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Mesa Boogie Walkabout Mega-thread part Four!

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#501
Joe;
yep, that scout cab is a phat sounding cab. but, most especially so standing right next to it. I bet when you were playing, the other guy was totally digging your tone too.
also, at least with the fralin loaded lakland JO5 i had, those pups are a little bottom heavy.
so, use that lower band of eq to trim at 50hz or so.
i find, mostly, that eq is best used to trim, rather than to boost. if you're not digging your native tone "it's hard to boost eq to make what you want," but if you have a starting point you like, it's easy to trim a little of this or that to eq to a room.

rickenboogies suggestion to try another cab isn't a bad one. the walkabout pairs well with pretty much everything i've thrown at it. i most typically use two LDs 2x8 cabs.
 
#502
Chef said:
Joe;
yep, that scout cab is a phat sounding cab. but, most especially so standing right next to it. I bet when you were playing, the other guy was totally digging your tone too.
also, at least with the fralin loaded lakland JO5 i had, those pups are a little bottom heavy.
so, use that lower band of eq to trim at 50hz or so.
i find, mostly, that eq is best used to trim, rather than to boost. if you're not digging your native tone "it's hard to boost eq to make what you want," but if you have a starting point you like, it's easy to trim a little of this or that to eq to a room.

rickenboogies suggestion to try another cab isn't a bad one. the walkabout pairs well with pretty much everything i've thrown at it. i most typically use two LDs 2x8 cabs.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the feedback. Unfortunately, living in Boston without a car was the whole reason for picking one of these up. It's very easy to get around on buses and trains with my monobag carrying my bass, tuner, and a few cords (great bags, a little too techy looking for some). I downsized from a Thunderfunk TFB750A and a Berg HS410, which was one of my favorite rigs I've ever played through.

I can dig what you're saying about the Fralins, too. They have big time bottom, which I love as I strive for a vintage sounding big fundamental.

I should be able to stand in front quite a bit more at the gig tomorrow, which will be nice. I've felt cramped at rehearsals and gigs over the last few months. Also really looking forward to using the DI.

If I don't dig it tomorrow I'll probably be looking to flip it. It'd be ideal to keep it for that big, fat, and round thing, while adding something more modern to the fold, but my bank account would disagree with that idea.
 
#504
A day before my WA arrived, I had a chance to play a Scout and the difference between a single 12 and a 1x15 is huge to me.
Have also tried my 1x15 on a stand and was not at all happy with the result; tilting it with a 2 1/2" block of foam kept the bottom and allowed it to be audible when standing right in front of the cab on small stages.
 
#506
lomo said:
2.7 Ohms will be easier on the head than 2 Ohms
Click to expand...

Thanx Lomo & Chef. ;) I thought It'd be OK but Just wantedto check with the 'real world'.

I used the WA Scout 8ohm combo atop the Berg AE212- so it was 3 x 12"s in a vertical stack. & like all the others that've tried this vertical stacking, I, too, had superb results.
I Could hear it superbly & we were on a very WIDE stage(not that deep) but about 8 or more metres wide, & STILL the guys on the other side(end) of the stage said they could hear the bass clearly & easily. :)
This was in a LOVELY room for sound. Apart of the Casino that was built in the 1940's- i.e. lots of soft furnishings, curved(deco) walls & of course -filled with about 300-400 ppl.
I had NO PA support & the bass was COOL- one of the guests was a guy that works at one of the local muso stores & he came up after - full of praise("excellent show guys-just superb!! " blah blah) Which was nice.
And he also said the bass sounded the best he'd ever heard a stage sound bass rig sound....:confused:.
I hope you know what I mean.
DAMN the WA gets loud at 2 ohms, & even 2.67.
MY other amps must think they'rehaving a holiday:D
 
#507
Joe Clark said:
I love mids myself. I'm not particularly pleased with the mid knob on the pre. Will check it out, though.
Click to expand...

