AMP SHOOTOUT: Mesa Walkabout VS. Aguilar TH500 VS. Orange TB500

[dukeorock]

Just because they are silly cheap, I grabbed a TH Pre/DI and threw it in my rack...really like it alot

[nutdog]

Believe it or not I thought 1 was was a bit more airy, 3d whatever you want to call it that I heard in brief period I had a walkabout. I didn't guess because I learned from the Atkinson threads that once a rosewood ash humbucking single coil pizzaz 2x4 with flatrounds makes its way through cyberspace to my computer speakers I don't know what my ears are hearing.

But I also concluded there was no need for both amps. Those clips sound nice but the th sounds great and makes the walkabout feel like an anchor.

[KJung]

Originally Posted by nutdog

But I also concluded there was no need for both amps. Those clips sound nice but the th sounds great and makes the walkabout feel like an anchor.

+1, and the TH500 just HAMMERS on the gig at 4ohms into a reasonably well designed 212 or 410.

[nutdog]

And from what everyone says that orange sounds nice but there's no way I could do that H R Puffinstuff lunchbox thing.

[dukeorock]

I only have the pre version of the TH, but if memory serves that amp has a tap so you can get the full 500 watts at 4 or 8 ohms, correct? If so, that's just one more reason to get one

[speyer]

Originally Posted by nutdog

But I also concluded there was no need for both amps. Those clips sound nice but the th sounds great and makes the walkabout feel like an anchor.

Interesting... I'm of the opinion that even if you consider the larger size/weight & lack of power with walkabout, it is a superior piece of engineering for the everyday bassist. Keep in mind that in these clips, the WA is FLAT and has room to move in any direction tonally! Also, for me... it's loud enough for 80% of what I do, and it is more flixible on the gig. The TH500 in this example, is fairly tweaked in one direction and the other (darker & dirtier) voice is somewhat useless for me.

However, things I DO like about the TH500 are it's great tone, power and simplicity... along with it's light wight compact design and reliability (no tubes). I've been lucky enough to never have dealt with a bad tube... EVER! knock on wood. But really, this amp is the perfect reliable alternative to my WA. I managed to prove to myself that it can sound very similar to my beloved WA and since that was my unlimate goal here... I am going to wallow in my success and hammer on both of these great heads for quite a while.

[speyer]

Originally Posted by GRoberts

The interesting thing with the sound clip comparison is that the high frequency information is all there on both clips for the most part. Guys complain that the TH500 is somewhat lacking in the highs, but to my ears, both clips sound great and have plenty highs.

I was thinking the same thing once I got going with this comparison. I agree that both these amps have plenty of content in the highs, even though the TH is boosted 20%. The TH still sounds nice and natural to me... the EQ seems fairly transparent through it's range.

I was going to do some clips of the Orange too, but decided It was just too different than others. To me... it has a totally different vibe, which is immediately apparent upon playing the first note. Bigger, rounder and more 'filling'... like a double bacon, philly steak n' cheese sandwich

[vin*tone]

I'd really love to hear it actually. It would be great to hear a reasonably clean clip.

[KJung]

Originally Posted by GRoberts

The interesting thing with the sound clip comparison is that the high frequency information is all there on both clips for the most part. Guys complain that the TH500 is somewhat lacking in the highs, but to my ears, both clips sound great and have plenty highs.

I won't even guess which is which because both really do sound similar. Very cool! PS: I would love to add the Orange to that little sound clip and identify which is which so we could characterize. That would be very interesting!

The TH500 has plenty going on up top in general, but very little going on in the upper treble. As you push it on the gig, the big low end and aggressive mids quickly overwhelm the top end in a mix (regardless of EQ). The treble control is more of a lower treble control than the more typical shelving control that impacts upper treble.

Plenty of articulation with this head, and a beautiful top end for a P Bass or a 60's J with nickels or whatever. It sounds pretty 'dull' up top with a 70's J with steels though.

Plenty of heads do that thing though, and I like the meatiness of this head in a mix, and the present but still warm top end of the TH500. It reminds me a bit of the Thunderfunk up top. Plenty of top end, especially when played solo, but it is a warm mid machine in a mix. That is not a bad thing.

I found the top end of the Walkabout similar when I had one, although you could get the Walkabout to sparkle just a touch more.

