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Mesa Boogie WD800

#122
Nebadon2000 said:
If he is going to put Cali on top of Amp and plug Bass into it would make me nervous in live situation unless it was stapled to head :)
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Great point. It may not be the smartest move on earth, but when I use a small box in this sort of set-up (e.g. HPF Pre Series 3 with a GK MB head) I typically loop my bass cable through the handle on the speaker cab. In fact I almost always do that with lighter weight heads even when I am going direct from my bass to the amp.

I also keep my cables relatively short so I am close to my amp and people aren't walking in-between me and the head/cab. I should also mention that my Chuck Berry duckwalking across stage days are long over as well. :)

So far so good....but I'm only one data point and often not the best one to imitate.
 
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#123
Al Kraft said:
Great point. It may not be the smartest move on earth, but when I use a small box in this sort of set-up (e.g. HPF Pre Series 3 with a GK MB head) I typically loop my bass cable through the handle on the speaker cab. In fact I almost always do that with lighter weight heads even when I am going direct from my bass to the amp.

I also keep my cables relatively short so I am close to my amp and people aren't walking in-between me and the head/cab. I should also mention that my Chuck Berry duckwalking across stage days are long over as well. :)

So far so good....but I'm only one data point and often not the best one to imitate.
Click to expand...
I use the cabinet handle loop trick, too.
 
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#124
Hi everyone, great to hear all the good things about the WD800. I've been enjoying watching the different video reviews and am close to picking one up. I just had a couple of questions if anyone could help me please?

When plugging an outboard preamp directly into the FX return;

1. Would the dampening control still work? (It looks like that should work according to the block diagram..)

2. Would a signal routed directly into the FX return be present on the WD800's DI out?

Thanks so much in advance!!
 
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#127
Rnr..........4 said:
I wonder why I see so many hard rock/metal players using Orange, Ampeg and Darkglass? I'd buy an Ampeg but heard they have issues with failing sometimes. Orange MK head would be great but it's expensive and didn't care for the Terror bass amp. Not really interested in Darkglass at all except their cabs.
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I think it's because they market themselves to rock/metal players? To me the vast majority of metal bands I see live use these three brands the most. I'm a metal player, and I use an M-Pulse 360, walkabout, and a WD-800. I like the fact that they do NOT get into heavy tube break and overly overdriven. I prefer a cleaner sound and throw whatever fuzz or distortion in front of it to suit my tastes. I prefer to dial iny own sound rather than rely on a signature overdriven sound from other manufacturers. I'm definitely a lone wolf using my mesas at metal gigs.
 
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#128
Well, the WD-800 worked great on the one gig on which it was used.
Unfortunately, now, when I plug it in it immediately shuts down, even without a speaker cable attached. I guess it’s time to return it, unless someone has an idea of how I can fix the problem on this end.

Edit: I have made very certain that the power cable is tightly inserted into the socket. If I leave the power switch ON the amp will attempt to power up about every 15 seconds, then immediately shut down again.
 
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#129
KayCee said:
Well, the WD-800 worked great on the one gig on which it was used.
Unfortunately, now, when I plug it in it immediately shuts down, even without a speaker cable attached. I guess it’s time to return it, unless someone has an idea of how I can fix the problem on this end.
Click to expand...
Oh Doctor agedhorse!

IMG_8001.gif
 
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#130
KayCee said:
Well, the WD-800 worked great on the one gig on which it was used.
Unfortunately, now, when I plug it in it immediately shuts down, even without a speaker cable attached. I guess it’s time to return it, unless someone has an idea of how I can fix the problem on this end.

Edit: I have made very certain that the power cable is tightly inserted into the socket. If I leave the power switch ON the amp will attempt to power up about every 15 seconds, then immediately shut down again.
Click to expand...
Ok, does it do this with nothing but the AC power cable plugged in?

This means nothing plugged into the usb power port. If the power port is overloaded, the protection circuit will shut the amp down and will attempt to restart about every 10-15 seconds.
 
