I have used my Walkabout through a Bergantino NV610 many times. IMO these amps are great through big cabs and sound their best when somewhat cranked!
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Mesa Boogie Walkabout Mega-thread Part 10
- Thread starter Chef
- Start date
Yeah it’s not a massive venue, I’ll have PA support too I would assume. The 610 could be solid too, probably easier to move too.
Indeed- I replaced an Ampeg 810 with the NV610 and for me it was an upgrade in pretty much every category (lighter, smaller, easier to move, more clarity and more punch).
My issue is I’m not going to be buying I’ll probably be renting as it’s just for one night. The reality is I don’t consistently do large venues so owning a huge cab makes no sense when the scout combo covers the general duty. So I doubt I’ll be able to rent a 610 but who knows, that’ll be my target as it’s the perfect middle ground. Any of you try and 8x8?
I'm sure the 810 will sound killer too. I can't recall if I ever got to try that combo personally (I had sold my 810 years before I grabbed my first Walkabout and never backlined one with that amp either that I can remember), but given my experience with the 610 that is inspired by the classic Ampeg 810 you should be rocking! I'm with you on owning large cabs these days- I still have my 610 but it hasn't left the garage in years as I'm just not playing the gigs that would call for it anymore (can't bring myself to sell it either though as it sounds too dang good and I have dreams of playing too loud again one day...). My Scout 15 has been more than enough for the gigs I've played the last 5 years now that 90% of venues have really nice sound reinforcement and I'm playing with much more dynamic/light-hitting drummers than I did for years
For sure it’s not as loud as the SVT or my WD-800 but I’ve never needed the full tilt of either of those amps when on stage with an 810.
Rented a Traynor 8x10 cab for tonight it was my only large cab option (I’m in Canada). So I will report back. Kind of excited as my walkabout only really does small practices. I’ve put in on a 4x10 here and there but I’ve never done an 8x10 (it’s probably overkill but I had a coupon lol).
Guys! It was epic! Pretty big venue but not massive, maybe 400 people or so. Had so much headroom available on the walkabout. I was able to just run the gain at about 1 or 2 o clock and master at about 9 o clock and it was just huge. I mostly ran the mids high and tucked the bass back (the 8x10 was pretty deep so I needed to tame the thickness)
Anyway. I would do this every time going forward, the walkabout is really the little amp that could, whether it’s small venues in its own combo or large venues, and there is 0 compromise on sound whatsoever.
Al Kraft
Supporting Member
- May 2, 2016
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With multiple drivers (in one or two cabs) presenting a 4 Ohm load the Walkabout can sound mighty big IME. I've never tried it with an 810, but I'll bet it was pretty awesome. 
It's actually incredibly popular. It's pretty much the default processing technique for bass at this point. I'm not going to spend an hour finding you dozens of videos with world class engineers (Warren Huart, Joey Sturgis, Eric Valentine, etc.) who demonstrate how they do it, but you can look it up for yourself. It's not a fad or outdated technique. It's pretty much the only way metal bass is ever processed -- in fact, there are literally plugins like Parallax that do exactly what I'm describing -- but it's also very common in rock and punk. And some bass distortion pedals effectively do the same thing using their crossover control. And it certainly doesn't come from multiband compression. Splitting bass signals has been going on since the '60s. You can read about Geoff Emerick using a bass DI and an amp for Paul McCartney in his book Here, There, and Everywhere. Phase coherency was ensured by ear.
And I'm not sure what I'm "not understanding" about a high pass filter. Care to elaborate? HPFs don't apply differently to bass amps than they do to anything else. Everything is about signal chain. If you run the hpf before your saturation, you're feeding the saturation less low end. I'm not sure how that's up for debate. A HPF is a HPF. The only thing that change are the slope, how high you set it, and where you put it in the chain.
I assume you're grandfathered in here based on your meaningless vague comment getting several likes, but I'm interested to see if you can back it up with any substance.
- Feb 12, 2006
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- Development Engineer-Mesa Boogie, Development Engineer-Genzler (pedals), Product Support-Genz Benz
Sure, HPF’s for bass is as much a feel thing as tone thing as an articulation thing.
My verifiable experience speaks for itself. I’ve had enough disrespectful debate for today.
