Which all tube amp does the Walkabout most resemble?

[Jared Lash]

The only tube amp that I have ever owned and gigged with was a 70's SVT that I sold a couple years after college when I wasn't playing all that much. I also recorded an album with my college band using the studio's B-15. So they are really my only experience with tube amps.

Fast forward a couple years and my Walkabout is like a gateway drug into tubedom. After years of non-hybrid SS amps (I still love GK) the little Mesa really has me jonesing for a full valve amp, even moreso after just missing out on a good deal for a Trace Elliot V6.

So I suppose the question is, which all tube amp is closest in sound to the Walkabout? That's definitely the tone universe I'm looking to stay in. Fat and warm but with that three dimensional quality that only tube amps seem to have. Sounding good with fuzz pedals is a big added bonus.

Thoughts?

[rnilson]

You might check into a Mesa Buster.
It can do the clean fat 3D tube sound very well. It is clean and quick in it's response, and alot more articulate than most tube amps. In that way it sounds very solid state, but it is still clearly a tube sound. (Fat, 3D, Compressed, Punchy) It's rotary eq section takes some time to get used to, but can accomplish alot of tonal and response pallets with in the clean and fat 3D tube range. It will not do the overdrive sound that you get with the walkabout alone, but with a tube OD pedal it can do the Walkabout OD sound very well.(Much like the Beck Video). I use a DHA VT1 EQ Bass. It plays with all pedals very nicely.

With all that said I still am on the hunt for a Walkabout Scout 12" @ 8ohms though.

[mpdd]

good post jared been thinking about this question myself for when my current ss setup finally dies

[Jared Lash]

The Buster is an amp I've been meaning to look into. I'll have to read up on it but it's on my radar now.

I love the Walkabout. When I bought it I was looking for a cab or cabs to go with it and a "too good to pass up" deal on a Berg NV412 came along.

What I'd like to do is get an all tube head with some juice to pair with the Berg and then get a pair of neo 12s or 15s (with defeatable or no tweeters) to pair with the WB for smaller or harder to schlep gigs.

[RickenBoogie]

i own both a Buster and a Walkabout. Here's the thing- the Walkabout sounds "tubier" than the all-tube Buster does. To my ears the WA sits between a B15 and V4B, tonally, but with more overall punch. The Buster, though it certainly has a great tone and character, is much brighter, cleaner, and almost solidstate sounding. Both great amps, as are the B15 and V4B.

[Jared Lash]

Originally Posted by RickenBoogie

i own both a Buster and a Walkabout. Here's the thing- the Walkabout sounds "tubier" than the all-tube Buster does. To my ears the WA sits between a B15 and V4B, tonally, but with more overall punch. The Buster, though it certainly has a great tone and character, is much brighter, cleaner, and almost solidstate sounding. Both great amps, as are the B15 and V4B.

Hmm. That was also my experience with the Aguilar DB359. GREAT sound, but surprisingly modern or "hi-fi" IMO. And not a ton of juice.

Ben Fargen of Fargen amps said he could build me a 200W (4 6550s) amp with a B15 front end. Maybe that's more along the lines of where I want to go.

[NecroticImbecil]

Not much experience with the Buster. Tried one in Guitar Centaur but it buzzed like mad. However, if it sounds anything like the older M-Pulse heads, I'd suggest 400+. I heard more than a hint of 400+ in the M-Pulse I played. Of course a big tube head is physically quite a bit different than a little hybrid combo, but sonically you'd probably like it.

I've also tried a Buster and to my ears it didn't sound like the M-Pulse or 400+. Similar tones can also be had from the other rack-mount Mesa tube heads, 400 and D-180.

[rnilson]

Originally Posted by RickenBoogie

i own both a Buster and a Walkabout. Here's the thing- the Walkabout sounds "tubier" than the all-tube Buster does. To my ears the WA sits between a B15 and V4B, tonally, but with more overall punch. The Buster, though it certainly has a great tone and character, is much brighter, cleaner, and almost solidstate sounding. Both great amps, as are the B15 and V4B.

Yes the buster is clean and quick. It can be very bright, but it also does vintage darker (highs rolled off) clean tube sounds real well IMO.

In my expereince the two eq sections really allow for a large variance in the bright/dark tonal pallet. I didn't use the graphic EQ much at first, but now that I have gotten around to it I am surprised at how much it can help change the tone.
Now I will say I cannot get grit out of that amp to save my life.

I haven't used the Walkabout so I cannot comment on that, but I have found the buster to be much more compressed and 3D "tube sounding" than any Hybrid or Tube Pre I have used. It sounds like an all tube amp, not like a tube pre going into a solid state power section.

I think lots of people associate "tube sound" with OD and like I said the buster does not do that.

[rnilson]

Originally Posted by Jared Lash

Ben Fargen of Fargen amps said he could build me a 200W (4 6550s) amp with a B15 front end. Maybe that's more along the lines of where I want to go.

That sounds like a killer amp!

