Mesa/Boogie Express 5:50 1x12 Combo

I bought this Express 5:50 combo this year and it is the first year they've made them I believe.

The features of the amp are well documented on Mesa's site but its a two channel amp where each channel has a switch that changes the voicing / gain structure of the channel so its almost like a 4 channel, just not foot switchable 4 channels.

I use this amp at home in 5 watt mode and use it when playing with my friends in 50 watt mode.

The "contour" mode is a replacement for the multi band EQ on some previous models... now it is a single knob thats foot switchable.

I love this amp. It has some seriously sweet tone. You can't get a super clean tone out of the amp as is pretty much standard for most mesa amps I've come across. the clean channel has a warmth and slight crunch to it that I really enjoy. If you are looking for fender cleans steer clear.

I use this amp with a PRS Custom 22 with custom split coil Santana pickups, a PRS Custom 22 with Dragon II pickups, a PRS Single Cut with #7 pickups, and a 1978 Peavy T-60. Each guitar has a distinctive sound when played through this amp. You can get some really nice textures out of the overdrive when you have the contour engaged but without contour on and in a good position I am unimpressed with the overdrive on this amp.

I also overdrive the clean channel frequently with a fulltone fulldrive II and that adds a whole set of awesome options to this amp.

The 5 watt mode has the best overdrive sounds and the warmest clean sounds but 50 watt mode sounds almost as good, just a LOT louder.

I can't really complain about anything on the amp.. other than the contour option, it has me so spoiled I rarely turn it off and the overdrive sounds flat when I do, but that is likely because I am so used to it now.

I haven't taken this on the road or anything but it seems to be built like a tank. I'll leave this as no opinion since I dont have any experiences with it other than putting it in my trunk to meet my friends and play so far.

I haven't had any reason to contact mesa and the warranty was a 5 year limited one if memory serves.

I've been playing on and off for 15 years now. This is currently my only amp... I'd replace it if it was stolen. I've previously owned a Hot Rod Deluxe, some POS crate amp, an 80s Peavy 2 12 combo that was outrageously loud tube amp... forgotten what it was exactly now.

This is the first amp that I've owned that I thought sounded as good as it should sound.

I would rate it higher but Mesa is so freaking expensive and it is really damned heavy.

5 watt mode is KEY. You can get that great tube sound, at a reasonable sound level. Def a great move for home use... even the occasional jam sess.

I play everything from metal to blues to funk to rock. To be honest, I really like the crunch you can get out of this. It's doesn't have the piercing high treble that my old Peavey XXX used to have, which is a major plus. But this bad boy can keep up with metal riffage, no doubt... not to mention its a pro with rock and blues.

This amp has more than enough power ... I actually own the 2x12 model.

Soooo versatile. The blues channel is by far my favorite for rock rhythm, but the clean and crunch are boner-inducing as well. I'm not terrible impressed with the burn channel other than for high-gain in your face solos. Granted, if you turn the gain down below 12oclock, you get a real warm rhythm sound-- but the point is, you won't be dissapointed with the gain.

Unless your some metal-junky, I'm pretty damn sure you'll be pleased with the crunchy chunkiness of this amp. Although it doesn't chug as heavy as my triple xxx, I don't mind because the tone this thing puts out is just way too nice.

Just bought it the other week, but I would trust mesa enough use it on a gig without a backup.

I've been playing for 10 years and I own an SG and an American Deluxe Strat w/Humbuckers... BTW the Fender clean and blues is orgasmic. Best tones I've ever heard in my life, hoenstly. I played my guitar for 10 hours straight when I bought this, just gettin' kicks off of playin cheesey blues riffs. The sound is so warm, but the attack is real crisp in rhythm mode on my sg.

If it were stolen, I'd hunt the person down and surely get my vengence... in fact, I'd do the same if that person put a ding in it. I'm in love with this.

The only thing I'd change would be the ability to switch between Clean and Crunch, and Blues and Burn. Granted, I can do without it because the amp is very responsive to the volume knobs-- the gain clears up real quick with the slightest volume decrease, which is great for urgent solos... not to mention, the countour feature acts as a great booster peda.

bottom line: I'M GOING TO KEEP THIS AMP FOR LIFE. no question. I can't be any happier with it.

Coming from years of playing mostly Fender vintage and reissue amps, this thing is loaded. 2 Channels, each with a choice of 2 voicings, contour, master volume on both channels, gain on both channels, bass/mid/treb on both channels. 12" Celestion Black Shadow, 5 or 50W...
Small enough to lug to the gig, big enough to fill the stage.

