Got an Express 5:50 but need help.Right Mesa for me

[guitarchris76]

I do not have much experience with Mesa amps at all. I had a Crate tube amp that broke and had alway's wanted to get a Mesa based off of things I heard. I had to scrape together money to by one and ended up with an Express 5:50 2x12 combo. I have since sold a couple guitars and am thinking of returning the amp (I have 4 day's left) and getting a Roadster Combo instead. I am not playing out at all. It is just in my room with backing tracks. I play mostly instrumental stuff. Everything from Vai, Satriani stuff to blues and jazz. I do have a Tube Screamer and DS1 I am using when I need some extra gain but can't help but wish I had an amp with a lot of gain. Can I get some help in making this decision. My big hesitation with the Raodster is that my 5:50 currently has the volume on 1. That is about as high as it is going to go especially with a baby on the way. I do not know if the roadster is just going to be overkill or if it will handle low volume as good as the 5:50 seems to. Please help. I am open to other suggestions as well.

 

[Sling Blade]

What are your settings on your 550?

I to like a lot gain and this seems to be the sweet spot for me. I keep my volume down low as well, Any where between 7 and 9 o'clock. Or else I get an earful from the wife. I prefer the burn channel with the gain set at about 2-3 o'clock. Everything else treble, mids and bass I set to anywhere between 9-11. I set my contour scooped to 3 o'clock.

I used a friend of mines t808 Tube Screamer for a weekend and granted It gave everything a little more cut, in the end I felt It just muddied everything up and gave me a solid state sound. It did help to thicken the crunch channel up a bit but so does adding a little bit of mids. When I don't feel like I am getting enough gain or distortion I will put my Metal Zone up front just for kicks. But when I switch back to the amp I find that the amps high gain is so much warmer and tighter. It makes my playing sound so much better. I guess in the end I have a hard time keeping all of that Metal Zone distortion under control. I myself upgraded from a Crate. keep in mind these Mesa can be a bit tricky when it comes to dialing them in. Much more so then the Crates, trust me I know. I have had mine since early march and I'm still tweaking here and there.

I do know that in the Express Owner manual it says this about the Burn channel; "With the contour at higher settings (11:30-5:30) combined with more GAIN unveil a wall of crushing aggression that is equal to in menace our own DUAL RECTIFIER line." Thats a lot of distortion for what I've gathered from reading these boards.

Another 550 owner compared the 550 to the Mark lV which is fantastic. But I'm like you this is my first Mesa product so I'm certainly not a good judge of other Mesa amps. The 550 is such a new model that you can really only go off of reviews and such. Not to many people have gotten the opportunity to plug into it and take it for a ride. Though it seems that the people who do seem to like it.

 

[NuSkoolTone]

What don't you like about the 5:50 specifically?

I had one for a week too and took it back for an F-50.

Since you mention the roadster, I'm assuming you're looking for a bit of recto in your sound. I was too! To me the F-50 is clearly better in this regard. Though the clean while still decent (IMO) isn't nearly as nice as the express.

 

[guitarchris76]

I know this may sound starnge but I am not necessarily looking for a Recto sound. That just seems to be the one everyone is buzzing about here. I know this is the standard response but I am looking to get as many sounds as possible. The guitars I am using right now are a Carvin DC400, Dean Cadillac, Ibanez RG1527, Gretsch Tennessee Rose HT, Fender Am. Deluxe Strat and a Godin LG. I have a few others but those are the ones I use most. So you can see I need something that can give me as many sounds as possible. I am not really unhappy with the Express I just want to know if there is anything that would be a much better fit.

 

[phyrexia]

Well, if all you want is versatility, then a Mark IV or a Roadster/Road King would work better for you. But for that matter, so would a Vetta II.