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Mesa Boogie Walkabout Mega-thread Part 10

#5,181
MarkA said:
Neat basses -- what's the fretless? -- and a surreal setup.

The first pic led me to believe you were in a large cabin/dining hall some place. The second... combines a lot of disparate elements. Even with a little context, I find it slightly disorienting -- but that's me. :) Hope the food was good, the music better, the evening successful, and that you all had fun!
Click to expand...

The fretless is a strange one for sure. It was made by an employee of Alembic, who started his own shop in Bellevue, Washington and built guitars and basses under the name Hyak. Mine is a '78 "Scroll-body" fretless.
Hyak_780502 (angled).jpeg Hyak_scroll and horn.jpeg Hyak_headstock (angled).jpeg

The Guild Starfire is a '67, that was 1/2 Alembicized by a couple other employees. (it retains the original Hagstrom Bisonics, but has a few other... we'll just say; tweaks)

The event is hosted by a local Church... they dine in the dining hall, but use the Sanctuary for music and presentations. So the sound was fantastic. Backdrop was trophies from years past I think, this year's were in the hall outside.

I haven't hunted in 25 years, so I skipped dinner and hit the Waffle House on the way home. I like me a plate of hashbrowns every now and then, smothered and peppered.
WH_Hash Browns.jpeg
 
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#5,182
EdwardofHuncote said:
The fretless is a strange one for sure. It was made by an employee of Alembic, who started his own shop in Bellevue, Washington and built guitars and basses under the name Hyak. Mine is a '78 "Scroll-body" fretless.
View attachment 4627000 View attachment 4627005 View attachment 4627006

The Guild Starfire is a '67, that was 1/2 Alembicized by a couple other employees. (it retains the original Hagstrom Bisonics, but has a few other... we'll just say; tweaks)

The event is hosted by a local Church... they dine in the dining hall, but use the Sanctuary for music and presentations. So the sound was fantastic. Backdrop was trophies from years past I think, this year's were in the hall outside.

I haven't hunted in 25 years, so I skipped dinner and hit the Waffle House on the way home. I like me a plate of hashbrowns every now and then, smothered and peppered. View attachment 4626995
Click to expand...
No Waffle House near me, but this gives me some ideas for the next time I make hash browns -- I might have to refer back to the menu in your post.
 
#5,183
EdwardofHuncote said:
The fretless is a strange one for sure. It was made by an employee of Alembic, who started his own shop in Bellevue, Washington and built guitars and basses under the name Hyak. Mine is a '78 "Scroll-body" fretless.
View attachment 4627000 View attachment 4627005 View attachment 4627006

The Guild Starfire is a '67, that was 1/2 Alembicized by a couple other employees. (it retains the original Hagstrom Bisonics, but has a few other... we'll just say; tweaks)

The event is hosted by a local Church... they dine in the dining hall, but use the Sanctuary for music and presentations. So the sound was fantastic. Backdrop was trophies from years past I think, this year's were in the hall outside.

I haven't hunted in 25 years, so I skipped dinner and hit the Waffle House on the way home. I like me a plate of hashbrowns every now and then, smothered and peppered. View attachment 4626995
Click to expand...
Love this!!
 
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#5,184
Well said Mark. A lot of info in that setup. I am using a small phone screen and zooming in here and there was a trip! Much Walkabout love!

MarkA said:
Neat basses -- what's the fretless? -- and a surreal setup.

The first pic led me to believe you were in a large cabin/dining hall some place. The second... combines a lot of disparate elements. Even with a little context, I find it slightly disorienting -- but that's me. :) Hope the food was good, the music better, the evening successful, and that you all had fun!
Click to expand...
 
#5,185
church gig maybe ?

happy to hear the Walkabout still delivers the goods for you. I still love mine and when I can use it, I sure try to do that. I've been running mine with a Berg NV212t for several years now and it just sounds so good!
 
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#5,187
Rob Martini said:
I just had a new driver, crossover and horn put into my WA 12 combo. Finally had some parts break down after 16 years of hard use. Decided to refurbish and keep for another 15 instead of letting it go! I have a SW WD and a couple of SW cabs also, but the WA 12 really is still my favorite in the right (most) situations!
Click to expand...
I've been considering doing a refresh on my high mileage rig and think I'll go with the 8 Ohm driver as opposed to the 4 Ohm that's in there now. It really is hard to find a combo I like as much as the Walkabout Scout 112. While a less awkward carry and slightly fewer pounds would be nice, the sound makes up for the minor inconvenience IMO.
 
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#5,188
I have been thinking about moving to an 8 ohm driver for my Walkabout as well. Can you please share the details of the replacement parts that you have used or plan to use? I know the Eminence Delta has been recommended by @agedhorse (DeltaLite ii 2512?). Thanks!

Rob Martini said:
I just had a new driver, crossover and horn put into my WA 12 combo. Finally had some parts break down after 16 years of hard use. Decided to refurbish and keep for another 15 instead of letting it go! I have a SW WD and a couple of SW cabs also, but the WA 12 really is still my favorite in the right (most) situations!
Click to expand...

