Does anyone have experience with both of these heads? If so, how do they compare? They obviously get great reviews but I’m curious about how they stack up against each other. I assume the Mesa has better build quality, and obviously the fender is cheaper. Thoughts.?.?.?.
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Mesa D800 vs Rumble 500 Head
- Thread starter Texican
- Start date
I have owned both, but not at the same time (currently have both a D800 and D800+).
The Rumble 500 is a lot of amp for $400 new and mine never let me down. If you're on a budget, it's a good choice. If you have a little extra budget, though, the Mesa is certainly worth it.
You are correct; the build quality is certainly a step or two up on the Mesa and the Fender is half the price of a D800. The Mesa has a few more features, like Speakon outputs, pre/post selectable DI, 2 ohm capability, universal/international power supply, and of course more power. The preamps sound and function different from one another, most notably with the Mesa's Voicing knob and the Rumble's preset switches and overdrive, so that's where personal preference comes into play.
The Rumble 500 is a lot of amp for $400 new and mine never let me down. If you're on a budget, it's a good choice. If you have a little extra budget, though, the Mesa is certainly worth it.
Thanks! That’s about as good of a reply as I could’ve hoped for. Now I just need to hear them side by side.
buldog5151bass
Kibble, milkbones, and P Basses. And redheads.
The Mesa will do everything the Fender can - not the other way around. I also miss not having the 2 ohm option. I own the Rumble, and have played the Mesa.
Both great. Gigged a D800 and I use a Rumble 500 as my back up. Sounds great. Easy to use. Drive channel is about useless. The Mesa is in a different league. more power, flexibility and a far, far superior build. If you only have $400 to spend (and are buying new) I think the Fender is awfully hard to beat. The Mesa is a different class and isn't really a fair comparison. It should be the better amp and is. That doesn't mean the Fender isn't great in it's own class.
The Mesa 800 just has way better tone.
There is a Rumble 500 at my drummers practice studio I use for convenience, and while I did not love my D800, it blows that Rumble out of the water.
There is a Rumble 500 at my drummers practice studio I use for convenience, and while I did not love my D800, it blows that Rumble out of the water.
To be fair they are not really in the same class. The Rumble is not meant to compete with the Mesa. Is meant to be a good amp for as cheap as possible. The Mesa is meant to be as good as possible regardless of price.
Not being a downer. I think most members agree it's like comparing a 25K Toyota to a 50K Beamer. That being said, Toyota is a great car at 25K.Sorry to be a downer but comparing these two particular amps is very much an apples and oranges comparison
Agreed. I would add:
Rumble DI is a line out that is affected by master volume.
Rumble has effects send/return, d800 doesn’t.
d800 comes with nice bag.
Rumble will work but Mesa more than worth the extra money.
I currently own and gig both on a regular basis.
The Mesa wins on the feature set for sure. The DI is better and more flexible. The line out on the Fender that is affected by the master volume is annoying in many situations.
As mentioned above, the Mesa D800 also has a mute button, input pad, deep switch and the voicing control, in addition to a four band eq layout. Tho I'm not in love with the high mid band freq center. Obviously, the + model fixes that and a whole lot more.
The Rumble has a few presets that can be cool but aren't really my thing. I really like it's inherent voicing and like its frequency points on the preamp. It just sounds really good at classic sorts of bass tones. The lack of features are what annoy me for gigging purposes.
The Mesa tone maybe isn't my favorite but the features and flexibility are what I probably value most for gigging. I played an outdoor stage in Miami on Sunday that was, for whatever reason, very stuffy sounding. The first set was with the Rumble (and a separate DI to avoid overly screwing with my FOH signal) and I could not get rid of the high bass /low mid congestion. I switched to the Mesa and flicked on the deep switch and brought down the bass knob and low mid knob. It instantly fixed the stage sound. I played an outdoor wedding on Saturday where I preferred the Fender based simply on tone. Though it can be fiddled with, the Mesa is generally deeper and quicker/stiffer and more modern sounding.
So, depending on your tastes and priorities, either will serve you well. I bought my Fender as a backup to a Tone Hammer and wound up preferring the Fender. I got the Mesa to make up for the lack of features of the Fender.
I have my D800 listed for sale and am mostly thinking of getting the + model so that I can use one amp for all my cabs but the regular version has proven to be great.
The Fender sounds great and has proven reliable and plenty loud so really, I would figure out your priorities, money/tone/features to help make the decision.
That was a loonnggg post....
