GB Shuttle 6.0 and Walkabout 12" Combos

[BluesDawg]

Anybody compared the Shuttle 6.0 112 Combo with the Mesa Walkabout Scout 112? I know the Shuttle is 600 watts, but into the 8 ohms combo cabinet it would be 300 and comparable to the 4 ohms Scout (at least, I think so).

I've read the posts where the heads are compared. I'm specifically interested in a combo vs combo comparison (sound quality, loudness, etc.).

Thanks for any/all opinions!

 

[SteveC]

I have not been able to do a direct, side by side A/B comparison, but I can tell you that my little 3.0 combo sounds better than the Walkabout I played. It is also 1/3 the size and 1/4 the weight. A no brainer for me. The 6.0 2x10 I played was a killer combo. Again, far lighter and better sounding (to me) than the Mesa. I went with the 3.0 as it was all I needed.

 

[Dr. Cheese]

The shuttle is 375 watts, and I think it is a great combo. Weight wise, it is very light at 34 lbs. ,however, the cabinet is fairly bulky which limits it portability. I drive a compact car, and it would be pretty tight in my trunk if I stored it with a bass or two.

 

[pfschim]

I have not been able to do a direct, side by side A/B comparison, but I can tell you that my little 3.0 combo sounds better than the Walkabout I played. It is also 1/3 the size and 1/4 the weight. A no brainer for me. The 6.0 2x10 I played was a killer combo. Again, far lighter and better sounding (to me) than the Mesa. I went with the 3.0 as it was all I needed.

dude!, I have no problem at all if you dig the sound of your GB better than the Walkabout, you should like it better if you picked it. But, when you make a tone statement, you should probably add the courtesy rejoinder IMHO, and at least get the specs right !

First, the Shuttle 3.0 comes in either the 10" combo or the 8" combo. The 10" combo at 15 1/2" x 14" x 11 3/4" and 18lbs is about 10% smaller than the Walkabout 12", and is about 1/2 the weight, but it's a 175w driven 10" vs a 300w driven 12". No real comparison here.

The 8" 3.0 combo would be even smaller of course, but would also be even less of a comparison to the Walkabout.

Now, if you happened to get the 3.0 matched up with the GB 12T cab, you are now getting closer to the same weight 32lbs vs 43lbs, almost exactly the same size, but still only 175w vs the Walkabout's 300w.

The better compare is the Shuttle 6.0 on top of the 12T. Now you are comparing tube pre ss/power hybrid combo amps of similar size, weight and speaker size, but now the total watts advantage goes slightly, and nearly uselessly (75w diff .. who cares), to the Shuttle 6.0 with 375w vs the 300w the Mesa delivers.

Anyway, just sayin'

 

[Dr. Cheese]

The 8" Shuttle is not worth the money, IMO. It really has no usable bottom to my ears. The ten is better, but not by alot. If I got one of the new shuttles, it would be with the big 12" or the 2x10. They are not super portable, but they really bring it! For a smaller amp, I say get a Markbass or fins an Ampeg Portabass 228 like I have.

 

[BluesDawg]

Thanks for the replies. Anybody else?

What it comes down to is this: I have a 12" Walkabout Scout that I like a lot. My circumstances are such that I have to move it from home to rehearsal to jams a lot. I have pretty significant back problems so I'm looking for as light and easy to move as possible. I know the Scout is very lightweight for a giggable bass combo, but if it was even lighter, it would be that much better. I'm thinking that the Shuttle 6.0 12" combo might be the ticket, but not if I have to give up that cool tubey warmth the Walkabout has.

So, if anybody has directly compared the combos, I'd love to hear what you think.

 

[SteveC]

dude!, I have no problem at all if you dig the sound of your GB better than the Walkabout, you should like it better if you picked it. But, when you make a tone statement, you should probably add the courtesy rejoinder IMHO, and at least get the specs right !

