The blackface WA is a newer version right ? Did Mesa change anything ? I'm glad to learn that the WA generates enough power for a 1x15 and a 1x12 at the same time. What makes this head so powerful ? - because it's rated for 300W @ 4 ohms.
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Mesa Boogie Walkabout Mega-thread 8
- Thread starter Chef
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Until recently, 150 honest watts was quite alot of juice for any single speaker (and still is for most), especially if you like a bass-heavy tone. I can still fart out my Scout 12 combo with the 150 watts at 8 ohms from my Walkabout easily if I play loud and don't cut the low bass.
I just got back from rehearsal with the blues band
I took my 57PRI, Walkabout, LDS 2x8+5"
I haven't used the Walkabout for a while except for dorking around at home.
Man, I forgot how --totally killin' insane-- that thing is on P-bass tone in the blues context.
Spot-freakin-on.
Carry on.
I took my 57PRI, Walkabout, LDS 2x8+5"
I haven't used the Walkabout for a while except for dorking around at home.
Man, I forgot how --totally killin' insane-- that thing is on P-bass tone in the blues context.
Spot-freakin-on.
Carry on.
Truth might be forgotten, but it never gets old
Walkabout>>>fEARful Bassic 15 gives me the same revelation for old school.....just like M9>>>LDS 15/6 does for rock.
Walkabout>>>fEARful Bassic 15 gives me the same revelation for old school.....just like M9>>>LDS 15/6 does for rock.
Chef said:
Amen! I'm doing a fill in blues gig this weekend and I took my WA to the practice with my P bass style FBass. The tone was killer in that context. Very different to the mid forward tone I usually seek from the WA in my 70's funk jazz project.
The WA is a very versatile amp. I've tried a number of Micros to keep as a backup to the WA but none of them could really do the same 3 dimensional sound. After doing multiple direct comparisons with the same cab with EDEN WTX260,264 / WTX500, SWR Headlite, Ampeg PF350 / PF500, MarkBass LM II / F500, and Genz Shuttle 6.0, I found the Eden WTX500 did the best at getting a warm WA "like" tone. It won't do the Walkabouts warm overdrive but the clean is somewhat closer than the others.
Do you guys have any other thoughts on backup micros that might be worth previewing? I've read through the Aguilar TH500 vs WA thread and didn't think it was worth getting a TH500. There seems to be a consensus there that the two are very different.
They are quite different- the Aggy's got more growl, but, again, not the"3D"type thang the WA's so nice at.
The TH500 surely is cool tho. No tubes & .000005lbs- it is amazingly tube-like. Thru a Berg NV610 it sounded incredible (so does the WA tho) & imo, had a lotta the "spongy" feel that I'm used to from my tube monsters.
Different to the WA, still In the same ballpark, but....... just different.
[ if you haven't gathered by now, I'm absolutely useless at describing tone
]
The TH500 surely is cool tho. No tubes & .000005lbs- it is amazingly tube-like. Thru a Berg NV610 it sounded incredible (so does the WA tho) & imo, had a lotta the "spongy" feel that I'm used to from my tube monsters.
Different to the WA, still In the same ballpark, but....... just different.
[ if you haven't gathered by now, I'm absolutely useless at describing tone
]The Streamliner won't do the very clean WA thing, but it will do the minimally overdriven WA thing if you back the bass knob way back to 8 or 9 o'clock and also tweak the mids and treble.
lomo said:
To me, the Streamliner isn't really a micro. Neither is the Ampeg pf500 for that matter. I did get to try a Streamliner out but not a direct comparison to the WA. It wasn't really what I was looking for. i.e. Small, light, portable, around 400 watts and can slip into my cable box for rainy days.
Actually, the SWR Headlight was a solid winner as far as having a capable backup around because of its versatile features, size, and power. It has three separate voicings with the Aural Enhancer including the bypass mode, a decent compressor, and a 3 band semi-para EQ just as the WA has. It's 400 Watt, and It's the smallest micro I've seen save the somewhat feature stricken GK MB200.
