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Mesa Boogie WD800
- Thread starter Rnr..........4
- Start date
I am lucky enough to be a finance guy whose wife hates finance. Few non-sensed words like “I am buying A at X euros as a special version (boring details added) whose value will increase of at least 27% in 2,5 years, financing the purchase with the sale of my B and C (sale in course, other detailed added if not cooked already) for Z euros as their value already increased by 12% in 1 year”…always works! (usually even before I pronounce the first percentage).My strategy is “it’s easier to gain forgiveness than consent “
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Or something like this (going to substitute the head in a few days) if you have more electronics worth a flight case
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I don’t want to talk about the main functions, as I believe they all have been discussed thoroughly, and secondly, I have to learn this head first, especially how its parametric, passive mid, and damping interact with each other to create very different tones. But I feel the need to emphasize how this head can help all of us playing at home in non-dedicated rooms (in other words, to avoid a divorce). Well, in my case, when I need to play hard to prepare for some gigs, the living room becomes my temporary rehearsal room. Let's say for a couple of weeks, maybe 3 (is 1 week more really that important?). This is not very welcome by my beloved (let's keep this polite). So today I connected the head aux out to my iPhone through a standard 3.5 mm cable (with a 6.5 mm adapter on the head output side and a 3.5 mm to Lightning adapter on the iPhone side) and my headphones to the head headphones out. And wow, the bass in the headphones is the best I've experienced till now (in years I tried with an old Vox Amplug AC30, horrible; then with my headphones themselves, which can be connected directly to the bass, less horrible but still horrible; then through my Boss ME-90B, again poor stuff). The WD-800 in headphones sounds great, like you are playing through a cab. He! I know there’s a Mesa cab simulation circuit in there… Just want to say, “Great job!” I noticed that mostly the Master pot pilots the Aux and in minor way the bass volume too, while the input gain controls the bass input but doesn’t affect the Aux volume. BTW, I could mix the track and my bass perfectly, with a (finally) great bass sound into my headphones. Now finally the wife will stop trying to learn my hard-earned bass lines for free, and if the complaints turn to the non-architectonic grace of my rig (pretty aggressive, I have to admit) in her living room, a corner in a toilet where to accommodate this head would be enough to avoid having to accommodate myself in a car forever.
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- Feb 12, 2006
- 60,957
- 5
- 220,613
- Disclosures
- Development Engineer-Mesa Boogie, Development Engineer-Genzler (pedals), Product Support-Genz Benz
Only the master volume control affects the aux input. You can balance the aux volume with the control on the iPhone.
I play electric and upright bass. Most of my upright gigs are acoustic and unamplified but occasionally I play a venue where an amp is needed. I recently acquired a GK NEO IV 112 cabinet. I wanted a cab smaller and lighter than the SW115’s and I found a great deal on the GK cabinet. It sounds quite a lot like the SW 115 but does have a bit more in the mids. It pairs wonderfully with my D-350 and I played a low volume Country gig with that rig and my old Peavey passive P/J 4 bass and that rig sounded heavenly.
Last night I used the GK 112/D-350 with my upright in a large room. The house system was connected via the DI in the D-350. The tone was simply perfect for me. It sounded exactly like the unamplified bass.
Please don’t be offended that I am discussing a GK cabinet in the Mesa Subway forum. I really tried to love the Subway 112 (I have owned 2 of them) but they are voiced for other players who want mid forward voicing in a 112. The SW 112 is simply not for me.
My D800+ gets most of the play time but the D-350 is a fantastic head that works very well for me.
Last night I used the GK 112/D-350 with my upright in a large room. The house system was connected via the DI in the D-350. The tone was simply perfect for me. It sounded exactly like the unamplified bass.
Please don’t be offended that I am discussing a GK cabinet in the Mesa Subway forum. I really tried to love the Subway 112 (I have owned 2 of them) but they are voiced for other players who want mid forward voicing in a 112. The SW 112 is simply not for me.
My D800+ gets most of the play time but the D-350 is a fantastic head that works very well for me.
That's what it's all about, to me!...
Al Kraft
Supporting Member
- May 2, 2016
- 10,768
- 40,434
- Disclosures
- Mesa Boogie beta product tester and player support
I found the same thing with my GK Neo 112 II cabs, and that actually makes sense if you know the GK Neo line well. The GK 12" loaded Neo cabs (at least in their previous incarnation) seem to be the most balanced across the frequency spectrum, but just aren't as "deeper bass present" as a SW 115. And the SW 115 is IME the most balanced or evenly voiced sounding of the SW line of cabs.
My SW 112 works best for me along with my 115 but is clearly a more mid forward cab (I think by design) in its voicing to my ear. The SW 112 takes EQ well and can imitate its larger sibling to a degree, but the SW 115 just delivers that full balanced voice naturally.
