Mesa Boogie Walkabout Mega-thread Part 10

[joebar]

Wait! Fender is making a American Professional Precision V? Gotta check it out…
Damn! Still making them with the 1 7/8" nut width. Wish they'd make 'em with 1 3/4." They did it with the Dimension.
Slightly smaller body and a Dimension neck. Passive, ash body, maple neck and fingerboard. I'd be all over that! drool
WA is a middy amp for sure. Did you try to dial it out with the semi-parametric? I've had good luck with it.

It did sound better when I set the EQ back to flat and tweaked a little from there

 

[bumble yeti]

It did sound better when I set the EQ back to flat and tweaked a little from there

Yessir. Their EQ is def cut for sure. Such a low mid-rangy, articulate amp, best to cut out the stuff you don't want rather than try to boost the stuff you like. Flat is great. A little cut in the right places… wonderful!
FWIW, I have a 2004 EBMM Stingray 5 with a ceramic pickup and use the EQ to cut the edgy upper-mid gak inherent to it.

 

[rodl2005]

Agreed. The WA's mid control I usually had at around 10 o'clock. .. but the amp has a VERY versatile eq section and I found I could get pretty much any tone (that I'd wanna use) outta it.

 

[pfschim]

well, I'm back to say that after a few months of not using it, I plugged my Roscoe Beck IV into my WA+Berg CN212 rig the other day and was reminded (yet again) about how great the WA sounds. The big, full, warm HEFT of this little bugger always puts a smile on my face.
some special kind of bass foo foo dust is in this amp for sure.

I have stopped using the WA as my primary gigging amp in the past 2 years due to its challenges staying clean (enough) at higher volumes. In its place I have been using a Demeter VTBP-M-800DJ into the CN212. Its a great combination as well, and the Demeter certainly gives me all the power/clean headroom I desire ... but the VTBP-201 preamp section is simply much more "polite" than the WA. I also don't seem to be able to dial in the low mid heft with the Demeter that I can get with ease using the WA. To be fair, the WA with its "magic mids" and semi-para EQ section has more tweaking options than the Demeter, but still ......

WA is just a great amp. Outstanding work Mesa
as always, I just wish that it had more juice so I did not have to drag along the bigger/more cabs just to make it work (I know, I know, old sad song)
for a while I was considering adding a CN112 to my CN212 and running the WA @ 2ohms. But, having done that in the past with 2 WA/Scout cabs (2x12, 1x12+1x15), I kind of feel that the WA gets more squishy at 20hms which is not what I'm after from my rigs.

 

[markmck79]

WA is just a great amp. Outstanding work Mesa
as always, I just wish that it had more juice so I did not have to drag along the bigger/more cabs just to make it work (I know, I know, old sad song)
for a while I was considering adding a CN112 to my CN212 and running the WA @ 2ohms. But, having done that in the past with 2 WA/Scout cabs (2x12, 1x12+1x15), I kind of feel that the WA gets more squishy at 20hms which is not what I'm after from my rigs.

Have you tried your WA on a stack of 3 Subway 12" cabs?

I had the opportunity to try this recently when sharing a backline with a D800+ user. I was very impressed and can't imagine anyone needing more stage volume. My guess is that the WA is putting out about 450-500 watts at 2.67ohms.

I plan to start picking up Subway cabs as I see them used and "retire" my Scout cabs to my practice room.

 

[pfschim]

I have not tried the Subway cabs with my WA. Having had several of them in the past, I kind of feel like the WA/Scout cabs are not very efficient, but I have no figures to back that up.

I believe the WA puts out close to 500w @ 2ohms, so 400-450-ish would probably be about right at 2.67ohms (8ohm cab + 4ohm cab).
Again, while I know from much first hand experience that the WA works just fine at 2ohms (and 2.76) .. after a while I felt like running it below its Mesa preferred 4ohms actually accentuated the issues that I didn't like about it .. i.e. it gets more squishy and wide/pillowy down low as opposed to its usual warm and reasonably tight thump at 4ohms. At least IMO/IME.

As far as cabs go, I am very happy with my Berg CN212 and have gotten very used to how to get great tone out of it with any amp I use with it.
I'm not against the Subway stuff at all, most of the reviews are really positive and I am very fond of Mesa as a company in general (I live within easy driving distance of Petaluma and have met the great folks up there several times). I'm not sure if I want to start tearing apart my working rig (yet again) as I find it takes a while to re-settle down after you make a big change like replacing a cab (or cabs).

My primary goal is to gig more, not spend too much time (and $$) gear swapping

 

[StayLow]

I have not tried the Subway cabs with my WA. Having had several of them in the past, I kind of feel like the WA/Scout cabs are not very efficient, but I have no figures to back that up.

I believe the WA puts out close to 500w @ 2ohms, so 400-450-ish would probably be about right at 2.67ohms (8ohm cab + 4ohm cab).
Again, while I know from much first hand experience that the WA works just fine at 2ohms (and 2.76) .. after a while I felt like running it below its Mesa preferred 4ohms actually accentuated the issues that I didn't like about it .. i.e. it gets more squishy and wide/pillowy down low as opposed to its usual warm and reasonably tight thump at 4ohms. At least IMO/IME.

