Which Express for me? Help.

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AUSTAR

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I have decided to buy an Express plus. Yay!
I have sold my Traynor YCV40WR and am ready to go.
There is not a Mesa dealer near me so I am unable to test them out unfortunately.

The most important thing for me is clean tones. Although I am also looking forward to the versatility.
My question is, what is the difference between the 5:50 and the 5:25 when it comes to 'Fender' cleans. Is it just a headroom thing or is there a noticeable difference in tone from the different tubes?
I will be mostly playing at home and weekend jams, Strat and Tele (also have a Les Paul 68 reissue).

Also combo or head?
I have a 2x12 cab with one Eminence Cannibis Rex installed, what would be a good match as a second speaker, again for fendery shimmer. Another Emi C Rex, Mesa C90??

Thanks!
 
AUSTAR said:
I have decided to buy an Express plus. Yay!
I have sold my Traynor YCV40WR and am ready to go.
There is not a Mesa dealer near me so I am unable to test them out unfortunately.

The most important thing for me is clean tones. Although I am also looking forward to the versatility.
My question is, what is the difference between the 5:50 and the 5:25 when it comes to 'Fender' cleans. Is it just a headroom thing or is there a noticeable difference in tone from the different tubes?
I will be mostly playing at home and weekend jams, Strat and Tele (also have a Les Paul 68 reissue).

Also combo or head?
I have a 2x12 cab with one Eminence Cannibis Rex installed, what would be a good match as a second speaker, again for fendery shimmer. Another Emi C Rex, Mesa C90??

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Before i bought the 5:50+ i had a Lonestar special and a MiniRectifier, both of those amps have EL84 tubes and the cleans where fantastic, yet the cleans from 6L6 tubes are different, they are rounder and a bit fatter and ofcourse there is greater headroom..

Interestedly I tend to use my express in the 25 watts setting because I hear and feel its sweets pot there and not in 50 watts mode. I'll tell you that with 5watts you still have great tone and can get loud enought for band practice.

For transportation and looks nothing beats a head/cab rig, Mesa combos tend to get on the heavy side, sometimes too heavy, but they are built to survive nuclear wars and so.....

The express plus series are one of the most versatile Mesa amp offers ImO, but bare in mind that their tone can get so much better with a set of custom selected preamp tubes, Mesa tubes are good, they are selected to last and offer low noise performance, but they are not the best one by any means regarding tonal quality! I was happy with them for several months until I decided to try other tubes and Wow there is a noticeable improvement, from a stach of tubes, I found the perfect combination for me, even did recorded A/B test just to discard my brain playing tricks on me, now the amp is more open sounding, it's overdrive is sweeter and the audio wave shows me its louder, this was recording only the preamp section.

So.... I do believe that you will be more then happy with either the 25 or 50 watt version.
 
I was in the same boat as you. I wanted something with a nice tight low end and in all honesty something more "American" sounding after purchasing and returning a Marshall SL5 combo. After watching some youtube videos and reading a bunch of reviews, I ended up purchasing the Express Plus 5:50.

The clean channel is perfect. It nails Fender cleans! The 6L6 tubes give it a nice warm/fat sound with a nice bottom end and top end sparkle. The drive channels are really nice and versatile. Both my American Standard HSS Strat and Gibson Les Paul Traditional Pro II sounds amazing through it. The EQ's add a lot of versatility. I can almost get that "Marshall" sound on the Crunch or Burn channels....well as close as you can get with 6L6 tubes.

I'm very happy with mine.

Oh, I have the combo for a little more portability. The Black Shadow speaker is really nice too.
 
8d2studios said:
Before i bought the 5:50+ i had a Lonestar special and a MiniRectifier, both of those amps have EL84 tubes and the cleans where fantastic, yet the cleans from 6L6 tubes are different, they are rounder and a bit fatter and ofcourse there is greater headroom..

Interestedly I tend to use my express in the 25 watts setting because I hear and feel its sweets pot there and not in 50 watts mode. I'll tell you that with 5watts you still have great tone and can get loud enought for band practice.

For transportation and looks nothing beats a head/cab rig, Mesa combos tend to get on the heavy side, sometimes too heavy, but they are built to survive nuclear wars and so.....

