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Mesa Boogie Walkabout Mega-thread part Four!

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You would know better Vic, but didn't the initial MB product launches have huge relaiability issues (both amps and cabinets)?
I don't know about any cabs having problems, but yeah, the first versions of the MB2​500 had some issues, but that's LONG past at this point. I was just saying it's irrelevant because it doesn't apply to the product being discussed (MB Fusion).
 
I own a Mesa Walkabout amp (and have owned it for several years and countless gigs) I've never found any other amp that sounds like the Walkabout. ...a sound I love. I too wish it had 500W@4 ohms ...then it would be damn near perfect. But for what it is, and the gigs I kept it for, it is a wonderful, classic sounding bass amp.

My only other issue is the damn fan in the amp is stupid loud. If you want to mic the Walkabout Scout cab for recording, you need to isolate the head from the room where the mic is. That fan is annoying.
 
I own a Mesa Walkabout amp (and have owned it for several years and countless gigs) I've never found any other amp that sounds like the Walkabout. ...a sound I love. I too wish it had 500W@4 ohms ...then it would be damn near perfect. But for what it is, and the gigs I kept it for, it is a wonderful, classic sounding bass amp.

My only other issue is the damn fan in the amp is stupid loud. If you want to mic the Walkabout Scout cab for recording, you need to isolate the head from the room where the mic is. That fan is annoying.
The Mpulse600 is certainly not a Walkabout, but IMO, it's pretty close. Gives you 600W into 4 ohms. About twice again as big too, but I just can't seem to sell it, it sounds so darn good.
 
My only other issue is the damn fan in the amp is stupid loud. If you want to mic the Walkabout Scout cab for recording, you need to isolate the head from the room where the mic is. That fan is annoying.
LOTS of information out there about swapping the fan for quieter ones, and even ones that can be turned off and on if you know you're not gonna' be pushing the amp hard. Really easy to do, as well. There's absolutely no reason you have to put up with it at all. VERY solve-able.
 
The MP600 won't do 2 ohms, if that matters to you.
And to my ear, they were different enough I didn't keep the MP600.

The walkabout could totally use more power, and I want a bigger one;)
But, with a big, efficient 4 ohm cab like my Hnenry 8x8 or Epil UL410, it's enough for big jobs unless your band is just Stoopid Loud. You may have to push it "into dirtier than your prefer " to get there though...that's my lone qualm.

I want more clean headroom;)
 
The MP600 won't do 2 ohms, if that matters to you.
And to my ear, they were different enough I didn't keep the MP600.

The walkabout could totally use more power, and I want a bigger one;)
But, with a big, efficient 4 ohm cab like my Hnenry 8x8 or Epil UL410, it's enough for big jobs unless your band is just Stoopid Loud. You may have to push it "into dirtier than your prefer " to get there though...that's my lone qualm.

I want more clean headroom;)

Agreed. As I posted recently, the Walkabout with my Bergantino AE410 is stunning sounding!
 
Agreed that it is fair to bring up the GB / GK similarities regarding 3 pre-amp tubes coupled to class D power but don't recall the GK threads promoting the big tube tone / sag thing vs. what is being said about the SL.

GK decided to pursue a tube preamp design that is more harmonically rich, but still very clear. Set "flat" it reminds me of some of the tube-based home audio gear I have heard. You can fatten it up a bit, though. From what I heard at NAMM, Genz-Benz is going for a more warm/round/vintage tone. It's not all mud, though, and you can dial in some fairly clear tones. Both heads allow for a very overdriven tone, but both sound like "preamp tube overdrive" (which, of course, they are).

You would know better Vic, but didn't the initial MB product launches have huge relaiability issues (both amps and cabinets)?

All of the issues with the MB2​-500 related to the integration of the B&O output section. These issues were (to best of my knowledge) resolved prior to the marketplace introduction of the MB Fusion. I have not heard of many issues with MB Fusions, so this makes sense.
 
Mine went into thermal shutdown every time I tried that.
So, the manual may say different, but my experiences were different than the manual indicated.
 
Mine went into thermal shutdown every time I tried that.
So, the manual may say different, but my experiences were different than the manual indicated.

I used to stack my Mesa Walkabout Scout combo on top of a Bergantino 8 Ohm 112EX cab. I believe the Scout is a 4 ohm cab. If so, that presented a lower impedance than 4 ohms. (2.67ohms?) It never failed after gigging that way for at least couple years, twice a week if not more.
 
The MP600 won't do 2 ohms, if that matters to you.
And to my ear, they were different enough I didn't keep the MP600.

The walkabout could totally use more power, and I want a bigger one;)
But, with a big, efficient 4 ohm cab like my Hnenry 8x8 or Epil UL410, it's enough for big jobs unless your band is just Stoopid Loud. You may have to push it "into dirtier than your prefer " to get there though...that's my lone qualm.

I want more clean headroom;)


I couldn't say it better!! if only.....it really bums me out! I love the tone but it just compresses too much for me...:hmm:
 
I haven't posted since pt. 3 but...

I've had the head out of my cab for several months, using the head for a church gig that I have. My cab has always sat at my house with the cover on, pretty much totally undisturbed. I just moved a few weeks ago and brought my head home and stuck it in the cab. I've been busy and out of town since we moved and since we're snowed in today, I finally got some time to sit down and play. I hook everything up, power up the head, turn my volume up and- nothing. No sound. Lights are on, tubes seem to be glowing (?) but no sound. I swapped the 1/4" in to the cab, used a "jumper" over the effects loop, flipped the bypass/FX switch, nothing. I don't have another cab to test so I ran a cable from the effects send to my tuner and got signal to the tuner.

Get this though- I hooked the input of my tuner up (while there was power to the tuner) to the 1/4" jack that leaves the cab that goes into the head and got that slight pop/static that you get when you pull a cable out of a bass while it's plugged in.

What next? Take it to a local Mesa shop? What totally obvious solution am I missing here? I'm just kinda stumped.
 
I have a small peavey practice combo... I guess it wouldn't really hurt to run another instrument cable from the speaker out on the mesa to the input on the combo for just a few seconds, right? The bass plays just fine through the combo w/ the same cable. Is that what you meant by trying a dif cable or did you mean the cable from inside the mesa cab that goes into the head?
 
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