Mesa Boogie Walkabout Mega-thread 8

[terlewine]

Anybody feel there's downside to playing a Walkabout cab with casters on it?

[morebass!]

Originally Posted by MuthaFunk

I'm pretty sure there's nothing wrong with the fan I removed. It's just a lot of wind noise due to the blade design. Here's a interesting thing I noted, the fan is quieter when it's removed from the WA. I believe this is because the fan chuffs the air after it winds up and pressurizes the chassis and the flow is restricted by the venting. The high volume that the stock fan is capable of is actually too much for the chassis to expel and actually makes the fan louder.....

So, would it make sense to leave the stock fan in and somehow improve the venting? That would improve cooling and reduce noise without having to mess around installing a new fan. Maybe part of the chassis could be removed if the unit is in a rack. Just thinking. Away from home now so can't eyeball it.

[Chef]

The new top cover has scads more venting.
It did not lower noise, IMO, IME.

I'd wager if you mess with the fan, you mess with the warranty.
I won't be messing with it.

[derrico1]

Yes to Chef. Unless it impinges on function for you, I'd leave the fan alone. But if you have to cut the fan noise, replace the fan rather than muck w/ the venting.

[MuthaFunk]

Originally Posted by derrico1

Yes to Chef. Unless it impinges on function for you, I'd leave the fan alone. But if you have to cut the fan noise, replace the fan rather than muck w/ the venting.

I'd have to agree. If it were racked you might be able to take the cover off completely and notice less noise but I think the rack itself will then just resonate with the genuine fan noise even minus the chuffing. It might be worth a try. It's not hard to remove the cover and rack it. The original fan is still much noiser than the Silenx replacements though, even when both are completely removed from the chassis.

[D.A.R.K.]

Originally Posted by morebass!

So, would it make sense to leave the stock fan in and somehow improve the venting? That would improve cooling and reduce noise without having to mess around installing a new fan. Maybe part of the chassis could be removed if the unit is in a rack. Just thinking. Away from home now so can't eyeball it.

Unfortunately the majority of the noise with the stock fan has to do with air pressure/ blowing into the heat sink,
(I experimented and compared quite a bit when doing the fan mod.).
Venting, like in the newest versions, will not stop this from happening.
BTW, new vented chassis cover quote from boogie response:
$66.70 USD + tax/shipping. Feel free to contact us in customer service to place an order at 707-778-6565 Mon-Thurs 9-5 PST.
Since mine has no warranty, i'm thinking of modifying the existing cover (with a proper drill press, of course).

[GregC]

FWIW, my brownfaced WA head is close to six years old, I've been running it outside the combo cab for most of that time and I have never heard the fan except when I've used it in my bedroom. It's been living in a practice space for close to 2 years; even when I'm noodling solo at the space, I really can't hear it.

[lomo]

Originally Posted by terlewine

Anybody feel there's downside to playing a Walkabout cab with casters on it?

As long as they don't rattle you're good.

[jro]

Hi All,

A year or so ago got a Walkabout 12" combo and have been very pleased with it for the most part. When playing bigger stages tough, I'd like to add another cab because it seems like the 12" cab alone is at its limit when its cranked up a bit. From what I've read here this is common practice and shouldn't be a big deal.

So now I'm trying to figure out which cabinet to build or buy. I happen to have a 3015lf and 18Sound 6ND410 collecting dust and was originally thinking of building a 15/6 fearful cab. The fearful is a big cab though, and it doesn't match the Scouts width or height. What can I say, I like things to match. Also, being lazy I'd rather haul either 2 small or 1 large cab(s) and at 8 ohms running the fearful with the Walkabout head alone I wouldn't get to use all 300 watts.

So here are the options I've come up with. 1) Build a custom lightweight 8 ohm extension cab that would match the Scouts width with the drivers I have; 2) sell the drivers (and maybe the walkabout cab) and build or buy 4 ohm cab(s); 3) quickly buy the Walkabout radiator in the classifieds and enjoy the spare time I now have practicing. 4) ??

I'm just throwing this out there to get a few opinions and see if there are any other suggestions from you seasoned Walkabout users.

Thanks, jro

[Chef]

3.
If you like the Walkabout/Scout tone, the best thing to do is another same/same cab.
Ain't nuttin' else like those.

[NOLA Bass]

Originally Posted by Chef

3.
If you like the Walkabout/Scout tone, the best thing to do is another same/same cab.
Ain't nuttin' else like those.

This. I just brought the Walkabout head to practice with my really loud metal band. Putting it on top of my Epifani PS410 is a huge difference from the single 12 or 15 I use in the other band.

[jro]

I do like the Scout's sound but it does seem a bit wooly at times. That could be because I'm pushing the single 12" too much.

One more thing, its a heavy little amp and all the lightweight cab threads I've read lately have me thinking too much.

[Chef]

The Walkabout has a limited range of "clean." So, yeah, I get that.
The Scout isn't that bad to move....a radiator cab with no head is pretty light

[rodl2005]

The WA cab can clean up pretty nicely with some keen eq, just sayin'
(3) also

[morebass!]

Originally Posted by D.A.R.K.

Unfortunately the majority of the noise with the stock fan has to do with air pressure/ blowing into the heat sink,
(I experimented and compared quite a bit when doing the fan mod.).
Venting, like in the newest versions, will not stop this from happening.
BTW, new vented chassis cover quote from boogie response:
$66.70 USD + tax/shipping. Feel free to contact us in customer service to place an order at 707-778-6565 Mon-Thurs 9-5 PST.
Since mine has no warranty, i'm thinking of modifying the existing cover (with a proper drill press, of course).

??? If venting will not stop the noise then why add more venting?

[D.A.R.K.]

Originally Posted by morebass!

??? If venting will not stop the noise then why add more venting?

The reason they added more venting to the chassis cover was to enable greater dissipation of heat, which can increase performance and lengthen component life.
Noise is no longer an issue with the new fan installed.

[terlewine]

Several pages back in this thread, lomo suggested an 8ohm Scout 12 stacked on a 4ohm Scout 15. A little later, Chef suggested the opposite (4o 12, 8o 15). As I'm trying to figure out which way I'm going to go, here's my guess at the reasons.

Lomo, I think you want to let the 15 get more juice than the 12, because it can handle it without starting to fart out.

Chef, I think you prefer more highs, and don't want the 15 to suck up all the air in the room and give a boomy sound.

Is that about right?

Everything I'm doing is very old school (couldn't slap my way out of a paper bag), and now I'm thinking the best big headroom option might be two 8ohm 15 Scouts.

Man, putting a rig together is slow going in a small town hours away from music stores to try things out! Reading and rereading this WA thread is the best help I've found, though...

[Chef]

I did it that way for balanced power.

I think lomo did his the other way to let each speaker "get more like what it's rated for."

[terlewine]

Thanks -- seems like I don't need to be too hung up about what's a "right" setup. Sounds like there are a lot of ways things'll work well.

[Jim C]

Mine was shipped out to another TB'er today.
It's a great sounding amp with not enough clean headroom for my current tonal goals.
I could see buying another some day; it would be a for sure thing if the amp had more power, but that horse has been beaten severely.