As far as cabs go, I am very happy with my Berg CN212 and have gotten very used to how to get great tone out of it with any amp I use with it.
I'm not against the Subway stuff at all, most of the reviews are really positive and I am very fond of Mesa as a company in general (I live within easy driving distance of Petaluma and have met the great folks up there several times). I'm not sure if I want to start tearing apart my working rig (yet again) as I find it takes a while to re-settle down after you make a big change like replacing a cab (or cabs).

My primary goal is to gig more, not spend too much time (and $$) gear swapping

My thoughts as well. Maybe Mesa should buck the smaller/lighter trend and make a 600w Walkabout all the same except for a larger & heavier transformer.

Dress it up to look like an old-school tube amp, as other manufacturers have recently done which I think looks great, and add some interior red or orange LED lighting bucking the blue trend. A Walkabout Prodigy.

 

[metron]

Man every time this thread gets bumped, I think about buying another WA head. Who that has ever had and sold one can go without it forever? No one.

 

[bumble yeti]

My thoughts as well. Maybe Mesa should buck the smaller/lighter trend and make a 600w Walkabout all the same except for a larger & heavier transformer.

Dress it up to look like an old-school tube amp, as other manufacturers have recently done which I think looks great, and add some interior red or orange LED lighting bucking the blue trend. A Walkabout Prodigy.

No sir. Been thru it here a 100 times, at least. Mesa can't make a 600 watt WA. Heck, no more 300 watters either.

 

[metron]

No internal LEDs please

 

[pfschim]

No internal LEDs please

yeah, I could happily live without the LED light show.
The Demeter has blue LED's in the base of the 2 tube sockets and I wish I could turn those off somehow. Just looks kind of garish to me.

 

[markmck79]

Very easy to disable/unplug the LEDs on the Strategy/Prodigy. I did so on my TA15.

 

[pfschim]

No sir. Been thru it here a 100 times, at least. Mesa can't make a 600 watt WA. Heck, no more 300 watters either.

yep, the more powerful WA topic has been talked out I'm afraid. It seems as if Mesa hit on a fairly unique combination of circuit design elements with the WA that you simply can't up-engine and have the same results. I grabbed an MPulse 600 for that exact reason and while it sounded just fine, it was definitely not a 600w Walkabout. I have also tried running the FX send of the WA into other bigger power sections and have decided that there must be something really cool going on between the WA tube preamp and the medium lead sled effect of its mosfet + torroidial output tranny

 

[pfschim]

Very easy to disable/unplug the LEDs on the Strategy/Prodigy. I did so on my TA15.

hmm, I'll have to try opening the Demeter up again and see if there is an obvious way to unplug the blue LED's in the preamp.

 

[husky123]

Man, I just did the same thing, saw this thread getting bumped, fired up the old WA (which had been in hibernation) and BAM, insta-that's-what-a-bass-should-sound-like tone. Unreal, this amp.

 

[mikeswals]

Really missing the WA again.
using an Epififani that is bland, boxy and unimpressive.

 

[bonz - darrell]

Well, to continue the Walkabout love fest:

I love me my WA. I re-tubed it (don't ask, I forget) and that gave it just that little bit more of everything good.

I play it through a pair of old 1x15 Sunn kinda clone boxes (imagine a Sunn 2000 split into two). Both 1x15's are loaded with 8 ohm JBL K140s. Or I have a nice pair of E140's if the mood strikes me.
I also play my WA through a home brew 2x15 cab loaded with EV 22B's (as I recall) for a 4ohm load. The 2x15 cab seems to be like a Sunn2000 by specs and measurements as well.

All three cabs were built in the late 70's or early 80's, and I know that all the engineers in the audience are cringing because the drivers are probably all wrong for the cab sizes etc, but dang, those cabs with my Walkabout just sound great. Any time I bring any combination of the three cabs with my WA to a new jam or gig, I get complemented on how good my tone is (never about my playing, but that's a different technical hurdle, lol).

At one gig I used all three cabs (for a rating of 2.67 ohms), two 1x15's on one side, the 2x15 on the other. My stage volume was completely un-manageable -- no PA support, so my stage volume was also FOH. What a mistake. I loved it, but no else on stage could hear themselves think.

I truly have had no amp or cab gas for several years. Prior to finding the WA, I went through a couple different amps. After finding the WA I went through a multitude of cabs (2x12, 1x15 with horn, etc, etc), before settling on the three I have now.

My bass gas seems unabated, unfortunately.

 

[EdwardofHuncote]

Same here... my WalkAbout/Scout 15 combo is *IT* for me. I'm considering buying another for a backup, in case mine needs service. I had an extra one, and sold it, like an idiot.

 

[slofut]

Edward does your WA 15 cab have a neo driver? (Forgive me if I've asked you this before)

 

[EdwardofHuncote]

Edward does your WA 15 cab have a neo driver? (Forgive me if I've asked you this before)

I honestly don't know... only that it's the stock speaker. Seem like I remember reading somewhere (maybe here...?) the Scout 15 combos all came with 4 ohm ceramics. I might be all wet on that.