Re: mesa f- 50?
Had one.
Best Clean Channel I've ever experienced. Kind of an "ultimate fender" to my ears. When ya crank the gain on the clean channel it gets borderline JTM-45Marshall like...VERY NICE
Gain Channel w/out the contour on was too muddy for me, but it does give you the classic MESA tones...ie. Santana, Carlton, etc
With the contour on, and the gain backed off, it can get somewhat Marshally. With the gain up, it's a decent metal tone, but lacks crunch like a MKIIc, or MKIII. But it's not as buzzy/fuzzy as a Rectifier either. It's a "wet" syrupy sound...dark as well.
Built like a tank.
As toneful and versatile as the amp is, ultimately I realized I'm a Marshall guy, never will be anything but a Marshall guy, and so I sold it. I'd LOVE to have that clean channel again...it would go from Wes Montgomery to Stevie to Aerosmith. That's the only thing I miss though. My Rivera is a far better amp for me.