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Mesa Boogie Walkabout Part 5!!!

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#521
I'm not concerned about dust getting in there over time.
The 10 year old QSC power amps I pulled out of a nightclub that basically ran 24/7 for 12 years were packed full of hair and dust still ran fine.
but..."eeewwwwwww!!!"

What, potentially, is of more concern is the new top chassis cover for the amp.
It's all ventilation slots, which is fine and helpful in the headcase.
But the minute you take the amp out of the headcase and put it in the Scout combo, the back cover...well...covers them all, resting directly on them.

Now, this is certainly no worse than all the other Scouts I've had, and I had no issues with them, even running them hard at 2 ohms.
But, "an improvement ought to be an improvement," ya know?

All this aside:
my 57P reissue with flats is genius thru it.
my sadowsky mv5 is genius thru it.
 
#522
I saw somewhere in one of the club threads i think that someone fasioned brackets from avaiable stuff at lowes or home depot that held the amp in place but opened up the cover vents.
 
#526
How do these sound compared to say a Titan or Bass 400/+? I've owned both but never used them for their dirty sounds. I just ran them hot enough to get a little tube warmth out of the preamp but still have an overall clean sound. I'm convincing myself that this is my ideal amp right now since I don't have any need for a rig of doom any more. I love my GK for being light but it's still a little too sterile for my tastes.

Trying to convince my church to replace our crap SWR workingman combo with one of these ;).

How's the DI on these? Anyone record with it? Or would I still be better-served getting a Countryman or a Radial?
 
#529
Chef said:
...took the opportunity to pull my Blackfaced head out of the headcase, pull the cover, put some JJ long plate ECC83S in and vacuum out the small amount of dust blown in by the fan, and install a newer, more ventilated top cover on....all the additional vents were immediately covered by mounting it in the Scout, and installing the back cover/plate. The additional venting would make a big diff in the headcase.
Click to expand...

oooOOOOOooooohhhHhhhh. JJ long plates! Can you speak to any differences in tone you heard with the new tubes?

How did you get a new cover? Will Mesa sell just a new version cover? How much?
 
#530
I think Mesa will sell you a current new highly vented cover, yes.

Th JJ long plates seem to stay clean a little longer.
That's a bonus for me, as I just don't like overdrive.

A 900 watt version would stay clean longer:)
Where's my 900 watt Walkabout already!!!!!
 
#531
Chef said:
I think Mesa will sell you a current new highly vented cover, yes.

Th JJ long plates seem to stay clean a little longer.
That's a bonus for me, as I just don't like overdrive.

A 900 watt version would stay clean longer:)
Where's my 900 watt Walkabout already!!!!!
Click to expand...

Hey Chef-Just wondering if you have ever considered how nice it would be to have a 900watt Walkabout??:D

For the record Im second in line for one if it ever happens.
 
#532
I could live with 600 watts, if they were M6 watts.
Truthfully, I moved from M6 to M9 for the graphic eq and compressor; I've never approached using even half the power on tap with either.

My "rationale" for the 900 watt Walkabout is based purely on it's hypothetical ability to stay cleaner, longer.
 
#533
Hey Chef, I apologize if I missed it earlier, but when you use the JJ long plates, do you have them in both V1 & V2? I know there are a lot of discussions on tube rolling the WB, but just was wondering your take. I don't mind a little bit of distortion, but I'm closer in my tone goal with what you're talking about.
 
#534
Chef said:
I could live with 600 watts, if they were M6 watts.
Truthfully, I moved from M6 to M9 for the graphic eq and compressor; I've never approached using even half the power on tap with either.

My "rationale" for the 900 watt Walkabout is based purely on it's hypothetical ability to stay cleaner, longer.
Click to expand...

Yeah me too really.I almost bought the M6.For me it was worth the extra money for the GEQ and I like the compressor,though I dial it in very low.
 
#535
Yessir, both slots.
I've heard the tung-sol reissues hold together well, but I had the JJ's on hand, so...in they went.