I am playing this head with a Neo 212 cab (2nd update) and for as little as I tried, sounds really well balanced. I mean, it’s medium focused but still with great basses that I choose not to emphasize too much for the sake of a better tone in the mix. And that’s exactly what I wanted to achieve by both standing up the cab and have the sound behind my ears (see pic) and making use of the HPF to clean the boomy. “House of tone” does the rest.
Can’t wait the first occasion to free the rig full power by substituing my second GK Neo 212 to that stand. Deaf but happy
. Well, seriously, I noticed that by doubling the same cones area is not only a matter of volume because of more accessible power, and it is not only a matter of volume because of a more extended sonic area, but just sounds better, the tone is fuller, the presence deeper, it feels more complete with more basses heard but still controlled as they are on each cab only because they go out from an extended area. I don’t know how that works but I believe is a matter of better diffusion. 5-6 speakers in a room sound better that 1 only powerful speaker put on a corner. At times I don’t bring both cabs at gigs because I need volume, but just because I get a better resulting tone overall (80% of the reason. 20% is because it is damn good looking 
)
Can’t wait the first occasion to free the rig full power by substituing my second GK Neo 212 to that stand. Deaf but happy
. Well, seriously, I noticed that by doubling the same cones area is not only a matter of volume because of more accessible power, and it is not only a matter of volume because of a more extended sonic area, but just sounds better, the tone is fuller, the presence deeper, it feels more complete with more basses heard but still controlled as they are on each cab only because they go out from an extended area. I don’t know how that works but I believe is a matter of better diffusion. 5-6 speakers in a room sound better that 1 only powerful speaker put on a corner. At times I don’t bring both cabs at gigs because I need volume, but just because I get a better resulting tone overall (80% of the reason. 20% is because it is damn good looking )Attachments
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Interesting that the last few posts have been about the WD800 through GK NEO 12 cabs. I've been running that combination for a while now and again this past Sunday. I love running the WD800 through two GK NEO 112's, it is an awesome experience and yes two 12's are much better than one..
Yup, I find that the WD800 head blends well with different cabinets. They both retain their unique voices yet they seem to meld together well.
Al Kraft
Supporting Member
- May 2, 2016
- 10,768
- 40,434
- Disclosures
- Mesa Boogie beta product tester and player support
Same cabs I have and they do sound sweet with Mesa heads...or GK if you want to go with all one brand. To me the GK 12" loaded Neo cabs sound nicely balanced and that may be part of why they pair well with lots of different heads.
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this is my favorite combination. Mesa WD-800 & GK Neo 212 (v1). i have a second one of these cabs but i haven't had the chance to run them both with the WD as it lives at the practice space. i'm going to make it a point to bring it home, for scientific purposes.
kgb
I like the WD800 enuff that I purchased a second one for another location, both brand new and under warranty, and also have the D800+ along with a TT800.
Would never want to get rid of any of them, because they all sound great and are so much fun!
: )
Yes! Research has to go ahead!
It's been eight months or so since I purchased a WD–800 amp head, along with a subway 112 cab for my studio, and a 212 for playing gigs.
I'm going to share some of my reactions and experience here in case it's useful to anyone interested in these instruments. I’m referring to them as instruments because they impart a great deal of color and personality to the sound of my basses.
The roots of my electric bass playing extend back to the early 70s, when I was using Acoustic and Kustom solid-state amps. The 80s I had a Yamaha. I considered the default eq of these heads to be pretty flat, with a quick response. I didn't consider these amplifiers to have much character, though, I'm sure that in tandem with their respective speaker cabinets, they likely did.
As someone that has spent a great deal of time doing commercial recording , I've been called on navigate a wide variety of styles. Pop, R&B, Funk, Soul, Fusion, and Jazz are probably my strengths, though, and my default tone would fall somewhere ain there. I'm playing a passive Fender, jazz bass with maple neck, and a fender ultra precision rosewood board.
I'm using a wireless unit from bass to amplifier. These units don't seem to get along with floor pedals. Therefore, I have put my Cali76 Compressor pedal in the effects loop, powered by a Birdsong converter cable in the USB outlet. This compressor handles this well with the input threshold set at approximately 9 o'clock. I'm using it for a mild bit of parallel compression. This is a handy feature to have on an amp head. I've been told that many pedals aren't well-suited to be in effects loops, but fortunately this one appears to be an exception. However, if I was a player that like to do a lot of amplifier EQ changes on the fly, it would upset the gain structure to the pedal.
There is a considerable difference to my ears going from low to high on the damping control. The low setting is much too flabby for my purposes, but I did enjoy spending some time with the middle setting. It creates a rounder sound that I enjoyed when soloed, but for my purposes the high setting was the clear winner. These ported cabinets sound faster and more articulate to me with this setting.
