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Mesa Boogie Walkabout Mega-thread Part 10

#5,481
I see you opened another thread about this. From my experience, Mesa products have a good track record and warranty. Like anything else, failures can happen. If your WA is an older unit, the risk gets higher and parts are being discontinued. For me, it was worth it to get it repaired.
By the way, welcome to Talkbass and i'm sure you'll get a lot of suggestions on what to purchase next :)
 
#5,483
sunbeast said:
I've found I prefer the tone of the Walkabout with the Bass control anywhere from 10 o'clock to 1 o'clock in conjunction with the external HPF to chop off the very bottom. The combination of the two allows for some really nice low-end sculpting that neither alone can do. The semi-parametric EQ works nicely for this as well, but the external HPF seems to work better for me for that purpose. Honestly though I've not been bringing the HPF to some new gig I have the last few months and the semi-parametric set to cut out a good amount of subs works good enough for that particular gig. Having multiple different ways to shape the lows is a great perk on these amps!

This is one thing that @agedhorse really nailed about the design of the WD800- being able to boost the Bass while raising the HPF control keeps the fat without the mush that the Walkabout alone can sometimes fall into (especially at loud volumes). When I first picked up the WD I was still clearly preferring the Walkabout, but the more I use it the more I start leaning towards the WD as an all-around workhorse since I can dial in a great tight and punchy tone that just gets louder when I turn it up rather than mushier.
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Thanks. Oddly, I’ve never even demoed the WD800. Yet.

Always meant to try an Fdeck, and if it makes life easier then so be it. Any opinion on the Series 3 vs. the new “pedal format” version?

I do have a speaker splitter that would allow me to run two 4 Ohm cabs at 8 Ohms from the amp’s perspective, or two 8 Ohm cabs at 16 Ohms, but haven’t needed to try it live.

IME we usually need less bass in a mix to sound good anyway - less than these amps and cabs can comfortably give - and putting these cabs (any cabs but particularly these maybe due to the porting and fairly unique passive radiator) in a corner or near a wall huuugely embiggens the lows and projection while still having cut / clarity. Or tilting back against a wall more as an onstage monitor.

Trust the sound reinforcement science and season the Mids with some grind from the Gain. Easy!
 
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#5,484
U4EA said:
I see you opened another thread about this. From my experience, Mesa products have a good track record and warranty. Like anything else, failures can happen. If your WA is an older unit, the risk gets higher and parts are being discontinued. For me, it was worth it to get it repaired.
By the way, welcome to Talkbass and i'm sure you'll get a lot of suggestions on what to purchase next :)
Click to expand...
Thanks for the welcome! and sorry for the multiple posts. I bought my walkabout new in 2014, so it has lasted me almost 10 good years. I've lurked on here quite a bit so its fun (and nerve wracking) to put myself out here finally!
 
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#5,485
StayLow said:
Thanks. Oddly, I’ve never even demoed the WD800. Yet.

Always meant to try an Fdeck, and if it makes life easier then so be it. Any opinion on the Series 3 vs. the new “pedal format” version?

I do have a speaker splitter that would allow me to run two 4 Ohm cabs at 8 Ohms from the amp’s perspective, or two 8 Ohm cabs at 16 Ohms, but haven’t needed to try it live.

IME we usually need less bass in a mix to sound good anyway - less than these amps and cabs can comfortably give - and putting these cabs (any cabs but particularly these maybe due to the porting and fairly unique passive radiator) in a corner or near a wall huuugely embiggens the lows and projection while still having cut / clarity. Or tilting back against a wall more as an onstage monitor.

Trust the sound reinforcement science and season the Mids with some grind from the Gain. Easy!
Click to expand...
I wasn’t aware of a pedal-format FDeck. About time I’d say! I’ve had my Series 3 velcroed underneath my main gigging pedalboard for several years, and have gotten comfortable with dialing it in by ear reaching over the side of the board without need for a visual reference. My newest gig is in a West African group playing in a restaurant and no need for the pedalboard so I’ve gotten the Scout 15 sounding pretty good by itself to simplify things in that gig. Man it sounds great!
 
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#5,486
sunbeast said:
I wasn’t aware of a pedal-format FDeck. About time I’d say! I’ve had my Series 3 velcroed underneath my main gigging pedalboard for several years, and have gotten comfortable with dialing it in by ear reaching over the side of the board without need for a visual reference. My newest gig is in a West African group playing in a restaurant and no need for the pedalboard so I’ve gotten the Scout 15 sounding pretty good by itself to simplify things in that gig. Man it sounds great!
Click to expand...

Thanks! That sounds like a sweet gig. Love those fast guitar picking melodies. Bucket list to play in a band like that, on bass or percussion, but they get busy in summer and I’m too busy in summer.

By pure coincidence I was researching the Durham Sex Drive pedal and noticed you’re a fan. Some say it tightens or rolls off the low-lows a bit. is that so, and if so does that have any kind of worthwhile HPF effect on the WalkAbout front end?
 
#5,487
StayLow said:
Thanks! That sounds like a sweet gig. Love those fast guitar picking melodies. Bucket list to play in a band like that, on bass or percussion, but they get busy in summer and I’m too busy in summer.

