Daft question about Mesa Boogie M-Pulse 600

[REDLAWMAN]

Please don't laugh, but I'm got a question about the M-Pulse (and other Mesa heads).

You can buy them in two configurations, one with 'ear' mounts for a rack, I guess, and one that looks to be in a huge, black case!

I know the latter is the 'head', but in the Mesa brochure, they show the rack-mounted one with the ears on top of a number of cabs.

What is that huge, black case the 'head' comes in? Can you simply take it out and you're left with the rack-mounted 'ears' model?

Which one do I want if I'm going to be standing it on top of my cab (and rarely if ever moving it)?

The 'ears' one looks so much smaller (and to my mind better-looking), but I'm assuming that it's designed specifically to be screwed in a rack and not to be simply put on top of a cab?

Sorry if this is a stupid question, but I never had this dilemma with my Littlemark!

[KJung]

The 600 has rack ears as part of the front panel and will fit any standard full depth 2 space rack (I used the SKB 2 space standard rack with mine).

Mesa offers their own rack, called the 'head case' as an option. It is a rack that is designed to make their otherwise modern looking heads look more like old vintage tube amps (i.e., the head case is old school wood, and large in size to emulate the look of an old tube amp).

I much prefer the lightweight racks with protective front and back covers for schlepping, but the head case type option does look cool.

[Chef]

You can get rack earrs to put them in other manufactureres standard rack cases, or, you can get the mesa "headcase."
they're heavy, decent protection, though they come with no lids, and kinda good looking, I think.

here's one of each:



wiht your 600, you won't need rack ears. the walkabout would need them, the reason being, it's not a standard 19" wide. the ears are "adapters" used to achieve that.

[REDLAWMAN]

I think I may have used the wrong term guys. When I said 'ears', I meant the overlapping front panel with the two screw holes either side. Really just to differentiate it from the one in the big, black case that looks as if the front panel is flush with the casing (like my Littlemark) and without the screw holes.

Do people generally tend to use some kind of case then, as opposed to just putting the 'head' on top of their rigs like in the Mesa catalogue?

[KJung]

Originally Posted by REDLAWMAN

I think I may have used the wrong term guys. When I said 'ears', I meant the overlapping front panel with the two screw holes either side. Really just to differentiate it from the one in the big, black case that looks as if the front panel is flush with the casing (like my Littlemark) and without the screw holes.

Do people generally tend to use some kind of case then, as opposed to just putting the 'head' on top of their rigs like in the Mesa catalogue?

This is what we are talking about. The 600 is the 600... they all have permanent rack ears. You can either buy a rack like the SKB 2 space (which Chef pictures with his M6), or you can mount the 600 in the optional 'head case' (which also uses the permanent rack ears of the 600, but just mounts from the back versus the standard front mount of the rack).

Again, there is only one 600 model. The difference is the way the rack ears are used to mount it into either a standard rack, or the 'head case', which again is designed to make it look like an old school head (hence they use a mounting design that 'hides' the rack ears).

I don't like the head case design at all. No protection of the front panel, and needless weight. It is a cool look though, but other than that, it is IMO a poorly designed rack from a functional standpoint.

So, again, in the head case, the MPulse600's rack ears are just hidden from sight... they are still there.

[REDLAWMAN]

Fantastic Ken, that's exactly what I was asking.

Many thanks to you, too, Chef.