The express plus series are one of the most versatile Mesa amp offers ImO, but bare in mind that their tone can get so much better with a set of custom selected preamp tubes, Mesa tubes are good, they are selected to last and offer low noise performance, but they are not the best one by any means regarding tonal quality! I was happy with them for several months until I decided to try other tubes and Wow there is a noticeable improvement, from a stach of tubes, I found the perfect combination for me, even did recorded A/B test just to discard my brain playing tricks on me, now the amp is more open sounding, it's overdrive is sweeter and the audio wave shows me its louder, this was recording only the preamp section.

So.... I do believe that you will be more then happy with either the 25 or 50 watt version.
Click to expand...

I don't have a 5:25+ but I agree with this assessment of the 5:50+ 100%.

- My 5:50+ was a little noisy on the high gain channel and getting new preamp tubes (JJs) seemed to help a bit.
- I agree that the cleans are fantastic on the 25w setting.
- The 1x12 combo version is HEAVY and BULKY. Can't even imagine the 2x12. I converted mine to a head/separate 1x12 cab for this reason. Plus, this gives you the option to use it with different cabinet combos. I also use mine with a 4x12 cab and at 50 watts it's PLENTY loud enough. Then I use the open-back 1x12 cab for my second band which is quieter and needs more cleans, and it sounds amazing.
 
Thanks for the replies and advice.

I was leaning towards the 5:50, my only hesitation is that 90% of my playing is at home, so I thought the lower wattage would be more suitable.

Any advice on speaker selction?

Thanks again
 
AUSTAR said:
Thanks for the replies and advice.

I was leaning towards the 5:50, my only hesitation is that 90% of my playing is at home, so I thought the lower wattage would be more suitable.

Any advice on speaker selction?

Thanks again
Click to expand...

Actually, in 5 watt mode it can get loud but the Master Volume works well to keep the volume low for bedroom levels.
 
I feel that the Mesa C90 black shadow (which comes in the combo 5:50+) pairs well with the amp in an open-back cab. You can order them separately from the Mesa store, I think they are like $130 so they aren't cheap, but they are a high-quality UK made Celestion.

What I don't like with mine is the V30s in my 4x12 rectifier cab, very nasally, buzzy/raspy to my ears. But some people might dig it. I'm considering swapping in Eminence Swamp Thangs in that cab.

I have another 1x12 cab with an Eminence Texas Heat on its way (intended for another amp) but I am going to try it with my 5:50+ also to see what it sounds like.
 
AUSTAR said:
I have decided to buy an Express plus. Yay!
I have sold my Traynor YCV40WR and am ready to go.
There is not a Mesa dealer near me so I am unable to test them out unfortunately.

The most important thing for me is clean tones. Although I am also looking forward to the versatility.
My question is, what is the difference between the 5:50 and the 5:25 when it comes to 'Fender' cleans. Is it just a headroom thing or is there a noticeable difference in tone from the different tubes?
I will be mostly playing at home and weekend jams, Strat and Tele (also have a Les Paul 68 reissue).

Also combo or head?
I have a 2x12 cab with one Eminence Cannibis Rex installed, what would be a good match as a second speaker, again for fendery shimmer. Another Emi C Rex, Mesa C90??

Thanks!
Click to expand...

If you want Fender type cleans always buy a 6L6 amp.
5:50 has very Fender like cleans - I think better than all except the Twin.
5:25 has EL84 tubes and is not Fender like imo.
 
Thanks again everyone.

Hey Hydro, I'd love to hear how the Texas Heat goes, that was a speaker I was interested in matching up with my C Rex.

Newysurfer, I grew up in Taree, have surfed down Merewether and that ledge off the front of the baths? etc quiet a bit. spent LOTS of time getting waves around Pacific Palms (Blueys, Boomerang, Treachery) I love that stretch of coast. Up on the Sunshine Coast now, great music community up here, warm clear water but inconsistent surf (although some swell off Cyclone Ita at the moment). Sorry, off topic.

Nice work on Homoerectus BTW. What speakers do you have in your 212?
 
Coming from a Deluxe Reverb and Blues Junior to an Express 5:25 Plus the cleans are just fine, even better. This is a gigging amp and it is PLENTY loud, I've been gigging it in small clubs at 15 watts and that is PLENTY. Using the Blues Channel as my clean, bluesy clean, and the Crunch for some overdrive. A couple of songs I switch the Crunch to clean and just beautiful with plenty of head room, I could go 25 watts and even cleaner. The 5:50 would just be overkill for me and lots more weight to lug around. More is not always better, it's what you are going to use it for.
 

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