Mesa gear query

[dmccombe7]

Like the Bohemian Rhapsody description Steve. Says it all to be honest.

The D800 seems to have differing opinions on it. Some love it and others just can't take to it. They seem to lack something but never quite sure what it is. Maybe its the old "heft" thing or depth but the ones i've tried so far seem to have a clean clinical sound without that mellow rounded bass tone that either valve or SS amps tend to have.) That's why i was more interested in the standard amps they made like the M6, M9, Walkabout, Mpulse type amps

Dave

 

[Steve Browning]

Those would be my preference but I was assuming you'd want something nice and portable for jazz gigs.

Didn't detect any lack of heft in the D-800. A good friend has just moved from an M-Pulse 600 to a D-800. I love playing through any of my amps but use the 600 for all my gigs unless it's small when I take the Walkabout. I reckon any of those you list would be perfect.

I think it would be a pricey solution but I always thought an 8 ohm Walkabout combo with an 8 ohm extension would be a wonderfully versatile set up. I know many people say the Walkabout can do 2 4 ohm cabs but Mesa don't and I'd be worried.

[dmccombe7]

1 minute ago, Steve Browning said:

Those would be my preference but I was assuming you'd want something nice and portable for jazz gigs.

Didn't detect any lack of heft in the D-800. A good friend has just moved from an M-Pulse 600 to a D-800. I love playing through any of my amps but use the 600 for all my gigs unless it's small when I take the Walkabout. I reckon any of those you list would be perfect.

I think it would be a pricey solution but I always thought an 8 ohm Walkabout combo with an 8 ohm extension would be a wonderfully versatile set up. I know many people say the Walkabout can do 2 4 ohm cabs but Mesa don't and I'd be worried.

If i decide to go for one i'll buy the head first to try with my Berg HT322 cab (1x12 + 2x10's + horn) as its my all time fav cab and seems to sound good with any amps i've had. Its def on the heavy side but i've also got my Markbass combo and ext cab if lightweight gear is needed. Could always use the Mesa head with both MB cabs. That could be an interesting trial. 

[chris_b]

About 20 years ago I got a bonus from work and bought a 400+ from the Bass Centre. Mesa made it for me. I gathered together some Road Ready cabs, a Mesa 115 and 210 with EV's, and was set to rock. Except, the amp failed on a few occasions with valve problems and I never got the sound I was after. I swapped the amp with an Ampeg SVT3-PRO and bingo. A fantastic sound. I used that rig for nearly 10 years, until the weight of those cabs damaged my back!

I bought a D800 when they came out and thought it was a very good amp. Great sound and very flexible. The D800+ seems to be even more flexible with some great features. These are in the top flight of amps. I sold it because I slightly preferred the sound of my TH500.

I would happily use Mesa amps again. They are top quality products with a great sound.

If anyone has a D800+ they want to sell I'd be very interested.

[Muzz]

I have a Walkabout and I use it in the Rawk band (and sometimes with the function band, when I'm in the mood). I've had an M-Pulse, too, and a previous Walkabout that WoT and I kinda pinged backwards and forwards until we both made up our minds 

It's a fantastic amp, close enough for me to full-on valve warmth whilst being a practical size/weight. And with a Barefaced Super Twin, it goes really, really loud...the Rawk band has two half-stack Marshall guitards who live in the Spinal Tap 'mine goes up to eleven' kinda territory, and it's more than enough. 300w my derrière, as Jim Royle might say... 

I've never fancied the weight of the Mesa cabs, and their new prices are astronomical, so that rules them out. I've got a Magellan, too, which has a verrry similar Class D power section as the Subway, and that's very good, too. Much more versatile for the function band stuff. And smaller and lighter.

I have to say I'd try a Handbox if they sold them anywhere I could, because they sound very interesting, but they'd have to be very, very good to prise the Walkabout from me these days...

 

EDIT: Oh, and on the 2 ohm thing, I ran the Walkabout with three 8 ohm Berg 112s quite a lot (possibly the best sound I've ever had), and it never even warmed up...

Edited January 3, 2018 by Muzz

[dmccombe7]

Thanks Chris i read your post on the TH500 comparison with your D800 and was quite surprised that you preferred the TH but both great amps.

I have the SVT 4Pro but forever having minor faults and at the stage where i couldn't rely on it during a gig. Plus its bloomin heavy too. Great sounding amp when its working.

At the moment it runs ok at lw volumes but when ramped up it reaches a peak and the speakers produce a lud pop that sounds very much like when your E string hits a pick up coil only far louder. At speaker damaging volumes so will need to get it looked at again. Almost every year it goes in for something else. 

