Mesa/Boogie Express 5:25

The Express series is pretty well documented here with respect to features. I thought I'd contribute my two cent's worth about the sound of the amp. My amp is the 5:25 single 10".

I use a number of guitars through the Express but my main gigging guitars are a Gibson 336 and a Music Man Albert Lee (single coils). I'm an amateur, playing out a few times a month with a celtic rock band and a singer/songwriter duo. Both bands are 50-ish types, like myself, so we want to play much quieter than in our younger days. As a result, I was looking for small, portable amp that would provide some output stage compression at a low volume. With the 5 watt class A setting it's perfect for coffee house and other small gigs. I've used the amp on larger gigs with the 25 watt setting and found it plenty loud enough, even un-mic'd. Our drummer is a subtle player so it works. I'm pretty sure the 25 watts wouldn't have worked when I was younger: I remember playing with a rhythm guitarist using a Super Twin who used to drown out my Mesa Mark IV.

To the sound: the "pure" clean tone is quite variable, from dark jazzy tones to bright, sparkly tones. The contour feature does a great job of bringing the sparkle out with my Albert Lee guitar. I can do a credible jazz tone with the 336 and have sat in with local jazz guys a few times without being run off the stage.

The pushed clean channel is one of my favourites, especially in the 5 watt setting. I can get the Buddy Guy Strat-into-a-pushed-Bassman tone at easy to manage volumes. This is a great channel for riding the guitar volume control or using pick attack to get rhythm and lead tones. I would buy the amp just for this channel.

The lead channel is typical Boogie. With the Burn setting you get that sustain and compression that makes a Boogie what it is. I find the lead channel less harsh than my past Boogies: Mark IV and .50 Caliber. This is actually the best sounding Boogie I've played. The Blues channel is nice and touch sensitive with the 336 moving towards the Larry Carlton/Robben Ford range. With a little output stage clipping it's another channel that would work for a whole gig without touching the footswitch.

So far so good. This is my third Boogie - never had a problem with any of them.

I've had past dealings with Mesa with my Mark IV, looking for advice on re-tubing and found the contact really enjoyable. Although you don't always get to talk someone immediately they always call back within a day or so. One of the nice things is that they are genuinely interested in what you have to say and offer advice that fits your needs. I'd give them a perfect score if they answered the 'phone every time on the first ring.

Great amp. I traded a Fender Deluxe Reverb against this amp and wish I'd done it the day the amp came out. I thought the Deluxe was the last amp I'd ever want but the Boogie is a much better amp for a lot more styles of music.

It would be a 10 if its price wasn't on the steep side. When you factor in the ability to gig without dragging pedals along it starts to balance out financially.

Amp was made in 2009. This is the Head version. I ordered it in Oct and it was completed in Dec, about 10 weeks! That's what I get for wanting the blonde short head! Tons of versatility, though only 4 options at a time. Has two channels from which you can choose; clean, crunch, blues and burn. You can select one choice per channel and each channel has a "Contour" knob which is a preset "V" shape of Mesa's 5 band eq included on some models. As you turn the knob clockwise the knob starts with more midrange and goes towards the scooped mids in which the bass and treble are boosted and the mids dropped down. Since you can set these for each channel it really gives you another footswitchable option. You can shut the contour off, set it to footswitch activation or set it on that channel continously. I tend to use the countour eq as a tone change for solos, I don't set it too drastically, maybe at about 10 or 11:00 on the clean channel, maybe about 12:00 on the dirty channel to clean up the mids. The Express also has switchable output power in the back, either 5 watts or 25 watts. I was a little sceptical of the 25 watt rating from 2 EL84s but I play in clubs of various sizes, including a rather large outdoor patio and the head was clean, no problems. It has an efx loop which I need as I always use some kind of delay, have done it for years so now I need to hear a little "puff" of delay in my amp, like a delay drug addict! I've been GIGGING for about 37 years or so, been to music schools blah blah blah, I'm so scary good I have to work a day job for support!! Anyway, I have owned a TON of amps in my life, some I still have, I think this thing is awesome, as the kids say! Really fat, tubey sound. I think in these days it's easy to get a decent or great distortion sound from a myriad of amps out there but I tend to play the clean channels when I'm auditioning amps as I'm looking for a feel and an undefinable sound on the clean channel. There are a lot of amps out there that I like the distortion channel on but wasn't too happy with the clean sound. The Express 25 has a great clean channel, in my ******, lead guitar player, egomaniacs of the band always, opinion. (You know how guitar players are.)I play a lot of different styles from CW to Latin/Mexican music to hard core jazz-fusion thing to straight oldies rock and roll, it's all fun to me as long as my rig is sounding great to me. I have also played with the Blues Channel set for a relatively clean sound where it sounds clean but breaks up when you hit double stops hard and this was heavenly! The preamp really seems to like distortion pedals. I use an original TS 808 I bought a hundred years ago brand new (that's how old I am!) and a Blackstone Distortion, sometimes I'll run an Ibanez TS-7 or a DOD Juice Box, the distortion is so good on the amp I feel it enhances whatever pedal you use in the front of the amp. I TRY to get the Larry Carlton distortion sound and from there go to heavier distortions for various songs, this amp keeps me happy at this (though I make NO claims to sounding ANYTHING LIKE the master Carlton!!)I just want to get his tone, gave up trying to play like him, of course! The Burn channel gets more than enough gain for the cover bands I play with.

I have also owned plenty of guitars though unfortunately sold some I wish I still had. Have about 7 right now, currently using my American Standard Tele with a Texas Special neck pickup and a Seymour Duncan Quarter Pounder in the bridge, the Express 25 LOVES this guitar, sustain, fat rock sounds plus twang for days. I am deliriously happy with this set up. Also play a new Yamaha RG-AX2 light weight solid body, Yamaha AES 1500 kind of semi solid archtop axe, my favorite all time axe is my Gibson Les Paul Signature I bought when I was a punk kid and have managed to play all over the planet and still have. This guitar is in pristine condition and it sounds like the voice of God, admittedly sound being a VERY subjective thing. Anyway, the Mesa Express 25 suits my style and all the guitars I have VERY well. It has a signature sound to it and if you like EL84s midrange sound this is one of those amps you have to try. Nice midrange, very even sound to me except for the little complaint about the bass out put later. The amp is also so loud I have NEVER been allowed to get even close to full tilt Boogie because other band guys, the audience and even my wife tell me I am WAY too loud! Too bad, but the amp holds it's own with even loud drummers. Of course we do not play thrash or metal or punk so the volume in all the bands I play with is kind of loud-club approved. The clean channel stays pretty clean for me up to about 7 on the master, though I believe clean on a tube amp is really that good old Fender "5% distortion" thing we grew up hearing. Clean sound on a small wattage amp is also about your touch, at least on a really good, expressive amp like this one. YMMV. The only niggle I have with it is it is a little bass shy for a tube amp! I use it with a matching blonde Thiel Mesa 1X12, a two twelve cab made for me when I lived in Texas and a two ten really old Gibson cabinet and even on the 2X12 I have to crank the bass. ON most tube amps I have owned there is more than enough bass for me so this is the only little complaint. Still for me it sounds awesome, so I rate it.....

As for reliability I have only owned it for just over two months though it has been gigged and rehearsed every week since, sometimes two or three times a week. Has a five year warranty and I REALLY baby my amps and guitars so I anticipate no trouble. It runs really hot though so I do fan it at gigs and rehearsals, I want to keep those circuit boards cool. Also, I ALWAYS travel with a Crate Power Block as a back up, like the sound of them and they only weigh like 4 and a half pounds, I can easily jury rig a good sound with a PB and finish a gig in style. So I always toss a PB in the back of the car as back up. Too many expensive amps have let me down on big gigs in my foolish youth to travel or gig without a back up.

Company was VERY friendly, live in the San Fernando Valley so my contact was the main store in Hollywood, love going there anyway! The sales team was VERY helpful, very good attitudes, unlike some stores we could think of who could go nameless but whose initials are Guitar Center~! Sorry GC, but sometimes your sales help is pitiful and surly!As stated above the warranty is 5 years! I could be dead by then! Cool!

As stated, been playing since I was too young to leave the band stand because of the alcohol laws in Arizona, though nowadays I'm sure 17 year olds would not be allowed in clubs to play gigs!! Ahhh, the good old days! If this was stolen I would find the thief and make him eat the components and put the chassis in his lower orifices and buy another Express, that's how mad I'd be! Don't want to live without it. I compared it to a LOT of amps, bought it with part of a settlement from a car accident so I figured this was probably a last good shot to get one more semi expensive amp! Finally settled on this because of the weight to cost to sound to features balance. It seemed like I could just ef with it for years on stages and the occasional studio gigs and just have way too much fun. I wish all four modes were footswitchable but then it would be called the Roadster and weigh a ton, wouldn't it?! The question above is there anything I would like to share, NO, I would never share this amp with anyone! I like it too much to share! Feel free to write to me if you want to talk about amps, I'm amp stupid addled, I LOVE amps!!

This amp features a great assortment of... well features. It has Two footswitchable channels, that each contain two voicings. Clean/ Crunch and Blues/ Burn. It also has footswitchable reverb on each channel and a footswitchable contour control that, in my opinion, reshapes the tone of the channel when on, by scooping the mids, it also works as a nice boost when you want to throw down a lead. I like this feature on the Burn Channel. I have the 1x12 model with a nicely voiced 12" Celestion vintage 12. This amp also has dynawatt which gives a boost of headroom so that your clean doesn't break up too fast, but tends to suck a little of the sustain out on leads. Mesa explains it as giving the amp the feel of an amp at twice its power rating. It also comes with a footswitch that controls the things I've stated above and a stash pouch to hold cords, footswitch, and your stash, etc.

