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Mesa Boogie Walkabout Mega-thread Part 10

#241
Re: preamp. Yes - my (antiquated) pickup system has both a piezo contact on the bridge, and a condenser mic, and an onboard preamp with tandem 1/8" inputs mounted to the tailpiece. After panning the piezo/mic signal to taste, I go straight to the active input on the WA. Less often, I use a D-tar Equinox in the signal path, only because I like having notch filters for the upright. The Parametric EQ on the Walkabout cures most ills anyway.
 
#242
Got my walkabout back today with all the upgrades done by Mesa. So happy it's back, but they replaced the old non-working fan with the loud fan everyone has been complaining about. Does anyone have the link to the fan replacement project a few tb'ers have done to their walkabouts? thanks
 
#243
@livewire-

Other than the fan, what upgrades did MB do to your amp? Soon after the holidays, I'm planning on sending my Walkabout out there for service and at least the passive/active toggle upgrade.
 
#244
#246
There are (at least) 2 excellent fan upgrades. A Silenex (dunno what model) and Noctua NF8. I used a Noctua in my prev WA and it was an ENORMOUS improvement. They move as much air as the stock fan - 42CFM from memory.

The 80mm fan is identical in size and voltage (12DC) to a stock PC case fan so we benefit from the PC builder/modder "enthusiast" community. You can even get a choice of LED colours ... if you're into that kinda thing. :rolleyes::D
 
#247
Cross-posting from the quiet walkabout thread:

The Noctua NF8 is 31cfm at 17dBA. Silenx makes one, the EFX-08-15, that is 32cfm and 15dBA:

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
http://www.silenx.com/quiet.fans.asp?sku=efx-08-15

I think I'm getting ready to pull the trigger on this one for my Eden WT300, which currently has a "jet engine" fan that specs at 35cfm and 37dBA. I'll carefully monitor it to make sure it's not getting too warm with the 3cfm less airflow. I think it will be fine. The air that blows out of the head is never even warm right now.

Some of the fans mentioned earlier in this thread or the Walkabout megathreads have been discontinued. As of now, The Noctua NF8 and Silenx EFX-08-15 are still in production and seem to be the closest match of cfm while offering significantly quieter operation.

Cheers,
Liam
 
#249
I went with this one: Silenx EFX-08-15. Provides 32cfm @ 15dBA. It was simple to put in and made huge difference in fan noise level from the original stock Sunon fan. I have gigged with it for a long time with this mod, even at the dread 2ohm's, and I never felt the WA get even sorta' hot. I have been eyeballing the newer model WA (all black) slotted cover as another mod to make sure my WA gets all the air it needs to stay cool and not cook all the wonderful tone machine goodies inside.

I never really noticed the WA fan noise much until I took it into a recording situation. Even then, it was not a serious issue, but it was loud enough that I decided to do the mod.

enjoy!
 
#250
Ive used both those fans with great results. Chef is right... don't go below 30cfm or it will cause the WA to shutdown. I had it happen to an early one that I had unknowingly thrown a 20cfm fan in. 2 rehearsals and 6 shutdowns later... I realized the fan was only 20cfm! I then swapped it out to have no further issues. oops.
 
#251
liam_g said:
Cross-posting from the quiet walkabout thread:

The Noctua NF8 is 31cfm at 17dBA. Silenx makes one, the EFX-08-15, that is 32cfm and 15dBA:

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
http://www.silenx.com/quiet.fans.asp?sku=efx-08-15

I think I'm getting ready to pull the trigger on this one for my Eden WT300, which currently has a "jet engine" fan that specs at 35cfm and 37dBA. I'll carefully monitor it to make sure it's not getting too warm with the 3cfm less airflow. I think it will be fine. The air that blows out of the head is never even warm right now.

Some of the fans mentioned earlier in this thread or the Walkabout megathreads have been discontinued. As of now, The Noctua NF8 and Silenx EFX-08-15 are still in production and seem to be the closest match of cfm while offering significantly quieter operation.

Cheers,
Liam
Click to expand...

I had my WA shutdown once at a gig where I was running it really hard and at 2 ohms. I had two big 4 ohm cabs and it was as loud as I could get it without a lot of distortion. I have the 32 CFM Silenx fan in mine. It lasted through the first set o.k. but mid way through the second set it cut out. These were odd circumstances where the Mesa just wasn't powerfull enough for the gig. I tried to compensate by bringing more cabs but at 2 ohms and wide open power it was just too much heat to dissipate.

Your EDEN fan will likely be 24V. You won't be able to use one of these nice 12V fans in there, or, at least you shouldn't. They may be able to handle 24V and not self destruct, I've never replaced the one in my WTX500 for that reason. I think the WT series has the same 24V fan voltge.
 
#252
Got all the MB gig gear piled up in the office... for the fun work after bill-paying work is done. :)

Playing an open house at a micro-brewery this evening. Matter of time before some jack-wagon tries to set a beer on my Walkabout. I'll be ready. :scowl:
 
#253
Hey fellas, I became a supporting member at TalkBass today, largely because of the Walkabout Megathread.

