. This is totally normal per the design, but I don't care much for it.

Gain Channel: This is where my tastes don't completely meet up. It nails a great saturated lead tone, and with the right setting, it is a giant metal monster (for 50 watts). I get a range of tones here, bit it doesn't do British very well. Maybe a different speaker? It is hard to dial in that sweet blossoming blues or rock tone - unles....

One of the best things you can do for this amp is buy NOS tubes. And if you want to tame the gain a bit, change out the V2 preamp tube with a good 12AU7. With this tube in place, I get 70-80% of the tones I'm looking for. And with NOS tubes, you get much smoother sound, cleaner cleans, and tighter distortion. And a consistent power tube set is very helpful. If you can't afford NOS, try TAD 6L6 GC tubes, they are very nice.

One tone you can't get very well is that thin, smooth chord distortion as in Glenn Tipton. That is best done with a Laney or Marshall - and those can't do all this amp can.

Here is how you should choose an amp: Does it give you 70% of what you want? Can you get the rest with one other amp or a pedal? You can't do much better than that. No amp can do it all.

I'm thinking about changing out the speaker on this amp or trading it in on a cabinet. If you've ever heard one through a cabinet, you will agree that it improves the sound.

Mesa stuff is generally rock solid. Two years, no trouble.

Great guys. They'll chat with you.

This is a great amp. Is it for you? Maybe, maybe not.

With this amp you don't have many whistles and bells, but it gets the job done wonderfully, the tone mind blowing The only problem I have with it is that there isn't a SOLO level like on most boogies. but hey you can' be perfect

I currently play in three bands, from jazz to blues to metal. I used a Peavey XXX and a fender Deluxe for all bands..... this replaces them all!!!!!!! with the clean chanel I can dial in some great warm blues solo sounds or a nice smooth jazz sound. BUT it's the 2nd chanel that kills everythign I was blown away with the balls that this little amp kicked out!!!! when I cranked up at about 3 o' clock with the gain and turned up the bass droped down the "E" to a "D" I could deffenutly hear a Recto/Boogie type sound. the only main difference is that this was a less layerd and more controled sound.

This amp fires up every time without any problems, there is a little noise that comes from the amp but hey BUY A NOISE GATE! hehe, ummmm also I had to replace the tubes after about 8 months but thats all I can really think of.

I drove to LA from SD to get some tubes, also I wanted to visit Mesa Hollywood cause I've never seen the place. The guys at the shop were great they were all very helpful and gave me some pointers on how to solve my SOLO leval problems, and were all friendly and happy to answer any questinos that I had... I have delt with many different companies having worked at a guitar shop in san diego, and by far Mesa Boogie has THE BEST costumer service I've ever seen

I have been playing for over ten years and have owned many different amps and guitars, I played through this with a Gibson Les Pual, Fender Strat (Clapton Model), a Ibanez RG 570 with Demarzio Evolutions, and an Ibanez SCA1 with EMG 85's and they all sounded great the Ibanez SCA1 is my main guitar and even with the EMG 85's this guitar sounds great.

2 Channels, 3 modes. Clean, Distortion and distortion with contour. It has a parallel effects loop with adjustable effect level. It has a speaker bypass recording output. It has long tank reverb for both channels. I use it for rehearsing and gigging. It is plenty loud for most situations and if an extension cab is added I am sure it would be loud enough for anything. It is all tube with 4 12ax7 tubes and 2 6l6 tubes. The stock tubes that are shipped with the amp are Mesa sovtek tubes. You can get many good sounds by tweaking the knobs especially on the gain channel.

I use an Epiphone les paul quilt top with a Gibson '57 classic plus pickup in the bridge. I play hard rock that is on the verge of metal sometimes that uses a lot of clean parts in our songs. The cleans on this amp are the best I have heard. They are on par with fender cleans. They are nice and clean with some good tube overtones to them when I have the gain at 12:00. The clean channel gets a little grity when the gain is dimed and gives a nice mild crunch. The distortion on this amp is very versatile. When the gain is low and the contour mode is off it gives a nice light crunch and when the gain is over 1:00 and the contour is on it gives that heavy distortion that mesa is known for but IMO it is a lot clearer and well defined than the normal mesa distortion. Someone on a previous post had mentioned a "hot rodded marshall" setting on this amp and I tried it and it sounds great. On the gain channel if the bass is less than 12:00 then there is a nice even sounding distortion that kicks. If the bass is over 12:00 I think that the bass starts overpowering and the distortion gets that very grainy recto crunch. With the gain dimed the distortion is very brutal. I never use the gain higher than 2:00. When I first got the amp I changed the tubes to JJ ecc83s tubes and JJ 6l6GC tubes and they sound beautiful. The stock sovteks are a little harsh for me. I gave it a 9 because I am sure there is another amp that is better but this amp is perfect for me.

I have had it for a week or so and I haven't had a problem. I had a Dual Recto 3 channel for a few years and I never had a problem with that ever so I have to say Mesa's are built like tanks.

I havn't had to deal with Mesa yet and I don't see having to in the near future.

I have been playing 13 years and I thinks this is and awesome amp. I fits my style perfectly. If lost or stolen I would definitely buy another one in a heartbeat.

2004 f50 combo.looked at it last week surely buying this week.
i play pretty much everything from country(whe no one hears) to metal.

brought in my les paul to try it out at the shop and was pleasantly surprised. I had used a freinds f100 a few days before and sorta liked it but didnt love it.I was a die hard febder fan when it came to amps but this has a specific tone that i am looking for.As for people posting that this thing doesnt sound heavy...gotta know where to look but i was surprised to see that you dont want to put too much bass in there ( there's more bass than an amp can need on thing).nobs are very sensitive wich makes this thing very versatile.
i always used combo's (and helped band mates carry their stacks)so thins thing is just the right size (heavy though)

been reading the reviews here and must admit that i sorta scared shitless but even though i found pretty much every feature that i wanted in an amp so i guess i'll have to take my chances

hoping never to have to speak with them

been playing 17 years.
havent found a marshall that i like,rectifier stacks are just a little too shiny for me,my fender amps wont be seing to much action anymore.

2004 F-50 112 COMBO MESA/BOOGIE AND I MEAN BOOGIE.THIS AMP IS EASY AND VERY VERSATILE.IT STATES TWO CHANNELS BUT WE KNOW BETTER THAN THAT.AND I HAVE PLAYED EVERY STYLE.EFFECTS LOOP IS GREAT.AND IT IS ALL TUBE.

THERE IS NOT BUT ONE GUITAR AND THAT IS A FENDER STRAT DELUXE CBN PICKUPS.AND I HAVE TRIED THE VERY BEST BRANDS OUT THERE.YOU CAN PLAY ANY STYLE ON THE F-50 EVEN PUNK ,IF YOUR INTO THE BEGINING STAGE.THE CLEAN CHANNEL IS AND DOES SOUND BETTER THAN MOST FENDER AMPS. THE SECOND CHANNEL SOUNDS KINDA LIKE A MARSHALL AND I MEAN NOT THE JCM 2000 OF ANY KIND BUT THE VINTAGE YES.AS THEY CALL THE CONTOUR MODE IT IS BOOGIE ALL THE WAY.I AM WRITING ALL IN BOLD LETTERS TO LET THE SHOPPERS KNOW THAT IF IT IS A COMBO AMP,THEY NEED TO LOOK NO FUTHER. WHEN I MADE THE MOVE TO BUY A NEW AMP. I HAD THE CHOICE TO BUY ANY BRAND OUT THERE, I WENT TO MANY STORES AND PLAYED MANY BRANDS AND AS FOR A COMBO,NOTHING COULD COMPARE TO THIS AMP.IF THIS AMP SEEMS TO NOISY RUN A NOISE GATE THROUGH THE LOOP NOT THE FRONT.AND THE ONES KNOCKING THE RATINGS ON THIS AMP AS FOR AS A COMBO MUST NOT HAVE A GOOD EAR OR SOLID STATE FREAKS COMPUTER CLARITY LIKE LINE 6. ENOUGH SAID I HAVE BEEN PLAYING FOR GOING ON THIRTY YEARS, NOT BOASTING JUST DO NOT KNOCK THIS AMP. UNLESS YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT UNLESS YOU ARE A PRO-NOT SEMI.DIG IT

WORKS GREAT EVERY TIME I TURN IT ON.

I DID CALL CUSTOMER SUPPORT JUST TO RATE THEM MYSELF DURING MY 30 DAY RETURN PERIOD BECAUSE OF THE RATINGS BELOW, THEY WAS GREAT WHAT CAN I SAY GUYS.

IT IS A GREAT AMP. FOR THE MONEY.

2004 model - I have had it for 3 months
2 channels 3 modes. Basic tone knobs (no presence), reverb, gain for each channel. This is very basic and straight forward for a Boogie, which is a good thing for me as I am used to Marshall's. The channel swithching is quick and quiet and the effect loop operates as it should. The Headphone out sounds terrible for any amp let alone one at this price level. The master volume on each channel could adjust a little more evenly (a lot more), there is not much happy meduim between very quiet and loud. I think Mesa puts too much emphasis on loudness - based on this amp and their literature. This amp is very loud, at least as loud as my 100 watt Marshall JCM 900.

