NAD Mesa F50

[Nightburst]

Well what can I say, I always wanted a mesa and one popped up for the right price so I just had to snag it not knowing much about it.
Now that I played a bit with it and read more about it I start to realise I scored something truly special. What a great amp! It's the quietest amp I ever played, noise wise, I need to triple check myself when I stop playing to not accidentally leave it on all night. Mesa discontinued it? It's so easy to dial in and get good tones out of it right away.
The clean channel is lush and pulling the gain knob activates the bright mode bringing out the ' fairy dust' sparkle. It's easy to dial in and you can do anything from spanky clean to gritty swampy blues and inbetween. There is a real reverb tank but I'm not sure it takes a while for the reverb to come in. I read something about it being fed into FET's on purpose this way by design?
Anyway, the red channel offers a smooth crunch that sounds a bit vintage and warm to me, bordering muddy tone for chords but for leads it's like butter. Then there is the contour switch that only works for this channel, and hitting it you enter recto territory. I like it! Heavy, chunky, clear, that typical low mid Mesa crunch is there and i can't stop playing it.
I didn't try out the FX loop yet because I didn't want to rewire my pedalboard again so I will have to see if it takes pedals well (they say it does).
Oh yeah, there is a Black shadow speaker inside (C90?) and it sounds pretty tight and balanced. Would make a good companion with a v30 in a 2x12 cab I suppose. I did play the F50 over my 2x12 V30 HB cab and the earlier speaker breakup crunch is insanely good.

Anyone else playing the F-series? I'm curious what tubes are populair choices.

[Surgeon]

Re: NAD Mesa F50

Congrats man! I've heard a lot of good things about these. I'm afraid they just fell in the "not a recto or mark" category of Mesa amps that mean they get discountinued after a while. Doesn't mean they aren't great amps in the least... glad you're enjoying it!

[Nightburst]

Re: NAD Mesa F50

Congrats man! I've heard a lot of good things about these. I'm afraid they just fell in the "not a recto or mark" category of Mesa amps that mean they get discountinued after a while. Doesn't mean they aren't great amps in the least... glad you're enjoying it!

Thanks Surge, yeah the F-series are real sleepers.

[Surgeon]

Re: NAD Mesa F50

Iirc, they were close cousins to the nomad series. A good friend and former bandmate has one and it's a killer amp.

[devastone]

Re: NAD Mesa F50

I think these were the predecessors to the DC series?

EDIT - After googlin', it looks like it is the other way around, the DC series were the predecessors to the F series.

[Surgeon]

Re: NAD Mesa F50

I think these were the predecessors to the DC series?

EDIT - After googlin', it looks like it is the other way around, the DC series were the predecessors to the F series.

Yeah, they clearly came after the DCs...

[Boogie Bill]

Re: NAD Mesa F50

In the '90s Mesa introduced the Maverick, Blue Angel, and the DC-3,-5 and -10. The Maverick has a 4xEL84 Class A power section, taking aim at the AC-30. It has less gain available than most Mesas, but will also chase Fender Twin and vintage Marshall tones as well. I love playing mine; it's just so responsive. Really great amp. And...it is a Dual Rectifier design; I prefer the Tube Rectifier for the sag, and the SS Rectifier for tightened bass response. Combos in 112 and 212, and a head version.

The Blue Angel is also a Dual Rectifier, but takes aim at the AC-30 AND the Deluxe Reverb. No channel switching, no MV...downright weird for a Mesa. The Progressive Linkage used both 2x6V6 and 4xEL84 power tubes. Another favorite of mine, and the amp has both combo and head versions. The combos really show off the differences between the 112, 210 and 410. And again, the head into a 412 is a totally different animal.

The DC Series came in three different power amps, and were refinements of the original Calibre Series. (.50 Cal and .22 Cal.) Those amps were designed as a low cost version of the Mark Series Amps...less power and less features, ideal for many guys doing clubs as "weekend warriors"...but with all the tone and quality of the bigger amps. Dual channels with complete individual sets of G, T, M, B, P, R, and MV with Graphic EQ and a master Output Level. Marketed as a clean channel from the Mark IV and a lead channel from the Dual Recto. I love my DC-3 (4xEL84) and it sounds like a much bigger amp.

These amps were replaced by the three channel Nomads. They had more gain than the DC Series, some feeling they were a bit fizzy. I don't have one, but I LOVED the Nomad 100 112 I played.

