Boogie Express 5:50 Tone Help!

[M67Chucker]

Hello,

I am brand new to this board and to Mesa Boogie. I just recently purchased an Express 5:50 2x12 combo amp and I am having a real hard time dialing in a good distortion tone. I play a Fender Stratocaster with EMG SA pickups. I would like to be able to achieve a heavy full bodied Metallica type tone. Any help on what the settings should be used to achieve this on the burn channel is greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[secretsoundz]

That's a nice setup you have but it'll be hard to cop Metallica type tones with it. You can kinda get close with your current set-up but if you really want that type of tone I'd go with a Gibson style guitar into a Stiletto Ace.

 

[M67Chucker]

That's a nice setup you have but it'll be hard to cop Metallica type tones with it. You can kinda get close with your current set-up but if you really want that type of tone I'd go with a Gibson style guitar into a Stiletto Ace.

I do have a Music Man Silhouette (my backup guitar) that does have a EMG 85 in if you mean that humbucker type sound. As far as purchasing another amp goes, that is unfortunatley not an option right now. I am stuck with what I have for the time being.

 

[155]

your gonna need a pedal for that

 

[M67Chucker]

your gonna need a pedal for that

Yeah I think I'm starting to come to that realization. I tried a couple of suggestions from different people over the past 45 minutes, and I think all I did was give myself hearing damage. It's either too tinny or too flubby, never just right. I think I will find a real heavy sounding pedal and run it through the clean channel. I have to figure out another use for channel 2.

 

[155]

dude try the ehx meyal muff, badass pedal and pretty cheap, that will get you where you want and beyond!

 

[M67Chucker]

dude try the ehx meyal muff, badass pedal and pretty cheap, that will get you where you want and beyond!

Thanks, I will check that out.

 

[Skully]

I would agree you ain't doing 'that band' without a pedal. I run a MT-2 in front of the clean channel for getting any kind of gain on my Express.

 

[jdurso]

your gonna need a pedal for that

Yeah I think I'm starting to come to that realization. I tried a couple of suggestions from different people over the past 45 minutes, and I think all I did was give myself hearing damage. It's either too tinny or too flubby, never just right. I think I will find a real heavy sounding pedal and run it through the clean channel. I have to figure out another use for channel 2.

i agree with the pedal and using your emg loaded guitar. that should get you plenty close. as for a pedal i would take a good look at the mi audio tube zone. check out their clips on their site, they give a great preview of what that pedal can do. good luck

 

[Newysurfer]

the 5:50 doesn't do metal, certainly not Metallica tones. Doesn't have enough gain on tap. Other Mesa amps do metal better but don't do clean or OD tones nearly as well.

You can get close to Metallica distortion tones with a 5:50 by

1) using an EQ pedal to mid scoop the burn channel max'ed out. But it's still a little low on gain
2) using pedals like a Blackstar or an EH Metal Muff on the 5:50's clean channel is better.
3) using a Crunchbox or OCD pedals thru the clean channel plus an MXR EQ pedal to mid scoop the pedals. Another good option.

I think the Boss Metal zone is a crappy, noisy, tone sucker so I'd steer clear of it.

 

[MrMarkIII]

Have you tried cranking the treble and bass, rolling off the mids and cranking the contour?

 

[martinluckhurst]

It may not quite get you there but have you tried flipping the channels so Green = Distortion and Red = Clean?

The Crunch setting on the green channel provides a much tighter distortion sound IMO, much more usable for metal type rhythms.

Set the green channel on crunch with gain at around 3:00 and set the red channel to blues with the gain at around 10:00.

I agree that you may need to use a humbucker type guitar. I love the sound of single coils through that amp but it will not do metal.

ML

 

[Steve P]

I own an Express 5:25 and also tend to use the crunch setting on channel one for my rhythm tones, and save the burn channel for lead tones (or sometimes use a low-gain blues setting on channel 2 for an alternate clean).

 

[M67Chucker]

It may not quite get you there but have you tried flipping the channels so Green = Distortion and Red = Clean?

The Crunch setting on the green channel provides a much tighter distortion sound IMO, much more usable for metal type rhythms.

Set the green channel on crunch with gain at around 3:00 and set the red channel to blues with the gain at around 10:00.

I agree that you may need to use a humbucker type guitar. I love the sound of single coils through that amp but it will not do metal.