I play a Fender American Strat and Tele, both with Duncan Hot Rails, Gibson Les Paul Std (stock p/u's), 1976 Gibson Explorer with a Duncan Custom in the bridge. The Strat & Les Paul sound the best on this amp, whereas the Tele and Explorer sound better on Marshalls. I play all types of rock from Beatles to Metallica. This amp is designed to play this type of music and does it fairly well. The Clean channel is excellent, but I would like it to break up a little more than it does with the gain turned all the way up- to get this sound I turn down the guitar volume on channel 2. Channel 2 takes a little getting used to, but after fiddling around for a while you can get a variety of quality tones. This channel would be better if the gain adjustment was a little more even or should I say start out with a little less gain. I usually use it between 9 and 12:30 and don't find it of much use at all past 3. So far I have found the Contour mode to be useless as it is too tinty when the settings sound good on channel 2. I assume that you could get some good sounds out of it if you changed the tone settings but that is not practical for playing gigs. At high volumes this amp can sometimes sound irritating as it tries to get trebley with a lot of attack and this is with the mids & treble down low. I play this through a 4 x 12 cab because it is what I am used to and I could not get used to the thin sound of a combo. I was really hoping I would like the combo sound because I have been moving cabinets for too many years!!

This amp needs new power tubes already and it is not 6 months old yet. I was going to replace all the tubes and the person at Mesa told me not to replace the preamp tubes all at once and to only replace them as they go bad or I might create more problems. That does not sound to promising to me, I have changed all the tubes in my other amps(Marshalls) many times and never had any problems. Hell I have gone years with out changing any tubes and not had problems. It is well built and sturdy (some people have gotten carried away saying they are built like tanks), the covering could be a little heavier. From what I have read I don't get a complete warm & fuzzy feeling about the reliabilty, hopefully I am wrong! I have a back-up until I build up some confidence.

I made 1 call and they called me back within a few hours and were helpful & courteous.

I have been playing for 25 years and have had a lot of equipment over the years. Right now I have a 1990 Marshall JCM 900, 1987 Marshall 2550 Silver Jubilee and 2 Marshall 4 x 12 cabs and numerous effects. I have played the F-50 exclusively for 3 months and I like it, but I was expecting it to blow away the Marshall's tone wise and it does not (it does on the clean channel). They are different amps with different sounds and both have strong points and weaknesses. I now run an A/B box and have the best of both worlds and have a lot of tonal options.

Hey Chris 10/19/04, I have 2 suggestions. First, change your power tubes to high quality tubes. I changed mine to Groove Tube and it made a huge difference. Second, for a vintage rock distortion sound with crunch, ie. hot rodded marshall, use the contour channel with low gain, ie. roughly 9 o'oclock (depending on your master) and crank the mid range to 3:00. Set treble and bass to taste, but, they should be less than 12:30 pm. This setting will give you a really nice "higher pitch" crunch without too much gain. This is my favorite vintage sound setting on this amp. With this setting you do not need a marshall. Try it with a Les Paul and the rear pickup. You will like it.

I bought this amp in 2002.
The features are limited but every thing you need is there

I play a deluxe strat and a les paul and prefer the sound of the strat through both channels.I am suprised at how loud the amp is but very dissapointed that you cant keep the sound clean past a setting of 4 on the master and 4 on the gain.(at least on mine you cant).
To get a decent sound out of channel 2 you have to have the volume at ear piercing levels,definately no good for house use.Nice sound when you do though.

After 4 months the amp blew the 1 amp fuse.the dealer told me to swap the valves round which helped for a few months.It went on blowing fuses after the warranty lapsed and has now had to be sent away for repair.It has so far been gone a week and the estimate is one month.I find this pretty crap on an amp that cost me well over $2000 (#1300)!
Obviously i dont gig with just this amp!!

I think but am not yet sure that Boogie are going to contribute

I have been playing for twenty years and have owned AC30s Marshalls flextones and am considering a Cornford Hurricane or Harlequin.
I wouldn't buy an f50 again, not because of the reliability as things do go wrong but because i honestly don't think it does sound that good.It sounds nice but not as nice as other amps for less or equal money in my opinion

2003 model. 50 watts. 2 Channels (Clean/Dirty) plus contour mode. EXF loop, 2 6L6 tubes and 3 button footswitch First switch: clean/dirty, Second: Contour on/off, 3rd: reverb. Never used the direct line out but it has one. I have owned this for a year and have changed the tubes once. Our band plays original/cover rock tunes.

80's all the way ! Everything I play has a wang bar and is a Charvel (old style strats), Ibanez (540 R), Esp or Hamer. Dimarzio, Duncan or
EMG pick ups. Single coil pick ups off the clean channel sounds deep
and warm. Humbucks off the clean go from super clean to the Rolling Stones (depending on how you set the gain and if you engage the bright
switch). The dirty channel is money and gets what they used to call
"the sound" in the 80's. THIS THING IS LOUD ! So, I use a Keeley modded DS-1 when we practice to kick up the tubes at lower volumes. Typically 9 o'clock on the master is enough for practice and most club sound guys will let you run it as high as 11 o clock. A Rocktron Hush pedal (old blue one/2 buttons) into the loop keeps things super quiet. Also run an MXR Flanger, Boss digital delay and
Boss CE-2 in the loop. To me, switching between channels is transparent (noiseless). I don't use the contour too much but it adds some good meat to lead lines when engaged. Lastly, this thing has sustain for days (on the dirty channel. Just like Brad Gillis used to get in the Night Ranger days.)

Was a little suprised that the tubes that came (new) with the amp
were done after 6 months but no big deal. I carry spare tubes and
fuses too (just in case). Knock on wood, I usually play with out a
back up amp.

Excellent customer service. Phone calls are returned promptly and advice they gave was easy to understand.

I have been playing for 20 years (+) and this amp is great for playing the local club scene. I have been tempted by the recto's but have always come back to the F 50. Compared this with the Nomad series but the F 50 was the one with the better rep at my dealer.

two channel + contour switch, drive, eq, verb. 50watt 1x12 tube combo. effects loop. a led light for the verb on the footswitch is the only noticable thing missing here in my opinion. since all the knobs are actually sensitive to touch this is quite a bit of tone shaping power here.

great clean channel. and the 2 side and contour really rock, but the amp has to be turned up very loud (at least to 50%) for this thing to really start rocking. that is not bedroom amp volume to be sure. I might have to get a power attenuator because I play in smaller confines and this thing just flat out blows doors off. The gain sounds are incredible, but the volume needs to be up very loud. I love the sound though, its totally awesome. and you can rock out with the drive at 5 and then turn your guitar volume down to about 1 or 2 and get great clean sounds. This amp is so responsive too, it really reacts to subtle changes. Overall tone it blows away the line 6 products I have used in the past but I have to take it down 1 because the thing has to be cranked so much.

seems very solid. I hear some high pitched squeaking and popping from time to time but only hear it when I'm not playing. nicely built.

smart guys that know their products answered the phone when I was comparing amps, and that support helped sway my decision to purchase this over peavey or a line6 Flextone 3. I'm happy with my decision.

been playing 20 yrs and this is my first tube amp, I had been using line 6 products for the last several years and wanted to play a mesa as I had heard so many great players using them. I have a variety of guitars..modified strats mostly. I'm having to mess with effects a lot more, I wish it was a bit lighter, and my biggest nit pick is the volume you need to get great tone out of the lead side. But it so sweet to play this thing full out, its so responsive. I'm not absolutely positive I'd get another one if it was stolen, but i'm not unhappy with my decision to get it either.

Brand new, 2004.
Features previously described, below.
Demo'd the amp at a local GC.

The clean channel is unbelieveable - it's no Twin Reverb, but it's
really impressive.
The Gain channel, what can I say, is equally unbelieveable.

Without opening up the amp and checking for component quality,
assembly, and soldering quality - I can only assume that stated by those who've reviewed before me.

I did, however, find a couple of issues that turned me away from the purchase. I selected the gain channel, but did not plug in an instrument. Set the gain to about 9~10 o'clock. Then, starting from the full counter clockwise position, slowly raised the gain channel's master volume.

At about 12 o'clock on the gain master the amp exhibited strong microphonic feedback - with no guitar plugged in!
If left to continue I would expect the speaker to become damaged. With a guitar plugged in, at similar settings, the feedback was
horrendous! Remember, this happened at 1/2 of the gain channel's master volume travel, Pre-Gain on 1/4.

Just to be sure I tried the same settings on another F-50 in the store and had the same result.

The channel switching was pretty good but did notice some low intermittent 'burbeling' sounds when switching from clean to gain and back. Maybe it's from a discharging capacitor or a noisy solder joint. I dont know.

So, perhaps the amp will work forever, but I feel that it has a "self destructive" side.

While demoing the amp, a GC employee approached me and "indirectly"
informed me that he sees alot of returns on the amp, and that the one I was testing was itself a return. I did find marks on the amp
that made it appear to "not be new".

Playing since before Ted Nugent recorded "Journey to the Center of Your Mind" with the Amboy Dukes. (Thank's Ted!)

