Mark V vs. Express 5:50

[EtherealWidow]

Alright. So I'm assuming that most of you Mark V fanatics are going to consider this near blasphemy, but I actually am having a hard time deciding. I fell in love with the Express since the day I tried it. The tone is just perfect for my needs. It's not like most other Mesa's that sound too dry and harsh IMO. When you set the gain all the way up and roll of some top end, everything is just perfect. Sweep picking, speed picking, individual note sustain, pinch harmonics, and chords all sound amazing.

I've tried the Mark V twice. The first time, I didn't really like it, but that was understandable because I wasn't familiar with any of the features and spent maybe 2 minutes dialing it in. I went home and researched it a bit and downloaded the handbook and learned what a lot of the things did on it. Went back in today and still couldn't dial it in right. I spent about 45 minutes trying to dial it in but the high end still sounded too sharp. Went back home and read more of the manual and was just blown away at how many things can really affect your sound. Turns out tone starts with the gain and then treble, and the presence control doesn't affect the preamp, but rather the power section.

In truth, the Mark V seems like the end-all, be-all of amps. It's got almost all the features you could ever need, but thus far the Express has my tone. What good is a feature laden amp if I don't like the tone of it? Any suggestions?

 

[Shang Chi 66]

Hi, and welcome!

Well, first of all, in my opinion, tone always trumps features. I always rate amps; tone, reliability, & feature set according to my own needs.

But if you believe that the Express is your sound, and fits your playing style, then there it is!

And you,re right on, all the features in the world matter little if you don,t get along with the core tone of an amp.

Now, having said that, the Mark 5 is so very versatile, with so many different tones on tap, that it would seem like there would/should be something there for you to develope into something you,d really like.

Unlike the Express, this is definately a tweakers amp that one could spend weeks, months exploring different tonal possibilities. Not to even mention the feel of the Mark 5 can be altered to suit your playing style as well.

I would wait til the local GC in your area has one in stock, and if you can, take it home with you for afew weeks, and see how you bond with it.

As I said however, you already know though that you really like the Express, and if it fits your playing to a tee that well, then save much cash, don,t worry about what you may be missing, and just get it!

Good luck!

 

[EtherealWidow]

Thanks man. It's just that I don't want to be limited, but I don't want to be like one of these guys that has owned 65+ Mesa amps. Screw that. That's ridiculous. I always forget that GC lets you return crap. I really might have to do that.

 

[EtherealWidow]

So I was finally able to get the sound pretty close to the way I like it. Still might take some more tweaking to get it to sound perfect. Here are the settings for anyone who cares:

Variac power, 10 watt single ended, channel 3 extreme, normal, pentode, EQ on, loop on
Gain: dimed
Master: dimed
Presence: at about 10:30
Treble: 11 o'clock
Mids: dimed
Bass: 8 o'clock
Output: 11 o'clock
Reverb: dimed

I started with the EQ sliders all the way down and made a small peak at the mids going halfway up. Kinda like this:
------
------
---|---
--|--|--
-|----|-

 

[Octavarius]

So I was finally able to get the sound pretty close to the way I like it. Still might take some more tweaking to get it to sound perfect. Here are the settings for anyone who cares:

Variac power, 10 watt single ended, channel 3 extreme, normal, pentode, EQ on, loop on
Gain: dimed
Master: dimed
Presence: at about 10:30
Treble: 11 o'clock
Mids: dimed
Bass: 8 o'clock
Output: 11 o'clock
Reverb: dimed

I started with the EQ sliders all the way down and made a small peak at the mids going halfway up. Kinda like this:
------
------
---|---
--|--|--
-|----|-

Nice. What style of music do you mostly play?

 

[EtherealWidow]

So I was finally able to get the sound pretty close to the way I like it. Still might take some more tweaking to get it to sound perfect. Here are the settings for anyone who cares:

Variac power, 10 watt single ended, channel 3 extreme, normal, pentode, EQ on, loop on
Gain: dimed
Master: dimed
Presence: at about 10:30
Treble: 11 o'clock
Mids: dimed
Bass: 8 o'clock
Output: 11 o'clock
Reverb: dimed

I started with the EQ sliders all the way down and made a small peak at the mids going halfway up. Kinda like this:
------
------
---|---
--|--|--
-|----|-

Nice. What style of music do you mostly play?