Al Kraft said:
I've been considering doing a refresh on my high mileage rig and think I'll go with the 8 Ohm driver as opposed to the 4 Ohm that's in there now. It really is hard to find a combo I like as much as the Walkabout Scout 112. While a less awkward carry and slightly fewer pounds would be nice, the sound makes up for the minor inconvenience IMO.
Click to expand...
 
#5,189
starjag said:
I have been thinking about moving to an 8 ohm driver for my Walkabout as well. Can you please share the details of the replacement parts that you have used or plan to use? I know the Eminence Delta has been recommended by @agedhorse (DeltaLite ii 2512?). Thanks!
Click to expand...
I actually asked the tech to work with Mesa to find a 4 ohm replacement. I use my SW cabinets when I need more than the 12 so I was hoping to beef it up a bit and not worry about ext speakers etc. I know he used a 4 ohm Eminence speaker rated at 400 watts but will need to check to see the exact model. I did notice it is a bit heavier than the 8 ohm Scout speaker that was in there but it sounds really good.
 
#5,193
I’m a bit late to the WA game. I’ve always wanted one and remember jamming on a 12 Scout years ago and left super impressed. I told myself that I’ll need to get my hands on one and I finally did.

I recently acquired a really nice early model red faced. Since it is a fine example of well preserved Mesa gear, I felt obligated to get her over to Mesa for general maintenance and for all factory upgrades/updates. Mesa slapped a fist full of the factory updates, swapped out some aging components and shot it back to me (turn around wasn’t too long and as always Mesa’s service was smooth). Extra $240 later, got her back pretty much the same time I received a Bergantino NXV212.

Played around with it cranked with my Sire P5 5’r and I was having some trouble balancing out the mids. The mids seem so demanding on that sucker! Any tips on taming those mids without gutting the punch? Typically I’m very much a mids person but goodness, WA struts around like a rooster regarding mids haha. Also, I typically like to avoid going too wild on a parametric eq unless I’m doing a surgical cut somewhere.

Anyways, I felt like I was given a challenge with this. I haven’t jammed on it with my Ultra Jazz 5 or EBMM Sterling 5HH yet as I know those are naturally less mid driven (compared to my Sire P5). So, any tips or do you think that is just the nature of the WA? I’ve read a HPF will definitely help on this amp to keep the bottom end in check. Which I haven’t tried that yet but I’ll give that a go as well with my Helix.

48F747D8-3083-453F-89DB-CD451802D60C.jpeg
 
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#5,196
That’s pretty much the area I gravitated to on the passive mids. Somewhere around 9-10 o'clock.

I’m also eyeing a Forte HP. I have a inner policy; if something comes in and something goes out. I need to spend more time with the WA before I go yay or nay. Never know, it could end up back on TB for the next person to appreciate :).


Andre678 said:
I used to have my mids pretty high on mine till I read that about 10 o'clock is supposed to "flat" for the mids. I think the baked in mids may be really high since the mids knob is supposed to be cut only.

Also, congrats on getting a Walkabout. Best bass gear purchase I have ever made.
Click to expand...
 
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#5,197
carbonfold said:
That’s pretty much the area I gravitated to on the passive mids. Somewhere around 9-10 o'clock.

I’m also eyeing a Forte HP. I have a inner policy; if something comes in and something goes out. I need to spend more time with the WA before I go yay or nay. Never know, it could end up back on TB for the next person to appreciate :).
Click to expand...

I use a Bergantino B|amp as my main gigging amp. That being said, the one amp I'm not getting rid of is the Walkabout. It is such a great sounding amp. I know it sounds fantastic with that NXV212 too!
 
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#5,198
@carbonfold, I haven't played through that Berg cab or played a Sire P5, but I remember the Gain knob on the Walkabout affecting not only the feel but the harmonic content of the sound a lot, which can affect the character and forwardness of the mids. I'd play around with that (bearing in mind that the EQ settings will also affect the gain level) before messing with the EQ too much.

Where the EQ is concerned, I'd start with Bass and Treble at noon and play with the mids 'til I got a basic character I liked. Then I'd adjust Bass and Treble to taste and go back and tweak the mids, if warranted.

If you feel that a specific frequency band is poking out, you can try boosting one of the semi-parametric bands, sweeping it until you peak whatever's annoying you, and then dial it back a bit. Even a dB or two can make a significant difference in smoothing out the tone.

You can of course go back and tweak any of the controls at will, but that's how I'd start, to get things in the ballpark.

Bear in mind that different settings might sound good at lower and higher volumes and/or with a band. I find that I can fiddle around for hours with this stuff at home but, with a band, on stage, can (most of the time!) dial in a sound pretty quickly.

Good luck!
 
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#5,199
I love love love my Walkabout into the sealed Berg NV212t. Such a sweet old school tone.

I never had a huge challenge taming the WA mids. Pretty much have my Mids set in the 9-10 o'clock position, with just a touch of Bass and Treble boost, and the Para EQ used to work out issues with various rooms. From my long experience with my gen2 Walkabout, unless you want grit or compression, the Gain control is really done around 11-ish (and I'm using a 12AT7 for a bit lower gain than the stock 12AX7). Now I will agree that the WA can be a mid-forward amp, but I always heard it as mid-forward very much like a B15N. In fact, I really hear my WA thru the sealed Berg cab as an up powered B15N type thing .... but that's just me and YMMV.
 
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