Re: Anyone played a mesa Express?
i really wanted a marshall jvm. to get the extra money for it and still be able to afford a great combo amp, i had to sell it. i ended up going with a genz-benz el diablo 60 watt combo.
actually, the el diablo and 5:50 express are pretty similar. like the 5:50, the el diablo has two modes, 30 and 60 watt. they both have excellent cleans, but not a whole lot of gain. there is enough gain for most applications, but for that liquid legatto and crunchy metal rhythm, they fall just short of numetal. you'll need a pedal to get the killer death tones, but that can be said for most amps.
they're both made in the usa and are of excellent build quality. the only thing that i really prefer about the el diablo is that it can use either 6l6 or el34 tubes. the mesa is fixed bias and you can't even use another brand without voiding the warranty. you might like the tone, but want to tweak it just a little with new tubes... well, too bad. it's fixed bias and made for mesa tubes only. mesa won't honor the warranty if you replace them.
the reverb and cleans are probably the highlight of either unit. they're very very nice. it would be hard to pick a favorite.
in fact, you might want to play an el diablo before getting the 5:50. it's about $850 compared to about $1200 for the mesa. there's also a cooler footswitch included with the el diablo.
beware of bad reviews. some people will tell you that the el diablo is "average sounding," or something. in my opinion, however, it's a very reliable tone that will grow on you. unlike the mesa express which just sounds inherently mid-scooped, the el diablo is a solid sounding performer. it's got a real nice and fat midrange and with some tweaking you're going to get a phenomenal sound. i posted a thread with a link to someone's website who has a real good clip of the el diablo combo. check it out, and play one before you decide on the mesa.