Mostly it's Atmospheric Black Metal so I was really surprised to be so taken by the Express 5:50 because it's not really known as a good "extreme music" type of amp, but after like 30 seconds of dialing it in it had a tone that I didn't even know I was looking for. I still have to make the sound of the Mark V a little tighter so maybe I'll use full power next time and tweak the EQ a little bit more. My black metal project is actually my screen name. I have little bits of songs on myspace but nothing great yet. Everything was recorded with a solid state Marshall combo and the built in mic on my macbook so it's nothing I would really call "studio quality." Soon as I run into some money I can finish all the tracking for the album. That's all I'm waiting on. :/

 

[Newysurfer]

Alright. So I'm assuming that most of you Mark V fanatics are going to consider this near blasphemy, but I actually am having a hard time deciding. I fell in love with the Express since the day I tried it. The tone is just perfect for my needs. It's not like most other Mesa's that sound too dry and harsh IMO. When you set the gain all the way up and roll of some top end, everything is just perfect. Sweep picking, speed picking, individual note sustain, pinch harmonics, and chords all sound amazing.

I've tried the Mark V twice. The first time, I didn't really like it, but that was understandable because I wasn't familiar with any of the features and spent maybe 2 minutes dialing it in. I went home and researched it a bit and downloaded the handbook and learned what a lot of the things did on it. Went back in today and still couldn't dial it in right. I spent about 45 minutes trying to dial it in but the high end still sounded too sharp. Went back home and read more of the manual and was just blown away at how many things can really affect your sound. Turns out tone starts with the gain and then treble, and the presence control doesn't affect the preamp, but rather the power section.

In truth, the Mark V seems like the end-all, be-all of amps. It's got almost all the features you could ever need, but thus far the Express has my tone. What good is a feature laden amp if I don't like the tone of it? Any suggestions?

Hey Widow - interesting post. I wasn't expecting anyone to say they prefer the 5:50. I have one and luv it. They are much underrated amps here on the Boogie Board but I'd still prefer a Mark V cause I'm a fan of maximising versatility in one package. I would use all the Mark V's options but if you don't then all the extra bells and whistles are a waste of time & money. The 5:50 is half the price of a Mark V. If it does everything you'll ever want then it's a better deal for you IMO.

As for me, I've got serious gas for a Mark V but I just can't justify the high cost. They cost well over $5000 in Australia and my 5:50 and pedal board provides all the tones and effects I need with excellent tone quality. :mrgreen:

 

[EtherealWidow]

As I mentioned before, tonally the Express blew my mind. Feature wise the Mark V wins hands down. So if I can get that sound I love from the Express on the Mark V, well, I don't know how I could express my happiness. I'll never need another amp again. The slave out is an AWESOME feature for direct recording. I think I'll try running the slave out into a DD20 Giga delay at line level and from there either into a mic preamp at line level or just directly into the sound card. Much experimenting to do. Channel two didn't do a whole ton for me. The clean channel is spanky as hell (although I don't do spanky, I've never had an amp that was spanky so it's an interesting change. I'll see how deep I can get it.) And the extreme setting is where I'll be doing most of the black metal work I think. Maybe I could use the 2nd channel for jazz? Nice and warm. :/

 

[smd24fan]

I myself had a 5:50 Express with a 2x12 extension cab before buying my Mark V. I totally hear and understand what you are saying, I too loved the Express. If it weren't for the Mark V, I would still be playing it today. I have been wanting a Mk series amp forever, and the V just sounded to good to be true. Having said that, I sold the Express and haven't looked back. I think in the end you will certainly be able to dial in "your" sound. For the difference in the price of the two, you get allot more functionality. Like another viewer stated, if you get all you need from the Express tone-wise, go for it! That didn't help you one **** bit, did it!

 

[smd24fan]

Oh yeah, you can get some killer metal toes out of the Mark 1 setting on Ch. 2 if you work on it. Mine sounds like getting run over by a train!

