who owns a mesa express amp?

[espresso]

Hi Soundchaser,

What size speaker is the Michigan and what type of music do you play?

 

[soundchaser59]

Hi Soundchaser,

What size speaker is the Michigan and what type of music do you play?

Mine is a 10, but Weber has the Michigan in 10 and 12. I dare say I like it better than the Blue Dog, and the alnico BD is one nice speaker!

 

[Newysurfer]

Now it is official!

This alnico Michigan is easily the best thing I coulda done for this Express amp! WOW! Exactly what the tone doctor ordered!

never had any doubts it would.
I have 5:50 with a C90 black shadow in it and then had a custom 2x12 cab made with Celestion V30's fitted. The V30's improve the 5:50's tone signficantly :lol:

 

[MikeW]

I have heard that the Express amps are a bit on the noisy side, is this the case for anyone?

Seems a bit more pronounced since I got it home......will fiddle with it a few more days. Great tone great amp ....btw I bought a 5:25 w/12" speaker.(This is my first boogie)
Although not as noisy as the old 50watt Marshall I had in the 70's it is still kinda aggravating since this amp does duty at church and a little less noise would be good.

Been combing through this forum looking for something that addresses the issue and/or confirms that this is just the nature of the amp.....seems like some change the tubes....

at any rate it is good I found a place where boogie owners hang out. If this thing stays with me, I am sure I will be hanging around here as well.

Peace
Mike

 

[mdortona]

I've had my 5:50 for close to two months now and I just love it. I bought the head and I'm running it through a Mesa Thiele cab and a 1x12 open back Mesa cab. Very happy with all of the sounds. For the record, the burn channel DOES NOT give the Mark IV lead channel - simply not enough gain. I own a Mark IV, so trust me on this one. However, I have been successful in getting close to Mark IV gain territory by running a GEQ in the loop, with the classic smile face curve, on burn. Not exact but close. Consequently, I'm seriously considering selling my Mark IV.

The 5:50 is a great amp and no buyer's remorse from me

Matt

 

[Landshark]

I have had a 5:50 for a few months and like it a lot, great amp

 

[Mike Duncan]

I've got a 5:50 2x12 and a 5:25 1x12 - LOVE THEM!

 

[EXPRESSLOVER]

I use one and ITS LOUD!!

Currently on a nationwide tour and it has held up fine no problems.

I use it alot seems very reliable.

 

[boswell]

I bought my 5:50 in March and I'm still loving the multitude of different tones I can tease from it, this amp has almost modelling amp type versatility, add a little delay or chorus in the effects loop and it sounds amazing. 8)

 

[vinnie_australia]

hi im a proud owner of a mesa Express 5:50 aswell, i live in australia and im having a little trouble with it, im primarily a jazz player and im hearing what i believe is "tube rattle", ive taken it into the shop and they have said its normal but i cant stand the noise, ive heard that taking the small metallic covers off of the smaller tubes (i dont know much about gear ) can stop this but if anyone else has any ideas id love to hear them, other than this tube rattle the amp is perfect beautiful SRV tones on blues, great rhythm sound on crunch. dont really use burn very often except for when im imitating lamb of god with my peavey wolfgang special signed by zakk wylde which is for sale btw haha anyway please respond!

 

[Don]

You can buy some spare preamp tubes or swap the ones that are already in the amp around until you end up with a quieter one where you need it.

You'll want to have the best and quietest tubes in V2 and V1.

Also, you can remove the preamp tube cover on the offending tube and install a couple of tight high temperature o-rings on the tube. These are sold on ebay as tube dampeners but you might be able to find them cheaper locally.

They actually work in sometime cases.