[Laurent]

I use to own a Walkabout and to my ears no tube amps sounds like it. Despite the tube preamp section, it still sound like a SS amp. The kind of aggressive speed this amp yield cannot be matched by tubes IMHO. Tubes provide the warmth, the woolly character and the distortion few SS amps can emulate.
Before you go into a custom amp, I would recommend you audition a Traynor YBA200-2.
It's the best value tube amp currently on the market and it's not as heavy as an SVT.
By changing the the pre-amp tubes you can also easily customize this amp to your tonal needs.

[rnilson]

[quote=Laurent;10008038] Despite the tube preamp section, it still sound like a SS amp. [quote]

From every thing I have read on TB about the Walkabout I think you might be in the minortiy on this one....
How do other Walkabout owner feel about this?

[bongomania]

I haven't tried the WA yet, but I have an all-tube Univox 1011, and I wonder if anyone here who's familiar with both could compare their tones?

[pfschim]

I've owned a Buster 200 (head only, not the combo) in the past, and currently use a Walkabout 12 combo. I owned them both at the same time for a while too. FWIW, as has been said many times, the other Mesa Mpulse family amps (360, 600) do not sound like the Walkabout either.

I can say for certain that the Buster sounds nothing like the Walkabout. As Rickenboogie said, the Buster, while definitely a great tube amp, is much more in the Fender super linear design tube amp family. Tons of clean, solid headroom, and not naturally particularly warm as you would expect from an all tube amp.

I have heard, but not had the chance to test it out, that the Mesa Big Block 750 is much more Walkabout-like than any of the other current Mesa amps. Perhaps Mesa designed the BB750 with the tube driven Mosfets like the Walkabout, I don't know.

Good luck with your search.

[Jared Lash]

Originally Posted by rnilson

From every thing I have read on TB about the Walkabout I think you might be in the minortiy on this one....
How do other Walkabout owner feel about this?

Yeah, that's quite an important point for me too.

My only significant experience with tube amps came from a number of years ago when had very different gear and was playing pretty different music. Not to mention my playing style has changed significantly. Outside of the occasional dabble with a SVT at a music store, I don't really have a great reference point other than a friends Mesa 400/400+ (don't remember which it was) which was very cool but not what I'm looking for.

But I love the Walkabout. And my understanding was that it was incredibly tube like in tone and response. If that's not the case then maybe I need to rethink things.

As of right now I'm still hunting for a Trace Elliot V4 or V6, considering a reasonably priced SVT 2Pro and still thinking about the Fargen amp with the B15 pre and 200 W power section. Ben also says with a schematic he could build a V6 clone but considering what they go for used I don't know that it would be worth the cost to do that.

Any other thoughts on this?

[lomo]

Originally Posted by pfschim

the Mesa Big Block 750 is much more Walkabout-like than any of the other current Mesa amps. Perhaps Mesa designed the BB750 with the tube driven Mosfets like the Walkabout.

+1. I'm one of those who believes the 750 can do the Walkabout tone (the clean, barely overdriven flavor). I've had 'em both side by side. I've never tried or heard the Titan, but that will likely do it as well. Keep in mind the Walkabout and it's fairly unique eq allow for a wide array of tones - different heads may cop different variations of the Walkabout.
I can say that the Orange AD200 won't do it well-I've owned that.

[bongomania]

Will the BB750 cop that tone at low volume as well as high?

[lomo]

Originally Posted by bongomania

Will the BB750 cop that tone at low volume as well as high?

Absolutely IME.

[RickenBoogie]

I agree about the BB750, and that's a great amp too. Almost bought one a few years back, but went with an SVT 6Pro instead, (thinking I needed 1100 watts @ 4 ohms, instead of the 550 the BB750 puts out). But back to the walkabout, I must say, and MANY other users agree, it's the "tubiest" sounding hybrid amp you're likely to find, ..anywhere. And i'm not talking about o/d or distortion either. Just the warm, rich, fat, musical 3-Dness of it. Like I said earlier, in many ways, tubier than Buster- but buster is a whole 'nother thing.

[pfschim]

Originally Posted by Jared Lash

But I love the Walkabout. And my understanding was that it was incredibly tube like in tone and response. If that's not the case then maybe I need to rethink things.

Any other thoughts on this?

Make no mistake about it, The Walkabout has a very tube oriented character. It is also pretty flexible when it comes to tonal range (not a one-note type amp at all). It will do tube warm, full and clean (up to its power limits of course), and it will do tube warm and grindy if you push the gain stage. So, don't be mislead about the Walkabout - tube monster for sure (even though its a hybrid)

I find the thing it does not do too well, is the modern zingy tone (like a GK-ish thing). Walkabout highs are sweet and musical, but not very zippy. Personally, I think that's a good thing, but some folks like a LOT of top end.

[bongomania]

Amusing:
BB750 = 550 W @ 4 ohms, weight is 35 lbs.
Two Walkabouts = 600W @ 4 ohms, weighing only 26 lbs.