Help me pick a mesa head?

So I've dropped my music major and sold my soul to the business world, and my bass playing is changing accordingly. I used to be all about pretty, commercial, and marketable sounds, but I don't have to impress peers who only listen to jazz (don't get me wrong, I love it, but there are kids who ONLY listen to bebop in my program) or professors any more. I'm making bass more about me and playing what I love instead of trying to do something to make a living out of.

So accordingly, my gear is changing. I have a sadowsky M5-24 that should be here tomorrow and I have no plans of parting with my ray. I'm going for an aggressive sound along the lines of a perfect circle or smashing pumpkins. I was initially drawn to the big block 750 because I heard a few users on here compare it to a SS version of the 400+. I had the 400 and loved it, but my unit was old and had a lot of problems. I know a few will point me to the 400+ but after the LMII I have to say I am a fan of the SS power section (or simul-state or whatever). I am also wary of the 750 because I never plan on playing in 2 ohms and the 4 ohm rating seems a little weak. The Impulse 600 sounds nice but I never really tweak knobs. I don't know if I'll need its clean sounds because I am somewhat convinced (as of right now) to keep my LMII for its clean sounds for my other applications.

I've been thinking a little more seriously about the titan V12. It seems kind of overkill, but I like how it's peak output is at 4 ohms and it's enough to drive my cabs fully (I'm planning on picking up another PH212). The two channels is also tempting so I can have a dedicated channel for each bass with their own EQ sections. I can't help but to feel that it's a little overkill though...

I'm also trying out a carbine (hah, gotta love that name...) because my closest mesa dealer only has the titan and it in stock.

Any thoughts on which head I should get?

Also any opinions on the mesa PH412 vs 2 PH212s? I think I'd prefer the modular two part rig and it'd be easier to transport, but maybe someone wants to convince me otherwise?

Thanks guys, always appreciate your advice.

 

Thanks for the input thus far guys.

I guess as always it will boil down for me trying them out in real life. I just wanted to get an idea about them before hand.

I really like the idea of having two completely separate channels each with footswtichable overdrive. That's a big thing the titan has going for it.

I think the numbers may be scaring me a bit. I think the LMII's 500 watts would cover a big majority of the gigs that I have but I guess 1200 isn't that much more in practice. Just a few dBs louder.

I guess ultimately I want a hyrbrid head that sounds like the mesa 400+ does. Eventually I might pick up one, but for now I want something that does the same type of sound in a SS package. Am I correct in assuming the BB750 and the Titan are voiced closely to the 400+? I loved the breakup my 400 had but I wanted it to have a lot more clean headroom.

I also need to try some mesa 10s. SWR really soured me to 10s, but maybe I could find more to like with the mesas... although I absolutely love their 12s .

 

So I've been putting off trying out a V12 because I know I'll probably do something stupid to get the money and buy it...

I wanna look into the M-Pulse 600 some more. It would obviously cop the tones that my LMII does (and probably do them a little better). I like the weight of the LMII but it's not like the m-pulse 600 weighs enough to make a difference to me at this stage in my life. My question is how dirty can the m-pulse get? Can it get close to the Big Block/v12?

Oh no... what if I end up owning the M-pulse 600 AND a V12...

 

Come on, I know there are a lot of M-pulse 600 fans out there. I found a good deal on one online... I'm tempted to sell the LMII.

Also, how good is the DI on the M-pulse? Right now I'm only using my avalon as a DI and not really recording or anything with it. If the DI on the m-pulse is halfway decent I'll probably end up selling it too so I don't have to spend any out of pocket money on the m-pulse.

So I know it does the smooth and nice sounds well... how does it do gnarly and mean? The Mesa site lists Paz Lechantin, Justin Chancellor, and Ben Kenney as users, so I know it can't be all nice and pretty...

 

Well as it goes, I was considering selling the markbass.

I do like the idea of it being so tubey. I assume it does clean well too, right?

Can't wait to check out the clip you PM'd me... my computer at work doesn't have speakers. But I'll go home and listen to them through studio monitors .

Are most FOH guys cool with running it post-eq? I would love to have a compressor thrown in for my PA sound, and the idea of "my" sound going through the PA is enticing. I just thought FOH guys weren't too thrilled when the bass player wants to run post EQ. I'll tell him to shove it .

I am sure that I'm selling the avalon. It's a great unit, but way overkill for me, since I am just using it as a DI. If I was doing any recording I'd consider keeping it, but I'm not...

Thanks for the input so far!

 

That's how I'd go about doing it I think. I'm always a nice guy, especially to strangers... but sometimes too nice to a fault. I guess it's the right mix of being polite enough to convince him, and being firm enough to get it how you want.

I was purely kidding about the "telling him to shove it," haha. I know better than to piss off the guy behind the sliders .

 

Haha, My bank account is not liking your advice... but I guess it would be worth saving for it.

Can the Titan cop the clean sounds of the impulse 600? Or is it more just aggressively voiced like the big block? Am I asking too much out of one head?