Express 5:25 comparisons

For those of you who have experience with other amps (Mesa or other), which would you say the Clean and Crunch of the 5:25 sounds closest to?

I had the 5 25 for a while and opted for the 5 50. The comparisons I drew from the 5:25 are the cleans surprisingly reminded me of Fender cleans.....The crunch sound to my ears was a little more akin to a Marshall......of course truthfully it sounds like a Mesa. It is such a versatile little amp. The one I had though was very noisy, never did try replacing any tubes.

Interesting, I guess you mean Blackface clean? I once played a Fender Blackface RI (can't remember which but it was a 4 10 combo) and felt that the Express maybe have been inspired by that era of Fender amps.

I do suppose blackface clean would be a good description. It is interesting that Mesa gets that good 'big bottle' clean sound from the EL84 power tube but they do in the 5:25. And yes I believe Leo Fender and those guys defined the benchmark of guitar amplification. I thought I read somewhere the first 'Boogie' amp was a modified Princeton reverb. Also the first Marshalls were designed off a Fender bassman amp as well.

I like the Mesa amps alot. The Express while not my most favorite is definitely the most versatile for my playing situation and the price point was acceptable to my budget.

I agree that the 5:50 was neck and neck with the Lonestar Classic, which was neck and neck with my Fender Pro Reverb. Absolutely fabulous clean!

Matt