I’ve been thinking of bringing my WA scout out of retirement and pairing it with a second cab to bring it up to rock gig volume. I tried it last night and found that the Scout seemed out of phase with both the extension cabs I tried (an Ampeg SVT210AV and a Genz Benz NeoX 112). Is there any way to remedy this? Maybe reverse the + and - wires on the speaker?
My 6-piece rock band was hired for a local company’s Christmas party this Friday night, and although the room is small and the band is fairly moderate volume, I think a single 12 won’t keep up, and my Genz 212 doesn’t really open up until the band is really loud. I’m hoping to use both 112 cabs if possible, but I’m also considering using a pair of SVT210AVs, which are a second option for me because I prefer a little bit more low end punch to stay underneath the guitars in this band.
My 6-piece rock band was hired for a local company’s Christmas party this Friday night, and although the room is small and the band is fairly moderate volume, I think a single 12 won’t keep up, and my Genz 212 doesn’t really open up until the band is really loud. I’m hoping to use both 112 cabs if possible, but I’m also considering using a pair of SVT210AVs, which are a second option for me because I prefer a little bit more low end punch to stay underneath the guitars in this band.
- Feb 12, 2006
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- Development Engineer-Mesa Boogie, Development Engineer-Genzler (pedals), Product Support-Genz Benz
Yes, reverse the leads on the Scout cabinet at either the crossover or the low frequency driver. The relative polarity of the horn on that model isn’t all that critical.
I know that your Genz Benz cabinet is wired with positive voltage providing positive pressure from the woofers, with the Scout, the early ones may have been incorrectly marked. Y the driver manufacturer if they are series 1 drivers. Had to do with the motor polarization being inverted by mistake by the manufacturer (iirc, though it could have been backwards wound vc’s)
I know that your Genz Benz cabinet is wired with positive voltage providing positive pressure from the woofers, with the Scout, the early ones may have been incorrectly marked. Y the driver manufacturer if they are series 1 drivers. Had to do with the motor polarization being inverted by mistake by the manufacturer (iirc, though it could have been backwards wound vc’s)
Report back as promised: swapped the polarity of the speaker last night and it was very easy, the only tool required was a screwdriver to remove the grille and then unscrew the speaker from the baffle. The wires to the speaker are attached similarly to stereo wires where a nut screws down and holds them in place. The whole process took about 5 minutes, then I checked it to make sure things seemed appropriately in phase and loaded my amp and extension cab into the car.
Today at the gig I plugged in, fired it up… and was immediately told to turn down. I ended up unplugging the cab and just running the scout combo for the remainder of the gig, perched atop the inactive extension. It did great and filled the room to the extent I needed it to (venue was much smaller than I had expected and we ended up playing at a very reasonable volume). I saw a couple cell phone videos and was pretty happy with what I heard.
I did keep my THDI on for most of the show, though- it really tightens up the low end and that voice is very helpful in boomy rooms. Next on my list is to experiment with adding an HPF via my HX stomp so I’m not always dependent on the Aggie.
Hi all,
I am trying to replace the main speaker in my Walkabout 12 combo and having a problem that others have raised here, but the solution to which I cannot seem to find:
I have removed the front grill and removed the screws holding the speaker in the cabinet, but the driver refuses to budge. Do I simply need to force it, or is there an additional step I need to perform first?
Any help would be sincerely appreciated.
I am trying to replace the main speaker in my Walkabout 12 combo and having a problem that others have raised here, but the solution to which I cannot seem to find:
I have removed the front grill and removed the screws holding the speaker in the cabinet, but the driver refuses to budge. Do I simply need to force it, or is there an additional step I need to perform first?
Any help would be sincerely appreciated.
It's been awhile since I opened one of mine up, but I feel like there might have been a thin strip of adhesive between the speaker gasket and the cabinet baffle. I would just carefully slip a putty knife or other thin tool around the perimeter to try to loosen the hold. If you just pry the speaker up with it stuck as is you might pull some plywood with it.
- Feb 12, 2006
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- Development Engineer-Mesa Boogie, Development Engineer-Genzler (pedals), Product Support-Genz Benz
There is a gasket that sometimes sticks the driver to the cabinet.