Since I didn't buy tha amp, and am still shopping, all I can say is:
I's one of a very few portable 40~50 watt amps with a master volume,
having both pristeen clean and hi-gain capability.
It certainly wont cost as much to re-tube as a Twin Teverb.
But I'd feel safer knowing that my amp won't self destruct
if the crunch channel master volume knob is purposely or accidently turned up abit past 1/2 its desiugned travel.
Long term, I don't feel comfortable with the Mesa F-50.

I'm not having a lot of luck finding a good sounding reliable amp
where the solder job is right and the tubes don't exhibit "infant mortality", that wont break my spine or cost 200.00 to re-tube,
or end up in some repair shop for 4 weeks only to be returned
with the same problem.

Just the basic features Treble, Mid, Bass, gain and master volume. This amp is designed as a no frills type of Amp. But these features are enough to dial in a good tone. Very nice break up while adjusting the gain - master voulme and the clean channel is exceptional.

My main guitar is a Fender Strat Plus with the Lace Sensor pick- up's. I also use a Schecter with Dimazzio Humbuckers. I have played several guitars through this amp it it just plain sings! I think any guitar will sound good through this thing. It is basic in it's approach but the F-50 definitely rocks! I play mostly hard rocking blues...Stevie Ray, Kenny Wayne, Hendrix, Trower etc but I can dial in some good U2 tones and just about anything I want. I have used Marshall's, Line 6, 5150 and Fender Hotrod and I must say the F-50 out smokes all of them. I was leary of just having a single 12" speaker but it is plenty loud. I do mike it up for larger venues but
that is normal. It has plenty of stage volume even for big halls. I did run a 4-12 Marshall bottom for an outside gig and that worked out great. This amp has a sharp attack-response to the notes and a warm tube sustain. This is one of the best amps on the market especially for a grand.

Only 3 months old...but so far it's great.

Not yet....

I've been at it for 25 years and I must say I haven't been excited about new amps for a very long time. I relied on the old Marshall sound and then the 5150 came into play for a few years. But this amp blows my mind everytime I turn it on.....it seems to get better the more I play it. perhaps the tubes are beginning to loosen up, but whatever, I am definitely jazzed about playing again. Mesa Boogies used to seem to pricey were a bit out of my price range. This amp is affordable and well woth the price. If it were stolen I would replace it the next day...no question. I am in love with playing again!

I like the simplicity of duplicate knobs for each of the two channels. That's not to say the amp is basic -- this simple layout provides the the abiltiy to intuitively dial-in a wide variety of tones.

Awesome. What can I say. I've been playing out in bands since 1984 -- this is the best-sounding amp I've owned. IMHO, the dirty channel sounds as good as, and the clean channel blows away, the Boogie Mark III that I played in the 90s. Plus you don't have to be an electrical engineer to figure out the controls!

Bought it three months ago. So far, no compliants. Like all Boogies, appears to be build like a tank (don't buy GC's extended warranty no matter how much they pressure you!).

Nothing's gone wrong, so no opinion.

Highly recommended.

Just a comment on poor Alex below who tried it, bought it, brought it home, then didnt like it. You play punk/rock. this amp is known for its clean sound man. Geta Freekin EL-34 Marsahll amp for your needs, or a Mesa Single rectifier. Your just dissing this amp for pleasure mate.

50watt valve combo. 2 channels: clean and overdrive. Gain, treble, mid, bass, master volume and reverb knobs for each channel. Footswitchable: channel change, reverb on/off and contour for lead on 'dirty' channel.

I read glowing reviews about this amp, and it sounded great to my ears when I tried it out in the shop using my own guitar (Hohner L75 Les Paul copy with Seymour Duncan jazz/59 pickups), but after buying it I never managed to get a half decent sound out of it. I play basically punk and rock (The Damned, Radiohead, Pistols) All the overdrive sounds I could get from the F50 were completely muddy and washed out. No distinct sounds. Also, the amp was so loud that I had to have everything at minimal level: my guitar knobs, the gain and the master level. Even then it was too lound for rehearsal rooms purposes. I know it is a high gain amp and my pickups are also high gain, so maybe that was the problem; but my pickups have sounded great with loads of other amps. After 4 rehearsals the only way I could get a decent sound out of the F50 was to put a crappy multiprocessor pedal in front of it (Korg AX300G - not that crap really) which to my mind completely defeats the point of having a nice valve amp, and so I decided to return it to the shop and get them to sell it for me for a loss of #400. I am completely gutted after spending so much on the amp to find it virtually unplayable. I will never understand why I loved the sound so much in the shop, and then could never find any playable sounds once I bought the thing.

Seemed very well made.

Payed a fortune for this amp. Been playing 20 years. This was my first valve amp however as I haven't needed one before. If it were stolen?.... huh! I couldn't get rid of it fast enough. I'm gutted by the whole experience. I am just using this forum to get it out my system. A bad experience.

Not many features, just good tone. No piss arsin around here, just play.

This is a short update on my recent submission.

After having this amp for a month or so, I really do understand the need to tweek a bit. One day, you may not get the sound your looking for, then the next day, having a coffee in the morning, you plug in, and it is a different ball game. Its a whole new experience.

The Clean sound on this thing is freeking x-cellent. Best I've heard. Distortion is very useable too.

Yeah I was looking at a Soldano, but at 3x's the cost,,,,uh uh...no way jose'. I know about Fenders, and they are a one trick clean sound pony. Marshall, yeah some older ones are good. DSL50 would be my pick if i had to.

the F-50 is 6L6 tubes here, compared to EL-34's but let me tell you , with that contour switch kicked in, i had a sneaking suspcicion that the Folks at Mesa were after an "emulated EL-34 sound".
With the Les Paul, it smokes, but again you have to tweek. I havent even bothered putting any pedals in the way yet. The only Effect i use is the T.C Electronic M300 dual engine effects processor, and use those reverbs in place of the built in one, although that built in one sounds good to me. Try a T.C Electronics through the effects loop. Holy fuk batman, i was getting Gilmour, and Edge through it. And ....it Quiet, with no pop changing channels. Kudos.

I wanted to point out that i have been trying to find the sweet spots (or as i say the G-spots) on the amp with my 59 re-issue Les Paul, '54 strat re-issue with Kinman p/us' and my 20 year old Squier Telecaster (MIJ) with the SQ serial number, and american parts. Out of those guitars ( i havent tried the PRS yet), i couldnt beleive how the Squier Tele sounded. All stock, and on clean channel, i found myself not being able to put the guitar down. This amp makes the squier sound like a custom shop relic, or real deal 52 tele. Its hard to describe, but when Mesa mentions "Bell like tone" in their description , they must have been refering to playing it with a tele. With the F-50 and my early Squier Tele (if you can beleive that) I have found a beautiful tone and "Bell like shimmer" that needs to really be experienced. I hate to admit it but my $275 Squier sounded the best through this amp. I was scratching my head. I knew the guitar sounded good just on its own with the now aged swamp ash body, but through the F-50 was abso-fking-lutely incredible. The tone, sound, character..unreal. And all stock. no mods

The amp just seems to bring out the best in your guitars, without colouration. Every guitar sounded so unique, and the amp character/coloration, was in the background , or just not there. Your guitars will sing, like never before, and you will finally know how true your guitars sound through this F-50. I guess in a sense my '59 re-issue LP (AAA top)should be mated with my '84 JCM 4104 2x12, and the Fenders should go along with the F-50, but the Les Paul sounds amazing too, but you need to tweek a wee bit more for the Paul.

I would depend on this thing. I really respect the fact that Randall Smith didnt sell out (like Fender,Marshall, and Vox did), and that his passion is making amps. thats good enough for me, and the proof is in the pudding. No regrets buying this amp. I have been looking at Marshall, since I am from British Backround, and Born the same year Marshall came into existence ('62), so I always had a place in my heart for marshall. Not this time around. I love this F-50 and its my first Boogie . No regrets.

I have heard Mesa are very good.

Been playing 22 years, and have finally found an amp, with GOBS of tone. Your guitars "true colours" will come out playing through this F-50. You will hear characteristics you never thought you had through a Marshall or Fender, because those amps COLOUR your sound. The mesa f50 doesnt. The only other amp i would consider getting is the lonestar, but again there are a lot of parameters on that amp that you can end up spending a lot of time with fuking around, and not concentrating on your playing.

Hell if most of us spent as much time on just playing, then buying equipment, pedals, etc...we'd all be Eddy Van Halen.

I have an F-50 combo from 2004. I play metal and punk and whatever else I feel, but mostly those two and it handles that well. I read a review saying it has the best clean of all the Mesas, so...
I had planned on getting the 100, but the 50 is plenty loud for clubs and sounds awesome. Also its like it has 3 channels, clean, then on the distorted channel the "bluesy" sounding distortion and then the "metal" contour distortion. And it has reverb!!!!
Also it has a cool Vintage Mark look to it.

I mostly use a Fender Tom Strat that has an Invader in it. The distortion is awesome. The only problems I have with it is it seems to have noise when you turn the volume on your guitar off. Also there are some popping sounds when you change channels, but after a while you barely notice it.

I haven't even had the amp a month and I haven't used it at a gig yet, but I don't plan on having a back up, I mean its a MESA!

