Played the Express 5:25 & 5:50 Today; Which 1 Get's the

[Brewski]

I've seen the F-50 at $999 locally, but depending on their inventory, it may go for less.

 

[John Vasco]

Are there notable revisions in the F series or are they all pretty much the same since the beginning?

Don't know about the innards of an F-50, but I have a limited edition in blue vinyl without the four screws on the front panel.

 

[NuSkoolTone]

Well I Played them again today for about another half hour, and for kicks played the other greatest hits lying around (Ace, Lonestar Classic, Roadster) to get an idea what the express is made of.

As I've stated before I think the Express appears to be a meaner Lonestar where the F-50 is a Tamer (More refined IMO) Recto with better clean.

This said, the Cleans on the Express really sound like the Lonestar Classic which are great. Playing the Lonestar I really did NOT like the gain channel though. Kinda compressed and lifeless to me. I liked the ACE all around, but I would like some more bell and whistles for the price, plus it's heavy! Would really LOVE it if I could switch between Fluid Gain and the Gain setting (Tite gain?) just under that one ala Contour on the express/F series. The Roadster I wasn't really feeling today (Though I've liked it before) Just sounded like noise today.

The Dirty on the Express sounds similar to the F-50 but more voiced like the Lonestar, but not enough to annoy me.

Basically I'm diggin the clean on the Express, but more the Dirty on the F-50 still. However ONE THING did kinda hit me today: I plan to be using this amp for a cover project and I want to cover a lot of ground. With the F-50 while I love it, I always seem to gravitate to the bridge position and want to chug in contour mode. With the Express I seem to lean towards Rock and Roll Rhythm playing. Which works out because I'm not the lead player in this band. It can "Do" the heavy detuned thing but it's just not as mean. I think the dealbreaker at this point might be how the attack is, I need to examine it closer. To me this is what separates a REAL amp from some of the Rack stuff I have that sounds great strumming, but doesn't hit you in the chest on palm mutes. The second thing that comes to mind is I don't just play one guitar. I play strats and pauls. I would guess the strat would sound thinner on the F-50 where the paul would rule, but the express would probably help the strat and make the paul a hair wooly

I listened to a lot a lot of F-50 clips that were Gainy, but often sounded a hair thin going for the Recto thing. The Express has more mids, and even though it's not as pleasing sitting in front of it, perhaps with a band it would be a good thing? I really wish I could take the pair to practice.

Also Tried the 5:25 for a few minutes. I didn't get much into it cause I didn't wanna tick off dork boy behind the counter. But of the two the 5:50 is more for me. The 5:25 seemed more blues to me, in the little amp that roars sense. The size and weight was hip though!

So even though I'm forming my own opinions, what experience have you guys had with the versatility of the F-50 (And express) for tones and how well it plays with different guitars?

 

[cant play pool with a rop]

With my Express 5:50 run through my Recto 4X12 its mean as hell dude-freakin gnarly.A lot deeper chug and bigger sound close enough to a Dual for me.So maybe wait till the Heads come out and try one through a 4x12 Recto cab. It does have an effect on the cleans though the same as a Lonestar Classic through a R-4X12.Their still awesome though nothing to complain about.The only versatility issue I have with it is you can't channel tween modes. But theres wayst manipulate that with the playlist. I find it covers clean songs really good, Blues songs really good, rock songs really good, heavy blues and metal songs really good and soloing in these genres very well with the contour availability.The 2x12s will be out in a month or too maybe check them out as well. I'm real happy with this amp so far..

 

[postmanpat]

hey guys,

i thought here would be a good place, to post a question about the 5:50,
i didn't want to start a new thread because this thread is already so informative,

in a month i'll be buying a new amp, at the moment i'm deciding between the mesa 5:50 and a Peavey JSX,

basically all i'm looking for is a very 3D clean sound, a great hard rock modern crunch (think a cross between foo fighter and smashing pumpkins), a using a eq pedal a thick thick thick (can't emphaise that enough) lead tone,

i do alot of lead work in my cover band, as well has playing alot of satriani-esk (hence the peavey) instrumental rock,

will the 5:50 give me these three tones? i'd rather purchase a mesa than a peavey (here in australia, peavey re-sale for about 45% and are hard to find),

thanks and sorry for the long post,

pat

 

[NuSkoolTone]

Went in one more time today to audition the amps and I am now the owner of a 5:50 express!

I took the two amps (F-50 and 5:50) to the back room and opened them up a little. Made a big difference. What made it more tempting is a USED F-50 came in for $800. However I was most concerned with what would work best for me, price second.

I'll try to make this short, but here's what I heard once they opened up: The Express is definitely voiced a little higher with more mids where the F-50 has more low end chunk. I could EQ the Express close enough to the F-50's low end that it wasn't a big issue.(As a "recording engineer" I always find I have to cut that low region anyway and it just interferes with the bass)

The plus side of this is from a rhythm perspective, I think the express will sit better in a band environment, and at lower volumes to boot. The attack on them are similar, but the F-50 I felt has a slight edge for maximum impact though, and maybe certain solo sounds. This difference isn't a deal breaker though, it's just a slightly different tone. Bottom line, I feel the Express is going to chunk away just fine. After playing the amps for about an hour I was gravitating towards the express. It was just more in your face and raw sounding.

One BIG deciding factor was the fact the express sounded equally good with a strat as it did with a les paul! On the F-50 the strat got thin and waspy by comparison. I think this is the main difference for the voicing difference.

