MB Fusion vs WalkAbout

tombowlus · #1 11-12-2010, 03:18 PM

I've had a lot of people ask me to compare my GK MB Fusion to my Mesa/Boogie WalkAbout, and I was finally able to do a little comparison and put some thoughts together. I'm sorry that I am not able to do a more detailed comparison at this point in time, but I have a lot on my plate!

So, here goes...

For the uninitiated, the WalkAbout is a compact, but "conventional" hybrid head, with a tube preamp and a tube driver (Simul-State) for the MOSFET power section. It uses a conventional power supply with a toroidal transformer. It is rated at 300 watts into 4 ohms, and weighs @ 13 lbs. I do have to note that I have an NOS Telefunken (ribbed plate, I believe) in V1 on my Walkabout.

The MB Fusion is what I would call a "micro" head, utilizing class-D topology and a switch-mode power supply (SMPS). It has three preamp tubes, and utilizes all six valve stages (same preamp as seen in the Fusion 550). It is rated at 500 watts into 4 ohms, and weighs @ 4.5 lbs. I am using the stock tubes.

I did most of my comparisons at lower volumes, playing through my Bergantino HT110, though I did try both heads with several bigger cabs when I pushed them a bit harder (though that little HT110 can really take a lot!). To cover a wider range of potential instruments, I switched back and forth between one of my MTD 535's and my Alleva-Coppolo LG4 Classic (in both active and passive mode).

For my first round, I wanted to keep them both fairly clean sounding, so I left the EQ controls on both heads at "noon" (which of course is not necessarily the most "flat" setting for either head), set the Master to noon, and kept the Gain well below noon on each head. Initially, I left the various settings on the Fusion (Presence, Deep, Limiter) off. The overall tone of these two heads is certainly fairly similar (both are warm yet very clear). The WalkAbout sounds bigger and more powerful down low (if you leave the Deep switch off on the Fusion). Engaging the Deep switch brings the GK's B string performance very much in line with that of the Walkabout, but the mids get a tad darker. After playing around with it a bit, I was left with the impression that I will probably use the Deep setting when I play a 5-string through the MB Fusion, but I think I prefer it turned off when playing a 4-string. Compared to the MB Fusion with the Deep on, the lows on the Walkabout were tighter.

Still speaking in terms of a fairly clean signal, the Walkabout has a bit more warmth & wool to the mids, and has a slightly thicker sound, overall. The highs are a bit more "vintage" sounding on the WalkAbout and a bit more "modern" sounding on the MB Fusion. There is a certain brightness and sheen to the GK that isn't there on the Boogie, though it is not a harsh thing at all. The WalkAbout is more full & round, and the GK is more harmonically rich. The MB Fusion does have more headroom (especially in terms of clean headroom), and the Boogie has more note-to-note separation and texture (though with some grit) when you a pushing higher volumes.

Playing these heads with some intentional tube overdrive produced some interesting results. I left the EQ's at noon (though you can definitely move the nature of the overdrive around a lot by tweaking the mids), and had the Gain knob set between 3:00 and wide open, and I cranked the Master up a bit. Starting at 3:00, both heads give up a lot of grit/growl, but aren't into a flat-out overdrive (at least not with an active bass). When you push them harder, the WalkAbout had more clarity and openness, and the GK gets a bit more warm/dark (which is not necessarily a bad thing). Leaving the controls set where they were, but switching to a passive bass, definitely brought out more overdrive from each head. In general, the GK maintained a more full tone as you added in more drive, and you can push it to a more extreme overdrive/fuzz/distortion than the WalkAbout, though at the extreme end of its limits, I found it to be fairly unusable.

On additional factor worth noting is that the fan on the WalkAbout is a good bit louder.

I really like both of these heads, and I've been a WalkAbout fan boy pretty much ever since I joined TalkBass. More recently, I have been won over by pretty much the entire GK line, and the MB Fusion is definitely something special among the current micro head options. I'm a big fan of the MB200 & MB500, too, and folks who don't yearn for the added harmonics, tube sweetness and potential for tube saturation that the MB Fusion has to offer, the MB500 may be just the ticket.

Long story short, I'm not getting rid of either one (though in all honesty, I don't get rid of much!

).

I hope to delve deeper into this comparison further on down the road, but hopefully this helps in the short term.

Tom.

**Chef** · #2 11-12-2010, 03:23 PM

Tom, I think the Fusion has three preamp tubes, not 6; but does use 6 stages, each tube having two sides, as it were...

tombowlus · #3 11-12-2010, 03:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chef

Tom, I think the Fusion has three preamp tubes, not 6; but does use 6 stages, each tube having two sides, as it were...

Yikes!

Typo!

Thanks for catching that! Yes, three tubes, using both valve stages in each tube.

**Chef** · #4 11-12-2010, 03:26 PM

Nice mini-review, thanks!

MarkusBass · #5 11-12-2010, 03:31 PM

Very interesting! Thanks Tom!

CElton · #6 11-12-2010, 03:47 PM

Thanks for the review, Tom. Great work!

Crabby · #7 11-12-2010, 03:52 PM

Very interesting stuff as I own a Walkabout and a brand new MB500. I was trying to decide if I should return the MB500 and buy the Fusion version but so far I like the contrast between the fat warm Walkabout and the crisp clean tone of the MB500.

RickenBoogie · #8 11-12-2010, 05:00 PM

Nice review, and as a big WA fan-boy myself, it's always nice to read someone else's opinon on that head. Reinforces my undying love for the littlest of Boogies.