I have not contacted the company yet because I haven't had any problems. The amp has a 5 year warranty, which is pretty good. The tubes have a 6 month warranty, but thats about how long they last.

I have been playing about 7 years. I have a Fender Tom Strat and some other guitars and they all sound great on this amp. The 50 should be loud enough to suit your needs. IF YOU DO BUY IT AND THEN YOU NEED LOUDER IT CAN DRIVE A 4x12. Just play it already.

brand new F-50. took it home inside the shipping box. Ive been looking for a stripped down amplifier, once in a sense that makes me want to play rather than doing a tap-dance on a pile of pedals etc. Its called getting older I gues.

I wont go through the features. Blah blah blah....

Well , the reason i bought this, is because i have researched on many amps, and this thing fits like a hand-in-glove for me right now. The best clean sound I have heard from any amp of late. Built like a brick-shit house. Good for Blues, and classic Rock, R&B. Im sure jazzers would love it ..no question.

Using a MIJ 50 year anniversary Strat with Kinman AVn pickups 56-56-62 style. the sound is un-fkn -real. I was going to try out a lonestar 2x12, but they are a wee bit more money, and not sure how much professional playing i will be doing, but this little guy is great for clubs, and carrying it is a lot less hassle.

Great Santana amp. Oh, its a FENDER KILLER..... same 6L6 tubes, and probably the reason why i have heard of guys trading their fender Deluxes, Devilles etc in for the F-50. compare this to your vintage fender amp for clean tone, and call me in the morning.

Thats a funny one...when i bought it brand new out of the store, the sales guy and i took it out of the box, and it turned on, but no sound. He was looking around, and we couldnt figure it out. He sent it to the repair guys, and guess what? The mute button was engaged (silent recording), Dooohhhhhh. Needless to say the salesguy was a bit embarrased and he got his balls racked from Service dept for not knowing......i guess its called RTFM Read The Fkn Manual.

Anyway, its a 5 year warranty, and if i want to trade it in later, i can and the sales guys at Long&McQuade in Toronto ,are good like that. I will loose the equivalent of rent, towards a Lone-Star if i feel the need for that, but I dont think i will. This F-50 smokes.

i have heard they are good.

Been playing over 20 years. enjoy classic rock, and other types as well. Love all kinds of music actually, and i love improvising. If it was stolen (oh here we go..) i hit the thieving bastard over the head with a 2x4, thereby knocking him out, send him cargo to Iraq with a Red and Blue Target painted on his back, dye his hair blonde, and wearing stars and stripes pants. When he wakes up and finds himself in Baghdad,,,,He'll read the note i sent with him saying, "Now was it worth it stealing my amp?" then i would go buy another or a lone star.

By the way, for those of you thinking about purchasing one....the price increase just kicked in (here in Canada anwya) about another 200 bucks. i bought the last one with the old price.

I wish it had an LED for Reverb, and came in Pink Paisly leather.(naaww..just kidding)

If your looking to get away from Stacks, heavey equipment, etc,,and want to get back down to earth with just good tone, and concentrate on your playing, without fkn around with a bunch of pedals, etc...and something easy to carry around...This is the one my friends. You will be happy. If not,,go buy a marshall stack, with the new Mode 4 head, and dye your hair orange.

good features more than i need

clean, overdrive and a very usefull contour sount which adds a little more top and bottom end and is great at cutting thru the mix in a lead and is not bad for shreading ither if thats what you like

got most of the other basics like fx loop and the headphones input

50watts of mesa/boogie power is pretty seriously loud! ive played thru "150" "200" watt amps and they dont compair to this amp.
its probably loud enough for me

i got an epiphone les paul and a strat copy with all standard pickups and it still sounds unbelievable! im mostly into rock mostly older rock from 70's and 80's but there is some great new stuff around too and the best part about the f-50 is it will do quite a lot

some amps have heaps of features but this is simple yet very tonefull and depending on your guitar u can get a lot of different tones that are brilliant!

the amp does not make too much noise considering the overall volume the reverbs are great! spring reverbs and u can crank em flat out and u wont hear much of a hiss

play any music you want on it and it wont be perfect for metal but personaly i like it more than my last marshalls and other amps ive played through.......gain and chunkyness are one thing but this amp will give an amazing tone that u cant really replicate and to me thats more important than how chunky the distorsion is

thats not to say its not a tough overdrive! plenty of gain huge ammounts of sustain even at low gian and volume levels. the overdrive sounds very sweet but also very bright at the same time hard to describe.....play through one and u will understand!

usually i would depend on a mesa except my f-50 was playing up when i first got it (beeing repaired now) but i dont think that was a manfacturing problem more a problem with how people treated it in the shop. one of the valves was pretty screwed and im not suprised when people which em straight on without much standby time and then just swich em off straight away aswell!!!

ahh well it was no drama to get it fixed and i think if it was a brand new amp it wouldnt have had a problem at all!

the shop even lent me an 5-100 212 combo because they felt so bad about a mesa breaking down so i have that at the moment (i prefer the f-50 coz its a lot lighter and still loud enough and it has a warmer sounding overdrive the f-100 is great! (some may say better) but not really my taste as much as the f-50

never dealt with mesa directly

ive been playing for only 5 years but i have been around musicians and music all my life with family and friends and i have played through heaps of amps and this one wins in sound and volume and just quality of tone!

value for money.....well down here in australia they aint cheap! but i think they are still worth what u pay for them!

if this amp was solen i think ensurance would cover most of it but i would still be upset and would try to find the person who stole it and blow up there car or something.......well not quite but i would not be happy! i think i would get this amp again or maybe look around more thru the mesa/boogie range because there might be something out there that is even more suited to my taste who knows

likes> huge sound, brilliant tone, dangerous volume levels, not real heavy, very well built!

dislikes> scared of scratching and damaging the exterior (tough but not rugged finish like a new marshall), damn expencive (but justifiable considering its us built and just a great amp)

well thats it i think its the best amp i have ever played thru let alone owned so im very happy with it what more can i say

Bought it in Aug 2003 - brand spankin' new from the factory. Its got good range for me - cleans to more distortion than I need. I aint a shredder. I play rock, 60's - 90's basically. Two channels clean and gain. Effects loops with pot to vary wet/dry. Its got all the features I need and is versatile enough for me. I play in house mostly, played out a few times. Plenty of power and clean headroom - I cant imagine needing anything louder than this unless your in a stadium or arena - then you'd mike it anyway. Used this amp in a indoor soccer field - big place - volume was not a problem. There are amps with more features and some with less. This amp provides enough features for majority of players I think. I am going to give this an 8, which is good, only because I know there are more expensive amps out there with more features, and they would have to rank higher.

I play gibson LP and SG, all humbuckers. I play Stones, Who, Beatles and other 70's, 80's and 90's songs - you know rock n roll. I play lead and also like power chord rock. I also like clean sound with delays and reverb and phaseor - kinda spacey sounds. I also just jam and make up my own stuff. The amp was moderately noisy when I got it - a hissing sound. After about 9 months it got real loud - like a waterfall. Took it to repair station. He replaced a capacitor, it is quieter than new now. Barely noticeable. I like it. The gain channel has more of a 60 cycle hum, but I guess thats normal being its high gain - not loud enough to be a problem.

This amp on channel 1 can be perfectly clean to nice distortion depending on gain pot setting when using the Les Paul. The SG has '57 pickups - not as hot - no distortion is attained on channel one. Again, lots a head room for clean - you can get loud enough to be quite painful to the ears. The channel 1 sound with the gain up is sweet - mids are wonderfully toned. However, low frequencies are very muddy. I have had to alter my playing style to deal with the mud. More palm muting on the lower strings. Channel 2 is a different animal all together. Its not an extension of channel 1 at all, completely different tone - very trebly to me. Channel 1 has a wide range of equalization - from booming bass and mids to ear piercing highs. Channel two no matter what the settings is treble. I will give an overall rating of 9 - positives are good clean tone, good channel one distortion but muddy lows and highs can hurt; and channel 2 is good for some songs byt somewhat limited in variation of tone really, level of disortion is adjustable to high to very high.

This amp doesnt go out of the house much so its hasnt been banged up or anything. 9 months after I bought it I noticed a loss of low frequency. Also, the hissing noise was getting noticeably loud. The amp spent several weeks at the repair station. I was not happy about this at all. In the past, I have owned amps from Gibson, Ampeg, Fendor, and Peavey and never had to have one repaired. I know Mesa has a great reputation, but I can only rate this on my own experience. The amp required new tubes (already?) and a capacitor and to be changed. Also, the channel 1 gain pot pops and cracks when turned. I havent gotten this fixed yet. Based on my experience with this amp and comparing it to other amps I have owned for longer periods of time I must give this amp a below average rating of 3. Sorry Mesa/Boogie diehards but the facts are the facts.

