^^^^^yeah-I find the WA tone better from the DI>>>>another power section (with the DI volume and master both maxed) than from WA FX send......I'm no 'lectrishun and may be mistaken, but I think the 2nd pre tube comes into the circuit when using the DI.......do I have that right or backasswards?
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Mesa Boogie Walkabout Mega-thread Part 10
- Thread starter Chef
- Start date
Yeah, I actually like how it tightens up with the class D power. I don’t like the WA past noon. It’s too mushy. And yes, the feel is less ‘bouncy’, but that’s not my favorite part of the tone anyway. What works for me is it has to come out of the DI with that output knob sitting at noon or or higher, then it sounds huge. If I take the signal from the effects send, it’s thin and sounds bad. Only problem is, I lose my DI. So it only works when I need more volume, but don’t need the DI. If I need more stage volume AND I need a DI, I just grab the Bassman 500. It’s my second favorite sound anyway. Very classic Fender Bassman, but with a tight bottom end. I guess I like a tight bottom.
View attachment 3874765
If you run, with your pictured XLR to 1/4" cable, from the WA's DI to the Rumble effects return, can you get a signal to FOH from the Rumble's DI?
If not, given that you're tried the WD-800 and running from the WA effects send, the only other solutions I see to run with the WA, cleaner and tighter, at higher volume, and still have the DI for FOH are
- (the classic) more cab and an HPF for the Walkabout (in front or in the effects loop -- see which you like better)
- another DI -- WA DI/adapter cable to the DI, then the "thru" to the Rumble (or slave amp of choice) and XLR to house.
Unless I run into the input and through the pre - which colors the tone in ways I don’t like - the DI has no signal. Everything else gets a bit too complicated for playing beer joints on a Saturday night. I’m seriously ok with running the Bassman in the odd times I need more stage volume and a DI. I don’t mind using the Rumble either if it’s unplanned and I need it in a pinch. It’s a surprisingly very good sounding non-tube pre and amp. I’m pretty much covered with those 3 heads. BUT if I could have a class D WA, I’d buy it.
I’ve never actually tried the M-pulse 600, but since the pre is supposedly similar (the same?), I figured I should know for sure. Just bought the newest one off Reverb to try it out. It was already in Texas anyway. Everything I’ve read says it’s not the WA, but maybe it IS the part of the WA that I like, just with more power? Decided I have to know for myself.
Last edited:
Please do report back with your opinion. I was never able to get from a mP600 what I get from a Walkabout.....but that obviously depends to a certain extent on how you flavour your Walkabout
A good mike well placed do a good job too, and free the DI.Yeah, I actually like how it tightens up with the class D power. I don’t like the WA past noon. It’s too mushy. And yes, the feel is less ‘bouncy’, but that’s not my favorite part of the tone anyway. What works for me is it has to come out of the DI with that output knob sitting at noon or or higher, then it sounds huge. If I take the signal from the effects send, it’s thin and sounds bad. Only problem is, I lose my DI. So it only works when I need more volume, but don’t need the DI. If I need more stage volume AND I need a DI, I just grab the Bassman 500. It’s my second favorite sound anyway. Very classic Fender Bassman, but with a tight bottom end. I guess I like a tight bottom.
View attachment 3874765
You never know til you try. Tube rolling in these heads does yield some result.
There is also that new TT800 that might have the upper channel you like.
Please do report back with your opinion. I was never able to get from a mP600 what I get from a Walkabout.....but that obviously depends to a certain extent on how you flavour your Walkabout
Ditto -- @treyandres, will be curious how you like it relative to the WalkaRumble. Never played the MPulse 600, but it was an amp I considered for awhile. Thanks for clarifying re. the Rumble-slave* DI being a non-starter.
You know, if you have an older WA with the non-vented lid, you could take the feet off the Rumble and velcro it to the top of the amp -- that little backpack would serve as both backup and booster for the WA. (Of course, it'll do the same as-is, without the velcro-grafting silliness.)
*Rumbleslave was the fifth studio album from the hugely unspectacular Brit-pop-metal band, Aluminum Princess.
** Okay, just in case, I hereby reserve, trademark, copyright etc. "Aluminum Princess" as a possible future song title or band name. Working on the lyrics and cover art RIGHT NOW.
