Express Plus 5:25 Bass Way Down Still Flabby

[CantankerousCarl]

OK, so I have read all I can find, and spent hours with this thing, and I still cannot for the life of me "dial the flab" out of this little combo on the Burn channel. I've got the gain @ 12:00, Treble @ 2:00, Middle @ 10:30, Bass @ 9:00, with various combinations of off, present and EQ.

With any humbucking guitar, pickup in neck position, the notes on the lower strings just keep getting loose, flabby and just not what I want to hear.

It gets better when I put a boost in front (TC Spark) with a little treble boost, but doesn't go away. With gain any higher it gets even worse, same with bass any higher.

I have a Blackstar HT Club 40, which does not sound this way even with the gain dimed. Tried an Orange TH 30 today which has a TON of gain and did not get flabby.

Any suggestions...getting frustrated and ready to return this little bugger...

 

[edward]

Try combing with the contour ...raise it in increments and see what you get (adjust your treb settings to balance, natch).
And with old boogs with the GEQ, less bass knob (means less bass in preamp section) and more first slider on the GEQ (which is post preamp in the chain) makes a marked difference in the timbre of bottom end you get. And adjust 2nd and 3rd sliders at or near flat as you boost that first slider to tighten up the bass. Perhaps even combining the GEQ with Contour (can you do that?) may help you.

FWIW, I don't use the burn channel so I'll leave others to be more helpful. But I can get plenty of tight-bassed gain with the crunch channel gained up. I like this far better for OD than the Blues channel FWIW, but try these other channels (EQ accordingly of course) to see if that helps you.

Edward

 

[CantankerousCarl]

Swapped it with a 5:50+ and so far very happy with the swap. Maybe I had a "bad one" or maybe it was bad tubes, or maybe I just like the 6L6s better, but for whatever reason, there is minimal flab, the gain sounds better, so I think this one is a keeper.

 

[edward]

Good to hear. FWIW, EL84 and 6L6 are considerably different in their inherent voicings. This is the very reason that I own a DC5 with glorious 6L6 bottom and girth, and a 525 for EL84 mids and grit. Each will approach the other with a modicum of overlap, but are sufficiently different that I really love having both, particularly for different guitars.
Sounds like you found your match in a 6L6

Edward

 

[sax4blues]

I have found the bass flabby on the 5:50 burn channel but I get a good setting with the bass below 9oclock.

 

[CantankerousCarl]

Sax - yes, I can certainly get the Mesa to "flab out" with the bass up on the burn channel, but it's nothing like what I was experiencing on the 25's burn channel.

I do have the bass between 9-10 o'clock, mid @ noon, treble @ 2 o'clock and gain around 6-7 o'clock. With the neck pickup I can still get a little flubbiness on the lower strings with a strong attack and the guitar volume dimed, but it's not "un-musical" where it was on the 25, which would immediately go into a flabby synthesizer-like tone on held notes, even with comparable settings and the gain anywhere above noon.

I really like this amp.

 

[ifailedshapes]

OP, what kind of music do you play?

 

[edward]

The Express 12er is a small cab ...that's a bass-tone hindrance. I assume it also has the Mesa MC90, which IMHO is a very good speaker that holds the bass together well, but sounds even better in a "widebody" combo or widebody 112-open cab. I moved my MC90 from its combo cab (which sounded great, a widebody DC5, same size as a wide Mark) into an Avatar 112 openback, and man is sounds even better; everything I dig about this speaker's tone is still there but with bigger/tighter bass response.

But as for settings to try, try more contour (which may necessitate your attenuating the treb), as this tightens up the bottom and offers a much better bass timbre than the bass knob, IMHO. This, and trying the Crunch channel instead of the Burn (I personally don't care for the Burn, but that's me). But do know that the 525's cab's size is a factor and may no be "enough" for your musical app. The amp is great and seriously versatile, but for that bottom end you want, speakers and cab size make huge differences.

Edward

 

[midifail]

I assume it also has the Mesa MC90, which IMHO is a very good speaker that holds the bass together well, but sounds even better in a "widebody" combo or widebody 112-open cab.

No, the 5:25 1x12 Combo has a V30 Speaker in it. The 5:50 Combo has MC90.