Saw this amp here, went to Gelb music and asked for a versatile amp, They laughed and asked my budget so we went into the room with the nice but not bank breaking amps. I tried out a bunch of different Boogies including the express 5:25 plus. I found that the 50 was more amp than the 25 for not much more money so i grabbed it. It really is one of the most versatile amps ive played. Not even one week in and now im finding the groove with it. You can manipulate the EQ to dramatically different results. I find the blues with the gain down around 6-7 oclock gives me the clean i like, while the crunch is a better sounding drive than the burn setting. At 1579 usd out the door it was a bit over my budget but i couldn't be happier i pulled trigger. I highly recommend this for people who like going from blues, to jazz, to heavy rock and even Metal with a little gain boost.
Robert Ruiz 5:50 express plus is amazing. You're spot on - for just a few dollars more, the 5:50 is much more amplifier in the event you need to blow some steam or fill a room. I was afraid of the EQ not being much though a thorough demo from my local and was further impressed at how versatile. I'm almost never off the clean channel as it breaks up nicely at 5 or 25 watts with SG or LesPaul. Hot amp!
Robert Ruiz I love this amp, thanks to my buddie who was a manager at GC at the time, I got mine for 1250 new. But it’s way to much for me. I stay in the 5 watt area lol.
I love my 5:50Plus head and 2x12 Mesa vertical cab. It's so versatile. It has tone for days. Within an hour after it arrived, I called and ordered new tubes. 100% were replaced. Mesa 12AX7s are a very short plate (JJ) tube. I chose tubes that had medium length plates. No more middy mud. No basic metal tone, but much more bluesy and rock-n-roll-ish.
Been playing a reissue Danelectro U2 mid 90 s, just had Seymour Duncan Danelectro lipstick pickups fitted and after 30 years of using 10w cheap no name practice amps finally treated myself to a proper Amp. ..Mesa 5:50+ head with 2 mini 12 inch mesa cabs and I'm just blown away. ..I love my Dano, was my Dad's guitar which he gave me as present (cheers Tony best Dad in World ) I'm into Gilmore, Knofler, Young with splash of Mr Fairweather Low thrown in for good measure...plus Metallica and all the usual rock ... but gotta say if I could marry an amp I'd be walk in down the Isle today. ..Love you Mesa Boogie
It's awesome that you can get a really compressed, fat sound on the 50w setting, and a more dynamic sound on the 25w and 5w settings. The great thing about this amp is that it sounds musical through all it's settings. So many amps have a sweet spot and are not nice outside that. This one rocks from head to toe.
I've owed the Lonestar Special and now the Express Plus 5 50. Personally I think the Express has better cleans and the distorted tones blow the LSS away. Personally opinion!…..dont rip my head off youtube, just a personal opinion for those who are looking to by mesa.
Capten Lee you should write a book about this stuff!! You've got so much knowledge about these things, always learning something new when watching these videos of yours. //Kenneth
My thoughts exactly! I used to be perfectly happy with my Blues Jr. with some pedals. These blow it right out of the water, and have an fx loop which I have found myself longing for quite a many times. Well, they do cost about 3 times more. But still - the GAS is overwhelming...
the tone settings on mesa boogies are very powerful and they change the tone dramatically. Go on to the mesa website and download the manual of the 5:50. In the manual there are presents of the tone controls so you can quickly get a reference. The manual also explains how the tone controls work so you can maybe find the tone you are looking for in the 5:50 clean .
Beautiful clean & bluesy OD tones from that Mesa - I'm just loving it. Couldn't ask for anything more. Great playing, of course; enjoyed the jam. Tones at 9:47 onward -- just amazing. Incredibly diverse range, unlike my one trick pony Blues Jr.
Mesa Boogie makes some of the finest equipment and great to see a review here. Peter seems to have inspired the playing in this video - or maybe it was the amps. :)
Great feeling captain around 10:00 !!! Less shredy than master Rob (that In love too) :)... On this video jams are just awesome. And what a Fù*£ing clean channel !