*** My lawyer says you all can have Walkarumble, WalkaRumble, and its derivatives -- there is a 10% licensing fee, though, and we're not responsible if Mesa or Fender decide to sue.
** Okay, just in case, I hereby reserve, trademark, copyright etc. "Aluminum Princess" as a possible future song title or band name. Working on the lyrics and cover art RIGHT NOW.
*** My lawyer says you all can have Walkarumble, WalkaRumble, and its derivatives -- there is a 10% licensing fee, though, and we're not responsible if Mesa or Fender decide to sue.
as far as this config goes, my favorite version was using the Walkabout and WD800. In my case the signal chain is:
Bass => Cali76CB => Noble DI => WA input => Berg CN212 (4ohm)
WA DI => WD800 FX return => WD800 => Berg NV212 (8ohm) (with WD800 switched to 2ohm mode so 600w into 8ohms)
Of course I had the Noble DI for FOH (the 2 times I actually gigged this config), so I had a great feed to FOH.
This gave me the most WA flavored combination of all the other amps I tried (D800+ and Demeter VTBP-M-800D).
Of course it was too much gear for regular gigs IMO/IME, but it did sound pretty great when I did it.
good luck.
Bass => Cali76CB => Noble DI => WA input => Berg CN212 (4ohm)
WA DI => WD800 FX return => WD800 => Berg NV212 (8ohm) (with WD800 switched to 2ohm mode so 600w into 8ohms)
Of course I had the Noble DI for FOH (the 2 times I actually gigged this config), so I had a great feed to FOH.
This gave me the most WA flavored combination of all the other amps I tried (D800+ and Demeter VTBP-M-800D).
Of course it was too much gear for regular gigs IMO/IME, but it did sound pretty great when I did it.
good luck.
I can confirm that on the MP600 the FX send is before the second tube and the DI out after the second tube, I don't have the schematic of the WA but there is chance that they are similars.
The first time I tried using it as a pre was with the WD-800 power section, and it was amazing. I just couldn’t justify keeping it for only the power amp and the dampening feature. It is equally amazing through the M700 side of the Monique 700. But I’m not gonna haul that expensive piece of kit around to use only the power amp. The Rumble is cheap. If it gets dropped, NBD. If it walks off, again no big deal. They are great little inexpensive amps. The power amp section is very nice and clear sounding.
- Feb 12, 2006
- 60,978
- 5
- 220,735
- Disclosures
- Development Engineer-Mesa Boogie, Development Engineer-Genzler (pedals), Product Support-Genz Benz
In 2 ohm mode, the rated power of the WD-800 is 300 watts not 600 watts.
IMO/IME those wanting more power from a WA are really only needing to do so if gigging with a small, single cab and probably no PA.
Those going for a two-cab setup with WA DI'd into another amp or whatever, consider that it's easier to make the 2nd amp and cab a ... WalkAbout.
Either WA combo with WA extension cab, or two WA combos ... or two WA combos with two WA extension cabs.
P-Nut with 311 (or some similar band of the era) had a gorgeous live setup of two wine-colored WA 12" combo and extension stacks, the pic of which has been posted many times, and Sigur Ros had what looked like dual WA 15" combos (or 15" combo & extension) - [This invalid link has been removed] - though I expect that'd get far too big on the low end at significant volumes sans-HPF, but for what's essentially stage monitoring a non-metal band you wouldn't need to turn that rig up anywhere near the point of it getting flubby.
WA combo with a powered extension speaker would also cut down on bringing the 2nd amp, or heck two WA in a rack would be about 28 lbs and run each one into a 4 Ohm cab.
Speaking of WA's with two cabs, anyone remember this? Mesa Walkabout + TL806 special Retro look ...
Those going for a two-cab setup with WA DI'd into another amp or whatever, consider that it's easier to make the 2nd amp and cab a ... WalkAbout.
Either WA combo with WA extension cab, or two WA combos ... or two WA combos with two WA extension cabs.
