NAD Mesa

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blackstratblues
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NAD Mesa

Post by blackstratblues »

The first time I came across this amp was around 2014 when it showed up as a rental at a gig in Bangalore, India. I wasn’t expecting much but it took pedals well, had a good sounding series effects loop and had a fair bit of grunt that held up on an open air stage.

I’ve never owned a tube combo amp, as heads and cabs are more versatile to mix n match, and are individually more portable. But the realities of gigging in Auckland favour a single trip from car to stage, and I’m not getting any younger. So when this popped up on TM for a reasonable price I took a chance on getting it sent to the 09 from Wellington. Seller did a great job on packing, and Aramex surprised me by delivering on schedule, so here we are.
Last edited by blackstratblues on Tue Jun 21, 2022 11:16 am, edited 4 times in total.

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Re: NAD: Mesa Express 5:50 Plus

Post by clubhouse »

Hey man, congrats on the amp! Is the 5w sound usable at all…too loose or mushy? About that li’l board…is the Arian chorus all it’s hyped to be? I have Lightspeed gas as a low gain booster that is light on boosting mids. Do you think I’m on the right track or should look elsewhere?

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Re: NAD: Mesa Express 5:50 Plus

Post by blackstratblues »

clubhouse wrote: Fri Dec 10, 2021 5:35 pm Hey man, congrats on the amp! Is the 5w sound usable at all…too loose or mushy? About that li’l board…is the Arian chorus all it’s hyped to be? I have Lightspeed gas as a low gain booster that is light on boosting mids. Do you think I’m on the right track or should look elsewhere?
Thanks! The 5W is ok for late night jams at mouse fart levels, especially combined with the graphic EQ. I don’t know if I’d use it on gigs.

The SCH-1 is awesome, I actually have 3 across various boards so you can tell I love it. Avoid the SCH-Z or the various modded ones, none sound half as good as the original. I’ve had both the Japan & Sri Lanka ones and both sound good. Slow 80s chorus or a fast Leslie, does both well.

The Lightspeed seems to be pretty versatile across different amps. The tone knob has a lot of range so it works well into both bright and dark amps. Also check out the Vemuram Jan Ray (or a clone as they are pretty expensive) and the MXR Timmy, they’re all in the same ballpark.

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Re: NAD: Mesa Express 5:50 Plus

Post by clubhouse »

blackstratblues wrote: Fri Dec 10, 2021 5:43 pm
Thanks! The 5W is ok for late night jams at mouse fart levels, especially combined with the graphic EQ. I don’t know if I’d use it on gigs.

The SCH-1 is awesome, I actually have 3 across various boards so you can tell I love it. Avoid the SCH-Z or the various modded ones, none sound half as good as the original. I’ve had both the Japan & Sri Lanka ones and both sound good. Slow 80s chorus or a fast Leslie, does both well.

The Lightspeed seems to be pretty versatile across different amps. The tone knob has a lot of range so it works well into both bright and dark amps. Also check out the Vemuram Jan Ray (or a clone as they are pretty expensive) and the MXR Timmy, they’re all in the same ballpark.
By the way, what’s the amp speaker?

I dig chorus too. Thanks for the inside tips. I have a CE-1, CS-505, a Pearl CE-22 and a DC-2. Are there any SCH-1 clones you’d recommend or save for the real McCoy? So the Lightspeed is in the Timmy family…brilliant! I dig that guy too!

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Re: NAD: Mesa Express 5:50 Plus

Post by blackstratblues »

clubhouse wrote: Fri Dec 10, 2021 6:44 pm
By the way, what’s the amp speaker?

I dig chorus too. Thanks for the inside tips. I have a CE-1, CS-505, a Pearl CE-22 and a DC-2. Are there any SCH-1 clones you’d recommend or save for the real McCoy? So the Lightspeed is in the Timmy family…brilliant! I dig that guy too!
The speaker is a Black Shadow MC90 by Celestion, sounds good enough to not make me want to replace with a Vintage 30.

I reckon stick to a used SCH-1 on eBay or reverb, some of the clones are more expensive 😂 You’ll want to replace the pots & knobs at some point, thankfully Jaycar parts do the job.