I had mixed emotions on this amp until last night. I'm using it primarily to play on the worship band at my church, which plays contemporary rock worship music. In the styles of Chris Tomlin, David Crowder, Lincoln Brewster. Playing the amp in my practice room at my house left me wanting more, I could almost dial in the sound I wanted, but was left frustrated. This all changed at worship practice last night, in a much larger room. The amp opened up and showed its true colors. The clean on low gain, closely rivaled that of Fender, and the burn was perfect for my leads and parts that lend themselves to some distortion. My leads cut through the mix nicely with the contour. I had quite a few goosebump moments while playing. Think outside the box if you get this, i got some nice results by utilizing the Blues mode on the second channel as my clean and the crunch mode cranked as my lead/ distortion channel. This combo worked well. I'm very pleased with the clean and the headroom that this small amp has, it holds up very nice with my PRS loaded with zebra humbuckers, which tend to have a enough power to break up most low wattage clean channels. In other write ups people have said that the burn gives nice distortion but doesn't lend itself to recto levels. I would have to disagree, this channel with the contour on and turned all the way up gives you a nice saturated distortion that is tight with a nice bottom end. They must not know how to utilize the tone knobs to get this type of distortion. Keep in my that this is a 25 watt amp w/ one 12" speaker, it will never sound exactly like a 100 watt head through a cab, but it has distortion that rivals Recto. It also has a switch to go to 5 WATT class A, very nice sounds in here, but don't count on it being low volume. This amp is very loud on all modes. It blows my Mesa/Boogie Maverick 35 watt 2x12 out of the water. The amps houses top quality tones for clean and distortion. I'm very satisfied.

My Mesa maverick has never given me any problems. However this amp was drop shipped to me by guitar center. Unfortunately during shipping tube amps can tend to suffer damage to tubes. One tube had an issue, I replaced with one I had and it works like a charm. I doubt i will have further issues, but I can't give a high score due to this. Mesa and guitar both took care of me. they are sending me a new set of tubes to make sure they are all matched etc.

When called on the tube issue, there was no hesitation to send a replacement set. Very good customer service!! along with guitar center

This thing is exactly what I was looking for. It's light weight and has the versitility to keep up with my changing needs. it gives me Mesa Distortion with a very nice clean that I was lacking in my Mesa Maverick. You will not be disapointed with this little guy. Try opening it up in a wide open room to get best results for your tone. This amp is very loud, don't be fooled by the 25 watt rating. It also work well with effects.

Purchased in Jan 2009. Features are same as 5:25 1x10, except with a 12" Celestion Vintage 30 G12 speaker. Only had it a short time, so I'm learning how to dial in sounds at different volumes (and 5w vs 25w). Hugely versatile sound options. Great advice in the manual on tone settings - which really narrowed down the trial and error on my part. Only bummer for me is my 2 favorite sounds so far are the Clean & Crunch, both toggle options on channel 1 (so I can't footswitch between them). With the gain way low, I can get a somewhat comparable Clean on Blues (although for some reason doesn't sound as rich, kinda radio-y), or decent overlap with Crunch-like distortion on Blues w/ gain cranked, or Burn w/ gain low (although Burn is definitely creamy-er). They all sound great, so its not like a sacrifice. I keep osciliating between clean as clean or blues as clean, and different gain settings, but I'm pretty sure I'll settle in on a favorite combo soon enough. I think the Contour knob is the balls (I think it controls how deep the 'V' is on a multi band EQ). It really brings the sound to life. Rated 'Features' a little lower cause I can't footswitch between Clean/Crunch (reaching behind me to flick the toggle isn't much of a compromise, cause I'd have to twist a few of the tone knobs to jump between properly).

With a family and 3 little kids, this might have been a once in a lifetime purchase for me, so I was looking for the bomb. (I'm jealous of all you gear collectors). I primarily use an '84 Les Paul Custom w/ stock pickups on all kinds of rock music (not into metal). Love how full, rich, warm the sound is with my guitar. I have an old Peavy solid state that sounds about as marginal today as the day I bought it a loooong time ago. I was looking for great tube tone in a small combo big enough to play w/ band/drummer. Wanted a good clean and a good distortion. The Clean is amazing with my guitar. There are several great distortions - have been able to dial in something spot-on or very close for the covers I play. I compared this against a Vox AD50 & AD60VTX, Marshall (??? 12" combo), Mesa 5:50, 5:25 1x10, and a Zinky Blue Velvet (I reeeeaaaaallly wanted to love the Zinky - its SOOOOO sexy). Voxes, for modeling amps, had a really good tube-like tone, but the controls drove me crazy, I'm also not a big effects person, so that was a waste of functionality - great price, but wasn't the bomb. Marshall - got a great Marshall distortion, but clean stunk. Zinky - to me the clean was a little too thin. Had the mid-boost on, and couldn't dial in the tone knob to get the richness I was looking for in a clean (I bet it would sound great w/ a Fender). Zinky had some killer distortion - phenominal - it did come with a fair amount of background noise and was easy to feedback. Mesa Crunch came very very close to that sound, and Mesa seemed to have better "manners". I like the EL84 tube sound better than the 6L6's (5:50). I guess 6L6 had tons of Clean headroom, but came at a cost of less harmonic color in general... really wanted the tube qualities to show through. 12" 5:25 had a little more low end over the 10" (no, really???). Its plenty loud. If I ever play someplace too big for it, I'm sure they'll just mic it. Its so nice to have an amp that's easy to lug around, and have it all in 1 cabinet (I go w/ guitar in one hand, amp in other, and a backpack w/ cords, picks, strings, etc). It sounds great at band volumes and in my practice room while the family sleeps. Haven't tried this w/ Fender/single coil guitar yet, but I imagine that would bring out a lot more sparkle out of the clean. I'd also like to experiment w/ hooking it up to ext cabs - lots of good advice in the users guide for this too. I'd also like to try a few effects pedals to give me a "solo" function, or to put gain over the clean channel to have 3 footswitchable sounds dialed in.

So far so good. Wasn't even afraid to buy the one off the floor. Warranty is comforting. Built like a tank. I'm fully expecting it will last a lifetime if I keep it in tubes.

Dunno.

It was pricy, but I would buy one again in a heartbeat. It's totally worth it. Not one second of buyers remorse (which is strange for me on a big ticket item). Now all my gear is better than I am, which inspires me (and eliminates all my excuses).

year the amp made: 2008
amp versatile enough: Yes, easily.
styles: Classic rock, Yngwie
Channels: 2; Modes: 2
channel switching: Yes
Effects loop: Yes
Headphone jack: No, not needed.
What features do you wish it had: Guitar tuner.
Why: Strats are beautiful musical instruments but need tuning.
Are there features you never use: No, once in a while I use the 5 watt setting.
Where do you use this amp: On stage, practice hall and bedroom (I'm single, no kids, lol)
Does it have enough power: Yes.
This is a hot-rodded tube amp. See Mesa Boogie for more explanation. http://www.mesaboogie.com/Product_Info/Express/Express.htm
I will get another Mesa Boogie Express 5:25 Head and two 1 x 10" cabiets and run them in stereo for a wide lush chorus effect.

guitar and pickups: Fender American Strat (see info link)
Strat 1: http://www.fender.com/products//search.php?partno=0110102747

Strat 2: Is a maple neck, not rosewood.
http://www.fender.com/products//search.php?partno=0101500720

How does it suit your music style: excellent
"Clean" for Beatles (Here Comes the Sun, Lucy in the Sky)
"Crunch" for Clapton (Hideaway)
"Blues" for Stevie Ray Vaughan (Scuttlebuttin')
"Burn" for AC/DC (Back in Black)

noisy: No, just use good cables and logical setup and a Furman Power Conditioner.
http://www.solidcables.com/products.html
Watch the Multimedia Video
http://www.furmansound.com/product.php?div=01&id=PL-PLUS_II

Channel One, clean low gain, reverb low to mid, contour some scoop
Channel Two, bit higher gain, reverb lower, contour some scoop
Master low in the bedroom and higher on stage.
What kind of sounds can the amp make: A full range from mellow clean dynamic to saturated sustaining overdrive.

How much variety: Wide variety, getting another amp to run for wide stereo effect.
clean channel clean at high volumes because of Dyna-Watt circuitry:
Mesa???s Dyna-Watt circuitry is a clever way of getting more power out the 5:25???s two EL84 valves, which would traditionally yield only 15 to 20 watts. Dyna-Watt effectively stores up power so it can be released when you hit a note giving more power at that instant. The amp is constantly recharging and releasing power as you play.
In what settings: Keep the gain low to have a clean sound?
Tube-Driven Overdrive is pleasant on the ears: Can run in Class A mode too, rich harmonics that transitor amp never have.

Highly reliable. Always have back up amps to be smart. Never broken down. Other amps have broken down and thats what makes the Boogies so special. Thet play all night long and still look and sound good.

I bought all my amps, both Fender and Mesa Boogie from Long & McQuade in Toronto. Excellent service. Fender and Mesa Boogie have a 5 year warranty.

How long have you been playing; Since 1969
What other gear do you own: Hundreds of items, all to do with performing and recording electric guitar for rock music and venturing a little into the Yngwie world of guitar playing.
If it were stolen or lost, I would definitely buy Mesa Boogie again.
what do you love about it: Sound, features, looks, reliability, company philosophy.
What do you hate: Hefty price.
Did you compare it to other products: Yes.
Which ones: Fender and Marshall.
Why did you choose this one: Form must follow function.
Anything you wish it had: Guitar tuner.
Will continue to buy Mesa Boogie amps and Fender Stratocasters. Digitech is really making progress with the harmony devices for vocals and guitar.
Boss makes great pedals for effects.
Buy everything new.
Price was as good as any other place, but terms and service at Long & McQuade are better.

2008 ALL TUBE 25 WATT 1X12 COMBO, SMALL, LIGHTWEIGT, VERSITILE AND MOST OF ALL, POWERFULL! 2 CHANNELS (4 GAIN MODES) FT.SWITCHABLE TUBE SPRING REVERB AND CONTOUR. EFFECTS LOOP,EXTENSION CAB OUTS, SWITCHABLE TO 5 WATTS CLASS A VIA THE BACK PANEL, PERHAPS IT'S COOLEST FEATURE. I'VE USED IT IN COFFEE HOUSES, LARGE OPEN HALLS, SMALL CLUBS AND RESTURANTS. I'D SAY IT COVERS EVERYTHING I LIKE TO PLAY WHICH IS MOST THINGS. I'VE BURNED THROUGH SOME CASE TO FIND THE RIGHT AMP THAT CAN COVER WHAT I DO, THIS DOES, FINALLY.