[lomo]

Cool post, Speyer. They sound very similar. I must say that I like a little more tube character from my Walkabout (just the beginning of peach fuzz around the edges). I usually run the master around 1 o'clock, depending on the bass' output, with small nudges at about 1K Hz and 150Hz. Is the TH able to cop that tone? I must say I also love the front end layout and controls on the WA, which is more tweakable. The TH layout looks haphazard and makes me wonder if the guy who drew it up was tripping, LOL.

[KJung]

Originally Posted by speyer

Interesting... I'm of the opinion that even if you consider the larger size/weight & lack of power with walkabout, it is a superior piece of engineering for the everyday bassist. Keep in mind that in these clips, the WA is FLAT and has room to move in any direction tonally! Also, for me... it's loud enough for 80% of what I do, and it is more flixible on the gig. The TH500 in this example, is fairly tweaked in one direction and the other (darker & dirtier) voice is somewhat useless for me.

However, things I DO like about the TH500 are it's great tone, power and simplicity... along with it's light wight compact design and reliability (no tubes). I've been lucky enough to never have dealt with a bad tube... EVER! knock on wood. But really, this amp is the perfect reliable alternative to my WA. I managed to prove to myself that it can sound very similar to my beloved WA and since that was my unlimate goal here... I am going to wallow in my success and hammer on both of these great heads for quite a while.

I actually found (being a former Walkabout owner) that even though the TH500 has fewer knobs, the EQ is actually more powerful than the Walkabout. The Walkabout always sounded like the 'Walkabout' to me, and I never found that I could completely control the low end. With the TH500 I can easily move from 'huge, bloomy and wide' to massively mid punchy with a couple simple adjustments, and the drive control is a thing of total beauty if you really want to go old school.

That being said, the TH500 will not do that very sweet, tube driven top end response, and is also hi passed (or whatever) a bit higher, so it will also not do that deep, sub bass low end extension of the Mesa. Luckily, I find that sub bass to be nothing but trouble myself, but especially playing solo at home, or at low volumes in a non-dense mix, that combination of 'tube sweet' top end and tube-bloomy deep bass is really special with the Walkabout.

[speyer]

Yeah, I agree with some of that. Last night, I had a hard time deciding which head I'm going to use at home and which one to use at the rehearsal space. I decided to use the walkabout at home because of the reasons you mention. I think I'll enjoy that sweet tube flavour of the WA, in my quieter home office.

Also, I'm very interested to get the Tone Hammer on the gig... and our rehearsals are a good primer for this! They are loud, full volume jams with monitoring and all. First rehersal with the TH is tonight! I'm pretty stoked.

[KJung]

Originally Posted by speyer

Yeah, I agree with some of that. Last night, I had a hard time deciding which head I'm going to use at home and which one to use at the rehearsal space. I decided to use the walkabout at home because of the reasons you mention. I think I'll enjoy that sweet tube flavour of the WA, in my quieter home office.

Also, I'm very interested to get the Tone Hammer on the gig... and our rehearsals are a good primer for this! They are loud, full volume jams with monitoring and all. First rehersal with the TH is tonight! I'm pretty stoked.

It wumps hard.

[nutdog]

Originally Posted by speyer

Interesting... I'm of the opinion that even if you consider the larger size/weight & lack of power with walkabout, it is a superior piece of engineering for the everyday bassist. Keep in mind that in these clips, the WA is FLAT and has room to move in any direction tonally! Also, for me... it's loud enough for 80% of what I do, and it is more flixible on the gig. The TH500 in this example, is fairly tweaked in one direction and the other (darker & dirtier) voice is somewhat useless for me.

However, things I DO like about the TH500 are it's great tone, power and simplicity... along with it's light wight compact design and reliability (no tubes). I've been lucky enough to never have dealt with a bad tube... EVER! knock on wood. But really, this amp is the perfect reliable alternative to my WA. I managed to prove to myself that it can sound very similar to my beloved WA and since that was my unlimate goal here... I am going to wallow in my success and hammer on both of these great heads for quite a while.

The control on the wa is super cool. It's funny that I carried a 30lb amp for many years an considered it light. Fortunately I'm not hunting for a variety of tones. I just want to go boom boom boom without getting boomy.

I actually carried both amps to one gig with the intention of using the wa. But it wasn't stable on top of the cabs I was using so I took it back out and got the th. The schlep factor was more dramatic than I would have thought between a 4 and 13lb amp. Never underestimate my laziness.