[dmccombe7]

3 minutes ago, Muzz said:

I have a Walkabout and I use it in the Rawk band (and sometimes with the function band, when I'm in the mood). I've had an M-Pulse, too, and a previous Walkabout that WoT and I kinda pinged backwards and forwards until we both made up our minds 

It's a fantastic amp, close enough for me to full-on valve warmth whilst being a practical size/weight. And with a Barefaced Super Twin, it goes really, really loud...the Rawk band has two half-stack Marshall guitards who live in the Spinal Tap 'mine goes up to eleven' kinda territory, and it's more than enough. 300w my derrière, as Jim Royle might say... 

I've never fancied the weight of the Mesa cabs, and their new prices are astronomical, so that rules them out. I've got a Magellan, too, which has a verrry similar Class D power section as the Subway, and that's very good, too. Much more versatile for the function band stuff. And smaller and lighter.

I have to say I'd try a Handbox if they sold them anywhere I could, because they sound very interesting, but they'd have to be very, very good to prise the Walkabout from me these days...

Had a Streamliner 600 and altho it had a nice tone i found it a little bit limiting and not a lot of variation from its EQ. Was using it with Berg AE112 NEO cabs. It may have been down to the cabs tho. 

Without being ridiculous about cabs i'm not too bothered about cab weights. Obviously their 810 cab would be out of the question. 

I'm using a Berg HT322 at 95ibs / 43Kg 

[wateroftyne]

I didn't get on with the Steamliner 900 either. It was 'there', but there was nothing behind it.. (I'm not going to use that word, however much I want to)

It's a trait I found with a number of heads using similar technology around the time. Maybe the latest generation of stuff feels different? I dunno - I'm not in a hurry to try.

 

[Muzz]

I had a Streamliner for a long while, too - the Magellan's much more versatile. And the power section's much better. And I'm not using that word, either

I had three AE112s - I didn't like them at all with the tweeters on, but when I turned them off, they were brilliant.

I only moved them on because even though they were only 30-something lbs each, three of them were 90+lbs in total, and that's more than I was prepared to hump around the place. And before anyone chips in, I thought "Well, I can use one or two of them for smaller gigs", but once I'd heard three of them together, I never quite managed to resist taking all three to every gig... 

Edited January 3, 2018 by Muzz

[chris_b]

13 minutes ago, Muzz said:

I had three AE112s . . . .  once I'd heard three of them together, I never quite managed to resist taking all three to every gig...

I also used 3 of these cabs and together they got one of the best sounds I've had. I did use 2 for smaller gigs but in the end a 30lb lift with one handle became a little tiresome.

[Muzz]

You clearly have more restraint than me Chris... 

[Al Krow]

37 minutes ago, dmccombe7 said:

Thanks Chris i read your post on the TH500 comparison with your D800 and was quite surprised that you preferred the TH but both great amps.

I love my Mesa M6 Carbine, but I'm going to stick my neck out and say the D800 (£800) really isn't much of a step up in quality or sound over a Markbass LM3 (£450) and in terms of value for money I'd go for the Markbass every time. I think you'll find plenty of folk who will rate a Genzler Magellan 800 (£700) over the Subway D800. You know, I think they are right.

For me if you are 'going Mesa' you should go for what they are really good at / famous for, which is not yet another D class head but their classic Mosfet power amps (many with valve preamps) or their valve amps.

[dmccombe7]

2 hours ago, Al Krow said:

I love my Mesa M6 Carbine, but I'm going to stick my neck out and say the D800 (£800) really isn't much of a step up in quality or sound over a Markbass LM3 (£450) and in terms of value for money I'd go for the Markbass every time. I think you'll find plenty of folk who will rate a Genzler Magellan 800 (£700) over the Subway D800. You know, I think they are right.

For me if you are 'going Mesa' you should go for what they are really good at / famous for, which is not yet another D class head but their classic Mosfet power amps (many with valve preamps) or their valve amps.

Looked at the Mesa website and they now only have the D class and the full valve models. They don't appear to have anything in between. 

Dave

[chris_b]

1 minute ago, dmccombe7 said:

Looked at the Mesa website and they now only have the D class and the full valve models. They don't appear to have anything in between.

Mesa are redefining their business. People have opinions but Mesa will know which amps sell and which are and are not worth keeping in the catalogue. The Subway is their big seller and has moved them into markets that were previously closed to them. I imagine the Subway range will be extended to more models. The guy who designed the D800's posts on Talkbass and is very knowledgeable and open. Expect more great amps from Mesa in the future.

