MESA/BOOGIE TT-800 Questions

[75Ric]

I just try to ask all the questions I can, some might be interesting haha.

I will definitely update you guys as I go! Just gotta pay for some frame repair first lol. One day I should take a ride to sweetwater maybe in the spring so I can actually try stuff out. Its only a 3 and a half hour drive from me (perks of living in the Midwest )

I think to start, im gonna just go with the head and cabinets before I mess around with any pedals. So far I have learned alot so I want to thank ALL OF YOU!

You asked good questions, listened, and had an open mind. Plus, you've created a valuable thread for others who might be interested.

 

[matti777]

I initially had just the Subway 115 and bought a 112. Plugging the 112 in definitely added something extra. I'm a believer in multiple speakers.

 

[Spacecoastbass]

I was in this position 6 months ago. Listen to these bass fanatics. They are pretty objective and spot on.

The 1x15 is amazingly clear/clean on its own. I wound up with the TT800 and 115. Gets all the low that can be heard and felt but no mud. Even when going for that fuzzy wooly old P bass sound(Boogie ch. gets it done in spades) it stays wide open and clean. The punch and sizzle can take your head off if you dial that in. It responds well being over driven too(HPF to help keep your cab healthy-BONUS). There are so many tones in the TT800 I just plug and play. If you take the time to read the manual (best thing ever) you may never need anything unless you play some seriously distorted, overtly aggressive tones or just enjoy effects. This ain’t Fender, Ampeg or any of the more modern amps or cabs. Those sounds are in the TT but many more!

The biggest room in my neck of the woods is our church. Balcony and theater main(4-500) For modern CCM, think pop rock/modern country/americana / singer songwriter w/a bit of blues. The TT and 115 fills the house. We use in ears so no need to push the rig since FOH covers that. The set up can handle the job if we didn’t use a quiet stage. You can fill a big venue with luscious bass. I like the idea of 2x10 pairing but this 15 ain’t normal. Maybe another in the future, if I can justify such a monster twin. I’ve never been in love like this. Peavy-Ampeg-Fender-Trace-Hartke in my past.

I’ve always had a soft spot for the MB sound since I was 15. That was ‘85 and my first gig with a guitarist that had some great taste. Over the last 4 decades I’ve been blessed to play with several folks with great taste. I say all this to say I had high expectations. Jazz bass and Stingray are my axes of choice. Expectations met and exceeded!

Just go listen to one and take your pick of cabinet/s. We all have “the perfect” sound in our head and the SW series will help you achieve that. You might realize there’s not just 1 “perfect sound”.

 

[davedamage]

So, in typical TB GAS attack fashion, here I was completely happy with my rigs, but after spending a few years collecting pedals and basses, then selling off a bunch of excess and narrowing it down a few things that I love, I started looking at amps and cabs again, which brings me here...

OF COURSE, I did my due diligence and researched the Mesa heads before I bought the TT. I read like, maybe two thread and didn't even come close to finishing the massive announcement thread. Then I ordered it. Then I read even more. You know, making sure other people make me feel like I made a good decision. And ya'll have... in spades.

And that brings me to today. My TT should arrive today and the most recent cabinet acquisition is waiting for me to pick it up, and that's all on band practice night.

Here is what the TT is going up against:

Genzler MG800
Genz Benz Shuttmax 12.0
Traynor YBA300

And it will be paired up with some combination of:

(2) Orange OBC115
Orange OBC210
(2) Ampeg SVT-410HLF
(2) Genzler NC-212T
Ampeg SVT115e

I imagine the shootout is going to take a couple of weeks and in the end, one of the heads is going to have to go. Given my requirements for stacking the aforementioned cabinets, the Genzler is the one most at risk of being cut, since it only goes down to 2.67ohms unless using Genzler cabs, of which I obviously have two. If the TT can dial in close enough to what I get out of the MG800, the Genzler is gonna go. We shall see... and I will post pics.

 

[agedhorse]

Nice assortment of amps...

 

[davedamage]

Nice assortment of amps...

It is now...

 

[davedamage]

Quick update.