Funny story about this amp. I've wanted a Mesa for a while now and when it came out I tried the 50 watt version and while it sounded great it wasn't my sound exactly so for a while I've had my heart set on the new Rectoverb 25. However because my tone has changed a bit and I'm moving away from mega high gain, I just tried the 25 watt version of the express plus and I was absolutely blown away. I think I'm going to get it. Between the 4 modes, the eq, and the solo boost. It's amazingly versatile and it makes up for the slightly less gain it has over the Rectoverb. Also this is one of the best clean amps I have ever heard. Can't beat an el84 driven combo :D
Can you get some Mini Rectifier tones out of this amp 5:25+ as well ? I cant decide: 5:25+ and Rectoverb 25w! I want some bluesy tones, wichi i use more, but ocasionally i need some modern american metal too.
You can, but the mini rec has less midrange. I actually ended up getting a Mark V combo because I got a good deal on it. Take a look at the Transatlantic TA30, it's also one hell of a clean and dirty amp.
I own a H&K Tubemeister 18w, it has a pretty good clean e low drive, but sucks when comes to high gain.. So thats why i asked about the 5:25+, here in we brazil i could get it for a decent price, but i still cant decide mini recto or 5:25+. But thanks for the help! And Mark V its my dream's amp!
Petaluma California built. Respectable jam. Thanks for giving props to a far western cultural phenom. Mesa Engineering is still quality in a globe of sellouts.
The 5:50 has a different speaker and different tubes in the power section. It has a black shadow celestion and 2x6L6 tubes. The tubes make quite a difference in the sound of the amp. The 5:25 has 2xEL84 tubes which is the same tubes VOX use and still use.
I bought mark v and returned it for express 550.. does pretty much the same thing (pretty much) a whole lot less $ and a whole lot lighter.. It took me a while to really get the sounds i wanted but i got it so dialed in now i love it, weird that hardly any demos really show hoe good this amp sounds but yours is by far the best demo for this amp! One thing to note the effects loop on this is way cool! GREAT AMP!!!!!!!
frank jones I’m in the same boat. I’ve wondered if Mesa pulled the express plus from their lineup due to an undesirable ratio of price / competition to Mark V or Rectifiers. It’s suspicious how there’s so little attention given to its boogie genes.
In theory, that makes perfect sense. It is the end of useable range on most amps & technical... it's true in theory. The upper range is one of the key specs during design.
What were you playing to test the EQ sliders things? + I have a F-30, which I had a handful of problems with: 1, the reverb was naf (actually removed it completely), the second channel was so ridiculously high gain, it was hard to get any sort of medium crunch or not completely saturated leads (even with guitar volume down) But for a solid 1x12 it was nice and light (still not comfortable, but one must suffer for their art). How do these compare on this stuff?
I was just looking for a review of this Chappers! Thank you :) - I hope you are doing well. Since I have been at uni I haven't been able to watch as much.
I felt the same way Lee did about the original Express Series. I was looking at some Lonestars but there isn't enough gain. I'm definitely looking at the 5:50 head through a 2x12 now.
Another great review of a quality product. Perhaps they could have made more of Peter though. Not because he's necessarily better or knows more about his company's products, but for a little variety? He had great tone. On one review, there was a guy from Line 6. On this occasion, both Chappers and the Captain had useful insights for us all, but they didn't steal the show for once and take over the video. It could've been so much better.
Awesome review as always!! Iv been wanting to pull the trigger on the 525 head for awhile. I have a 212 Mesa cab with Cel Vint 30's and just fell in love with how tight the low end was im guessing the birch cab makes all the difference. But Im really diggin the EL84 sound out of the 525, this stuff really helps Chapp and Capt thanks ton!!
Thats what im sayin, i was in the same place as you, bought amps that werent really me and now regret not being patient and waiting for the right amp to come along
wow, would love to see more of Peter in some of these andertons reviews
Uhhhhhmmmmmmm...
Saw this amp here, went to Gelb music and asked for a versatile amp, They laughed and asked my budget so we went into the room with the nice but not bank breaking amps. I tried out a bunch of different Boogies including the express 5:25 plus. I found that the 50 was more amp than the 25 for not much more money so i grabbed it. It really is one of the most versatile amps ive played. Not even one week in and now im finding the groove with it. You can manipulate the EQ to dramatically different results. I find the blues with the gain down around 6-7 oclock gives me the clean i like, while the crunch is a better sounding drive than the burn setting. At 1579 usd out the door it was a bit over my budget but i couldn't be happier i pulled trigger. I highly recommend this for people who like going from blues, to jazz, to heavy rock and even Metal with a little gain boost.