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Re: NAD: Mesa Express 5:50 Plus

Post by blackstratblues »

Update:

Used it on a NYE gig, the amp sounded good at a very modest volume at first but I got to turn it up towards the end.
My only niggle was the master volumes seemed to come on too quickly.

Today I subbed the V4 driver 12AX7 for a NOS 12AT7 and I now like this amp a lot more - cleans have more of that Fender ‘bloom’ and the drive channel has a lot more clarity.

Switching the channels and solo boost from the ES-5 works great, good to be able to store this separately per preset.
Last edited by blackstratblues on Thu May 26, 2022 6:29 pm, edited 4 times in total.

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Re: NAD: Mesa Express 5:50 Plus

Post by HackSaw »

I just watched the Vertex guy's "best pedals of all time" or somesuch on YouTube. Apart from the Timeline and an RC booster rather than AC, every single pedal on that board was in his list!

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Re: NAD: Mesa Express 5:50 Plus

Post by blackstratblues »

HackSaw wrote: Tue Jan 04, 2022 3:42 pm I just watched the Vertex guy's "best pedals of all time" or somesuch on YouTube. Apart from the Timeline and an RC booster rather than AC, every single pedal on that board was in his list!
I can see why, both Mason from Vertex and I are huge Mike Landau & Tom Bukovac fans :mrgreen:

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Re: NAD: Mesa Express 5:50 Plus

Post by werdna »

I'm going to do the swap out of 12AT7 on my Express 5:50 not Plus.

Has anyone gone a a 12AT7?
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Re: NAD: Mesa Express 5:50 Plus

Post by MikeC »

werdna wrote: Wed Jan 05, 2022 7:52 am I'm going to do the swap out of 12AT7 on my Express 5:50 not Plus.

Has anyone gone a a 12AT7?
I've got 2x brand new EH 12AT7 (long plate) on TM at the moment - https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/marketplace ... f=IBX8X6YQ. NZG members discount applies so PM if interested. I also have a NOS Philips 12AT7 (short plate) which might be more suitable.
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Re: NAD: Mesa Express 5:50 Plus

Post by JoeBlow »

What happened to the chorus/vibrato switch on your vibe machine? Is it fixed in chorus mode?

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Re: NAD: Mesa Express 5:50 Plus

Post by blackstratblues »

JoeBlow wrote: Wed Jan 05, 2022 9:50 am What happened to the chorus/vibrato switch on your vibe machine? Is it fixed in chorus mode?
Yup the switch became intermittent due to years of abuse on the road, so I jumpered it to be permanently in chorus mode as I never used vibrato.

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Re: NAD: Mesa Express 5:50 Plus

Post by jeremyb »

werdna wrote: Wed Jan 05, 2022 7:52 am I'm going to do the swap out of 12AT7 on my Express 5:50 not Plus.

Has anyone gone a a 12AT7?
Maybe try a 5751 first? only slightly more gain than a 12AT7, but sounds so good in my AC10, highly rate it!
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Re: NAD: Mesa Express 5:50 Plus

Post by MikeC »

jeremyb wrote: Wed Jan 05, 2022 10:45 am
werdna wrote: Wed Jan 05, 2022 7:52 am I'm going to do the swap out of 12AT7 on my Express 5:50 not Plus.

Has anyone gone a a 12AT7?
Maybe try a 5751 first? only slightly more gain than a 12AT7, but sounds so good in my AC10, highly rate it!
Yes, 5751 is gain "70" v 12AT7 gain of "60".
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Re: NAD: Mesa Express 5:50 Plus

Post by werdna »

MikeC wrote: Wed Jan 05, 2022 8:52 am
werdna wrote: Wed Jan 05, 2022 7:52 am I'm going to do the swap out of 12AT7 on my Express 5:50 not Plus.

Has anyone gone a a 12AT7?
I've got 2x brand new EH 12AT7 (long plate) on TM at the moment - https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/marketplace ... f=IBX8X6YQ. NZG members discount applies so PM if interested. I also have a NOS Philips 12AT7 (short plate) which might be more suitable.
Thanks Mike. I have just discovered something very similar in my box of guitar stuff.
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