Barry del Ive
Active member
A little story.
I have long since found my 'the one' guitar. I have since been on a quest for my 'the one' amp to pair with it. Finding the amp that has a wonderful relationship with my guitar has proven to be about as difficult as, well, finding the right person to be in a relationship with can be.
A number of years ago, I went into an instrument retailer and they had Mesa amps. Among them was a spattering of different Express offerings. I was looking for something that focused heavily on cleans for jazz uses. I couldn't articulate what I was looking for until recently but I was looking for something that had a modern take on a vintage sound. A bit of that hair but a full sound with plenty of lows and highs but also with a lovely mid range. The Express 5:50 had that. I didn't care what else it could do so long as it could do that.
The price though... I just couldn't conceive of a way to come up with the money necessary to convince the store to let me leave with it. Nor could I think of any way in the near future that such a thing would be possible. I got a good glancing blow during the economy downturn at about that time so... money for amps was not at the top of the priority list. So, I wrote it off as unobtainium.
Fast forward to present.
I put the roaring buffalo that is the Peavey 5150 (old block letter stuff) softly (just word of mouth among friends) up for sale as high gain is more of a novelty to me now and I just don't want to move that heavy beast around anymore. haha. As that was going on, a guy I have bought from before put his 5:50 up for grabs. I mentioned that if my amp sells and he still has it, I'd have been glad to buy it but for his want to not ship it.
That night, I get a PM. Remembering our previous transactions, he said he would ship. I reminded him that it would have to wait until my amp sold and don't walk away from any solid offers waiting on me. A few PM's later... I couldn't stop thinking about the notion of actually having it. So, I offered him up a sum of money to hold it pending amp sale. He agreed. Money wired. Amp held.
Cross your fingers, good vibes, pray.... whatever you do. I could use it that my amp sells in a timely manner and I get this puppy at my house!
I had already contacted Mesa about a replacement grillcloth. Nothing wrong with what is on there now but I had always said that I'd have ordered one with a tan cloth instead of the black. It'd sorta match my 'the one' guitar with the black and tan motif.
Color me WAY pumped.
I have long since found my 'the one' guitar. I have since been on a quest for my 'the one' amp to pair with it. Finding the amp that has a wonderful relationship with my guitar has proven to be about as difficult as, well, finding the right person to be in a relationship with can be.
A number of years ago, I went into an instrument retailer and they had Mesa amps. Among them was a spattering of different Express offerings. I was looking for something that focused heavily on cleans for jazz uses. I couldn't articulate what I was looking for until recently but I was looking for something that had a modern take on a vintage sound. A bit of that hair but a full sound with plenty of lows and highs but also with a lovely mid range. The Express 5:50 had that. I didn't care what else it could do so long as it could do that.
The price though... I just couldn't conceive of a way to come up with the money necessary to convince the store to let me leave with it. Nor could I think of any way in the near future that such a thing would be possible. I got a good glancing blow during the economy downturn at about that time so... money for amps was not at the top of the priority list. So, I wrote it off as unobtainium.
Fast forward to present.
I put the roaring buffalo that is the Peavey 5150 (old block letter stuff) softly (just word of mouth among friends) up for sale as high gain is more of a novelty to me now and I just don't want to move that heavy beast around anymore. haha. As that was going on, a guy I have bought from before put his 5:50 up for grabs. I mentioned that if my amp sells and he still has it, I'd have been glad to buy it but for his want to not ship it.
That night, I get a PM. Remembering our previous transactions, he said he would ship. I reminded him that it would have to wait until my amp sold and don't walk away from any solid offers waiting on me. A few PM's later... I couldn't stop thinking about the notion of actually having it. So, I offered him up a sum of money to hold it pending amp sale. He agreed. Money wired. Amp held.
Cross your fingers, good vibes, pray.... whatever you do. I could use it that my amp sells in a timely manner and I get this puppy at my house!
I had already contacted Mesa about a replacement grillcloth. Nothing wrong with what is on there now but I had always said that I'd have ordered one with a tan cloth instead of the black. It'd sorta match my 'the one' guitar with the black and tan motif.
Color me WAY pumped.
