I am totally excited because yesterday I bought my first tube amp, and I purchased a really sweet one: the mesa boogie express 5:25. 
I've been playing guitar for a year. The express replaces my Vox DA-15 digital modelling amplifier. The Vox was a great starter amp, especially for what I paid for it, but as my ear for tone has improved, I grew increasingly disatisifed with muddy distortion, shrill lead notes, lack of responsiveness to picking dynamics, and the occaisionally nasty digital sound.
I wanted voxy cleans, a good crunch, a throaty blues and some creamy overdrive, and this amp does it. It will do up to 80s-era metal on the high-gain settings, but would likely need a pedal for a modern metal "chug chug" sound (either that or I would need a mahogany humbucker guitar).
For the last few months I've been trying all the amps I could find at the Vancouver music shops. I was considering a Vox AC30 and the Traynor YVC40 prior to the Express. The Vox AC30 sounded awesome, but was too large for my apartment, too heavy & bulky to be really portable in my little Toyota, and I wasn't as happy with the high gain at low volumes with the master volume. The Traynor was closer to what I was looking for, but as much as I liked it, the tone of the mesa boogie express was in the back of my mind, and the Traynor, to my ear, did not sound nearly as sweet.
What sold me on the express 5:25 was the ability to switch from 5 watts in class A to 25 watts in class A/B: this allows me to play with friends and be heard over other instruments, as well as overdrive my amp at relatively low volumes on the 5-watt setting. If clean headroom is ever an issue, I'll hook it up to a PA, but I think that day is very far away. This amp also has a feature where extra clean headroom is provided during attack, so it sounds louder than its diminutive size would indicate. The speaker is only 10", which is great for my apartment, but I can hook it up to a cab if I need a fuller sound.
The spring reverb sounds great. There's also a "contour" control, which blends in a pre-set "v"-shaped eq to scoop the mids. It was really easy to dial in some awesome tones.
The small size is great for apartment playing & family life -- it is easy to tuck out of the way. It received wifely approval because it appeared approximately the same size as my Vox DA-15 (okay, a little bigger, but close enough). My wife wasn't sure about me getting an amp upgrade until she heard it -- she immediately admitted that it sounded waaaaay better than the other amp, and since she endures my practicing regularly, she said she was also pleased that I had a better amp. Her untrained ear could immediately hear the difference in quality.
I'm all burned out at work this morning because I stayed up late playing! I have a modest HSS strat copy guitar -- the Yamaha Pacifica 112. The express 5:25 makes this little guitar sound amazing! It now "quacks" on the out of phase settings like a strat should, and there is far greater variety in tone between the pickups. The tone and volume knob on the guitar is now far more responsive. I thought I should upgrade my amp before upgrading my guitar, and now I am really pleased with the decision. I'm actually quite happy with the Pacifica for now, although I may supplement it a mahogany humbucking guitar (maybe a low-end PRS?) in the next six months to a year.
In conclusion, this 5:25 express is a little tone monster! I haven't had it for long, but what a step up on what I was using. I wanted something I'd be happy with for a while, and I think the express 5:25 fits the bill
I've been playing guitar for a year. The express replaces my Vox DA-15 digital modelling amplifier. The Vox was a great starter amp, especially for what I paid for it, but as my ear for tone has improved, I grew increasingly disatisifed with muddy distortion, shrill lead notes, lack of responsiveness to picking dynamics, and the occaisionally nasty digital sound.
I wanted voxy cleans, a good crunch, a throaty blues and some creamy overdrive, and this amp does it. It will do up to 80s-era metal on the high-gain settings, but would likely need a pedal for a modern metal "chug chug" sound (either that or I would need a mahogany humbucker guitar).
For the last few months I've been trying all the amps I could find at the Vancouver music shops. I was considering a Vox AC30 and the Traynor YVC40 prior to the Express. The Vox AC30 sounded awesome, but was too large for my apartment, too heavy & bulky to be really portable in my little Toyota, and I wasn't as happy with the high gain at low volumes with the master volume. The Traynor was closer to what I was looking for, but as much as I liked it, the tone of the mesa boogie express was in the back of my mind, and the Traynor, to my ear, did not sound nearly as sweet.
What sold me on the express 5:25 was the ability to switch from 5 watts in class A to 25 watts in class A/B: this allows me to play with friends and be heard over other instruments, as well as overdrive my amp at relatively low volumes on the 5-watt setting. If clean headroom is ever an issue, I'll hook it up to a PA, but I think that day is very far away. This amp also has a feature where extra clean headroom is provided during attack, so it sounds louder than its diminutive size would indicate. The speaker is only 10", which is great for my apartment, but I can hook it up to a cab if I need a fuller sound.
The spring reverb sounds great. There's also a "contour" control, which blends in a pre-set "v"-shaped eq to scoop the mids. It was really easy to dial in some awesome tones.
The small size is great for apartment playing & family life -- it is easy to tuck out of the way. It received wifely approval because it appeared approximately the same size as my Vox DA-15 (okay, a little bigger, but close enough). My wife wasn't sure about me getting an amp upgrade until she heard it -- she immediately admitted that it sounded waaaaay better than the other amp, and since she endures my practicing regularly, she said she was also pleased that I had a better amp. Her untrained ear could immediately hear the difference in quality.
I'm all burned out at work this morning because I stayed up late playing! I have a modest HSS strat copy guitar -- the Yamaha Pacifica 112. The express 5:25 makes this little guitar sound amazing! It now "quacks" on the out of phase settings like a strat should, and there is far greater variety in tone between the pickups. The tone and volume knob on the guitar is now far more responsive. I thought I should upgrade my amp before upgrading my guitar, and now I am really pleased with the decision. I'm actually quite happy with the Pacifica for now, although I may supplement it a mahogany humbucking guitar (maybe a low-end PRS?) in the next six months to a year.
In conclusion, this 5:25 express is a little tone monster! I haven't had it for long, but what a step up on what I was using. I wanted something I'd be happy with for a while, and I think the express 5:25 fits the bill
