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Mesa M3/M6

G

gnuyork

Dec 2, 2008
11
1
#1
I am going to start playing in a band again, so I need a bass rig that will be loud enough. I have a vintage ampeg b25b that sounds great, but at 50 watts it's hardly enough.

In the last band I was using an old borrowed Peavy KB300 keyboard amp with a 15 in it, and as corny as that sounds it actually was pretty good.

Time for a real rig, though.

I recently heard a duet where the bass player played an aguilar db 751. He was laying a Geddy Lee Jazz and his tone was incredible. So I started looking in to those and then I discovered the price. ouch!

This past saturday I tried a few bass amps at the local GC. I tried a Mesa M6 and the M3 both through the same 212 cab (and also a 410 cab).

I really wanted to like the M6, but I actually fount the M3 to sound better, deeper. I can see where the M6 might be favored by bass players who wanted more high end and a modern tone.

I am looking for that deep thumpy low end tone. I play a P bass with flats and often the tone rolled back.

Call me crazy, but I just felt that through the same cabs and the same tone settings, the M3 delivered the goods a bit better. For this comparison I had the M6 mid settings on 3 (which I think it the neutral) all tones were at 12:00 for both M6 and M3. The only differences were the master VCol settings due to the wattage differences. I used whatever P bass that was handy with the tone rolled all the way back (that bass was surprisingly good).

I had a friend with me and he agreed that the M3 sounded deeper. and the M6 had more defined highs at the same settings with the same bass.

I liked the 212 cab better than the 410 cab.

Anyone else have thoughts on M3 vs M6?

I also quickly tried the ampeg svt 7 Pro - and in within seconds I knew I liked the Mesas better. Much Better.
 
#2
1)300 watts is more than enough for many situations, but not enough for others. For my needs (rock in small bars with a loud drummer), 300 watts won't do it unless I have a 410 cab or bigger. 5 or 600 and I can do 99% of those gigs with a single LDS 15/6 that weighs about 50 lbs and is nothing to move. If you're confident 300 watts is enough then fine, but if you have any doubts I'd get 500 or more.

2)It makes sense to compare the heads flat, but I don't understand why you don't take each head on its' own and tweak the eq to your liking. There's PLENTY of low down booty in an M6 :-), and more flexibility than the M3, as well as a lot more juice.
 
#3
I did also play with the different settings on the M6- the mid shaping. I found it to be versatile, but I don't need versatile (at least I don't think I do) just one really good sound. Once I find it I don't change it. And the fewer knobs to mess with the better.

To me the M3 sounded better to me. My only concern was the wattage. the M3 sounded plenty loud when I was checking it out at the store, but on stage? I am not sure if I would need the extra the M6 can give.

I would mostly likely go with the 212 cab for it.

All in all both were great, I just found the M3 to be a tad better. And less expensive...which is unusual for me. I tend to go for the most expensive thing in the store ;)
 
#4
If you dig the M3 go for it, just pick a super efficient cab to plug into... if you want to keep it simple and cheap you can find 1 or 2 used bag end s15, extremely efficient cab.

an old standby used to be S15+gk 400mb (200watts).

or if you have the cash and time there are plenty of new wonderful cab designs out there.
 
#5
I like the simplicity of the M3 more than the options of the M6.

Like you, I find one sound and pretty much stick to it.

As for having enough power, if you were going with 300 watts into an appropriate cab situation, there should be no gig that you can't handle.

If you went with a big cab, I'd say you'd have 99% of your gigs covered.
 
#6
would the mesa 212 cab be considered a big cab or efficient enough? I know it sure sounded loud enough in the store. I only had the master on 8 or 9:00 position with the gain at noon. I didn't dare try it any louder than that. I already thought I was calling enough attention to myself.
 
#7
If you liked the Ag DB750 kinda tone, you might want to try the Ag TH500;
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I dig the Mesa stuff, own it, and use it, but, it's pretty different from the Ag tone...
 
#8
well yeah, I do need to try some other amps. The AG I heard was with a Jazz. I now play a P with flats and rolled back tone. I'd like to hear what that sounds like in a DB 750/751.

I should try the orange terror, genz, and GK also. I did try the SVT Pro 7 and instantly didn't like it. I didn't bother fussing with it at all, only because I was still on a rush for the Mesa. I think that's the one... but I will keep an open mind for future. Also the band needs to happen for me to even justify the purchase.
 

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