The Mesa wins on the feature set for sure. The DI is better and more flexible. The line out on the Fender that is affected by the master volume is annoying in many situations.
As mentioned above, the Mesa D800 also has a mute button, input pad, deep switch and the voicing control, in addition to a four band eq layout. Tho I'm not in love with the high mid band freq center. Obviously, the + model fixes that and a whole lot more.
The Rumble has a few presets that can be cool but aren't really my thing. I really like it's inherent voicing and like its frequency points on the preamp. It just sounds really good at classic sorts of bass tones. The lack of features are what annoy me for gigging purposes.
The Mesa tone maybe isn't my favorite but the features and flexibility are what I probably value most for gigging. I played an outdoor stage in Miami on Sunday that was, for whatever reason, very stuffy sounding. The first set was with the Rumble (and a separate DI to avoid overly screwing with my FOH signal) and I could not get rid of the high bass /low mid congestion. I switched to the Mesa and flicked on the deep switch and brought down the bass knob and low mid knob. It instantly fixed the stage sound. I played an outdoor wedding on Saturday where I preferred the Fender based simply on tone. Though it can be fiddled with, the Mesa is generally deeper and quicker/stiffer and more modern sounding.
So, depending on your tastes and priorities, either will serve you well. I bought my Fender as a backup to a Tone Hammer and wound up preferring the Fender. I got the Mesa to make up for the lack of features of the Fender.
I have my D800 listed for sale and am mostly thinking of getting the + model so that I can use one amp for all my cabs but the regular version has proven to be great.
The Fender sounds great and has proven reliable and plenty loud so really, I would figure out your priorities, money/tone/features to help make the decision.
That was a loonnggg post....
It wasn’t meant to be an apples to apples comparison. I basically asked: “who has experience with both an apple and an orange, and how did you feel about each in comparison when you needed fruit”.Sorry to be a downer but comparing these two particular amps is very much an apples and oranges comparison
There are many reasons to buy a Toyota over a Lexus, a Honda over an Acura, etc. I think I remember someone here liking their rumble over a much more expensive amp. Now I’m craving fruit salad.
May have been a long post, but it was also a perfect reply from the exact perspective I asked for... someone with experience with both, who isn’t afraid to compare the attributes of an Apple to an orange. Thank you!
I’ll throw in, since it doesn’t always get a lot of attention, the Fender Bassman 500. Super flexible tube driven front end with two channels. The same power section as the Rumble 500. Unfortunately it’s a large size box, but it’s light like a class D should be.
Unlike other folks, I wasn't referring to the manufacturing quality or real or perceived value of the amps or the companies that make them, so I wasn't implying a Toyota vs. Lexus situation.
I was referring to the overall tonal qualities of these two specific heads. I played both heads many times before I chose the Fender over the Mesa for my lightweight, solid state head. They are very different, hence my apples to oranges statement
I pretty much do the same with Rumble rig and GK....I go back and forth depending.
Putting a side how they sound because that's too subjective, I'd say:
1- Best bang for the buck, Fender Rumble 500.
2- Best for resell and able to honestly say under warranty, Mesa.
3- Best build quality, bar none, Darkglass 900 (but you will $pay$).
1- Best bang for the buck, Fender Rumble 500.
2- Best for resell and able to honestly say under warranty, Mesa.
3- Best build quality, bar none, Darkglass 900 (but you will $pay$).
Own the D800 and play through a Rumble pretty often (guitarist has one at his house I use). The Rumble is a decent amp and I wouldn't hesitate to buy one if that was my budget. I agree that the drive channel on the Rumble isn't great. Fortunately I never use the DI from it though as it's only used as a rehearsal space amp so I don't have that to worry about.
The D800 is my go to gigging amp. I use it w/ a Subway 115 cab and DI to the board. I love it enough that I also bought the Subway DI only version for use in another band where we play no amps / IEM. I can't say enough good about the Mesa stuff and for me spending the extra money was well worth it. Everyone's situation is a little different though so ultimately the choice of spending a bit extra for the higher quality amp has to be weighed against whatever other monetary demands life throws your way.
The D800 is my go to gigging amp. I use it w/ a Subway 115 cab and DI to the board. I love it enough that I also bought the Subway DI only version for use in another band where we play no amps / IEM. I can't say enough good about the Mesa stuff and for me spending the extra money was well worth it. Everyone's situation is a little different though so ultimately the choice of spending a bit extra for the higher quality amp has to be weighed against whatever other monetary demands life throws your way.