GUITARS-STRAT W/JB JR BRIDGE, 04' PRS CE24 MAPLE. I USE THIS AMP EQUALLY LIVE AND IN THE STUDIO. I PLAY COUNTRY, ROCK ,REGGEA, HIP HOP,FUNK,FUSION,AND ALL INSTURMENTAL TA BOOT. THIS AMP KICK ASS! THE CLEAN CHANNEL VERY DYNAMIC W/GOOD HEADROOM. THE BURN CHANNEL NAILS THE SOUND I HEAR IN MY HEAD(SANTA MEETS CREAM ERA CLAPTON). MY EFFECTS SOUND GREAT THROUGH IT TOO. I USE A LINE 6 DL4 FOR DELAY IN THE EFFECTS LOOP, A FULLTONE WAH-DIAMOND J DRIVE-BOSS RT-20,DIGITECH SYNTH WAH-AND SOME KEELEY PEDALS IN THE FRONT END. IT LOVES EM' ALL.

I FEEL LIKE I CAN DEPEND ON THIS AMP, IT'S MY DRUMMER I WORRY ABOUT. I'VE NEVER WORRIED ABOUT TUBES REALLY AND I THE AMP IS BUILT SOLID.

I'VE NEVER HAD ANY ISSUES WITH IT BUT HAVE DEALT W/MESA BEFORE OVER THE PHONE, THEY WERE GREAT AND MY DEALER IS AWESOME. THE WARRANTY COVERS 5 YEARS.

AFTER 20 YEARS OF PLAYING, I'VE OWNED AND USED ALOT OF GEAR, I HAVE A THING FOR DELAY PEDALS AND IT WAS IMPORTANT TO FIND AN AMP W/AN EFFECTS LOOP AND KILLER SOUND QUALITY, THIS FITS THE BILL AND THE OTHER FEATURES ARE GRAVY. I FORGOT THE AMPS FT SWITCH AT A GIG RECENTLY...I JUST SET THE AMP ON BURN AND USED MY GUITARS VOLUME KNOB TO GO FROM CLEAN TO DIRTY...LIKE A BUDDY SAID, A GOOD AMP CLEANS UP WHEN IT'S TIME TO.... I JUST MADE THAT UP, BUT YOU GET THE IDEA. THE MONEY SPENT ON THE AMP IS NOT AN ISSUE, BECAUSE I GOT A 100% RETURN ON MY INVESTMENT IN TONE. THAT'S WHY I OWN IT, SIMPLE.

Here it goes, I play Jazz guitar, so I wanted a modern Jazz sound, I was impressed with the built quility, and without spending to much time trying to dial in a sound I just bought it from my local dealer who seemed to be pushing hard on these express lines
I SPEND A MONTH TRYING TO DIAL IN JUST A TRADIONIAL jazz tone, forget it--all I got from there so calles clean channel was a very nasty clean , the other stuff it does was fine, but for you jazz guys out there , forget it

I was playing a gibson 335 , sweet guitar, the nice smooth clean was not there, slight hiss ,the amp does well if your just looking for a well built high gain amp, I don,t play loud so I never tryed the distortion

here I have to give it a 10, built quility was suberb

vey good

been playing for 45 years, the gain was nice, but that was what it was designed for, the built quility was great, the vintage clean that they claim was there , well after a month of trying to EQ this amp , finally gave in to a fender twin
I think if you want that tradional clean ,stay away from the el84 types and get one with 6L6 tubes for a smoother overall sound, if your looking for that modern jazz sound, stay away from this amp

I have played a Fender Telecaster through a '63 Ampeg Gemini II (garage sale $40) for over 20 years and was looking for a reliable warm-sounding upgrade. I still love the Ampeg but wasn't happy when I replaced the original speaker (which had disintegrated). I read a review of the 5:25 in Guitar Player and gave it a couple of test drives at the local GC.

Bought this amplifier over a year ago and have gigged with it about 25 times. My amp has the 10" speaker. Mesa has since come out with a 12" version of the 5:25 - makes me suspicious that they were not satisfied with the sound of the 10" configuration. I am very pleased with the 10" version, however, and especially like the light weight and large sound. The amp is very versatile. Minor changes in the settings produce noticeable changes in sound. Like other users, I would be very happy if all four channels were foot-switchable. However, I have found that I can get two really good rhythm settings using the clean and blues channels. The reverb is excellent and I love it at its most subtle to its most extreme. More about the sound later.

Generally speaking, this is a wonderful and solid little amp. However, I do have a few issues with the design: (1) Due to the compact size of the amp, there is an issue with the EL-84's becoming dislodged when removing the power cord and the footswitch cord. I would be happier if both of these cords were conveniently removable for storage in a gig bag. You can remove the footswitch cord but it is not worth the hassle. To alleviate this issue, I wrap the cords tightly for storage in the back of the amp. I also double check these tubes prior to each gig to ensure they are properly seated. I never store the footswitch itself in the amp even though it has a nice little padded case. (2) The channel switching is a little noisy. This is an issue if you switch channels while playing and want the switch to be seamless. There is no issue with noisy switching when switching while not playing- only while playing and switching. (3) The labeling on the front panel is very difficult to see when standing next to the un-tilted amp. This was only an issue during the first few gigs when I was tweaking the "Contour" thinking it was a Master Volume control. As with any instrument, the layout soon becomes ingrained in your consciousness after you live with it for a while. (4) Due to the compact size, you cannot connect a 90-degree plug on the front panel.

The rhythm sound in my head is spanky clean with a nice break-up when you lean into it. I get this easily with this amp. The Clean channel has personality and can achieve many different cleans. I set the Gain to 1:00, Treble at 11:30, Mid rolled all the way down, Bass at 12:00, Reverb at 11:00, and Master to suit the room. I rarely need to set the Master past 1:00 to get enough volume to fit in nicely with the band in small club or large bar environment. Of course these settings are approximates and sometimes I???m feelin??? more gain (2:00 ??? 3:00) and roll off my guitar volume slightly to get back to spanky. The response of the clean channel is great at the higher gain setting and I easily achieve a break-up with a nice amount of furry goodness when I play hard ??? and back to clean when I play lighter. I can???t ask for anything more out of a clean channel, except for it to sound great when I attach pedals ??? and it does. I mainly use a ProCo Turbo Rat for high sustain leads and man it sounds really good. I also use a Tremolo pedal, because the Ampeg Gemini II built-in tremolo (and ???echo??? for that matter) are so sweet and I really miss them live. If the 5:25 sported real tube tremolo, I would be so in love that I would be sleeping with this amp. I???ve also used some clean boost (BBE Boosta Grande) to overdrive the front end and have found the results to be just OK. I find that hitting the front end with more gain is not necessary when having a second channel that can better achieve a dirtier clean. However, a clean boost in conjunction with an overdrive or distortion pedal really has produced some amazing overtones on the overdriven signal and I have been able to ride on some pretty amazing near-feedback sounds. I place the boost after the overdrive. The amp compares nicely to the rhythm guitarist???s sound of a Gretsch playing through a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe. I definitely notice a little more body to his sound, but he is semi-hollow and I???m Tele spank so the difference is complementary. Synopsis ??? Even with using just the clean channel and a pedal or two, this amp is versatile enough to play gigs with and am very pleased with the tones and mass of sound.

Now on to the Blues channel. This channel also has much to offer. I use settings very similar to the Clean channel but roll up the mids to about 9:00 ??? 10:00. I use this channel for ???clean??? leads and as a stand-alone channel. For example, if we???re doing a T-bone Walker tune, I???ll use just this channel. I???ll roll down the volume for the rhythm parts and roll it up for the leads to cut through the mix. The results are much better than using a boost pedal to cut through the mix. The sound is much more organic and less harsh. The overdriven tones on the Blues channel are very pleasing and even this channel takes pedals well. This channel certainly can be used as the primary clean channel (I???ve played entire gigs on this channel), using the Crunch channel as a lead channel. I???ve experimented with this a little but am far happier with using pedals for high sustained leads.

The Crunch and Burn Channels. These channels are probably more appropriate for humbuckers (especially the Burn) although I have used the Burn with decent results. There have been times when I have abandoned pedals to just play direct into the amp. In this configuration, I use the Clean channel with Gain set to 3:00, so that I can get some variety to clean tones with guitar volume manipulations. I use the Burn channel to get the highly saturated tones that I usually use an overdrive pedal for. I typically tweaked the Burn channel settings while playing to achieve the most palatable sounds. I am by no means after that super overdriven rectifier sound so I don???t have any experience using the amp to get Santana-esque tones. Typically I don???t use these channels, since I have to pick two channels for live shows and I am more interested in variety

The 5:25 I reviewed here is actually my second 5:25. The first one was a floor model and had a problem where it would lose power and get crackly after warming up. I returned it to GC and got another. I suspect that it had known problems at GC since it was obvious that the protection bar across the back of the amp had been previously removed. The second one has been operating without issue, except when the EL-84???s were not properly seated in the sockets, as mentioned earlier.

I have not dealt with customer support but do appreciate the home troubleshooting tips contained in the User's Manual.

Overall, I love the size and sound of the 5:25. I intend that this will be the last amplifier I ever buy. The power of this little amp is perfect for the small club and large bar circuit. I have never needed to mike the amp and have always been happy where it sets in the mix. About the reviewer: I've been playing guitar for 25 years. Interests over that period have been primarily in original post-punk trios, although I am now the lead guitarist in a deep-cuts cover band. I have now found myself playing music that has a wide range of styles such as Blues (Albert, Freddie, and B.B.), Reggae (Jimi Cliff, Bob Marley, Clash),and good ole' RnR (from Chuck Berry and Buddy Holly to Spoon and everything cool in between). My favorite band of all time is the Minutemen. I am inspired by happening tunes and happening tones of many genres. I play gigs a couple of times a month but have no plans on quitting the day job.

A 5:25 1 x 12 combo 2008
Controls that work and are well laid out and with a reverb that is unbelieveably good for such a small amp.

