Mesa Boogie M6 Carbine. Pros and cons?

Digao · #1 05-24-2010, 09:04 PM

Pros and cons?
It is good for rock?
Thanks!

dmusic148 · #2 05-24-2010, 09:08 PM

Pros: massively powerful, very high quality, reasonably light, and has a sound all it's own.
Cons: you'd better really like THAT sound (I didn't and sold mine).

BassistFreak416 · #3 05-24-2010, 09:14 PM

tried one out. loved it. was hooked up to a mesa 4x10. probably the only high end amp head i have ever tried, but WOW that thing is amazing. simple and straight foward, amazing sound. even for not being an actual tube amp, it gives tons of life to your bass. i played a cheap $200 yamaha bass and thought it sounded like the best bass i have ever played

chris lykins · #4 05-25-2010, 07:58 AM

Amazing head. Ive owned a M6 and sold it to get the M9.
Cons to me are not much taper with the volume knob. Goes from silent to really loud with barely a turn of the knob. Also it a little hissy/noisy compared to other amps such as the Mesa Titan or GK. Its not overly so but its definitely there so maybe not the best amp for an acoustic coffee shop gig.

Jo6Pak · #5 05-25-2010, 08:01 AM

I tested one (briefly) last weekend. Happened to be at GC just they were unboxing it, so it was brand-spankin' new. I noticed some audible hiss as well...

slapstick13 · #6 05-25-2010, 09:23 AM

WARNING! I thought Id love it. Tried it out at a friends house. It is very loud and powerful, but very very clean. Which is great if thats what youre into. But if you like ampeg growl you WILL NOT LIKE THIS! But I could definatly see it being great in certain applications. Just not for a dirty punk rock band. I was very impressed with how clean and articulate the m6 is though.

Matt Dean · #7 05-25-2010, 10:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by slapstick13

WARNING! I thought Id love it. Tried it out at a friends house. It is very loud and powerful, but very very clean. Which is great if thats what youre into. But if you like ampeg growl you WILL NOT LIKE THIS! But I could definatly see it being great in certain applications. Just not for a dirty punk rock band. I was very impressed with how clean and articulate the m6 is though.

Yea, but through a good dirt pedal in front of this beast, it'll get very dirty punk rock!

chris lykins · #8 05-25-2010, 11:55 AM

Or a bass with hot pups/preamp and the gain at 1-2 oclock will give you good growl but not distortion. The only amps Ive liked which will overdrive so far have been an older ashdown ABM 500 and the Mesa Titan. I couldnt stand the distorted Orange tone but I did like its clean tone.

JEDBass · #9 05-25-2010, 12:09 PM

I have had one of these for a little while. I agree with everyone else who says there's a slightly audible hiss. I thought maybe that was due to where I've had to have mine plugged in when practicing. I will say that out on a rock gig I really don't notice it at all, though I usually keep my tweeters rather low anyways.

Also, with the dirt/distortion thing, I use mine with a VT Bass to GREAT effect. Mind you, I'm also running into a pair of HT115's, and it just kills. Kills!

Only two things I don't like about it:

1.) The volume taper. I would think there's got to be a way to mod this, but is it worth the risk?
2.) The voice control footswitch inputs. Why? Why? Why?! My only comfort with this is that I typically only use setting 2 or 4, and usually tinker with the tone/gain controls when I switch anyways, so it's probably not something I'd switch between mid-song.

rpsands · #10 05-25-2010, 12:15 PM

Seconding the volume taper. It's like a Fender Deville. 1...2...11.

KsPiNeSh · #11 05-26-2010, 09:18 PM

Pros: It's friggin' awesome, voices are all usable, Pull Deep
Cons: No volume taper, pull mute (terrible idea), doesn't do my taxes.