volume differences...

[bigdawg]

I bought my 5:50 off a guy that for 2 years only ever used the blues and crunch modes, never put it in burn or clean.
When I switch between blues and burn, and clean and crunch there is a noticeable volume difference the clean is louser than crunch and burn is louder than blues - have the valves been worn in these modes or is this normal behaviour ?? I dont have access to other expresses to see if theyre the same

 

[Uncle Rocker]

In my experience the Crunch is a little louder than the Clean channel. The Burn channel is quite a bit louder than the Blues channel.
For example to compensate w/ the volume control on the guitar, if I had it on 10 w/ the Clean channel I'd put it on 8 w/ the Crunch channel. If it was on 10 in the Blues mode, I'd have to back it off to maybe 6 or 7 to keep it at the same volume level in the Burn mode.
I actually do this sometimes but, it seems to me that it kind of defeats the purpose of the gain stage when you back off the volume on the guitar.

 

[Furvel]

In my experience the Crunch is a little louder than the Clean channel. The Burn channel is quite a bit louder than the Blues channel.
For example to compensate w/ the volume control on the guitar, if I had it on 10 w/ the Clean channel I'd put it on 8 w/ the Crunch channel. If it was on 10 in the Blues mode, I'd have to back it off to maybe 6 or 7 to keep it at the same volume level.
I actually do this sometimes but, it seems to me that it kind of defeats the purpose of the gain stage when you back off the volume on the guitar.

I've only had my Express 5:25 for 48 hours but I have already found Uncle Rockers assessment to be right in line with my experiences so far.

 

[soundchaser59]

Same here.... always have to toy with the gain knobs a bit when I flip that switch. And I have all new tubes.

 

[bigdawg]

so if my clean is louder than my crunch does this mean the valve is on the way out ??

 

[Furvel]

so if my clean is louder than my crunch does this mean the valve is on the way out ??

I would swap the preamp tubes around to see if the problem follows the tube. I believe the manual indicates which preamp tube position is used for which gain stage. Or just buy a whole set of preamp tubes, if it doesn't help you now you'll still need them someday.

 

[bigdawg]

itll give me an excluse to revlave it using dougs recomendations..

 

[vbf]

itll give me an excluse to revlave it using dougs recomendations..

As an FYI, the high gain JJ Doug offers for V2 in the 5:50 tube kit is a screamer. I didn't need quite that much gain but I still wanted the burn channel to rock. Doug suggested a mellower tube for V2 and it sounds really good. It takes a lot of the ice-picky shrillness out of the high end. I spent the extra few $$$ and now have some flexibility if I want the amp to scream...or not.

 

[bigdawg]

thank you ill keep that in mind - may have to do a custom order...

 

[Don]

so if my clean is louder than my crunch does this mean the valve is on the way out ??

Not necessarily. It usually means that you have the mids set high. Clean with a lot of mids is very "in your face" and cutting!

 

[Uncle Rocker]

so if my clean is louder than my crunch does this mean the valve is on the way out ??

Not necessarily. It usually means that you have the mids set high. Clean with a lot of mids is very "in your face" and cutting!

Good point... Which brings up another good point. This is the first Mesa I've owned but the suggested tone settings are much different than any amp I've ever played through. You don't just set them all at 12:00 and tweek from there. For example most people I've talked to say they never bring the bass past 10:30.
Did you get an owner's manual w/ yours? It's worth reading cover to cover. If you didn't get one here's a link:
http://www.mesaboogie.com/manuals/ExpressSers.pdf

 

[soundchaser59]

so if my clean is louder than my crunch does this mean the valve is on the way out ??

I would swap the preamp tubes around to see if the problem follows the tube. I believe the manual indicates which preamp tube position is used for which gain stage. Or just buy a whole set of preamp tubes, if it doesn't help you now you'll still need them someday.

That's the reason I said that..... I have all new tubes (ALL of them, preamp and power amp) in my amp and the volume differences remain. Retubing will not change that.

 

[bigdawg]

From memory I was using one of the settings from the manual for the crunch sound...

will investigate further...

 

[tmac]

Good point... Which brings up another good point. This is the first Mesa I've owned but the suggested tone settings are much different than any amp I've ever played through. You don't just set them all at 12:00 and tweek from there. For example most people I've talked to say they never bring the bass past 10:30.
Did you get an owner's manual w/ yours? It's worth reading cover to cover. If you didn't get one here's a link:
http://www.mesaboogie.com/manuals/ExpressSers.pdf

I first put all tone controls on maximum, since it is a passive tone stack (even though this means the EQ is probably far from flat). Then I use the TMB knobs to remove what I don't want. I use a lot of bass for clean tones, and less for distorted tones. It depends a lot on the speaker, of course. The whole gamut of the tone stack is usable, in different situations.

- Torquil