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mesa 400+ VS titan v12 (make your choice)

which one would you choose?

  • Mesa 400+

    Votes: 77 65.3%

  • Mesa Titan V12

    Votes: 41 34.7%
  • Total voters
    118
M

Mr. BassmanPT

Aug 15, 2009
955
5
Europe
#1
this is just my curiosity.. what is "your" amplifier? please do not ask me what i am looking for, this is about you and not me!

i have a titan v12 and i am pretty happy with it, best amplifier i have ever heard.. however, i see plenty of you praising the old tube 400+.

if you could only have one, which would you choose?

i reckon these are two different animals and that is why i made this topic.

please vote, i am really curious to see how this will turn out to be. i will not vote as i cannot say nothing about the 400+ other than what i saw and read on the internet.
 
#3
Only sold my 400+ because I had a D-180 that could get the tone I liked from the 400+ and some tones the 400+ couldn't. Among their solid state amps, the only one I've liked was the M-Pulse head. Don't know why the others don't appeal to me, but that was my impression.
 
#7
i didn't answer the poll because i have never played the v12. i have played the 400+ quiet a bit at a place that i go to jam frequently. I do think it is a great amp and does a more typical rock sound very well. The sound of the 400+ just isn't me. I would like to try a v12 though. I seem to always favor ampeg but i'm always looking to see if i like anything better.
 
#10
I have owned both and gigged the hell out of them. The Titan is a GREAT amp.... Its all in what you prefer. Tube or Solid State. Best bet is find a store that has old stock and try both together.... probably wont be available tho.
 
#11
I prefer the 400 or 400+. It is kind of a toss up though. The V12 has a tube pre - solid state power. It sounds pretty tubey for what it is (being a mesa of course). The 400+ runs its power section very conservatively. It doesnt get quite the tube grind out of the power that the 400 non plus does. Even there I'd say both the 400 and 400+ are very close to SS sounding sometimes. They can have pretty fast bottom end as well as cutting edgy sound if you run the master up and the gain down with the EQ set flat. The V12 has the overdrive for each channel (and two channels!) so there is that.
Also, in interest of full disclosure, the bass 400/400+ and some D180 have transistors in the graphic eq section. So if the graphic is on, you aren't 100% tube!
I voted 400+ but if I was in a really loud fast band with both clean and dirty bass parts I would likely go for the V12, just for the ability to run two 4 ohm cabs at obscene levels and footswitch channels and overdrive.
 

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