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Mesa Boogie Walkabout Part 6

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#941
Jim C said:
No. I am staying with this 1 head. I can't get back on that rollercoaster; life's too short, and besides it sounds great,
This is light years ahead of carrying the SVT-CL.
I'm gonna stick with this WA and find a 50 lb, 2x12 (or something close) that sounds like a big Berg cabinet



(unless of course you really think I'm wrong about the above)
If only I could make my SVP / power amp rig sound more like the SVT or WA; neither the Berg or TL sound right with this rig :hmm:
Click to expand...

I totally hear you. For me, adequate headroom with the Walkabout entails a 50ish lb cab and something extra. The GB212 and another neox 12 on top (2.7 Ohms) was great, and the Scout 12 combo on the 15/6 is great. I haven't tried a superlight 4 Ohm 410........and I have no plans to ATM......that may change tomorrow:D
 
#942
Jim C said:
Can I assume that the Avatar Neo 2x12, while being a great deal, is not near the level of audio detail found in GK/GB?
Click to expand...

Here's my take:

1. My buddy with an Avatar 212 borrowed my 2 GK NEO 112's the other night. He sent me a text 15 min into rehearsal saying he's not bringing my GK's back.

2. I had a rehearsal for a reunion show. Plugged my WA into the Avatar 410 that was there at the drummer's rehearsal space. What surprised me was so little low end.

I don't mean to nitpick on Avatar but I don't think they are close to many of the cabs discussed in this thread.
 
#943
Jim C said:
Can I assume that the Avatar Neo 2x12, while being a great deal, is not near the level of audio detail found in GK/GB?
Click to expand...

I had some Avatar exp. this week.

1. My buddy w an Avatar 212 borrowed my pair of GK NEO 112's. He loved them and really wants to upgrade.

2. I played my WA head through an Avatar 410 just last night at a rehearsal. Plenty loud but really lacked low end punch imo. I thought my sound was thin, esp for a 410.
 
#944
NOLA Bass said:
I had some Avatar exp. this week.

1. My buddy w an Avatar 212 borrowed my pair of GK NEO 112's. He loved them and really wants to upgrade.

2. I played my WA head through an Avatar 410 just last night at a rehearsal. Plenty loud but really lacked low end punch imo. I thought my sound was thin, esp for a 410.
Click to expand...

I should point out by no means am I dogging Avatar. They appear to be a real value. I wish they'd been around when I got my first rig! I bought a brand new GK 800RB which only left me enough for a used Peavey 2-10 1-18 cab that weighed like an 810 and sounded like a thud. I just think you can't expect head to head performance with many of these more exp cabs. Part of evaluating my GK 112's is that they are half the cost of Bergs, Baer's, etc. i don't expect them to outperform a Berg head to head per se.

I guess my point is you'd certainly be able to get the job done with them. I could handle any of my gigs with that Avatar 4-10 and never have issues with volume, etc. The guy who owns it gigs every Fri/Sat and is quite happy with it.
 
#945
coyoteboy said:
This has likely been covered at least once in the megathreads, bu a search hasn't yielded much.

WA + EA Wizzy (10, 12, 12M)?

The wizzys are supposed to be pretty efficient. Good tonal match for doubling?
Click to expand...

I use 2 4ohm Wizzy 12Ms with my WA. If it's an upright gig or for many electric gigs, one has been plenty.
For loud blues stuff, I usually pack both, and there's more than enough volume. Really great cabs with the WA.
 
#946
Not sure if I should be posting this in the classifieds instead (if I should please let me know), but I was wondering if anyone would be interested in trading grills with me. I bought a used Walkabout 12" stack in wine Taurus with tan jute grills, but I think I'd prefer black ones.

WASrig.jpg
 
#947
Aladinsane1969 said:
Not sure if I should be posting this in the classifieds instead (if I should please let me know), but I was wondering if anyone would be interested in trading grills with me. I bought a used Walkabout 12" stack in wine Taurus with tan jute grills, but I think I'd prefer black ones.

WASrig.jpg
Click to expand...

They look great, but I agree blk grilles would be better. Strange they didn't come with tan corners and handle.....still look cool though IMO. You might also post this in the amps FS section
 
#948
Jazz4 said:
I finally got a chance to take some time and give my "new to me WA stack" a go yesterday. This mini stack rocks big time. It will handle any gig I'm going to do for sure. Tried a few tube options and was surprised how the WA reacts to different preamp tubes. The GT-ecc83 stayed clean the longest as I cranked the gain. Didn't like that. Ended up with a EH 12ax7 on the pre and a JJ driving the outputs. I've had a bunch of amps in the past 40 years. Acoustic, Fender. Traynor, Yorkville and Peavey. But this WA is way above them all. It makes my Fender MM4 come alive. First time I like the sound of it in the passive mode. I a/b'd the scout cab and the scout ext cab and the ext cab does seem to have a bit more bottom end to it. If I was going to use just one cab I'd use the ext cab with the head.
I'll get some pics up a bit later today.
Click to expand...

After reading Tom Bowlus' Blog (Bowlus Bass Blog: Preamp tubes in Mesa Walkabout), I decided to take his advice and just ordered a Telefunken ECC83 smooth plate and a JAN Philips 12AX7WA from Doug's Tubes--can't wait to get 'em, drop 'em in and see how they sound :D
 
#949
lomo said:
They look great, but I agree blk grilles would be better. Strange they didn't come with tan corners and handle.....still look cool though IMO. You might also post this in the amps FS section
Click to expand...

The guy I bought the rig from recovered the Scout cab and built the extension cab himself, which is why they don't have tan corners and handles. It seems like enough guys dig the tan grills that I might find someone who'd like to trade.
 