I tested it alongside various amps including a Fender Blues Deluxe, Express 5:25 1 x 10 and a 5:50 1 x 12; using a Gibson Les Paul Custom for testing purposes.

The 1 x 10 combo sounded good, but it couldn't match the sound of the 1 x 12 combo, when using a Les Paul Custom. Sadly the Fender Blues Deluxe was out of it's depth soundwise against these little amps.

So far I have used this with a Gibson les Paul Custom and a Fender American Standard Stratocaster and both sound fine through this amp.

The quality of sound and tone from this little amp takes you by surprise when you first hear it because it is that good and it is the best practice amp I've used. Like any high quality valve amp, it highlights the nuances in your playing.

The clean channel has more clarity than the Fender Blues Deluxe or Blues Junior and the crunch setting is great for blues playing.

On the second channel the blues setting can be used to play lead, whereas the burn setting is heavy overdrive and sounds superb when using the Stratocaster.

The 5 amp setting is pure tone, whilst the 25 watt setting is superb too and ideal for not just practicsing; but also jamming with friends and gigging in small venues.

The reverb is one of the best I've heard on any amp. Up there alongside the reverb on a Lonestar or Cornford Hurricane; in that respect.

The contour controls work well, but do introduce a small amount of white noise. They are worth using particularly on the 25 watt setting.

Some people have mentioned there is some white noise and if you turn up the master, whilst the gain is low, then it is noticeable. If however you put the gain on 12pm and keep the volume lower, the white noise is less obtrusive.

Personally I find this a very versatile amp from clean jazz to heavy crunch and would have no problem recommending it to other players looking for a quality amp.

It seems really well built and I'd be surprised if it proves unreliable.

I can't comment as I haven't had any contact with Mesa Boogie

I've been playing quite a while and have some nice guitars, which are played through the 5:25 1 x 12 combo, A fender Blues Junior and sometimes when jamming, through my mates Mesa Boogie Blue Angel.

I'd be frustrated if it were stolen, as I would defintiely miss it and would want to replace it.

As mentioned above i tested it alongside the 1 x10 combo, which I thought was a quality amp too, but I preferred the sound of the 1 x 12 combo with my Les Paul Custom. The 5:50 sounded good, however i still preferred the sound of the EL84's in the 5:25 1 x 12 combo, to the 6L6 valves in the 5:50

I won't go into great detail as most of the features are covered elsewhere. Two channels with two modes each. I like how they set up the first mode of each channel to complement the other--Clean and Blues respectively--the same goes for the second mode of each channel--Crunch and Burn. That way you can think of channel 1 as a rhythm and channel 2 as a lead, although you can also work the other way too since the amp is so versatile--e.g. use blues mode from 2 as your rhythm sound and crunch from 1 as your lead. The amp is so versatile with so many kinds of sound available and levels of gain--it would be nice to be able to access them all on the fly live, but then that would mean you would need to have four separate Eqs; and a four channel amp = a bunch more $$. Anyway, I really like the portability of this amp (38#), the build quality and the tone quality--it really does sound very much bigger than a 1x10, 25 watt amp. It has ample power for gigging and maintains clean headroom until quite loud. If I play a large place, I'll just mic it. Another huge "feature" is that you can do most shades of rock, blues, jazz, country, R&B, alternative, etc. It has almost all the basic sonic territory covered for the electric guitarist...and it's portable!

Mainly use my Strat with "Fat 50s" single coils and Les Paul with Duncan Antiquities. Where to begin???All the Boogies I've tried in the past have left me kind of cold--too mid-rangey, "hard," and in your face (I'm thinking of amps like the Mark I, the Maverick, Blue Angel) There always seemed to be a lack of warmth and fullness. I've always liked the big, full sound of Fenders and the only Boogie I ever tried that came close was a 2x12 Tremoverb--but since that was too much $$ and weighed in at 103#, I couldn't really justify it for the smaller to mid-size gigs I play. Anyway, I was really blown away by the 5:25--it seems they resolved the depth and fullness issue with this amp. It has an absolutely GORGEOUS CLEAN channel for Strats or Les Pauls with a huge bottom end and plenty of sparkle. The contour controls are a great help in this department. I always have them on and just dial in more or less of their effect according to the sound I'm looking for; when you turn them off, the sound seems to go kind of flat and you can never quite duplicate their effect by just using the tone controls to compensate. Anyway, I like stout lower-mids--not too fond of the upper register of mids and hate spikey highs. Fortunately for me, it's like one reviewer said, it's like Fender clean without the bright switch on--on my Fenders, I never used the bright switch (just way too bright). On the ones that had bright jacks (Custom Vibrolux), I had to dial back the highs a bit to compensate. Anyway, the clean is like the best aspects of Fender clean mixed with the best parts of the clean from another amp I own and love--the JC120--you can get THAT sound...and actually make it better. It's extremely versatile...to my ears, Fenders, when pushed into O/D or when they have an O/D channel (Devilles and Blues series), tend to sound harsh and grainy. The Boogie sounds so much more focused, you really can sculpt the sound with great precision (I know it sounds hokey, like from an advert for them, but it's true). This is not just true for the clean, but across the board--every channel's basic tone can be tweaked and morphed using the tone controls such that the amp can cover a huge sonic range--I absolutely love it, although, being a first time Boogie owner, it can be frustrating as hell to do all that tweaking (and I'm a tweak freak--maybe that's the problem)--but that tweakability can produce great results and is what makes the Boogie a cut above your standard Fenders and Marshalls--even ones in the same price range. The tone controls are so sensitive that just a little goes a long way, so if I am hearing just a bit too much treble harshness while soloing, I can adjust the tone controls so I can get the tone I'm hearing in my head--YES!! FINALLY!! And without pedals. But, alas! There are limits, because while playing live, you'll still need pedals if two basic gain structures don't cover what you need on the fly. Especially if you do a lot of variety like in weddings or praise and worship music in church. Anyway, I am still experimenting to uncover or invent more great possibilities for live work between the two channels. So far, I've only seriously honed in on dialing in the modes in the Full power (25-30? Watt) setting, since, when running @ 5 watts, all traces of clean go south at any usable volume--even for bedroom playing--it breaks up almost immediately (although beautifully) but sounds anemic compared to the other modes, even when cranked. That's the only complaint I have about the amp. The other three modes are usable @ 5 watts and will put out quite a bit more volume than the clean mode.
One final note. Other reviews, both here and in a couple of rags have said 1) it sounds boxy when compared to the 1x12 version or the 5:50--while I haven't compared it to the 5:50, I have compared it to the 1x12 version, and I liked this one better primarily for its tone --not as midrangey--and also because it is easier to transport. 2

Haven't had any issues with mine yet, but I agree with the other posts re: the noise problem???it isn't acceptable and Boogie should address it instead of blow-offs like "That's just part of the amp". If mine does develop a noise issue --God forbid!!--it will either be fixed, replaced or returned. Geez, that would suck!!!!

5 years on the amp, 3 on the speaker and 6 months on the tubes..and it's transferable! I've not dealt with them yet, so no rating.

I've been playing for over 30 years (??!!!). I love the amp so far. I've said what I wanted above. I've gone back and forth on the price issue. I guess Boogie raised their prices in February of '08 and so I had to pay 1149 + tax (actually I didn't spend a dime out of pocket since I traded several other amps in for it). It's a pretty steep price for a 25 watt, 1x10 combo. BUT on the other hand, I'm wondering what other amps are there on the market that can do what this can for the money...and do it so well? This amp outperformed every one of the amps I traded in on it and one of them was a Reverend Hellhound and another a dual channel, all tube Traynor. So it really is like having 3 or 4 amps in one???3 or 4 really good amps at that. BUT I still can't say, in the broader scheme of things when you're not a full-time pro, that 1200.00+ with tax is a "fantastic value" for a guitar amplifier, so I have to give it a 9.

I am updating an earlier review, so give no ratings.

The Express has been excellent in 15 months' service. It has done about 4 gigs and countless hours' rehearsal. No problems at any time.

I switched the power tubes to cheap and widely-available JJs from Rapid Electronics two months ago, without problems or any noticeable change of sound.

The amp is used mainly in Crunch, Clean and Burn modes, in that order. I still don't rate Blues mode, even though I like blues music. Practice is on 5W mode, gigs and louder rehearsals on 25W mode. Some care needed when switching, as the two modes don't sound the same unless EQ is tweaked.

I use an home-made 8-ohm extension cabinet most of the time, in combination with built-in speaker. I use no effects, but have a home-made volume-changer "solo switch" in the effects loop; very useful. The DIN lead for the supplied multi-footswitch looked fragile and I only used its channel switch anyway, so now I just plug in a single generic footswitch for the channel.

25 watts switchable to 5 watts.
2 channels with 2 modes each
effects loop and 10" speakers

During the 9 months I have had this amp, I have used it mostly on the 5 watt setting both for practice and gigs. I switch to 25 watts for outdoor gigs or larger venues.
Almost every tone in classic rock can be found in this amp - from a sparkling clean tone to very heavy gain. The clean mode of channel 1 is very full and fat sounding with excellent dynamics. This channel gets a very nice bluesy grind to it with the levels cranked up. Very Fenderish. The Crunch mode on Channel 1 has a substantial jump in gain and sounds very much like a classic Marshall.
Channel 2 has the Blues mode and the Burn mode. The Blues mode to me sounds like a cranked Fender amp and the Burn mode is very high gain.
As you move through the various modes and channels the tone controls affect the sounds on Channels 1 the most, providing a wide range of variation. When you get to the Burn mode on channel 2 the tone knob's effect is very subtle. The end result is, if you like playing with lots of gain you had better like the basic tone of this amp because you can't change it very much.
I have noticed a bit of a lag when changing channels with the footswitch. Not a big problem but you have to be prepared for it.
I have swapped out the stock Russian made Mesa tubes as I am not a big fan of the sound. I have put in a mix of NOS preamp tubes and JJ power tubes with no ill effects, even though the bias set at the factory may not match the tubes I have installed.
Mesa should look into providing tubes from some other manufacturers for those us who are not in love with the Russian tubes.

No problems at all.

No idea, since I have not talked to them.