I love this amp. If I were to have a wish list, it would include two inputs instead of one (like Fender), footswitch access to all four sounds, and a headphone jack (like Traynor), at least for the 5W setting. I have an ABY pedal instead of two inputs, I haven't needed access to 4 sounds while on stage and I have a practice amp with a headphone jack; it's just a wish list.

I have to give it a 10 here. It's stunning. The 50W has a more open and usable tone than the 5W. Great clean, overdriven and distortion tones. I love having a gain and master volume on each channel. It's easy to dial in the sound; I bought it and played two shows before really having time to spend with it and it sounded great right away. Works great in the recording studio as well. I use a Fender Hot Rod '52 and a "Mandocaster", both sound great. I play the Mando on crunch (mando volume rolled back a little to clean it up) and on burn with a slide...beautiful! No pedals needed; I sold them.We play Honky-Tonk Rock/"Alt"Country/Evil Bluegrass.

I sold my soul ('67 blackfaced Bassman 50 and reissue Deluxe Reverb) for this amp...so far no regrets! The Sound!

I've owned to for about a month and a half; played 4 shows and spent 4 days in the studio with it. Not long enough to really tell yet...so far so good. None of the problems with it that some others have experienced...

Not yet.

I'd give it a 10 if it had my wish list. This is a fantastic amp...the tone is unreal. I compared it to Marshall, Fender, Traynor, etc. but this one had the tone and most of the features that I was looking for. I wanted one amp that did what my two amps and pedals did. I liked the Marshall DSL401, but it didn't quite match the tone and reliability? Also liked the Marshall VintageModern (heavier but nice), I'd like to like the Traynor's more, but they just can't match the tone. Fender makes great amps, but I wanted 50W clean and dirty, like a Pro Reverb (way too heavy and no longer made). The Hot Rod Deluxe is ok but not quite there in tone. The Lonestar is too beautiful for the likes of me.

Amp is new for 2007
2 channels - independent tone controls for each channel + contour and reverb
contour control - sort of like the old 5 band eq but replaced with one rotary knob (separate control for each channel)
mini toggles for additional voicings for each channel clean / crunch - blues / burn
mini toggles for power setting 5 / 50 watts
4 - 1/4" jack switcher inputs
foot switch to control channels, reverb, contour effects loop
Black Shadow Celestion 12"
Black Slip cover
Size wise: Slightly narrower but deeper than a Fender Vibrolux

Right off the bat, this amp is very versatile - very decent, usable sounds. A lot of tones are possible. Clean has the Lone Star Classic vibe. Lead tone has a modern take on the classic Boogie with gobs of gain, IMO tighter and more focused than the Lone Star Classic but not as upper midrange intense and presence voiced as the Dual Rectifier Series. I definitely wouldn't call it an amp for metal (use a pedal - slams with the Soldano GTO). Closed 2 - 12"cab may give that more intense punch and tightness.

Amp works and sounds really good with pedals in the front (Keeley drive pedals and the usual green pedal work great) and the effects loop works decently with stomp pedals and rack effect units, however, because the master volume is the send and there are no send and return level controls you may need to do some tweaking if you like the really clean tones with the master fully open.

The 5 watt setting is quite loud even for home and if you are pushing it, the amp could compete with medium volume drumming. You can really hear the power tubes saturate in this setting. The 50 watt is plenty loud with a lot of headroom; might not need much more volume than this.... maybe just an extension cab for more coverage.

Good warranty to back the product. Most of the previous Mesa products I've owed were quite reliable. Heads / combos gave no problems except for a effect loop problem with one of the heads.

Mesa support was good last time I called them....haven't had a reason to call since the 90's.

Up to this point, I feel this is a great product that I will probably keep.

Coming from vintage and vintage reissue Fenders, this amp has a lot of features. 5W class A or 50W A/B, two channels; each with two voices, 12" Celestion Black Shadow speaker... I gave it a 9 because it has more then I need, but it'd be nice to access all 4 voices by footswitch instead of 2.

The tone is stunning! I use the 50W side the most; the master volume allows you to sound good even at lower volumes. I play a Fender Hot Rod '52 with an SD mini humbucker in the neck and a Fender FM61E mandolin. Our band plays Alt-Country/Bluegrass/Rock/Southern Rock/Blues and this amp can hit all of those sounds without pedals. It's a quiet amp too.


Channel 1/Crunch: Gain at 11 O'clock for rhythm guitar and mandolin (I
turn the volume down a bit on the mandolin).
Channel 2/Burn: Gain at 2 O'clock for slide mandolin and lead guitar.

I can't think of anything wrong with the sound (for my use), I have to give it a 10

They have a good rep and it's seems very solid so hopefully it's reliable. I gig locally without backup, but always tour with my practice amp...just in case. To new to rate.