I called Mesa/Boogie and also dealt with two of their repair stations. I dont know, they seemed to not like the fact that I was calling about an amp that had problems. I have been playing guitar about 38 years now. I know sound. I didnt get a warm feeling from talking to them. Almost like they didnt believe I was telling them this amp had a problem. Like it couldnt happen, must be me, not the amp. Repair seemed to take forever, maybe just my impatience, but not having the amp for like 4 weeks was a bit long for me. The first repair station didnt think there was a problem. Good bye. Second one thought of tubes and capacitor. Good diagnosis. Fixed it. I got tired of waiting for the new gain pot to come in from Boogie and got the amp back. I told them to call me when it came in. Well that was a month ago and still havent heard from them. In the end, the loss of lows was fixed, I think by the tube changeout. The hissing sound was fixed by the new cap. The popping pot is still not fixed. I just have to say I was really getting pissed with Boogie this amp. Now that I have it back the joy is there again. I get great pleasure playing it and have basically gotten over it. I just want a good sounding amp to play, I dont wanna deal with repair stations and customer service people, whether they are friendly or not. I aint into repairing. I will rate this a 5 which isnt bad, I'd say its about average and what I'd expect from most companies out there.

Been playing like 38 years. Also play accoustic - have a Guild D44M from 1975. If it were stolen I might get it again, it suits my needs. I would look at other amps though - the Mesa Mark 4 perhaps and other brands. This amp at times has the sweetest sound I have ever heard - you do not want to put it down. It is versatile and sounds good clean or with gain. It booms bass and mids and rings and growls. Power chord rock at its best. Blues leads - wonderful tone. Heavy distortion rock - channel 2 does a respectable job at this. Dislikes - muddy bottom, treble can hurt your ears for some reason and not just because its too loud - I cant explain why. This amp has extreme dynamic range - it can be booming lows and mids and at the same time the highs are piercing your ears. Sustains beautifully and low end fades out with waves of growling sound - its unbelievable really. When you play this amp, you understand how live music cannot be matched by recorded music, CD's or whatever. I have never heard any recorded music that has the tone that comes out of this amp - I dont think you can capture the dynamic range. It has a character all its own that has to be heard to be believed.

I will rate this a 9.5 overall (rounded up to 10). Its tone aint perfect, no amp is, the electronic problems were annoying, but damn it sounds good.

I just got this back! I had it in a pawnshop and it never got sold! I used this back in 2003 in late October/November! I rehearsed with it and did a couple of gigs! I plugged thru an Ibanez tubescreamer! But now that I have it back, I've played straight thru, no effects, well, I sold all of my effects!

It has a record line feature which you can come out of and plug directly into a 4track recorder. Not really that good! I don't really recommend it!

2 channels, clean and dirty!

I don't use the clean! It's too rhythmy! I don't like that!

50watts! It's loud! I've always played boogies in the past and never had any problems with them!

Sounds great!

I've not played it to it's full capacity, but I'm sure it'll play really good! When I had it the first time, it sounded great!

It does kinda have a hum to it when yer not playing!

Great overdrive sound!

I play rocknroll like Johnny Thunders, Ramones, Stooges, Rolling Stones!

RELIABLE!!!

I bought it brand new from a store and then sold it to a store and got it back! I've been the only owner of the amp!

I play P90's thru this thing and it's killer!

I love Boogies!

I really want an Orange, but I don't have a good job!

I used to have Boogie Marks and Half stacks! I chose this one because it was in my AVAILABLE CREDIT range!

It was worth the money!

Got this amp back in 2003. I was tired of using my stupid AVT100 combo I had, so I sold that to get this. Tubes Rock! I use this amp for practices and smaller gigs, but it could do large gigs easily. Its got two channels, plus a contour switch for the dist. channel, but what I really wish it had was a solo switch. This thing has gobbs of power, its loud!

I'm using a PRS Custom22 w/dragon 2 pups & a Gibson Les Paul Standard w/JB & '59 pups. This amp suits my style pretty good. It has too much gain for me though. Be careful with the bass knob, halfway is pushing it on the lead channel. The amp is pretty versitile, but what really shines about this amp is its clean channel...its magnificent at any volume.

The amp is very reliable, but I've had problems with the tubes going out real soon, but Mesa hooked me up with some new ones right away so its all good.

The guy I dealt with was very friendly.

I've been playing about 7 yrs. now and I own not alot of gear, but enough to have backups for everything. If it was stolen, I'd buy an Orange AD30TC combo, cause I recently just discoverd them and they sound awesome...more my style. I still love it though.

I gig with either of two PRS Custom 24's, and this is a match made in heaven. The clean channel is articulate, warm and "full" - it doesn't sound like nearly any other 1x12 combo amp trying to fill up the room. The clean channel sounds tremendous with my effects pedalboard. I never use the "dirty" channel.

I only use it with humbucker equiped guitars. Gibson LP Classic w/ Duncan 59's, a Music Man Axis Sport w/ stock EVH Humbuckers, and the PRS Custom 24's. All of these guitars sound great through the clean channel. I am careful not to go too high on the bass setting, slightly scoop the mids, and dial in the right amount of sparkle from the highs. I play alt rock, reggae and R&B two to three nights a week. This Mesa F-50 replaced a Fender Twin Reverb (which I promptly sold) and I now only occasionally use my Marshall rig (TSL-100 Head w/ Marshal 1936 2x12 cabinet w/ celestions).

Have never had a problem, but after reading somke of these other reviews I feel fortunate! I keep a spare set of tubes in my tool box at all gigs.

Never needed the support team yet, thank goodness.

Been playing 20 years, would immediately replace if it were stolen. I own a Marshall TSL-100 Head w/ 2x12 Marshall cabinet, two PRS Custom 24's, a Gibson Les Paul classic and a Music Man Axis Sport.
I love the tone, the muscle (relaative to the size ans weight of the amp) and the build quality. The best amp I've ever owned.

2 channels: Clean, Drive (& drive with contour). Reverb on both channels. 50 watts, 2 x 6l6 output valves, 4 x 12ax7 preamp valves, foot switch and slip cover.

Simple design, but I can get any sound I want from it.

My gear: Musicman Petrucci (3 pickup positions - 2 humbuckers).

Getting THE sound is an ongoing effort. But so far have discovered many usable sounds across these two channels. I am into just about every type of music going. So one of my top criteria for a new amp was flexibility (as well as tone of course). Havent been able to really crank the volume as it is extremely loud. Fortunately, this amp also sounds good at low volumes, which is great for bedroom practice.

In the shops I compared this amp to a whole host of others and found this to be the winner. It also seems the longer I have this amp and the more time I spend listening to it, the better it sounds.

The noise level is astounding. Very quiet for an amp with such high gain. I highly recommend it to those into the Boogie sound. Whether you'll like this amp as much as I depends on personal preference. But what-ever opinions you read here make sure you check it out for yourself. Either way, like it or not, it's a great amp.

Only had it 1 week and a half. Blew a fuse after the first week. Not sure why. But after replacing it, we're back in business. This is my first tube amp, so I am not too sure what to expect. However, based on the various reviews I am happy to except that it'll do just fine.

Havent experienced this as yet. I hear they're great though.

My personal opinion (and I am very fussy about my tone and equipment) is that its great.

Easy to use, very responsive. If it got stolen, I would buy another.

One thing I would like to find out from any others here is what stomp boxes work well in conjunction with this amp. Only tried a DS-1, which I couldnt get to sound too good...? Havent tried any others as yet though.

Brand new off the shelf Mesa Boogie F50, bought March 2004. The AMP is perfect for what I was looking for, easy to use, 54 LBS, portable etc... It has three channels, a super clean, a crunch and crunch with contour. I play in multiple commercial/GB Bands, so I need a versatile AMP, and this fits the bill.

I use a Paul Reed Smith and the PRS with the Boogie fits me perfectly. I am not a head banger, but I can rock out when I have to, 30+ years of experience and can play any type of music, as can this Boogie. My first Boogie was a MARK II, which I traded in for this, along with a Junk MIDI Rig that I had. The clean sound is as good as it gets and is what I use 90% of the time (Not too many Hendrix solos at weddings ...). The crunch is good old familiar Boogie crunch, and I am still working on getting the ultimate Contour Sound.

Boogie, I believe is the most dependable AMP that you can buy. It costs more, but it should. I never had a problem (other than tubes)with my 26 year old Mark II, and I assume that I will not have any issues with the F50.

Very responsive Customer Support, good guys who want to help and know their stuff.

I love it! I am not up on all the new hot stuff, but when I was looking for an AMP to replace my Midi Rig, which I had to carry up four flights at the Four Seasons, when their elevator broke down, the Boogie rose above all others for this type of GB Gig. You can carry your Guitar in a gig bag, along with your cables etc..., your Tux in one arm and this amp in the other, and you could rock out with anyone & play jazz as well. The only issue that I have is that the foot switch should have an LED for the Reverb.

Just bought the amp a few weeks ago, feb 2004. I mainly do a lot of classic rock, blues and jazz, the amp covers them all just fine. The clean channel is crisp, responsive, and warm. The dirty channel was a bit weird to get used to, but now that I have it set, its great. I have found to not go overboard with the gain, its a very hot channel. Also I don't use the built in reverb, it was ok, but my digital reverb unit sounds better. The amp is a very powerful 50 watts, and I have no trouble getting on top of 100 watt amps at jam sessions with inconsiderate players...lol

I play a US Floyd Rose Strat, and it screams as mentioned eariler. I do a lot of Santana tunes so I can get tone pretty easy. On the hot channel it can be a little noisy if I'm in my single coils, but switch to the humbucker in the bridge and its pretty quiet then. I don't really play super loud unless I have to, so it does it all very nicely so far.