 

[rocksalt7]

Just snagged a new 5:25 w the 1x12 speaker on saturday. Love it to death!!!! Basically I can't stop jammin on it! Sooner or later I've got to get back to my life...LOL!.... :shock:

 

[vinnie_australia]

hey again, just got back from a cover band gig used the crunch setting as my overdrive sound controlling the gain with the volume knob and the blues setting as my clean (i like a bit of warmth) in a setting like that the rattle is impossible to notice. I was speaking to a sound tech who suggested that taking the grill that protects the bigger tubes off of the amp could stop the rattle and another guy on the forums has suggested this aswell, just wondering if anyone had any ideas?

 

[Newysurfer]

hi im a proud owner of a mesa Express 5:50 aswell, i live in australia and im having a little trouble with it, im primarily a jazz player and im hearing what i believe is "tube rattle", ive taken it into the shop and they have said its normal but i cant stand the noise, ive heard that taking the small metallic covers off of the smaller tubes (i dont know much about gear ) can stop this but if anyone else has any ideas id love to hear them, other than this tube rattle the amp is perfect beautiful SRV tones on blues, great rhythm sound on crunch. dont really use burn very often except for when im imitating lamb of god with my peavey wolfgang special signed by zakk wylde which is for sale btw haha anyway please respond!

Vinnie
I've had a 5:50 for about a year.
The "tube rattle" you're reporting is NOT normal.
I have zero.
Use your warranty and get it fixed

 

[vinnie_australia]

thats really weird because i took it into the shop i bought it from and they had another 5:50 and it did the same thing? i said that when i took it in that i have played through much lower quality tube amps such as the fender hot rod deluxe and theyve never made any noise similar to this so its a bit weird it seems to be getting worse too and it didnt do it when i first got the amp so its really starting to bug me that i can spend $3000 on a amp and have it screw me around like this.. might have to take it in again or maybe i will take it to a better judge of the problem get him to diagnose it and then go and question the people where i bought it? hmm

 

[vinnie_australia]

by the way im about to create a myspace music page with some tracks that ive recorded with my piano played buddy from uni, so when i do that ill post a link so you guys can hear the 5:50 in a jazz setting, we also were screwing around and recorded a little stevie ray jam (texas flood) so ill probably chuck that up there too the only pedal i use is a korg DT-10 tuner so you can hear the amp in its beautiful glory!

 

[pd335]

still lovin my express 525 1x10. i got a 1x12 cab and its a great match. i love the 10 for clean and the 12 for dirty. my dad has had his for awhile now and it made him buy a fathom bass amp to match haha

 

[Newysurfer]

thats really weird because i took it into the shop i bought it from and they had another 5:50 and it did the same thing? i said that when i took it in that i have played through much lower quality tube amps such as the fender hot rod deluxe and theyve never made any noise similar to this so its a bit weird it seems to be getting worse too and it didnt do it when i first got the amp so its really starting to bug me that i can spend $3000 on a amp and have it screw me around like this.. might have to take it in again or maybe i will take it to a better judge of the problem get him to diagnose it and then go and question the people where i bought it? hmm

Hey Vinnie - I'd like to hear your recording so please post it.
We don't pay $3000 for a tube rattle though so your amp is definitely faulty. If they have another the same it's their problem. Use your warranty :lol:

 

[stevemetalheart]

vinnie-australia I had a bad rattle everytime I used my les paul, on the clean channel It would occur on certain bass notes and it drove me mad for a while til I found the solution.Simple cure was to tighten the screws right up on the two metal strips on top of the combo.This pulls the chassi tight to the cab.No more rattles even at high volume.Worth a try !!

 

[Sadhaka]

hi im a proud owner of a mesa Express 5:50 aswell, i live in australia ...

Hey Vinnie,

Where in Oz are you? I'm in Sydney. I don't have an express amp though I am interested in them. I play a Lonestar.

I had a funny buzz in a previous Lonestar that sounds similar to the one that stevemetalheart describes. Happened on certain notes but wasn't too bad. I always suspected it to be the grill protecting the power valves.

I doubt you should take the metal casings off the 12AX7's. They are heat sinks....