Mesa Lonestar Special vs Express 5/25 and 5/50

[vintage66]

How similar are these amps? I played the 5/50 with an OCD and liked it a lot. Is the 5/25 good with overdrive/distortion pedals? I don't want any mushing out. I also like how the "clean" channel also has a crunch setting. Does the Lonestar Special's clean channel have a crunch setting or is it totally clean? How is it with dirt pedals? I'm guessing the Express series has more gain on tap.

 

[vintage66]

Sixstrings, great review. I'll definitely have to compare them-haven't played the 5/25 yet either. How are they with dirt pedals? That's one of the problems with my Traynor-they don't all get along with the overdrive channel and I don't like using the clean channel because that's all it is-no od at all unless it's cranked. I'm guessing the Lonestar's fine with them, but the EL84's make me wonder just a little.

 

[NickZ]

I played a 525 yesterday in a local shop and thought it was a very nice amp.
I used the setting from the manual as a jumping off point and went to town from there.
Very nice cleans and semi cleans and I like the saturation when the overdrive gets kicked up. My plan is to use the combo with the 10 inch for certain sounds and for a more robust tighter sound run it to my THD 2x12 cab.

I had a lonestar last year and liked it for the clean and overdrive but for leads it was missing a little something for me.

 

[Waxhead]

The LSS and 5:25 are EL-84 amps - the 5:50 is 6L6.
5:50 has more clean headroom than the others.
LSS has significantly less gain & is therefore less versatile
I find the clean & reverb on the 5:50 identical to the Lonestar standard.
All are great with pedals.
5:25 combo has more amp hiss than the others and is inferior in tone to the others due to the smaller box. It's lighter and cheaper.
Sixstrings prefers the LSS - I prefer the 5:50
All great amps. Try em all out and make your own decision

 

[Don A]

I love my 5:50 and played a Lonestar Special, a 5:25 and an F-50 when I bought it.

I was looking for a lighter, less expensive amp capable of higher gain and got that with the 5:50.
It was an added surprise that the 5:50's clean sound was so good.

The LSS' clean sound was even better, though there's less gain available and I didn't like the gain as much.

The 5:25 1x10 combo sounded fine before trying the other amps but after playing the 5:50 1x12 and the LSS, I found the 5:25 to sound very boxy and small.

The 5:50, 5:25 and LSS all had great reverb, better reverb than my '66 Vibrolux Reverb. These amps can surf!

The F-50 had more gain than all of them, though I didn't like the gain as much and the clean sound and reverb wasn't as good as the other amps.

 

[tone4days]

i LOVED the LSS when i demoed it with a PRS sc245 and an EJ strat ... the cleans are incredible and the 5watt OD tone was very very happenin' without being deafening ... didnt like the 5:50 so much - it was 'fine' but nothing about it stood out ... havent tried the 5:25 since they came out with the 1x12" combo .. i didnt like the 1X10" combo too well ... too thin sounding

 

[vintage66]

i LOVED the LSS when i demoed it with a PRS sc245 and an EJ strat ... the cleans are incredible and the 5watt OD tone was very very happenin' without being deafening ... didnt like the 5:50 so much - it was 'fine' but nothing about it stood out ... havent tried the 5:25 since they came out with the 1x12" combo .. i didnt like the 1X10" combo too well ... too thin sounding

That brings up another important thing-how it sounds with a strat. I usually end up demoing amps with humbuckers and forget to plug a strat in.

If I got the 5/25 it would definitely be the 12" version.

 

[soopajeanmi]

5:25 combo has more amp hiss than the others

The hiss on the 5:25 I tried was very noticable from 3'oclock on the volume, even on the clean channel. Not acceptable for such a price.

 

[never-enough]

i have the express 5:25 head.
i dont notice any more hiss from mine than any other tube amp running similiar amounts of gain.

i was not at all interested in th 1x10 combo version of the amp.
i have a 2x10 cab the head sounds amazing through, and it sounds excellent through an oversized 1x12 i have as well.

i think all 3 are cool amps, depending on what you are going for.
i find the 5:50 to be the most flexible.

 

[Waxhead]

The hiss on the 5:25 I tried was very noticable from 3'oclock on the volume, even on the clean channel. Not acceptable for such a price.

the 5:25 definitely has more hiss than the other 2 amps but most of it can be removed by swapping in different/quieter tubes. A lot of owners on the Boogie board have done this.

The 1x12 is definitely better than the 1x10 - less boxy and a fuller, richer tone.

 

[stratlad]

I used to own a 5:50. For my taste it was superior to the 5:25 for reasons stated above (less power / boxier) and I also wanted clean headroom and the 5:50 had more (and didn't cost a heckuva lot more). I sold my 5:50 not because it was a bad amp, but because I just wanted a more traditional fender tone and the 5:50's clean was just ok and not as powerful as i felt it would be for a 50 watt amp (the other channels sounded louder to me). If I had to have a Mesa though (and I don't) I'd seriously look at the Lonestar series before getting the 5:50.

The 5:50 is however a well built piece of equipment and very versatile. I'd say it's ideal for someone who needs a lot of different good tones in one amp