Mesa Boogie?

[Connor]

I'm curious if anyone has used the Mesa Boogie Express 5:50 or any other Mesa Boogie amp for that matter.

 

Any opinions out there?

 

Thanks,

[jrfreed]

KILLER amps...just doesnt fit my musical needs at this time (jazz)

[JeffB]

Ive tried just about all of them and have owned only two.

I like them a lot. I have a Lone Star now. Would like an Electra Dyne and Stiletto as well and am more than curious about the Trans Atlantic.

The Express is a cool amp but not for me. It has a reasonable clean channel(some like it better than the LS) and a lot of usable gain(what ever that means) on the 2nd ch.

[fxdx99]

Hey Connor - I used a Mesa Rockett 44 (below) as my main amp for a few years. In the end that particular model (for me) was too loud, too heavy, and didn't have quite the palette that I wanted (like more of a blackface and tweed sound, I guess). I've heard good things on the 5:50, tho. Have you been able to play one? If it sounds good to ya, go for it. The low/hi watt setting likely is a nice feature and Mesa makes a good amp. Just depends on what kind of a sound you're lookig for.

 

 

[Connor]

I've heard a lot of good things about Mesa Boogie, but I'm not familiar with the sound. I've watched a few YouTube videos etc but that it.

 

I'm looking for a clean amp, with a second channel that is slightly overdriven. I have a Fender Blues Junior and an older Ampeg J-12T now. They are plenty loud for what I need, but they lack that second channel.

 

I saw the 5 watt / 50 watt feature of Mesa Boogie with two channels and began to think maybe it was the one for me.

 

Any ideas?

[teamshakenbake]

The only opinion that matters when buying a guitar or amp is your own, if you like the feel and sound go for it. That said I played a 5.50 it was a quick demo mainly because it sounded thin and nasally to me, that being said I am a huge fan of the Bassman sound so I am prejudice. I have only played one Messa Boogie that I thought was decent a Blue Angel which has been retired from there catalog, and again to me personally there are much better amps at similar if not better prices. Valvetech Vac anyone?

[fxdx99]

Well... each of us will have different ideas of what 'the' sound is. If I were looking for an amp right now, I'd likely look for an amp that gives a great clean sound and get a pedal for the overdriven sound. I've not found (granted I haven't really looked that hard) a 2-channel amp that does both great - always seems to be a bit of a compromise with the 2 channels. Something like a Fender Deluxe or Vibrolux/verb. Maybe even one of the vintage modified amps they have. Another option that's kind of fun is to use an aby pedal and use 2 amps - one that drives really well and one that's really clean.

[JeffB]

Another thing I should have mentioned is although I like mesa's products a lot, I dont like the sound of their combo's or the C90 speakers they use.

When I listen to my LS head through my closed 212 cab with V30's it sounds so much better(to me) than the 212 combo with c90's.

I had a Mesa Nomad 212 with C90s. I replaced the speakers and tubes but still had a terrible mid range honk that couldnt be dialed out. Once I converted it to a head and used cabs I never had an issue with the honky sound again and the amp became something good.

I hear the same honk in the 5:50 combo. I know its not in the head. Ive run them through different speaker cabs.

Non of this means anything and is only personal opinion. As others have mentioned you have to try one for yourself.

I also run a couple of pedals into a fender amp and it opens it up to a pseudo 3 or 4 channel amp. Kind of anyway.

[smurph1]

i really like the Peavey Classic 30..Nice Reverb, Nice Cleans, and Great Screaming Tube ""Overdrive..IMHO..

[Connor]

That's why these forums are a good thing. For someone like mysef who is mostly an acoustic player, it's nice to rely on those of you who know the electric side better.

 

I'm starting to see the benefits of just buying a pedal. I actually like the sound of the two amps I have now, but I want to be able to press a button and get more volume and a little bit of stress / fat in the sound.

 

I've never paid anywhere near $1,000 for an amp before. If I don't have to..... all the better.

[fxdx99]

I know very little about pedals. The drive pedal I have is a Bad Monkey, which is pretty inexpensive. I bought mine on craigs list for $25, think you can get them new for $40. Works fine for what I need it for and really bought it to keep in the bag in case an amp went out to be able to run a signal to PA. I also have a boosta grande which is 'just' a boost, not a 'drive' pedal. HIts the tubes a bit harder to move them into drive quicker, especially with single coils. The bad monkey isn't a bad pedal and considering the price, they're pretty good to experiment with.

[Thundersteel]

I used to own a Dual Rectifier, but it turns out it didn't have the tone I was seeking; it was subsequently sold. The build quality was top-notch, but my Marshall suits me better tone-wise.

[212Mavguy]

Have a 2/12 Maverick, a discontonued model. Clean channel with bright/fat switch, tones and reverb to die for, the lead channel is great, I swapped out tubes and speakers to get my own tones out of it. Awesome, versatile, wonderful sounding amp.

[mars_hall]

I have a Mark III combo 60/100 black stripe that I like very much. It has the EQ and reverb with an EVM-12s speaker. It gets a full range of tones.

