New Amp Day (2nd attempt)

[Simon D]

This is my second recent attempt at a new amp day - the last didn't go so well - I had a Mesa Roadster head and 2x12 recto cab, which i ended up having to send back, because it was just too much to use in the house, and I wouldn't get the best from it.

With that in mind, I went  back to the drawing board. I tried a bunch of stuff, including Mesa's Rectoverb combo (not enough tone at low volume, and not versatile enough), various Marshalls and small Engls,  and came up with...a Mesa 5:50 Express head and 2x12 Roadster cab (much smaller and lighter than the Recto).
Pic (sorry about the quality):



First impressions are very good indeed. Sounds are much easier to dial in than the Roadster, it sounds much better at far lower volumes, and the 5 watt drop-down switch is a real bonus for getting some nice power amp distortion at low levels. The contour control is great - it's apparently a knob version of Mesa's 5-band EQ set in the V-shape - and it make a massive difference to the tone. It's footswitchable too, which is an added bonus.

Haven't had much time to test it out yet - I've only played my Tele and PRS Tremonti through it so far, but based on those 2, everything I own should sound great. I had been wondering if it would have enough gain for the more metally end of my playing, but I neednt have worried - there's plenty!

[BigK]

They are great sounding amps the cleans are gourgeous from memory. I used one to try out a custom 22 I so nearly bought and loved it. but I dont remember it having that much gain, (I probably missed the burn switch). Some clips with your warpigs or tremonti would be awesome :twisted:

[ilÿti]

That sounds cool. If I had the money, it'd be very tempted to go for that.

[Simon D]

They are great sounding amps the cleans are gourgeous from memory. I used one to try out a custom 22 I so nearly bought and loved it. but I dont remember it having that much gain, (I probably missed the burn switch). Some clips with your warpigs or tremonti would be awesome :twisted:

The cleans are lovely. I played it on clean channel earlier today for about an hour - got so caught up in tweaking, I completely forgot about the second mode on the clean channel and the fact it even had an overdrive channel. Gain-wise, it's no 6505 or Diezel Herbert, but there's plenty there for most applications. A nice Alter Bridge-type sound is well within range, for example.

I used the 5:25 combo when I tried out my Tremonti in the store, and it impressed me so much I figured the big brother was definitely worth a look. I'm just off to give it a go with my Warpig loaded Warmoth.

I won't be able to do any clips in the near future unfortunately, as I don't have any recording gear at all - don't even own a mic. Should probably do some about tht at some point.

[hamfist]

Congrats on the new amp. Sounds like a wise choice, second time around !
  I must get around to trying a Mesa Express one of these days.

[Woogie]

Congratulations on your new toy. I hope you have fun with it!! Whenever you touch a Mesa Boogie you can tell they are made well and the cabs are really special.

[dave_mc]

sweet, i haven't been able to try those yet. from what i hear, they aren't as good for metal as the old f-series, but then they have some features which the f-series don't have as well. :)

[Simon D]

Cheers guys. I have to say, there's far more instant tonal gratification to be had with this amp than there was with the Roadster - sounds are much easier to dial in, and I haven't hit a bad one yet, with any guitar, which I certainly did with the Roadster.

sweet, i haven't been able to try those yet. from what i hear, they aren't as good for metal as the old f-series, but then they have some features which the f-series don't have as well. :)

It's not quite as good for metal as an F Series, no. I tried one of those when I was looking, cos a local(ish) store had some new old stock ones at very nice prices, but it was just too loud and compared to the Express, lacking in features - no 5 watt mode, and the contour feature was just a switch, not a controlable knob. Sounded great, but the Express sounded better.

[dave_mc]

yeah, from what i hear anyway, the reason they got rid of the f series was because they were eating into recto sales!  :lol:

i actually wouldn't mind if their cheaper combo wasn't as good at metal, to be honest (unless you were after metal of course), as to me the f-series was too overly aimed at metal (for a supposedly versatile combo), even with contour disengaged on the overdrive channel.

:)

[Simon D]

That's very true. The Express seems far more versatile than the F Series I tried. Far more able to give a sweet, bluesy sound, or  little country twang, for example.

[BigK]

So just to clarify, How much gain has it got on tap? you say it can do alter-bridge is that right at the top of its gain? or has it got a bit more?

This has got me really intrigued, cause I really love the clean and crunch sounds I got from it when i was trying out that PRS.
 
I may be shopping in the Engl for one in the near future.....

[hunter]

Looks very sweet.

I tried the 25 combo and it didn't do it for me. But guess that's a general dislike I have with Mesa.

It looks and surely sounds great though, well done!

[hhcave]

I remember the F-50 sounding fairly similar to the 5:50 but just with more gain on tap. The reason i went for the F-50 over the 5:50 is because i needed a lot of gain for the styles i play and i didn't think the express had enough...it's probably enough to do some hard rock stuff though...

One thing that i didn't really think through was that the F-50 is SO loud which makes it impossible to crank as i live in an apartment... So when i play at bedroom volumes it doesn't sound as good as i guess it should... I'm considering an attenuator but some people have suggested against the idea.

[Simon D]

So just to clarify, How much gain has it got on tap? you say it can do alter-bridge is that right at the top of its gain? or has it got a bit more?

This has got me really intrigued, cause I really love the clean and crunch sounds I got from it when i was trying out that PRS.
 
I may be shopping in the Engl for one in the near future.....

The Alter Bridge sound has the gain at about 3 o'clock on the dial, so there's a little more to go, but not a whole lot. You'd need a booster of some sort for solos, I'd reckon.

One thing that i didn't really think through was that the F-50 is SO loud which makes it impossible to crank as i live in an apartment... So when i play at bedroom volumes it doesn't sound as good as i guess it should... I'm considering an attenuator but some people have suggested against the idea.

I'd come up against this already, with the Roadster I had to send back. It's one of the main things that convinced me to got for the Express, with its 5 watt switch. Because I was able to send the Roadster back, I don't have any experience with attenuators. Some swear by them, some swear at them - I don't know enough to have an opinion.

[hunter]

The Alter Bridge sound has the gain at about 3 o'clock on the dial, so there's a little more to go, but not a whole lot. You'd need a booster of some sort for solos, I'd reckon.

Don't worry too much about gain, as far as I could tell the x:press have plety enough. Anyways, listen to Jimmy Page - less gain = more tone!