Express Plus - Mesa Boogie's Sleeper Amp?

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MBJunkie

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Hi everybody,

I have been playing MB amps for a very long time; thoroughly enjoyed most of them, and still own a few today (Original MkIV, Mark V, Mini MkV:25 and Mini Rectifier)!
I have also previously owned a DC-5, Road King V1, Express 5:50, ElectroDyne, TA-30, all of which were great amps in their own right, but decided to part with them. Honestly, the only one that I truly regret selling was the DC-5 combo. It was a great 2 channel combo that sounded great to me in its day!

Anyway, the only reason I mention me missing my DC-5 combo is because I think the Express Plus Series is an evolution of the old DC Series, but much improved regarding versatility.

I recently auditioned the 5:50+ and 5:25+ 112 combos, and while I really liked both.....I ended up purchasing the 5:25+ and am really enjoying this amp! Honestly, the main reason I chose the 5:25+ combo was due to it being smaller and lighter, but still offered the same features as the 5:50+ with different power tubes and speaker choice. Both of these amps can be very loud and sound great so it really comes down to which you prefer sonically and whether or not you prefer the extra weight of the 5:50+ combo.

Anyway, the reason for my post is that I truly do believe the Express Plus Series from MB is a "Sleeper Amp"! While it is true that it can't mimic Mark V or Rectifier sounds precisely, it can be dialed in to be close to either depending on how it is set. Additionally, the Express Plus Series offers one particular feature that is not easily matched with the more popular Rectifier and even Mark amps....that being the Blues Mode of Ch2! It is so enjoyable for me to set my Express Plus to the "Clean Mode" of Ch1 and the "Blues Mode" of Ch2 for excellent classic R&B clean and overdriven bluesy sounds offered in this mode. I can't easily get the "Blues Mode Sound" offerings of the Express Plus with my Mark amps. Just saying. Also, the "Clean Mode" sound offerings are excellent in the Express Plus amps and handle overdrive pedals very well if that is your thing...

Secondly, the Express Plus offers the optional foot switchable 5-Band GEQ sliders OR the Preset Contour EQ knob just like the Big Mark V does! This is an excellent addition in my opinion because the GEQ sliders as most people know is an exceptionally powerful tone shaping option offered with several MB amps....mainly the Mark Series. Additionally, I am finding the Preset Contour rotary dial knob offering in the Express Plus to be better for some sounds than the previous "Non-Plus" Express Series based on my recollection. I am finding this option to be a big added bonus!

Thirdly, you get the optional foot switchable "Solo Boost" feature on the Express Plus Series which I have always found to be useful during band rehearsals and live performances.

Lastly, the Express Plus offers an additional power setting for each channel (compared to the original Express Series) which can be useful to fine tune your sound. Volume wise, the difference between the 15w and 25w setting is subtle, but with a different sound/feel. Whereas the 5w setting is significantly lower volume with all settings being equal. I believe the same is probably the case with the 5:50 Plus when comparing the intermediate 25w setting with the 50w setting, but don't know that for sure. Either way, even the 5w setting of the Express Plus amps can be fairly loud especially when dialing in higher gain sounds from any of the 4 modes, but is much more "home friendly". If you are gigging though, the medium to high watt settings are most likely going to be best for that.

While I do love my Mark Series amps without question, there are truly some different sound and feature offerings with the Express Plus Series that I like and others might too! Just a thought....
 
I could not have said it better :) Very good resume of this great amp.
 
Thanks GuyB!
Truthfully, I don't understand why there aren't more people participating on the Express subforum. True that the Express Plus is neither a Mark or Rectifier, but it does offer a lot of versatility in a simplistic format and is one of MB's least expensive amp offerings?
 
I've found the Express to be a really capable amp. It's only "drawbacks" would be the lack of that 3rd channel ala the flagship Mark, or perhaps the lack of the "name recognition" of the recto series.

The lack of a third channel is only really relevant in some live situations where you might need that "third option", depending on your material.

Frankly, I haven't come close to exploring all the possibilities of the express.
 
Agreed Leathan. I also haven't come close to discovering all sonic possibilities of the Express Plus series either as I am a new owner, but am enjoying the ride! :lol:
 
Bingo

My DRRI and BDRI and BJer have been gathering dust since I got mine a couple of years back.

My normal setup is the Blues Channel for clean, a fat clean with gain about 9 o'clock and the Crunch channel for a medium crunch with gain at about 12 o'clock. I use pedals on the Blues Channel to get into various OD flavors. The crunch is just good straight into the amp OD in the Mesa Flavor. Just two songs in the list I switch the crunch to the clean channel to get that crystal clear almost Fenderish clean.

A better tone would be hard to find than my Tele with Custom Shop Texas Specials into the Blues Channel with my EP boost just barely boosting the signal. Hit the Simble pedal and into Dumble tones.

Some people do run the Burn channel with gain at 9 and claim they get their their Dumble fixes and have to admit it does have that nice full compressed sustain clean tone.
 
