Rocket Bass, the ones in blue diamond tolex? Those are loud and sound great. I've gigged one often, and would expect it to hang anywhere a single Walkabout/Scout will.
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Mesa Boogie Walkabout Mega-thread Part 10
- Thread starter Chef
- Start date
Rocket Bass, the ones in blue diamond tolex? Those are loud and sound great. I've gigged one often, and would expect it to hang anywhere a single Walkabout/Scout will.
The big limitation with any of the Scout 12 combo is the speaker. No amount of power will make a single 12” speaker put out enough volume for most gigs, and the difference between the 150 watts a Walkabout puts out at 8ohms and a 100 watt Rocket is probably barely perceptible. The Rocket may even get louder than a Scout 12, as the 15” speaker gives you quite a bit more speaker area (likely more than making up for the small power deficit). The 4 ohm Scout 12 cabs are also limited by the low power/bass handling abilities of the speaker inside, which will start distorting/farting well before you reach full power with the amp (they shouldn’t have ever been sold with 4 ohm 12” speakers, at least not without heavier duty speakers than they used in those cabs). I think the useable output (preceding speaker distortion) of the 8ohm version was pretty much the same as the 4 ohm version.
The 4ohm 15” cab can handle everything the Walkabout puts out without any audible struggle in my experience. There is a nice tonal mojo to the 12” Scout cab within a certain level of operation (ie before it really gets cooking), but the 15 sounds great too (at least to me it’s actually a clearer-sounding cab, believe it or not) and is much more capable standalone as long as you can lug it around (a handcart would be ideal, though I’ve always just carried it awkwardly).
I think you should test the Rocket 100 in a gig-like environment. You may be surprised- I remember being pleasantly surprised by a backlined one before (I think it was the 100 watt version). There was also bass in the PA/monitors at that show though so I wasn’t able to really put it to the test (thankfully, as that was a loud band!). It sounded great in my opinion (as I recall), though I think the Walkabout is in a tonal class of its own so I won’t try to compare.
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Totally depends on the band, room, and if need be the PA. Same as with any other rig of any size.
100w and 150w is essentially identical. All else equal you need 10x the watts to double volume, or double the watts to get a 3 dB increase in volume.
I've got the WalkAbout/Scout 12's and 15's, combos and cabs, and have used both with 4 Ohm and 8 Ohm OEM speakers. It's amazing the gigs I've played with the 12" version, even without PA support.
As a general rule the bass needs to be as loud as the drums, so if drums get PA then bass gets PA. The rest is just stage monitoring and smarts about where to place your cabs, and if your combo is enough for your monitoring then it can hang.
These combos and cabs have the "passive radiator" on the bottom, which makes them sound biggger/deeper than any typical 12" cab you've heard... at least from that time in gear design. The 15" isn't quite as radical, though it also has the passive radiator. The 15" does sound clearer - more dry / less of the blooming punch the 12 has - and I'd say sounds more like what you'd expect from any quality 15" cab.
The Rocket I recall being loud and having a very full, creamy "Ampeg" sound. If that sounds works for the music you're playing, it should work fine anywhere the Scout 12" combo would work.
Take this for what it's worth, but I recently bought a barely-used burgundy face head (no cab), in very minty condition, for $530 shipped. Got it on Reverb.
I totally agree; I've got a 12 and a 15 and a 15 extension cab. They meet any and all of my needs...
Here’s a hypothetical question. If you set the scout cab on top of something and the passive radiator is completely blocked, does it still have an effect on the low end?
- Feb 12, 2006
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- Development Engineer-Mesa Boogie, Development Engineer-Genzler (pedals), Product Support-Genz Benz
Blocking the passive radiator screws with the box tuning. Not a good effect.
I was just curious if the radiator moving inside would have any effect when blocked off. Surely someone has set this amp something that covered radiator?
- Feb 12, 2006
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- Development Engineer-Mesa Boogie, Development Engineer-Genzler (pedals), Product Support-Genz Benz
well, the scout has big rubber feet on the bottom.
I used a walkabout combo stacked on an extension cab for a long time.the extension cab was only "the rubber feet off the ground."
so; I wouldn't call that blocked, but there wasn't much room there either.
I used a walkabout combo stacked on an extension cab for a long time.the extension cab was only "the rubber feet off the ground."
so; I wouldn't call that blocked, but there wasn't much room there either.
I did the same for several years .... WA 12 + Scout 12, WA 12 + Scout 15 (and then back to the 12+12). The rubber feet on the combo seemed to provide enough space for the passive radiator to work as designed. Also, the passive radiator is pretty well recessed into the bottom of the cab, so, you'd probably have to take the rubber feet off to really block the radiator from performing as designed.
EdwardofHuncote
I Still Dream of Jeannie
- Aug 21, 2013
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Ha! 
I'm sitting here this very minute, looking right at my Scout 15, and had totally forgotten about that passive radiator. That's a big part of what makes that bloomin' thang sound so cool. I have never used the Scout 15 in tandem, but for a time I ran two Scout 12's. I stacked them sometimes and side-by-side sometimes. The experience was completely different, so I would have to say yes, but probably not from the passive radiator being blocked. Like Chef says, the clearance distance of the rubber feet is providing the same offset. I guess it's either just the effect of decoupling the second cab, or getting it closer to the receiving devices.
Weird, how I had forgotten about that thing though!
I'm sitting here this very minute, looking right at my Scout 15, and had totally forgotten about that passive radiator. That's a big part of what makes that bloomin' thang sound so cool. I have never used the Scout 15 in tandem, but for a time I ran two Scout 12's. I stacked them sometimes and side-by-side sometimes. The experience was completely different, so I would have to say yes, but probably not from the passive radiator being blocked. Like Chef says, the clearance distance of the rubber feet is providing the same offset. I guess it's either just the effect of decoupling the second cab, or getting it closer to the receiving devices.
Weird, how I had forgotten about that thing though!
It seems like if it was totally sealed off, the tuning would change to that of the 3” port and internal volume of the cab. The radiator would probably move but, I have no idea what the result would be.
I haven't played the combos or the Scout cabs but, on a practical (if not super-convenient) note, if you found yourself playing in tall grass or even on very plush carpet, you could set the cab atop a simple square of plywood if it was having an adverse effect on the sound. I've read of folks doing this with the Acoustic Image combos with the downward-firing woofers.
If setting the cab atop a narrower stand that would block the passive radiator, I suppose extra feet could be installed on the bottom of the cab or the cab could be otherwise "spaced" up from the stand.
If setting the cab atop a narrower stand that would block the passive radiator, I suppose extra feet could be installed on the bottom of the cab or the cab could be otherwise "spaced" up from the stand.
On Amazon I found a hard plastic 1" thick cutting board with the right dimensions to set my Scout on not-hard surfaces. Works great!