I can't really comment here with only a few weeks under my belt, but with friends that have had Boogies for years, I don't really expect to many issues in this area. I've been giging already with it with no back up, and who knows, may bite me yet. LOL

I did call them for some Boogie stickers for my guitar case and a they sent them right out. Also answered my questions regarding getting the hot channel set to my liking. Very helpful and friendly. The warranty is 5 year.

Been Playing 34 years in all, if it were stolen I would probably replace it. I've had to many amps stolen already, so I hope I don't have to deal with that again. The only thing I wish it had was a roadie to move it for me cause I have a blown disk in my back and I really hate carrying any amp. As Boogies go, this one isn't as heavy as some I've encountered. Only rated most of the areas as 9's cause I just haven't had it long enough to say much more than I have.

Two channels with it's own controls for each channel (gain treble mid bass master reverb)there is a effect loop with a mix control and a record out on the back two.A bright switch on the clean for Humbuckers and a contour switch on channel two.
I play blues/country/rockabilly/jazz I'm a big and i mean big Danny Gatton fan. I play a 68 strat and a G & L Classic Asat Tele

Channel one is clean and this is the best boogie clean i've heard and i've had 6 boogie amps, it is real vintage sounding and warm not thin like most other boogie clean channels it full of life.also the reverb on this amp is awesome i think this as let boogie's down in the past but not on this amp.Channel two is the classic boogie overdrive sound with some where between a mark 1 and some of the metal boogie amps with it's own sound in there as well.BUT THIS IS NOT A AMP FOR THE METAL HEADS OUT THERE it is more for the classic rockers after a awesome rock tone.When the contour switch is kicked in the tone is pushed forward and every note will sound so so toneful.
I've going to give this a 10 because it's a great sounding amp for the money.

Not so good.

So blow fuse went on the first gig so i got some of the shop i got the amp from and then it went again and again so they gave me a new amp and after 1 month it happened again so a friend said to me change them mesa valves for some good one and it's been awesome since 2 years

Boogie uk did give me a new one and changed valves and fuses and were very under standing about the fact that i wasn't happy but they won me over with the service.

I've been playing for 18 years 10 professionlly i have two other amps a Soldano and a Fender Blackface but this is the one i gig.I love the tone of both channels you do have to give the amp and your self time to find the sweat spots but when you do there awesome.

Pretty Basic, 2 Channel 3 Mode Reverb Combo. All the stuff you need is included, cover, footswitch, etc. Push/pull bright swtich on clean channel is really good for making my Les Paul brighter. I'm not a big effect guy. Had a Crate V-Series with all these effects that I rarely used in the 3 months before it died... I'm not kidding - Don't buy one of those things. I went through 3 of them and spent 300 dollars cause the warranty was not honored. What a pain.

Epiphone Les Paul Standard Plus with SD '59 and JB Pickups and a Mexican Strat. Very Good overall tone, clean can be very shimmery even with the Les Paul. The best sound on the amp comes when you crank the clean up pretty loud - its got the sweetest breakup. High Gain Channel is great too, can be very crushing for a small 1x12. Confuses people when I play next to a Marshall DSL 4x12. Switching to contour makes it more in your face and adds a little more gain. Only thing that is missing is something in between the power clip of the clean channel and the aleady pretty dirty settings even when the gain on channel 2 is set low. Maybe just my Paul's new higher output pickups, as the strat is not as bad with this. Still missing a little area the Marshall D/TSLs are great at in between clean and dirty, but their 1x12s cost even more than the F-50 and the clean is nowhere close. Adding a 2nd Boogie widebody cab is a great idea, I bought one with the amp but have only had to use it for a few gigs - sound is a little darker and fuller. Even runs my friends Marshall 4x12 with great sound.

Too new to tell. That said I have 3 friends who have Mesa amps and none has had any problems, and I have heard great things. I have high expectations, even though I am coming from Crate. My Hot Rod Deville has not been good to me Reliability wise either, so I finally decided to pay more for a quality product. It's built like people cared about building it, you can tell when you look it is just of a higher quality. I like the aspect of just being able to buy Mesa Tubes (cheaper than groove tubes) and not having to bias. Already ordered some backup tubes. I am giving a 9 here only because I don't have firsthand experience.

Talked to them once about a speaker question, they were the best support staff I ever talked with, called me back a few days later to make sure everything went well. Freindly too. You get some amazing documentation with the amp, I really enjoyed reading it if that makes any sense. Like I said, warranty is a great deal (5 years, 6 months on tubes), and there are plenty of Mesa dealers around here.

I have had 3 New Crate Amps (all of which broke in under one year), a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe (always had some microphonic problems wich came and went with the day it seemed), and my last two amps cost only a few hundred dollars less than what I paid for the F-50. Yet when I opened the box it was like I had bought an amp at a whole different level, and when I play through it it sounds so much BETTER. I had never even heard much about Mesa other than what my friends told me, and I only played it in the store because I heard someone else playing it. A Marshall TSL601 is about $1200, and it is an incredible amp, I looked at it for a long time. It may be better for some people but I just really liked this one, mostly because the clean channel is unreal for an amp that can get this dirty, and it seemed of a higher quality. Overall, it is nearly perfect, and it is rock solid with great people making it. The value is just amazing.

Just noticed a few people talking about not liking Channel 2 without the Contour. In my review I left below, you'll see I mention the same thing. What I've found since then is that you can get some great lower gain tones out of Channel 2 without the Contour. You have to make some radical adjustments to the tone controls (cranking up the treble, mids and bass to the 3 o'clock range), but you can really get some sweet tones that way. That's how I play SRV style things, and crunchy blues stuff. Problem here is that if you switch the Contour on, there's way too much treble and bass. So, this pretty much rules out using the Contour switch as a third channel, which is unfortunate, but if you don't need to switch on the fly, it's easy enough to dial in the settings.

I will add here that I am more and more pleased with the tones I get out of this amp the longer I have it...which is encouraging. So often, I am less pleased with the tones I get out of an amp the longer I own it, so I'm taking this as a good sign.

This amp was bought a couple of weeks ago. Two channels. A clean and lead channel. The lead channel comes with a footswitchable boost. The footswitch also enables the user to switch back and forth between the clean and lead channel as well. The gain channel on the clean side which is basically a volume control can be pulled out to brighten up the sound which I really like. There is also a contour switch witch can be utilized on the second channel as a gain and volume boost. Basic stuff really, but enough for the guitarist like me who only needs to nail a great clean, a light overdrive with my single coil pick ups, and a full on rock crunch with my humbucker equipped guitars. This amp has plenty of power. I did my first gig with it last week for about 175 people. The master was never higher than 10 o'clock. Sounded great with plenty of power until it blew a fuse 8 songs into the set! Doh!!!

My main guitar is a Godin Solidac. The only effects I currently use are a Boss SD-1, and 535q Crybaby. I play rock. Aerosmith, Zep, Beatles, Stones, Hendrix, Foo Fighters, STP, Sabbath, ZZ Top, Allman Bros. This amp covers those styles flawlessly. The cleans are absolutely outstanding. When I bought this amp, I played it next to a Fender Twin, and to my ears the cleans on this amp rival the Twin easily. The other guitarist in my band plays a Strat and Tele through a Twin, and he has been raving about the tone on the Mesa since I have been using it. Five minutes into my first band practice with it, the singer stopped and said to me, "I think you found your amp!"

Before I bought this amp I had people coming up to me in the store and instead of telling me to turn down like usual, they were asking what kind of amp I was using because the tones sounded so great. The pick responsiveness is outstanding. I'm not sure how to describe it exactly, beyond saying that the amp is really responsive to your picking motion. I read somewhere in another review that the amp feels like an extension of your instrument, and I would second that view whole heartedly!

The lead channel is a little muddy in my opinion. I haven't been able to get a great sound from it so far unless the contour switch is engaged. The contour switch really tightens up the distortion. So far, I have been basically keeping the contour on all the time when I use channel two. What I'll do is keep the gain turned down for bluesy jams, and simply turn it up from the nine o'clock position to the one o'clock position when I need more modern and heavier gain sounds. It is really simple to get a great sound from this amp. With only 5 knobs for each channel, you really can't screw up too much. I'm not sure if this is a metal amp, but for stright ahead rock it's oustanding!! I'm only giving it an 8 for sound though because I haven't been able to tame channel two to my liking yet without using the contour switch.

The amp I purchased blew a fuse during the first gig I played with it. I had to use a solid state Epiphone amp the rest of the time. I hope I never have to go through that again. I know I should have had extra fuses and tubes with me, but this is my first all tube amp, and the Music Man I used before I bought this one had zero reliability issues. I ended up going back to the store and getting a new amp right out of the box. I've had it for a few days. So far, so good! Only time will tell though. Another minor complaint is that the new amp did not come with a slip cover, although it is plainly stated on Mesa's website that one should be included. The dealer did order one for me though at no charge.