Well said Stinger22!
I often find myself setting Ch2 to "Blues Mode" for cleans and Ch1 to "Crunch Mode" for higher gain crunch and solo sounds! I also really like the setting Ch1 to "Clean Mode" coupled with Ch2 set to "Burn Mode". And as previously said by others, the "Burn Mode" offers some very nice sounds with the gain set low too.
The point is that the Express Plus Series offers tremendous flexibility for a 2 channel amp and with a very simplistic format
Cool amp indeed....loving it so far! :mrgreen:
 
Well said! That's why I own 2 of them. A 5x50+ head and a 5x25+ combo. Along with a matching Recto 2x12 vert. I came from a DC3 and a Rectifer Solo 50. Personally, I think the Express is a much more versatile amp, especially since they added the EQ.

The Express 5/25+ combo is great for home practice, but, with the band and live, when ran balls out, it can cause some serious ear fatigue and it looses clarity, and punch when ran out. And our drummer is a heavy hitter and loud. Thus, the 5/25 has to be run with the masters around 3:00.

The 5/50+ is fantastic for band practice and out live. I haven't found a loud tone that I didn't like from that amp. I can run this with the masters at 12 on clean and 11 on Burn and still have a ton of head room, and cuts through like a knife.

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Great summary MB! I have owned the 5:25 + for a little over three years now and continue to love the amp. I am just a hobbyist but I believe it has made me a better guitarist because it offers so many opportunities for tonal exploration, and because it seems to sound better and better as I improve. And there are a lot of capabilities that I haven't even explored yet. For example I have used the clean, blues, and burn mode a lot, but haven't yet spent much time with the crunch mode. Along the way I have learned quite a few helpful tips from this forum that have allowed me to use the amp more effectively. From time to time this forum can become dominated by people with problems (some with little to no experience with the amp) but in between there are some great tips and suggestions and observations.
 
Glad you are enjoying yours too SteveB! Do check out the crunch mode as there are some very nice sounds available in that mode as well.
Cool that you own both bendo, and I can truly understand why! The different power tubes between the 25 and 50 definitely make a difference sonically.
It is good there are others that enjoy this great amp! :mrgreen:
 
Leathan said:
I've found the Express to be a really capable amp. It's only "drawbacks" would be the lack of that 3rd channel ala the flagship Mark, or perhaps the lack of the "name recognition" of the recto series.

The lack of a third channel is only really relevant in some live situations where you might need that "third option", depending on your material.

Frankly, I haven't come close to exploring all the possibilities of the express.

You are right about having three channels for live. Clean, crunch, burn would be a a sweet trifecta. I have resorted to pedals for gain options, which is not the end of the world.
 
bendo said:
Well said! That's why I own 2 of them. A 5x50+ head and a 5x25+ combo. Along with a matching Recto 2x12 vert. I came from a DC3 and a Rectifer Solo 50. Personally, I think the Express is a much more versatile amp, especially since they added the EQ.

The Express 5/25+ combo is great for home practice, but, with the band and live, when ran balls out, it can cause some serious ear fatigue and it looses clarity, and punch when ran out. And our drummer is a heavy hitter and loud. Thus, the 5/25 has to be run with the masters around 3:00.

The 5/50+ is fantastic for band practice and out live. I haven't found a loud tone that I didn't like from that amp. I can run this with the masters at 12 on clean and 11 on Burn and still have a ton of head room, and cuts through like a knife. ]

I miked my 5:25+ combo at gigs. Though never had the volume above 10 or 11. Never had to in rehearsal.

The 50 is not twice as loud as the 25 (that would be 250 watts!). Rather, it has more head room and gives a slightly wider dynamic field.
 
Rumy73 said:
bendo said:
Well said! That's why I own 2 of them. A 5x50+ head and a 5x25+ combo. Along with a matching Recto 2x12 vert. I came from a DC3 and a Rectifer Solo 50. Personally, I think the Express is a much more versatile amp, especially since they added the EQ.

The Express 5/25+ combo is great for home practice, but, with the band and live, when ran balls out, it can cause some serious ear fatigue and it looses clarity, and punch when ran out. And our drummer is a heavy hitter and loud. Thus, the 5/25 has to be run with the masters around 3:00.

The 5/50+ is fantastic for band practice and out live. I haven't found a loud tone that I didn't like from that amp. I can run this with the masters at 12 on clean and 11 on Burn and still have a ton of head room, and cuts through like a knife. ]

I miked my 5:25+ combo at gigs. Though never had the volume above 10 or 11. Never had to in rehearsal.

The 50 is not twice as loud as the 25 (that would be 250 watts!). Rather, it has more head room and gives a slightly wider dynamic field.

What exactly is the point of your reply to my post? I never claimed it to be twice as loud. More head room and dynamic field I agree with.

Now, both of my Expresses have been modified with a global master output pot, that could have something to do with, but, I doubt it.
 
bendo said:
Rumy73 said:
bendo said:
Well said! That's why I own 2 of them. A 5x50+ head and a 5x25+ combo. Along with a matching Recto 2x12 vert. I came from a DC3 and a Rectifer Solo 50. Personally, I think the Express is a much more versatile amp, especially since they added the EQ.