I set up tonight from bottom to top:

OBC115
OBC115
OBC210
Traynor YBA300
Mesa TT

I never got the 2x10 hooked up and I never turned the Traynor on. The TT into the two Orange 15s KILLED IT. I only used the Boogie channel had the HPF at about 9:00, mid shift and mids both at probably 1:00. I had an awesome tone dialed in insanely fast. Granted, I run a large pedal board with preamps, filters and some dirt that is always on, but I didn't change any settings. Yes, honeymoon. No, I don't care. It sounded fantastic. I'm sad I won't be able to crank it again for a week.

Now give me a week until the new amp smell wears off.

 

[Wicked G]

Quick update.

I set up tonight from bottom to top:

OBC115
OBC115
OBC210
Traynor YBA300
Mesa TT

I never got the 2x10 hooked up and I never turned the Traynor on. The TT into the two Orange 15s KILLED IT. I only used the Boogie channel had the HPF at about 9:00, mid shift and mids both at probably 1:00. I had an awesome tone dialed in insanely fast. Granted, I run a large pedal board with preamps, filters and some dirt that is always on, but I didn't change any settings. Yes, honeymoon. No, I don't care. It sounded fantastic. I'm sad I won't be able to crank it again for a week.

Now give me a week until the new amp smell wears off.

I ran the TT800 a few times through the Orange OBC115's. That was really cool. The only reason I didn't do it much was due to aesthetic reasons as I normally run the Terror Bass and 4 Stroke through the Orange cabs, but the TT800 sounded great through them. At the same time the TT800 sounded great through my Gena Benz Uber cabs and GK NEO112's as well. I think you are going to enjoy your new toy.

 

[Dom Amato]

Thank you everyone for the replies so far!

I decided to go with either 2 4x10s or a 1x15/2x10 cabinets, eventually ill decide.....

I was thinking of pairing the ampeg scrambler overdrive pedal for an "always on" pedal on the boogie channel for that classic SVT drive. Id like to keep the subway channel for more a more modern/aggressive distortion (probably a big muff) and an octave pedal.

Does anyone reccomend a compressor? (Torn between the empress and the MXR) If I dont "need" one please let me know! Looking for something to "tighten" everything up.

Of course I will have to find the matching footswitch, those dont seem too hard to find either!


As always, thank you!

Little update for you guys! Going with 1-2 4x10 cabinets with the Ampeg SGT-DI for the B15/SVT switch. Im still considering the TT big time! I wonder what the TT would sound like thru some hartke cabs

 

[Al Kraft]

Little update for you guys! Going with 1-2 4x10 cabinets with the Ampeg SGT-DI for the B15/SVT switch. Im still considering the TT big time! I wonder what the TT would sound like thru some hartke cabs

IME the TT, like all the Mesa SW heads, was designed to be pedal/effects friendly and cab friendly. My SW heads including the TT sound great through all my cabs (Mesa, Berg, GK, AK, Eden) and a buddy's Hartke cabs. I think many others have posted similar experiences.

 

[Dom Amato]

IME the TT, like all the Mesa SW heads, was designed to be pedal/effects friendly and cab friendly. My SW heads including the TT sound great through all my cabs (Mesa, Berg, GK, AK, Eden) and a buddy's Hartke cabs. I think many others have posted similar experiences.

How would you explain how the TT worked with the Hartke cabs?

 

[Al Kraft]

How would you explain how the TT worked with the Hartke cabs?

The cabs my friend has are the later version XL's (a 210 and 115) that I'm not sure are still being manufactured . IIRC the 210 is sealed and the 115 is ported.
The power handing on these cabs is a little low given the TT's output capabilities so it was a brief experiment for safety sake.

While I do not currently own Hartke gear, I was a big user back in the 90's and had the 4.5XL and 2.5 XL cabs as well as some Hartke heads (along with SWR and GK). To me Hartke cabs have always been always tight and crisp sounding with a solid bass.

To my ear, the SW heads through the Hartke cabs are not night and day different than through the GK Neos or even some of the SW cabs. The two my friend has do not have a HF driver so there is a bit less upper end presence than with cabs like the SW's and GK's that do have a HF driver. The nuances of the TT sound that I like in terms of harmonic richness and the feel of the amp especially in the low end all come through very nicely. Obviously the sealed 210 is a bit tighter and more precise feeling - it reminds me of using the amp's HPF at a higher setting with a ported cab.

