Mesa Boogie Question

[ibenhad]

Are the Mesa Boogie 5:50 Express 1x12 models any good? Ya'll know I am inherently not a Boogie fan. I know there is a lot of love here and I would like to be schooled.

[spawnofthesith]

Are the Mesa Boogie 5:50 Express 1x12 models any good? Ya'll know I am inherently not a Boogie fan. I know there is a lot of love here and I would like to be schooled.

I have the + model. I wouldn't want to be without the GEQ on the non plus models personally. It is a seriously awesome and flexible amp, honestly one of my favorites ever. I'm going on 4 months with mine now so I'd like to think I am out of the honeymoon stage

It isn't a mark, so don't expect it to sound like one

[Heath]

The EQ makes it more versatile, but the express, and the F series before it, were great-sounding amps. While not a mark series amp, they are also not rectifiers either. They line up more with the Mark I or Lonestar series tone-wise from my experience. The contour control acts like a fixed V-shaped mesa eq and it can blended in on the express to get more aggressive if you want that sound. It will do hard rock and some metal stock but with a boost (I preferred the Xotic BB preamp) it would do pretty much anything.

[GuitarBilly]

I like them. I do prefer the original DC series that started this lineage of amps over the later F and Express series but they are all really good. I agree they're not mark or Rectos, they are somewhat in between the 2 but also have their own thing going. I am surprised these amps are not more popular tbh.. If I had to rank them, I'd say the .50 caliber + is my favorite, followed by the DC5/10 and the finally F and Express series. They're all good though, that's just me personal preference.

[facefirst]

I own the plus model and it’s pretty badass. Amazing clean and crunch sounds. Some people don’t like the lead channel but I think it sounds nice. It’s a great amp.

[spawnofthesith]

I'll add that the clean channel takes pedals REALLY well. Like better than the half dozen or so fenders I've owned in the past. And the cleans are just beautiful. Infinite headroom and a ton of girth and balls. I use clean mode on channel one and burn mode on channel 2. Some people say it doesn't do metal, I disagree. Not as much gain as a recto or mark, but it has plenty, and can definitely do anything with a boost (and obviously a scoop on the GEQ helps with that too). I haven't spent all that much time in the crunch mode on channel one or blues mode on channel 2, but they sound solid to me. Seems a lot of people online really like the crunch mode on channel one so they use blues mode as a clean channel.

Probably not most around here's thing, but the guitar player in up and coming jam band Goose uses a 5:25 non plus model and he get's killer tones out of it

[itchyfingers]

^ I agree with SoS, great pedal platform. Used one once as a backline and was impressed with how good it sounded.

[newholland]

yeah- i have always used mesas as clean amps. they voice em a little springy, and theyve always done me right. i really am NOT a fan of the express dirt channel. ive only played them a coupla times, though- and all mesas take a bit of work to find the magic. i just found the express really uncharacteristically 'hard' sounding.. kinda harsh and unforgiving. surprised me. the 5:25 was the same.

[JiveTurkey]

My name's Rod and I like to Boogie.

[Anomaly]

I like them. I do prefer the original DC series that started this lineage of amps over the later F and Express series but they are all really good. I agree they're not mark or Rectos, they are somewhat in between the 2 but also have their own thing going. I am surprised these amps are not more popular tbh.. If I had to rank them, I'd say the .50 caliber + is my favorite, followed by the DC5/10 and the finally F and Express series. They're all good though, that's just me personal preference.

I had a .50 cal + and that amp was VERY Mark like (maybe a bit saggier). Dialed in just like a Mark too.

[greatmutah]

I loved the cleans of the one express 5:50 I played. Didn’t care for the dirt but was before the + model with the EQ came out. I imagine I’d have liked that more. Nothing to add to the love for the Caliber series in general as they’re great. Don’t rule out a Maverick either. 2 channel EL84 amp but great tones on both.