#950
report back on that, thanks.
be sure and test right before with your old tubes, and note where breakup starts on input gain,
and then repeat and note that difference.

plz and thx;)
 
#956
Nola,
Totaly agree with you about not trashing Avatar and was trying to get something for nothing; as you said the price of these cabs are so low. Sounds like GK is a good quality affordable option and a used AE Berg or other used high end cab would also be a good approach.
 
#957
For you tube rollers, I posted this a little over 1 year ago and the results have not changed for me. Thought it might be useful for any new WA owners that haven't spent 50 hours reading all the back posts!

Tried a bunch of preamp tubes today (left the stock Mesa driver tube in place)
Gain 11:00
Bass 12:00
Mid 11:00
Pulled a few dB of 50Hz.
Treble 12:00
Master 11:00 to 12:00 (depending on tube output)
1983 Stingray w/ slightly dead Sunbeams
Berg HT322

I could write pages of details; first impressions are based on about 2 hours of playing the same riff and changing tubes. Riff was a snappy I, IV, V that went from low E to high E. Amp is reasonably sensitive to tube brands.
As far as ranking, at the top end of the spectrum: they are all good; they sound slightly different, one could change their mind from day to day as to which is groovier; there were some that were decent but not the top group; there were a few that I just didn’t like.
I have a NOS JAN in the mail and a few cheapies that I haven’t gotten to (EH, Sovtek, Groove Tube, misc. no name brands from Japan and China

Overall tone goal was in search of a very clear but warm tone; no strident high freqs, and, a deep soundstage, very open and 3-dimensional; these are the characteristics that I like when an SVT is set to play cleanly.

Didn’t like these; just seemed very small and compressed
* GE (USA) – This was a surprise; maybe a bad tube as the output was lower; worked fine but didn’t sound great
* Phillips (USA) – Long plates – another huge surprise; was waiting for all the long plates to win; worked fine but not great tone
* Raytheon (Japan) – NOS - Nothing wrong but nothing great; too bad as I have a bunch of these

Decent tubes- sound good; wide frequency range, low noise, dynamic
* Stock Mesa tube – This is probably the least expensive tube I tested (this go round); sounds fine, no worries; ironic that the driver tube was slightly microphonic but had them both in for a while
* Westinghouse - (USA) – Didn’t think Westinghouse made tubes so this could be a re-brand; didn’t have high expectations but this tube sounded very good to me; go figure
* National - Long plates; I have been told that these tubes came from a variety of sources, were never that great, and are inconsistent in tone and reliability; then again this batch came from 25 years ago when my pal Cesar Diaz was putting them in repairs and his own amps; at any rate these sounded very good in this amp; can’t comment on the reliability though

Top 3
* Telefunken (branded Dynaco) – Long Plates - like the cabinet gained an additional speaker; sounded the most 3D; even the thin G string from the SR was minimized; did everything right, tight, full, bottom, the least mud in the middle; clean, bright (yet warm) high end; became the reference standard and consistently sounded good during A/B comparisons; probably cures cancer; never tried one before but have read that grown men would trade their teenage daughters for NOS examples; now I get it.
* Mullard (marked Eico) – Have used these before and had a pretty good idea that it would be in or near the winner’s circle; sounds like the above only not quite as much; could never tell them apart blindly but I think I could tell the two apart in an A/B test; great stuff
* Holland – that’s all that is readable – assume it is an Amperex – Long Plates - didn’t put this in the top group at first but the second time through it sounded great; could be that I didn’t give it enough warm up time

Hope this helps anybody thinking about tube rolling these amps.
Would be very interested in hearing any thoughts on the above whether you agree or not.
 
#958

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#959
#960
Been on the market for a new amp and have spent a fair amount of time this week going from store to store and I think I'm settled on the Walkabout. Tested it at GC with a Jazz bass right off the wall and it sounded amazing in every sense of the word - I now see what the buzz is all about.

I've been digging back through these threads researching potential cabinet options. Will likely by the head first and carry it around to stores again trying with a wide variety of cabs. But wanted to get your opinion on a couple of points:

1. I own a Bergantino NV412 cab today and really like it. Seems silly in a way to have such a small head atop a big cabinet like this. And I wonder if the WA has the power to really get this cab going. Any thoughts\impressions on how this head interacts with the NV series cabinets?

2. I generally like the Ampeg tone, but think the WA sounds better than any Ampeg head I've tried (except the SVTVR). I'm thinking about trying it with the Portaflex and\or AV series cabinets. I was really excited about the new Pro-NEO series Ampegs until I learned they were 8 ohm only (which seems dumb to me, but what do I know?). I thought the Ampeg color might blend well with the clarity and "tubey" nature of the WA really well. Any opinions on this?

3. I tried the WA into a Mesa 410 cab and it sounded absolutely massive - almost as if a "deep" switch was engaged. It was a bit of a dark combination, but I think the nickel strings on my Sadowsky were really dead - my hope is that a fresh set (maybe of SS) would bring back the lively midrange character I loved when I initially tried the amp. Had to be really careful with adding bass as it seemed perhaps that it would be too bloomy\bassy if I wasn't careful. It was also a bit more modern than the tone I'm used to, but maybe that's okay - that rig was addicting for sure. Any thoughts on this particular combination?

4. Finally, I'm open to other suggestions. My band is playing mainly country\rock\blues and I kind of have been going for a vintage tone with modern clarity\punch\depth. Our band doesn't get stupid loud (I've been doing rehearsals with a Fender 100W SS Combo and don't get it past 4 in terms of volume), but don't want to get caught short on a gig. I loved the bigger tone\presence from the larger box as well. Hope this is clear enough.

Thanks for any\all replies - appreciate the help!
 
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