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10K views 31 replies 14 participants last post by  j.arledge 
#1 ·
My dad said he's gonna buy me an amp, and i really want a Mesa (or anyother tube). But it'd be for my bedroom so buying a 50w would be useless, what Mesa should i get that i can use for a bedroom and maybe some school talent shows.

Price range is about $800. I play and listen to old school rock, maiden, metallica, satch, vai, RATM, etc..
 
#3 ·
Look around on the bay for the Studio, Mark III series, or a 50 cal, they are great amps and you can get them for 800 or less.
Another combo that I would entertain is anything by VHT, such as the Pittbull, I've heard Gary Hoey use one live and it killed, not to mention he kills anyway.
800 is a NICE budget for a bedroom amp.
I say nab a Studio combo, then get some effects with the spare change.

Another thought is go with a 50 watter and you'll have something you can play in the bedroom and use to play out with later on.

Let us know what you score!
Bamm
 
#6 ·
carlos grijalva said:
I've been really interested in the F-30, but i'm still not 100% convinced, i heard that the lead isn't that good, and there isn't much gain. But the F-30 is on the top 5 of my list. I'll check out the Mark series and a Studio.
I'm sure a boost or od pedal would solve the problem. As for the gain, check out the harmony central link above. It's got multiple sound samples of clean, low gain, medium gain, high gain, and metal. Sounds pretty damn good to me.
 
#7 · (Edited)
#8 ·
The F30 has got TONS of gain on the lead channel! I don't know who told you that, but I own one, and the lead contour setting has a ridiculous amount of gain - I commented on another thread about this amp - I actually don't really like the sound of the amp that much, but the reason for that is probably because I am used to a very different setup which I use live, and I was kinda hoping I could capture that sound (albeit in miniature) at home with the F30, and it doesn't.

Having said that, plugging in a JEM and dialling up what I consider to be a reasonable amount of gain (and for me that means the gain control on about 2 by the way - at which point the F30 has about as much overdrive as my Marshall JCM800 combo with the gain on ten), you can wail for hours!

And while it is a great, compact amp for using at home, they are LOUD - you can easily gig at almost any small/medium sized venue with an F-30. For $600-800US, you could also probably get a Studio, or a Calibre, or even a Mk4 1x12 combo (dunno, I might be stretching things a bit there, but Boogies are a LOT less expensive secondhand in the US than they are here at the end of the world!).

So, for anyone who read my comments about the F30 in the other thread, they are just my opinions as a user who was perhaps expecting the amp to do something other than what it was designed to do - try one first, and besides, all of the other gear I use is Mesa stuff, and I love it - they don't do much that sucks!

Cheers
 
#9 ·
David McCarroll said:
The F30 has got TONS of gain on the lead channel! I don't know who told you that, but I own one, and the lead contour setting has a ridiculous amount of gain - I commented on another thread about this amp - I actually don't really like the sound of the amp that much, but the reason for that is probably because I am used to a very different setup which I use live, and I was kinda hoping I could capture that sound (albeit in miniature) at home with the F30, and it doesn't.

Having said that, plugging in a JEM and dialling up what I consider to be a reasonable amount of gain (and for me that means the gain control on about 2 by the way - at which point the F30 has about as much overdrive as my Marshall JCM800 combo with the gain on ten), you can wail for hours!

And while it is a great, compact amp for using at home, they are LOUD - you can easily gig at almost any small/medium sized venue with an F-30. For $600-800US, you could also probably get a Studio, or a Calibre, or even a Mk4 1x12 combo (dunno, I might be stretching things a bit there, but Boogies are a LOT less expensive secondhand in the US than they are here at the end of the world!).

So, for anyone who read my comments about the F30 in the other thread, they are just my opinions as a user who was perhaps expecting the amp to do something other than what it was designed to do - try one first, and besides, all of the other gear I use is Mesa stuff, and I love it - they don't do much that sucks!

Cheers
I think you convinced me, lol. Only problem is that i can't try it, no guitar store in mexico handles Mesa that i know of, we don't even have a guitar centre, but i can bet it's a great amp.

I have a horrible MG15CDR, which is my second amp and i hate it a lot, so i'll probably be mindblown when i get the F-30

One more thing, does anyone know the weight of the amp?
 
#12 ·
Somewhere around 70 pounds I think. This is quoted from a review at Harmony Central. "A baggage handler union won't allow checked baggage over 70 pounds, so i had to get someone to come to the airport, pick up my amp, jump on the flight to Italy and Hope that I could find some high-gain amp in Rome within the 4 days before the gig." Hope that helped. ;)
 
#20 ·
carlos grijalva said:
I hope that's true because i'm buying one on **** tommorow.
i'll tell you now then . DONT PUT THE SETTING THE WAY YOU DO WITH YOUR AMP NOW . The mesa voicing is set up so that the sound has a lot of natural bass and mids . Dont set it to your standard scooped metal sound if you dont want the classic muddy mesa gain . I recommend you look up the suggested settings for whatever amp you end up with.

your going to have your highs set up to like 8 or 9 , the mids set to like 4 or 5 and the bass set to like 2 . presence will be fairly high and that is going to get you a very nice thick rock tone .
 
#21 ·
Gresh said:
What mesa is good for a bedroom????

None of them...they aren't designed with the bedroom in mind. buy one for that use and you will be disappointed.

Later
Not true!
One of the suggested settings that ship with the Studio .22 is called "Bedroom Metal"
Low volume, high gain scooped mids and just what the title says.

So don't sweat it, Mesa has a sheet of settings to get you started with finding your ideal tone.
 
#26 ·
Well there's the Vox ad30vt. You can adjust the wattage of it. There's a wattage control on the back. Turn down the wattage, crank up the volume and you still get the warmer tube sound. Though, it is not a full tube amp. It's tube and solid state hybrid. I have the 15 watt version and it can be pretty darn loud for at home. Some people say that Vox doesn't have much gain. I don't have that problem. Though, I do like to put a TS-808 or TS-9 in front of it. That F-30 is going to be LOUD for a bedrrom.
 
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