Express Series Notes

[TheRazMeister]

I'd like to agree with you but I can get better gain tones from my Crate V32 than the F50 or Express and it certainly is not a flagship amp. Believe me, if Mesa made a 50lb 1x12 recto combo, I'd get one....but they don't so I'm left hunting for alternatives. And if you're wondering why I don't just use the Crate....Honestly, I think it's because I'm a Mesa snob and want another Mesa :lol:
Side note -I had to do a full re-tube and slap a Vintage 30 into the Crate before I could get the tones I was looking for.

If Mesa intended for the Express to replace the Rectos...then it would have cost alot more, and it would have replaced those other models.

You have to know that going in -- to think otherwise is foolish. Keep in mind, it is their entry level series of amps. So don't expect their flagship tones out of entry level prices.

To me, when I hear the amp can get into Recto Territoy is the same as when I hear the Lonestar can sound like the Fender cleans....

Is it the exact Fender cleans? No, does it resemble it, yes.

In any case, if its Recto tones you're after, then a Recto should be the amp purchased.

If you want a hybrid, that touches a little of everything, then you get something like the Express Series.

 

[jamme61]

My 5:50 is the first boogie i have fallen in love with. I think maybe because I don't run it with a lot of gain. If I bought the express wanting to cover the recto tones i would be disapointed but, I'm doing blues and classic rock and couldn't be more happy. I love the 5:50 and know its a fantastic amp, for what it is.

 

[Newysurfer]

Newy....I'm not sure I ever stated that owners of the F series or Express should be unhappy...If anything I think I mentioned how nice the cleans are. Recto-Robbie got the whole point of my post. I've been searching for a lightweight alternative to my ROV combo (for practise) and based on reviews and Mesa's literature, one would think the EX's and F's would fit the bill...they do not....just as a Fender does not and a small Marshall combo does not. They are all great amps for their applictions.
BTW - I tried the Orange Tiny Terror again and if it wasn't so limited it would definitelty do the trick (no loop, 1 tone knob)

Maybe you didn't intend to be mean spirited but that's how it's comes across when you start off a thread moaning about the fact amp X won't do Y to your liking.

But in any case all this talk about amps is based on the totally unrealistic premise that there exists the perfect amp that will give killer tones from clean thru crunch thru overdrive to distortion and metal unassisted by any pedal/modeller. No such thing has ever existed and may not ever exist due to the technological trade-offs involved in analog amp design.

If you want to specialise in high gain tones then buy a amp for that purpose but don't whine if it sounds crap for everything else. That's why everyone uses pedals/modellers - so they can improve their amps tones in specific areas and widen it's range. Is there anyone on this forum who doesn't ever use a pedal/modeller for some purpose ?

Take my Express for example, I bought it fully aware it wouldn't do Recto Metal or super high gain stuff. So whenever I want those tones I can either boost the burn channel gain with my Fulldrive 2 Mosfet OD pedal or use my Electro Harmonix Metal Muff pedal. Or I can use my Boss GT-8. All those options sound fabulous. So where's the problem at the high gain end ?

At the clean and crunch end the high gain amp specialists do have a serious problem though. Take the Rectoverb - to my ears the clean and crunch tones it delivers are very ordinary. A lot of Mesa amps have this problem but no pedal can fix that up.

 

[wilerty]

All amps are designed to compete at a price point and to beat their competition. I see the Express 5:50 as competing directly with the Fender Super-Sonic, Bassman, Super, and Twin ... not a Recto.

My Express 5:50 2X12 easily replaced my Twin and blew the Super-Sonic out of the water ... to MY ears. In the market it is designed to compete ... it is outstanding.

 

[recto-robbie]

And a big hello Bezerkr,,, welcome.

 

[TheRazMeister]

1st - I've never meant it to be mean spirited. I think another poster summed it up when they said that Mesa even states that these amps can get into "recto" territory...they DON'T. 2nd - I've never whined about my ROV's sound, just the weight and 3rd - here's my orginal qoute
"I've been looking for a Mesa to replace my Crate V32 as a light weight alternative to my Rectoverb for practise. The gain on those amps are NOTHING like the rectoverb gain, with or without contour, with or without burn....not even in the same league without major adjustment to sound (pedals). The Crate is still the closest small amp thing to the smooth luscious overdrive I get from the Rectoverb."
I wasn't caling the F and EX's garbage and I didn't make fun of owners of those amps, you wanted to read it as a negative and you did, methinks you are a little defensive about your amp.

Maybe you didn't intend to be mean spirited but that's how it's comes across when you start off a thread moaning about the fact amp X won't do Y to your liking.

If you want to specialise in high gain tones then buy a amp for that purpose but don't whine if it sounds crap for everything else.

 

[Newysurfer]

Guys, once again, for the 4th time on the F50 and now the 2nd time for the Express series, I walk away unimpressed. I tried, really I did. I've been looking for a Mesa to replace my Crate V32 as a light weight alternative to my Rectoverb for practise. The gain on those amps are NOTHING like the rectoverb gain, with or without contour, with or without burn....not even in the same league without major adjustment to sound (pedals). The Crate is still the closest small amp thing to the smooth luscious overdrive I get from the Rectoverb.
The cleans are very nice on both the F series and the express but natural overdrive is a major requirement for me. And to make sure I wasn't nuts, I bit my tongue and waited for the sales clerk to make the same comments.
BTW - the orange tiny terror, while not very flexible also gets great overdrive tones.

This was your start post for this thread - that's a big whine about the F50 and the Express series. So get some thing else and use some pedals. And to repeat - who cares what Mesa say in their advertising. That's all from me

 

[TheRazMeister]

Again, it wasn't a whine...it was an honest observation. You read it as a complaint because you're defensive about the amp you've chosen. And no I will not "get some pedals" there are Non-Mesa amps that will do the trick and I have to resign myself to the fact that unless I find a cheap F30, my practise amp will not be a Mesa.

Guys, once again, for the 4th time on the F50 and now the 2nd time for the Express series, I walk away unimpressed. I tried, really I did. I've been looking for a Mesa to replace my Crate V32 as a light weight alternative to my Rectoverb for practise. The gain on those amps are NOTHING like the rectoverb gain, with or without contour, with or without burn....not even in the same league without major adjustment to sound (pedals). The Crate is still the closest small amp thing to the smooth luscious overdrive I get from the Rectoverb.
The cleans are very nice on both the F series and the express but natural overdrive is a major requirement for me. And to make sure I wasn't nuts, I bit my tongue and waited for the sales clerk to make the same comments.
BTW - the orange tiny terror, while not very flexible also gets great overdrive tones.

This was your start post for this thread - that's a big whine about the F50 and the Express series. So get some thing else and use some pedals. And to repeat - who cares what Mesa say in their advertising. That's all from me