I've never used it, can't rate it.

I've been playing for a few years and have gone through a lot of great amps to get here including a '67 Bassman 50 and a Deluxe Reverb RI. I've played Marshall, Vox, Traynor and Fender before settling on this one. Sadly, I had to sell the Bassman and DRRI to get this amp, but I never regret it when I'm playing the Mesa. I like having one amp that is small enough to lug around, big enough to fill a room and has killer tone.

New 5/50 Express Oct 07. Excellent options over the F-50 I owned. Tube reverb a major plus. The 5 watt 50 watt option is handy for recording. The gain settings for each channel helps tailor to your liking. The volume control for the contour in each channel is cool.

Better than my F-50 hands down in every way. It seems like the F-50 was part of the journey to the eventual Express models. I am positive that we will see future models better than the Express as well. That's the way it works. Anyway the Express 5/50 has been Great to play so far. It's more tonally sophisticated than most of the other amps I've played and I own some heavy hitters namely a Victoria 50/212 $2800.00 amp. I would say that this Mesa does a Great job for a 112 combo. Hard to beat.

No doubt Mesa's are built well, but I have had my share of issues with them. I have owned Mark 4, F-50 and now Express 5/50. My Mark 4 would eat tubes and overheat. My F-50 cooked a couple of sets of factory tubes and the reverb tank took a dump and had to be replaced. So far, so good with the Express. Maybe to soon to tell. I gig alot, so I will now soon. I will give an 8 hear because of experience.

Mesa has been ok in helping me deal with problems. They are a big busy company (corporate world like). I would say that they are as good as they can be at there size. I will give them an 8 in this category because of recent events in dealing with them.

I like this amp and feel Mesa is worth the money in most cases. I have been playing for over 36 years and been through alot of gear. I like the Mesa versatility, and can cover most styles of music with these amps. I would say this is a good amp for Classic to Hard rockers, not METAL.

This is my first Mesa, I've played mostly Fender vintage and reissue amps. In comparison, the Mesa has a ton of features. Two channels, each with two voicings, 5W or 50W setting, gain/treble/mid/bass/reverb/master and contour controls. Footswitch controls channel 1 to 2, reverb and contour. 12" Celestion Black Shadow and an actual owners manual. It has a lot to offer, probably more than I need. If I were to get picky about it, it'd be nice to access to each channel voicing with the footswitch and two inputs instead of one.

Great tone! I've tried every channel/voicing and have been able to easily come up with a good sound. Comming from Fender clean, I really liked the warmth in the clean channel. I typicaly use "crunch" for guitar and mandolin (I turn down the volume of the mandolin to clean it up) and "burn" for a well distorted slide mandolin. Very impressive sound! Well worth the switch to Mesa.

Seems pretty solid, Mesa has a good rep. Too new to tell.

No experience yet.

After years of playing and switching gear again and again (Peavy, Vox, Marshall, Fender), I may have found an amp that I will stick with. Very flexible and great tone. I had to sell my '67 Bassman 50 and Deluxe Reverb reissue to get this amp, so far no regreats!

Made in 2007 - foot switchable 2 channel amp with contour control also foot switchable for 4 different tones on the fly. Very versatile for all types of music except Hard Metal. I play Blues, Classic Rock and some Jazz with a PRS Custom 22 and a 60's Fender Strat (Reissue). Both guitars sing through this little Boutique amp. I play with a gigging band and was looking for a more portable amp a bit lighter than my Fender Twin (with Fulltone Fulldrive II)The Mesa 5:50 weighs about 51 pounds, much lighter than the Twin. Solid Tube driven tone and top notch construction that Mesa is known for.There is a velcro pedal bag in the back of the amp to house your foot switch for mobile musicians. Also the padded amp cover has a storage pouch on the side. Seems they thought of everything. NO, I Don't work for Mesa..

Okay, I thought I wanted a Carr Vincent at $2,490 but the Mesa/Boogie 5:50 was so close and about $1,300 less, it was a no-brainer. You have to question your sanity when your thinking of spending that much for a 1x12 Boutigue amp. Sure Carr makes a fine amp, but I feel more comfortable going with Mesa whose been around for 30 years. The switchable 5 Watts to 50 Watts is too cool. the 5 Watt side is perfect for very small clubs or bedroom playing with warm harmonic overdrive as well as Fender like clean tones. The 50 watt side is more versatile and so loud I can't imagine ever needing that much volume. It's even loud at about 10 o'clock on the dial. Mesa's classic two channel design with identical controls with the Contour rotary knob for each channel is really hard to beat. Reading articles by Randall Smith about barrowing from previous Mesa amp designs to create this little amp is proof he's is listing to his customers. I was looking for an amp that would give me a clean rhythm and a fat warm lead tone I could shape from the pot on my guitar and I can do this in the Crunch,Blues and Burn channels. The Clean is just plain clean no matter what volume you're at. The variety of tones that come from this amp makes it hard to settle on just one. No noise from mine except when I get close with the single coil pups.