Then came the F-Series. One of the big knocks on Mesas over the years has been that their clean tone is lacking. (I own Mark IIIs, IV, and Vs, and I don't agree with this.) They are voiced for gain, and don't have the deep bottom many Fender amp owners love. So F-Series amps took aim at Fender. F-30 is 2xEL84, F-50 has 2x6L6, and the F-100 runs 4x6L6 tubes. The clean channel is very Fendery, yet the Lead Channel just rips. Again a great choice for the club musician. The F-30 can easily handle small rooms; the F-100 can play as loud and clean as a Twin. Remember the "Evil" Twin? Well...compared to the F-100, the Fender has a weak, nasty distortion, and the Mesa sings....like a Mesa. My only nit, I wish they'd come with the master OUTPUT LEVEL control, because it is so handy. I've heard them played by jazz, blues, rock and country musicians and produce great tones.

You can spend a lot more on an amp and not get as much value, or tone. They're real sleepers in the used market. Oh, and I love using Mesa Thiele or the Wide-Body Closed-Back cabs with my combos.

Congrats on the new amp. Be sure to download and READ the Owner's Manual, available on the Mesa website. Any questions, and you can (and should) call the Mesa Customer Service guys.

Bill

[Joey Voltage]

Re: NAD Mesa F50

These amps were replaced by the three channel Nomads. They had more gain than the DC Series, some feeling they were a bit fizzy. I don't have one, but I LOVED the Nomad 100 112 I played.

I wouldn't say that the Nomad really replaced the DC series in as much as being a direct refinement. They were a completely different amp that happened to look a little similar. (well closer to the f50 really). I also disagree about the gain part. The Nomad was a lower gain model IME, having only a three stage preamp in the lead channel that more closely resembled a slightly tweaked Marshall 2203 master circuit. The DC caliber series, had a very different preamp architecture. about the only similar thing in the design was the parallel input stage, and the Mesa name plate.

Then came the F-Series. One of the big knocks on Mesas over the years has been that their clean tone is lacking. (I own Mark IIIs, IV, and Vs, and I don't agree with this.) They are voiced for gain, and don't have the deep bottom many Fender amp owners love. So F-Series amps took aim at Fender. F-30 is 2xEL84, F-50 has 2x6L6, and the F-100 runs 4x6L6 tubes. The clean channel is very Fendery, yet the Lead Channel just rips. Again a great choice for the club musician. The F-30 can easily handle small rooms; the F-100 can play as loud and clean as a Twin. Remember the "Evil" Twin? Well...compared to the F-100, the Fender has a weak, nasty distortion, and the Mesa sings....like a Mesa. My only nit, I wish they'd come with the master OUTPUT LEVEL control, because it is so handy. I've heard them played by jazz, blues, rock and country musicians and produce great tones.

Yes the Formula was meant to be an updated version of the DC series, and they fixed a lot of things that were maybe not the best solutions in the originals. All in all, the preamp architecture in the lead channel is very similar to the DC, but they did some better redesigning, like actually giving it a dedicated clean channel instead of an interrupt one, moving the reverb circuit to a more opportune place, re-voicing the tonestack in the od channel to be more mid heavy, and putting the GEQ in a better place with in the circuit as well.

[Nightburst]

Re: NAD Mesa F50

In the '90s Mesa introduced the Maverick, Blue Angel, and the DC-3,-5 and -10. The Maverick has a 4xEL84 Class A power section, taking aim at the AC-30. It has less gain available than most Mesas, but will also chase Fender Twin and vintage Marshall tones as well. I love playing mine; it's just so responsive. Really great amp. And...it is a Dual Rectifier design; I prefer the Tube Rectifier for the sag, and the SS Rectifier for tightened bass response. Combos in 112 and 212, and a head version.

The Blue Angel is also a Dual Rectifier, but takes aim at the AC-30 AND the Deluxe Reverb. No channel switching, no MV...downright weird for a Mesa. The Progressive Linkage used both 2x6V6 and 4xEL84 power tubes. Another favorite of mine, and the amp has both combo and head versions. The combos really show off the differences between the 112, 210 and 410. And again, the head into a 412 is a totally different animal.

The DC Series came in three different power amps, and were refinements of the original Calibre Series. (.50 Cal and .22 Cal.) Those amps were designed as a low cost version of the Mark Series Amps...less power and less features, ideal for many guys doing clubs as "weekend warriors"...but with all the tone and quality of the bigger amps. Dual channels with complete individual sets of G, T, M, B, P, R, and MV with Graphic EQ and a master Output Level. Marketed as a clean channel from the Mark IV and a lead channel from the Dual Recto. I love my DC-3 (4xEL84) and it sounds like a much bigger amp.