4Mal · #9 11-12-2010, 06:13 PM

oh this is bad... it's not making me pine for the Fusion any less...

rnilson · #10 11-12-2010, 07:49 PM

All right!
Thanks so much for the review.
GAS!!! I really want a Walkabout. I missed a 12" walkabout scout on CL for $350 and have depressed ever since!

tombowlus · #11 11-12-2010, 08:31 PM

Here are some pics showing the relative size of these heads (and my messy basement):

Crabby · #12 11-12-2010, 11:41 PM

I did some very similar A/B comparing today with my Walkabout and MB500. Of course they sound very different but it really helped me to hear exactly how each amp differs by comparing them back and forth using the same cab and bass.

Running each amp into my GK Neo412 revealed just how fast and responsive the MB500 is. The GK has so much more top end sizzle but can be fattened up nicely with the two mid controls and knocking back the treble a bit. It becomes apparent just how fat the Walkabout really is when going back to it though.

The G string sounds twice as thick and the tone is so much more centered in the mids but doesn't lack in the lows by any means. There is so much more harmonic content to the tone using the Walkabout and I never miss compression or worry about a clipping input stage using such an amp with such a glorious tube pre amp stage.

The GK is very easy to dial in and pre amp clipping is not hard to avoid by simply keeping the input gain at about halfway or dialed back a smidge. I think that so far, although the walkabout is my "desert island" amp, The MB500 can put out more volume, sounds very good in that classic GK way and does its thing amazingly well. Having both is a real joy and I would never use one to try and imitate the sound of the other.

ishouldbeking · #13 11-13-2010, 12:11 AM

just got my walkabout (and loving it), but curious about these GK heads too. thanks for the side-by-side, Tom. for me, I've always encountered the same issue with GK rigs... as a full-time pickstyle player there's a certain snarly clank that I can never dial out with GK. I had a 2001RB as my main rig, and it was a mean piece of gear, but that clank ultimately killed it for me when I got a gig that needed a more subdued / less modern tone. No matter how much I tweaked the highs and high mids I couldn't dial it out. I had forgotten about that experience for the most part until I played two back-to-back festival gigs where I wound up playing through 800RB's (one place had a neo 410, the other an ampeg 810)... same death clank. These days I'm playing a rick instead of the stingray I had back when I was rocking a 2001RB and the clank was 10 times worse... oh well.

I'd still like to try one of these things, but I should probably give my walkabout some lovin first...

**Chef** · #14 11-13-2010, 05:52 AM

tom:
thx for the pics!

nice collection of tetrahedrons there in the background.

lomo · #15 11-13-2010, 06:33 AM

Thanks for the reviews. One thing I'd love to hear is examples of the type of gig that would lead you to grab one specific head over the other, if you can think of any such examples.

tombowlus · #16 11-13-2010, 07:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lomo

One thing I'd love to hear is examples of the type of gig that would lead you to grab one specific head over the other, if you can think of any such examples.

To be honest, any more, when I am choosing what rig to take to a gig, it is normally based upon what gear I am reviewing at the time. But, when I do make a non-review related decision regarding what gear to bring, I ask myself such questions as:

How big is the room/stage?
How much room do I have for my rig?
What is the load-in situation like? [If I have to carry things for long distances, and/or upstairs, I'll bring something lighter or at least modular.]
How am I going to get my rig to the show? [Normally, I drive my own car and take my rig with me, but sometimes we all go in one vehicle and tow the band trailer; no subways for me!]
How loud is this drummer (I play in several bands)? [I can always make a guitar player turn down, or angle his rig away from me, but a hard hitting drummer needs to be factored into the stage volume question.]
What kind of PA support do we have for this show? [And do I have to run it?

]
What style of music?
How many tunes call for a low B (aka, is this a mostly 4-string gig or a mostly 5-string gig)?
How many tunes call for some kind of overdrive? [If it's one or two tunes, a pedal will do just fine, but if I'm going to be cranking out an overdriven tone most of the night, I prefer to bring a rig which can do this on its own.]
What do I know about how things sound in this room on or this stage? [If I know that I have room where things are always boomy on stage, or if it's always harsh and shrill on stage, I'll bring a rig that tries to minimize that problem.]
How likely is it that a drunk patron is going to crash into my rig? [It's happened more than I'd like, but less often now that we don't play frat parties anymore!]

And then of course, there is the question, "What cool rig hasn't gone out to a show in a while?" Though I suspect that particular question is mostly for folks with hoarding tendencies, like myself.

Tom.

lomo · #17 11-13-2010, 12:04 PM

Fair enough. Obviously, your gear quiver is larger than most, LOL. My thinking was simply that a head is a tool, and it helps to know what jobs it excels at, what is can suffice for, and what it is clearly weak at.

tombowlus · #18 11-13-2010, 12:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lomo

My thinking was simply that a head is a tool, and it helps to know what jobs it excels at, what is can suffice for, and what it is clearly weak at.

Absolutely! And you raise a couple additional good questions to ask when considering what to bring to a rig:

Is my bass going to be in the PA?
Does my head have a good DI?
Do I need to bring a DI box?

R. Laevinus · #19 11-13-2010, 12:16 PM

I'm very happy to hear that the Fusion plays comparably to the Walkabout, which I have personally decided is the Best Head Ever Made (yet, for my purposes, IMO of course) as far as the compromises between weight/power/size/tone/price/reliability/functionality/controllability all go.

I'm looking forward to a chance to try out a Fusion, but I think I'll be sticking with my two Walkabouts for a while longer - for some reason, I just can't see the Fusion being as reliable as the Mesa, whose stuff is, as we all know, built like tanks.

Thanks for the review!

IntrepidCellist · #20 11-13-2010, 12:19 PM

How would you compare the TC RH450/Staccato to this pairing?

I'm looking for a micro that gives a more "old school" sound and is capable of some nice grit/tubey compression. I have a WT400 already so I'm pretty much set for a nice warm clean sound, but I likes me some grit!