Robert Ruiz 5:50 express plus is amazing. You're spot on - for just a few dollars more, the 5:50 is much more amplifier in the event you need to blow some steam or fill a room. I was afraid of the EQ not being much though a thorough demo from my local and was further impressed at how versatile. I'm almost never off the clean channel as it breaks up nicely at 5 or 25 watts with SG or LesPaul. Hot amp!
Robert Ruiz I love this amp, thanks to my buddie who was a manager at GC at the time, I got mine for 1250 new. But it’s way to much for me. I stay in the 5 watt area lol.
I love my 5:50Plus head and 2x12 Mesa vertical cab. It's so versatile. It has tone for days.
Within an hour after it arrived, I called and ordered new tubes. 100% were replaced. Mesa 12AX7s are a very short plate (JJ) tube. I chose tubes that had medium length plates. No more middy mud. No basic metal tone, but much more bluesy and rock-n-roll-ish.
Hi - to which tubes you changed?
This pete guys seems alright. Hope they keep him around.
🤣
😅🎉😂😂😂😂😂😂
The jam with the boogie rep was so good. I think it may be my favorite demo jam yet
that mesa rep has got some tasty blues-rock chops
he's a touring guitarist, played with Tom Jones.
Wait until you folks see
Im crying its so weird to see pete as just a sales rep
The Dane is my favorite but his stash makes me chuckle. Rock on Pete.
My Express 5:50 is still one of my favorite amplifiers. I play on it everyday.
Been playing a reissue Danelectro U2 mid 90 s, just had Seymour Duncan Danelectro lipstick pickups fitted and after 30 years of using 10w cheap no name practice amps finally treated myself to a proper Amp. ..Mesa 5:50+ head with 2 mini 12 inch mesa cabs and I'm just blown away. ..I love my Dano, was my Dad's guitar which he gave me as present (cheers Tony best Dad in World ) I'm into Gilmore, Knofler, Young with splash of Mr Fairweather Low thrown in for good measure...plus Metallica and all the usual rock ... but gotta say if I could marry an amp I'd be walk in down the Isle today. ..Love you Mesa Boogie
in my humble opinion this is the best video you ever made. A lot of nice improvisation... simple but great.
It's awesome that you can get a really compressed, fat sound on the 50w setting, and a more dynamic sound on the 25w and 5w settings. The great thing about this amp is that it sounds musical through all it's settings. So many amps have a sweet spot and are not nice outside that. This one rocks from head to toe.
I just ordered a Express 5/25+ in Blue Bronco with the wicker grille and gold piping with brown handles. I can't wait, great job on this video guys.
I like to call this video: "The Danish Pete Origin Story." 😂 😂 😂
Pete with a moe and working for Mesa,,,,, wow, the old days ay!!
Came here for the amp review, stayed for the inspiring playing.
I cannot get enough of the Captains groove. Anytime you guys play some blues he's right in the pocket. Every time.
Well played the both of you.
THIS is what an amp demo ought to be. Excellent.
Omf the jam is insane good!
That jam was one of the best so far!
What an epic jam session between Capt and Chappers. That sounded great!
Best jam so far, I think. Fantastic playing both of you! Captain really impressed me! Brilliant work.
Beautiful playing guys. I am very close to doing a custom build on one of these amps from Sweetwater. The riff around 10:00 to 12:00 is just gorgeous.
I've owed the Lonestar Special and now the Express Plus 5 50. Personally I think the Express has better cleans and the distorted tones blow the LSS away. Personally opinion!…..dont rip my head off youtube, just a personal opinion for those who are looking to by mesa.
I agree have had both the 30watt And the 100 watt lonestar ended up selling both of them for the express And the california tweed
Really great amps, probably the sweetest little amp Mesa make along the with the Lonestar Special.
NICE! Never knew the Express sounded that good! Putting that on my short list of amps to have.
That stash on Mr Pete is so sweet!