First, the Shuttle 3.0 comes in either the 10" combo or the 8" combo. The 10" combo at 15 1/2" x 14" x 11 3/4" and 18lbs is about 10% smaller than the Walkabout 12", and is about 1/2 the weight, but it's a 175w driven 10" vs a 300w driven 12". No real comparison here.

The 8" 3.0 combo would be even smaller of course, but would also be even less of a comparison to the Walkabout.

Now, if you happened to get the 3.0 matched up with the GB 12T cab, you are now getting closer to the same weight 32lbs vs 43lbs, almost exactly the same size, but still only 175w vs the Walkabout's 300w.

The better compare is the Shuttle 6.0 on top of the 12T. Now you are comparing tube pre ss/power hybrid combo amps of similar size, weight and speaker size, but now the total watts advantage goes slightly, and nearly uselessly (75w diff .. who cares), to the Shuttle 6.0 with 375w vs the 300w the Mesa delivers.

Anyway, just sayin'

I should know better by now, I just hate putting IMHO after every opinion as I guess if I'm writing it it is obviously my opinion.

Anyway, I wasn't trying to be all that literal I guess. I just remembered the Walkabout as big and bulky in comparison, that's all. I guess I was just trying to say that I've had great experiences with this little combo and I think it is worth a look.

I'll try to be more precise next time.

 

[lowmid]

buy a epi UL cab with your Walkabouthead in the backpack! Still very light, louder (because more efficient) and your back will be saved because you can do two travels!

 

[Lia_G]

The 10" combo at 15 1/2" x 14" x 11 3/4" and 18lbs is about 10% smaller than the Walkabout 12", and is about 1/2 the weight

You make valid points, but I have to hold you to your own standard. Mesa doesn't publish the weight of the scout combos, but, they advertise the scout 12" cabinet as weighing 37 pounds, and the Walkabout head weighing 13 pounds. Add the two together and you get 50 pounds. The Shuttle 3.0-10t combo weighs about 18 pounds, which is closer to 1/3 the weight than 1/2 the weight. Even the Shuttle 6.0-12t combo is a lot lighter than the Mesa, at 31 or 32 pounds.

However, you do make very valid points, as I said. Just wanted to get the weights in order.

Now on to my general thoughts, with the caveat, of course, that I remind everyone to see my endorsement disclosure when reading my opinions. They are honest opinions formed well before the point at which I became a Genz Benz endorser, but still ...

The one big advantage the Shuttle 6.0 12" combo has is expandability. It's putting out its 375 watts into 8 ohms, and puts out over 600 watts into 4 ohms if you add an extension. That being said, I do recall seeing someone slave Walkabout combos. If you order them in 8 ohm configuration, you could easily throw a double-stack with 600 watts into 4 x 12, or 4 x 15. Of course, you could also slave two Shuttle 6.0 stacks, and have 1200 watts into 4 x 12, etc.

Honestly, I think it comes down to tone goals, combined with weight and expandability. If you want a combo that sounds like a good old tube amp, with all the (imho) great tones that provides, and you don't need expandability so much (or don't mind slaving multiple combos), I don't think you can beat the Walkbaout Scout. Disclaimer here is that I've only played with one for a little while in a store, but these were my impressions, and they seem to mesh well with what owners report.

If you want a cleaner tone, but with some tube warmth still available, and like lighter weight and expandability, a Shuttle 6.0-based combo is killer.

All of the above is very much imho. And I hope it comes through that I really like and respect Mesa gear, regardless of the choices I have made for my own gear.

Respectfully,
Liam

 

[RickenBoogie]

buy a epi UL cab with your Walkabouthead in the backpack! Still very light, louder (because more efficient) and your back will be saved because you can do two travels!

+1 to that. The little Walkabout head fits into my gear bag, and the Epi UL series can be carried with one hand. The Walkabout sounds absolutely killer through a 2x12, I think. It's the tone that ended my search for a small rig that sounds much bigger than it is.

