Walkabout vs Terror Bass

[FunkyBassline]

Looking into the while micro tube pre amp scene. I do some slap, dub, funk, and rock. Looking to pair either heads with a mesa 210 for now and a 410 down the road. I like that the terror breaks up but im afraid it might break up too easily and not cop a clean tone at all. I also can't find any good clips of the walkabout like I can with the terror bass, so im curious at the clean tone it can cop and if it can get an overdriven sound at all. Any input would be appreciated.

PS: I plan on playing both before I buy im just looking for opinions.

[lowmid]

I tried both with my bass and I have a walkabout,the WA is clearer, less vintagey, and is a bit cleaner . it starts to snarls wheter the orange really sounds more like old school fuzzier tones.

I prefer the WA, by millions, but mainly because I'm used to it!

[M_Shannonigans]

I have very little, but some, experience with the Walkabout but I own the Terror Bass (matched with an Aguilar GS212 4ohm). It sounds like the Walkabout would be better suited to your tastes since I haven't heard much usable slap and clean funk tones from the Terror Bass.

Don't get me wrong, I love that head. I'm just not a big funk or slap player so its "limitations" don't bother me at all.

[carlos840]

I own a walkabout scout 12" combo, and i think it tends to get gritty pretty easily! Get the gain pas 12 and you start to get some break up when you dig in, get it past 1 or 2 and you get full distortion.
(i love the way how with the gain at 12 you get a really smooth sound playing soft with fingers and a really crunchy soon as soon as you get the pick out and dig in!)

I have just played the bass terror in a shop, never gigged it, but it sounded dirtier to my ears, the WA is smoother...

One thing about the WA is that it doesnt have a huge amount of volume if you want to leave the gain in clean zone. The volume knob doesnt have much to give past 3 o'clock so i guess that if your gain is at 9 or 10 to keep things clean its not going to be that loud! (i mean still able to hear yourself over a drummer loud but not earbleeding, play in a stadium loud!)

Yesterday i was playing a gig on a big stage, had the scout, the scout extension, so thats 2 12" running at 2ohms, with gain at 12 and master at 11 i had good enough volume for stage monitoring but not loud enough to be heard without the PA ( it was a massive venue though!)

I would say its an amazing amp for small gigs or larger ones if you just use it as a monitor but im not sure it would be enough to be used on its own in large venues.

[countrybass007]

Shannonigans is right on the money with his advice for funk and slap, the Terror bass would probably not be as good as the Mesa for those sounds. I've used both, and I prefer the Terror because it sounds more "old school." I don't have trouble getting a nice clean tone from the Terror, but the 212 cab and 115 cab I use it with may be a big factor. By all means try both, because your opinion should be the deciding factor.

[tombowlus]

That's an interesting comparison. I'll have to give it a whirl, when I can find the time (possibly after Summer NAMM). Going by recollection, and not upon the benefits of an A/B comparison, I would say that the Walkabout is going to be more full sounding, and it can definitely cop a wider range of usable tones. The Orange is amazingly loud, and has a killer grind to it. I have not been able to get a super clean tone out of it, though. I will sound clear, to be sure, but not super clean.

Tom.

[MN_Bass]

I own both a BT and WAS 12, I would say the BT is more a blues,rock etc type amp and the scout can cover anything. The BT sounds louder to me and of course fuzzier. I don't think you can go wrong with either, both are great amps and imo the best micro type hybrids.