The Express 5/25+ combo is great for home practice, but, with the band and live, when ran balls out, it can cause some serious ear fatigue and it looses clarity, and punch when ran out. And our drummer is a heavy hitter and loud. Thus, the 5/25 has to be run with the masters around 3:00.

The 5/50+ is fantastic for band practice and out live. I haven't found a loud tone that I didn't like from that amp. I can run this with the masters at 12 on clean and 11 on Burn and still have a ton of head room, and cuts through like a knife. ]

I miked my 5:25+ combo at gigs. Though never had the volume above 10 or 11. Never had to in rehearsal.

The 50 is not twice as loud as the 25 (that would be 250 watts!). Rather, it has more head room and gives a slightly wider dynamic field.

What exactly is the point of your reply to my post? I never claimed it to be twice as loud. More head room and dynamic field I agree with.

Now, both of my Expresses have been modified with a global master output pot, that could have something to do with, but, I doubt it.

I was just politely adding to an interesting thread. I will avoid replying to any of your posts in the future. Best.
 
Okay guys, lets keep the thread going and get along. After reading all the replies to this post, I don't think that anybody has said anything that should cause anybody to shy away to posting.
Another cool thing that I have discovered with my Express 5:25+ is that the volume knobs for each channel allow for very low volume playing (in any mode, channel and wattage setting). I like that the volume knob for each channel works well while even set very low! On my MkIV, as much as I love it....the master volume is off until about 9 0'clock, which of course at that point is loud...in a good way, but not necessarily a neighbor friendly way! :mrgreen:

I just finished "rocking out" using the "Crunch and Burn Modes" set to 25w. My volume settings were at 9 o'clock with the "Contour GEQ Control" set to noon or slightly north of that, and really enjoyed the sounds that I achieved! However, my favorite sounds from the "Crunch and Burn Modes" are with the GEQ set to sliders with some variation of the "Classic V Curve"! :mrgreen:
 
MBJunkie said:
Okay guys, lets keep the thread going and get along. After reading all the replies to this post, I don't think that anybody has said anything that should cause anybody to shy away to posting.
Another cool thing that I have discovered with my Express 5:25+ is that the volume knobs for each channel allow for very low volume playing (in any mode, channel and wattage setting). I like that the volume knob for each channel works well while even set very low! On my MkIV, as much as I love it....the master volume is off until about 9 0'clock, which of course at that point is loud...in a good way, but not necessarily a neighbor friendly way! :mrgreen:

I just finished "rocking out" using the "Crunch and Burn Modes" set to 25w. My volume settings were at 9 o'clock with the "Contour GEQ Control" set to noon or slightly north of that, and really enjoyed the sounds that I achieved! However, my favorite sounds from the "Crunch and Burn Modes" are with the GEQ set to sliders with some variation of the "Classic V Curve"! :mrgreen:

For low volume, I bring the faders well below the halfway mark. It is like an "attenuation" amd keep my volume in the same position for band playing.
 
MBJunkie said:
Okay guys, lets keep the thread going and get along. After reading all the replies to this post, I don't think that anybody has said anything that should cause anybody to shy away to posting.
Another cool thing that I have discovered with my Express 5:25+ is that the volume knobs for each channel allow for very low volume playing (in any mode, channel and wattage setting). I like that the volume knob for each channel works well while even set very low! On my MkIV, as much as I love it....the master volume is off until about 9 0'clock, which of course at that point is loud...in a good way, but not necessarily a neighbor friendly way! :mrgreen:

I just finished "rocking out" using the "Crunch and Burn Modes" set to 25w. My volume settings were at 9 o'clock with the "Contour GEQ Control" set to noon or slightly north of that, and really enjoyed the sounds that I achieved! However, my favorite sounds from the "Crunch and Burn Modes" are with the GEQ set to sliders with some variation of the "Classic V Curve"! :mrgreen:


Agreed. However, I came from the Dual Caliber DC3s and the one thing I loved about that was being able to run the channel masters higher, and control the output of both channels with one knob. It was also nice to be able to balance the channel volumes, then use one knob to turn the amp up or down.

So, the master output control was a must, and it was very easy to add to both of my Expresses. And the Solo boost still works.
 
I like the master volumes independent for each channel because I usually use the clean channel on 15w or 25w and the burn channel quite often on 5w wich gives a very nice, to my taste, kind of tone. The difference in volume between the 5w and the other watt settings needs the master volumes to be set differently.
 
My only problem with that is the pop between channel switching. If you have one on 25 watts and another in Class A mode, a pop happens when switching channels.
 
That's an interesting approach Rumy73. Normally my sliders are set such that there is an increase in volume or at least "perceived" increase in volume.
Anyway, I will try that and see how it works for me..

bendo, I used to feel the same way about a master volume control. Several of my other boogies have it, but I am becoming "used to the independent channel volume controls" from some of my other Mesa's including the Express Plus and it no longer bothers me.
 

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