Will it cop the Walkabouts tone? Never in a million years. LOL! Perhaps with the WA DI injected onto its effects loop but that's not the answer to having a backup specifically for the Walkabout is it. would it get me through the gig in a pinch? Yep. To date, I've still choosen the Eden WTX500 as the backup as it has many of the same features as the Headlite, shares the same footprint only twice a thick, but sounds the clean warm WA part.
Really? It weighs 6 lbs and is about the size of most other micros, barring the GK offerings and a few others.
I agree with the Ampeg PF stuff though.
The Streamliner isn't really "toss it into the gigbag" small though. The chassis is about 1.5 rack spaces tall and fairly deep- definitely noticeably more formidable than the SWR, GK MB series, Aguilar TH series, or some of the Markbass stuff, and a handful of other truly teensy heads...
I bought a 1x12 walkabout cab (without the head) ON tb for 300 a little while ago..
Hopefully it was worth it and good price I'm not sure..
But I just talked to Mesa and they said do not run Two 1x12 4 ohm together..= 2ohms
But from talking to some people on here and reading it seems that if have TWO 1x12 4ohm cabs i can link them together without blowing up the WA head?
Hopefully it was worth it and good price I'm not sure..
But I just talked to Mesa and they said do not run Two 1x12 4 ohm together..= 2ohms
But from talking to some people on here and reading it seems that if have TWO 1x12 4ohm cabs i can link them together without blowing up the WA head?
It's not recommended by mesa but many (incl me) have done it. On the other hand, you can get a replacement 8 Ohm driver from mesa for 150 if you like.
Here's a thread that's related to your question. It might give you some insight.
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f15/so-you-wanna-run-your-mesa-walkabout-scout-2-2-6-ohms-742327/
I've been running this amp at 2 ohms for 3-45 min set nights without any problems at least once a week.
I've often run Walkabouts @ 2 ohms (into a pair of Scout cabs) for 3+ hr gigs. No problems, nor even unusually heating.
As Lomo mentioned, the 8 ohm speakers are not too pricey, and after changing out my 4 ohm speaker for an 8 ohm out of curiosity I found I lost surprisingly little in tone or volume to my ears. As has often been mentioned, the 12" speaker used in the Scout combos is not really designed to handle a full 300 watts anyway, especially with a bass heavy signal (I can make my Scout cab fart out with either speaker in it, though it was definitely easier with the 4 ohm speaker).
That said, you can add me to the list of people who have used their Walkabouts without problems under 4 ohms. One problem I could see with your particular situation is that when running only two 12" speakers, the likliehood of you pushing the amp fairly hard to get enough volume could come into play and pushing it hard at 2 ohms is what will eventually cause problems (lower impedance= more heat, pushing it hard= even more heat). When I ran under 4 ohms I was using a 4 ohm 6x10 and an 8 ohm 4x12, so I was hardly pushing the amp to get alot of volume...
That said, you can add me to the list of people who have used their Walkabouts without problems under 4 ohms. One problem I could see with your particular situation is that when running only two 12" speakers, the likliehood of you pushing the amp fairly hard to get enough volume could come into play and pushing it hard at 2 ohms is what will eventually cause problems (lower impedance= more heat, pushing it hard= even more heat). When I ran under 4 ohms I was using a 4 ohm 6x10 and an 8 ohm 4x12, so I was hardly pushing the amp to get alot of volume...
What sort of gigs are folks playing with this head? I need something that will do medium gig volume, for a wide variety of styles (no punk or metal). Any thoughts? So far what I've read tends to indicate folks using it for a more classic tone (rock/blues/R&B). Can it act a bit more modern? Can it do slap? Does it run out of headroom with a horn band? Will it be at home with a jazz trio?
Enquiring minds...
Enquiring minds...
I've been able to convincingly cover (imo) anything from Fleetwood Mac to SRV to RATM!
I'd say that the WA can do pretty much whatever you need it to, within reason!
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