I’ve got a Mesa Boogie WD800, every time I use it I wonder how do they get such a full tube sound with just one preamp tube. I’ve had the Prodigy and Strategy heads in the past along with the Walkabout Combo. To my ears the WD800 sounds just as much like a full tube head as my Traynor YBA100 all tube head. Makes me wonder if I need the YBA100 (which also sounds very good) other than just for the desire of having an all tube head. Must be some magic going on under the chassis. Just incredible.
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Mesa Boogie WD800, How Do They Do It
- Thread starter MattF007
- Start date
I like the tube amp sounds and in my 4 decades of playing bass and nearly as long playing guitar too, I absolutely can’t tell if a power section is tube or iron unless it is absolutely dimed. Not saying there is no difference. Saying as a total gear snob I can tell when tubes are in my preamp but not in my power side unless the room is quaking at loud gig volume.
- Feb 12, 2006
- 60,951
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- 220,594
- Disclosures
- Development Engineer-Mesa Boogie, Development Engineer-Genzler (pedals), Product Support-Genz Benz
It's "magic" combined with a lot of science.
I sold off a bunch of gear to get my WD800 and have no regrets. It’s by far my favorite head and sounds like a monster coupled with a pair of the subway 1x15s. It responds so nicely when I dig in at volume.
One thing I must admit is I don’t fully understand the parametric mids section. I’ve swept the knobs and found some really great settings but I wish I understood it better. I’d also love to see some more sample settings from other users.
One thing I must admit is I don’t fully understand the parametric mids section. I’ve swept the knobs and found some really great settings but I wish I understood it better. I’d also love to see some more sample settings from other users.
Dare I ask how Mesa does that with only 1 preamp tube. I’ve had other amps that run one preamp tube but don’t recall any sounding as tube sounding as the WD800. The WD800 checks a lot of boxes with the all tube sound and active eq (passive mid control). I think most all tube amps are passive bass/mid/treble eq’s.
- Feb 12, 2006
- 60,951
- 5
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- Development Engineer-Mesa Boogie, Development Engineer-Genzler (pedals), Product Support-Genz Benz
Re-read the manual, it explains how it works. One trick is to boost a mid band LEVEL and sweep the frequency until you hear what you don't like, then reduce the level (cut)to a little below flat (12:00) to remove it. A little bit of cut (or boost) goes a long way.
It's done by exploiting specific parameters that provide the characteristics necessary to achieve the tone/texture goals. Since I was emulating the basic tone/feel of the Walkabout, that was my baseline. Then I adjusted thing within the entire circuit to adapt the WD to what players wished the Walkabout could have been had the technology been available at the time. There was a big TB thread where we discussed the trade-offs, and ultimately I am very happy where we ended up.
Thanks for the reply and I’m going to give that a try. I was kind of doing the inverse of that method and was boosting the frequencies I liked in order to get a little more dub flavor in the low end.
The tubey sound of this head makes me giddy with joy. Thanks Andy and co for the magic!
- Feb 12, 2006
- 60,951
- 5
- 220,594
- Disclosures
- Development Engineer-Mesa Boogie, Development Engineer-Genzler (pedals), Product Support-Genz Benz
One thing that might be helpful for the dub tone would be to raise the HPF to about 45hz, then boost the bass eq to about 2:00-3:00 position.
What speakers are you using? If that's the limiting factor, we want to be careful not to damage them.
What speakers are you using? If that's the limiting factor, we want to be careful not to damage them.
Nice. Can’t wait to try these tips. I’m using a pair of Subway 15s (more voodoo magic).
Made a lot of other people happy, too!
- Feb 12, 2006
- 60,951
- 5
- 220,594
- Disclosures
- Development Engineer-Mesa Boogie, Development Engineer-Genzler (pedals), Product Support-Genz Benz
You are good speaker-wise.
The WD-800 is a killer head = so many outstanding, useable voices with a fabulous set of controls, including the previously discussed EQ. I especially love the power amp damping control.
I’ve owned the D-800, WD-800, and Prodigy. I’d still say the prodigy was my favorite. I currently have the WD-800 and it sounds very good, although I think I would prefer something with less knobs. I do like the built in HPF and power amp dampening though.
This amp is a dream come true for me i came from playing a Ampeg svt4 pro and Eden navigator pre so this has been kind of like a best of both worlds approach it gets alot of the svt grit and growl but the super punchy hifi clean tones of the Eden and the amazing eq
I’ve been using the wd800 and subway 212 since 2021. I’ve also got the 115 and d800. Both amps are great but I do prefer the wd800. With the 212 it’s just perfect.
I’m using my WD800 with a Bergantino NVT212T which is a sealed 2x12. Sounds really really good to my ears, a very tight clean sound. I’m only using this at home right now. Does swapping out the preamp tube with say a NOS 12AT7 tube change much? Never have tube swapped before and not in a hurry to try, just wondering if it’s a thing with an amp with one preamp tube.
- Feb 12, 2006
- 60,951
- 5
- 220,594
- Disclosures
- Development Engineer-Mesa Boogie, Development Engineer-Genzler (pedals), Product Support-Genz Benz
Yes there might be a small change, but I recommend leaving things alone to avoid creating new problems.
It can make a noticeable difference, depending on what your goal is and the environment you'll be playing.
I tube rolled the Subway side of my TT800 when I first got it. Tried several different tubes to try and solve a problem I was having in the treble when playing my 8 string. It turned out there was an issue with the onboard preamp of the bass, so I swapped that out and ran through all the tubes again. I ended up with a NOS RCA in V1 and a Mullard in V3. I left the Mesa tube in V2 for the Boogie channel. But if the onboard preamp had never had the issue I never would have taken on the tube swapping.
PM me if want me to send you recordings of the two setups so you can judge for yourself if it was worth it.
Really loving mine. Wasn’t so sure at first, but that was on me for not really understanding the parametric EQ section (I had never used parametric EQ before).
Stellar amp for sure.
Stellar amp for sure.
I played a used one of these for like 5 minutes at my local GC this past Saturday. First time ever playing through one after reading all the hype the last almost decade lol. I haven't owned anything Mesa in about 15 years. I stupidly walked away without buying it on Saturday. I went back to get it on Sunday and it was already gone. I WILL have one of these. I just used a Squier P that I took off the wall and it was hooked up to a Fender Rumble 115. It sounded so damn good. It's all I have been thinking about for 48 hours. There are a couple used ones on their website, but I'm gonna try and hold out until someone has one for sale in the classifieds here.
