Mesa Boogie.....

Cam_Thompson

Blues Newbie
Part One: So I sold my Blues Jr with the Bill M Mods.... I have mixed emotions about that deal. BUT... I really really wanted to get a Mesa Boogie Express Plus 5:50 head and cabinet.... So I couldn't justify to my wife two amps... Anyway, I got the cabinet today. Its a 1x12 23" wide marine birch cabinet with a Celestion C90 Black Shadow speaker.

The Black Shadow is essentially a Vintage 30 with some beefed up components to take the higher output of some of their amps.

I am waiting on the Express Plus Head to come in... But as soon as it does I'll let you all know if I think I made a good trade out or not....

Here is hoping I no make mistake!!!!  [smiley=beer.gif]

Cam
 

samwell

been here.....
I already know: WAY better than a good trade, even if the trade had been for my 5:50 Express 1X12 Combo (not even Express+)  :cool:  Same speaker, but quite a load, so I don't attempt much movement, the head/cab approach is appealing ;)   Nothin' against the Blues Jr. (w/whatever mods), but you get to Boogie now & the 5:50 does that big time, Congrats.... [smiley=beer.gif] [smiley=beer.gif]
 

Cam_Thompson

Blues Newbie
Delivery date for the head is June 10th 2014. Apparently it is also a day of celebration for my new found religion "Mesa de Boogie". It is dedicated to the religious pursuit of tone... SO! That means I get to take a vacation day to PLAY PLAY PLAY!!!

I am so excited I cannot STAND IT! I got the 1x12 speaker cabinet last week on Thursday. Its nice and pretty light. Doesn't have the top heavy heft of a combo. If the head is easy to move then I know for portability sake its a good decision... I'll post pics and tone samples when I get it good and broken in!!!  [smiley=beer.gif]
Cam
 

Griff

Vice Assistant General Manager
Staff member
I've been a Boogie player for almost 30 years... my first "pro" amp was a Mesa/Boogie .50Cal that I wish I still had because it was an unusual amp (el84 tubes) for them and now is somewhat of a collectors item.

I even had the coveted Mark IIC+ and sold it for $550 way back when.... now they go for thousands and thousands.

I have a Mark V now and absolutely love it. The Express has a similar clean channel and you will NOT be disappointed.
 

Cam_Thompson

Blues Newbie
Oh Dear Me!!!!! WOW!!!

When I played the combo (I have the head and cab) in the store it sounded amazing...but at home, with the volume up a bit more, and laying into the guitar some... HOLY HECK!!! You guys were right - GOOD DECISION.

Interestingly, it has a 5W, 25W, 50W setting... I am mostly playing on the 5W setting - NOT because it is necessarily LOWER volume...it is lower, but really because it breaks up so nicely at that wattage. I mean you should hear this thing snarly at 5W. To get that on the 50 Watts I about killed myself! Headroom for DAYS on the 50 W setting. Honnest to goodness I hit a G5 chord and about went into Defib with my heart as a wall of air hit my chest and my ears about exploded!

Man... If you cannot tell I am SOOO stoked. I will get pics and sound clips soon... Its just too much fun to not be organized and just jam away right now!

:D
Campbell
 

Dr. Ron

Nuthin’ But The Blues!
Wow Cam...I'm feeling your excitement!  Congratulations.  I'm feeling like I need to buy something.  I better find a Xanax post haste.
 

FishKiller

Blues Newbie
Congrats Cam!! I have been going back & forth between a Mesa Boogie Express 25+ and a Fender Deluxe reverb, but have been playing so much bass that I have put it on hold for awhile.

Carlos
 

MikeR

Guitar Challenged
Staff member
That's awesome, Cam.  I played through a Mesa Boogie in a store once (don't remember the model) and it was like nothing else.  Looking forward to some pics and sound clips.
 

OG_Blues

Guitar Geezer
That's really great Cam - nothing better than unrestrained excitement!
I have always lusted after the Mesa Lonestar - passed up on buying a mint one for $800 a few months ago, and have kicked myself a million times since then for not buying it.
BTW, no need to post sound clips - I can hear you way over here - sounds great :)
Tom
 

cowboy

Blues, Booze & BBQ
Cam..."sounds" like you are having too much fun... ;)...enjoy...a Boogie is also on my list...later.

cowboy
 

Stinger22

Blues Junior
Have a Blues Jr limited with Cannabis Rex speaker but it has seen very little playing time since I got my Express 5:25 Plus.  The BJ is pretty much a one trick pony and either have to set it for clean and use pedals or dirty and have no clean. Express covers a LOT of ground pretty easily and without some of the boxiness in the BJ.
 

Cam_Thompson

Blues Newbie
Honnest to goodness, I really have intended to record some samples, I even got the mic out, stung up the cables and wired up the interface.... and then I started to "warm up" - want to play something nice for you all - and then I got side tracked and HOURS later I had not hit record. Went to bed, late, and have not thought about it since. Seeing this post come back to the top reminded me to get that done....  :D

I am still in LOVE with it! I can get a LOUD clean and go pedal, or I can just drive it with the tubes, I can get fuzz territory with ease (actually it plays Black Keys stuff with ease)... and everything in between. I am even thinking of selling my Wampler Plexi Drive because the tone it makes on the clean I can easily dial in on the drive channel of the actual amp just going straight in. I really mostly play this on the 5 watt setting - and that is plenty loud. I am trying to be able to quickly change the settings in the 5 Watt mode so I can really LEARN what it can do for the songs I play in the band and make quick changes for the covers we play. Then I'll move on to the 25 watt mode, which does change the tone a bit, same moving to the 50 watt mode. Because it goes from ONE tube 5 watts, to two 6l6 tubes in push pull, and then two tubes A/B in 50 watt mode there is a slight change is tone.

Anyway, still loving it....

Cam
 

samwell

been here.....
told you: way better than good and yeah: to say you love it's well understood, congrats & Boogie.... [smiley=beer.gif]
 

BoogieMan

Blues Junior
I've been a Boogie player for almost 30 years... my first "pro" amp was a Mesa/Boogie .50Cal that I wish I still had because it was an unusual amp (el84 tubes) for them and now is somewhat of a collectors item.
I wish I had found the Boogie earlier in my playing career!  My first Boogie was a 50 Caliber + with the 6L6s and in some ways I wish I had not sold it.

I even had the coveted Mark IIC+ and sold it for $550 way back when.... now they go for thousands and thousands.
I've been watching these on Ebay.  Do you think the tone is worth the price they are going for?

I have a Mark V now and absolutely love it. The Express has a similar clean channel and you will NOT be disappointed.
The Boogies are renowned for their lead overdrive channel but I really like the clean tone which is a bit thicker than Fender's.
 

BoogieMan

Blues Junior
Congratulations Cam and welcome to the Boogie club.  You're going to have loads of fun with your new amp but if the Express Plus is anything like the older Marks, be prepared to spend some time dialing in the tones you want.  It has been said that it is like learning a new instrument!

Interestingly, it has a 5W, 25W, 50W setting... I am mostly playing on the 5W setting - NOT because it is necessarily LOWER volume...it is lower, but really because it breaks up so nicely at that wattage.
That's the real advantage of multi-wattage amps.  The real creamy tones come from overdriving the power tubes which you will be able to do at a reasonable volume depending on the size of the room you are playing in.  You may find you won't need as many pedals now (if you are using them).
 
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