Express amps. Anyone gig at 5w?

[Room3]

Now I wonder if anyone has tried two of these amps together at 5w?

 

[nomad100hd]

Sounds like a good idea to me!!!!! would be easy enough to wire my cab to stereo

 

[Wolfboy1]

I'm surprised, given the over all unworldly sound of that 5 watt mode, more folks don't try and make this work?!??!

Class A isn't as punchy as class A/B, so it doesn't tend to cut through as well. That, and for all my suggestions it's pretty likely that you'll find that without being in the monitors 5w will be buried in the mix.

That pretty much somes it up. Played a live gig out doors last weekend with my new 5:25 1x12. Love the sound in 5watt mode, but I really need a good clean on some of our tunes (especially when playing a Godin nylon) and at any significant volume the 5watt just doesn't cut it live. I mic the cabinet while it's on an amp stand facing me. I did our first set on 5watt mode and was kind of dissapointed in the mix tones when it was pushed so hard (lost and muddy), 2nd set in 25watt mode and it was much better. I just need that head room live but not at home (could be why I bought this amp? :wink: )

 

[vbf]

My weekly "gig" is two services in a pretty good size church. I mic my Express 5:50 on the 5 watt setting and it works fine.

 

[Nubbs]

I have a 5:25 with the 10" and I play in a band with acoustic drums, guitar, bass and piano, plus three singers.

I am the lead guitar and I use a Sennheiser E609 mic in front of the cabinet direct to the board. I also us a Taylor T-5 with an A/B box with one signal from the amp for the blues overdriven sound and the other signal through the DI to to the board for the acoustic sounds.

This is a great setup becuase I only carry one guitar and one amp the only weighs 36lbs.

The Express is set up on 5watts and is perfect for both. I only use the blues/crunch channel and do not bother with the clean side.

Nubbs

 

[soundchaser59]

Ok......I'm convinced!

I finally decided to try the 5w setting with a serious test. I had another amp cranked up full blast, out of curiosity, with the master full and using the pre gain and the guitar volume to set the loudness, and it sounded great.

So I tried the 5w on my 5.25 amp. Turned the masters up full, used a bit of pre gain and tone knobs to set the loudness, with no pedals. WOW! I was impressed! The little bugger can sing. The volulme is just right for practicing in the basement, and if I run it thru the EV speakers (Force 10 is in the amp, 1x12 EV on the side) then it cuts thru just fine. If I need more I have it set so that I can footswitch between crunch and burn, without a ton of distortion in the burn side. If I need more I stomp the compressor, and then the tube screamer for screaming leads.

VERY IMPRESSED more every day with this little beast. After my shorthair pointer freinds, this amp is my good buddy! I'm gonna try this 5w ssetup this week at church. The stage volume is loud, but it aint concert volulme, so I think I can get away with it. It will be just loud enough, and I can get that singing power tube sound i want without knocking the angels off the walls. Very CoooooooL! If all else fails, I can get the same sound at 30 watts with a lot more volume.......

 

[soundchaser59]

Did rehearsal tonight on the 5w setting, using the CS3, TS9, GE7, and with the EV Force 10 speaker installed.

Worked great. Master (clean) on full, pre gain about 35%, treb 35%, mid 50%, bass 20%, contour 50%, about 50-65% gain on the two pedals, with a 3db cut on the GE7 gain with a slight mid boost. Ibanez with PAF vintage type pups.

If I stood in front of the amp it was loud enough to jam with the drummer behind his shield, but too loud for me to hear the others in the monitor. They were not cranked, so overall it will work just right. I love that full power 5w sound. I suspect if I needed a bit more I could just tack on the 12 inch EV external cab.

Very pleasant surprise!! :mrgreen:

 

[UKBoogieboy]

Isn't this the going thing now? I had heard that the big 100 watt stacks have fallen out of favor because of transporting them and that club owners perfer smaller amps and let the PA do the work. Also, doesn't this help with tone being able to push a smaller amp? There's a clip on YouTube with someone playing with a TineyTerror @ 15watts with a full band running it through a 4 x 12 I believe.

But how many pubs have got a house P.A. More or less none!

 

[UKBoogieboy]

Don't forget that 5watts is only half the volume of 50watts. Watts are multiplied by 10 to double volume.