[Roger2611]

Really good thread, I had decided to go back to Mesa Boogie after having a 1516 cab many years back, which, to this day, is still the best sounding cab I ever owned (and the heaviest!) I brought a D800 off Ebay in December which sadly has never turned up so I can't comment on the sound, I will still buy a Mesa rig this year, probably two 1x15 Subway cabs and a head of some form or another assuming the one I brought is not going to turn up now 

Looking at the prices of the Subway cabs, they are difficult to justify but hopefully they will be worthwhile

One quick question 2x10 and 1x15 or two 1x15 cabs? I currently gig with a Mark Bass LM3 and 102 Traveller cab but find it a bit bass light on many occasions, I have a 1x15 cab which fills it out nicely for bigger venues so I am thinking two 1x15's should give me more bottom end...thoughts?

[mcnach]

3 hours ago, Al Krow said:

I love my Mesa M6 Carbine, but I'm going to stick my neck out and say the D800 (£800) really isn't much of a step up in quality or sound over a Markbass LM3 (£450) and in terms of value for money I'd go for the Markbass every time. I think you'll find plenty of folk who will rate a Genzler Magellan 800 (£700) over the Subway D800. You know, I think they are right.

For me if you are 'going Mesa' you should go for what they are really good at / famous for, which is not yet another D class head but their classic Mosfet power amps (many with valve preamps) or their valve amps.

 

I love the LM3, but the D800+ is nicer in every way, for me. It's far more versatile, 'feels' bigger (not just louder), the combination of the voice control and the adjustable HPF is brilliant. That makes it worth the extra cash for me. 

 

[Al Krow]

12 minutes ago, mcnach said:

 

I love the LM3, but the D800+ is nicer in every way, for me. It's far more versatile, 'feels' bigger (not just louder), the combination of the voice control and the adjustable HPF is brilliant. That makes it worth the extra cash for me. 

 

For sure. The D800+ definitely has a better EQ than the D800 (and it was the D800 I was comparing the LM3 to) and I would agree that if you're choosing between the D800 and the D800+, the D800+ is worth the extra.

If you're comparing the D800+ (£1,050) to an LM3 (£450) it would also be pretty poor if we, as bass players, couldn't hear a difference in quality between the two when the Mesa is 233% the price of the Markbass!

But if they are played through the same cab whether an audience would notice the difference, however, is a moot point.

[dmccombe7]

That's interesting as i have a Markbass 121 combo but never tried the head thru my Berg HT322. Think i'll try that tomorrow out of curiosity

The Markbass combo is good but doesn't have that warm tone of a valve pre-amp in my opinion

 

Edited January 3, 2018 by dmccombe7

[mcnach]

2 hours ago, Al Krow said:

For sure. The D800+ definitely has a better EQ than the D800 (and it was the D800 I was comparing the LM3 to) and I would agree that if you're choosing between the D800 and the D800+, the D800+ is worth the extra.

If you're comparing the D800+ (£1,050) to an LM3 (£450) it would also be pretty poor if we, as bass players, couldn't hear a difference in quality between the two when the Mesa is 233% the price of the Markbass!

But if they are played through the same cab whether an audience would notice the difference, however, is a moot point.

 

The sound is not 233% better, I would be the first to admit

But it makes me smile. It can sound very ML3-like with the voice control all the way anticlockwise, and get progressively coloured in very pleasant ways I cannot describe.

Before I bought the LM3, I was able to borrow a D800 and tested it in one of my bands' rehearsal room alongside a Streamliner 900 and a LM3, through either 2x or 4x (yes!) TKS 112. The D800 seemed to have an extra quality missing in the other two, it sounded bigger and more authoritative, whatever I did to it... but the LM3 wasn't far off! It was enough to convince me to keep the LM3. It's an amp that just never disappointed me. I would never say it's the best sounding  ever, but I know that if I have an LM3, I will get a good sound. 

As for the audience, I don't know... but I've had a few soundguys coming to me to comment on how nice my bass sounded, and a trombone player falling in love with my bass rig... he had not realised I was using the D800+ instead of the LM3 (nobody but bass players look at what bass players play through :D)... asking me what was different, was it the bass? what was it?   

[Al Krow]

I'm guessing that like me you have a busy full time job and if your hobby / passion can bring that smile then hey, it's worth every penny in my books!

So here's the thing, I probably would have been tempted to upgrade from a Markbass LM3 to a Mesa D800+, but I wouldn't (even though it costs less) to a D800. Does that make any sense?

Btw - I get the same reaction when switching from my Sandberg with Delanos to an Ibby SR with Nord pups - band mates' heads turn and they definitely really like the difference in gritty tone that the Ibby provides  

[mcnach]

4 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

I'm guessing that like me you have a busy full time job and if your hobby / passion can bring that smile then hey, it's worth every penny in my books!

