Lonestar Special vs. Express 5:50

[Cobralust]

Anyone played these amps. Whats the biggest difference in the sound besides the 3 wattage differences.

 

[Don]

I played them both when I bought my 5:50.

Clean, the LSS had more chime and complexity, the 5:50 was fatter. The 5:50 could get quite a bit dirtier.

The LSS was a really sweet sounding amp. The 5:50 was more what I wanted though.

 

[Cobralust]

Thanks Don, I don't need the wattage of the LS & think the 5:50 would suit me just fine. I always hear about the great tone of the LS & was wondering how the 5:50 compared.

 

[TimeSignature]

I think they sound pretty similiar although the cleans on the LSS are a little warmer.

 

[Cobralust]

Thanks Time

 

[SyKrash]

I owned and gigged with the 5:50 as my main amp for a year.

It has more in similarity with the LSC, as opposed to the LSS. Very Fendery clean channel, with TONS of headroom. Blues/Burn mode on channel 2 are similar to the Mark Series style of distortiom (Low mids, cutting highs). I evntually sold it to finance the purchase of the LSC.

I think it's pretty much British vs. american when comparing the LSS to 5:50

 

[Cobralust]

Thanks SyK. Plan on buying one or the other maybe at the end of the month with the Memorial Day sales. I have a Fender Super Champ XD that sounds really good but want my first all tube amp. Just can't make up my mind yet.

 

[BoogieDown]

These were the top 2 choices for me when I was looking. For what I play, both could have worked, but the LSS worked better. The express did have a nice broken up rhythm sound that I liked (which you can get on any Mesa 6l6 based amp). I use a pedal to get that sound on the lss and I'm just as happy. The clean and high gain lead sounds on the lss are what sold me.