Mesa vs. Mesa

Mesa vs. Mesa

  • Dual Cal. 5

    Votes: 4 36.4%

  • Express 5:50

    Votes: 5 45.5%

  • NONE - your Thunderverb & 5150 can cover everything the Mesa's can.

    Votes: 2 18.2%
  • Total voters
    11
  • Poll closed .
SirJackdeFuzz

SirJackdeFuzz

New member
Both came up on the used market (over here) . . . .


. . . and believe me, we do not have many Boogies in this country.

Seriously, if a trust worthy Guitars store owner tells me there is only 50 Mesa Boogies (total) in this country, i will believe him.

SO . . . which one would you rather go for ?


* Dual Cal 5


... or ...


* Express 5:50


PS : Both are 1X12 combo's !!!
 
Last edited:
Re: Mesa vs. Mesa

Not a single clue , I have only had bad experiences with Mesa amps never played through one I liked in the least.
 
Re: Mesa vs. Mesa

Guy in my band went out and bought a mesa boogie combo and a PRS long time ago. Played the setup for hours and never got a sound I liked out of it , of course I hated the guitar and the amp pretty much at first touch . If I can't wrangle a decent sound out of something that is cheap garbage I am amazed , as much money as that was it should have sounded good on almost any setting.Don't get me started on how bad it sounded when the owner attempted to play that miserable rig.See alot of players using mesas in clubs , and pretty much comes across as meh to me. Whole world loves them so it must be something wrong with my ear. Looks like the 5:50 is the newer amp and the DC 5 is more towards metal sounding, depends on what you want out of an amp really.
 
Re: Mesa vs. Mesa

Mesas are unusual in that you can't dial them in like a typical amp. They require that you understand how each of the controls interact with each other. Reading the manual is usually the best way to do so.

I used an early 90's Dual Rectifier a few weeks ago and I couldn't get it to sound the way I wanted on the dirty channel. Part of that may have been the cab, a bigger part may have been that I didn't have much time to tweak it since I was jamming with other people, but a large part of that was that I didn't know exactly how the controls worked with each other.

Mesa's tone controls are very powerful, and they let you sculpt the sound in many different ways. A byproduct of that is that there are many bad tones available in a Mesa. But if you read the manual of the amp you're looking at before you go in and play it, you'll be much better equipped to know how to get great tones out of them. Mesa's recommended settings in the manual are usually really good.

That said, I'd go for the DC-5.
 
Re: Mesa vs. Mesa

SirJackdeFuzz said:
Thanks ;)

May i ask why you prefer the 5:50 over the DC-5 ?
Click to expand...

Simply because I had the chance to fiddle with one and liked it, but it didn't do anything that my Triple Rec can't cover, or at least during the short time I did mess with it. So I passed on it.


Agileguy_101 said:
Mesas are unusual in that you can't dial them in like a typical amp. They require that you understand how each of the controls interact with each other. Reading the manual is usually the best way to do so.

I used an early 90's Dual Rectifier a few weeks ago and I couldn't get it to sound the way I wanted on the dirty channel. Part of that may have been the cab, a bigger part may have been that I didn't have much time to tweak it since I was jamming with other people, but a large part of that was that I didn't know exactly how the controls worked with each other.

Mesa's tone controls are very powerful, and they let you sculpt the sound in many different ways. A byproduct of that is that there are many bad tones available in a Mesa. But if you read the manual of the amp you're looking at before you go in and play it, you'll be much better equipped to know how to get great tones out of them. Mesa's recommended settings in the manual are usually really good.

That said, I'd go for the DC-5.
Click to expand...

This is very true about the tone controls.

I usually start with the Presence & bass all the way off and mids, highs & gain around noon. First I find the spot in the gain I'm looking for (different gain levels also have different textures), then I dial in the mids & gain (don't be afraid to turn the highs all the way down, I've actually found some good tones this way). Then I dial in the Presence. I leave it for second to last because of the effect it has on both the mids & highs. Then, lastly, I dial in the bass.
 
Re: Mesa vs. Mesa

As a Dual Rec owner, and a previous owner of the DC-.5 ... go with the DC-.5. I forget if it has an external speaker out, but if it does, you will be made in the shade. (Or you can mod it easily enough). Peavey and Orange can NOT cover what a Mesa excels in. In fact, the ONLY reason I keep the 100W Dual Rec behemoth is because it's the only amp I have that sounds like what it is -- a dual rec! lol

All that being said, Agile has a valid point. Expect to spend a LOT of time relearning how your guitars sound through it and spending a lot of time doing seemingly inane tonal shifts ... mids from 5 to 6; oh, now I need to turn the treble down from 8 to 7. Too much! Let's try 7.5 ... that's better, but now I need to adjust the presence ... and that's without even going into the graphic EQ!
 