So here's the thing, I probably would have been tempted to upgrade from a Markbass LM3 to a Mesa D800+, but I wouldn't (even though it costs less) to a D800. Does that make any sense?

Btw - I get the same reaction when switching from my Sandberg with Delanos to an Ibby SR with Nord pups - band mates' heads turn and they definitely really like the difference in gritty tone that the Ibby provides  

 

Well, it made sense to me!

Yes, I have a day job (for now! :D) and the cash was there, I also gig frequently (57 times in 2017, as I found out the other day), so it's worth my using something that feels better to be and gig fees quickly absorbe the extra costs... but if I had to use an LM3 for the rest of my days I would not cry either.

[Al Krow]

16 hours ago, Roger2611 said:

Really good thread, I had decided to go back to Mesa Boogie after having a 1516 cab many years back, which, to this day, is still the best sounding cab I ever owned (and the heaviest!) I brought a D800 off Ebay in December which sadly has never turned up so I can't comment on the sound, I will still buy a Mesa rig this year, probably two 1x15 Subway cabs and a head of some form or another assuming the one I brought is not going to turn up now 

Looking at the prices of the Subway cabs, they are difficult to justify but hopefully they will be worthwhile

One quick question 2x10 and 1x15 or two 1x15 cabs? I currently gig with a Mark Bass LM3 and 102 Traveller cab but find it a bit bass light on many occasions, I have a 1x15 cab which fills it out nicely for bigger venues so I am thinking two 1x15's should give me more bottom end...thoughts?

Hey Roger - have you A/B'd the Mesa cabs with some of the more modern high end gear e.g. BF or Vanderkley? As you say Mesa was mega 'many years back' but I think these newer kids on the block have more than caught up with Mesa, Aguilar etc on the cab front and are definitely worth checking out, particularly as they are both less expensive and way less heavy. All three will be a step up from the Markbass traveller cabs (I have a LM3 + 121H cab housed in a AC 121 Lite combo package) but you would hope that would be the case if you are paying two to three times as much for a cab, right?!

In terms of your rig set up, well that's going to be very much down to your personal taste methinks. I would pair a 1x15 (or even a 1x12) with a 2x10 over two 1x15s simply because I prefer the punchiness of 12s and 10s over 15s (and I do disagree with the 'experts' who say that a properly set up 1x15 is no different to a 1x10 with comparable drivers, other than the surface area of air shifted...if that argument was taken to its logical conclusion you'd end up trying to argue that a 1x20 was the same 1x5 speaker, which is patently nonsense).

[Steve Browning]

16 hours ago, Roger2611 said:

Really good thread, I had decided to go back to Mesa Boogie after having a 1516 cab many years back, which, to this day, is still the best sounding cab I ever owned (and the heaviest!) I brought a D800 off Ebay in December which sadly has never turned up so I can't comment on the sound, I will still buy a Mesa rig this year, probably two 1x15 Subway cabs and a head of some form or another assuming the one I brought is not going to turn up now 

Looking at the prices of the Subway cabs, they are difficult to justify but hopefully they will be worthwhile

One quick question 2x10 and 1x15 or two 1x15 cabs? I currently gig with a Mark Bass LM3 and 102 Traveller cab but find it a bit bass light on many occasions, I have a 1x15 cab which fills it out nicely for bigger venues so I am thinking two 1x15's should give me more bottom end...thoughts?

I can tell you for sure, that the Subway 15s are awesome cabs. They perform just as well as my old Diesel 2x15 and I don't say that lightly. I have used them with all 3 of my Mesa amps and they have got all the presence without the weight. I confess I was very pleasantly surprised. Unhappily they are about 250 quid more now than when I got mine.

I know it's a trek but you're welcome to give them a go if you want to try before you buy.

[Yank]

I have a Subway (which is 150 watts by itself.  300 watts with ext. cab) which I use by itself for smaller gigs,  and a D-800 with a 1-15 and 2-10 cabs for larger gigs.  I like them both but find the D-800 simpler in layout.  I'm not a knob twiddler.  

[dmccombe7]

14 hours ago, Al Krow said:

 

So here's the thing, I probably would have been tempted to upgrade from a Markbass LM3 to a Mesa D800+, but I wouldn't (even though it costs less) to a D800. Does that make any sense?

 

So the D800 doesn't compare with D800+ ? Does the additional EQ offered make that much of a difference or can you still get a decent tone form the more basic D800. 

A lot of people using Mesa gear mention that the flat settings on their amp gives them the tone they like. Is that not the case with the D800 range. ?

I'm curious to know if using the same cabs with both amps did you use the same or similar EQ settings or did the flat settings on both sound the same.

Dave