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Mesa Boogie Walkabout Part 5!!!

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#561
sunbeast said:
I've noticed a noteable difference in the tone between some of the different tubes that Mesa has put in them stock (I had two identical WAs at the same time, one with Mesa Russian tubes and one with Mesa Chinese tubes), but the amps themselves sounded identical to each other to me when I tried switching the tubes between them. One difference that was recently noticed is that they changed the EQ sweep of the knobs for the parametric EQ for a short time for some reason (both of mine were from the period in the middle with the different sweep). But when set flat they should probably sound pretty much the same...
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Thanks-that what I was hoping.I don't need another amp but....I took a test drive a few weeks ago and thought it sounded awesome!
 
#562
bassjam said:
Thanks-that what I was hoping.I don't need another amp but....I took a test drive a few weeks ago and thought it sounded awesome!
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Whereas I call the M9 my private dragon , the Walkabout is Fonseca, because vintage port (my other obsession:p) by that producer is classically called the "iron fist in a velvet glove".
It's a small package full of perfect tone: a velvet hammer IMHO. The only drawback is the fan noise, which you can hate, learn to ignore, or fix with a fan swap. I just reunited my 4 Ohm Thunderchild 12 with a Walkabout. The tone is so sweet it makes me gas for a 2nd TC12 to gig with under the Walkabout.
 
#563
lomo said:
Whereas I call the M9 my private dragon , the Walkabout is Fonseca, because vintage port (my other obsession:p) by that producer is classically called the "iron fist in a velvet glove".
It's a small package full of perfect tone: a velvet hammer IMHO. The only drawback is the fan noise, which you can hate, learn to ignore, or fix with a fan swap. I just reunited my 4 Ohm Thunderchild 12 with a Walkabout. The tone is so sweet it makes me gas for a 2nd TC12 to gig with under the Walkabout.
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You arent helping!:p

I would agree on the tone-I had about 30minutes with it and REALLY liked it.I also tried it in the WA combo.Very impressive.

The fan-I have a feeling Id swap it out.I aint askared!The ONLY reservation I have is the power.I know,I know-should be plenty for most gigs,but Im spoiled by the M9 now.

I have a pair of Jack 12's on the way-the Walkabout may just match up well.
 
#564
If I ever needed proof that not all Mesas sound alike, boy did I get it this past weekend at a gig. Played the Hotel Cafe in Hollywood, and the promoter requested the rhythm section use backline. No prob. Tech rider said they had a Trace Elliott 115 combo, figured it would sound like crap, but I've got a VT Bass pedal for just such an occasion.

Wellll... we show up and it turns out the Trace is long gone and they've got an M6 Carbine combo in its place. :hmm: From past experiences at the Mesa Boogie store I recall this thing being the opposite of my taste in tone, and sure 'nuff... :rollno:

I know lots of you guys love these, and I can maybe imagine why. The low end is RIDICULOUS. The sound guy warned me in advance: "It's a decent little rig, but sometimes it gets a bit, uh, boomy." I noticed the marked off settings had most knobs running flat, with the bass rolled off to around 9:00. Gave my bass a whack and holy crap if it still wasn't a clap of muddy thunder: like a low end explosion with a really gnarly upper-mid bright thing going on. I spent a couple minutes slowly turning knobs on the rig and my preamp pedal, and my singer comes over and cracks the joke: "that amp just turned your P-bass into an Ibanez". I'm a pick player so the attack is crucial to my tone, but the top end was just... not to my taste at all. My ultimate solution was just to roll off most of my treble on my bass. Not really my sound either, but at least it was usable. How do you guys tame these things?

I know this is a digression from the megathread, but to bring it back home: at the end of that gig I was REALLY missing my Walkabout. :D
 
#565
The M6/9 are very different from the Walkabout.
I use them differently. No need to tame it.

It's not quite "P bass with Walkabout, and J bass with M9," but it's not far from that, for me.
I might like a brighter edgier tone that you though, and, I'm not a pick guy.
 
#566
The one (huge) upside was that we got a lot of great feedback from the audience, other bands, and the sound guy on how perfect the overall sound/mix was. Nothing wrong with sittin' in the mix! It was really just a difference in the type of aggressive pick tone... on the M6 it felt completely uncompressed, very in your face, and with my playing style it was pretty harsh. I think I'm just used to the tube grit, grind, and compression I get from my Walkabout and my past rigs, where I can still dig in a bit and keep that aggression musical to my ears. But damn if that low end wasn't ridiculously powerful on the M6... I'd probably have a lot of fun with that amp if I had time to tool around with it, instead of a 5 minute line-check.
 
#567
That all sounds about right;)
Pick playing will of course really be brought to the forefront with an map as fast, clear and aggressive as the M6/9; but since I play fingerstyle, we're not "fighting the same fight."
Since it wasn't your amp, you might not "have a repeat fight" like that. You might try packing a felt pick for situations like that if you're not comfortable fingerstylin' for a set.
 
#568
I've tried the felt pick thing, in my experience I'm better off just rolling the tone way down if the attack is too harsh. I do play fingerstyle a little bit, but usually for specific sections of songs (actually I'm more apt to pluck with the pad of my thumb). Sadly I'm just much, much better playing with a pick. I'm like that guitarist who needs a nice cranked Marshall to do his thing... not the most versatile in the world, but I can do what I do all right.
 
#570
I also found the low-end to be pretty overpowering with my Carbine. Voice 4 got me closest to my tonal "arena" when I also cut the bass back quite a bit- gave more of a low-mid center to the tone that helped balance that heavy high-mid attack. I still ended up choosing the Walkabout most times though when I still had the M6- probably because I was coming out of a long stretch of only playing tube rigs! I also could never quite attenuate the deep lows with the EQ to my liking without carving too much out of the low-mids...
 
#572
The Carbine series can be bright with all controls set in the middle but the clarity and obscene headroom of these amps becomes addictive. I run my M9 with the treble turned down to 9 oclock, everything else set about flat and alternate between voice settings 3 and 4 depending on the bass and cabinet I'm using. With my Stingrays, its pretty much my "Holy Grail" tone. But my Walkabout is not going anywhere either! :)
 
#573
Chef said:
That's where the GEQ on the M9 really works. Trim those one or two lower bands, and you're good.

or: Walkabout!...;)
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I have to admit I was a little pissed when they released the M9 so soon after I had bought my M6 new- I probably would have waited for the M9, and would probably still have it honestly. The higher power, more extensive EQ, AND compressor in nearly the same size/weight package would have made it much harder to let go.
 
#574
I bet with the flexibility of the GEQ some fantastic tones can be had from that amp. Of all the amps I've played, this one felt like it was bursting with power more than any other. I used to feel that way about my old GK 2001RB, but the M6 was something else entirely.
 
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