ML

I will mess around with this, I have not thought about doing that. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[M67Chucker]

I own an Express 5:25 and also tend to use the crunch setting on channel one for my rhythm tones, and save the burn channel for lead tones (or sometimes use a low-gain blues setting on channel 2 for an alternate clean).

I think I will wind up setting up both channels in a clean setup, the first very clean, and the second blusey clean. Then I will invest in a powerful metal pedal to get that heavy distortion sound through the clean channel. Hopefully this will work to plan.

 

[JAZZGEAR]

That's a nice setup you have but it'll be hard to cop Metallica type tones with it. You can kinda get close with your current set-up but if you really want that type of tone I'd go with a Gibson style guitar into a Stiletto Ace.

The Gibson axe is the right direction.......not so sure about the Ace :shock:

 

[Newysurfer]

I own an Express 5:25 and also tend to use the crunch setting on channel one for my rhythm tones, and save the burn channel for lead tones (or sometimes use a low-gain blues setting on channel 2 for an alternate clean).

I think I will wind up setting up both channels in a clean setup, the first very clean, and the second blusey clean. Then I will invest in a powerful metal pedal to get that heavy distortion sound through the clean channel. Hopefully this will work to plan.

.

Using the crunch or blues channels only on the 5:50 doesn't give you anywhere near enuf gain to get close to metal tones.

You're on it though - just the right dist pedal thru the clean channel is all you need. The big advantage of the 5:50 is that its clean channel is so great that all pedals sound fantastic thru it

 

[Ad Nauseam]

Never set out to get an exact Metallica sound, but every time i've played an Express amp i've had no trouble at all getting heavy tones.

I use passive humbuckers in my schecters and i can get aggressive sounds out of the burn mode with the gain and contour pretty much at noon. Maybe i just pick more aggressively or something?

I don't know if i just think of heavy differently than everyone else or what, but if i had an express i'd shoot myself b4 i used a pedal thru the clean mode for heavy sounds. If the gain and bass are too high it's gonna sound like crap in a band mix.

Nevertheless, do what you gotta do i guess.

I seriously believe that ppl who say express', f-series, nomads or dual calibers can't do metal either can't play metal or think metal should sound like a boss metal zone.

I suggest you work on playing aggressively and not relying on gain or whatever.

Sorry if i offended anyone and maybe i'm the only jacka$$ that wouldn't have any problem playing heavy out of an express. I'd probably play heavy out of a lonestar too! lol

 

[stevemetalheart]

.....+1 on that.The express 5:50 is way more versatile than people give it cedit for.Spanking cleans through to metal no problamo :!:

 

[Sing4LTS]

I've got mine set like this:

Jackson with EMG 81, 85.

Metal Zone...
Level 75%
High 12
Low 2:30
Mid level 12:00
Mid Hz 10:30
Gain 8:30...(almost off)

Blues channel at 50watts

Gain around 10
Treble around 11
Mids 10
Bass 10:30
Contour 1:00

With the MT-2 dis-engaged I get a great full Clean sound. If I really strum hard I can get the clean to just begin to break up. Great blues clean, with a lot of dynamics.

With the MT-2 engaged, I can get Godsmack and Pantera, and Metallica...all day long. The great part about it...I'm not really using the gain from the Metal Zone. It's only at 8:30...anything pass 9:00 and it starts to suck tone and get fizzy. But the EQ shapping and the extra bit of drive it puts in front of the blues channel is just freaking awesome. I can also roll off the volume on my Jackson, and take a little edge off, for stuff like Alice In Chains, Nirvana etc...(I'm in a cover band)

Another tip...take off the casters and sit the amp directly on the ground, with the open back close to a wall...It'll give you a more "closed cabinet" feel.

As for the green channel I have mine set to crunch, for all of my classic rock tones, when using my Les Paul. I can also plug the Jackson back in on my green channel, switch to the single coil, roll off a little volume, and then hit my LPB1 (in the FX loop) to make up for the lost volume and, and get great blues tones.

With the Les Paul in front of the blues channel, as set above, I can almost get an acoustic sound in the neck postion with a slight rollback of the tone control.

Very versital amp!

I will eventually replace the MT-2 with a AMT Freak Guitar tube distortion pedal...but I've got to save up a little more first.