I'm Back... NAD Soon Mesa Express 5:50

Haven't been here for a while.

I sold my DC3 a few years back, owned a Studio 22+ prior, and now I recently purchased an Express 5:50.

Picking the amp up later this week. From the videos that I've watched this should add some variety to my Marshall and Fender amps.

I think the 5watt setting and the 6L6's are going to be a great combination and I'm looking forward to getting on the Blues setting.

Glad to be back.

Over 30 views of my first thread in years and no comments...

Reading some of the Express reviews here and there seems to be more negative posts than positives about the amp.

Is this a good amp or??? Guess that I will find out later this week.

Congrats on the new amp! The 5:50 is one of Mesas best.

jmontgomery said:

Congrats on the new amp! The 5:50 is one of Mesas best.

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Thanks Jeff.
Picking it up soon and looking forward to testing the amp.

Your going to love it.

I've got the 5:50 + version and it's killer!!! Congrats on your 5:50...great amp.

rapaul76 said:

I've got the 5:50 + version and it's killer!!! Congrats on your 5:50...great amp.

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Thanks I picked up the amp tonight. It is really clean, almost mint, and it is all there including the footswitch and cover.

The only thing that is not working is the contour switch/light on the footswitch.

So far I like the Clean and Blues channels. Not sure about the Crunch and Burn yet.

I was hoping that this would be a super versatile little amp that could give me good cleans (there), good blues (there), and good warm Marshall or early Boogie crunch (under investigation).

I tried it for a short time with a Tele and a Strat on 50watts and 5watts. I get the Les Paul out this weekend.

Any help or suggestions to get some Led Zeppelin and AC/DC tone out of this amp with my Les Paul would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Gridlock

My wife got me an Express 5:50plus. No regrets!!!! I love it. I also own a roadster both are awesome two different sounds.

Do you mind if I ask how much you paid for your Express?

I love my Express, but I think I am gonna graduate to the PLUS. That solo feature is a big thing for me, and I am not sure I want to get a Mark V.

I find that you have to take some time and tweek the Express. I went on youtube and found some great settings. I feel that I was using too much bass with my Express.

I think I am gonna buy the Express PLUS and keep the old Express. I will A/B and basically have an on demand 4-channel set up.

cwgatti24 said:

Do you mind if I ask how much you paid for your Express?

I love my Express, but I think I am gonna graduate to the PLUS. That solo feature is a big thing for me, and I am not sure I want to get a Mark V.

I find that you have to take some time and tweek the Express. I went on youtube and found some great settings. I feel that I was using too much bass with my Express.

I think I am gonna buy the Express PLUS and keep the old Express. I will A/B and basically have an on demand 4-channel set up.

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CW, I paid slightly over $800 with shipping.

Played my Les Paul and Stratocaster through the amp tonight at bedroom volumes and the Express sounded pretty good. Hope to test it louder over the weekend.

Initial thoughts is that I think that the 50 watt setting sounds better than the 5 watt setting at lower volumes.

Could your give me some pointers on using the Contour control?

DC3 Gridlock said:

The only thing that is not working is the contour switch/light on the footswitch.

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Same on mine dude! And I had it in as new condition too. I must say that footswitch is the lowest quality FS I've ever had, in pair with those included with bla#kstar amps. Anyway I ditched it soon after purchase and now control the amp with pod hd and g-lab midi interface.

Congrats on new amp!

Want to attach a photo of the amp but not sure how to do it here.

DC3 Gridlock said:

.....
So far I like the Clean and Blues channels. Not sure about the Crunch and Burn yet.

I was hoping that this would be a super versatile little amp that could give me good cleans (there), good blues (there), and good warm Marshall or early Boogie crunch (under investigation).

I tried it for a short time with a Tele and a Strat on 50watts and 5watts. I get the Les Paul out this weekend.

Any help or suggestions to get some Led Zeppelin and AC/DC tone out of this amp with my Les Paul would be appreciated.

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Did you get to explore all the nooks and crannies of its versatility? If so, what did you come up with for the Zep and AC/DC tones? If you were going to derive those sounds directly out of the amp without using any pedals, I would think you could start in Blues mode using humbuckers with the gain pegged at 2 o'clock or higher, and start to fine-tune things from there.