I mainly play this amp with my TV Jones pickup equipped Strat. The sound is great with just a guitar, a cable and the amp. I do use pedals with it, both in front of the preamp and in the effects loop with no problems.
This is a solid and versatile amp that I highly recommend to anyone looking to cover all of the classic rock sounds. I am sure that with the right guiatr/pedal combo you can play metal as well.

Just bought this amp for the 2nd time and love it. Features are incredible from its small size, huge sound and the ability to dial in ANY sound you want short of scorching metal. It sounds so sweet and to me, the size is what sold me on it, TWICE!

I am using a Taylor Custom Solidbody electric with this amp and have also used it with a Gibson SG and Les Paul Studio. This amp can go from the most round, supple delicate cleans in the 5 watt mode to classic crunch and velvety blues all with a flick of a switch. I bought this amp when I was searching for a new amp that would give me a GREAT clean, good reverb and some crunch thrown in. The 1st one I bought at GC and of course in GC fashion I had to take the one off the floor. Missing the cover, manual, and even had a scratch on it. Got it home and found it had some sort of hum/buzz so I returned it and decided to wait for them to get one in.

In the meantime I bought and auditioned a Fender Blues deluxe, Hot Rod Deville SE, DRRI, Blues Jr, Line 6 Spider Valve, Vox Valvetronix 30 watt, and even a crate palomino. The Hot Rod SE gave me a GREAT clean but the drive was awful, plus the sound wore thin after two days and sounded harsh, thin, sterile and flat. Decided to go with the Express 5:50 2X12 GC had in stock and that was magical but way too loud, and also not as delicate with the cleans.

Bottom line is I finally found another 5:25 but had to drive 2 hours to another GC to get it. This time they had the cover, the manual kit, catalog, etc. It was MINT except some bonehead turned it on with the plastic tube sleeves meant for shipping. They gave me a new set of Mesa tubes and away I went. I have been in love ever since as with my Taylor Custom Solidbody it is pure magic.

The cleans, especially in the evening in 5W mode are the best I have heard beating all of the Fenders I have tried. The blues sounds are top notch and the crunch is as well. AC/DC is EASY on this amp. The Burn channel is nice but not a marshall distortion. I can get tons of sustain in the burn channel with my Taylor. Hit a note and it lasts and lasts just like a Les Paul. The amp has no problem and the burn channel is GREAT for solo leads.

I have a metal muff pedal I use if I want to go super heavy and it sounds amazing.

For $1049 this amp just can NOT be beat. The versatility is out of this world. You can dial in ANY sound you need except extreme metal, and a pedal can do that no problem. For those who say you cant get a good sound, READ the manual and realize how the tone knobs work. They are 100% different than say a Fender or Marshall in the way they work.

I can get a sparkly bright clean, a thick round clean, a flat clean or a dirty clean all with a tiny bit of twist on the gain and treble/bass knobs. Take the clean channel, turn up the gain to 12 and the volume to 11 and treble and bass at about 3-4 and mid at 9 and the contour at about 11 and the sound is pure tube distortion, thick, creamy and fat.

I can go on and on and on about this little amp and it sound quality. Best I have heard for under $2500

Have not owned it long enough to evaluate reliability but no problem and i found out the 1st one i had that buzzed was one room in my house where any amp buzzes when plugged in. No issues at all.

Never had to deal with them.

I am a relative newbie to guitar and wanted to start with good gear. I can play somewhat as i took lessons when I was young and for the past 4 years have messed around learning as much as I could. I LOVE this amp. The size is so nice, its build amazing, it style and design top notch and the sound is A+. I compared this with MANY fenders from $500-$1200 and this beats them for versatility. I even A/B'd it against the $1200 fender supersonic which to my ears sounded brittle, thin and bright. Express won. Also tried the new Line 6 spider valve and was disappointed in that one. No contest, express wins. Tried a Peavy Valveking and that was horrible, express wins. Tried a crate, a vox and others. The ONLY place for improvement I can see is if they made this with a 12" speaker instead of a 10" as it does sound a tiny bit boxy compared to the 5:50 but not by much at all. It appears Mesa is releasing this amp with a 12" in 2008 and I will probably buy it. This amp is amazing and a keeper.

all the features have been covered, so lets get to the important stuff.this amp has a lot of features,and i thought it was just what i was looking for until i played it.

the clean sounds on this amp are good, i could use them, no problem the blues/ crunch sounds are also nice, great reverb, but the burn channel is a muddy mess, and the sustain on single notes just is'nt there. it's like you hit the note, it sounds, and it starts to die.it leaves you out there on your own.there is no "sweet singing sustain"

been playing 34yrs,owm a parker nitefly SA, akramer pacer deluxe, a line6 flextone3, and a carvinx100b all tube half stack. this amp had more featuers than all the others in this class, but the out and out lead tones were dissapointing, it's just not my sound!

Already covered. Four different gain levels, switchable, rolled into two channels. Separate eq per channel. Long-tank reverb. Extra eq stage called "contour". Footswitch switches channel, reverb and contour.

Perhaps the amp's best feature is its small size and weight (combined with great tone). As an average six-foot slob, I can lug this thing with ease -- for miles, I should think, if necessary.

The sound quality is, in a word, sublime. First of all, unlike previous reviewers, my sample of this amp is extremely quiet at idle. No complaints on that score at all.

The clean channel is beautiful, perhaps more Voxy than Fendery, and has a lot of headroom with the amp in the 25W Class A/B setting. With the amp in 5W Class A, headroom takes a dive, but the amp goes into gorgeous power-tube distortion on the clean channel at fairly low volume (the neighbours won't be pleased in an apartment building, though).

The various preamp distortion settings -- Crunch, Blues and Burn -- take the amp from mild breakup to full-on searing, creamy distortion. Classic rock and blues tones are all in there, no exaggeration. The amp won't get fully into Rectifier territory, but it really gets very close.

I can get a harmonic-rich, brutal, generally wonderful modern rock chord sound with the standard 498T bridge pickup on my Les Paul, with the preamp on Burn, gain about 2/3 of the way up, and the power amp on the 5W setting so that power-tube distortion comes into play as well.

The little 10" speaker is a very big surprise. Sounds huge. Dunno how they did it, but I don't feel that it's second best at all.

This is my first Mesa amp so I can't compare with other models, but I can say the sound possibilities are greater than with any other amp I've tried -- and I've tried a lot in my 30 years of playing.

Best of all, the sounds are so authentic, complex and rich -- tube tone about as good as it gets.

Dunno.

Dunno.

Can't give the 5:25 an overall 10 because it's so goddam expensive. Maybe not so bad in the USA, but here in South Africa the thing is the price of a middle-class month's salary after tax. Hectic, but almost worth it...

This is the latest line in Mesa's range, and the new entry level (replacing the F series). I think they're an incredible amp for the size and price (even at Australian prices which have to include a lot of extra shipping/distribution costs etc). Two channels, each with a wide range of gain and tone options. Footswitchable reverb and contour control, lots of switchable options including (the star feature) a power amp section that runs at 25 (ish) watts OR low power single ended class A EL-84 (5-7 watts). I've gigged it many times with bass and drums and it can hold its own without micing (even with only a single 10" speaker!), add a mic in front and you can have as grunty a guitar sound as you like in FOH (if you're using a PA). Note: I'm talking about a band of mature players who listen to each other and play for the song, not a thrashing competition. The low power section is great for quieter conditions and recording. It's not a mute switch, there's still substantial volume, but you can now use the clean channel with master volume all the way up, so you can get more authentic classic amp sounds that compress and break up sooner. There are always extra things you could wish for, but I think Mesa have included so much in a small package that they deserve congratulations. I'm being conservative with an 8 rating here, I don't want to be extreme and give lots of 10s (which should be almost impossible).

The sounds are really gorgeous (lame word, I know, but you'll see what I mean, beauty and substance). If you A/B with a more average amp you will really notice the extra detail, rounder sounds, quality of the reverb and effectiveness of the EQ. The rhythm channel is EQ-ed with more bottom end possibilities and a wide gain range from clean to AC/DC crunch. If you find the spot on the gain knob (around 4ish) where the volume is about the same in clean and crunch modes you have a really versatile gig setup where you can simply flick the switch depending on the song and not have to fiddle with anything else. The lead channel also has a really wide range of sounds from quite clean boost (jazz/country) through Robert Cray, SRV, Clapton, Hendrix to Santana. The overdrive quality is round, it can be gritted up with some extra treble and mids dialled in, but essentially it's not a chainsaw, it's a hot knife through butter (man, how esoteric should I get?). I love the way that a can solo with a really high gain sound, bags of sustain and sweet harmonic feedback, but every note is clear and musical. It may not be your sound if you're a Slipknot (is that how you spell it?) fan, but most will be impressed, I'm sure.

I've only had the amp a few months, but gigged and played it quite a lot in that time. It looks and feels really solid, with lots of design features to keep the knobs and internals safe and secure. The footswitch (included) is a really solid unit, and its cable and connector seem robust too. I've owned a few Mesa amps in my time and none of them ever gave me any trouble. Keep a spare fuse in your kit and (maybe) a pair of power tubes just in case, and you can be really confident without a backup.

Customer support in Australia will be taken care of by your dealer and the importer/distributor (Pro-Audio). In my opinion it should be very good, but I haven't had to return anything. You pay a fair bit of money for Mesa gear here (there is no discounting) and most dealers take their responsibility to cutomers seriously.

I've been playing electric guitar about 25 years, most of that professionally. I've used Fender, G&L, Ibanez guitars (and others) and Rivera and Mesa amps mostly. If stolen/lost I'd replace this straight away, I've come to really like everything it does and it's smaller/lighter than my Rivera R-100 (which I use for bigger stages). I considered Fender blues junior, Peavey Classic 30, Traynor, Laney and some other options, but as soon as I played the Express 5:25 I knew nothing else would give me all these benefits, and I would be happy with it for a long time.

Made 2007, tube amp. It seems to have come from the product line of Nomad, then the F-series, each time taking the best features and refining them further.

The amp is spec'd very well, as you expect from Mesa. The 2 independant channels each have 2 modes and this gives a huge variety of possible tones.