On all the Mesa amps I've had, the mid knob is one of the most powerful tone shapers in my opinion- the whole range of character from smooth to aggressive can be dialed in with little more than tweaking the gain and mid knobs. There have been a few threads where people have used a frequency analyzer on Mesa bass heads that shows that the "flat" tone actually involves an actively boosted midrange stage. The midrange EQ control is passive + cut only, but since you are starting with a boosted midrange, the truly flattest setting is somewhere in the middle (some people claim around 9 o'clock on the Walkabout's mid knob is the nearest to a "flat" setting, which sounds about right to me).

As far as making the Scout sound "faster", I would just say cut Lows and add a bit of mids (I like the bass around 9 or 10 and the mids around 2 o'clock personally, and I find that it still sounds plenty deep but with a nice grind in the midrange- my basses are pretty deep to begin with though!). The Scout cab is definitely not an inherently "fast" cab though in my opinion- I imagine it has something to do with the effect of the passive radiator, it always seems to impart a bit of a "bloom" to the notes to my ears (which makes it more tube-esque than just the amp alone)...
 
#508
projectapollo said:
Wine Lizard, just beautiful:
MesaBassRigSR30th006.jpg
Click to expand...

Man...so nice! Every time, I have to stop and look at it for 5 minutes!

Chef said:
I've never used the active input on any Mesa amp as they don't seem to get driven to clip.

On others, I have.
Click to expand...

Alan...I need to thank you! I just never tried my Lakland 44-07 through the passive input until you posted an reminded me to try it. WOW! That's the tone I knew this bass was capable of. Man...I can't get enough!
 
#509
Markus:
kewl!

I've found using the active input on a Mesa really knocks a lot of character out of the signal, and as I've never had a bass hot enough to make the input sound all nasty-clippy, I never use the active input....And I have some *really* hot basses, in terms of output, like that.
 
#510
sunbeast said:
On all the Mesa amps I've had, the mid knob is one of the most powerful tone shapers in my opinion- the whole range of character from smooth to aggressive can be dialed in with little more than tweaking the gain and mid knobs. There have been a few threads where people have used a frequency analyzer on Mesa bass heads that shows that the "flat" tone actually involves an actively boosted midrange stage. The midrange EQ control is passive + cut only, but since you are starting with a boosted midrange, the truly flattest setting is somewhere in the middle (some people claim around 9 o'clock on the Walkabout's mid knob is the nearest to a "flat" setting, which sounds about right to me).

As far as making the Scout sound "faster", I would just say cut Lows and add a bit of mids (I like the bass around 9 or 10 and the mids around 2 o'clock personally, and I find that it still sounds plenty deep but with a nice grind in the midrange- my basses are pretty deep to begin with though!). The Scout cab is definitely not an inherently "fast" cab though in my opinion- I imagine it has something to do with the effect of the passive radiator, it always seems to impart a bit of a "bloom" to the notes to my ears (which makes it more tube-esque than just the amp alone)...
Click to expand...

Thanks Sunbeast! Had the WA on the gig last night. The venue had really good FOH support and the sound guy was actually nice. I asked him if he had a di he'd prefer to use over the post eq out on the amp, and he said "I'm good either way. I'm flexible." How refreshing.

I ended up running the eq mostly flat with the exception of the mid knob, which was at 2 o'clock or so. With my jazz bass it made for some musical grind.

I was skeptical about the Scout 12 at first, but I'll definitely be holding onto it. Thinking about getting a bigger cab for louder gigs. The guitarist I was working with was playing through a cranked, modded Blues Junior. I would like a little more oomph if I was working with someone with a 30+ watt tube amp.

I think pretty soon here it'll be time again to call up Jim Bergantino. I played an AE212 when I was in Atlanta a few months ago and I think it'd be a great match.

Cheers.
 
#511
Yeah...I never tried it because it is active, and has humbucker ChiSonics. I figured it would be way too hot, but it isn't...and I'm lovin' it!

Chef said:
Markus:
kewl!

I've found using the active input on a Mesa really knocks a lot of character out of the signal, and as I've never had a bass hot enough to make the input sound all nasty-clippy, I never use the active input....And I have some *really* hot basses, in terms of output, like that.
Click to expand...
 