I picked up the bag one morning and almost panicked because I thought it was empty and had left it at the gig. Heavyweight tone in a featherweight package is the engineering marvel of the tonehammer.

Originally Posted by speyer

Also, I'm very interested to get the Tone Hammer on the gig... and our rehearsals are a good primer for this! They are loud, full volume jams with monitoring and all. First rehersal with the TH is tonight! I'm pretty stoked.

It really shines on a gig.

[speyer]

The TH surprised me last night! It really sits well in the mix with the settings used in my audio clip. The flexibility of a para eq is not necessary as it is in the WA due to its well voiced, tighter punchy tone. IMO, as a comparison... the WA has more fatness to it in the mix and remains nice and tubey through its range which also gives it that harder to tame deep bass. This is something I like on a few tunes where I use muting techniques and lay down some dub-like basslines and the WA just sounds huge. To me, the TH simply has more punch and quickness to it and has a unique presentation that I feel is very 'dynamic' as a result. Playing through it and the bandmates all agreed that it sounded fantastic... I remember thinking 'woah, nuthin micro about this little micro' Good sounding DI (which I use for monitoring) and I would say equally good as the WA but just different.

Impressive amp and a welcome addition to my much loved WA. I will admit... I can see myself beging to reach for the TH on the gig! Small, light, powerful and tone-full.

[KJung]

Originally Posted by speyer

The TH surprised me last night! It really sits well in the mix with the settings used in my audio clip. The flexibility of a para eq is not necessary as it is in the WA due to its well voiced, tighter punchy tone. IMO, as a comparison... the WA has more fatness to it in the mix and remains nice and tubey through its range which also gives it that harder to tame deep bass. This is something I like on a few tunes where I use muting techniques and lay down some dub-like basslines and the WA just sounds huge. To me, the TH simply has more punch and quickness to it and has a unique presentation that I feel is very 'dynamic' as a result. Playing through it and the bandmates all agreed that it sounded fantastic... I remember thinking 'woah, nuthin micro about this little micro' Good sounding DI (which I use for monitoring) and I would say equally good as the WA but just different.

Impressive amp and a welcome addition to my much loved WA. I will admit... I can see myself beging to reach for the TH on the gig! Small, light, powerful and tone-full.

+1 I always liked the Walkabout at home more than on the gig, and vice versa for the TH500. The EQ is just massively powerful on that amp, much more powerful IMO than the massive number of knobs on the Walkabout to me. Once a user realizes the drive control is an EQ filter and not an overdrive knob, you can really start to dial that head in.

I also greatly appreciate the DI on the Aguilar, which has a pre/post switch (unlike the Walkabout) and also is not impacted by the master volume (unlike the Walkabout).

Smaller, more powerful, and a better sense of 'stability and reliability' (i.e., no heat, and no record of any issues), and there you go

The only thing this head won't do is 'clean sparkle', but there are many other heads for that if that is your thing. For 'supportive, fat, sit in the pocket' bass tone, simply amazing.

[Jim C]

I love it when many strangers agree on the same thing as my findings are the same.

Speyer, if you should have a minute, I would be interested in clips of the TH500 vs. the Orange. No need for trying to make one like the other but rather your favorite settings of each. Perhaps that would allow some of us to better understand the Orange (although the recent thread of capacitor failures is alarming).

[speyer]

Originally Posted by Jim C

Speyer, if you should have a minute, I would be interested in clips of the TH500 vs. the Orange.

Probably not going to happen soon. I don't have a cab at home right now (until my 3rd RS210 shows up) and the Orange is up for sale.

I havent posted it in the classifieds here yet, because I can get a better buck for it locally. However, I have had zero interest via craigslist vancouver so far.

[Session1969]

Originally Posted by speyer

OKAY FOLKS!

Below, is a link to a basic audio clip and an image of the amps front panels after I recorded the track. (and then spent an hour trying to figure out how to get it on the internet, LOL) In the track, I switch between heads after every riff. Can you tell which is which? The WA is totally flat, and I adjusted the TH500 to suit. They both sound pretty good and shockingly similar to me

https://soundcloud.com/fbassist/walkabout-th500

1st is the Walkabout. 2nd is the TH. I gotta say, they both sound great !

[Jim C]

Originally Posted by speyer

the Orange is up for sale.
.

Did you have a change of heart, or perhaps I've mixed posters.
I thought the Orange was a keeper (at least for a while).