Mesa Flux Five. any long term fans/users?

Two years ago, I tried a Flux Five. I found it got me tones similar to the Mark V I once had, which I liked.

However, I also have an Ethos Overdrive TLE, which at the time, I thought gave me a smoother and more touch sensitive overdrive.

I returned the Flux Five as it was hard to justify the cost when the Ethos seemed to give me more of what I wanted.

Now I'm craving a higher gain sound, which the Flux did better than the Ethos IMHO.

So let me hear from Flux users. long term thoughts, comparisons to other drives?

Any input appreciated!

JimHalinda

Member
Messages 1,058

NortheastHick

Silver Supporting Member Messages 6,845

I got one in trade. It was really fun sliding eq faders and twisting knobs for a few hours but in the end it didn't have anything I wanted. It does sound "Markish". I mostly played it through a 1987x fwiw. Build quality was great.

Samarasa

Member
Messages 173

I have had a flux five for a couple years. It is supposedly a clone of a BB Preamp. I have used it as a preamp pedal, and it does function convincingly as a "Boogie in a Box", but for me where it really shines is as an overdrive for another gain pedal.

Flux into fuzz is instant "Planet of New Orleans" lead tone. Flux into a Deluxe Big Muff Pi is incredible, adding a dimension and girth the Muff just cannot create on its own. Flux into Jester changes it from polite "edge of breakup with a little bit of gain and compression" to "full blown fusion lead tone".

It works exactly the same into a cranked amp, but I never get to use it like this in my duplex. I almost never use the flux five by itself, as it doesn't really do "amp-like", or "touch-sensitive", but I love how it sounds with my other pedals. I think of it (functionality) as a tubescreamer. I think something like the EQD Palisades might be able to kick the Flux Five off my board, but I am happy with the Flux after almost exactly 2 years of ownership.

Last edited: Jun 2, 2017

JimHalinda

Member
Messages 1,058

Thanks, Samarasa. Have you ever run another gain pedal before the Flux? I've heard that can also give you that liquid lead, Lukather / Santana kind of Boogie sound.

I'm hoping to get one next week as a 50th birthday present from my lovely wife.

Samarasa

Member
Messages 173

I'll put it at the end of my pedal chain when I get home from work tonight and report back on how well it takes other pedals.

As an additional aside, it's possible to set the Flux Five with the amber channel eq engaged and boosted, withthe red channel (no eq) trim pot all the way attenuated. This gives two colors of similar-volume tones, for example a nice bright yellow channel, and a red channel that sounds pretty convincingly like an "EQ lifted" amp drive.

I'll post some results as soon as I can either tonight or tomorrow.

Samarasa

Member
Messages 173

JimHalinda, I just spent a couple hours with it at the end of my chain: Amptweaker Tight Fuzz Pro > EHX Deluxe Big Muff Pi > Jester > Flux Five.

First off, I have to say that once I set the pedal to be played by itself and boosted INTO (the gain, treble, and bass at noon, volume at unity with my amp with the Flux Five on amber) it sounded AMAZING. Turning the pedal up also made it seem more "amp-like" in its gain dynamics, though nothing like, say, a good fuzz.

Honestly, if I could have only one drive pedal for a rock or fusion jam or gig, it would totally be the Flux Five. I might choose the Flux Five over the Jester for a country or Americana gig, too, depending on how heavy the band was.

The Jester boost into either channel of the Flux sounded amazing, adding a smooth chime, and the drive side of the Jester into the Flux was instant Carlos Santana Schmoov. Adding either the Muff OR the fuzz into both Jester and Flux was almost exactly like "Always With Me, Always With You". I will say that there was a high degree of hiss with the three pedals turned on that might bug you in a recording, but you might not even notice at a jam.

Oh, and another interesting thing I can tell you about the Flux Five is that the thing sounds AWESOME if you run it at 7 volts. I used to run it on batteries, and the last time, after it died, I checked the battery with a multimeter, and it read 6.84v. If I ever decide to put these pedals on a board, I am 100% going to get a fancy power supply that can deliver non-standard voltages.

