Mesa Express 5:50+...thoughts?

[Masta' C]

Thinking of saving up for a Mesa 5:50 Express Plus head. I like that it has the Lone Star's clean channel and some nice upgrades over the original Express series, but I haven't had a chance to play one in person yet.

Any thoughts on the amp as a whole? Any notable shortcomings?

It would be used primarily at home. Thinking of running an AMT P1/P2 (Peavey 5150/6505) and M1/M2 (Marshall JCM800) pedal through it for a wider range of rock and high-gain tones.

I love that each channel has 2 modes (Ch.1: clean/crunch, Ch.2: blues/burn), but I AM a little bummed that they aren't foot-switchable, since it seems that would open up the versatility even further. But is it really a disadvantage in use?

Also, how usable is it at lower volume levels?

Very curious to hear some experienced opinions!

 

[hydro]

Re: Mesa Express 5:50+...thoughts?

This is my main amp - i absolutely love mine.

Very versatile, power scaling works great. The clean channel on the 25w setting sounds amazing.

A couple of observations:

The gain channel (blues/burn) may not be for everyone. It has a lot of mids and the distortion is grainy. It's great for leads but if you want traditional crunch metal tones you may have to work at it.

The amp is LOUD. I originally got mine as a "home" practice amp and for smaller gigs. Well, it worked great for that but after I started getting into the amp more I converted it from a combo to a head. Now I use it with two different bands driving a 4x12 or 1x12 cab. You can run it on 5 watts and use it at home but at 50 watts it will rearrange your internal organs, if you hook it to a big cab.

It is somewhat noisy on the gain channel, bacon fry for example. I think they just slam the preamps in the design on "burn". It is what it is, I still love mine although I retubed with JJ pres and that did clean it up a bit.

I think the amp is perfectly paired with the Black Shadow C90 speakers they put in the combos. The amp benefits (in my opinion) from speakers with a lot of headroom and balanced/neutral speaker EQ. I did not like the amp as much when i ran it through a V30 based 4x12. but I like a lot of low end and mids, to my ear the V30s accentuated harsher high end frequencies.

It's a great amp. My own experience was "Hey I need a practice rig for home" and then it turned into my main rig because of its power and all the things it could do.

The main complaint people have about the amp are that a) hard to get super crunch metal tones and b) the gain flavors in each channel are not footswitchable (as you mentioned). I agree with these points in principle, but they are just not that big of factors for my own playing style.

Good luck with the amp search!

 

[ItsaBass]

Mesa Express 5:50+...thoughts?

It's my favorite Mesa amp. It's incredibly versatile and feature loaded, yet it's easy to use. The best thing about it is its 25W class A mode. It's a wicked sound.

I own the 5:25 Plus, but I wish I had got the 5:50 Plus. The thing is, when I ordered the amp, the Plus model had not even been announced yet, so the 50 watt version didn't have the 25 watt class A mode. I had no idea what the hell this amp was when I open the shipping box and saw the graphic equalizer and three power modes instead of two. It took something like eight months for me to get the amp after ordering it. By the time they actually got around to building it, they were no longer making the regular Express model, so they sent me a Plus. That regular Express model did not have the middle power mode. If I had known about it, I definitely would've ordered the 50 W version.

I have also had extreme reliability problems with my amp. It keeps blowing through power tubes. All Mesa can tell me is that tubes simply aren't made as well as they used to be made. The amp is not really gigable in my opinion, as a power tube could short out whenever it feels like it.

If I was buying today, I would definitely get the 50 watter. No question.

 

[Masta' C]

Re: Mesa Express 5:50+...thoughts?

Thank you both for chiming in. Seems the Express Plus series amps are really nice, but not without some potential shortcomings.

Hydro - I'm pretty sure I can work around the non-switchable channel modes, but I really do wish they were footswitchable (how did that get overlooked on the "plus" models?). I would definitely be using pedals for added gain and I like that the clean channel has been revamped on the "plus", but your description of the built-in drive sounds leaves me a bit concerned. I was hoping that all the existing modes on the amp would be solid...the versatility is what drew me toward the Express series in the first place.

IstaBass - For the price these go for, I would EXPECT them to be reliable! Does Mesa require you to use "their" tubes? If so, I'd definitely take major issue with them regarding the tubes blowing. Sorry to hear you've had trouble. Sounds like you really like the amp otherwise.

Any other input from those who have tried the Express 5:50 Plus?

