thodrik

I have the same head. I run the gain at about 9 o’clock and the master often less than that. I play through a Mesa 6x10 so that is why I don’t crank the volume! However it is equally loud through my old 8 ohm Trace Elliot 1x15. The gain has never been higher than 10 o’clock. It is a clean amp so you are not losing out on ‘valve warmth’ by running it on low gain settings. I would do that before looking to get attenuator. I personally think that the amp is too loud, which saying something because I own a Trace Elliot V6 and EBS Fafner. The volume taper on the Mesa M6 is like an old Marshall amp in the that the output volume goes from zero to stupidly loud with little in between. I have to run the gain ridiculously low as otherwise it is impossible to obtain a usuable output on the master volume setting. The tone of the Mesa though is brilliant why is why I have kept it.

I am about the same. I have the b3k which I really like as an alternative to the Sansamp Bass Driver on low drive settings. Higher drive settings on the pedal leave me a bit 'meh' compared to my old Aguilar Agro (R.I.P.). Not that the higher gain settings are bad, they are just not to my taste. However, I am not entirely convinced that there is that much tonal difference between the Alpha Omega series, and the b3k/b7k series to warrant another overdrive line. The Vintage series is different enough I suppose I give them a pass on that. The hpf and lpf filters are admittedly quite cool features. For my purposes though the blend on the b3k works well enough that I don't feel that I need a hpf/lpf filter. The only Darkglass pedal I would like to have an 'ultra version' of is the Duality, The Duality is definitely my favourite Darkglass pedal, as it is just a full on over the top fuzz pedal rather than a 'modern metal overdrive' pedal. I would love a separate 3 band EQ to shape the fuzz a bit more.

Yepp. I have used the Walkabout with an Ampeg 8x10 on many occasions and through the Mesa 6x10 I bought earlier this year. The Walkabout can be ridiculously loud through a bigger/more efficient cabinet. It has handled open air gigs without any issue whatsoever. Also slightly on topic, I have barely touched the parametric EQs on the amp in 9 years, other than to try and cut a bit of the sub bass that can dominate the 1x15 combo.

Looks like a great amp for the price.

Walkabout owner here since 2008. It is hard to find something that will really rival that amp in terms of old school tone but be lighter and have more power. Even the bigger Mesa amps don't capture the Walkabout tone in my opinion (I own an M6 Carbine too). You are probably going to have to consider something with a class D power section if you want more power and less weight. The Mesa D800, EBS Reidmar and Darkglass Microtubes amps get rave reviews and I am sure could do some great old school tones. For me though, I have tried some larger, louder and heavier amps (Mesa M6 Carbine, EBS Fafner and Trace Elliot V6) but nothing comes close to the Walkabout. A couple of owners here would recommend a company call Handbox, but I have no experience. If you love the sound of the Walkabout but want more volume, I would recommend getting a more efficient cabinet to obtain more volume, which will result in 'get a Barefaced cab' comments in about 5 seconds.

These days I mostly play very ‘loud’ rock music. However even bearing that in mind, with smaller venues there is always a real risk of being too loud, even in a genre where a pushed valve guitar amp through a 4x12 or 2x12 is the norm, It is context dependent though. If I am specifically going to see a doom metal band, I am going to expect a fair amount of volume. However I don’t expect to hear that levels of volume when listening to a band playing a set of covers in a pub that is open to the public or a function band. I wouldn’t want to hear Mustang Sally at a ridiculous volume when I am really trying to watch a game of football or chat to my mates while listening to a bit of music.

I got a used NYC five string for the same price as a new Metro from Bass Direct so you can get them second hand for a much more attractive price. They also crop up on the Marketplace here as well. Great basses.

Bass Direct state on their website that they can take custom orders from the US shop, so they would be my first port of call. Guitar Guitar also have a few NYC Satin basses. Every NYC I see on the Gallery site is pre-owned. Mostly they deal with the Metroline series. You might be able to put a custom order through though.

Alleva Coppola make some very nice boutique looking jazzes. For me though, if you want a great passive jazz bass, a Fender will be as good as anything. You just need to play a few until you find ‘the one’.

I'm guessing that the CD of 'Rough Mixes' in the deluxe will be far superior to the actual album. I like the compositions in the album, I just find the album mix to be unlistenable after about two tracks. It isn't just the absence of bass, it is the incredibly loud mix of the drums have no bottom end or depth whatsoever, it is complete lack of musicality or definition in the rhythm guitars. With that said, I loved the remastered versions of Master of Puppets and Ride the Lightning.

I think that the chassis for the combo head was the same as the chassis used for the head only version of the amp. A cost saving measure by Trace Elliot. Some of the units shipped with the extra jack socket covered with a plug to stop you using it. Still annoying though.

Clutch were a disappointing the last time I saw them in 2015. I thought it was maybe the venue (the Academy in Glasgow) but the support band Planet of Zeus sounded bloody great. When I first saw them in about 2004 the bassist was using a Gibson EB3 through an Ampeg rig and it sounded great.

