Express 5:50+: does it take pedals well?

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andretoscano

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Hi.

I'm still unsure about what MESA amp will be my first.
A couple of weeks ago, I was torn between the Mark V:25 and the Express 5:50+. Then I tossed a coin, convinced myself the CabClone circuit in the Mark V:25 would be a plus (although, to be realistic, I'll probably won't have time to pratice, play and record anyway...), and decided to go for the Mark V:25.
Alas, I live in Europe, and the Mark V:25 is nowhere to be found until late March, according to most of the distributors I've spoken to.
So I'm considering my second best choice, the Express 5:50+ head.

Anyway, there's still a couple of questions lingering in my head, and not having the opportunity of getting my hands on any of these beasts means I'll have to try and find out about them through *your* experience.

Question 1: does this amp takes pedals well? I have some overdrive and distortion pedals I really like, and my question is more in the sense of will the 5:50+ gobble up the pedal's sound? Or will it allow them to shine a bit? I'm guessing that a mix between both will probably be even more exciting, but there you go... I can't try them.

Question 2: does the Burn mode on the bottom channel has enough gain to go around, like for metal stuff? Or will it need some external help (e.g. distortion and boost pedals in front of the amp)?

I know it's always weird to define a type of sound in not so technical terms.
But whenever I scan this forum, I see people describing the Mark V:25 using adjectives like "liquid", "creamy" and "full".
When I read about the Express's, it's usually more like "fizzy", "raunchy" and "hard".

Would a not-so-incorrect way of thinking about this be to consider the Mark V:25 like having a more "valve-like" character, whilst the Express would have a more solid-state-rough-around-the-edges distortion?
(did I just adjectivize a MESA boogie amp as having a solid state sound?... already waiting to be shot!!...)

Anyway, I've described my queries the best I could.

Hopefully someone can help with their experience and steer me in the right direction.

Thanks!


Best regards from Lisbon, Portugal.

André Toscano
 
Express 5:50 + owner here. The Express 5:50 takes pedals very well indeed, especially when played into its clean channel with the power amp set to the 50 watt setting. I have owned many OD, amp in a box, 7 fuzz pedals over the 4 years I have played the Express 5:50, and have found that the Express clean channel will let a wide variety of distortion boxes shine without the amp adding too much of its own coloration.

Regarding your question about the burn channel & metal, i am not the best guy to respond as I don't play metal; others have said that hard core metal players may benefit from adding an OD or distortion, but don't neglect the very significant effect that the "Mark Style" post pre-amp EQ sliders can have on sculpting and even boosting distorted tones without the bass flubbing out.

Scott
 
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