First time playing a tube amp (m6 carbine)

BassistFreak416 · #1 03-29-2010, 07:56 PM

i finally had the opportunity to play a mesa boogie at a nearby guitar center. m6 carbine atop a mesa 4x10. i can easily say i have never heard anything so...perfect. much richer sound than my carvin bx500. every single bass i tested, from a cheap yamaha to an ibanez atk, sounded unbelieveable.
im curious as to how does this head compare to other tube heads like genz benz. maybe the cabinet helped in reproducing a great range of sound, but i could tell the head a lot of influence. where do you rate it as a tube amp?

tb420 · #2 03-29-2010, 08:01 PM

Before anyone rips you a new a*shole, the term "Tube Amp" is generally applied to "all-tube amps" (amps that use Tubes in the pre-amp AND power amp).

I'm not positive but the M6 only has pre-amp tubes (mosfet?), and is whats called a "hybrid" amp.

But that all really means nothing. If you like it, rock it. Don't waste time with details of gear. Trust me, bands don't care about how good you sound if you can't play.

nysbob · #3 03-29-2010, 08:11 PM

Yes..a preamp tube doth not a tube amp make.

Glad you liked the sound, though. Maybe a hybrid is for you.

Calaverasgrande · #4 03-29-2010, 08:13 PM

The carbines do sound good. If you like how that sounds, imagine how a 100% tube heads would sound!

It's funny how Mesa likes to spin it though. "12 tube driven mosfets".

derridiandrift · #5 03-29-2010, 08:22 PM

My opinion (you asked for opinions) is that Mesa builds the some of the very best hybrids that pull off the "clean tube amp" sound. tb420 got pretty close in his description. A hybrid has at least one tube in the preamp, but the power amp uses mosfet transistors (which are not tubes). If you really want an M6, buy used because they come up often on this board and Mesa's warranty is great (5 years transferrable). The only reason I got rid of my MPulse 600 is that I really do love "real" tube amps. In fact, I can more accurately say that I really do love the voicing of Ampeg tube amps.

And that rig that you played is a pretty sweet Mesa setup! There's a huge price difference between that rig and your Carvin.

BassistFreak416 · #6 03-29-2010, 08:31 PM

i also tried out the walkabout scout. fun amp, though the m6 seemed louder and cleaner. the scout also seemed to have a ton of high end, maybe more than im used to.

johnk_10 · #7 03-29-2010, 08:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BassistFreak416

im curious as to how does this head compare to other tube heads like genz benz. maybe the cabinet helped in reproducing a great range of sound, but i could tell the head a lot of influence. where do you rate it as a tube amp?

its impossible to rate it as a 'tube amp' since it isn't one, and genz benz doesn't make a tube head either.
not knocking hybrids at all, but, IMO they aren't the same animal.

JimmyM · #8 03-29-2010, 09:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Calaverasgrande

The carbines do sound good. If you like how that sounds, imagine how a 100% tube heads would sound!

It's funny how Mesa likes to spin it though. "12 tube driven mosfets".

i just looked up the descriptions for the m6 and m9 on mesa's web site, and nowhere on there do they spin it like that. besides, the m6 has 8 mosfets and the m9 ha 10.

the walkabout does advertise 6 tube driven mosfets, though, and that's a legit description since the power section does have a tube driving it, same as the svt 3 pro, which also uses a driver tube for the power section. it's not false advertising or "spinning," as you call it.

Bigjohn · #9 03-29-2010, 09:09 PM

I don't think it's spin.
I think the Carbine is unique. The signal path is 100% tube right up to and including the driver tube, which drives a 12 Mosfet output stage.
I've heard many great things about these. I'd like to try one.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Calaverasgrande

The carbines do sound good. If you like how that sounds, imagine how a 100% tube heads would sound!

It's funny how Mesa likes to spin it though. "12 tube driven mosfets".

Caca de Kick · #10 03-29-2010, 09:12 PM

The M6 only has one 12AX7 pramp tube in it, while the Walkabout has two 12AX7's, pretty different in sound.

I do love the sound the of the M6 too.

chris lykins · #11 03-29-2010, 09:38 PM

Its a great head but about as far from a "tubey" amp as it gets. You'll see lots of posts on here as the carbine is the "Mesa amp for non Mesa lovers". Their other models such as the Titan or Walkabout tend to favor the tube sound as being warm and bloomy while the carbine is harmonically complex but fast and clean.

Calaverasgrande · #12 03-29-2010, 11:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JimmyM

i just looked up the descriptions for the m6 and m9 on mesa's web site, and nowhere on there do they spin it like that. besides, the m6 has 8 mosfets and the m9 ha 10.

the walkabout does advertise 6 tube driven mosfets, though, and that's a legit description since the power section does have a tube driving it, same as the svt 3 pro, which also uses a driver tube for the power section. it's not false advertising or "spinning," as you call it.

uh, get off my jock man.

I confused the M pulse 600 with the carbine M6.
Blame Mesa's marketing guys for such sillyness.
I dont think I am any less of a Mesa booster for having commented on their marketing, which is surely the weakest aspect of Mesa gear.
I rock a 1987 mesa Bass 400 with a tl606 diesel 15 cab for most gigs. Used to work across the street from Mesa, caught lunch with their techs all the time.
I think it is silly to burnish the solid state side of it with "toobs". Its an all tube preamp with an all SS power amp. Gosh that's significant! nobody else makes one of those!

of course is no secret that I am a little cross at Mesa for discontinuing the 400 then the 400+. They ceded the "American made tube bass head" market to Ampeg, who promptly went to China with it. Now Ampeg is selling the same USA made amp for double what it used to? I have my fingers crossed that Mesa will come back out with an all tube monster. Bass 800?
A boy can dream right?