That sealed cab also tends to tighten the note focus on the TT which has a lower damping factor...think of how the old sealed 810 fridge would focus/tighten up a tube amp's (low damping factor) looser low end.

I think folks who have played through the Hartke HyDrive cabs have been vey pleased and those have a more open top end to them - IIRC they all have an HF driver. I have not played on any of the HyDrives.

 

[Old Ozzie Guy]

Iv used a Hartke HiDrive 112 with my TT, with good effect. I like the HiDrive series, although I allways turn the horn off. As others have mentioned, iv found the TT800 works with many speaker brands, configurations. It depends what you are 'aiming at', tone wise. Iv settled on 3 Bergantino NXV series. 2 x210s, and 1 x112. They give me a vintage rock tone, even though they are Neodymium magnets. , I believe the sgdi, is definitely superior to the old scrambler (I never liked it much). Regarding compression, no one can tell you if you need one.. I personally allways use compression, I currently have an Origin effects cali76 cb, and are more than happy with it. Darkglass Super Symmetry can be picked up second hand quite cheaply, I thinking they may be a classic, in years to come..
Good luck with it all, I'm sure you will sound great with what you are looking at..

 

[DJ Bebop]

You don't find the 15 to be too muddy or anything?

As Al said and to drive the point home.
These are not like the 15s of old. They are not muddy or slow-sounding. These are modern voiced cabinets. Very even across the spectrum. Almost Full Range, Flat response in their nature. While all the speakers in the line are great, this one is a nice balance of them all I think.

 

[Dom Amato]

As Al said and to drive the point home.
These are not like the 15s of old. They are not muddy or slow-sounding. These are modern voiced cabinets. Very even across the spectrum. Almost Full Range, Flat response in their nature. While all the speakers in the line are great, this one is a nice balance of them all I think.

View attachment 7182208

very nice! ive been enjoying the Hartke HyDrive 4x10 as of late

 

[DJ Bebop]

Oh yeah? The day I bought an SW115, my cat died!


(j/k, I don't own an SW115.....or a cat)

WTH Man!

 

[lug]

WTH Man!

View attachment 7182476

Oddly enough, I've recently acquired a cat, so that joke no longer flies.

 

[Old Ozzie Guy]

I'm not sure if this is the right place to mention this, but it dose relate to the TT800. Last night, I got to A/B my TT800, with a D800+. Other than a little more eq control, I was surprised that the D800+ did sound slightly different to my TT, both played with same bass, and speakers. It's hard to describe the comparison. Firstly, at low volume, pretty much identical, but as spl raises, the TT was definitely warmer, and as my guitarist commented, more bouncy. Don't get me wrong, they are both very similar, but , I'm thinking, that a 12ax7 in the 1st gain stage, and the output stage "magic" of the TT , are differences that definitely impact the overall tone , playing experience, especially at gig volumes.
As I mentioned earlier, I was surprised, I had taken for granted, that the TT, was half D800, and it is, but with a little bit of more... I hope that all makes sense

 

[WRM]

I'm not sure if this is the right place to mention this, but it dose relate to the TT800. Last night, I got to A/B my TT800, with a D800+. Other than a little more eq control, I was surprised that the D800+ did sound slightly different to my TT, both played with same bass, and speakers. It's hard to describe the comparison. Firstly, at low volume, pretty much identical, but as spl raises, the TT was definitely warmer, and as my guitarist commented, more bouncy. Don't get me wrong, they are both very similar, but , I'm thinking, that a 12ax7 in the 1st gain stage, and the output stage "magic" of the TT , are differences that definitely impact the overall tone , playing experience, especially at gig volumes.
As I mentioned earlier, I was surprised, I had taken for granted, that the TT, was half D800, and it is, but with a little bit of more... I hope that all makes sense

Which channel on the TT-800 - from your description, I'm guessing "Subway"?...

 

[Old Ozzie Guy]

Which channel on the TT-800 - from your description, I'm guessing "Subway"?...

Yes, I'm sorry, I should have specified, I was comparing the D800+, with the Subway channel of the TT800.