 

[pfschim]

You make valid points, but I have to hold you to your own standard. Mesa doesn't publish the weight of the scout combos, but, they advertise the scout 12" cabinet as weighing 37 pounds, and the Walkabout head weighing 13 pounds.

no problem. turnabout is fair play. However, Mesa does publish the dimension and weight specs of its gear in it's ProNet Pricing Guide. You have to either, be a dealer (which I am not), buy Mesa gear (which I do) or I think you can request the current guide from them by phone or email (but don't quote me on that).

SteveC I was trying not to be a d**k about it. The thread just caught my eye and I felt I had to respond. Happy to hear you like your GB stuff. All is cool

 

[Poon]

Honestly, I think it comes down to tone goals, combined with weight and expandability. If you want a combo that sounds like a good old tube amp, with all the (imho) great tones that provides, and you don't need expandability so much (or don't mind slaving multiple combos), I don't think you can beat the Walkbaout Scout.

If you want a cleaner tone, but with some tube warmth still available, and like lighter weight and expandability, a Shuttle 6.0-based combo is killer.

I whole heartedly agree. The Walkabout Scout is a very Tubey Sounding Combo. One of my favorite sounding combos in fact. To address the expandability issues that people think they will have with the Walkabout. I think that's more indicative of cabinet choice. I use the walkabout with my GS412, and an Ampeg 8x10 and it doesn't break a sweat. If I need more volume, I go to a bigger cab instead of the . I realize that isn't an option for all people, but the amp suits me well with my current amp/cabinets. With that being said, I played Albass11's Shuttle 6.0 and was just floored by how great it sounded. Then again, I was playing through his Epifani cab...but still...i could tell the amp had some cool mojo. Much cleaner sounding, has a lot of headroom, and I have definitely considered picking one of these up as a backup amp I could leave in the pocket of my gig bag.

 

[Virgil]

I have owned both, and have done a side by side, and IMHO the Shuttle has the tone that I favored over the Mesa. Also, the Shuttle has more watts which gives you more options as to cabinets that you can use with it. I currently use the Shuttle with the following Epi cabs: 1x12, 310 and 410; the lightest combination is the Shuttle 6.0 and the 1x12. To me, the Shuttle's tube tone is as nice or nicer than the Mesa. The Shuttle's weight at 3.75 pounds is as light as a feather. The 1x12 is around 31 pounds, so it's as light as you are going to get unless you get the 10inch GB speaker. Just my 2 cents.

 

[buffordbass]

I too love the sound of the Mesa Walkabout, but found myself running out of head-room with my band in most instances. The shuttle 6.0 head with 112T cab is lighter and just as full a sound as the Mesa, but then gives me the expandability of adding a 2nd 112T to go to 600 watts if i need it. Both sounds are great, but different... I just chose the GB because it fit my needs perfectly!!

 

[FunkyJazzMan]

I have a walkabout 12 combo and a shuttle 6.0 head. The Mesa sounds better and is louder (IMHO). The scout is great for small to mid size gigs. For big gigs I will take the mesa head out of the scout and put it on a 2x10 and 1x15 Mesa cabs. I only use the shuttle as a back up now. Mesa's 300w through these cabs is louder the the GB shuttle's 600w through the same cabs. I still like the GB and I think it is a great little head but I like the Mesa better.

 

[Lowbrow]

Taking your issues into consideration, BluesDawg (I share the bad-back thing) - you already own the Walkabout head, which we agree sounds great, yes?
I'd stick with it and look for a lightweight cab. My Walkabout sounds very nice with a Schroeder 15L+, and that cab's a real one-hander.
While not a very bassy cab, I think the bassy nature of the Walkabout compensates, and I ain't the least bit a-scared or opposed to jacking up appropriate low EQ as needed.
Now, that's just one cab suggestion that I can speak of through my own experience; I think that there are probably plenty of good flyweight-cab options that would help you keep the Mesa head in play. Those Markbass 1-15 and 1-12 combos sound really great, so I'd imagine that their 1-15 or 1-12 cabs are similarly tuned.