The cleans on the F-50 are great, but the Express is nicer IMO. A little rounder attack and more balanced sounding. The contour available on the clean makes it no contest! I think it's very nice to have in lieu of the pull bright switch. A little dull? kick in the contour and re-eq a bit. Add the tube reverb and there you have it.

So last I tried the 5 watt mode. On burn it was a very saturated sound and a cool additional option but didn't overwhelm me. But in Blues mode, WHOA MAMMA! This sound simply doesn't exist on the F-50. Even though I'm not a blues guy, it's cool to know it's there and I'd love to use it for recording.

So that's it. I finally decided and it's over. I'll see next week at practice how it works out. Last thing, I was surprised when it came with a nice slip cover included in the price. Pretty cool. When I got it home, I also noticed this leather covered pouch at the bottom of the amp. I thought "Amp stand legs?" after some inspection I realized it was the reveb tank.. just FYI for any other geniuses out there.

 

[cant play pool with a rop]

right on!! Congratulations! I've had mine two days now and been rockin the hell outta it. Check this out go in crunch mode and keep the gain at 9:00, mids 9:00 and contour at 10:00-- Holy blackface!! The clean sound on the clean channel with a Strat is phenomenal. See ya at the next stop( on the Express!)

 

[NuSkoolTone]

right on!! Congratulations! I've had mine two days now and been rockin the hell outta it. Check this out go in crunch mode and keep the gain at 9:00, mids 9:00 and contour at 10:00-- Holy blackface!! The clean sound on the clean channel with a Strat is phenomenal. See ya at the next stop( on the Express!)

Yeah thanks. I'll have to try that! I can't wait til practice this week to give it the full test. Right now I've just got it in my little room and can't turn it up at ALL. It sucks cause the gain channel sounds like *** (Bright and fizzy) at low LOW volume (like 6mm from OFF on the master). For now even the 5W setting is too loud at home. Thankfully this is a temporary situation. The amp is STARING at me I tell you!

EDIT: After doing some tweaking, it actually sounds quite good at whisper volumes. Just needs to be dialed in differently (Take the bass and mids out and the "Fuzz pedal" disappears!) for it. It seems the mid and bass controls are voiced pretty close together frequency wise. A "Pull Deep" option on the bass control might be cool? Anyway noodling around it was nice to go from my les paul to my strat, and it still sounded good on basically the same settings (At this whisper volume). Nice to know in case you break a string!

 

[polaris20]

Have either of you 5:50 users tried pedals in the effects loop, like a delay or chorus pedal? I use an Echo Park and a Boss chorus, but I've read the user's manual and it recommends using rack effects only, not pedals. This is a huge buzzkill for me, as I really don't care for rack stuff.

 

[willrock]

hello 5:50 users! just wanna know how heavy that beast is? i know its not light at all. coz im leaning to the 5:25 for portability, but if the 5:50's weight is not that much difference, i might as well go with the 50

 

[TheRazMeister]

I wouldn't exactly call it a beast in regards to weight
It's similar to the F-50 and NOWHERE near as heavy as the Lonestar or Rectoverb 1x12's ...but definitetly heavier than the 5:25

hello 5:50 users! just wanna know how heavy that beast is? i know its not light at all. coz im leaning to the 5:25 for portability, but if the 5:50's weight is not that much difference, i might as well go with the 50

 

[willrock]

like 10 lbs heavier? i hope not so heavy

 

[TheRazMeister]

The F-30 is 7 lbs lighter than the F50 so my guess is that the 5:25 will likely be about the same....maybe as much as 10lbs because of the smaller speaker. The Mesa site doesn't have updated info on the product guide PDF yet...

like 10 lbs heavier? i hope not so heavy

 

[JAZZGEAR]

The F-30 is 7 lbs lighter than the F50 so my guess is that the 5:25 will likely be about the same....maybe as much as 10lbs because of the smaller speaker. The Mesa site doesn't have updated info on the product guide PDF yet...

like 10 lbs heavier? i hope not so heavy

I'd expect the 5:25 to be much lighter than the F-30 as the cabinet size and speaker are both smaller. Therefore the diff in weight between the 5:25/5:50 should be greater than that of the F-30/F-50

 

[MaxBoogie]

Doesn't anyone with one of these amps also own a scale so we can stop theorizing?

 

[rickc007]

Doesn't anyone with one of these amps also own a scale so we can stop theorizing?

Tonight I'll do the 5:25

if you all want to chip in and get me a 5:50, I'll weigh that for you too

 

[Brewski]

Have either of you 5:50 users tried pedals in the effects loop, like a delay or chorus pedal? I use an Echo Park and a Boss chorus, but I've read the user's manual and it recommends using rack effects only, not pedals. This is a huge buzzkill for me, as I really don't care for rack stuff.

Hmm, good catch. I would've figured that the loop was a parallel loop like the F-50.

The manual does state that the loop is optimized for professional rack gear. I think that this is statement is one that promotes the use of good quality effects and how your tone may be affected. It's a series loop rather than a parallel loop, which may have something to do with it.

I'll have to bring a pedal with me next time I go to try one out.

 

[polaris20]

]

Hmm, good catch. I would've figured that the loop was a parallel loop like the F-50.

The manual does state that the loop is optimized for professional rack gear. I think that this is statement is one that promotes the use of good quality effects and how your tone may be affected. It's a series loop rather than a parallel loop, which may have something to do with it.

I'll have to bring a pedal with me next time I go to try one out.

That'd be cool. I just love dealing with "what you see is what you get" in terms of pedals, as opposed to menu-riddled rack effects. That's why I got outta modeling amps in the first place.

 

[MaxBoogie]

The 5:25 weighs exactly 40lbs....