These amps were replaced by the three channel Nomads. They had more gain than the DC Series, some feeling they were a bit fizzy. I don't have one, but I LOVED the Nomad 100 112 I played.

Then came the F-Series. One of the big knocks on Mesas over the years has been that their clean tone is lacking. (I own Mark IIIs, IV, and Vs, and I don't agree with this.) They are voiced for gain, and don't have the deep bottom many Fender amp owners love. So F-Series amps took aim at Fender. F-30 is 2xEL84, F-50 has 2x6L6, and the F-100 runs 4x6L6 tubes. The clean channel is very Fendery, yet the Lead Channel just rips. Again a great choice for the club musician. The F-30 can easily handle small rooms; the F-100 can play as loud and clean as a Twin. Remember the "Evil" Twin? Well...compared to the F-100, the Fender has a weak, nasty distortion, and the Mesa sings....like a Mesa. My only nit, I wish they'd come with the master OUTPUT LEVEL control, because it is so handy. I've heard them played by jazz, blues, rock and country musicians and produce great tones.

You can spend a lot more on an amp and not get as much value, or tone. They're real sleepers in the used market. Oh, and I love using Mesa Thiele or the Wide-Body Closed-Back cabs with my combos.

Congrats on the new amp. Be sure to download and READ the Owner's Manual, available on the Mesa website. Any questions, and you can (and should) call the Mesa Customer Service guys.

Bill

Good info Bill! Thanks.

Yeah, I'm liking this mesa a lot and I can't believe I got it for such a good price too. Total stealth amp, it does not get anymore Ninja than this rofl.
Right now there is a full set of JJ's in there, the previous owner liked them. I know that other tubes will probably sound better but who knows, maybe JJ's work just fine in Mesa's but I need to start rolling tubes as I have a feeling this amp may benefit from brighter and tighter tubes.
Tonight is band practice and I will see how it holds up against the rest of the band.

Any tips on which tubes work in this amp would be greatly appreciated! I'm curious about the standard (overpriced?) Mesa labelled tubes. Should be good sounding and long lasting.

The description of this amp would be IMO: Fenderish cleans and single rectifier gain channel (with contour on). It's rare to find this particular combination in a decent priced combo!

[Boogie Bill]

Re: NAD Mesa F50

The Mesa tubes are great, and considering how thoroughly they are tested and the 6-month warranty (twice as long as most vendors), they actually work out to be a pretty good deal. And the fact that you won't need to bias the amp...just plug 'em in and go...is one of the best Mesa features and will save you money over the years. The SP12AX7 is specially selected for low noise and high gain, and always a good choice in V1.

JJs are good tubes. I live not too far from Eurotubes; Bob is a good guy and knows his stuff. I love their EL84s and use them in a couple of my amps. And I also use some of his preamp tubes in my Mesa amps, but as you are discovering, a full complement of JJs can make a Mesa too dark. I've found this in my Mark III, Maverick and DC-3 combos. I've avoided the JJ 6L6s in my Mesas as they have a reputation for developing noise and microphonics in small, high-power combos. I do like them in Marshall heads I've tried.

My favorite 6L6 and EL34 are the Winged C/SED, but they are expensive and hard to find. The Mesas are right there, and a no brainer. Another one I've tried are the Groove Tubes 6L6-GE clone, and these have been great in my Mark IV. I might try a set of the Preferred Series from thetubestore.com. Most vendors can send you power tubes in the right range for a Mesa amp, so be sure to note this on your order. Again, the Mesa tubes are good, and EASY.

For preamp tubes, you can really benefit from tube rolling, or "amplifier blueprinting"--trying a variety of different makers' tubes in various sockets to see which combination gives the best results for each channel. (Check out the tube function chart in the Owner's Manual. ) While some of my amps use all Mesa tubes, some have Mesa, Groove Tubes, JJ and E-H tubes...in the same amp.

Several amps have the now-discontinued GT 12AX7-M Mullard clone. Loved this tube. Somewhat iffy on noise, but the good ones gave a really creamy tone with the perfect blend of highs and lows. I'm probably going to try a couple of of the New Sensor Mullard reissues if one of the GTs dies.

I do like using a balanced 12AX7 for the phase inverter, and JJs have proven to be a good choice here.

Two years ago I ordered 12AX7s from TAD and Tung-Sol. The first was DOA; the second so noisy it was unusable. Bummer.

Any other questions...just ask.

Good Luck!

Bill

[Nightburst]

Re: NAD Mesa F50

Thanks Bill! I'm still getting to know the amp and I like how it sounds now so in due time I will start rolling some tubes. It can be an expensive hobby If you know a good place to find a headshell I'd love to hear it.