• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Mesa Boogie Walkabout Part 5!!!

Status
Not open for further replies.
#281
Former (two time)WA owner here..I want to reinforce the idea that both the WA and the Genz streamliner are VERY GOOD amps. I currently have the SL 900 and it is really amazing for it's size and cost. The tone is very tubey and it responds similar to a tube amp, though to be honest it is powerful enough and has so much headroom I have not really pushed it yet. WA users would prob like it though it does lack the midrange controls of the WA. Put a tonehammer in front of it and you can dial up even more tones.

Having said that I dearly hope Mesa puts out a product that competes with the SL for tone , power, size/shape and price. Right now , as far as I am aware, no such product exists in the Mesa bass line, though I love the WA...just not powerful enough for my needs.

Chef..if you know *anything*** about new potential Mesa prduct would you PM me?

thanks

Mark
 
#282
"Chef..if you know *anything*** about new potential Mesa prduct would you PM me?"

Me too; me too!

Those stoned hippies out west couldn't plan Christmas much less perform basic marketing functions like understanding what bass players want, designing/building, and intoducing at the right time :smug:
Then again, the WA is a home run, but they missed the mark with the rest of the mPulse series IMO.
Maybe a cash flow issue / ROI issue
Can't blame them though as even though they started out building bass amps I would guess that guitar amps make up over 75% of their gross sales today

OK, we can blame them if you are blown away by the WA :bassist:
 
#283
Lowbrow said:
I've gone all in on using my WA head. I run my Precision through a Boss LS-2 that I use to blend clean and BB Bass Preamp-affected signals, through a VT Bass and into the WA, which powers a pair of Bag End D15-S cabs. AWESOME, and very close to how I've always wanted to sound. VERY pleased.

One weird (to me) observation: doing some 'live' recording with the band using the WA DI. When came time for a few punch overdubs, realized that the WA DI is actually post MASTER volume! Now, the DI sounded great, but having the amp master volume in the DI path seemed odd.
Click to expand...
Yes. My understanding is that it is designed this way to get the flavour of the mosfet driver tube. There is a mod available from Mesa to get it changed to pre vol.
 
#284
As I await a replacement driver for my Avatar, I have a sinking feeling: what if the gank I was hearing only on the lowest, loudest notes was not a driver failing, but the head clipping? Like a twit I never retried the cab with another head:rollno:

Anyone here hear his WA clip? I have pushed my settings higher than they were on other occasions with no issue, but who knows.....
 
#285
Bump-anyone ever drive his WA into an ugly clip?





lomo said:
As I await a replacement driver for my Avatar, I have a sinking feeling: what if the gank I was hearing only on the lowest, loudest notes was not a driver failing, but the head clipping? Like a twit I never retried the cab with another head:rollno:

Anyone here hear his WA clip? I have pushed my settings higher than they were on other occasions with no issue, but who knows.....
Click to expand...
 
#288
Chef said:
I don't like overdrive, so "it's all ugly to me."
How the amp reacts to big gain settings can be a tube choice thing...
Click to expand...

+1. I have have the stock tubes in mine. Last night I was messing around with some different gain settings just to see what I could get before getting dirty with the NeoX 212 pairing.

I was at 2:00 o'clock before I noticed some fur. And, with the master volume around noon, it was hella loud. I was really impressed. Much louder and more articulate than my Scout stack. Granted, that was all she was going to give me, but it was quite a bit more than I would ever need in most of my gig situations. The exception might be if I was outside with a heavy hitting drummer.
 
#291
Sounds to me like a speaker bottoming out! I think your o.k. I ran my Walkabout to clipping briefly with my newly re speakered Traynor 610 cab. The amp clip wasn't pleasant sounding but it wasn't what I would describe as a Gank. It just sounded like typical silicone solid state distortion. Harsh.
 
#292
lomo said:
Bump-anyone ever drive his WA into an ugly clip?
Click to expand...

I've done it, and yeah... its ugly. Sounded like the woofer was dying and making horrible farting noises. It was my first time using my Walkabout Scout at band practice (had it running atop an Orange 1x15 at 2.67 ohms), and it would happen when I'd dig in...

Within a couple minutes of that first horrid clipping sound, I quickly realized it had nothing to do with the amp or cab, rather it was due to a recent setup I'd had performed on my Rickenbacker... the neck pickup was too high, and due to my heavy right hand pick technique I was hitting the strings against the polepieces. The sound itself was horrible, but it also sent a ridiculously hot signal into the head, causing it to clip. My first instinct was to switch to the active channel as a temporary fix, but I was still able to clip that side. Switching to the bridge pickup solo'd was the simplest fix, and then I took the bass back to my tech and haven't had an issue since.