The switchable 5 watt to 25 watt gives even more options.

I used this amp in studio for recording and just jamming, and in rehearsal with acoustic drums, bass, keyboards and other guitarist. 25 watts was plenty loud enough, I probably had it no more that half way. I feel there would easily be enough power for pub gigs.

The sound from this amp is excellent from clean to hard rock. At 25 watts, the clean will begin to break when cranked, but it is still a very impressive clean.

Some say the speaker is a little boxy, but I was pleasantly surprised how good it sounded with a 10" speaker. 10" especially suits the 5 watt mode. I tried the Express on 25 watt mode through a 2 x 12 with decent speakers and it sounded huge! I would have no reservations playing live un-mic'd in a pub/ small gig.

The amp is extremely loud for its rating and can easily cope with loud drummer and other guitarists. Mesa uses a special circuit to deliver the power on the attack of the note. I felt that the sustain was compromised, because after the inital attack of the note, the volume seemed to drop of considerably.

For studio, there are many tonal variations.

So far, I rate the sound quality at 10... but...

Unfortunately, this amp is very noise when not being played. I returned the amp because of this. I've never heard an amp this noisy when no guitar is plugged in, on the clean channel. I tested it side-by-side against other amps (including Mesa Nomad 100, Fender Champ), and later against a Mesa Lonestar. I measured the noise at 58 decibel, the other amps rated around 48 (which means the Express is TWICE as loud). It kind of sounds like you have low quality effects in the loop!

I tried another express 5:25 in the shop and same problem (to confirm it wasn't just my express).

For me this was reason enough to return it because if Mesa have cut corners/ poor design here, where else would there be problems.

Note: When testing the noise in the shop be use to have your ear on the same level as the amp, or you'll miss it until you get it home like I did :-(

I swear I had a problem with the Reverb, seemed to be shorting into the master, but could not reproduce it when I took it back to the shop. However I only noticed this problem after playing for over an hour at home at highish volume - clean channel gain at 12 and master at 12 (with the stock speaker). So maybe this was me doing something wrong, maybe a faulty model? Either way as I returned it to the shop because of the loud background noise I guess I'll never know.

That aside, the amp seems very solid and I have had excellent results with other Mesa amps.

My local dealer was very understanding and did refund me. I hope they don't just put me down as a fussy customer and do actually forward my comments about the noise to Mesa.

If Mesa don't know that people find things like this a problem then they'll never fix it!

I've been playing for years, and play with decent kit. Amps I've owned include Mesa, Fender, Marshall and Caslbro.

I wanted to love this amp, the spec is right, the build quality appears good. But the background noise and problem I had with the reverb put me off.

It's a great amp as long as you don't mind the noise level. But for me, at this price, I consider this a design flaw.

I'll buy a Mesa again, but will consider the Lonestar.

2007 Express 5:25. This is an amazing amp and when compared to the competition, it is an amazing deal. Dual Channels with Duo-Class power section. They've replaced the 5 band graphic switchable EQ with a contour knob .. one for each channel. Basically as you turn the contour knob clockwise it goes from flat to the classic V setting.. with the V getting more pronounced as you go. The only thing on my wish list was that the Class A 5 watt setting switch was on the front and possibly footswitchable.

This amp covers everything amazingly well... except for producing a huge low end chunk of a high gain amp going thru a 4x12 cab.. if that is what your looking for, you bought the wrong amp. It still amazes me when I read 'I keep the gain and bass maxed' ... that is just going to sound like crap... The manual covers some suggested setting and they are excellent... I can produce a massive heavy metal, tight, tight... blooming metal tone with the burn channel, gain at noon bass at 10:00... volume at 9:30 or so. Add a tube screamer type pedal for solos and you've got a lead tone that is sharp as a razor. Why would you look at a little amp with a 1x10 speaker and expect it to sound like a closed back 4x12 stack?? Ok, haveing said that.. this amp i amazing at clean and crunch tones... simply amazing.. with the class a/b setting you get big fat warm, big bass tube tone... with the class A you get a more midrange/treble tone what produces an awesome crunch tone...

The only amps I've ever had problems with have been mesa amps.. but I've never had an issue with a mesa combo... I love mesa amps and have purchased about 10 new mesa's brand new and I'm always trying new mesa amps at my local dealer... I think mesa needs to do a much better job of QA when they send out new amps, they claim that the issues appear after shipping... issues have been like reverb not working... or some bad part producing a tone issue.. once fixed your good to go but still... I do think the wood construction of the cabinets are second to none.

10 here.. along with VHT .. Mesa is the only company that seems to really care about taking care of issues someone may have with a purchased product. Treat them with respect and they'll return the favor.

This is a great EL84 amp and when compared to the competition it is an amazing deal. the 1x10 configuration really offers a versitile and unique tone.. This is a great little amp!

Got this amp in July 2007. Very versatile to play many styles of music. Everyone knows how many channels. Alot of functional goodies here if you need them.

Love the Boogie clean, love the the crunch and can be a different kind of clean with just a slight breakup with the control of your guitar. The Blues I don't use too often so I use the Burn. Alot of gain with the Burn but not metal type gain. Would have to use a pedal for that. Reverb is an improvement from other models.
Controls are independent such as gain, treble, mids, bass, reverb, master and contour for each channel. Foot switchable channels, reverb and contour. Reverb is all tube. Very cool. The amp is a rocker and will give you a mutitude of tones. Plenty of volume for a convervative rating of 25 watts in class A/B. It's actually 30 watts and possibly more with the dynawatt circuitry built in. Don't be fooled with the 10" speaker. The way this amp is built electronic wise, the Dynawatt circuitry and the dimensions of the cabinet will give you a big, big sound. Very decieving! Now for the class A settup. This is a full throttle of 5 pure watts. The tones are juicy, simply amazing. Dont believe me, test one out at the stores and set it up with the 5 watt class A. It will blow you away. Be prepaired to buy it. It is costly of just over a grand. When an amp can make a crappy guitar sound really good, you got a really good amp. I got to rate this amp a 10 because it delivers what Mesa Boogie say it can do and some. Very please with this amp. It's gig ready. For big avenues, just mike it.

Never had a problem with Boogies except for tubes.

Customer support. No worries here!

Great AMP period. Just pricy!

As stated below. No presence control. Has plenty of power. Very cute little amp. Awww..

Uing an American Deluxe strat with SCN noiseless pups S1 switching. Engage!! (The S1 switch, for more bass). I also play an Epi LP through and sounds very harsh. The tone is rather compressed typical of EL84 tube amps. Very boxy sounding, almost muted. Sounds a lot like my Super Champ on clean. I don't like the crunch mode, sounds like they removed the bass and added midrange, way too bright. I don't care much for the blues mode either, sounds hoaky. The burn mode does even come close to the type of gain for me. Keep your pedals. The strat sounds very thin, even with the S1 engaged, the LP on the burn channel is the best of the 3 distortion modes, but does not have the gain it claims to have. Extremely loud little amp. Clean channel sounds nice but would sound a lot better with a decent speaker.

My last Mesa was ok, but cheaps pots as always. It ain't gonna last forever.

It don't git no better than this.

Been playing since i jammed with Hendrix. I mean his records. I had to trade this in for the 5:50 beacuse for $100 more, I got a 6L6 amp with the bottom end I need. Not a bad amp by any means, just overpriced by say, $300 or so. A lot of ticks here with the 5 watt class A setting, but it won't help the boxey tone and cheap, harsh-sounding Eminence speaker. It does not have rectumfrier gain, not even close. I keep the gain and bass maxed, still not enough except for maybe classic rock, rythm playing. It only lasted two weeks. The 5:50 is much more balsy, especially when cranked.

Probably made this year (2007)
It's a very versatile amp
2 complete channels, separate reverb and contour (mid scoop) controls
The only thing I think it could use is a presence control, but boogie seems to neglect those frequently. Probably would negatively effect the "boogie sound"...
I use it for household jamming; thers plenty of volume for that. It has a switch to drop it to 5 watts class A but it's still a little above apartment level even then...

This amp is pretty good for anything except metal. Not enough presence or mid scoop for that. Excellent for the classic boogie tone (Santana - Black Magic Woman)The overdrive can go to insane levels though. The clean is very good, but warm about like a fender WITHOUT the bright switch on. It doesn't really get glassy, but that's often a good thing. It has a tone that I can only describe as boogie clean. The bottom and mid respond very well, but the high end stays kind of soft, but not to the point of being muffled. Most EL84 amps I've played share this tone. One of the things I like about this model is that you can set the contour "on" on one channel, and "off" on the other (via the front panel switch), and it will stay that way when you footswitch between them.

I originally was looking for a used Subway Rocket Reverb, but this model has so much more features. I used to own one of those, and all of my complaints about it have been resolved with this one. The reverb is way better, and the independant tone controls make it much easier to get tones for clean and distorted set.

I do recommend that anyone interested in this amp look at the B-52 tube amps though, because my AT-212 sounds better than this amp when side-by-sided, and it costs $300 less. Much more power too.

I'm giving it a 9 because it only needs a clear metal sound to be a 10.

It's a boogie with a five year warranty, though I doubt it will ever need that.

Never had to deal with them

I guess I'm the first to review one of these. If you have ever heard one of the 20-watt boogies, this amp is the epitome of them. It has more features than I have ever seen in such a small amp. It also sounds a lot louder than 25 watts. This is the first day I've had it so take that for what it's worth, although I've owned plenty of amps over the last 12 or 13 years, including boogies. This amp is a good example of the "classic" boogie, as opposed to the modern ones. I'll update after a few months, but first impressions mean a lot, and mine is very positive. Except for the insane price tag...

This is my first "high end" amp. After reading the reviews on here, talking to some of my friends, and playing this baby I knew this was the amp I wanted. Very versatile; you can go from great clean tones to a good heavy distortion in the flick of a switch/turn of a knob and everywhere in between. The high end distortion is not as heavy as a Recto, but works great for what I play.

LOTS of power even in the 5W mode, this baby can shake the windows in my house. I'm using it as a bedroom amp, even then I gotta keep it turned way down or it gets too loud.

