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In Memoriam
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Mesa Boogie Walkabout Part 6
- Thread starter BassyBill
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I always "assumed" the driver tube was the tone generator, but really, it's the entire circuit from input to spkr out- filled with magical tone dust. Whatever it is, it's still the best sounding bass amp my ears have ever heard.
All I can say is "WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Walkabout arrived....it's middle of the day and I'm working so cannot stop to play with new toy, but unpacked and plugged it in just to check it was working. Plugged into my Hartke 210XL just because it was the easiest cab to use in a test, even though the Hartke always sounds thin to me on its own.
And the sound was rich and full. All of a sudden it's a good enough cab to gig with alone.
Can't wait to experiment more with speakers on this thing. It's amazing
Walkabout arrived....it's middle of the day and I'm working so cannot stop to play with new toy, but unpacked and plugged it in just to check it was working. Plugged into my Hartke 210XL just because it was the easiest cab to use in a test, even though the Hartke always sounds thin to me on its own.
And the sound was rich and full. All of a sudden it's a good enough cab to gig with alone.
Can't wait to experiment more with speakers on this thing. It's amazing
Another good way to see the effect of the driver tube is to play the preamp out from the Walkabout into a different power amp and also try playing a totally clean preamp at different levels into the Walkabout's power amp. In my experience most of the "magic" really does come from the power section of the Walkabout. Plugging my old Carbine's pre into the Walkabout's power amp was a pretty magical mix that I think I preferred to either amp by itself (the Carbine pre also sounded crazy good plugged into the power sections of both my old Mesa 400+ and D-180 tube amps).
As far as clean headroom, it seems to me that there is a grittiness/dirt that the driver tube adds nearly all the time to different degrees in the midrange based on these experiments, but that it isn't really the same gnarly "saturated" tone that you get by pushing the preamp- it is a certain articulation that you don't get from just the preamp alone. "Pleasant distortion" if you will... It couldn't hurt to try some different tubes in just the driver position though- I know my two Walkabouts with different tubes in them had significantly different output levels. I think I actually chose the dirtier tube compliment of the two when I sold one because it sounded better for my uses!
fingerbun said:All I can say is "WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Walkabout arrived....it's middle of the day and I'm working so cannot stop to play with new toy, but unpacked and plugged it in just to check it was working. Plugged into my Hartke 210XL just because it was the easiest cab to use in a test, even though the Hartke always sounds thin to me on its own.
And the sound was rich and full. All of a sudden it's a good enough cab to gig with alone.
Can't wait to experiment more with speakers on this thing. It's amazing
Congrats FB! And welcome to the ever growing band of WA users. Fantastic ain't it?
I've not found a cab that it doesn't sound great into. Unlike some modern small 'tube' micro's that seem to only work nicely into certain cabs :-/
OK, that sort of answers my first question, but is the Preamp Out a new addition? Looking at the backs of these things on EBay & Here, I only see the DI & the FX Loop Out.
Next, have any of you ever used one through SWR 8 Ohm Workingman's cabs, particularly 2 X 10's?
At least on all the Mesa solid-state amps I'm aware of, FX Send= preamp out, FX Return= power amp in. This is not the case with all amps, but definitely with the Mesas. Oddly though, Mesa puts the FX Send AFTER the Master Volume, where most other amps I've used have the FX loop right before the Master...
I haven't, but I find that the Walkabout likes mid-friendly cabinets and I've always found the Workingman's series cabinets more mid-friendly than the Goliath series.
Just wanted to report that I have both an M6 and a Walkabout, but have been taking the WB out more often lately. Just had a benefit gig Thursday night in a big cube of a room with no sound absorbing surfaces in sight and exposed metal ductwork rattling with just crowd noise. It was destined to be an acoustical mess! Enter the Walkabout....Granted I had to go more extreme in my EQ settings (especially on the parametric section) than I normally ever would, but that control allowed me to really come up with a nice thick punchy tone that didn't end up reflecting all over the place. As much as I love my Carbine, I doubt it would have played nearly as nice with such a bad room. There may be times where I prefer my Carbine, but 90% of the time the WB just wins out. I love this thing!
I'm sporting a pair similar, Walkabout and M3 Carbine. Both @ 300 watts. The WA for bass guitar, Carbine for keyboard synths. Each perfect for it's purpose. Thank you Mesa Engineering.
Chef
In Memoriam
cajunrocker said:Here you go:
And maybe:
WOO!! HOO!!!
This is the set up I use regularly! Love it! I find the WA Scout 12" (8 ohm) & Berg AE112 works well together too.
I haven't I used the Scout 12"combo with the AE212, but have used the WA amp with the Berg AE212 & 112 together with great results.
How does the AE112/WA head stand up against the WA 12" combo?
(Ya gotta get yourself some black shoe polish for those leather corners on the scout cab.
)B.
I haven't used the WA much with just the AE112, but- imo, the WA cab/scout combo has a 'bigger' sound, not quite as focused or as 'sculptable' (if that's a/the word). Probably t the passive driver adds to the WA's sound here.
Definitely not as mid focused as the AE. I like both, but definitely favour the scout cab if going for a more 'vintage' sort of sound.
Definitely not as mid focused as the AE. I like both, but definitely favour the scout cab if going for a more 'vintage' sort of sound.
The passive radiator is a port. It tunes the box lower than you'd expect for its' size. The Scout 12 is the lowest tuned factory 12 I have heard (never heard Acmes or Barefaced cabs and NOT talking about fEarfuls either). This can be a good or bad thing, depending on taste. IMHO, the Scout is best at low to intermediate volumes, and needs some eq adjusting (=decreased real lows in the 40-60 Hz range) to sing near its' max volume. YMMV
I see. This pretty much confirms what I've found.
That's helpful re a adjusting the 40-60Hz at the cabs vol limits.
Thanks Lomo.
That's helpful re a adjusting the 40-60Hz at the cabs vol limits.
Thanks Lomo.
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