Re: Mesa vs. Mesa

Both are really good amps. I gigged with a DC-5 for a while, and I liked the clean tones a lot. I wasn't super crazy about the pull boost, or the 2nd channel, but I was using it in a country band, and the 2nd channel is more geared toward hard rock.

I have played a 5:50 before, and wasn't a huge fan of the clean tone, to chimey on the high end for some reason. I didn't spend that much time with it though, I'm sure a few minutes of tweaking would have yielded a tone I liked.
 
Re: Mesa vs. Mesa

I can give you a recommendation, but I'd like to hear more about the styles you play, clean or dirty, and the guitars you use. Do check out the Mesa Website, these amps will be under the discontinued section, and you can download owners manuals.

Let me know.

Bill
 
Re: Mesa vs. Mesa

Ahhhh . . . there he is ! :D

I was hoping you would chime in.

Well Bill, all my gear is in my sig.
I am looking for a Boogie closest to a Mark series, to be honest.
But, seeing as we do not have a Boogie importer, we have a serious lack of Boogies in this country.
Have not seen a Mark on the used market . . . ermmm, ever !

In the ideal world, i would just buy a MK V head, and be done with it. No Such Luck.
Importing one from a 220V country (Europe) = suicide. (exchange rate + shipping + import costs)

Cleans . . . what is that ?
I have a Bassman for my lush thick warm cleans.

I am looking for that signature Mark-series tight gain, with big THUMPING low end.
 
Re: Mesa vs. Mesa

I don't have much to say here except that in my experience as well, mesa amps tend to be fickle and fussy about settings. I've never been able to wrangle tones I like out of a rectifier (except the mini recto), but found the stilettos much easier to dial in, maybe because my ear is just looking for that kinda British inspired tonality more than the fatass grizzly bear growl thing that rectos do.
 
Re: Mesa vs. Mesa

SirJackdeFuzz said:
Ahhhh . . . there he is ! :D

I was hoping you would chime in.

Well Bill, all my gear is in my sig.
I am looking for a Boogie closest to a Mark series, to be honest.
But, seeing as we do not have a Boogie importer, we have a serious lack of Boogies in this country.
Have not seen a Mark on the used market . . . ermmm, ever !

In the ideal world, i would just buy a MK V head, and be done with it. No Such Luck.
Importing one from a 220V country (Europe) = suicide. (exchange rate + shipping + import costs)

Cleans . . . what is that ?
I have a Bassman for my lush thick warm cleans.

I am looking for that signature Mark-series tight gain, with big THUMPING low end.
Click to expand...
If you're looking for Mark series tones, the Express isn't it. The graphic eq is nice but the gain won't come anywhere close. It's a cool little amp, looks and tonewise, but it's not the Boogie it's pretending to be.
 
Re: Mesa vs. Mesa

I have a 5:50+. I find it to be a very versatile, useful amp. It doesn't get into the heavy crunch type sounds that my Dual Recto does on the red channel. The clean channel sounds AMAZING especially on the 25w. setting. The 5 band EQ is nice and I use it on both channels. The dirty channel, when set to "burn", has a kind of big, fuzzy stoner-ish type sound to me; but maybe that is just how I have it dialed in. With a tube screamer or boost in front of it, it sounds a bit more marshall-ey to my ears. The spring reverb is nice and can be set independently on each channel, which is a really cool feature.

Personally, I really, really like mine. Fair warning - in the combo form it is fairly heavy and bulky, but you can carry it around if you have to. I converted mine to a head and use it to drive either a 1x12 cab or a 4x12 cab. Through the 4x12 it is LOUD.

The 5:50 is a little different amp from the 5:50+; it does not have the EQ strip if I remember right and instead it has a "contour" knob for each channel that may shape the EQ section? not sure. There may be some other differences I am not aware of.
 
Re: Mesa vs. Mesa

The 5:50, but only if it's the Plus model. If not the Plus, the 5:25 is a better sounding amp IMHO. The Plus is significantly better because it has a 25W Class A mode that is one of the best sounding amps I've ever heard...plus it has a foot-switchable e.q., which is a huge and incredibly powerful feature to me. It also has a built-in clean boost.
 
Re: Mesa vs. Mesa

Are they both pretty local? I ask because I think you should probably just go try them both and make a decision based on which you prefer. I have only ever played the 5:50 plus and it was a good amp but not as gainy as the rectos (which is what I was comparing to).
 
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