Hi Bill, I've owned my AG700 since just after they came out (8 years?). I bought it from the first owner, who had it for 2 weeks. Mostly I put it through Barefaced 112 cabs. I've done hundreds of gigs, large and small, in every style from Blues bands to Originals and folk/Americana, top 40 covers to Soul and Disco. From stupidly loud to a whisper, for home practice. I use either a Lull PJ5 or a Sadowsky Jazz 5 and find that the controls at 12 o'clock with maybe pushing either the treble or the bass to 12.30 covers most of the ground. I don't use any pedals and go for a "middle of the road" sound, think Duck Dunn, Nathan East, Reggie McBride and Bob Babbitt territory. Aguilar are very conservative with their ratings. Even in the loudest band I've never pushed the Master beyond 1 o'clock. Sorry, don't know what rock-improv is but if I was asked to do it I'd take the AG700. I've done 4 hour gigs in Summer and this amp has never faltered, hardly gets warm. They might be out there, but I have no ambition to find a better amp.
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Aguilar AG700 vs Mesa WD800
- Thread starter villegastx
- Start date
Hi Bill, I've owned my AG700 since just after they came out (8 years?). I bought it from the first owner, who had it for 2 weeks. Mostly I put it through Barefaced 112 cabs. I've done hundreds of gigs, large and small, in every style from Blues bands to Originals and folk/Americana, top 40 covers to Soul and Disco. From stupidly loud to a whisper, for home practice. I use either a Lull PJ5 or a Sadowsky Jazz 5 and find that the controls at 12 o'clock with maybe pushing either the treble or the bass to 12.30 covers most of the ground. I don't use any pedals and go for a "middle of the road" sound, think Duck Dunn, Nathan East, Reggie McBride and Bob Babbitt territory. Aguilar are very conservative with their ratings. Even in the loudest band I've never pushed the Master beyond 1 o'clock. Sorry, don't know what rock-improv is but if I was asked to do it I'd take the AG700. I've done 4 hour gigs in Summer and this amp has never faltered, hardly gets warm. They might be out there, but I have no ambition to find a better amp.
Thanks so much for your insights! Your time and thoughts are greatly appreciated. -Bill
I owned an AG700. It was a good amp but it had a certain character to the tone that I could not dial out. This was when using it with my Aguilar GS112 cab(s) and playing my Gould 6 string. I bought a WD-800 and sold my AG700.
The WD-800 has wonderful tone shaping controls. I found what I was looking for with it.
The WD-800 has wonderful tone shaping controls. I found what I was looking for with it.
I don’t have a ton of experience with the Mesa stuff unfortunately, but I will say that I’ve been through a ton of heads (Ampeg, GK, Quilter, TH700, Carvin, etc.) and the AG700 has been the absolute best I’ve played so far. It’s clean, but meaty. Quick, but with heft.
Why the WD800 over the Subway 800+? Is one amp more suited to a certain genre than than the other? Thank you, Bill
There are many comparisons between different Mesa Subway heads in the amps forum here if you search as a number of people have owned both.
Short version from my perspective: IMO unless you are looking for heavy distortion tone all the time then both amps can fit most genres reasonably. The WD has a tube preamp and a voicing derived from the discontinued Mesa Walkabout. It has a very midrange-complex tube-like tone but with a lot of clarity (unlike many tube-voiced heads). The D-800+ is all solid-state and leans a bit more modern or neutral. That said, both amps have pretty powerful EQ sections that can get them into similar territories. If you have very specific EQ needs, the WD might suit you better as it has 3 bands of semi-parametric EQ alongside a more traditional Bass and Treble shelving controls and a unique passive Midrange- I rarely touch the semi-parametric EQ bands on my WD or Walkabout though and they still sound fantastic. The D-800+ on the other hand has powerful voicing controls that the WD lacks. You'd really have to try both to know what is best for you, though you can't really go wrong with either.
The 800 Plus was a good amp and I am sorry that I sold it. I have 10 Bass amps so I sold it. Then I did some research on the WD 800, and it sounded like a better fit for me. I bought a WD 800 from Guitar Center because of their great return policy. I traded a Markbass Big Bang (Great amp), and Epiphani Piccolo 555 that had the factory upgrade to 1000 watts. I only had to pay a couple hundred difference. The WD 800 is a special amp. Very tube like.
