Lone Star versus Express

[gimme789]

I am considering both the Lonestar and Express 5:50 amps. My band plays blues/jam music, with the occasional need for some high gain, but I am primarily looking for a great clean sound, a great blues lead tone, and also rock lead tones ala ZZ top (in that order), and would really like to experience some nice touch responsive feedback from the amp while soloing.

I looked at the Mesa site - I could not find where they distinguish between Lonestar Classsic vs Lonestar Special. Are both these amps still being built, or is it just the "Lonestar" now ?

I am also interested in the Express 5:50. Not sure if 1x12 or 2x12 yet.

Can anyone please provide info and perhaps a recommendation for either of these amps ?

We cover bands like the Allmans, Grateful Dead, Phish, Keb Mo, Little Feat, etc .... And I usually play a humbucker equipped guitar, but may like to break out some single coils in the future.

It's tough because my nearest dealer is over 2 hours away.
Appreciate any and all info and advice. Thanks.

 

[gimme789]

Somehow, I created a double post ... sorry, please remove one ... thanks

 

[guitar99]

I play in a jam band as well, more tones the better, more sounds the better for what Im doing.
I owned the express 5-50, double rec, triple rec, and a nomad 55 before I went to the lonestar.

Except for the weight, my LSC 2x12 is the best amp for the type of music Im playing yet. There are so many different combinations that I can get between the amps settings and my pedal board that my express wouldnt do. Not even counting the fact that the lonestar does saturated silky blues tone like no other.
The express does get a little heavier, but I can do that with the LSC with a boost or gain when needed.

So in my humble opinion, jam band, lonestar or express, the express doesnt even compare.

 

[bitflogger]

I can't say anything bad about any of them. My local dealer is/was (retiring, going out of business) 2 miles from home and they have had all the Lone Star and Express variations in the past few years.

My reference was owning the archetypes of clean (Fender Deluxe, Princeton Reverb) and not playing mostly clean. My last trials were just the EL84 models but it seemed to me like the Express models would go more extreme with distortion and I liked the subtleties you can get with Lone Start having the 3 wattage settings and different rectifiers.

I only play out a few times a year and this may apply to my having the 2x12. It will sound very big at low volumes and get very loud - really good at both. I love the way I can put just a little hair on the tone at any volume and not loose bass the way pedals and some amps are.

This is personal preference here but the tipping point factors for me:
-subtlety available between settings
-big sounding clean at any volume
-first amp where I would play with some dirt for more than 25 seconds

This might be a down side. My amp is very heavy and I know why it has wheels.

 

[djw]

The Lone Star Classic is the big brother of the two Lone Stars, runs at 100/50/10 watts using 6L6s or EL34s (and can use 6V6s too). Class A at 10 watts, Class A/B at 50 and 100.

The Lone Star Special uses EL84s exclusively and runs at 25/15/5 watts (and all in Class A).
Some other subtle differences, but that's basically it. They're both in production today.

The Express amps are cool, and there are 6L6 and EL84 versions of these too (the 5:50 and the 5:25 respectively). They have some heavier gain tones in them, they're fun to play with, and they're LIGHT compared to the LS's... but IMHO they don't hold a candle to the LS amps in terms of expressiveness and infinite variability in the tone department.

 

[Jared Purdy]

The Lone Star Classic is the big brother of the two Lone Stars, runs at 100/50/10 watts using 6L6s or EL34s (and can use 6V6s too). Class A at 10 watts, Class A/B at 50 and 100.

The Lone Star Special uses EL84s exclusively and runs at 25/15/5 watts (and all in Class A).
Some other subtle differences, but that's basically it. They're both in production today.

The Express amps are cool, and there are 6L6 and EL84 versions of these too (the 5:50 and the 5:25 respectively). They have some heavier gain tones in them, they're fun to play with, and they're LIGHT compared to the LS's... but IMHO they don't hold a candle to the LS amps in terms of expressiveness and infinite variability in the tone department.

It's actually 5, 15 and 30, with the option of going to 35 if you place the speaker jack in a different input.

 

[gimme789]

thanks for the info so far

anyone know what year the Lonestar Classsic came out ?

has it gone through any design changes since ?

thanks!

 

[J.J]

Not sure when the LSC came out, but the only change was the addition of the 10 watt mode a few years back.

I have an Express 5:25 and have recently spent a lot of time with the Lonestars as I wanted to upgrade. This is what I think, the Express if quoite a bit more versatile in the range of tones, but the Lonestar amps offer much better tone and feel.

I play Blues primarily and I love my Express, but struggled for 18 months trying to get the tone I wanted. 30 minutes with the LSC and I found a number of great tones I was lookig for that the Express didn't have. The Express has no Presence control which I think would be a massive help in getting good blues tones.

 

[Don]

I'd try to get to that Mesa dealer and try some amps.

For what I play, I actually prefer the Express 5:50. It has very warm, simple cleans, great crunch and really good high gain sounds. The Lone Star was awesome, but not what I was looking for.