about the express.....

[benlink]

I'm really hesitating about buying a mesa amp because I want to buy a new amp and mesas are very expensive(I live in France).....on the other hand, mesa boogies seem incredible...as I am playing old school stuff(lynyrd, metallica, pantera, creedence, police, acdc etc....).....
I was thinking of marshall ..(vintage modern possibly...), matamp etc.......I was interested in buying a single channel because of the simplicity of going from a clean sound to a distorted one only by using the volume knobs of my guitar,,( I would possibly need to buy a boost)....
and after thinking about it, there seems to be only one mutli-channel amp that could fit my gusts...........
the mesa express.....
2 channels with 2 modes on each.
reverb
contour mode
as I like a lot british crunch, it seems that I would like better the 25w because of the el84 which are close to el34.
and , if I buy this amp.......do you advise me to take the combo?
or does the head with a 2x12 cab sound like a monster?

 

[Pyro]

the express series sucks. I had a 5:50 for a while, not nearly enough gain to qualify as a mesa. good clean and reverb, that's it.

get a jmp-1, perfecto for u!

Its not the Amp. Its YOU!!!!!!!!!

Seriously. Anyone that has trouble getting good sounds out of the Express is a Musical Retard

 

[vermillion]

Benlink, are you able to play an Express at a nearby dealer?

Since you received two different responses (sounds like rabies dislikes the amp and Pyro thinks it is nice). You should try one for yourself, listen to videos on youtube, and download soundbytes.

Didn't someone post some mp3s on this board a while back?

 

[NuSkoolTone]

I also agree the Dirt Channel on the Express sucks.

Had mine for a week and took it back!

 

[phyrexia]

Do you guys know how to work amps? I don't know how you could say the amp "doesn't have enough gain to be called a mesa".

 

[CudBucket]

the express series sucks. I had a 5:50 for a while, not nearly enough gain to qualify as a mesa. good clean and reverb, that's it.

get a jmp-1, perfecto for u!

Its not the Amp. Its YOU!!!!!!!!!

Seriously. Anyone that has trouble getting good sounds out of the Express is a Musical Retard

+1

I played a 5:50 2x12 combo and couldn't stop. Plenty of gain and I own an RKII.

 

[Newysurfer]

the express series sucks. I had a 5:50 for a while, not nearly enough gain to qualify as a mesa. good clean and reverb, that's it.

get a jmp-1, perfecto for u!

The whole premise behind these comments is that unless an amp - any amp - provides extreme high gain > metal tones unassisted by any pedal then it's just crap and not worthy of Mesa's name.

Extending this "logic" also leaves the Lonestar series in the "sucks" category as these have significantly less gain than the Express series. Funny how Mesa have now made 2 series of amps that don't qualify as a Mesa. I wonder if they're aware of this wisdom.

This wisdom also means all Fenders, all Vox amps, most Marshalls and 98% of all amps ever made also "suck".

My conclusion is that guys who make these kinds of comments really don't care how any amp sounds clean, crunch, overdriven, mid distortion or anything at all other than high gain > metal tones. They just want a "one trick pony" and have contempt for everything else.

THey also assume it's some kind of sin to use a pedal for any reason at the same time admitting they do use them themselves. If you can find an ounce of logic in any of this - good luck to ya :lol: :lol:

 

[NuSkoolTone]

Here we go...

I didn't find gain to be the issue with the Express. It was tone, attack and voicing. IME it was mushy, inarticulate, and lacked balls no matter HOW I set it up. It sounded like a pedal to me.

When I say "It sucks", that's for MY purposes. If I were looking for a lonestar with a little more kick, I'd grab an Express. The Lonestar isn't my thing either to be fair. I DID really like the clean and reverb on the Express though...

As far as ability to setup an amp, I'm having NO problems with my Mark IV, and that's FAR more complicated!

 

[Newysurfer]

Rabies and NuSkool - I fully respect your opinions on the Express. It's not for everyone - no amp ever will be

 

[phyrexia]

FWIW I thought they both sucked until they sat at work since Jan or Feb or whenever we got them, and now the speakers are broken in, and I think they sound a lot better.