Beedster Posted January 10, 2019 Share Posted January 10, 2019 2 minutes ago, Steve Browning said: You really should look at the stupidly reasonable M-Pulse 600 for sale here. Obviously heavier than the WD800 but 1/3 the price and a truly wonderful amp. Absolutely, IIRC he wants £450, I paid well over twice that for mine and thought it was not only cheap but a steal. £450 for the M-Pulse is an indication of the strangeness of the current bass amplification scene, and the mad rush for small and light over quality 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beedster Posted January 10, 2019 Share Posted January 10, 2019 2 minutes ago, wateroftyne said: Lovely amps, but tonally.. they don't have the WA's 'magic mids'. IMO. There is something quite magical about the WA that I was never quite able to tease out of any other amp, low mids up a little, gain and master in the sweet spot and bingo. I think your earlier comment about the WA power amp being part of the magic was spot on, to my mind it felt like a tube amp, both sections interacting significantly as opposed to the power stage simply amplifying what the preamp stage had done to the signal. First time I gigged it I didn't stop smiling, but as per the above, when I needed just a little more power from it at bigger gigs, some of that magic was lost. You're right re the M-Pulse 600, it was a lot harder if not impossible to dial in that magic WA tone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wateroftyne Posted January 10, 2019 Share Posted January 10, 2019 3 minutes ago, Beedster said: There is something quite magical about the WA that I was never quite able to tease out of any other amp, low mids up a little, gain and master in the sweet spot and bingo. I think your earlier comment about the WA power amp being part of the magic was spot on, to my mind it felt like a tube amp, both sections interacting significantly as opposed to the power stage simply amplifying what the preamp stage had done to the signal. First time I gigged it I didn't stop smiling, but as per the above, when I needed just a little more power from it at bigger gigs, some of that magic was lost. You're right re the M-Pulse 600, it was a lot harder if not impossible to dial in that magic WA tone. Yeah.. I paid top-whack for me brand-new 600 back in the day (they just didn't exist on the used market), and while it was beautifully built and featured, and LOUD, when I realised it didn't have 'it', I had to sell it and lost a fortune. I always regretted that. Incidentally, the other amp along these lines that I did love was the Genz Benz GBE600 (which I assume Agedhorse had input into). That was just as nice, but for various reasons I had to let it go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wateroftyne Posted January 10, 2019 Share Posted January 10, 2019 6 minutes ago, wateroftyne said: Yeah.. I paid top-whack for me brand-new 600 back in the day (they just didn't exist on the used market), and while it was beautifully built and featured, and LOUD, when I realised it didn't have 'it', I had to sell it and lost a fortune. I always regretted that. Incidentally, the other amp along these lines that I did love was the Genz Benz GBE600 (which I assume Agedhorse had input into). That was just as nice, but for various reasons I had to let it go. However I should add: If the MPulse 600 does it for you, £450 is a hell of a lot of amp for not much money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thodrik Posted January 10, 2019 Share Posted January 10, 2019 45 minutes ago, Beedster said: An awful lot of the above, and elsewhere, does make me question why Mesa discontinued the Walkabout. I get the realities of the marketplace, competition and technological progress/innovation etc, but for many bassists the whole Walkabout package really does work, and on many levels. I suspect that with the increasing polarisation of lightweight Class D and old school all-tube heads, and despite the new WD-800, there will soon be a gaping hole in the market right where the Walkabout used to sit Possibly. I have had one for nearly ten years now. That perhaps gives a clue as to why it was discontinued. The people that love them bought them years ago and mostly haven't needed to buy another. The people that didn't fancy the Walkabout in the first place, because they wanted more clean headroom or they wanted an even smaller class D solid state head, were never going to buy a Walkabout. That gives a limited market for Mesa to sell 'new Walkabouts'. This is particularly the case when the head has been on sale for 15 years or so, so it isn't difficult to find a Walkabout in the used market for less than what a new one would cost. So yeah, I understand the reason the original amp was discontinued. In terms of feature set though, the WD-800 seems to have a lot more going for it. I'm hoping though that Mesa haven't abandoned their big valve/simul-state bass amp designs for good. I have always wanted a 400+ or the Big Block 750. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agedhorse Posted January 10, 2019 Share Posted January 10, 2019 10 hours ago, wateroftyne said: Yeah.. I paid top-whack for me brand-new 600 back in the day (they just didn't exist on the used market), and while it was beautifully built and featured, and LOUD, when I realised it didn't have 'it', I had to sell it and lost a fortune. I always regretted that. Incidentally, the other amp along these lines that I did love was the Genz Benz GBE600 (which I assume Agedhorse had input into). That was just as nice, but for various reasons I had to let it go. Correct, the GBE-600 was one of my projects. For those of you complaining about legacy products being discontinued, and especially where these products are available on the used market for a fraction of the original cost, go out and buy your favorite legacy amp right now at "bargain prices". I don't see how this is a negative in any way? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Krow Posted January 11, 2019 Share Posted January 11, 2019 Speaking of legacy amps, I managed to get myself a Gator GRB-2U rack bag for my M6 (for around £40 from G4M). Hoping it will sufficiently protective and let me "get away" with not getting one of the heavier plastic cases. Am looking forward to using the M6 with the band for the first time... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agedhorse Posted January 11, 2019 Share Posted January 11, 2019 1 hour ago, Al Krow said: Speaking of legacy amps, I managed to get myself a Gator GRB-2U rack bag for my M6 (for around £40 from G4M). Hoping it will sufficiently protective and let me "get away" with not getting one of the heavier plastic cases. Am looking forward to using the M6 with the band for the first time... Don't drop it in either the bag or the plastic case. It's heavy enough to rip the folded aluminum rails right off the rack. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beedster Posted January 31, 2019 Share Posted January 31, 2019 On 09/01/2019 at 14:01, agedhorse said: The WD-800 is based on the tube (valve) preamp of the Walkabout, has the original eq section along with the passive mid and modified tonestack voicing and power amp damping control that comes directly from what many players liked from the original Walkabout. This model is by necessity larger than the other two models, but is rack mountable whereas the others are not (without using a rack shelf). Different players have different wants/needs, that's why we don't all play the same amp. If these amps don't work for you, then make a choice that's better suited for your needs. Having just picked up a Prodigy, and having A/B'd it with my Walkabout, I would love to see the lovechild of those two amps, there's the magic of the Walkabout tone circuit, and those lovely Prodigy power tubes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thodrik Posted January 31, 2019 Share Posted January 31, 2019 16 minutes ago, Beedster said: Having just picked up a Prodigy, and having A/B'd it with my Walkabout, I would love to see the lovechild of those two amps, there's the magic of the Walkabout tone circuit, and those lovely Prodigy power tubes Walkabout owner and (as of last week) former M6 Carbine owner here. How does the preamp of the Prodigy compare to the Walkabout? Is the Prodigy more aggressively voiced than the Walkabout? I'm torn in terms of my next amp being an all valve job ( a more flexible EQ than my old Trace V6) or the new WD-800 to get close to the sound of my favourite amp (Walkabout) but louder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beedster Posted January 31, 2019 Share Posted January 31, 2019 1 minute ago, thodrik said: Walkabout owner and (as of last week) former M6 Carbine owner here. How does the preamp of the Prodigy compare to the Walkabout? Is the Prodigy more aggressively voiced than the Walkabout? I'm torn in terms of my next amp being an all valve job ( a more flexible EQ than my old Trace V6) or the new WD-800 to get close to the sound of my favourite amp (Walkabout) but louder. Tone wise they're more similar than I'd expected, but it's soooooo easy to dial in a lovely low-mid-PBass-with-flats tone on the Walkabout, the Prodigy EQ seems pretty crude by comparison, and I'm not a great fan of the 'voice' idea either. I wouldn't say the Prodigy is more aggressively voiced, it certainly seemed a little more pronounced at the top end. Having said this, the Prodigy is a pretty amazing piece of engineering, and given it doesn't weigh a whole lot more than the Walkabout, and has the same footprint pretty much, it's one hell of a 250w all-tube amp (and it has the switchable 125w option also). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thodrik Posted January 31, 2019 Share Posted January 31, 2019 1 minute ago, Beedster said: Tone wise they're more similar than I'd expected, but it's soooooo easy to dial in a lovely low-mid-PBass-with-flats tone on the Walkabout, the Prodigy EQ seems pretty crude by comparison, and I'm not a great fan of the 'voice' idea either. I wouldn't say the Prodigy is more aggressively voiced, it certainly seemed a little more pronounced at the top end. Having said this, the Prodigy is a pretty amazing piece of engineering, and given it doesn't weigh a whole lot more than the Walkabout, and has the same footprint pretty much, it's one hell of a 250w all-tube amp (and it has the switchable 125w option also). Sounds like the Prodigy pre amp is voiced a bit more along the lines of the Carbine I sold. The Carbine was a terrific amp, but the voicing of the upper mids was far too pronounced for me. The Voice settings on that amp either cut out too much mids for my liking or just added far too much mids! The weights of the Prodigy and Strategy amps really do amaze me given the type of amps they are and how much technology and components are squeezed into such a small space. I love the character of the Walkabout. Ten years in and I'm still impressed with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beedster Posted January 31, 2019 Share Posted January 31, 2019 2 minutes ago, thodrik said: Sounds like the Prodigy pre amp is voiced a bit more along the lines of the Carbine I sold. The Carbine was a terrific amp, but the voicing of the upper mids was far too pronounced for me. The Voice settings on that amp either cut out too much mids for my liking or just added far too much mids! The weights of the Prodigy and Strategy amps really do amaze me given the type of amps they are and how much technology and components are squeezed into such a small space. I love the character of the Walkabout. Ten years in and I'm still impressed with it. Yes, the Walkabout is a special amp, it's going to be really interesting to see how the newbie measures up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krispn Posted January 31, 2019 Share Posted January 31, 2019 I'll chip in and suggest a Jule Monique Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muzz Posted January 31, 2019 Share Posted January 31, 2019 Pretty much the only thing I'd change my Walkabout for is a Prodigy...I'm a sucker for blue lights... 😀 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Krow Posted January 31, 2019 Share Posted January 31, 2019 2 hours ago, Muzz said: Pretty much the only thing I'd change my Walkabout for is a Prodigy...I'm a sucker for blue lights... 😀 Damn! You're making regret not getting @Paul S's 4:88 now. Must have looked at that thing in the FS about 30 times...probably never be another one in such good nick for such a good price (and from such good seller) in my lifetime! Although if what @thodrik is saying, I've got a lot of the Prodigy goodness souped up in my Mesa M6 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thodrik Posted February 1, 2019 Share Posted February 1, 2019 Sold an M6 Carbine the other week, and without really trying have now sold a bass cabinet and a guitar. This means I have enough spare cash lying around to consider buying the WD800 without it eating into 'building a garage' savings. However, I have now seen two people in Glasgow selling a 400+ and Big Block 750 respectively on eBay, just to coincide with me going to Glasgow next week. So two of my dream amps on sale at the same time in the one city I happen to be visiting next week. Can some other Basschatters do me a favour please buy the 400+ or Big Block quickly? Otherwise I will probably do something really silly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarlscharisma Posted February 2, 2019 Share Posted February 2, 2019 On 01/02/2019 at 16:23, thodrik said: Sold an M6 Carbine the other week, and without really trying have now sold a bass cabinet and a guitar. This means I have enough spare cash lying around to consider buying the WD800 without it eating into 'building a garage' savings. However, I have now seen two people in Glasgow selling a 400+ and Big Block 750 respectively on eBay, just to coincide with me going to Glasgow next week. So two of my dream amps on sale at the same time in the one city I happen to be visiting next week. Can some other Basschatters do me a favour please buy the 400+ or Big Block quickly? Otherwise I will probably do something really silly. There’s a nice bb750 on reverb as well complete with head case and foot switch at a very competitive price too 😉 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thodrik Posted February 2, 2019 Share Posted February 2, 2019 1 hour ago, Sarlscharisma said: There’s a nice bb750 on reverb as well complete with head case and foot switch at a very competitive price too 😉 It’s getting bloody worse! I got a phone call from the student loans company on Friday afternoon. Apparently I’m due a refund because I finally paid my loan off in April 2018 without knowing, so I’m due a refund of 9 months worth of payments. It is like the universe wants me to buy stuff! I think I will manage to hold off. Played my Walkabout again today, it is still awesome. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobthedog Posted February 23, 2019 Share Posted February 23, 2019 I went to Bass Direct today and it seems that the WD-800 may not make it to the UK now until April. I settled for a new bass instead but will be back soonest they have one to try and perhaps buy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thodrik Posted February 23, 2019 Share Posted February 23, 2019 (edited) On 02/02/2019 at 22:57, thodrik said: It’s getting bloody worse! I got a phone call from the student loans company on Friday afternoon. Apparently I’m due a refund because I finally paid my loan off in April 2018 without knowing, so I’m due a refund of 9 months worth of payments. It is like the universe wants me to buy stuff! I think I will manage to hold off. Played my Walkabout again today, it is still awesome. Well, I couldn't wait any longer. That Big Block 750 that was on sale with the matching case? Yeah bought that for a great deal, for not much more than what I sold my M6 Carbine for. I have wanted a Big Block for about ten years so I really couldn't pass it up. From initial comparisons with my Walkabout and old M6. The Big Block has a much more limited EQ than the Walkabout and has much less clean headroom, sub lows and cutting highs than the M6. There is a bit of built in 'grunt' to the sound as well which might not be to everyone's tastes. To my ears it is very much Mesa's approach to an Ampeg SVT pro series amp and is very much a 'rock' amp rather than the M6, Walkabout and WD-800 which could nail any number of different styles. This means that the Big Block will not be everybody's favourite amp. To my ears though it is one of the best amps I have ever played through and it absolutely delivers exactly what I want out of a bass amp, which is basically something like the V6 I have above, but with a slightly more aggressive, in your face, voice, and less likelihood of breaking down and costing me hundreds of pounds to replace 6 power tubes... The Big Block absolutely delivers this in spades. The overdrive is also probably the best high gain bass overdrive I have ever heard, which is saying something considering I have been running the Darkglass Duality for years and it just doesn't get anywhere close to the high gain tones from the overdrive on the Big Block. If Mesa delivered a WD-800 with a version of the Big Block overdrive circuit as a footswitchable drive, then I would be all over that. Edited February 23, 2019 by thodrik 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krispn Posted February 23, 2019 Share Posted February 23, 2019 The BB is designed to stand up to Dual Rec amps etc so it’s gonna have a much more in yer pus type of voicing which, if you’re into that kinda thing it’s gonna be hard to beat. Sounds like a good purchase! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Krow Posted February 23, 2019 Share Posted February 23, 2019 @thodrik nice review. And I particularly valued the 'warts and all' comparison you provided with the WA and M6 (which actually makes it a really helpful mini review). So cheers for that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thodrik Posted February 23, 2019 Share Posted February 23, 2019 30 minutes ago, Al Krow said: @thodrik nice review. And I particularly valued the 'warts and all' comparison you provided with the WA and M6 (which actually makes it a really helpful mini review). So cheers for that! No problem, I’m not one for ‘OMG this is the best thing EVER!’ reviews. I could give a detailed breakdown of the ‘negatives’ of all of my favourite bits of gear. It doesn’t make me like them any less, it just means I have played with them for a prolonged period of time and have discovered some things it can’t do or something I would personally change. I’m very happy anyway! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassfan Posted February 23, 2019 Share Posted February 23, 2019 28 minutes ago, thodrik said: No problem, I’m not one for ‘OMG this is the best thing EVER!’ reviews. I could give a detailed breakdown of the ‘negatives’ of all of my favourite bits of gear. It doesn’t make me like them any less, it just means I have played with them for a prolonged period of time and have discovered some things it can’t do or something I would personally change. I’m very happy anyway! The “I’m happy anyway” says it all. That’s what it’s all about. 😃 I’m very happy with the M6 👍🏻 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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