Yes he can, he regularly plays in front of huge crowds with the likes of Tom Jones! He did the Pop Idol tour etc.
Wow! I’ll have to check him out. Hahahaha 😂
This Peter character is a super tasteful player. Love it.
The jam at 5 mins is super sweet. Would love to hear stuff like that more often in your demos.
Holy shit watching chappers, with the dreds, such a funny dude miss this era more than I realized
Love the sensitive touch on the jams in this one Rob! All three of you played some tasty solos there! :)
Peter is awesoooome..and I've always loved Mesas!
Peter is crazy good, daaaaaeeeeemn
Capten Lee you should write a book about this stuff!! You've got so much knowledge about these things, always learning something new when watching these videos of yours.
//Kenneth
My thoughts exactly! I used to be perfectly happy with my Blues Jr. with some pedals. These blow it right out of the water, and have an fx loop which I have found myself longing for quite a many times. Well, they do cost about 3 times more. But still - the GAS is overwhelming...
omg so much strat tone goodness im in heaven!!
Suppose should have mentioned that it was your guys review that sold me , cheers guys and wicked jammin
the tone settings on mesa boogies are very powerful and they change the tone dramatically. Go on to the mesa website and download the manual of the 5:50. In the manual there are presents of the tone controls so you can quickly get a reference. The manual also explains how the tone controls work so you can maybe find the tone you are looking for in the 5:50 clean
.
Beautiful clean & bluesy OD tones from that Mesa - I'm just loving it. Couldn't ask for anything more. Great playing, of course; enjoyed the jam. Tones at 9:47 onward -- just amazing. Incredibly diverse range, unlike my one trick pony Blues Jr.
I hope the awefull midi cabled footswitch was improved. Mine is dead since years ago (i got the express 5/25). Nice review anyways, thanks guys!
captain has got so much better he's epic now
Wow this is like the only demo where you two aren't just making stupid jokes the entire time. Sounds great! More of this!
Mr moustache is an amazing guitarist.
Mesa Boogie makes some of the finest equipment and great to see a review here. Peter seems to have inspired the playing in this video - or maybe it was the amps. :)
When Lee engaged that EQ switch the sound was EXACTLY like as if Rob playing through a Univox Superfuzz pedal.
Peters playing , my god , pure honey !!
Very cool jamming in this vid, very nice sounding
Nice playing guys.
Great feeling captain around 10:00 !!! Less shredy than master Rob (that In love too) :)... On this video jams are just awesome.
And what a Fù*£ing clean channel !
Funny story about this amp. I've wanted a Mesa for a while now and when it came out I tried the 50 watt version and while it sounded great it wasn't my sound exactly so for a while I've had my heart set on the new Rectoverb 25. However because my tone has changed a bit and I'm moving away from mega high gain, I just tried the 25 watt version of the express plus and I was absolutely blown away. I think I'm going to get it. Between the 4 modes, the eq, and the solo boost. It's amazingly versatile and it makes up for the slightly less gain it has over the Rectoverb. Also this is one of the best clean amps I have ever heard. Can't beat an el84 driven combo :D
Can you get some Mini Rectifier tones out of this amp 5:25+ as well ? I cant decide: 5:25+ and Rectoverb 25w! I want some bluesy tones, wichi i use more, but ocasionally i need some modern american metal too.
You can, but the mini rec has less midrange. I actually ended up getting a Mark V combo because I got a good deal on it. Take a look at the Transatlantic TA30, it's also one hell of a clean and dirty amp.
I own a H&K Tubemeister 18w, it has a pretty good clean e low drive, but sucks when comes to high gain.. So thats why i asked about the 5:25+, here in we brazil i could get it for a decent price, but i still cant decide mini recto or 5:25+. But thanks for the help! And Mark V its my dream's amp!
very nice tone, getting really close to a David Gilmour sound .... very sweet.
Petaluma California built. Respectable jam. Thanks for giving props to a far western cultural phenom. Mesa Engineering is still quality in a globe of sellouts.
Dude! Peter, from Mesa Boogie is one hell of a good guitar player.