#131
agedhorse said:
Ok, does it do this with nothing but the AC power cable plugged in?

This means nothing plugged into the usb power port. If the power port is overloaded, the protection circuit will shut the amp down and will attempt to restart about every 10-15 seconds.
Click to expand...
Yes, it is doing this with nothing plugged into the USB port. In fact, I still haven’t tried out the USB port, as I’m still waiting for that cable to be delivered.
 
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#133
agedhorse said:
Ok, contact your retailer and ask them for an exchange. Something is wrong with the amp. We see so few of these back that I can't even guess as to the problem.
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I figured out what happened, and its on me.

I was hooking the WD-800 into the second speakon connection of a combo amp before unplugging the first one from the combo amp head. I thought the combo amp was powered down, but somehow its head been turned off on it’s prior use at a power strip, and its power switch left on.
I didn’t see it light up when I powered up the strip, as I was behind the amps hooking things up.
On any case, the combo amp head should have been disconnected from the cabinet first to insure this from ever happening.
Lesson learned the hard way.
 
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#134
Isn't the 2nd Speakon on Combo a Amp output not input to speaker?

If your intention was to use Speaker in Combo with WD need to disconnect speaker cable from Amp and use proper speaker cable or adaptor to connect to it from WD

Or am I reading it wrong since you said it worked for first gig; was it set up Combo as you described at gig?
 
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#135
Nebadon2000 said:
Isn't the 2nd Speakon on Combo a Amp output not input to speaker?

If your intention was to use Speaker in Combo with WD need to disconnect speaker cable from Amp and use proper speaker cable or adaptor to connect to it from WD

Or am I reading it wrong since you said it worked for first gig; was it set up Combo as you described at gig?
Click to expand...
I used it hooked up normally to the subway 212 cabinet on the gig.
It’s when I brought it inside to hook up the head to my combo amp that things went south. Just one of those stupid things that happens when you’re in a hurry. Yes, you’re right, the amp head in the combo needs to be disconnected from the speaker first. And yes, you’re right, the second speak is for an extension speaker, but it works as an input if your disconnect the other input, if that makes any sense.
 
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#136
4stringmf said:
I think it's because they market themselves to rock/metal players? To me the vast majority of metal bands I see live use these three brands the most. I'm a metal player, and I use an M-Pulse 360, walkabout, and a WD-800. I like the fact that they do NOT get into heavy tube break and overly overdriven. I prefer a cleaner sound and throw whatever fuzz or distortion in front of it to suit my tastes. I prefer to dial iny own sound rather than rely on a signature overdriven sound from other manufacturers. I'm definitely a lone wolf using my mesas at metal gigs.
Click to expand...
That's funny because I associate Mesa amps with Metallica and you'd think metal players would want similar gear. Maybe it's a guitar vs. bass marketing thing.
 
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#139
KayCee said:
Finally got everything set up the way I like it for the matinee gig:
The Subway 212 up on the Quiklok mixer stand at a height I prefer (without adding another cabinet), with the WD-800 head powering the Cali compressor via the USB.
Click to expand...
Were you working with Kris to get the information regarding USB powering of the Cali 76 via a converter cord? Note that there are 2 versions, the current version can't operate at greater than 9V.
 
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#140
agedhorse said:
Were you working with Kris to get the information regarding USB powering of the Cali 76 via a converter cord? Note that there are 2 versions, the current version can't operate at greater than 9V.
Click to expand...
I determined that the compressor functions perfectly well for my purposes using a 9V cable, so I ordered the Songbird 9V USB. I didn’t see any reason to risk overloading the input with 18 V. Everything worked great throughout my matinee gig today, exactly as I had envisioned. Really nice rig, and incredibly powerful for its size! I can’t imagine a situation that I’d ever need to push this amp hard.

I don’t believe that I’m acquainted with Kris.
 
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