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Mesa Big Block Titan V12

#42
KJung said:
It will of course get a touch gritty if you really crank the input gain. IMO and IME, that's not what the 600 is about. With the input gain set at a moderate level, I had very good luck producing extremely clean (but still tube-like) tone from the 600... huge, wide, bloomy low end, and a warm but still crisp and clean top end.
Click to expand...

I don't crank my input gain at all. Infact I bring it only slightly past where it starts to kick in, in terms of amplifying my signal

Here are my current settings

My bass is usually set flat

Gain - 10 o'clock
Bass - A smidgen past 12 o'clock
Mid - Almost 1 o'clock
Treble - Same as Mid

The parametric

40Hz - set at 30Hz gain at 10 o'clock

120Hz - set at 120 Hz Gain just past 12 o'clock

400 Hz - set at 1 o'clock gain set at 2 o'clock

1.4kHz - set at 11 o'clock gain set at 2 o'clock

6kHz - set at 6k and boosted fully (I honestly can't here this making much difference to my sound if any, might just be a dip in my hearing around that freq though)

The master is then set between 12 and 2 o'clock

I don't think Im boosting anything excessively to really drive the amp to dirty grittyness. I like it but sometimes I wish I had something cleaner, maybe an SWR or an eden pre
 
#44
I'm sold. Got the Walkabout now, and it's great for what I'm doing, but the M Pulse 600 sounds like my next cure for GAS. Don't need or want a 2nd channel for OD, got pedals for that, and usually like my bass tones CLEAN and PUNCHY anyway. Whoever said Mesa Hybrid amps rule, is dead on, not to mention the Powerhouse cabs. Oh my god those things rock.
 
#45
theshadow2001 said:
I don't crank my input gain at all. Infact I bring it only slightly past where it starts to kick in, in terms of amplifying my signal

Here are my current settings

My bass is usually set flat

Gain - 10 o'clock
Bass - A smidgen past 12 o'clock
Mid - Almost 1 o'clock
Treble - Same as Mid

The parametric

40Hz - set at 30Hz gain at 10 o'clock

120Hz - set at 120 Hz Gain just past 12 o'clock

400 Hz - set at 1 o'clock gain set at 2 o'clock

1.4kHz - set at 11 o'clock gain set at 2 o'clock

6kHz - set at 6k and boosted fully (I honestly can't here this making much difference to my sound if any, might just be a dip in my hearing around that freq though)

The master is then set between 12 and 2 o'clock

I don't think Im boosting anything excessively to really drive the amp to dirty grittyness. I like it but sometimes I wish I had something cleaner, maybe an SWR or an eden pre
Click to expand...


Hmmm.... I wonder if you might have a tube that needs changing. The 600 is much more tubey sounding that the SWR or Eden, so we might just be decribing 'grit' differently. But again, to my ear, that particular head is extremely clean... big and tubey in the low end, and tube warm, but very little 'grit' (i.e., somewhat overdriven tube distortion sounding).

Edit: Don't boost that 6K... set it flat. I assume you have a tweeterless cab, so your cab isn't really reproducing those frequencies. I don't think this is your problem, but it might have something to do with it... the massive boosting of that very high frequency... maybe that's messing with your tone a bit. Probably not, but boosting it that massively doesn't make much sense to me.
 
#46
geggy spoiger said:
Very keen to see your findings! I just weighed my Titan (on my bathroom scale no doubt...:p ) and it came to 12.5kg's, ~27lbs.
Click to expand...

Here are the weight results I have:

In it's case, it's 52.6 lbs.
Out of the case, it's 28.4 lbs.

It's certainly going in a rack. I'll have time tonight to plug it in and really have a good comparison with the Ampeg SVP-CL + Crest CA9. Should be a big difference, but a good battle! Maybe I'll even put the V12 and SVP-CL in the rack together and try the V12 as power only. Lots of possibilities.

Link Removed
 
#47
Very cool. That's much lighter than I would have guessed, given the size and power. I think that's about the same weight as the 600. Pretty impressive.

