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.