Express 5:25 1x12 - Dark and Flabby?

[Swingmaster]

Hello All from Spain!

Newbie on board.

I recently bought a brand new Express 5:25 1x12 because a good deal and now I'm more confusing than ever.
Usually I play and jamming at home, not in a bedroom but in a quite big cellar where I can play at "decent" volumes, not too low but not as high as I'd like (my lovely wife...)
I have several e-guitars but my favorite is a LP Standard 2001 and an American Strato, yes both worlds... BTW this is my first Mesa, was always playing Fenders & Marshalls with pedals.
Musical styles: Joe Bonamassa, Zeppelin, Gary Moore, ZZ Top...classic hard rock and hard blues between others.

I tell you what is my experience by now and why I'm thinking to trade it, maybe this is not my amplifier or somebody could give me some advise to tune it well:

I was playing with it for a week now and sounds different everyday!, I already noticed than the controls are really sensitive but I mean with exactly the same setup. Is that normal? Maybe the tubes?

I've found the ampli quite dark and sometimes flabby mainly in the high gain channel but in Crunch too, I have to adjust the bass knob almost at zero, Mids: 12:00 or more, Treble: 3:00 or more and contour: 12:00 to 3:00, to find a tone that sounds with a little of bright. This is more obvious with the LP than with the Strato, of course. I was reading over there that maybe a EQ in the loop could help. I know that Mesas are "darker" than Fenders but as soon as I connect my guitar to a Fender Jr. the tone is there again.

I think is a great amplifier and it is a pity if I have to send it back to the dealer.

Cheers!

 

[EtherealWidow]

I would say try it in a different room. Obviously since you're a family man it's not going to be a permanent setup, but just try it in different rooms to factor out the way the room will affect your sound. I've been bouncing around homes for a while and my amp sounds completely different where I live now than in my last home. The controls are much more sensitive in this room.

 

[midifail]

First of all, raise your amp from the floor.
Put it on a chair or something else. Lift the amp up at least 50cm.

Try changing the position in the room - don´t get the back too close the the walls.

The master-pots should be between 9 o`clock and 1 o´clock - maybe the 5 watt setting is already loud enough.
This amps get sounding better, when they are turned up.

Gain can change the tonal balance, too. Try experimenting with all controls (except master volume) @ noon, then alter the settings to your taste.

Changing a Preamp tube or two might help, but my starting points would be altering the position of the amp and then changing the settings.

 

[Swingmaster]

Thanks!

I'll do what you (both) say as soon as I get home. Now in a business trip...no guitar, no women, ****... Ok, beer helps...

 

[Selsaral]

I was playing with it for a week now and sounds different everyday!, I already noticed than the controls are really sensitive but I mean with exactly the same setup. Is that normal? Maybe the tubes?

That sounds odd to me. My first instinct (probably not a popular one) is that it's a matter of perception. I think something would have to be seriously wrong for it to change day to day.

I've found the ampli quite dark and sometimes flabby mainly in the high gain channel but in Crunch too, I have to adjust the bass knob almost at zero, Mids: 12:00 or more, Treble: 3:00 or more and contour: 12:00 to 3:00, to find a tone that sounds with a little of bright. This is more obvious with the LP than with the Strato, of course. I was reading over there that maybe a EQ in the loop could help. I know that Mesas are "darker" than Fenders but as soon as I connect my guitar to a Fender Jr. the tone is there again.

I never found it to be that way, but it's possible that you're accustomed to or just flat-out prefer a different type of amp, like your Fender. I do read that people going for modern sounds turn the bass way down, so that doesn't shock me.

I've played through a few Fenders, like a DRRI and a HRD and I didn't find them to be immensely more bright than an Express. In fact, the HRD was a house amp at a local blues/rock club and the bass was universally set to almost 0. All the guitarists would scan its settings before jamming, and would leave it there.

I think is a great amplifier and it is a pity if I have to send it back to the dealer.

You gotta do what you gotta do. If you prefer your Fender, you do. Nothing wrong with that. People's tastes vary a lot. I wouldn't keep an amp that I couldn't enjoy unless I put an EQ pedal on it.