The sound you're describing might very well be something similar.... my bandmates described the sound as "horrible speaker farting". It defintiely took a few minutes to figure out exactly what was going on. My old amp had a totally different input design (it's an Ashdown with the little VU meter and full control over the input level) so I had never really noticed the pickup problem, and just written it off as pick "gank" that came from digging in.

I hope you can get your issue sorted!
 
#293
lomo said:
As I await a replacement driver for my Avatar, I have a sinking feeling: what if the gank I was hearing only on the lowest, loudest notes was not a driver failing, but the head clipping? Like a twit I never retried the cab with another head:rollno:

Anyone here hear his WA clip? I have pushed my settings higher than they were on other occasions with no issue, but who knows.....
Click to expand...

Out of curiosity: what bass were you using and what were you doing when you had the noise? I could see an active pickup causing a signal spike if you were slapping or really digging in. That said, I wouldn't have expected that level of output from my single coil Rickenbacker pickup, but when the string touched the polepiece the output was explosive, so anything's possible.
 
#294
I was playing an '08 Fender Am J5, palm muting and thumb plucking the low notes on the B string. Soon I'll have my answer because 1)I'll have a replacement driver and 2)Eminence will test the 15LF that I returned. I'm pissed at myself for knee-jerking and not troubleshooting by trying another head:rollno:




ishouldbeking said:
Out of curiosity: what bass were you using and what were you doing when you had the noise? I could see an active pickup causing a signal spike if you were slapping or really digging in. That said, I wouldn't have expected that level of output from my single coil Rickenbacker pickup, but when the string touched the polepiece the output was explosive, so anything's possible.
Click to expand...
 
#296
seungkoo said:
Just bought a brand new walkabout from gc today. Is it suppose to come with a cover? I didn't get one nor the manual.
Click to expand...

The scout cabs come with a cover but the head does not I believe. A head gigbag w/ shoulder strap is available separately. A "Walkabout owner's manual" should be included with any walkabout purchase.
B.
EDIT: I bought an Apogee Duet interface recently that was missing the operator's manual & was told that they no longer printed them for customers & that a download was required. I phoned the company in California & managed to get them to mail me one. You MAY have to do the same, not sure. Let us know please.
B.
 
#297
seungkoo said:
Just bought a brand new walkabout from gc today. Is it suppose to come with a cover? I didn't get one nor the manual.
Click to expand...

Yeah, the scout combo comes with a padded cover and the scout extension cabs come with non-padded vinyl covers (or at least that's how it worked for me). The walkabout gig-bag was $25 when i bought it, but I think the price has gone up a few bucks. Yours should have come with a manual though.
 
#299
seungkoo said:
Just bought a brand new walkabout from gc today. Is it suppose to come with a cover? I didn't get one nor the manual.
Click to expand...

Congrats!

GC is notorious for omitting the stuff that you're supposed to get with new gear. When pressed, they ususally open a drawer (or file cabinet) loaded with case candy and manuals.

Looking at Mesa's website, the Walkabout head comes with the padded bag (while rack ears are an option to be purchased separately). With a Scout Combo, the cover is supposed to come with it. In all cases, they should give you a power cable and a clear plastic folder with the manual, warranty card, etc.

With instruments that come from the mfr with cases or gig bags, GC often weasels out of those because they discount the instrument based on its MSRP without a case. Since they don't (can't) discount Mesa gear, I wouldn't accept that excuse and insist that they provide all of the stuff that you're entitled to.

Good luck!!!
 
#300
Realize that most of you know about how the EQ changes as the gain knob is adjusted but thought it was worth bringing up again as I slept through this yestday.

Turned down the gain to about 11:00 to play with a cleaner tone and loose some sustian to make practice more challenging. Was frustrated that my normal EQ setting just didn't sound right and assumed I was having an off day. After about 30 minutes of straight up wood shedding, thought I'd have some fun and turn the gain up to have a little "wool".

Night and day difference in how the overall relationship of bass / mid / treble respond.
It's not just that the amount of each changes but rather the EQ points and the slope of the Q changes as well (at least IMO). A very interactive amp, but not in a frustrating way, once you remember this fact. The controls are very responsive at this gain setting even with small adjustments.

For me, best tone is between 12:00 & 1:00 with either a P or SR.
I love this amp and have decided that there is enough headroom for what I am currently doing; just sometimes need to bring a multi-driver cab instead of a 1x15.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back