I called Mesa about the problem. They were very cool, and I'm sure will be easy to deal with in the future. They don't always answer the phones, but do get back to you when you leave a message. Especially Rich in repairs. Great guy!

So far so good on the new amp. I have found some great sounds with this thing. It is mean and crunchy when needed but also cleans up great! If it was lost or stolen I would definitely get another one, although I've got my eye on a Maverick or Lone Star. This amp is really easy to use, and has oustanding tone. Once I get that channel 2 working a little more to my liking without the contour switch it will be like having three channels in a compact but loud package.

Amp bought in early 2003 - probably of production run in 2002 - I don't think it's a widebody. I bought this to take to band practice due to it's size, the simple set up, all tube, and the fact that it's a MESA. Wide range of sounds from a very easy to use amp - footswitchable, relatively compact, etc. It has everything I was looking for in a practice amp, including the volume to compete with a powerful drummer and the type of bass player you always have to tell to turn down.

I mainly use a Fernandes Vertigo with an EMG 81 in the bridge. Other guitars used are an Epi Les Paul Custom and Fender Lone Star Strat (with those sweet Texas Specials and the Pearly Gates in the bridge). My style is everything from clean jazzy finger picked stuff to Slayer and chunky punk like NOFX. This amp handles it all quite well - the clean channel really, really sold me on this amp. Full, round, not ear piercingly shrill, and powerful. The distortion is kick ass too. Our other guitarist plays through a Marshall Valvestate (I did too, prior to this amp) and we have a great mix of tones, with the MESA having greater chunk and um, balls to hold down the heavy end. A good blend between the two. Makes me think I should have kept my old Valvestate to run parallel with the MESA.

I'd never gig without a backup of any kind - you never know. Especially with tube amps. In any case, I bring my POD 2.0 for DI to the board just in case. Hope I never have to go to plan "B", but murphy's law . . . .

Knock on wood - no need to use support yet.

I've been playing for over 10 years now (and still nowhere near the level of playing I'd like to be). I am also a confirmed gear addict in the hopes that tone, and the ability to dial in a good one, makes up for my techinical shortcomings.
I mentioned that I got rid on my Valvestate - I used to run that 100 watter through a BBE 264 sonic maximizer and Marshall 1960A 4 x 12 (at practice through an Ampeg 2 x 12) both with Celestions (T12-75 or something like that). That was a lot of gear to haul. This relatively small 50 watt combo is all I need now - period. Therefore I sold my Valvestate to get the Epi Les Paul Custom. Our sound guy can't get over the tone of this little amp versus my old setup, or our other guitarist's Valvestate setup. Last gig I didn't even hook it up to my 2 x 12 and it sounded unreal. Very loud, powerful tone, great clean channel. If it were stolen, I'd buy another one the next day - better features than the 30 watt version, better portability than the 100 watt version - plus you can push the output harder than the 100 watt model. I have considered Line 6 amps, but I don't need the effects or overpriced footswitch and this puppy offers enough tonal flexibility to suit my needs. In my mind, the perfect practice and gigging amp - by no means a late night bedroom amp - it's meant to be cranked in a band setting.

Quick update to the review I left yesterday. I forgot to talk about the reverb. IMHO, this is the weakest aspect of the amp. Guitarist Magazine really liked the reverb, Guitar One, on the other hand was not all that jazzed about it. I agree with Guitar One, it's not the kind of reverb that I like. The Ampeg I had before had a wonderful, full, lush reverb (at least as good as Fender, IMHO) that the Mesa doesn't even get close to. It is better than the reverb on some of Mesa's other amps (the Nomad 55, for example). So I'm disappointed about that, but it's not a huge thing, and I can always buy a reverb pedal if I want to.

Also forgot to mention the pull 'Bright' switch on the Rhythm channel, which allows you to compensate for dark sounding humbuckers. A nice feature that I find useful.

This is a stripped down all-tube amp, not a lot of fancy features, just good tone (what more do you need?). What it does have is two channels, one for clean tones (they call it Rhythm) and one for overdriven tones (they call it Lead). The Lead channel has 2 modes, Normal and Contour. The Contour is foot-switchable and basically runs the signal through a "V" EQ curve and pumps up the gain a few decibels. Each channel has its own dedicated Low, Mid and High controls, as well as dedicated Gain, Reverb and Master controls.

There is a parallel effects loop, a direct out/headphone jack and a speaker mute switch. The amp employs 4 12AX7's in the preamp stages and 2 6L6's in the power amp stage, providing a more than adequate 50 Watts of power (i've turned it up half way at home and was scared things would start breaking, and that I'd lose my hearing...I'd have to be in a pretty big hall to turn it up louder than that, I usually have the master between 8 o?clock and 9 o?clock)

It comes equipped with a Black Shadow Celestion 90 speaker (12 inch).

Presence control would be nice, as well as a footswitchable volume boost for solos. Also wish it had a switchable bias for EL34 power tubes, but then it would cost more, too. I give it an 8 because it doesn't have a pile of features, but then again, that's the idea behind it.

Also has jacks for external speakers, both 4 Ohm and 8 Ohm.

I play a Standard Strat with Lace Sensors in it (Red-hot humbucker-in the bridge, Blue-50's humbucker-in the neck and Gold-basic strat-in the middle). I also play a Charvel Surfcaster with a Seymour Duncan Jeff Beck in the bridge and a Kent Armstrong lipstick in the neck. My acoustic is a Taylor 414CE. I play classic, 80's and modern rock, blues (a la SRV and Albert King), some jazz and fingerstyle acoustic. The amp will produce tones that work well with each of these styles (and has worked well with the acoustic, too). I find the Rhythm channel to be somewhat noisy (surprisingly)...a very noticeable hiss when you turn it up, but it's not real bothersome. The Lead channel is actually very quiet (figure that one out!)

The Rhythm channel will start to break up nicely when the gain is cranked...approaching that SRV sound, especially if you have a Tube Screamer in front of it...and with the master volume, you can acheive that at any volume level. Of course, you can lower the gain and boost the master to get some power amp overdrive, too. It really is a beautiful clean channel, will easily hold it's own against a Fender.

The Lead channel will allow you to dial in everything from a nice warm, just-breaking-up overdrive to a full on distortion. In Normal mode, the amp is very vintage sounding. For a more modern tone, the Contour mode must be engaged. Some guitar magazine reviews have said that the lead channel approaches the Dual Rectifier. I've never played a dual rectifier, so I can't vouch for that, but it does sound good, especially with the contour on, which is how I do most of my playing. I really only play in Normal mode in low gain situations or when looking for vintage bluesy tones. In a interview with Randall Smith, he said that this is NOT supposed to be exactly like a Dual Rectifiier, because that amp already exists. So it's more for rock and hard rock than metal, but it does have more gain than any amp I've owned. It has more gain than I normally use. I usually have the gain set between 12 o'clock and 2 o'clock for my rock tones, so there's obviously room to crank out more gain if I want it.

One criticism about this amp is that it doesn?t sound all that great at low volumes (i.e., when my baby daughter is sleeping, I use my modeling pre-amp, because it doesn?t depend on the power-amp like the Mesa does) Even my wife admitted the other day that it doesn?t sound as good when it?s turned down(!). There are some rather unpleasant frequencies that are very noticeable at low volumes that tend to disappear as the master is turned up. It doesn?t have to be ear-splitting loud, but probably loud enough to be easily heard all over the house.

Also, I was a bit disappointed with the headphone jack. I?m sure it depends on the headphones you use, but while they?re certainly not the top of the line, a $50 set of Sennheiser?s are decent headphones. But I found I had to cut the bass way back, like from 1 o?clock to 9 o?clock, and even then it has some unpleasant frequencies. So I basically just use my digital modeling pre-amp when I use headphones.

I have a 1x12 cabinet that I built myself based on a Mesa 1x12 Recto Cab with a Celestion Vintage 30 in it. It sounds great to set the F-50 on top of the speaker cabinet and run the signal through both speakers (a micro-stack!)

I've only had the amp a couple of months, and no problems yet. Mesa has a good reputation, so I'm not expecting any reliability issues.

Have not contacted them at this point.

Overall, it's an excellent amp. I've been playing electric for about 6 years (acoustic for 10 years before that) and this is the most expensive amp I've owned. This is my second tube amp, the first was an Ampeg Reverberocket, which was a good, vintagey sounding amp, but I wanted a little more distortion. It's not a given that I would buy the same amp if this one were stolen. I compared this amp to a Marshall TSL 60 before I bought it, and it sounded way better in my opinion (and a friend of mine who has a pickier ear than I do agreed), but now I'm wondering how representative that particular Marshall was (my friend didn't think that Marshall sounded that great either, but he had tried one before and been pretty impressed, so maybe this one was a fluke). I would probably compare and shop around again, but I would definitely consider the F-50 again.

Also, I got one of the first F-50's made. The F-50 now is a wide-body, and mine is not. I saw on the Mesa website that a few of the first F-50s were not widebodies. Also, mine does not have the LED indicators on the faceplate like the widebodies. I'm a bit bummed about that, but then I also got it for $100 less than the widebodies are now selling for, so I'm not complaining, besides, there are LEDs on the footswitch.

