Express 5:50 or Lonestar Classic for gigging in a cover band

[lespaul72]

Hello all,

I'm in the market for a new amp and am considering strongly either an Express 550 or LSC. I am a gigging musician playing once a week in a 70's-80's classic rock/southern rock/ dance band. I need a fairly versatile beast (clean, slightly broken up, overdriven, crunchy) that can be done almost on the fly. I can't be bending down and turning around to turn 5 different knobs and flip 4 switches to go from sound 1 to sound 2 between songs. I REFUSE to do a modeling amp.
The heaviest "gain" I would need is the Kiss , AC/DC level, to bluesy breakup, to spankin clean, etc. I don't need or want high gain recto sound.

Im quite confident both amps could do the job tone wise, however, can anybody chime in on these amps in a gigging/band situation, how they "cut through" and ease of use regarding the above tones during a gig.

any help is appreciated Thanks a million!!

 

[Artmusic]

I had a 5/50 Express 2x12 for several weeks, it sounded great until it crapped out on me. I returned it and picked up a last year's LSC 50/100 watts, the 1x12 combo. Easier to move around than the 2x12 and the sound is amazing! Very versitile, the clean channel is round and full. The lead channel has pleanty of growl for me, while keeping string picking dynamics. It has a wide array of controls to work your sound, I found that once I found my groove with the controls I then simply added a BBE Green screamer up front, (mostly being used as a boost), to add additional sound options with a click of a footswitch. You can also use the Solo footswitch from the Lonestar to kick up the volume and push the power tubes when stepping out for a solo. the Lonestar is a very cool, very LOUD, very classy amp. You will not be dissapointed.
Art

 

[lespaul72]

Thanks for the input, appreciate it... It seems right now that used LSC are going for the same price as a new Express, so price for me isn't really a factor, however the new LSC being able to go down to 10 watts seems like a cool option :?

 

[Newysurfer]

They're both very similar amps IMHO. The main diff is the 5:50 has more gain than the LS's and it's $500 cheaper. The 5:50 will do everything the LS's can but has more distortion on tap so it's more versatile IMHO. I don't think an LS will get you into AC/DC territory unassisted (I'm thinkin Hells Bells and B in B) but my 5:50 does it fine.

Some LS owners reckon their clean tone is better but they're both equally great to my ears. Reverb on both is fantastic. The 5:50 cuts to 5w with the flick of a switch and is perfect ofr home use or small venue gigs.

My 5:50 1x12 combo weighs 50lds & cuts thru the mix fine, especially if you use the contour pot.

As for having to adjust on the fly that depends on how picky you are with your tone and how much variation you need from song to song. I am picky. When I need a wide range of tones I use a small analog pedal board or a digital GT-8. When I'm just playing blues and need only 3 or 4 tones the amp direct is fine. :lol:

 

[Maury]

I don't think an LS will get you into AC/DC territory unassisted (I'm thinkin Hells Bells and B in B) but my 5:50 does it fine.

It will, and then some. If you engage the drive switch, turn the treble to 3:00 and set it to "thicker", there's enough saturated gain for 80's metal... although its a looser woolier type of gain. AC/DC is easy stuff for the LSC. That said, the express IS gainier for sure. And lighter . What sold me on the LSC was the solo feature.