Dilemma. Express 5:25 or F-30 ?

[dennq45]

Any Express 5:25 or F-30 owners care to chime in on their likes and dislikes on these two amps.
Anybody lucky enough to have owned both of these amps. I am at a standstill here on which of these two amps to get? I need something small to throw in the trunk of my car to band practice.

Anyone dislike the 10" speaker in the Express?

My bandmate wants my Nomad 45 112 very badly.

 

[vatoben]

I have and use both of those amps. I like them both a lot. In my experience the Express has a few more tricks up it's sleeve which may or may not be useful to you. The four different modes not only have differences in gain but in feel as well. And the Express distortion is "stiffer" to my ears than the F-30. Sometimes that is a good thing because what I dislike most about the F-30 is how spongy and inarticulate the mids and low mids feel. But that being said, I have a F-30 head that I use to gig with and my Express stays in my living room. The 10" and 5 watt mode are badass for practice but no match for a drummer and a bass amp. I would recommend getting a head and Thiele or another 1X12" so you can use the amp with other cabs for other situations. One thing about both amps is they become different animals with different cabs. That's a major plus if you're trying to get some mileage out of them. I hope my opinion helps some. With either amp I think you find a lot of things that work and don't work for you. Although slightly similar, they do have their own sounds and I've found both amps worth owning.

 

[Hobo]

I have never tried the Express but I do have a F-30.
Great amp for throwing in the back seat of a car.

I did look at an Express 5:25 at the store. I would have reservations about the 10" speaker.
You could always hook it up to a separate cab but then that kinda defeats the purpose of a grab & go combo amp.