Clean on Express 5:50+ vs Mark V

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midifail

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I own a Express 5:50+ and like it a lot.
First of all, I love the Clean on CH1.
AND the Crunch (on CH1 also).

Swapping my Cleans over to Blues is OK, but not as lovely as the Clean-Mode itself...
Furthermore, I like to layer Notes with a looper and use FX a lot (Strymon Timeline and Mobius).
To my ears, the Express tends to get a little flubby after the second Looplayer.

Occasionally, I could get a Mark V Head.
This would solve my Crunchproblem and I think, more headroom in the powersection would help with the flubbyness...

My problem is:
I can´t afford the Mark V without selling the Express, so I can´t compare them side by side.

Is the Cleanchannel on the Mark V as good as the Express Clean?
In this Video, a Mesa employee explains, that the Cleanmode of the Mark V is from the Mark IV and the Fatmode ist from the Lonestar:
https://youtu.be/P-u1AmMvGHw

For the Express+, Mesa advertises, it would incorporate "Elements of our highly regarded Lonestar", but for the Mark V, they don´t (except for that video).
If the guy on the video is right, why don´t they mention this on the description of the Mark V?
 
midifail said:
I own a Express 5:50+ and like it a lot.
First of all, I love the Clean on CH1.
AND the Crunch (on CH1 also).

Swapping my Cleans over to Blues is OK, but not as lovely as the Clean-Mode itself...
Furthermore, I like to layer Notes with a looper and use FX a lot (Strymon Timeline and Mobius).
To my ears, the Express tends to get a little flubby after the second Looplayer.

Occasionally, I could get a Mark V Head.
This would solve my Crunchproblem and I think, more headroom in the powersection would help with the flubbyness...

My problem is:
I can´t afford the Mark V without selling the Express, so I can´t compare them side by side.

Is the Cleanchannel on the Mark V as good as the Express Clean?
In this Video, a Mesa employee explains, that the Cleanmode of the Mark V is from the Mark IV and the Fatmode ist from the Lonestar:
https://youtu.be/P-u1AmMvGHw

For the Express+, Mesa advertises, it would incorporate "Elements of our highly regarded Lonestar", but for the Mark V, they don´t (except for that video).
If the guy on the video is right, why don´t they mention this on the description of the Mark V?


ah imo - the cleans on Express 5:50. Mark V (big one) and Lonestar are very very similar.
All have 6L6 tubes and Mesa have copied Lonestar Classic cleans & reverb into both the 5:50 and Mark V.
5:50 does not have fat clean but its not essential to have fantastic cleans imo.
I can't say that 1 is better than the other - they are all just a touch different but so similar owners are probably the only people who ever gonna notice it.

As for youtube videos - just forget em totally imo - they are a total waste of time for anything except looking at the features of a product
 
Thanks for your reply - it did take a while for me to read it, sorry!

I have pulled the trigger on the Mark V some time ago and I´m very pleased with it.
The Cleans are very good (love the Fat-Mode!) - very close if not a little better compared to my Ex-Express+.

What I love:
  • A dedicated Crunch-Channel
  • Tube Recifier selectable
  • Simul Class
  • A Footswitch with all the functions I need

What I dislike:
  • The Reverb is located before the FX-Loop (???), the Express had it after the Loop
  • Multi Watt worked much better on the Express - no Pops or whatever when switching between 5W and 50W

The Express is more straight forward but the Mark V is way more versatile, has more options on the dirty side and a lot more headroom at only 6 Lbs more...
It was the right decision for me, but the Express+ ist close...
 

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