Rob's solo tone when he played with Lee is the best tone I've heard him get. It's just ridiculous.
i agree. and he had that thing dialed in perfectly at 4:50
The Mesa 5:25 costs $1300 in the US and $2500 in EU! Come on!
killer demo guys! kudos! want!!!
Those little amps really boogie!
That guy is amazing! Talk about stylish playing. :)
The 5:50 has a different speaker and different tubes in the power section. It has a black shadow celestion and 2x6L6 tubes. The tubes make quite a difference in the sound of the amp. The 5:25 has 2xEL84 tubes which is the same tubes VOX use and still use.
lee melts me .
i love the stereo goodness
I bought mark v and returned it for express 550.. does pretty much the same thing (pretty much) a whole lot less $ and a whole lot lighter.. It took me a while to really get the sounds i wanted but i got it so dialed in now i love it, weird that hardly any demos really show hoe good this amp sounds but yours is by far the best demo for this amp! One thing to note the effects loop on this is way cool! GREAT AMP!!!!!!!
frank jones I’m in the same boat. I’ve wondered if Mesa pulled the express plus from their lineup due to an undesirable ratio of price / competition to Mark V or Rectifiers. It’s suspicious how there’s so little attention given to its boogie genes.
The jam with Phil X was good but that one with Peter is AWESOME
In theory, that makes perfect sense. It is the end of useable range on most amps & technical... it's true in theory. The upper range is one of the key specs during design.
Tasty playing from that Peter fella!
Great video guys!!
What were you playing to test the EQ sliders things?
+ I have a F-30, which I had a handful of problems with: 1, the reverb was naf (actually removed it completely), the second channel was so ridiculously high gain, it was hard to get any sort of medium crunch or not completely saturated leads (even with guitar volume down) But for a solid 1x12 it was nice and light (still not comfortable, but one must suffer for their art). How do these compare on this stuff?
Great jam guys!
I was just looking for a review of this Chappers! Thank you :) - I hope you are doing well. Since I have been at uni I haven't been able to watch as much.
Wow, Peter can really play!
That is one fine sounding amp
"Then i`ll just wiggle the knob" nicely put Cpt
Wow Peter can play O_o !!!
There is some fantastic playing in this vid. Still haven't heard the cap'n play a bad note...
You guys do fantastic demos....i have the original express 5:25...its a great amp
Played one of these the other day holy fucking shit these are amazing. This could be what i spend my next few quids on for sure/
I felt the same way Lee did about the original Express Series. I was looking at some Lonestars but there isn't enough gain. I'm definitely looking at the 5:50 head through a 2x12 now.
Anybody know where i can find more of this dude Peter playing, very tasteful guitarist.
lol the little blues riff that Rob and Lee normally play sounds way different when someone else plays it. Nice amps
Happy new year chappers!
It's from Rob's song White Rose.
Thanks dude, that means a lot to me! See you there brother ;-)
niptodstan...are you a bloody fool? ...let's see your vids!...this was sick!...incredible!
Lee is so fucking awesome. What feel.
This might very well be my next amp!!! Aweso
Awesome stuff man! As always of course :)
Great presentation guys....
Another great review of a quality product. Perhaps they could have made more of Peter though. Not because he's necessarily better or knows more about his company's products, but for a little variety? He had great tone. On one review, there was a guy from Line 6. On this occasion, both Chappers and the Captain had useful insights for us all, but they didn't steal the show for once and take over the video. It could've been so much better.
the mesa boogie guy is awesome!
The jam with Peter almost made me cry.
Awesome review as always!! Iv been wanting to pull the trigger on the 525 head for awhile. I have a 212 Mesa cab with Cel Vint 30's and just fell in love with how tight the low end was im guessing the birch cab makes all the difference. But Im really diggin the EL84 sound out of the 525, this stuff really helps Chapp and Capt thanks ton!!
It’s all about the stache
I think it sounded much better in the room, too much mid is cutting through with the mic'd cab for my liking. Cool demo anyways, thanks Rob.
man peter has some nice phrasing ...
Thats what im sayin, i was in the same place as you, bought amps that werent really me and now regret not being patient and waiting for the right amp to come along
Wow. Sounds great.
Have that Boogie man Peter tell us more about some Boogie amps or perhaps test some other equipment. He is so coool!
your an inspiration chappers man!