I don't like a boomy sound, and to that end, the high pass filter is a critical feature of this amp. Even in my home studio playing through the 112, I keep this set somewhere between noon and 3 o'clock. Anything less introduces flabby sounds that I'd be unlikely to dial in unless I was playing reggae or something like that. This feature is very useful in live performance as well, with the ability to tame a booming room with a single turn of the knob.
The passive midrange control is unlike anything I've experienced on an amplifier. Apparently, there is some make up volume built into this control, which almost gives the feeling that more than one parameter is being changed as it is adjusted. Having it set at noon seems just about perfect for my jazz bass, leaving in the punch, but stopping short of a cloudiness (to my ears) that happens from 1 o'clock and beyond.
As a matter of fact, noon is where I've landed on most of the settings on this amplifier. A very slight low mid boost and another at 1.3K are all I'm using as my default settings.
Cranking up with a medium loud band in a bar, the amp takes on an additional character. When pumping up the Master volume, there seems to be a built-in compression, so much so that I don't see the need to bring my compressor to the gig (although if I was required to do much slapping I would). I've heard it described as spongy or pillowy, and I'd have to agree. It sort of feels like the notes are bouncing off of a trampoline, if that makes any sense. With the 212, it's plenty loud for any situation, other than a huge club or arena. On an outdoor gig, I found myself backing off of the high pass filter and boosting the bass a bit.
Anyway, those are my impressions of the amp today. I'm well aware that everyone hears things differently, and that my opinions could well change as I spend more time with the amp..
I'm going to share some of my reactions and experience here in case it's useful to anyone interested in these instruments. I’m referring to them as instruments because they impart a great deal of color and personality to the sound of my basses.
The roots of my electric bass playing extend back to the early 70s, when I was using Acoustic and Kustom solid-state amps. The 80s I had a Yamaha. I considered the default eq of these heads to be pretty flat, with a quick response. I didn't consider these amplifiers to have much character, though, I'm sure that in tandem with their respective speaker cabinets, they likely did.
As someone that has spent a great deal of time doing commercial recording , I've been called on navigate a wide variety of styles. Pop, R&B, Funk, Soul, Fusion, and Jazz are probably my strengths, though, and my default tone would fall somewhere ain there. I'm playing a passive Fender, jazz bass with maple neck, and a fender ultra precision rosewood board.
I'm using a wireless unit from bass to amplifier. These units don't seem to get along with floor pedals. Therefore, I have put my Cali76 Compressor pedal in the effects loop, powered by a Birdsong converter cable in the USB outlet. This compressor handles this well with the input threshold set at approximately 9 o'clock. I'm using it for a mild bit of parallel compression. This is a handy feature to have on an amp head. I've been told that many pedals aren't well-suited to be in effects loops, but fortunately this one appears to be an exception. However, if I was a player that like to do a lot of amplifier EQ changes on the fly, it would upset the gain structure to the pedal.
There is a considerable difference to my ears going from low to high on the damping control. The low setting is much too flabby for my purposes, but I did enjoy spending some time with the middle setting. It creates a rounder sound that I enjoyed when soloed, but for my purposes the high setting was the clear winner. These ported cabinets sound faster and more articulate to me with this setting.
I don't like a boomy sound, and to that end, the high pass filter is a critical feature of this amp. Even in my home studio playing through the 112, I keep this set somewhere between noon and 3 o'clock. Anything less introduces flabby sounds that I'd be unlikely to dial in unless I was playing reggae or something like that. This feature is very useful in live performance as well, with the ability to tame a booming room with a single turn of the knob.
The passive midrange control is unlike anything I've experienced on an amplifier. Apparently, there is some make up volume built into this control, which almost gives the feeling that more than one parameter is being changed as it is adjusted. Having it set at noon seems just about perfect for my jazz bass, leaving in the punch, but stopping short of a cloudiness (to my ears) that happens from 1 o'clock and beyond.
As a matter of fact, noon is where I've landed on most of the settings on this amplifier. A very slight low mid boost and another at 1.3K are all I'm using as my default settings.
Cranking up with a medium loud band in a bar, the amp takes on an additional character. When pumping up the Master volume, there seems to be a built-in compression, so much so that I don't see the need to bring my compressor to the gig (although if I was required to do much slapping I would). I've heard it described as spongy or pillowy, and I'd have to agree. It sort of feels like the notes are bouncing off of a trampoline, if that makes any sense. With the 212, it's plenty loud for any situation, other than a huge club or arena. On an outdoor gig, I found myself backing off of the high pass filter and boosting the bass a bit.
Anyway, those are my impressions of the amp today. I'm well aware that everyone hears things differently, and that my opinions could well change as I spend more time with the amp..