P-Nut with 311 (or some similar band of the era) had a gorgeous live setup of two wine-colored WA 12" combo and extension stacks, the pic of which has been posted many times, and Sigur Ros had what looked like dual WA 15" combos (or 15" combo & extension) - [This invalid link has been removed] - though I expect that'd get far too big on the low end at significant volumes sans-HPF, but for what's essentially stage monitoring a non-metal band you wouldn't need to turn that rig up anywhere near the point of it getting flubby.
WA combo with a powered extension speaker would also cut down on bringing the 2nd amp, or heck two WA in a rack would be about 28 lbs and run each one into a 4 Ohm cab.
Speaking of WA's with two cabs, anyone remember this? Mesa Walkabout + TL806 special Retro look ...
Those wine colored Mesa’s and these Maruszczyk Barabass ones are my holy grail cabs design-wise
.
That was Ben Kenney from Incubus: Ben Kenney - Artist | MESA/Boogie®
For me that’d be far more work than worth it unless I was using bigger cabs (the Sigur Ros setup makes more sense). I’ve been a 1 amp, 1 cab guy for years and would sooner bring my 610 to a show (which rarely requires picking up or bending over to move) than two amps/cabs.
Last edited:
This XLR to power amp thing is new to me. So I apologize in advance.
If I run out of my WA with an XLR splitter feeding one to FOH and the other to something like a Crown XLS 1502. It wouldn't sound like a louder WA with FOH support? My reading says the XLR out does have both tubes in the circuit. (FWIW, I just pulled the power amp from Sweetwater's site as an example.)
My WA lives in a rack case so adding a 2U power amp isn't out of the question and the Crown is under 9 lbs.
This is very interesting!
If I run out of my WA with an XLR splitter feeding one to FOH and the other to something like a Crown XLS 1502. It wouldn't sound like a louder WA with FOH support? My reading says the XLR out does have both tubes in the circuit. (FWIW, I just pulled the power amp from Sweetwater's site as an example.)
My WA lives in a rack case so adding a 2U power amp isn't out of the question and the Crown is under 9 lbs.
This is very interesting!
I said for a while a Walkbout @ 4ohm with enough speaker area worked with plenty of volume. I could never get one speaker to do all the work I need, it has to be two or four. Two 210 cabs made the WA give all its juice and I never had to turn up the master past 10.
I also never carried any of it into a venue. The bottom cab has wheels, I stacked the 2nd cab and head on top and rolled it into every venue just like its a large cab.
I also never carried any of it into a venue. The bottom cab has wheels, I stacked the 2nd cab and head on top and rolled it into every venue just like its a large cab.
yes, mis-statement on my part. This works well because both cabs see the same amount of power output from the respective amps ... 300w WA into the CN212 and 300w WD800 (in two ohm mode) into the 8ohm NV212t.
Having used a WA 12" combo for many years, in several configurations ... including with a WA/Scout extension cab ( I tried both another WA/Scout 1x12 as well as a 1x15), the WA just did not cover it volume wise. I also feel as if the WA/Scout passive radiator cab designs were not terribly efficient (although I do not have any specs to back that up) so they did not use the avail WA power very well.
After the all WA/Scout rigs, I did move to using the WA head with any number of multiple driver cabs (Berg CN212, Berg CN312, LDS 2x15, Berg NV610, Accugroove Tri115) I ultimately did not find that the WA could cover all volume needs by itself. I came closest to this using an fdeck HPF to maximise the WA's available power with the CN212 but ultimately I ended up with the WD800, which is not just a louder Walkabout, although it does deliver a very convincing WA feel way past where the actual WA would just get flubby for me. So, perfectly reasonable alternative.
I never owned 2 Walkabouts at the same time so I've never got a chance to hear that kind of rig. The only reason I tried the combination that I posted above (Mesa Boogie Walkabout Mega-thread Part 10) is that's the gear I had on hand. I also only ever used that config 2 times for showcase type gigs vs any kind of regular gig. It was just too much trouble for what it did.
.... and yes, it was Ben Kenney with the beautiful multi Walkabout stage rig.
I’m sure this may have been brought up before...but what about a Classic WA twin tube DI/Preamp pedal a la the Noble? Seems like it could sell like hot cakes. Then you’d be free to dump it into any amp or console you could possibly desire.