 

[hydro]

Re: Mesa Express 5:50+...thoughts?

Thank you both for chiming in. Seems the Express Plus series amps are really nice, but not without some potential shortcomings.

Hydro - I'm pretty sure I can work around the non-switchable channel modes, but I really do wish they were footswitchable (how did that get overlooked on the "plus" models?). I would definitely be using pedals for added gain and I like that the clean channel has been revamped on the "plus", but your description of the built-in drive sounds leaves me a bit concerned. I was hoping that all the existing modes on the amp would be solid...the versatility is what drew me toward the Express series in the first place.

IstaBass - For the price these go for, I would EXPECT them to be reliable! Does Mesa require you to use "their" tubes? If so, I'd definitely take major issue with them regarding the tubes blowing. Sorry to hear you've had trouble. Sounds like you really like the amp otherwise.

Any other input from those who have tried the Express 5:50 Plus?

Mine has been through many gigs - I did have a tube blow early on, which apparently fried a plate resistor. When that was fixed on warranty, the amp has been very reliable since ( I also use JJ tubes, not mesa branded).

Regarding the dirt channel, I have come to love the sound, but do not expect dual-recto crunch tones from it. It does do 70s rock and stoner/doom quite well in my opinion.

I have heard of mods to add voice foot-switching to the amp but I don't know anything about them.

I have played through a mini-recto verb and it's a fantastic amp. Light, small, good cleans, can do thrash and old school metal, simple layout and pant-crappingly loud for its size. Have not tried the mini MK V but I would expect it to be equally awesome, maybe more versatile, but it is a head format only at this time.

 

[ItsaBass]

Mesa Express 5:50+...thoughts?

In order to keep my warranty intact, I must use Mesa tubes. Believe me, With the issues so far, I definitely don't want to **** up the warranty yet. But as soon as I am out of warranty, I am going to put some beefier EL84's in. I am gonna have the Boogie shop do it too, just so it's documented, and tubes of the proper specs are installed. That is if I don't just say screw it before then, and get a 5:50 Plus instead.

 

[dystrust]

Re: Mesa Express 5:50+...thoughts?

I suspect the reason the modes aren't foot-switchable is volume difference; that's the reason the clean / crunch mode on a Soldano SLO can't be foot-switched. I'm not familiar with the Express, but on a Recto going from a nice clean sound to pushed without adjusting volume will just about blow you through the back wall of whatever room you're in. Maybe try flipping the switch without adjusting volume and see what happens? If you end up with a rude/loud surprise, that's probably why.

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: Mesa Express 5:50+...thoughts?

Also, there is no need to have foot-switching modes within each channel, as the modes have some overlap. On channel one, you have clean and crunch. The lower end of crunch can be dialed in to sound like the upper end of clean. On channel two, you have blues and burn. Not only does burn overlap with blues, but blues overlaps with crunch. So it's possible to set it up so a channel switch results in a very small amount of change - effectively the same as switching from clean to crunch, or from blues to burn. Say you want to simulate switching from clean to crunch. You just set up the blues channel with low gain, and the suitable B/M/T settings so that it simulates the crunch channel.

Additionally, foot switching from one mode to another would be less desirable that the above technique, because you'd have the same B/M/T settings for both modes (unless you also hit the graphic e.q. foot switch every time you switch channels).

Also, remember that the amp has built in and foot-switchable clean boost and graphic e.q. Those allow you even more tunability, to let you set your channel switch to result in the tone change that you want.

 

[Boogie Bill]

Re: Mesa Express 5:50+...thoughts?

I have several Mesa amps...Mark III (3), Mark IV, DC-3, Maverick. I really looked long and hard at the Lone Star Classic, LS Special, Electro-Dyne, TA-30, Royal Atlantic, and the Express + amps, before I went all in on a Mark V Combo and 112 Wide-Body Closed Back cab. This rig is just awesome, and I'm very happy with the choice I made.

Some of the amps with EL-84s didn't really offer me more than what I already had...the Maverick covered the tones of the TA-30 and the LSS, though it is a bit less versatile. The RA-100 was the one that was really different than what I already had, but the Mark V jst seemed to be a better fit for me. And the DC-3 and the Mark III and IV amps are pretty versatile in their own right. The V just offered something state-of-the-art special.

Still, the Express Plus amps would be a very attractive alternative for me...if I didn't have the Mark Series amps. I think they are a great choice for the gigging blues--rock player. I love that even Mesa's smallest amps have totally professional features.

Bill