[GuitarBilly]

I had a .50 cal + and that amp was VERY Mark like (maybe a bit saggier). Dialed in just like a Mark too.

Yeah for sure, it's a bit saggier and darker than a Mark but it's definitely in that same ballpark.

[theghostnow]

I had the f series and a friend had the .50 cal (6L6) no problems with those amps.

Even the smaller ones (el84) go super loud, but that is what they like and it's a bit too much, in the sense that you don't have a lot headroom (basically you don't) if you push them but it is a damn great and dynamic sweet spot. Not the amps fault but something like a power station to control and amplify it as you like would be a great companion.

I actually run a f-series preamp out to my soldano fx return...

Now bear in mind that the soldano already has the bass mid treble after the loop so I used that to V the sound a bit, plus the pressence and depth on the amp. So I didn't run the contour.


Oh man!!! I should buy one just as a preamp. It sounded what I wanted the triaxis or even studio preamp to do. But only in combination with the soldano power amp etc. With other power amps it wasn't good...Fuck lol. It was like, the perfect metal sound. I know now why hetfield slaved the marks to the JCMs (I guess along with the combo power amps?)...

Impractical but great sounding.

[newholland]

I had the f series and a friend had the .50 cal (6L6) no problems with those amps.

Even the smaller ones (el84) go super loud, but that is what they like and it's a bit too much, in the sense that you don't have a lot headroom (basically you don't) if you push them but it is a damn great and dynamic sweet spot. Not the amps fault but something like a power station to control and amplify it as you like would be a great companion.

I actually run a f-series preamp out to my soldano fx return...

Now bear in mind that the soldano already has the bass mid treble after the loop so I used that to V the sound a bit, plus the pressence and depth on the amp. So I didn't run the contour.


Oh man!!! I should buy one just as a preamp. It sounded what I wanted the triaxis or even studio preamp to do. But only in combination with the soldano power amp etc. With other power amps it wasn't good...Fuck lol. It was like, the perfect metal sound. I know now why hetfield slaved the marks to the JCMs (I guess along with the combo power amps?)...

Impractical but great sounding.

i dunno- i have never met a mesa with limited headroom, tbh! under a lot of gain- absolutely- but the amount of adjustability between the gain stages is kinda outrageously flexible.

i think the amps just confuse people- i know mine did, with no question. once you get past the weirdness of the gainstaging, which requires a masters degree in mesaology, theyre really flexible tools for all kinds of volumes. bitch if it is, the interwebz has the lowest common denominator of information- and that eq can do way more to make a mesa work for you at low volumes than is commonly broadcast. but it ain't gonna look like an amp with the master at 7, thats for sure.

fwiw, the two amps ive just not liked from mesa were the express and the lone stars. one too grainy, the other too smoothed out.

[theghostnow]

For mesa to go loud it is 100 watts or no deal.

Small transformers by the way. Part of the character...

[Anomaly]

For mesa to go loud it is 100 watts or no deal.

Small transformers by the way. Part of the character...

Not all Boogies have small transformers and the ones that do have small but very efficient transformers.

[GuitarBilly]

For mesa to go loud it is 100 watts or no deal.

I tend to agree but the 50 Caliber is an exception. The other 50s, yes.

[Anomaly]

For mesa to go loud it is 100 watts or no deal.

I tend to agree but the 50 Caliber is an exception. The other 50s, yes.

My Mark IV is 85 watts and is insanely loud, my output volume stays at 2. It's louder than a lot of 100 - 120 watt amps i've owned or used. The transformers on it are fair sized too, not huge like a plexi or something but big enough to give this amp some serious punch. The .50 cal + has small transformers but it is still loud enough to keep up with most drummers.

[GuitarBilly]

For mesa to go loud it is 100 watts or no deal.

I tend to agree but the 50 Caliber is an exception. The other 50s, yes.