And yeah, those big heavy boxes don't make much sense to me... a nice lightweight 3 space rack will be awesome.

Enjoy that beauty!
 
#48
SR5X5 said:
Here are the weight results I have:

In it's case, it's 52.6 lbs.
Out of the case, it's 28.4 lbs.

It's certainly going in a rack. I'll have time tonight to plug it in and really have a good comparison with the Ampeg SVP-CL + Crest CA9. Should be a big difference, but a good battle! Maybe I'll even put the V12 and SVP-CL in the rack together and try the V12 as power only. Lots of possibilities.

Link Removed
Click to expand...

Wow, nice to hear about the light weight (believe it or not :smug:). That certainly is less than I would have expected. I can't wait to hear your results!

Does it ship with rack ears for mounting in a standard rack?

Tom.
 
#49
tombowlus said:
Wow, nice to hear about the light weight (believe it or not :smug:). That certainly is less than I would have expected. I can't wait to hear your results!

Does it ship with rack ears for mounting in a standard rack?

Tom.
Click to expand...

I am also thrilled about the light weight, especially since I've been dragging the Crest around for a while. I pulled the head out of the case right after the picture was taken. It is the same head as the rackmount version (it has rack ears, it's 1 big faceplate), but it's only missing the front pull handles. Really not necessary anyway. I don't have them on my Crest either. When I called Boogie, they said they can be easliy ordered.

The head also included a 5 button footswitch, but I haven't plugged that in yet either.
 
#50
Im using a musicman sterling into the active input. I doubt its a gain issue though. Since I'm only putting it up just enough to boost the signal as required.


KJung said:
Hmmm.... I wonder if you might have a tube that needs changing. The 600 is much more tubey sounding that the SWR or Eden, so we might just be decribing 'grit' differently. But again, to my ear, that particular head is extremely clean... big and tubey in the low end, and tube warm, but very little 'grit' (i.e., somewhat overdriven tube distortion sounding).

Edit: Don't boost that 6K... set it flat. I assume you have a tweeterless cab, so your cab isn't really reproducing those frequencies. I don't think this is your problem, but it might have something to do with it... the massive boosting of that very high frequency... maybe that's messing with your tone a bit. Probably not, but boosting it that massively doesn't make much sense to me.
Click to expand...

My cabs have tweeters. I don't know why I bother with the 6k up that high either. I couldn't really hear much difference when using it (hence its boosted so high) I really don't use it all interms of tone shaping. I must have just left it on full after I was done messing with it. However I don't think its an issue. I was thinking of putting in new tubes (I can't remember which ones but not the ones that are in it already. I would have to do a search here to find the type) I don't really use the amp much anymore any way since I'm mostly playing double bass now. So a new tube would be a bit of a waste of time and money.
 
#52
jmjbassplayer said:
Hi party people in the place to be,

I just want to chime in here with some real-world experience. I rocked one of these heads recently on our Spring Australia/Japan tour. I don't currently endorse Boogie, but I was urged to try one of these amps. I was somewhat skeptical, particularly because I'm currently running an SVP-CL which I certainly love the tone of, and some big power amps. I've been a happy Ampeg endorser for about 9 years, and before that I was a Boogie guy during the whole Odelay 2 1/2 year world tour and before (it was all about the 400 + after I heard Kim Gordon's live tone in the early '90's).

Suffice it to say, my tech, my bandmates and I were amazed. It seems to have so much "note"...lots of bottom, midrange complexity, and warmth for days. But thankfully with a hell of an attack as well that can be as grindy as you like. I was running two 8x10's with it pretty loud and strong, with the master volume at about 9:30, which really raises the eyebrows. That's a lot of headroom. The other thing we found is that the DI out the back sounds better than my two high-end DI's that I have been using on the road for a long time. Seems like the Boogie guys went to pretty extreme lengths with their parts sourcing and R&D for this beast...we opened it up and it is some high-end work for sure. My guy put some different knobs on it to make it look cooler, and it may be staying in my rack for good. So impressive. It's either this or an Aguilar DB750 as the best hybrid amps ever, and I've tried them all. Ultra-lightweight stuff? Doesn't work for me. Ideal tone, booty and impact only seems to happen on big stages with big, heavy amps with big, heavy transformers. And thankfully, this amp isn't even that heavy. Hope that helps.

