EA Iamp800 V Mesa M-2000

I've owned both. The M2000 is an awesome head... two completely featured pre's... one tube and one SS. It has a bewildering array of tone controls... dual compressors, overdrive mode on the tube channel, dual multi-band graphic EQ's, multiple bright switches, switchable shelving bass freq's, a footswitch bigger than some amps with a massive array of switching options (channel, mix channel, compressor, overdrive, graphic EQ in or out, etc., etc.).

It is a very 'voiced' head... even the SS channel has a distinct mid heavy tone. The wattage into 8ohms is aroung 360 watts, if I remember correctly, but into 4, it just hammers.

However, if you use lot's of external effects and want a more transparent platform to amplify your tone, the M2000 would not be it... I would stick with the iAmp.

TaySte_2000 said:

See all those features make me go ooooooOOOoooooo.

Would you say it was louder than the Iamp?

I'm not that fussed about a clean sounding amp for the effects they tend to work well with voiced heads I mean I massively eq'ed the Iamp boosting the bass loads to get a sound I liked out of it. I'm just more after I could sit there with my overwater the nm410 and the mesa doing some jazz and stuff though my main style is rock no matter what I'm doing

Thanks for the info feel free to just spil your guts about both amps

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It's a great head. It has a real tight, powerful thump to the low end, versus the very deep and wide hi fi thing of the iAmp800 low end. I personally prefer the M2000, but I am not a fan of the iAmp particularly. I did find the M2000 more forcefull and punchy in a mix.. tighter than the iAmp. Absolute volume was probably the same, but the voicing made the M2000 seem much louder into 4 ohms.

The features on this amp are pretty amazing if you are a tweaker. The compressors are pretty amazing. Not only are there dual compressors, but each can be set to only impact certain frequencies.... i.e., to act as limiters for the low end, but to not quash upper freq slaps, etc. The two bands of graphic EQ, one per channel have a very unique switching ability... they have a three way switch for each, which sets them to always off, always on, and then 'on depending on the footswitch channel setting'... so in a way, you really have 4 channels controlled by the footswitch.... tube, SS, tube with graphic, SS with graphic.

The overdrive is very convincing and can get very snarly if you want it to.

The only downside to the amp is that I found the SS channel to be quite dark sounding. However, mixing the two channels was amazing... getting the deep lows and sweet, sparkly hi end from the tube channel, and then the 'hit you in the chest mid thump' from the SS channel... very cool.

I know the very early production models had some issues, but that was quickly fixed by Mesa... the later ones seem solid as a rock. Very nice piece of gear. I ended up moving away from it since I used it set pretty much flat with both channels mixed and the compressors off... seemed silly!!!!!

IMO!

Edit: FYI... the GEnz Benz750 seems to be pretty much a direct descendent of the M2000... very similar features, power, size.

TaySte_2000 said:

Awesome info

Thanks

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If you can find the original review of this head on the Bass Player website, it has even more info than the very good user manual (center and shelving freq's for all the tone control's, etc.). Also, the user manual can still be downloaded from the Mesa site. I'd recommend that... it's in PDF format on the 'manual' part of the site (listed as Basis M-2000).

TaySte_2000 said:

Do you remember if the DI is any good on it?

Hum, phantom protected etc etc?

You know the usual

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I know the Mesa DI's sound GREAT, but am not sure about phantom protection. I never had any problem. If you call Mesa support, they are pretty good about answering those types of questions. You will get voicemail, but they've always called me back within a few hours.

Also, the M2000's have been out of production for a while, so they do not have speakon speaker outputs, only 1/4 inch. No big deal there, but it is a negative for some.

K

TaySte_2000 said:

Also dare I ask how this compares to the Aguliar DB750

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Much more punchy, tight and obviously much better EQ... but it won't match the absolute volume.

You might also consider the Carvin B1500... that has ALL the wump and more of the DB750, great EQ, relatively transparent tone, and is very inexpensive. That is a killer head if you are looking for maximum wump IMO.

I've had a M-2000 for about 6 years.
I bought it used for $800.

I like it a LOT, but because of the Cons (esp. loss of footswitch) I would not buy it again (if I could). I'd get an Eden or a Nemesis.

Pros:
* I always get lots of praise for my bass sound. I use it with Eden cabs.
* It is incredibly flexible sound wise, including great vintage sound
* Infinite possibilities for tone tweaking.
* You actually have 2 separate EQ's for each side.
* 9 band graphic EQ
* Plenty of tone-shaping knobs for the "non-EQ".
* Very reliable - I've never done a thing to it except plug and play!
* Plenty of horsepower even at 8 ohms.
* Only 2 rack spaces
* With the footswitch you can use it like a 6-channel amp at any time. (Tube w/ or w/o EQ, FET w/ or w/o EQ, Mix w/ or w/o EQ).
* FSw also has MUTE.


Cons:
* I was never able to use the DI - the amp lacks a ground lift and that was always a problem. I use an outboard DI (BSS 133) which is perfect
* My footswitch cable finally gave out. I can't convince myself to pay $240 to replace a footswitch on a discontinued amp. Amp is still fine but loses LOTS of flexibiity, esp w/ loss of Mute.
* Amp is rather heavy (31 lbs)
* Although I love all the knobs and switches and theoretically can get ANY tone in the human hearing spectrum, IT'S TOO MUCH. Hard to get (and later find again) YOUR tone. I disregarded comments about that before I bought it, but it's true.

So I'm digging up this moldy oldie because I saw one of these bad boys available at a local music store for $600. Is there any way to tell if I am purchasing one of the older models, with reliability issues, as mentioned in KJung's 2nd post? KJung do you know what date would be "safe", i.e. by what date all the issues had been resolved? I'm not sure it even has a "made on" date on the back, but maybe I could call Mesa with the S/N? I'm very excited about the amp, well everything but the weight. It's not as bad as the Aggie DB359 I borrowed last week, but it isn't light, and it seems I should rack it to protect all the toggles and graphic levers = even more weight.

Otherwise great review and now I'm more stoked than before. Seems like $600 is a pretty decent fair price.