Mesa TT 800

[Smiles]

Hi guys I’m looking to get a light weight class d head and wondered if anyone here has had experience with the Mesa Subway heads particularly the TT 800 as it has both tube and SS channels which is appealing to me 

I’ve never heard any Mesa bass amps and they always talk of the Mesa sound , what is that ?

I like the Ampeg vibe and have their neo 410 / 210 cabs which to me with the Ashdown ABM 600 IV sounds gorgeous , but with the head in a flight case is pretty heavy , but certainly wouldn’t get rid of it it’s a lovely amp 

But I like the idea of reducing my trips to the car and helping my back out a bit 

The Mesa TT 800 certainly on paper and pretty much all the reviews seems very appealing but would very much appreciate any views from the Basschat community 

best regards 

Stuart 

[Mudpup]

Good luck finding one (a TT800 that is.......)

😉

Edited May 14, 2022 by Mudpup

[Bunion]

You could try a valve preamp/OD pedal into a light power amp or  the FX return of a small head.

BK Butler blue Tube

Mesa boogie V Twin 

EBS valve drive 

Myco Various on low gain

Dave Hall various pedals 

Noble (bloody expensive) 

 

there Are many more and some are not manufactured now, but all are available secondhand without much trouble cheaply enough except the Noble. 
If you don’t like what you hear, sell it on and try another flavour easy enough with no loss to your pocket. 

Then that opens the world of tube rolling’ up to you 🤣😄

 

 

Edited May 14, 2022 by Bunion

[Smiles]

Thanks Bunion appreciate that all sensible ideas but I like to keep everything really simple I’m  not into pedals and add ons particularly apart from a tuner and volume pedal , as I say I like the sound of my current set up I’m just interested in a light weight amp and the Mesa TT 800 looked interesting , any other class d recommendations would be gratefully listened to 

thanks

stu 

[three]

Have a look for BC member Steve Browning's excellent posts on the TT800 - I think Steve has a couple and is a long-time Mesa user.  The downside with Mesa is the wait and it's possible that the TT800 won't make it to UK shores (and time soon anyway) - just a few units were shipped to the UK prior to the onset of various crises and getting hold of any Mesa gear new in UK/Europe has become highly problematic.  Getting hold of a TT800 is particularly problematic.  I was on the waiting list but abandoned the wait - not a bad thing as after hearing a TT800 up close, I realise that it wouldn't suit me at all and would have been going back.  Still, if it's your kind of thing, then a great choice.  

 

Edit: found the link to Steve's review:

 

 

Edited May 14, 2022 by three

[Smiles]

Thanks three really appreciate that and yes a very interesting review he certainly likes his Mesa gear and particularly the TT 800 

it’s not something I could buy blind on as it’s a massive purchase price wise it just an amp that seems very appealing to me , looks like I’m in for a long wait to try one out , do you know why Mesa are not supplying Europe at the moment 

thanks again 

Stuart 

[Merton]

Here’s the low down on the Mesa situation:

Edit - meant to add a comment on alternatives!

The GK Fusion S would be well worth a look. There’s one in the classifieds here: 

 

Edited May 14, 2022 by Merton

[Lozz196]

Unless you’re playing some very large stages Ashdowns RM amps are good in comparison to the ABMs. In regular pub sized venues I don’t really hear much difference between my ABM600 & RM500, however on a large venue stage the ABM has a greater depth to it. Still wouldn’t (and hasn’t) stop me using the RM on big stages though, def worth checking out imo.

[Smiles]

1 hour ago, Merton said:

Here’s the low down on the Mesa situation:

Edit - meant to add a comment on alternatives!

The GK Fusion S would be well worth a look. There’s one in the classifieds here: 

 

Thanks for the Mesa info Merton such a shame would have liked to have tried one out , I’ve not tried any GK heads , I think they’re known to have a dirty grindy edge to them is that right or is that very adjustable incase you wanted a more clean sound with just a touch of grind 

Stu 

[Smiles]

27 minutes ago, Lozz196 said:

Unless you’re playing some very large stages Ashdowns RM amps are good in comparison to the ABMs. In regular pub sized venues I don’t really hear much difference between my ABM600 & RM500, however on a large venue stage the ABM has a greater depth to it. Still wouldn’t (and hasn’t) stop me using the RM on big stages though, def worth checking out imo.