 

[EtherealWidow]

I myself had a 5:50 Express with a 2x12 extension cab before buying my Mark V. I totally hear and understand what you are saying, I too loved the Express. If it weren't for the Mark V, I would still be playing it today. I have been wanting a Mk series amp forever, and the V just sounded to good to be true. Having said that, I sold the Express and haven't looked back. I think in the end you will certainly be able to dial in "your" sound. For the difference in the price of the two, you get allot more functionality. Like another viewer stated, if you get all you need from the Express tone-wise, go for it! That didn't help you one **** bit, did it!

Well it actually does help me out to hear someone who appreciated the Express as much as I did. I was just blown away because typically I don't like Mesa's but the Express just seemed radically different in the tone department from all the other Mesa's. Seeing everything the Mark V has and getting so close to my tone on the Express is really getting me pumped about this amp. The controls on the thing look like a fucking rocket ship. Not to mention it looks sweet too. I think I'm going to get one in Wine Taurus with the Cane Wicker grill. It'll be a glorious day. **** the economy and all its nay-saying. I'm gonna get one.

 

[Shang Chi 66]

I myself had a 5:50 Express with a 2x12 extension cab before buying my Mark V. I totally hear and understand what you are saying, I too loved the Express. If it weren't for the Mark V, I would still be playing it today. I have been wanting a Mk series amp forever, and the V just sounded to good to be true. Having said that, I sold the Express and haven't looked back. I think in the end you will certainly be able to dial in "your" sound. For the difference in the price of the two, you get allot more functionality. Like another viewer stated, if you get all you need from the Express tone-wise, go for it! That didn't help you one **** bit, did it!

Well it actually does help me out to hear someone who appreciated the Express as much as I did. I was just blown away because typically I don't like Mesa's but the Express just seemed radically different in the tone department from all the other Mesa's. Seeing everything the Mark V has and getting so close to my tone on the Express is really getting me pumped about this amp. The controls on the thing look like a f%&# rocket ship. Not to mention it looks sweet too. I think I'm going to get one in Wine Taurus with the Cane Wicker grill. It'll be a glorious day. f%&# the economy and all its nay-saying. I'm gonna get one.

That sounds like it would be a beautiful looking amp!

And as smd24fan said, you should be able to get something like the Express tone to your liking, but so much more!

And don,t worry about the number of controls. Someone just looking at the amp will think, "wow, that,s alot of **** knobs & switches"...and it is! However, it,s really not counterintuitive. Once you browse thru the manual, and get the gist of how everything go,s, just dive in and be on your way!

I say, as long as other priorities are in order, go for it man...we only get to live here once!

By the way, now that I,ve had it and like it, I,m thinking of having mine retolexed in white, and I also thought that white knobs on the black face plate would look kinda cool!

I,ve seen white control knobs on an Electradyne, does anyone know if Mesa sells them Mark series style? Thanks!

 

[EtherealWidow]

And don,t worry about the number of controls. Someone just looking at the amp will think, "wow, that,s alot of **** knobs & switches"...and it is! However, it,s really not counterintuitive. Once you browse thru the manual, and get the gist of how everything go,s, just dive in and be on your way!

Dude I had to go thru that manual like 3 or 4 times. It's not really that it's difficult to dial in a sound of my liking, because I found plenty of cool tones. Trust me. It's just that it can be a bit difficult to get one amp to sound like another sometimes. (imagine that) With all those controls there is a lot of fine tuning so dialing in your preconceived perfect tone can be a bit tricky. I really love all those buttons though. I'd love to try to make it look like a lot of those old Mark IV's you see all over youtube but I'm not prepared to shell out $500 for a wood finish. Only drag about the Wine Taurus is that it's not going to match the Basson 2x12 I'm thinking about getting. Btw, anyone have any thoughts on Basson?

 

[bpm91]

Oh yeah, you can get some killer metal toes out of the Mark 1 setting on Ch. 2 if you work on it. Mine sounds like getting run over by a train!

Ditto. Run the Gain and Presence at 12 o'clock (presence more if it still sounds too dark), Treble at 3 o'clock, Bass/Mid at 10 o'clock, 90 watts, tube rectifier, no GEQ/contour/thick switch. Definitely gets into recto flavors with the sheer girth of the tone.