#512
Fisrt gig with the WA with a Stingray (w/ dead Sunbeams) & TL606 cabinet.
Office party in a big room; had just removed the carpet so on a concrete floor, drywall walls, drop ceiling; about 150 people at the rear of the room and about 40' from where we were. 2 guitars, bass drums, keys, and 3 vocals; R&B & rock

Passive input
Gain-11:00 Master-10:00 Bass-12:30 Mid 12:00 Treble 3:00 Pulled a little 30 Hz.

Great touch sensitivity and control especialy at a reasonably low volume.
Very warm & cozy
Could not get enough clear upper midrange definition although extensive tweaking would have been inappropriate. Turning up the treble on SR was too extreme for most songs.
Sounded a bit too "wooly" when digging in although it has been a champ at 2 rehearsals with a 2x15.
Conversely the LMII has sounded much cleaner but also too sterile in comparison.
Am thinking that a tube swap might be a good thing to try to clean up the front end of the amp.
Any other suggestions?
 
#514
For those using the WA heads separate from the combo, what cabs are you pairing up with? I have the 8 Ohm 12 combo but am looking for an extension cab to handle some of the louder gigs.
 
#515
vin*tone said:
A concrete floor is going to make things pretty boomy. I would have cut back on the bass in that room by the sounds of it. Also - if you're looking for more definition maybe try backing the gain off a bit and bumping the volume.
Click to expand...

Forgot to mention that I always use this cab with a 2 1/2" block of foam under the front edge to angle it up. Bass was not too boomy (with 30 Hz cut and SR adjusted properly), but thanks for the suggestion

Did try scooping the mids (down to 9:00) but that wasn't the solution

Will try backing off the gain although I had not heard much difference in clairty in the living room from about 9:00 to 12:30

Maybe not the right cab for this amp, or, the amp doesn't have enough a$$ for a 1x15 at low to medium levels?
 
#516
Jim C said:
Forgot to mention that I always use this cab with a 2 1/2" block of foam under the front edge to angle it up. Bass was not too boomy (with 30 Hz cut and SR adjusted properly), but thanks for the suggestion

Did try scooping the mids (down to 9:00) but that wasn't the solution

Will try backing off the gain although I had not heard much difference in clairty in the living room from about 9:00 to 12:30

Maybe not the right cab for this amp, or, the amp doesn't have enough a$$ for a 1x15 at low to medium levels?
Click to expand...

Just wanted to point out that with mids at 9:00 your not actually scooping...
The mid knob is strange on this amp (its been discussed a lot before,its some kind of passive boost only,sounds strange i know) and i think that around 9:00 is actually pretty flat sounding to my ears...

I dont think you can actually scoop that much since you cant cut...

The way i get rid of the woolyness that i get in some boomy rooms is to cut the bass a little and boost around 80hz with the parametric EQ to compensate...
 
#518
Jim;
try cutting para bass at about 50hz, and leave the shelving bass flat. I run "passive" mids at about 10 oclock, and have para eq set at about 400hz, but generally leave it alone.
I have para treble set at about 2khz, and boosted a tad, and shelving treble flat.
If you want "clear as a bell," this probably isn't your amp. But it fills a mix in a great, phat, warm, wonderful way.
I gave up on the Scout cabs long ago now; mostly cause they were worth the most when I got unemployed. I use pretty modern sounding LDS cabs with really aggressive horns now. Clarity is not an issue with this head, with the right cab.
 
#520
Chef said:
Jim;
Clarity is not an issue with this head, with the right cab.
Click to expand...

That's what I was hoping to hear!
Not looking for surgicaly clean tones (like my SWR or former Trace).
Great suggestions made me remember that:
* I've loved my SVT but have never gigged with it and this cabinet; always used the Berg 322 or a 2x15
* Bergie does sound much better at home in comparison but that would be expected
* Need to get my EV B-115M back just to try a gig with a an old (and free) 2-way small cab; seems like many WA owners are using the modern 15/6 cabinets with great success

Am I right to assume that other than minor EQ experiments, the cab is the next place to focus attention?
 
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