JEDBass said:
Hey Chef, I apologize if I missed it earlier, but when you use the JJ long plates, do you have them in both V1 & V2? I know there are a lot of discussions on tube rolling the WB, but just was wondering your take. I don't mind a little bit of distortion, but I'm closer in my tone goal with what you're talking about.
Click to expand...
 
#536
Chef said:
I could live with 600 watts, if they were M6 watts.
Truthfully, I moved from M6 to M9 for the graphic eq and compressor; I've never approached using even half the power on tap with either.

My "rationale" for the 900 watt Walkabout is based purely on it's hypothetical ability to stay cleaner, longer.
Click to expand...

bassjam said:
Yeah me too really.I almost bought the M6.For me it was worth the extra money for the GEQ and I like the compressor,though I dial it in very low.
Click to expand...


Guys! I think 900 watts would be bliss. The Walkabout already puts out near 500 watts at 2 Ohm. What's the extra 100 watts going to get you in db?

I'll take a class D power supply and a 900 watt at 2 ohm output section for my Walkabout in a second. No thought required, just a credit card swipe and deal with the consequences later!!!
 
#537
NO class D smps stuff, please.
IME, "it just doesn't hit as hard as the M9," even the good ones that I like..at least, not to date.
And really, the M9 isn't a heavy amp. I can readily one hand it in it's skb 2 space rack, even with all the cables in it.
I want a real transformer; and I don't care if The Hypothetical Walkabout 9 comes in a bigger, "normal" chassis size ala M6/9.

Yes, the WA puts out 500-ish at 2 ohms, but I think 600 at 4 ohms, limited to 900 at 2 ohms ala M9 would be my pref. I like having the 2 ohm option, in a new design I'd prefer max power be available at 4 (and 2) ohms.
 
#538
JEDBass said:
Hey Chef, I apologize if I missed it earlier, but when you use the JJ long plates, do you have them in both V1 & V2? I know there are a lot of discussions on tube rolling the WB, but just was wondering your take. I don't mind a little bit of distortion, but I'm closer in my tone goal with what you're talking about.
Click to expand...

I spent a lot of time tube rolloing and somewhere in this thread is a mini review. The driver tube makes a difference in tone but the greater difference is the V1 slot IMO.
Still, for the money change both. The best tone for me was used Telefunkens followed by Amperex (about $40 each on the used market). By chance they were both long plates alhtough not sure that this made the big difference. Ironicaly I had some NOS, cheap National tubes that were long plate that also sounded decent. The short plate Mullards sounded great as well so would not make a decision based on plate size. There are hundreds of people that will agee and disagree on this point. One thing I do know, the old European tubes (assuming they test well) sound the best in most MI and audio amps IMO/IME.

Am with Chef in that some (amybe alot) of the magic of the WA may very well be do to the convetional power amp and the way it is driven via the driver tube. Same exact amp with more power trasnisitors is my vote as well. 600 watts would be great; 900 watts would satisfy even the biggest stages.
 
#539
Whew, I haven't posted in here in awhile, seems like! Kinda dropped off TB for the last month while I was dealing with some medical stuff, but I wanted to post my band's third and final EP, all of the bass parts being played through my Walkabout. :bassist:

This might be my favorite batch song-wise... Whereas a lot of the earlier stuff was done through the DI (which gives some of the best bass tones ever), this session was mic'd with some crazy tube condenser, and I played at low volume. All tracks were played on my custom Precision relic, with rounds and a pick. I'm actually really happy with the way everything sounds in the mix, though I miss some of the massive 'whomp' we were getting through the DI. Our Neil Young cover has the bass mixed down a bit but I think it suits the song. Next step, we'll be pressing all of these EP tracks onto vinyl... can't wait!

Anyway:check it out at your leisure, and stream or download for free!

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
 
#540
MuthaFunk said:
I'll take a class D power supply
Click to expand...
I'm no engineer, but I'd be concerned if Mesa tried to make it into a class D. Nothing inherently wrong with class D, I just don't want them messing with the formula that produces this tone. If a 900-watt Walkabout weighed 20 lbs. and sounded exactly the same as the current one, I'd be fine with that.
 
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