Mesa boogie Express 550 and deluxe reverb head

[wolfmansfather]

Has anybody got any good tones with the express 550? I am trying to dial it in and i really want a super clean tone, i just wanted to see if yall recommended any good settings.

Also i wanted to know if any of yall have tried the deluxe reverb head? it seems pretty cool and unique.

thanks
Will

ps this is my first post so dont hate

[Buffered]

Welcome!

I had a Express 5:50 a few years back, and now a 5:25+.

These are dark amps, not awful - but you can't trust your eyes when doing the EQ. The preamp section on the 25 and 50 are identical, however with the + models they differ a bit but the DNA is very much a Mark style amp IMHO. I EQ my 5:25+ as follows with a Les Paul, clock position on the clean channel

G: 11.5
T: 1-2
M: 9.5-10
B: 8-9

Also, you can use the blues voicing on Channel 2 with the gain real low as a cool rootsy rock clean sound! For big cleans, it's less about the mids than the treble and bass with a "scoop" in the mids. The contour option will definitely help with that. Also, the 50W mode of course. The EL84's in mine are less robust and round sounding than big 6L6's so the huge cleans are more possible with that amp perhaps - but I am extremely happy with my amp.

The DRRI is probably just the head version of the DRRI (same circuitry, construction, not sure about spring reverb vs digital w. the head) A lot of folks poo poo the DRRI but hooked up to a real nice cab I bet it would sound great! A few guys here love their SFDR's (silverface handwired version from 67-80 or so)

I hope that helps in a little way.

[wolfmansfather]

It does help! i didnt know a lot about the amp when i bought it. I was buying a blues deluxe at guitar center and i saw this used. It sounded great in the store so i bought it with all the money i saved up in the summer, then i brought it home and i messed with the settings a little bit and sounded a lot different. So i guess i have to really play with it to find the sweet spot. Also i dont really get the contour, could you explain it. I havent played the amp in like 6 months because i have to replace the tubes so i havent got to mess with it too much.

[Buffered]

It does help! i didnt know a lot about the amp when i bought it. I was buying a blues deluxe at guitar center and i saw this used. It sounded great in the store so i bought it with all the money i saved up in the summer, then i brought it home and i messed with the settings a little bit and sounded a lot different. So i guess i have to really play with it to find the sweet spot. Also i dont really get the contour, could you explain it. I havent played the amp in like 6 months because i have to replace the tubes so i havent got to mess with it too much.

Tubes typically get worn down with use, and with Mesa amps being run cold they may be fine. It's personal preference. I haven't changed my EL84s in months and those get burned through faster.

The contour acts like a V GEQ curve. The more clockwise the control is turned, the more apparent the V curve in the mids. For example, totally counter clockwise would be the same almost as a flat EQ on Mesa's GEQ. With the knob totally clockwise it's a deep V good for shimmery cleans or Metallica type stuff. That's at least how I understood it when I owned mine..

[Poster]

Man its really hard to get a Mesa to do a decent clean. The Lonestar and Blue Angel have the best cleans of the bunch. I have a Mesa Subway Blues thats extremely customized - it does kick ass cleans, but had to modify the living shit out of it to do that. Trannies, bigger tubes, tone stack, removal of effects loop, etc etc. Maybe look into modding it.