Very straight-forward, very LOUD three?-channel(depending on how you look at it) tube combo. 50 watts, independent reverb on two channels, series effects loop, push/pull bright for the clean, celestion speaker, external speaker jacks, etc. etc. etc., yada, yada, yada. Very cool speaker mute/silent recording switch. If you like a simple plug in, tweak, and play rig, this is definitely it.

This amp, in my opinion, absolutely smokes! Even better, it also smokes at low volumes! I don't think it is possible to get a bad sound out of this amp, with the exception of something like setting ALL of the controls on zero or ALL of them on ten or something stupid like that. Anyone with a little bit of common sense and an even slight knowledge of good tone could make this amp just sing (or scream). And for those who don't have any sense of what tone is, you have absolutely no business even spending this much on an amp! First, the clean channel. Killer! Once again, using a little bit of common sense in your settings, the clean channel is really full and extremely warm sounding. I run my amp completely dry. No chorus, no flange, nothing. Every once in awhile, depending on my mood, I may use just a slight touch of reverb. And I do not miss having any effects in there at all. I'm not really sure how dirty the clean channel will get though, because I haven't pushed it at all past where I like it. Now the dirty channel. Mesa says that they based this channel on the rectifier series. Now people, the term based on is different than the term copied. So if it is a rectifier's gain that you are looking for, buy a rectifier! The gain in the F-50 is just as heavy but a little tighter and smoother, if that makes any sense. It doesn't have the buzzy overtones or muddiness that you can get in the rectifier. It's got more of a souped up DSL kind of gain to it! (I said kind of like a DSL. I am in no way, shape or form comparing a Mesa to a Marshall. So just relax!)The dirty channel has a contour switch which essentially makes the third channel. The contour is supposed to kick in an extra gain stage. There really isn't as much of a change in tone as I would like in the contour mode. It is mainly, most noticeably a volume boost. But you know what, the amp sounds so good otherwise that I don't really care about "getting screwed out of a third channel". And talk about quiet! This is definitely the quietest hi-gain (yes, even though it is not a rectifier, it is a hi-gain amp!) that I have ever heard. I'm sure you will get some noise out of it by flooring the gain control (once again, that common sense thing) I have my gain set at about 2:00 and the gain that I get is definitely heavy enough for Metallica but yet I don't need any kind of noise gate. And did I mention that this amp is LOUD! This is definitely one of the loudest 50 watt combos out there. This thing will drive the hell out of a 4-12 cabinet if you chose to use one . I don't and it is still plenty loud for practice and gigging! And usually you think of an amp being like shampoo, you just don't need instructions! But the Mesa manual is actually really cool. Not only does it have the usual instruction type stuff in it, but it also talks about how the tone controls are interactive of each other. It has a section on speaker wiring, the different types of rectifiers, it talks about biasing. Just really cool information to know!

This is probably as reliable as you can get for a tube amp. Mesa uses a fixed bias on all of their tube amps now, which means that when you change your power tubes, you don't need to have it rebiased. To make things even more "idiot-proof", Mesa rates all of their tubes on a color scale. So when you change your tubes, you can replace them with the same color as the old ones and you are good to go! Now it isn't absolutely necessary that you match your color with the old ones, but for those who are just a little more anal about it than others... Gigging without a backup is definitely not an issue with this amp. Construction-wise, it is a tank. Very, very solid.

Never had to contact them for any kind of warranty or repair work. From what I hear, they are top-notch. I have ordered stuff from them on-line though. They sent me emails constantly telling me the status of my order, the tracking of my order and exactly when I should be getting it. Very cool!

People say that nothing is perfect. For what I like in an amp, and for my taste and preference, THIS IS PERFECT! Worth EVERY penny! The price definitely made me think about it first, but definitely worth it! I'm not sure that I would be able to afford to replace it right away, but I would definitely do everything I could to get another one before I had to settle for anything else.

baught mine in aughust 2003, this amp can handle about any music style you can imagine, I play hard/blues rock with a touch of old school metal. features 2 channels +contour. channel one has the kind of punch I was looking for, I only tested it for 15 minutes, and after the first minute I played it, I knew that That was "THE" sound I was looking for. It has an effecsloop with level control but I always got this one up to 100%, a recording out that sounds excellent (on fostex harddisc recorder)
must say this output needs a volume control if used for headphones.
Use it for practice and for gigs, boy is this amp loud, 50 watts, but they sound louder than a marshall 100 watt. For as I am fond of my hearing it is even quite loud for practice. It isn't necessary to play loudly but you only get the real kickass sound with the master at nine o'clock.

My rigg: F 50, les Paul studio, effects: tech21 wah, sparkle drive, boss DS1, both used over and seperate from amp channels. In effects loop: analog chorus, danecho and holy grail reverb.
I personnaly think this is about th best sound I could dream of.(after replacement of delay) For gigs hook up one 4x12 cab.Suits me perfect. A bit of noise but wich valve amp doesn't make noise. It goes from fender-like clean(bright mode) upto even way to much gain for a trash metal freak. Notice: this amplifier will allways sound low, down and dirty used with humbuckers. But I really love that. It takes some time to get the amp tweaked just perfect. Perfection takes time. Rather brutal distortion, I tried a 12AT7 on gain channel but amp begain to feedback on it's own. I set gain at nine o'clock and for me this is more than enough. Best sound ever. Do watch out for to much trebble.

Already burried one 12AX7 but don't expect this to soon again.
features hard biass, so not to worry about a busted 6L6.
It did not break down yet. so far so good !!
but once a tube amp, always a tube amp.

couldnt lell you anything about this, they only deliver really mean amplifiers, enough support for me.

Been playing for seven years. If this amp were stolen or lost would buy same thing again or cry my eyes out untill I have enough money to buy again. The only bad thing I could say about it is that it's a bit to loud, fifty watts, I must be becoming a sissy. I compared this amp to every amp available, any price categorie. It didn't come cheap but wasn't the most expencive one either. No doubt about this: to me this is the best sounding amp ever.

It was kept very simple by Mesa on purpose. The simplicity, as compared to the Road King, is nice, since the only truly important thing is tone, which this amp has. 2 channels + contour is plenty. The EQ is a bit tough to dial in at first, as compared to Marshall's I've had where you put treable & bass at 9, and mids at 3. You have to be more careful with this EQ.

I use a new SG Special with a Dunlop Crybaby, that's it. The distortion is great, and SUPER HEAVY! Depending on how hard you pick (for instance, when palm muting heavily), the crunch, especially the bass intensity will respond accordingly. This is very nice to create super heavy palm muting for metal/hard rock styles I like. The clean channel is incredible. It is perfect, it starts to distort with gain at about 1:00. With gain at 4:30, you have a nice bluesy distortion, or add a touch more for light AC/DC style sound. At first, I didn't like to tone as much, as it is much darker and looser than the Marshall Avt is was used to. I later found that Ch.2 without contour has a tighter Marshall-like distortion. Add some extra treb. + bass via contour switch and you have brew-tal distortion. One bad thing is when gain knob (on Ch.2+contour)is past 3:30, the amp makes a funny "whah"-ish overtone that sounds terrible. But, you don't even need much more distortion than at 2:30, so it's not a huge deal. Also this amp, for 50 watts, is LOUD LOUD LOUD! It shakes my garage at vol. at 2.

Hand-made, built like a toilet (a good thing)

N/A

Good tone, very loud, very reliable, only blemish is an annoying overtone that comes about when gain (+ contour) is past 3:30.

This amp features a widebody superbly built cabinet with a rear loaded 12" Celestion custom 90 speaker. Power tubes are two 6L6. Fifty watt, two channel with footswitch controlling three modes:Channel one,contour and reverb. Each channel has separate EQ.
Line out/silent record/FX loop and speaker mute are located on back of amp.
Plain and simple to operate and adjust settings.

Playing with a Les Paul and Strat this amp is a definate tone monster. Channel one is incredible. The best clean I've heard.The widebody cab lets you feel every note and chord!The EQ is very useable and simple to adjust any style of music. The reverb is very nice and rich.
I've heard some players arn't completely satisfied with channel two on this amp,however I quickly dialed in the sweetspot. I have no complaints on this channel. I've gone from blues to shred with some simple adjustments. I love this channel as well as channel one. The contour mode is menacing!! WOW! Tone,tone,tone...
I play all styles of music. This amp fills every sonic need. If your looking for tone and versatility, this is the one.

This is my first Boogie, however I reaserch and tested amps from dozens of manufacturers of every price range and style before making my final choice.(I spent around three months reasearching tube types, manufacturing techniques,customer service, power etc...) Based on my reasearch, I trust Mesa/Boogie to be extreemly reliable.
You've heard it before: These amps are built like tanks.

I spoke with Mesa Engineering several times during my search for this amp. Everyone I had contact with was very helpfull and knowledgeable.
I havent had to deal with them on any issues since the purchase of my F-50 but if I did, I have total confidence that they would resolve any issues should they arise.
This amp comes with a five year warranty.

I have had some great amps in the past.(Been playing since '73). This amp is one of the best! I love the tone and simplicity of this amp. Satisfies all my needs.
I went through several other manufacturers and models before choosing the F-50. For me nothing else even came close.
If stolen I would definately replace it with the same.