Let us know how you like the Flux Five, or what other pedal you end up choosing, and let us wish you an early happy birthday!

Last edited: Jun 2, 2017

JimHalinda

Member
Messages 1,058

Samarasa, thanks so much for the detailed report, that's just what I was hoping to hear!

I sure hope my wife did spring for the Flux Five, but if not I may trade in a pedal or two and buy it myself I'll find out on June 11 (and thanks for the birthday wish).

I'll be boosting it with the 'vintage' side of a Maxon DB10 Dual Boost, which is supposedly a treble booster type circuit. It works nicely into my Xotic SL Drive. Of course I can also try boosting the Flux with the SL drive, but that may be way more gain than I need.

The first time I had the Flux, I found myself wishing it had more of that fusiony liquid sustain, but I never tried boosting it then. If I had, maybe I would have kept it!

And I happen to have a Voodoo Labs Pedal Power 2+ that will let me try lower voltages, I'll be sure to experiment with it!

Last edited: Jun 3, 2017

Adel2

Member
Messages 929

A very versatile pedal, especially with the graphic eq. I use it into a Mesa Express 5:50 and it seems to sound and respond slightly differently depending on which tubes I use in the amp - more so than other overdrives. Not the best at cleaning up but it's still very responsive to the volume knob on the guitar.

JimHalinda

Member
Messages 1,058

Thanks, Adel2. How is it responsive to the volume knob yet doesn't clean up, ie. what changes? Is it similar to turning the gain down, where it gets less saturated yet retains a base level of crunch? That's what I seem to see in video demos.

Adel2

Member
Messages 929

Thanks, Adel2. How is it responsive to the volume knob yet doesn't clean up, ie. what changes? Is it similar to turning the gain down, where it gets less saturated yet retains a base level of crunch? That's what I seem to see in video demos.

That's about right. It does clean up but not really to an open/sparkly level. The great thing is the different shades of overdrive you get at different numbers on the guitar volume pot - from drive to crunch to smooth(ish) saturation. That being said, it's been a while since I've used the pedal at low gain settings so results may be different in that scenario.

JimHalinda

Member
Messages 1,058

So my birthday wish came true, my wife got me a Flux Five!

I only had about 15 minutes with it last night, but already it sounds amazing, and I haven't even switched in the graphic EQ yet!

A few observations:

- when I tried this two years ago, I thought it was kind of thin sounding. But from watching lots of review videos (of the Flux Drive and the Five), I see that it gets much fuller when bass and treble are turned up. I put bass, treble and gain all at about 2:00 and it sounded great! Thick, yet tight and focused, with great clarity - I could play complex chord voicings and hear all the notes without a lot of dissonant overtones.

- With those same settings, the 'Hi' channel gave me a great high gain sound, with plenty of sustain and great overtones. I don't know why I thought this pedal seemed anemic last time I tried it - though I'm putting it through a completely different rig now.

- I tried boosting it with an old Seymour Duncan pickup booster. This is a flat, clean boost, and I tried it from 6-10 db of boost. It sure added a lot of noise to the Flux. But boosting the Lo channel had some different qualities than switching to the Hi channel. I look forward to trying my Maxon boost, which is more of a treble booster. Between Lo and Hi, and Lo and Hi with an external boost, I'm hoping to get four usable levels of gain out of the Flux (but I'll be happy with two or three).

- I thought perhaps it might be tricky to dial in, as my Mark V was, but the Flux sounds great even with all knobs at noon and EQ switched out!

- I haven't yet compared it to my Xotic SL - I've really been enjoying the classic Plexi crunch of the Xotic, but I think the Mesa will really give it a run for it's money. I'd like to keep both sounds on tap but board space is tight - maybe the SL will end up on a B rig (even if it holds its own, I think I will prefer the Mesa's tight snarl and additional flexibility).

- I also haven't compared it to the drive side of my Ethos Overdrive TLE - but it is definitely easier to dial in than the Ethos, which has always been a struggle.