I have a DC-3 and its one of the only Mesa amps I've ever liked and I've owned and sold a few, played through many more at length.
The thing I like is the versatility and the midrange......no ultra scooped V tone there (unless you want it, which I do not).
Been thinking about another and I am wondering.....how do the Express amps compare? The lack of the GEQ gives me pause. How are the cleans and gains in comparison? Versatility? Are the mids the more std. Mesa scooped or present like in a DC? I don't need as much gain as apparently some people do; usually my drive channel gain knob is between 2 and 3 and never goes above 4.5 on the DC.
Not sure if I should look at the Express series or just get a DC-5.
Pretty much limitted the choices to those as my reactions to the other models were: I checked out the Lonestar Classic a few years ago and while the clean channel was great, I didnt like the gain channel much as the bass had to be basically at 0 to not phart out, like when you crank a vintage Fender. Not enough versatility on tweakability at that point. Also way too big/heavy. Didnt care much for the Lonestar Special's tone clean, and the gain was......just ok. Rectifiers struck me as far too scooped and thin, or too muddy if you dial the thin out of them. Stilleto seemed to miss the mark completely as a "British" toned amp. Nothing Brit at all about it to my ear, and I've owned quite a few real Brit amps.
Any info would be helpful; thanks!
The thing I like is the versatility and the midrange......no ultra scooped V tone there (unless you want it, which I do not).
Been thinking about another and I am wondering.....how do the Express amps compare? The lack of the GEQ gives me pause. How are the cleans and gains in comparison? Versatility? Are the mids the more std. Mesa scooped or present like in a DC? I don't need as much gain as apparently some people do; usually my drive channel gain knob is between 2 and 3 and never goes above 4.5 on the DC.
Not sure if I should look at the Express series or just get a DC-5.
Pretty much limitted the choices to those as my reactions to the other models were: I checked out the Lonestar Classic a few years ago and while the clean channel was great, I didnt like the gain channel much as the bass had to be basically at 0 to not phart out, like when you crank a vintage Fender. Not enough versatility on tweakability at that point. Also way too big/heavy. Didnt care much for the Lonestar Special's tone clean, and the gain was......just ok. Rectifiers struck me as far too scooped and thin, or too muddy if you dial the thin out of them. Stilleto seemed to miss the mark completely as a "British" toned amp. Nothing Brit at all about it to my ear, and I've owned quite a few real Brit amps.
Any info would be helpful; thanks!