 

[Connor]

Between my Fender Blues Junior and my Ampeg 15 watt Tube Amp I have lots of tone and most importly, they're paid for. Maybe I should be happy with what I have.

[Gitfiddler]

Mesa Mk IV Widebody Combo with matching Black Shadow/Celestion 90 Ext. Spkr. Cab. More than enough tone shaping and volume for any club and some outdoor venues.

[Flat]

I've got a Mesa Boogie Studio .22 Caliber (Plus EQ) that I've been using for over 15 years. Great little amp. A little like a hot-rodded Princeton. Great for my solidbodies and H535, and very good for my H575--though I'd love to find a great deal on a nice little Polytone Mini Brute II for that fat round old-school jazz sound.

[Isaac]

Between my Fender Blues Junior and my Ampeg 15 watt Tube Amp I have lots of tone and most importly, they're paid for. Maybe I should be happy with what I have.

Hey! Connor

You might want to try a Roland 120 or 77 combo amp. I play jazz,gospel,country and R&B the roland 120 is a jazz standard amp. It'll make your H550 sound great.

[t0aj15]

I've got two Mesa/Boogie rigs, one is a Mark IV B short-head that I run through a pair of Mesa Thiele 1-12" EVM-12L cabs, and the other is a three space rack with a TriAxis preamp-50/50 poweramp combination. Both are well built, dependable amps and neither has ever failed on me. But most importantly they sound great.

[tbonesullivan]

MB amps are nice, with top notch build quality. The question though is whether the "mesa sound" is the sound you want. I have tried them, and I simply couldn't get the sounds I wanted. I have much more luck dialing in my Carvin and Marshall amps. I don't have to fight the amp to get a good tone.

[MacDoggie]

Mesa's are expensive, built like a tank, retain value for resale and just not for me. I hear others play them and think they sound great, but when I plug in and take it around the block I come up empty. I know its the player and not the equipment. I think they are definitely worth trying out though. I still want to try the new Trans-Atlantic when I get the chance...

[smurph1]

MB amps are nice, with top notch build quality. The question though is whether the "mesa sound" is the sound you want. I have tried them, and I simply couldn't get the sounds I wanted. I have much more luck dialing in my Carvin and Marshall amps. I don't have to fight the amp to get a good tone.

My Classic 30 is the same way..great tone right out of the box, for under $600..

[Dandownunder]

Yes I have got an express 5:50 (pic attached) it is the 2 x 12 version and I picked it up for approx half price at my local cash converters (they retail for approx $3500 australian dollars over here). It is a pretty good amp. I haven't really had it out of 5w mode yet as that is more than loud enough for home use. It has 2 channels and each channel has 2 voices. Channel A has clean and crunch, channel B has blues and burn. The clean is really crisp and sweet. Crunch can get reasonably dirty and has those lovely ACDC type sounds. blues is a medium dirty with nice break up and burn gets fairly dirty but not as much as most other mesas. I recently bought an MXR fullbore metal pedal to give the mesa some balls and it turns the clean channel into a filth monster grind machine.

[TalismanRich]

My Classic 30 is the same way..great tone right out of the box, for under $600..

 

Another vote for the Classic 30. I've only played with a couple of Mesa amps and they weren't the sound I was looking for. Then again, not all Peavey and Marshall amps are the sound I look for.

[tulk1]

I've had 3 Boogies, all bought during my "amp must have OD channel" days. And to be fair, I never tried any OD pedals with the first two amps. Might have made a difference.

 

Maverick 1x12 Prototype. Preproduction model. Looked just like all the other black box Mesa's. Had very good cleans. The OD, not so much. I wasn't too much into speaker or tube swapping at the time. Wish I had been. Might have gotten some sweeter tones out of it like Mavguy's production model - which I hear were pretty faboo! Funny thing, I sold that to a guitar builder in Stevensville, MD.

 

F50. Again, nice cleans. The OD was a bit harsh. Was not a favorite amp, at all. After a few minutes playing that one my ears would be so fatigued I couldn't play anymore. Just wore my head out. Might sound odd, but it's the truth. And I traded my Marshall JCM900 5102 for it. Bad move. I did sell that one and ended up with a Marshall Jubilee 1x12. Now that was a great amp!

 

Lone Star "Classic" 1x12 #450. Altho', when I bought mine they weren't called "Classic", just Lone Star. Best of the lot, as far as I'm concerned. Gorgeous cleans, which can hit OD territory quite easily, extremely sensitive tone controls, lots and lots of sweet sounds to be found in that one. And the "Tweed" setting just kills - my fav setting on it. Set the OD channel to mimic the Clean channel, add a bit 'o grit -- yeah, baby! Biggest drawback is the weight. I think it's somewhere in the 1.5 ton area. So it sits at home, now.

 

Have tried the Express models several times at our local MnP. Supposed to have the LS clean channel, altho' I don't hear it. But, lots of people like that amp. Must have something going for it. I did get to play thru a TransAtlantic head the other day. Loved the Voxxy side of it. Nails the AC30 bit. The OD channel - again, not to my liking. But, with the proper OD in front of it, I could see that amp as viable stage gear.