The footswitch is really nice too - three buttons -> channel, reverb, and contour.

The only thing I wish it has was a headphone jack.

I'm using this with my '04 American Series Strat and my '06 American Deluxe Series Strat HSS. Both Axes sound awesome.

As I said above, this amp covers all the bases except the really high end gain stuff. I've only had it for two months and have only cracked the surface of what this baby can do. I really like the crunch on the channel one, and the burn on channel two - you can really get a ton of sounds out of these options to say nothing about the blues and clean settings. Suits my playing style perfectly.

I really like contour control - scoops the mids and gives you really great lead sounds. Reverb is really nice too.

Some have complained that it???s noisy, but I can't say that I have this problem.

Only had it two months and have not had any problems. Haven't dealt with Mesa, but from what I understand they are great.

The authorized dealers are kinda few and far between. I had to travel an hour to get to a place that carried this amp. No repairs needed as of right now.

I have been playing for three years. I was playing through a VOX AD15VT (great amp) but after plugging into this guy I found that I was missing a lot and decided that I needed to upgrade. If this were lost or stolen I'd definitely look at buying another one. Just wish it had a headphone jack for those late night jam sessions.

The power from this amp is really something to be heard. Combine that with all the great sounds you can get out of it and you have one really solid amp.

This amp was bought new 6-12-07. The amp is very versatile and can be used for most styles of music. Its got 2 channels with 2 modes on each. The effects loop is serial but I never tried it out. I think it would be great to have a headphone jack on it,, but it doesnt. I was planning on using this amp around the house which it would be perfect for that. Plenty enough power avialable for most people when using it at home. I think it could easily do a small bar type gig without a P.A.

What first sold me on this amp was the blues sound you can get. And the reverb was just awsome compared to the boogies ive tried and own. It offers a very nice clean sound but its not a Fender clean. You have numerous available sounds this amp offers you from great cleans through beautiful blues, a very nice hard rock bordering metal sound but it will never get into the recto area without some sort of additional pedal. It just wont do that. I used a Gibson lp custom and standard mex. tele with upgraded stacked buckers in it and both sounded very nice. Now for the problem,, I wound up returning this amp because of the background hissing noise. It wasnt just a hiss,, it kind of got louder and quieter and pretty much turned me off after I tried trouble shooting. It wasnt the tubes, wasnt the reverb, wasnt the speaker,, I had no pedals at all hooked up. The odd thing about the hiss was that raising the gain knob didnt make it any louder,, it was the master volume knob. It was just too much noise. I called mesa,, I forget the gentlemans name I spoke to,, very helpful but he explained that the hissing noise is an inherent sound of the amp.
O.K. enough for me thanks.
If this amp was a 50 or 100 watter meant to be played live I could almost see keeping it,, but because it was bought for home use and relatively quiet playing,, it just made it unbearable if you ever paused.
I thought if I was lucky and kept playing and pushed it hard I might just work it out. Nope. It didnt go away. Those el84's get real hot and after 3 hours of 75% volume playing this amp got real hot. I mean hot. But the hissing was there when I turned it on and was still there when I turned it off to take it back. If it wasnt for the hiss I would rate the amp a solid 9 for sound but I can only give it a 6.

I would imagine the amp will give many years of problem free service. Its built fine and tough. It reminded me a lot of a f50 I once owned,,, very similar. I currently own a rect-o-verb series 2 combo with a 2x12 recto cab and use it just about daily and never once had any issue.
Very well made amps.

I have spoke with Mesa 3 times I think and they took care of me each time. Other than today I called them once for rattling tubes under warranty on both the f50 and my ROV. Both times they sent me brand new tubes within 10 days no charge and solved all rattling problems.
Not even a mesa problem really,,, probably got bumped around a bit. Thats customer service. Im very grateful and will always remember mesa when a new amp is on the horizon.

Believe it or not I purchased a peavey classic 30 before the 5:25 which is a nice little amp in itself but needed a speaker change and new tubes pretty much right off the bat to make me happy which would put me within a few hundred of this boogie. I chose the boogie but couldnt keep it due to the hiss. I will say that the boogie is a much more solid, higher quality, and better sounding piece of equipment. Well worth the extra doe if it wasnt for that hiss. I was very amazed at the deep full sounds that little 10inch speaker puts out. Incredible really. It blows the stock peavey 12inch out of the water. The amp alone wont get anywhere near to the sound of a 2x12 cab or larger but for a single 10inch combo it will equal a many 12inch speakers out there. Other than that I still own my ROV which the 5:25 doesnt have a chance in hell to compete with, but then again I will end up there sooner than later carrying the ROV around.
For now my quest for the perfect little practice amp will go on.
Again if it wasnt for that hiss I would give this category a solid 9 but because I gave the sound rating a 6 and reliability, customer service 10's,, I will give it an 8.

I got a deal on a "used" 5:25, something like the 275th Mesa made. You can read about features below, or go to Mesa's website. They still don't have a manual on line, and mine is an obvious edit of the F50, missing tube position drawings, etc.

Previous comments about lack of a boost footswitch and limitations on channel switching are correct. Using the gain controls, you can get quite a bit of overlap between the clean, crunch, and blues sounds, so you can set up for something like a boots if you want by switching channels. It would be nice... It would also be nice if you could turn it off and use headphones in the 5W setting.

This is a very strong entry as a "grab and go" amp. It carries easily in one hand, and it won't scare anybody. It didn't even scare wifey until I started playing it. It has a much wider range of sounds than a Subway, and it puts out very nicely in 25W mode.

I sometimes think that it would be nice if the controls didn't interact. Reading the manual, it's clear that Mesa thinks that making the controls interactive is the way that they can create. As long as you read the manual, always start from the left, work to the right, then do it a again a time or two, you should find the tone you're looking for.

I'm not sure if anyone has mentioned the "Dyna-Watt" feature. As Mesa describes it, it is "our patented way of wireing up a pair of EL84 output tubes that delivers a massive bust of headroom at the initial attack of the note. From there, a "timed sag" circuit loosens the feel as the notes decay and the result is a little amp that is twice as powerful as its rated wattage on the attack - where you need it - but sweet and clippable, bouncy and dynamic as the sound decays." They call it "enjoyable", "expressive", "friendly feeling", and "incredible sounding". It's generally nice, especially for blues, but for smooth jazz, you'll call it "pick noise". Sag is good for jazz. Fortunately, the 5W setting doesn't have this problem, and it sounds good at the volume you'll want with an archtop. If you want to put people to sleep louder, run into a amplifier with more power and a big speaker.

You also get a nice padded cover and a Mesa sticker for wifey's forehead.

I can make all the noises with this amp. With its puny 10" speaker, you can do clean, crunch, jazz and blues. With a compressor up front, you could do some hideous high gain stuff.

I like to make all the noises. I have a blast with the amp using my Kinman equipped tele (clean, crunch, blues), my Ibanez '335 clone with '57 Classics (clean, jazz, blues) my jazz boxes (jazz), and even my EMG ACS equipped Martin (clean).

Here's the cool thing. I'm very mobile now with just the amp, a guitar, a strap, a cord and a pick (you could walk the whole setup a half mile in one trip), and I can run the effects output into the effects input on my Peavey BAM 210 bass amp, which has 350W through 2 10" drivers and a horn, nicely flat and ported, and get totally incredible tone at whatever volume I want. I mean wet your pants good tone. Really.

The reverb is great too.

The amp is pretty solid, but it does have those antique funky tube things. I suppose you could use it without a backup in church or something, but I don't think that this is really a gigging amp, is it?

Since the circuit is fixed bias, you can change tubes with impunity, as long as they are input tubes, Mesa power tubes, or you really know what you are doing.

I haven't tried the support, but the transferrable warranty will keep up you resale value for a long time, and there are lots of authorized service centers. A list comes with the amp.

Amp good. My little 15 Watt $79 Crate that sounds like angels with the nice reverb, and my Line 6 AX2 will be going away now. My Deluxe Reverb better watch its step. It's now a smooth-jazz one-trick wonder. $1059 is a lot to pay for a cute little amp. I'd buy one again if I could get it close to its resale value. When these start turning up on eBay, buy one.

If I give it a 10, the review might say "fantastic value". If I didn't have more money than brains, or at least a credit card, I might have held out for a more cost-effective solution. It's a great amp. Call it "9+1".

Brand new 2007 model. All-tube lowish power amp with great versatility in a small, attractive and not-madly-heavy black box.

2 channels, with two switchable voices each. First channel Clean or Crunch. Second channel Blues or Burn. Gain increases from Clean through to Burn, with the latter having absolutely loads.

Treble, Mid and Bass EQ per channel. Gain and Master per channel.

"Contour' voice adjustment per channel.

Two power amp modes: 5 Watt single-ended or 25 Watt push-pull. Unlike Mesa's pricier models, you cannot have the two channels in different modes; this is a shame as you might like to use the 25W for clean to ensure maximum headroom, and 5W for distortion, to drive the power amp hard. But can't complain too much, given all the other excellent features and the low-for-Mesa price.

10-inch speaker. Will drive an 8-ohm extension as well as the built-in speaker, or instead of it.

Spring reverb.

Effects loop, but no effects blending: it's all or nothing, so your effects had better have their own blending controls. Or use effects in the old-fashioned way before the input, of course.

Included foot-switch controls Channel, Reverb, Contour (on/off).

I've a bit of a reputation with my band for pointlessly changing my gear too often and I get a bit of stick for it. But after hearing this amp, I got absolutely none of that for this purchase. In fact, the other guitarist will probably buy one if he can swing approval from the wife. Basically, this thing sounds superb.

Clean is very nice, though best on 25W mode. Reverb goes well with this. Wind up the gain, and you get a nice bit of break-up.

Crunch and Blues do what they say. So far, with my guitar, I've found I use these less.

Burn is awesome. I had no idea a Telecaster could sound like that. It's not quite modern metal, but pretty full-on all the same. Ideal for me.

Can't really rate a 2 week old amp for reliability. It's working so far!

People say nice things about Mesa service, but I've no experience of it myself.

I am 37 but have played guitar only 3 years (other instruments for ages). I have tried various guitars, but now own only one electric and one acoustic. The electric is a USA Telecaster.