Mesa's reputation is very solid. The Mesa/Boogie 5:50 Express Amp comes with a 5 Year Parts & Labor warranty (Foot Switch included), a 3 year Speaker Warranty and 6 months on tubes. Does any other amp manufacturer offer that? It's going to be nice having an amp I don't have to worry about paying for repairs for a while.

Only dealt with a couple of times and it was a great customer service experience.

Been playing about 34 years. Own an Ampeg Reverbojet 68, Fender Twin II by Paul Rivera. I've owned Marshalls, Fenders, Peaveys, Sound City, Rivera Chubster 40 etc. I would buy another one is stolen. I am really thrilled about this amp. I can't really say anything negative about it since I have only had it about 2 weeks. I have played it every day for a bout an hour or two.

Two channels that can be further subdivided into two differing tones. Each of the four possible settings is extremely useful and toneful. Unlike many amps, even at a lower volume setting you can get a nice, singing tone out of this amp. Unlike the Mark IV, this amp is very easy to understand from the start. The Contour knob is a very subtle adjustment and the reverb is excellent. It is very easy to dial in a great sound quickly and get on with your playing.

Great clean tones, great crunch settings, the blues tones really sing, and the lead sound is classic Boogie. Don't expect a Dual Rectifier sound out of this amp. That's not what it is meant to do, it is a much more versatile machine.

I have three other Boogie amps and other than changing tubes when needed they serve you well with reasonable care on your part.

Sure they can be a bit hard to get through with on the phone, but they are real good about getting back to you as soon as they can. And once they call you back they take all the time needed to answer all your questions and help you out any way they can.

If you need an amp that can do a good job covering many different styles of music well, this is an amp for you. It is plenty loud enough for most gigs, and it is small enough and light enough to make loading and unloading less of a chore. Mesa Boogies have long been known for making reliable products that last a lifetime and this is the latest in that long line.

I have a 2007 5:50 1x12" Combo. I agree with Bill & Drew. This is an amazing amp. The best 50w combo I've ever played over 25 yrs as a pro muso. I've used it on the 5w setting gigging with a Jazz band and at full power rehearsing & gigging with a rock band. It has everything you need - plenty of power and volume for any venue, a series FX Loop for connecting dig modellers, 5w to 50w switchable, easy/simple to dial in pots, 4 different footswitchable voicings. It's light weight, small and rugged. But its incredible versatility is what separates it from the pack. This is no one trick pony like some other Mesa amps. It's clean & crunch tones are equally as good as it's overdrive and high gain ones. The Contour pot varies the tones beautifully by scooping the mids and the all tube spring Reverb is to die for. The tones on all voicings are superlative. And that includes guitars with both single coil and humbucker PU's. It sounds equally great with my Gibson SG, Gretsch Jet Firebird and Strat.

There's been some disappointment from metal heads that the 5:50 won't give recto metal tones and that's true. This is not a metalheads one trick pony. If you want a one trick pony for shredding buy a Mesa F-50 or Mark IV and stop whinging.
This amp covers ground from country/pop/jazz/folk cleans thru clean/crunch/overdrive blues and rock to all distorted rock styles up to heavy rock grunge. If you want a heavier tone connect a 2x12 or 4x12 closed cab on it. If you want pure metal/nu-metal stick a stombbox in front of it. It does all that with tones that'll blow you mind. THe tones on the sweet 5w setting are equally as good as the growling 50w one. THere's a ton of headroom before the clean channel breaks up, the Celestion Black shadow speaker handles heavy bass like a champ. Cranked on 50w it has plenty of volume for up to a medium sized club. For bigger venues connect a cab and/or mic it to a PA and you're cooking with serious gas.

See if you can find another 50w tube amp that gives that much versatility with such high quality. I've spent 25 yrs trying - you won't find one.

Had mine 3 months - no prob's :)

Don't know. But the guy below who had all the problems with Mesa should have just demanded a completely new amp rather than getting the old one repaired each time. Mesa have a great rep for build quality.

Nothing to criticize, everything to luv. I'll give it 9.5 overall. The best amp I've ever owned and I've had Fenders, Marshall, Roland, Vox, Line6 - both tube heads and solid state combo's. I'm a critical SoB so I can't give it a 10 but I was tempted.