My Mark IV is 85 watts and is insanely loud, my output volume stays at 2. It's louder than a lot of 100 - 120 watt amps i've owned or used. The transformers on it are fair sized too, not huge like a plexi or something but big enough to give this amp some serious punch. The .50 cal + has small transformers but it is still loud enough to keep up with most drummers.

The 85w rating on the Marks is very conservative. They're running on a full quad of tubes and are pretty much 100w amps for all intents and purposes.

[theghostnow]

For mesa to go loud it is 100 watts or no deal.

Small transformers by the way. Part of the character...

Not all Boogies have small transformers and the ones that do have small but very efficient transformers.

Not really. You should pretty much see that most pictures have the power transformer showing off.

Mesa AND engl usually use small transformers but you cannot point that as a negative.

Yes, it will maybe affect the amp at a very hi volume but it also acts as a compressor, that is part of the sound. Also there are people mentioning that this way (using undersized transformers) is a great way to tailor the amp for better treble response and "faster" going to the sweet spot. That is a point that for me can be valueable.

I once asked a mesa boogie rep (when the mark V 25) about the mating of the usual dyna-watt boogie power section with the heavy preamp of the mark series and how it would stack up at loud volumes and if it can translate...(I knew that it can't from personal use of that power amp). He said about special circuitry, design etc.

Then I read Raf's points of the mark V squealing all over and falling apart etc...aghh yeah. I think Raf was right. The mesa guy was left.


But which mesa do you think has a big transformer for the power rating and tubes that it uses?

Check the two EL84 ones and it is as small as a pack of matches...

Check the 50 watt ones and it is so little that...


Even the 4 power tube marks etc, they have the output shoved somewhere in there and it is a small chassis and it still doesn't really look that big. And vs the older mark II, IIIs, the mark IV transformers have gotten smaller.


Again, it is not a negative, at all.



But please post some pictures of very big size wise mesa output transformers.


Then go look at a 5150 output, or a soldano output or a partridge output transformer for four power tubes.

[Holy-diver]

I tend to think that small bottles don’t handle high volume as well

[GuitarBilly]

Yeah most of the 50w Mesa I've played/owned fell apart at loud volumes. I've had a Single Rectifier, Rectoverb, DC-5, 60w Mark III and none of them sounded good at loud band volumes. The .50 Caliber was the only exception.

The 85-100w are fine. More than enough power for any situation.

Dont even get me started on the 20-25w Mesas. Those are bedroom/studio amps exclusively IMHO unless you're getting 100% of your live volume on monitors. But they fall apart at anything past TV volume.
Mesa used to acknowledge and call these amps "Studio" series. The . 22 Caliber was originally called the Studio Caliber, but they changed that somewhere along the line.


Also I'm high af right now so I'll have to proof read this post later

[greatmutah]

Honestly, there’s only a handful of sub-50 watt Mesas I would even try now. Maverick is one, 50 Cal+ Is another and the Studio .22. That’s it. Any other Mesa needs to be in the 75 watt to 100 watt range (early simulclass Marks were 75 watts. They went to 85 when they started wiring tubes in pentode).

[GuitarBilly]

Honestly, there’s only a handful of sub-50 watt Mesas I would even try now. Maverick is one, 50 Cal+ Is another and the Studio .22. That’s it. Any other Mesa needs to be in the 75 watt to 100 watt range (early simulclass Marks were 75 watts. They went to 85 when they started wiring tubes in pentode).

Yep. 100%

[newholland]

guess it depends how ya use em- i use mine clean and 60 watts is way sufficient loud AF with no wobble beyond what youd want at high volume. but i run my preamp volume under 3, and always have. even with an el84 .50 cal, no splat.

i ran my .22 loud with an evm and a thiele. also loud af- preamp low, and it got a regal rock tone just off the output tubes. THAT one could get soft as you ran it for long practices NO doubt- but i ran bass low to keep it feom melting down.

i think i aint a high gainer though cause i still consider an 800 high gain.