Thanks Lozz yep again not tried any Ashdown RM series amps , we do at times play large stages but often backline is supplied but not always so definitely need a head that can deliver powerful lows and fairly high volume, any opinions  on the Markbass vintage heads the new 1000 looks interesting 

stu 

[Merton]

52 minutes ago, Smiles said:

Thanks for the Mesa info Merton such a shame would have liked to have tried one out , I’ve not tried any GK heads , I think they’re known to have a dirty grindy edge to them is that right or is that very adjustable incase you wanted a more clean sound with just a touch of grind 

Stu 

I had the predecessor to the current Fusion S range and it was great. Clean or and level of grind to full on dirt as you desire. A very versatile, powerful head. If I wasn’t happy with my current set up I’d be all over that Fusion S

[Smiles]

23 minutes ago, Merton said:

I had the predecessor to the current Fusion S range and it was great. Clean or and level of grind to full on dirt as you desire. A very versatile, powerful head. If I wasn’t happy with my current set up I’d be all over that Fusion S

Thanks Merton I’ll take a closer look at the GK heads , for some reason I always presumed they had a real signature gk growl to them which is great if your after that , but I’ve no doubt you can adjust that dirt from 0 to 100% which would be perfect

definitely worth a look

Thanks

Stu   

[Steve Browning]

Just seen this thread.

 

I am, indeed, a long time Mesa user. That's very much down to the quality of the gear itself. The TT-800s have just finished a two week UK tour and been excellent throughout. The combination of the Subway heads and cabs has proved to be a continuation of my original Bass400/Diesel set up.

 

Where are you @Smiles? You're welcome to try my rig out if it's feasible.

[Smiles]

1 hour ago, Steve Browning said:

Just seen this thread.

 

I am, indeed, a long time Mesa user. That's very much down to the quality of the gear itself. The TT-800s have just finished a two week UK tour and been excellent throughout. The combination of the Subway heads and cabs has proved to be a continuation of my original Bass400/Diesel set up.

 

Where are you @Smiles? You're welcome to try my rig out if it's feasible.

Hi Steve thanks for the message really appreciate that and that’s very kind of you ,  I’m near Tonbridge Kent 

best regards 

Stuart 

[Steve Browning]

That's not a huge distance. If you want, we could find a rehearsal place roughly half way between us.

[Smiles]

21 hours ago, Steve Browning said:

That's not a huge distance. If you want, we could find a rehearsal place roughly half way between us.

Hi Steve that is very kind thank you I’ll certainly keep that in mind , I’m pretty keen to hang on until they’re available again over here but is certainly looking like it’s next year unfortunately 

best regards 

Stuart 

where are you based out of interest 

[Steve Browning]

Waterlooville, which is near Portsmouth, on the South coast.

[Smiles]

2 hours ago, Steve Browning said:

Waterlooville, which is near Portsmouth, on the South coast.

Know it well I used to go there quite a bit back in the day to the Quicks archery shop , I presume it’s still there 

[Steve Browning]

It sure is.

[MrDinsdale]

On 14/05/2022 at 14:25, Merton said:

I had the predecessor to the current Fusion S range and it was great. Clean or and level of grind to full on dirt as you desire. A very versatile, powerful head. If I wasn’t happy with my current set up I’d be all over that Fusion S

 

Really love the Fusion S, the it's so versitile and the OD channel is awesome. GK have a bit of a reputation for being a one trick kind of amp but I think they're heavy hitters alround, they just happen to really excel with that signature growl sound. The Fusion can get super warm tones though right through to brutal metal sounds.

 

TBH the only reason I'm selling is because I got the GT1000core pedal, it's not on the same level as the Fusion S but it's good enough for my requirements and I can't afford to keep both. In an ideal world I'd keep them both and 4 cable them up so I could leverage the best of both but budget is tight!

 

Never tried any Mesa bass gear so wouldn't be able to offer a comparison, always loved the look of the cabs though and some of my favourite rock tones have used Mesa gear. I've always though of them as pretty similar to GK in terms of sound?

[MOSCOWBASS]

Just for info, the Mesa TT has tube processing on both channels

[Smiles]

Ok thanks for info appreciate that , I’m going to try the Markbass Vintage 1000 at the weekend and also hoping to try the Ashdown rm 800 if they’re able to get me one in .

I have the Ashdown ABM 600 evo iv at the moment which I’ve always liked very much but interesting in trying the Markbass as never played through one 

Best regards 

Stuart