Special props to Chef, lomo, and MuthaFunk... probably already saved me $20 worth of bad decisions.

Looking forward to a new year of happy gigging with a great little amp!
 
#254
EdwardofHuncote said:
Got all the MB gig gear piled up in the office... for the fun work after bill-paying work is done. :)

Playing an open house at a micro-brewery this evening. Matter of time before some jack-wagon tries to set a beer on my Walkabout. I'll be ready. :scowl:
Click to expand...

The pile I don't leave in the car:
 

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#256
Can I use the WA Effects loop with a GT-10B EXT Loop? Can't make it work.

This may be a GT-10B issue but I thought I'd ask here before I have to leave for a couple hours to see if I can get a quick answer.

I love the sound directly into the Walkabout with my CN212 or AV-SVT210, with the bass all the way up, passive or active pups/pre, with the head always set to passive input. Just love this. And I hate having to use effects but now have to for now half our set since we need some synth bass and the Boss GT-10B I just got from TB classifieds is getting that done.

The trouble is, when I hook up the EXT Loop send/receive on the GT10B to the send/receive on WA I get only clean tone signal. When I change the FX loop toggle to FX-ON I get no sound at all. I tried reversing the send/receive at the GT10B side and no difference at all.

Suggestions?

Thanks so much,
-Bob
 
#257
bobicidal said:
Can I use the WA Effects loop with a GT-10B EXT Loop? Can't make it work.



This may be a GT-10B issue but I thought I'd ask here before I have to leave for a couple hours to see if I can get a quick answer.



I love the sound directly into the Walkabout with my CN212 or AV-SVT210, with the bass all the way up, passive or active pups/pre, with the head always set to passive input. Just love this. And I hate having to use effects but now have to for now half our set since we need some synth bass and the Boss GT-10B I just got from TB classifieds is getting that done.



The trouble is, when I hook up the EXT Loop send/receive on the GT10B to the send/receive on WA I get only clean tone signal. When I change the FX loop toggle to FX-ON I get no sound at all. I tried reversing the send/receive at the GT10B side and no difference at all.



Suggestions?



Thanks so much,

-Bob
Click to expand...


I think your wiring is the issue- the FX loop on the Boss is probably designed for running an FX Loop of other effects alongside the Boss and not as an amplifier output. The way you have it wired you are essentially just creating a loop of nothing! To run the Boss in the FX loop, the easiest thing to do is plug the Send jack of the Walkabout into the Input of the Boss and plug the output of the Boss into the Receive jack on the Walkabout. I wouldn't actually recommend using the Boss in the FX loop of the Walkabout though because for some reason they designed that amp with the Master Volume coming BEFORE the FX loop, so changing the volume on the amp will change the amount of signal hitting the pedal which wouldn't be ideal.

I would recommend just plugging your bass straight into the Boss and sending the Output of the Boss straight to the Input of the Walkabout like a normal FX pedal. The FX loop on the Walkabout just isn't ideal for much of anything apart from a tuner in my opinion because of the way signal is routed....
 
#259
sunbeast said:
I think your wiring is the issue- the FX loop on the Boss is probably designed for running an FX Loop of other effects alongside the Boss and not as an amplifier output. The way you have it wired you are essentially just creating a loop of nothing! To run the Boss in the FX loop, the easiest thing to do is plug the Send jack of the Walkabout into the Input of the Boss and plug the output of the Boss into the Receive jack on the Walkabout. I wouldn't actually recommend using the Boss in the FX loop of the Walkabout though because for some reason they designed that amp with the Master Volume coming BEFORE the FX loop, so changing the volume on the amp will change the amount of signal hitting the pedal which wouldn't be ideal.

I would recommend just plugging your bass straight into the Boss and sending the Output of the Boss straight to the Input of the Walkabout like a normal FX pedal. The FX loop on the Walkabout just isn't ideal for much of anything apart from a tuner in my opinion because of the way signal is routed....
Click to expand...

Thanks for the detailed explanation. I tried first thing you said and it works perfectly.

Now I get that constant, natural hot level from my bass to the preamp of the WA and the GT-10B expression pedal controls the overall volume without zapping my tone. At least to my ears it sounds better this way. And I can flip the EFX loop switch on the back to bypass the GT-10B completely as a reference. Only thing better would be to control that effects loop switch with a foot pedal.

Thanks, again.
-Bob
 
#260
my walkabout arrived today. i should probably pay attention to this thread.

so far i'm very impressed. i recently acquired a buster head as well. this little guy has a bunch in common. i do like the eq points and voicing on the buster a bit better (the non para settings) but the para lets me dial in what i'm looking for. the lows are a bit big and airy for my taste, but i've just started playing with the eq, so i'm hoping to find a bit more firm, fat, compressed sound with some adjustments.

overall, i'm way impressed. great tone through my PH115 cab with mt Nash P & J basses.
 

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