i played a Mesa F-50 last night

Help!I'maRock!

Help!I'maRock!

Mediocringly Derivative
through a Diezel 4x12. :messedup:

the F series came 2 generations after the DC series, of which my Subway Rocket was the little brother to. the F series was replaced by the Express amps that i think came out in '08.

they're really solid amps with a good clean, and a very Mark like distortion. there's also a "contour" button on the footswitch that re-EQ's the lead channel for a more Recto like sound. my Subway Rocket has these same features.

so today, my goal is to tweak my Subway Rocket to sound more like that F-50, without getting the cops called on me.
 
markwein said:
Can you do it without the 4x12, though?
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i have never, nor will i ever need a 4x12.

the issue actually isn't with the speaker or the volume. i really can't play this amp in the house. it's a loud amp designed for the stage. if if could be played at a reasonable volume, i would probably never use my Bronco.

the issue here is the preamp. it has gobs of distortion. on 3, the amp has more distortion than my Tube Zone 2/3rds of the way up. so i've got to tame that. it shouldn't be that bad once i get the volume control working on my guitar. but its finding that balance between the clean and lead channel, and then the boost the contour gives.
 
Help!I'maRock! said:
i have never, nor will i ever need a 4x12.

the issue actually isn't with the speaker or the volume. i really can't play this amp in the house. it's a loud amp designed for the stage. if if could be played at a reasonable volume, i would probably never use my Bronco.

the issue here is the preamp. it has gobs of distortion. on 3, the amp has more distortion than my Tube Zone 2/3rds of the way up. so i've got to tame that. it shouldn't be that bad once i get the volume control working on my guitar. but its finding that balance between the clean and lead channel, and then the boost the contour gives.
Click to expand...

Do the channels share the same EQ?
 
markwein said:
Do the channels share the same EQ?
Click to expand...

on my amp, yes. on the F-50, no.

i've almost got it. the way i set it up, the clean will stay clean all the way up the guitar's volume. but the distortion will get into Metallica territory, and its only on 2.
 
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markwein said:
would that be a stumbling block?
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no, the stumbling block is how the midrange control works, and the fact that the amp sounds best way above apartment levels.

the mid control works normally from 1 to 4. after that, it works as a gain boost taking the tone stack out of the circuit. so this amp will always have a very gainy, smooth Santana tone on the lead channel. while i like that sound, i don't need all the distortion that the amp can produce. so the real issue is setting up the lead channel for less distortion and then balancing that with the clean channel. as there's no Master Volume, this can be a bit of a chore.
 
I hate when things get so complicated. That's one reason why I got rid of my Studio Preamp....one knob changes and you have a completely different sound. And thats without having the power amp in the equation...
 
markwein said:
I hate when things get so complicated. That's one reason why I got rid of my Studio Preamp....one knob changes and you have a completely different sound. And thats without having the power amp in the equation...
Click to expand...

it did exactly what i wanted when i bought it in '97. but in order to get what i want now, i have to adjust the way i play and set it up. and that's just not possible at an apartment volume.
 
I played an F-50 in a GC one afternoon (the 1x12 combo version). I obviously could not crank it, but it sounded quite nice. I remember that day because that GC also had a used Rivera R-55 that I really liked. It was a banner day for amps at that GC. And I was broke of course....
 
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