Torn between two amps, help

ICBM

meltedbuzzbox said:

If you are after a great clean and an added bonus of a dirt channel have you considered a Fender hot rod deville?

40watt, reasonably light, 1x12, loud as a mofo etc and the best bit is that there is an abundance of them for £300 used. 

[Jedi Voice]This is not the amplifier Bucket is looking for. Move along[/Jedi Voice]

Drew_TNBD

Yup. I wouldn't buy a new Mesa. I'd just wait patiently. They always come up.

Bucket

Ok, I've secured myself a really good cab - closed-back Zilla 1x12 with a Black Shadow speaker for £170 - and it's only half an hour away from me. Should be picking that up next week, and will hopefully bring that to Andertons when I go down there.

I really do appreciate what you've all said and have given it a lot of thought, but I think going new is still what I want - it'll have a warranty, and I can easily pay it in instalments (I appreciate the PayPal suggestion someone made but this way will honestly be easier for me). I know now that Mesas are a rip-off here compared to the US, but I'll have to live with it - because as ICBM said, the sound and features of a Mesa are difficult to find elsewhere and I know that's what I want, and because I'd rather buy new. The fact I'm paying monthly makes it manageable enough that it's less of a problem anyway IMO.

Call me crazy, but that's where I'm at with this decision atm.

Now... Express 25, Express 50 or Mark V 25?

ThePrettyDamned

Not crazy at all! You know what you like, now you just gotta get it!

Try them all my money is on you liking the express 50 though the shredder inside you will wet yourself for the boogie.

meltedbuzzbox

ThePrettyDamned said:

Not crazy at all! You know what you like, now you just gotta get it!

Try them all my money is on you liking the express 50 though the shredder inside you will wet yourself for the boogie.

yup

I have bought stuff new several times despite knowing I could get it cheaper else where etc.

You have to do what you wanna do. 

Unless its buying 2 £3k PRS guitars at the same time 

RaymondLin

As long as you go into it with eyes open and happy with the price here then happy days!

breadfan

RaymondLin said:

As long as you go into it with eyes open and happy with the price here then happy days!

Exactly!

Nice job on the cab!

guitarfishbay

It will be cool to read your write up of the cab. Sounds like a lucky score speaker wise!

thomasross20

meltedbuzzbox said:

ThePrettyDamned said:

Not crazy at all! You know what you like, now you just gotta get it!

Try them all my money is on you liking the express 50 though the shredder inside you will wet yourself for the boogie.

yup

I have bought stuff new several times despite knowing I could get it cheaper else where etc.

You have to do what you wanna do. 

Unless its buying 2 £3k PRS guitars at the same time 

Oi!!  

(I don't regret it lol).

Now I'm looking for an amp......!

dindude

Go to the shop, try both, have fun, buy one. I get the new thing too and this shouldn't need justifying.

From the clips, I prefer the Mk V. I've tried a few express in my time, great amps but not for me but I reckon I could find a lot of nice sounds in the Mk V.

Bucket

After numerous phone calls to shops, I've established that nowhere has a Mark V 25 and an Express 25 at the same time so I can't A/B them. The best I could find is GuitarGuitar in Epsom, which had the Mark V and an Express 50. Because the V is selling so quickly, I've put down a refundable 10% deposit on it and I'll be heading down there on Friday.

It's not as ideal as A/Bing them but this is my best option - I've a pretty good idea of what the Express sounds like anyway, what's more important to me is being able to try out the Mark V. I don't necessarily have to buy there and then, but who knows?

Anyway, I've got my cab now. Closed-back Zilla 1x12 with a Black Shadow in it. £170. Cushty.

Gassage

Mark V has a brighter tone. Flame maple always does that.

sweepy

You'll love Guitar Guitar in Epsom, be strong and don't look at the Fender Custom Shop display

stickyfiddle

I think you'll really like the V. I've just sold my Express as don't regret it as I only really need one main amp sound, but from your style I'd guess it'd fit you well. And the V is just a more flexible, better specced and better sounding version of the same idea.

dindude

Surely Westside in Denmark St has both, as they are the distributor?

Bucket

@sweepy Been there before, tried an Express 5:25 head with a 1x12 and my pedals - in quite some detail, with a Mayones Regius and yes, a Custom Shop Strat. I'll aim to do the same with the Mark V. Epic place and very accommodating, helpful staff. Brilliant.

@stickyfiddle Hope so - I just hope the lead channel won't suffer from the same problem as the early Mark IV combo I borrowed - the fizz that I just couldn't quite dial out. Difficult to get a sound I liked from that channel. The cleans were fab, but Mesas are always great for that.

@dindude I phoned them up, apparently all the other dealers get the amps before they do! Strange. Probably explains why they're usually pretty slow on the uptake with the floods of new Schecter models every year as well.

Rockhopper

Just a 'footnote' but consider the footswitch too as I find the 'solo' on the Express 5:25+ really useful and the MkV:25 does not appear to have a 'Solo' function......

sweepy

Good call on the solo button, the one on my Nomad is really handy, however i moved it to flat out by accident and hit the wrong switch, needless to say what was left of my hair was promptly parted

Rockhopper

@sweepy I did that too with my MkV nearly died. I really think they need to put a warning on that in the manual.

sweepy

I love the Nomad, but the knob design is abysmal, they are virtually impossible to see what setting you have on and the graphics are as well thought out as a rattan kettle