Best,
JMJ
Beck, etc.
Click to expand...

I totally agree about the weight / tone correlation! Big heavy transformers really do equate to big booty tone.

I have a Mesa M-2000 which sounds pretty much identical to the M-Pulse 600 series to my ear. I love the tone, and I really love the overdrive. It's pretty much the only amp that ever nailed the overdrive i heard in my head. It sounds a lot like Jaco's tone when he was cranking the hell out of it and it was starting to break up ever so slightly.

The only reason I don't gig with this amp is because it doesn't have the butt kicking headroom of my pre/power rig.

Can't wait to try one these V-12's.. it may be the best of both worlds.

Jordan
 
#53
Well, my GAS for the V12 has been settled, at least for a bit after reading this thread. :) I was searching for some info on the Mesa Powerhouse 212 and currently rock the M-Pulse 600 (3rd one, best amp ever in my book) and LOVE the tone. Recording, live, anything, just blows it all away.

I was really psyched about the V12 coming out as a "more options" version of the 600, but if it's that close to the BB750, it probably won't be my bag as I like it clean.

However, I will second others who have gotten more of a "grindy" tone from the 600. I'm not sure if it's the tubes I have in there or what, but if I push the Gain past 12 or so, you can hear the "drive" and so I have to keep mine around 10 or so to keep it as clean as I like. I run my Quantum 5 into the Passive Input as the Active kills dynamics to my ears.

Anyhow, I'd still like to try one but for the clean, crisp and bootyful tone I'm after, I think the 600 is the proverbial last stop. :) Tried various pre/power and other very high end amps before and after and during, but yeah this is the way to go. :) Just wish I'd have gotten a Speakon-equipped version but 600W isn't too much power to make that much of a difference.

Now to get that 212+210 or 212+115 setup! :bassist:
 
#55
I'm looking at this amp, and what I'm wanting to know from actual users of it is, can both channels be used at the same time?

I currently run two amps and one of those is a two channel that is combinable but pretty rare so if it breaks down or blows, it'd be pretty hard to find another.
Thanks
 
#56
My name is Gary and I am a Mesaholic:D I run a 400+ with two current version PH 4x10 cabs, and this rig is truly SICK, I have had more compliments on my sound than any rig I have ever had. I have had a few conversations with some people at Mesa and the BB750 or the V12 would be the closest to the 400+, so that is the direction I myself would go. I would also say that if you are gonna run a Mesa head, I would certainly run Mesa cabs, they are the best:hyper:
 
#57
Okay first I have to say that anyone who has an opinion of the BB750 but has not played it on the powerhouse1000, simply has no opinion at all. the only cab that does this head justice is either the PH1000 or PH1200. Personally, this is the setup that I use now and I pretty much play punk rock and reggae exclusively and I have never had an issue with supposedly coming up short when it comes to warmth or the higher end of the spectrum. As everyone knows, these two genres desire completely differently modeled sounds from the bass and I can always get exactly what Im looking for in no time flat with the 750. Yes, compared to the 600 the 600 does have a little bit better capability in consideration to dialing in specific sounds but in my opinion its almost too much as opposed to the idea that the 750 is somehow lacking tonal nuances. Take my word for it or don't but it could pretty much be stated almost as a fact that the Big Block 750 paired with a PowerHouse 1000, is likely the sweetest bass rig ever known to mankind...believe it or not, I wouldnt even trade my 750 for the 1200 either. Can you imagine lugging that thing around? The 750 already rattles windows when only turned up to one quarter its potential. Plus I tend to think that the two dedicated channels and inputs (while cool) is a little much. There is something to be said for the pure simplicity of the BB750 too. When you already have something pretty much dialed in to perfection with ease, it leaves little to be desired for...And the overdrive on the 750 is un-paralleled to say the least and that is a huge factor too, I think.
 

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