By pure coincidence I was researching the Durham Sex Drive pedal and noticed you’re a fan. Some say it tightens or rolls off the low-lows a bit. is that so, and if so does that have any kind of worthwhile HPF effect on the WalkAbout front end?
Click to expand...
Yeah I really love this group I’ve been playing with- the songs are deceptively simple but have a lot of pretty complex rhythmic interplay going on (the band leader is from Togo and always encourages me to make bass parts that fit into a kind of call-and-response groove tapestry of sorts), and so much groove and feel. I’ve been learning a lot! It’s great too to play music that always gets the crowd up dancing at every show, which I’ve found to be more of a rarity these days.

I haven’t used the Sex Drive on bass for years, but I would say it’d probably make the kind of HPF that I do unnecessary. It adds a lot of presence and tightening down low at all settings. I do really love it with bass but just haven’t been using those kinda tones as late, instead I’ve been on the thick/fat train lately. I do use it for other stuff I want to pop out in the mix though, like guitar, Rhodes Piano, and Bass VI (when used as more of a twangy tic-tac instrument). It’s a killer twang-inducer pedal! I should put it on my bass board to play around with again though as it has been a long time and I can try some different settings I would have previously avoided (like rolling the Tone most or all the way down).
 
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#5,488
JohnPaul said:
Ive suspected it has something to do with a relay opening and closing intermittently like you've described. I'm having the hardest time figuring out if another "repair attempt" is worth it. seems like most people I've talked to opt to replace instead of repair. thanks for the input, seems like these failures are far and few between.
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It can happen that, for some reasons, the coil of your relay lost his magnetic properties, resulting that it trig off with vibrations. Solution, have it changed.
 
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#5,489
Leo was right said:
It can happen that, for some reasons, the coil of your relay lost his magnetic properties, resulting that it trig off with vibrations. Solution, have it changed.
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Hold on a minute, this isn’t correct because the magnetic properties are due to current flowing in the coil of the relay, not the relay itself. Look up how a solenoid works before making such an incorrect assumption.

There are several different circuits that are used to generate the signal that drives the relay, a failure in any one of these circuits can cause this kind of problem, which is why proper troubleshooting is needed to solve this issue.
 
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#5,490
agedhorse said:
Hold on a minute, this isn’t correct because the magnetic properties are due to current flowing in the coil of the relay, not the relay itself. Look up how a solenoid works before making such an incorrect assumption.

There are several different circuits that are used to generate the signal that drives the relay, a failure in any one of these circuits can cause this kind of problem, which is why proper troubleshooting is needed to solve this issue.
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OK, I wrote this because I already had this issue in a McCurdy radio console, also I had this kind of issues with Ampex AG440 tape recorder that the plunger of the capstan become "amagnetic" with time, the only remedy was to change it(sorry for who all this charabia tell nothing).

I didn't invent this but I forgot to mention that in this kind of issue the plunger of the relay can also be faulty , as also the coil. But effectively the reasons which can cause the relay to not hold the active state could also be faulty circuit, intermittent contact, defective coil and can also be the condition I describe above. If the pressure of the plunger is weak for some reason, vibrations can trig it off, (sorry for my english). May be it never happened in this model of amp, I don't know.

Hope to be understood correctly.
 
#5,491
This type of relay’s operation is very well defined. The symptoms match a drive circuit issue and not the relay itself.

A capstan solenoid is entirely different, there is no moving plunger.
 
#5,493
agedhorse said:
This type of relay’s operation is very well defined. The symptoms match a drive circuit issue and not the relay itself.

A capstan solenoid is entirely different, there is no
Click to expand...
agedhorse said:
This type of relay’s operation is very well defined. The symptoms match a drive circuit issue and not the relay itself.

A capstan solenoid is entirely different, there is no moving plunger.
Click to expand...
 
#5,494
agedhorse said:
This type of relay’s operation is very well defined. The symptoms match a drive circuit issue and not the relay itself.

A capstan solenoid is entirely different, there is no moving plunger.
Click to expand...
OK, I found where come the confusion (thanks to wiki). There is solenoid and electromechanical solenoid, we often use the term solenoid for electromechanical solenoid (sorry about that) , and of course, in the case of a capstan, we talk about electromechanical solenoid because we do a mechanical action. So for sure there's a moving part. Maybe we should end this discussion out of interest for other TBers.

Have a good one!
 
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#5,495
@ShawnG, I took the advice from this thread, , post #12.

I used the Walkabout with a Subway 1x15. Move over Ethel!!!!

tsunami1052
WyomingWhat the Funk?
Sep 13, 2005
https://www.talkbass.com/threads/mesa-walkabout-what-tubes-are-you-using.1020780/
V1 = Genalex Gold Lion Premium (B759).
V2 = JJ ECC803S

This tube combo is meaty, rich, thick and clear. (I felt the stock tubes are ok, but I felt they lacked depth - this tube combo has rich harmonic depth, but can be a little bass heavy depending on what cabinets I use).

Thanks tsunami1052!!!!

dscf1235_zps8a0e4706-jpg.2186936
 
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#5,496
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#5,498
mikeswals said:
SPAX7 is the same tube, just it was selected for no noises.
You would use this in v1 if you're wanting that clinical.
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It’s selected for low noise and low microphonics. Has nothing to do with clinical.
 
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