Rickenbackers are used by many in the classic rock, hard rock, stoner rock and doom fraternity, particularly bands inspired by classic rock. So have a listen to anything by Sleep, Kyuss, Graveyard, etc you get an idea of what they are used for, though in actual fact when you listen to them you are more likely listening to a 4001, but the 4003 will get you into that kind of territory. Of course you don't need them to play any type of music, but I have always thought that they have a very distinct sound. I like them and would buy one, but probably won't. First Tool album (Undertow) is a Rickenbacker as well.

I own a Metro and an NYC. Metro is four string and NYC is five. I don’t feel that the Metro is an inferior bass, it just lacks the bells and whistles of the fancy quilted top, Birdseye maple figuring on the neck and the body chambering that the NYC does which make the NYC basses look really special. In terms of fit and finish the Metros are great, they just don’t look like a special ‘dream bass’ because of the generally plain finish. I would never sell mine though. Lots of top end super jazzes about though and plenty of them are not made in the USA.

Non bass related: Gibson Les Paul: boughta second hand 2008 Standard Faded last year and my guitar playing has come on leaps and bounds in that time. Previously I had a Fender Toronado, nice guitar but next to the Les Paul it seems like a toy. Granted there is the usual Les Paul design flaws and tuning issues resulting from that and the fact the company has been run into the ground under its current leadership. However the sound is great. Bass related: the Mesa 6x10 cab I bought this year, or really any quality 4x10/6x10 cab: I had a full Peavey era Trace Elliot stack for 8 years as my 'big rig'. The Mesa is in a different class, in terms of sound, build quality and (unfortunately) weight.

I dunno, I prefer just playing the original album and just hitting stop after Lateralus, unless I'm really feeling in the mood to listen to the rest. With the alternate track listing I would just be skipping through lots of tracks, after Lateralus I would skip to The Grudge, then to The Patient. Faaip de Oiad, Triad, Eon Blue Apocalypse, Reflection and Disposition are all skip-worthy for me, no matter where they sit in the track listing. I do like Tool, but have never been into the whole 'hidden meanings', Fibonacci sequences, rewording lyrics to find hidden messages etc. The band have a wicked sense of humour (being friends with Bill Hicks probably helped) and might be planting those ideas purely to see if people will waste their time and look for something that isn't actually there.

ABM every time for me. The MAG stuff is fine but the ABM amps are generally a cut off, the valve drive feature is a cool feature. For me the best sound is achieved by not using the EQ pre-sets as the five band EQ is more than enough for tone shaping.

Some seriously large and impressive collections here. I'm currently at 6 bass guitars and one double bass. Would love a Musicman and a Rickenbacker as well, maybe a Spector, definitely a Mike Lull, perhaps a Dingwall too for variety...

The Vigiers never move. The Sadowskys need an adjustment now and then, which is easy given the truss rod wheel. The Fender Precision rarely needs set up, once a year at the most. The Gibson EB3 is impossible to set up at the best of times, so heat and humidity rarely make any noticeable difference to how badly it is set up.

I have probably done more gigs with a Behringer external passive DI on pre EQ setting than I have with the inbuilt Di on my head . My bass generally has an inbuilt EQ and I generally have some kind of light overdrive from a pedal, so a pre EQ DI never really a pre EQ DI. If I have a choice I would prefer a mic on my cab and/or a DI from the head. I don't expect it and frankly I rarely even tell the sound engineer my preference, so if the sound engineer has the time or is willing go to that level of effort it is really appreciated. I usually just go with what the sound engineer prefers, even if the guidance is 'PA is crap for anything other than vocals, just be loud'.

Lance Lopez and Anders Osborne are two that come to mind to me. Actually for new ‘old’ blues, Sweet Tea by Buddy Guy is pretty damn good. Robert Randolph and the Family Band hit on funk and gospel as much as blues, but Robert Randolph is an awesome slide guitarist.

I don't think that there is much brand snobbery when it comes to their higher end stuff. The Lionheart range and the new Black Country Customs line are very highly regarded. The AOR and Klipp series were/are very cool as well. I just don't think the Nexus line have really had much impact on the market compared to their guitar stuff. If there was a bass equivalent of the Lionheart series (say a 100 watt valve head) that would interest me more.

I would love to try one, but the angle of the frets past the 12th fret concerned me with respect of chords played high up the neck. In terms of quality and general fit and finish, they generally look stunning.

Sounds awesome, I would definitely try one. The lack of headroom on the Walkabout is actually one of the things I love about the amp. I will admit though it isn't the most articulate of amps in terms of mids, more of a 'old school thump' kind of sound.

Just my opinion, but the Mesa Walkabout behaves in a very similar manner to an all valve amp to the point that I think that my Walkabout sounds more like a traditional all valve amp than my Trace Elliot V6 which is an all valve amp. Not saying you won't find something that you prefer, but I would definitely not sell the Walkabout too hastily. The V6 is allegedly 400 watts though, so to get 'traditional valve amp break up' I have to run it at completely unusable volume levels. If you are going to go the all valve route, 100 watts would be plenty. In terms of traditional mainstream companies, Fender, Ashdown and Ampeg do 100 watt tube amps. There is smaller Mesa valve amp as detailed above, but the cost will be astronomical. They will all deliver varying levels of heft.