You've read the various features, so I don't need to restate others posts. Purchased mine over a month ago and love this thing. By far the best amp I've ever owned (compared to Crate, Peavey, and Fender). Four channels give me more than enough sounds for any gig.

I play a variety of styles, the band I'm in plays alot of 60s, 70s and 80s style rock. I run a Fender American Strat, Epi Dot, and a PRS Singlecut Tremelo through this amp. It will cover blues, and country twang, as well as AC/DC, Aerosmith, Robert Palmer, Tommy Tutone, Pat Benatar, Skynard, Sheryl Crow, Clapton, etc.

In addition, I play worship music on sunday mornings and at the low level, clean, smooth and "comfortable" I would describe the sounds.

The 5watt setting is damn loud. Most of the time, I leave it on this setting. For the occassional outside rehearsal, I will crank up the 25W on the duo converter.

1 month and counting. Purely awesome.

Haven't had to call

I've been playing for 20+ years. I own four other amps, and this is my new #1. Its portable (31 lbs), and covers everything and then some. I am looking into getting an express xtension cabinet to see how much it will compliment the amp. Will post when tested.

Love this amp. If stolen I'd replace it (I have all my gear insured)

As the other wrote already - it has all the features needed.
Something is missing:
a solo boost

For any style ?
Mesa writes at there homepage:
"... Higher Contour settings, especially in Crunch and Burn, take you into Recto??? turf, tight, huge and menacing."

I ordered it because I thought it could do this (Recto) sounds - but it can't.

Nice clean, crunch, blues, rock sounds (for the size) but no heavy or high gain sounds at all (even not with my LesPauls or Ibanez JEM).

Mine was noisy after I started it up for the first time (some tube noise) in the clean channel - it when away after some hour of use - don't know why.

This small amp is really quiet (noise) and loud (sound) - hey it's a 10" and even with the 5Watt setting is it loud. 25Watt setting will be ok for a (not to loud) band.

The sounds of this one are very versatile - as long as you are not looking for high gain (this is NOT possible). Clean (when set to 5Watt class A is very nice), blues and crunch fine, 'burn' ok for some 70th & 80th rock.

I gave a 8 because it does not sound like a clean, crunch of a 2*12" combo - if only size matters - and I compare it to the other stuff in this size than it would be a 10

My other Boogie (Lonestar Special) is working all the time without any problems - and this small one looks very dependable too.

If you are looking for a small amp - very portable (about 17KG) - and don't need high gain sounds - then this one may be for you.

It's small but it seams to sound best when not to quite - so it's not the perfect bedroom amp.
If you like a bedroom amp - then set the amp to 5Watt (switch on the backside) before you try it - it sounds different then and can be used at lower levels then.

I bought this one via the internet with money back guarantee - and I will return mine - since I wanted this one (beside the possible sounds) for a recto (high gain) sound.
Btw. it's NOT the speaker - I tried the 5:25 with different larger cabs.

By playing this small fine amp I felt in love with the 5:25 - but will return it anyway since for clean/crunch do I still prefer my larger 2*12" Mesa Lonestar special.

If I would not own the Lonestar then I would keep the 5:25 for the clean/crunch sounds.

I bought this amp in spring-2007. It just was introduced when I got it and it's one of the very first they made. This amp is very versatal in that it easily get any sound you can think of. I play roots and classic rock mostly and this little beauty covers everything. It only takes seconds to find EXACTLY what I need.
It has 2 switchable channels but either can be set up with 2 levels of gain structure. It has an effects loop and a set of jacks on the back for some fancy switching systems. I wish it had a solo boost and a slave out like my Lonestar does, but those are the only features I need that it doesn't have. My lonestar, on the other hand, has lots of features I don't use. It has a choice of 5 or 25 watts, but let me tell you, the 25 watts is as loud as 98% of all players will ever need.

Prepare to be shocked! Just like the ad says! This little amp with it's 10" speaker has enough bottom end to make the room shake. I mean that literally! Things in my practice room rattle around when I push the bass on this thing. It has as much (or more) bottom end as a 4x12 cabinet and 100 watts. But it's not just amazing bass that this does well. Almost any sound you can imagine can be dialed up in seconds. You know that great sound you heard on that cd the other day? Well you can find it in this amp! It's got everything possible in there. I've got every type of guitar and pickup and they all work great with this thing. It's the best amp Boogie (or maybe anyone) ever made (that I've tried) and it won't break your back (or your wallet) when you carry it.

It's worked great but I had a couple small problems right away. The amp itself has had no problems.
First of all (with all that bass in such a small box it's no wonder) the Chinese tubes it came with started rattling after about 5 minutes of playing. I called Boogie and they mailed me 5 new Russian tubes the next day. They didn't even ask for proof! The new Russian tubes didn't rattle and they even sounded better too.
Second, The footswitch went out immediately. It has a weak spot on the multi-pin connection point and with just the slightest bending of the cord, it would short out. This really wasn't a problem because it has an extra channel switch jack on the back that I can use with any mono-plug footswitch. I used a switch from another amp while Boogie had the original one in the repair shop. I don't ever turn the reverb on-and-off with the footswitch and so I never used that 2nd funtion of the footswitch anyway.
I'm giving the rating a 9 out of 10 because I felt the issues were minor and didn't take away from the main function of the amp.

As I mentioned in the other section, I had 2 problems that Rich at Boogie Support was great about fixing right away. If you need to call the support phone number, they ask you leave a message and they'll call back. This is true. Rich called back within an hour or so and was as helpful as he could possibly be.

I've been playing guitar longer than many readers of this have been living. I've had lots of different Marshalls, Fenders, Peaveys, etc... and 2 other Boogies but this is the best I've ever had by far. Do not go out and buy ANY OTHER AMP until you've tried a 5:25 Express. There is currently a waiting list to get one, so if you come across one, buy it immediately! If this were lost or stolen, I would cry like a baby and go get another one immediately.

Brand spankin' new... check out the Mesa website for the details... supposed to replace the F-30 Model, which is no longer made.

Amp is lighter than any Boogie I've had in the past... which is nice for a change!!!

I can't get my ears around the fact that this is only a 10 inch speaker.
I plugged in the EV SRO/12 that's in my Fender 75, just to compare, and the 10 sounds just as good... again, hard to believe.
This is my 4th Mesa amp, and is by far the easiest to use, and the most tonally flexible...
Being able to have a choice of 4 modes, contour on or off, 5 watts or 25 watts really gives you 16 basic sounds you can mix/match/footswitch around to (5W switch is on the back though)

Based on my previous experience with Mesa products, it is built like a tank, and will be outstanding... but this is a prediction at this point since I just bought the amp two days ago.

Mesa rocks... they just don't get any better.

I've been playing 35 years, and have been in quite a few different bands. My tastes run from Blues to Rock.

Jimi, Steely Dan, Stevie Ray, Zepplin, Def Tones, Satch, Robin Ford, Dire Straights, The Cult, Tool, Rage, Billy Squire, I could go on...

There's not much I don't like... I own a bunch of stuff, and have had lots of stuff... that's what happens when you've worked in a music store for a few years (back in the late 80's) and had 30+ guitar students.

Again, the amp will do any of this stuff.

This is a new 2007 mesa boogie moel with new duo class power section which allows the user to select via a rear mounted toggle switch the option of single ended class A @ 5 watts or 25 watts class A/B for differing levels of headroom and saturation. The amp I have is the 10:speaker combo, there is a head available and also additional express cabinets. The amp is two channels with many voices. It has fully adjustable master, gain, bass, mid, treble, reverb and conotur for each channel. It has voicing options for each chanel as well and they are clean, crunch , blues, and burn. The amp has 2 EL84's in the power section and the 5 preamps are 12ax7's. The amp has three speaker outputs, 1- 8ohm and 2- 4 ohm. The amp has jacks on the back to enable the user to control the amp through a master switching system and or via a midi system. This amp is the most portable and versatile amp I have ever seen !! It aso has long spring tube driven reverb and a line out with controlable level. The footswitch can turn on and off the contour otion, the reverb option and switch between the 2 channels.

The amp can cover so many grounds it is UNREAL !!! You have to go try one !!! All types of cleans and so many differing levels of overdrive, sustain and distortion ...The cleanest of the cleans.....Vintage fender blackface punch with massive headroom from a tiny portable...... the hardest distortion...... very similar to a dual rectifier. The amp has all tones in between these two totally nailed. Tone of course is subjective, but this amp should make many tone addicts very very happy !! Not much noise at idle. There is a bit when the gains and contours are nearing the "dimed" level but nothing out of the normal realm for a good quality high gain tube amplifier. It produces workable and enjoyable to my ears sounds with PRS dragon humbuckers in my standard 24 as well as Seymour duncan hotrail single coils in my 1984 squier bullet japan.

I got this amp 7 hours ago from the great guys at Ron's guitars in Groton, CT and as with all of my current and past mesa products, I don't worry and I have never had one problem and trust this one, as I do my others with just spare tubes in the bag !
I will report back after I spend hundreds of hours on this amp. for now, 6 hours of ripping and all is well !

Mesa Boogie and my local dealer, Ron's guitars in Groton, CT., are great to deal with. Both always willing to help and also answer my stupid questions. The amp has a 5 year warranty , 3 years on the speaker, and 6 months on the tubes. That is darn good in my opinion !

I have been playing for over 25 years and have so much stuff I feel guilty and won't list it all because I feel like I am bragging. Suffice it to say I am blessed. There is nothing out there that even comes close to tones, features and size, I know, I have looked, the only thing close is an older subway rocket reverb. If it were stolen , I would flip out !!! Then get another one when I got paroled for murder 1 !!!! I have many amps and I was not really in the market for anything else, but I heard a little buzz of a new mini mesa and I have some of there older small amps and love them. So when Ron's called me, I went and checked it out and traded in my F50 and the rest is in the books. It has so many totally unique voices that it is just a great amp, you won't loose money if you bet your friends to guess the speaker size by the tone and volume. I love this amp like you can't imagine. Please... do yourself a favor and go play this one and try the express 5:50 with the 6L6's you will be making room for it !!