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Mesa M6 Carbine Mega Thread part 3:

#64
The local music store has an M6 and the new Mesa 2x12 cab on their coffee shop stage...I found that if you turn down the pre gain it's fairly dry and accurate, and if you drive it harder it warms up nicely. I like the tone controls and the contour switch, and would own one if I didn't already have 3 "A" bass rigs. :/ Not nearly as impressed with the 2x12--it seems a bit mushy to me, compared to, say, a powerhouse 1x15 or 10s. Could just be the room though! That room likes compact bass rigs and has some big resonances.
 
#65
Quick history. My amp will cut in and out at will. Sometimes it will make it through a two hour rehearsal. Our last gig, it didn't make it through the first song at sound check. Sometimes, I turn it on and it will come up to volume (or so I think), play for a bit and then POP! it kicks all the way on, which means that when I turned it on, it was only at 50% or so. It warms up and then with a BANG, it's on. This is after 8 months, and no gigs.

I finally broke down and took it to the somewhat local authorized repair center after Mesa headquarters told me that would be fine. Well, they couldn't duplicate the problem over two days, so I got a call from Mesa HQ that they were shipping it back to the factory for "updating". Basically, it's a bunch of cooling mods. There's a second fan, a different heat sink and yes, a lid with more vents. Hopefully this will help. The gentleman on the phone told me I would have a better, more reliable amp when they got done. We'll see what happens.
 
#66
I don't believe there's a second fan.
I was told this as well, but, I can also tell you there was no second fan in mine when it came back. I opened it up to check.

ymmv, etc.
 
#69
I just received a Fathom this afternoon, so I thought I'd cross post some observations I just made on the Mesa Boogie thread.

So, after I unpacked it, I set it up on my Diesel 115, plugged it in to the strip I plugged the M-Pulse into and MBUZZZZZZZZZZ.

I dinked with the volumes on my pickups (single coils), turned around, lifted the ground, messed with other switches and knobs; no change.

So, I grabbed an extension cord and tried a different outlet (yes, my house does have crappy wiring). And voila! No buzz. So, my first observation is the Fathom is sensitive to the quality of electricity it receives.

The rest of my observations follow the norm for this thread... cut and definition for days; tons of uber clean low end; and it gets loud fast.

I don't notice any significant hiss, so that does not seem to be a problem.

It will definitely take some getting used to after playing a M-Pulse 600 for the past few years, but I wanted more cut and definition when playing live (something I've been missing with the m-pulse).

So, I plan to keep it, use it and evaluate it for a few months before coming to a final judgment as to whether it's an amp for me.
 
#70
Matt Dean said:
I just received a Fathom this afternoon, so I thought I'd cross post some observations I just made on the Mesa Boogie thread.

So, after I unpacked it, I set it up on my Diesel 115, plugged it in to the strip I plugged the M-Pulse into and MBUZZZZZZZZZZ.

I dinked with the volumes on my pickups (single coils), turned around, lifted the ground, messed with other switches and knobs; no change.

So, I grabbed an extension cord and tried a different outlet (yes, my house does have crappy wiring). And voila! No buzz. So, my first observation is the Fathom is sensitive to the quality of electricity it receives.

The rest of my observations follow the norm for this thread... cut and definition for days; tons of uber clean low end; and it gets loud fast.

I don't notice any significant hiss, so that does not seem to be a problem.

It will definitely take some getting used to after playing a M-Pulse 600 for the past few years, but I wanted more cut and definition when playing live (something I've been missing with the m-pulse).

So, I plan to keep it, use it and evaluate it for a few months before coming to a final judgment as to whether it's an amp for me.
Click to expand...

Welcome to the club!:bassist:

I've not had an issue with buzz or hiss on mine at all.

Your tonal findings match mine too....tight lows and plenty of them if that's what you are looking for, mids thick enough that they could scrape barnicles off of boats and highs that only a dog could hear, oh and loud enough to make your ears bleed at only 600 watts.

Not a feather-weight but a very respectable weight. I tried mine in an SKB case but found it much more pleasureable to carry in a 3-space rack bag. Chef suggested this and I concur.
 
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#71
I have my M6/korg dtr in a three space rack bag. that's nice, if you don't mind the extra size and weight. carries a power strip and all my cables.

I have the M9 in a lightweight skb two space. Lighter, smaller, and all my calbes carry on the rear cover.

It's lighter than my wt800b was, and it just crushes it. The M6 does that too, the wt800b is gone now. I don't miss it since both the M9 and M6 run two ohms readily.
 
#72
...well, I know you've all been through this cause I've been reading parts 1 and 2 of this thread, but OMG! This amp really does slay... it sits so nicely in the mix that I actually played at a lower volume that I would with the m-pulse 600.

I had a rehearsal last night and we all immediately noticed how good my rig sounded: warm, but very articulate. I had the gain set at about 1:30, the bass at 1:00, mid and treb set at noon and voiced at the first mid bump. I have to say that my passive nordy vJ4 never sounded so good. For the slap songs, I rolled the voice control to the first (from noon) mid dip.

I'm so glad I bought the Fathom/M6; I think it's going to change all my thinking on tone.

Anyway, I have my first gig with the Fathom tonight... this is what I expect: :hyper::bassist::D
 
#75
I'm in love with mine Fathom/M6 and WA 12" combo ...there was some issue with XLR output on mine Fathom, I think DI was broken by fanthom power. My friend had also problem with brand-new Mesa Fathom. Authorized serviceman just changed speakers conectors and input conector...anyway for me it's very hard to find some backup amp or just play some other amps becouse nothing sound like my Mesa ...When I turn back I never owned or played amps like these before.
 

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#76
...when do you know you're a bass geek?

When the first thing you do upon waking up after a gig (besides firing up the espresso machine) is log onto TB.

Anyway, yes, last night was:hyper::bassist::D

We played a small british style pub, so we were all using small cabs and no PA support). I used a Diesel 115 w/ a Kappalite 3015 in it. Due to the size of the space we had to set up in, I stood slightly in front of the rest of the band, so I was in a good position to hear our sound. I noticed two things about how I sounded last night compared to my sound with the M-Pulse 600:

1. I could just hear the bass better... each note was warm and round, but I could hear the entire frequency range of the note, not just some portion of the note's frequency that was able to emerge out of the mix (it seem with the M-pulse's pillowiness I would only hear some portion of the note's freq range).

2. There was a sparkle on the top end that just added a real musicality to the note's definition... here's what I mean: we play Life during Wartime and I play this really driving bass line that is like the pistons of a V10 turbo diesel in a tank driving up Madison Ave. At the end of the bridge I play a descending octave riff and I just got silly :hyper: when I heard the notes have this sort of wet shimmer as I played the riff.

Anyway, I honestly don't think I've ever sounded this good... and again, I don't think I've heard my Nordy sound so good either.

I'm looking forward to playing my favorite local club with my PH 212 and PA support.
 
#77
Matt Dean said:
...when do you know you're a bass geek?

When the first thing you do upon waking up after a gig (besides firing up the espresso machine) is log onto TB.
Click to expand...
Don't know what you're talking about ... :hiding:

Matt Dean said:
1. I could just hear the bass better... each note was warm and round, but I could hear the entire frequency range of the note, not just some portion of the note's frequency that was able to emerge out of the mix (it seem with the M-pulse's pillowiness I would only hear some portion of the note's freq range).
Click to expand...
I noticed the same thing with my Walkabout VS M6 : I think it's related to the low cut being slightly higher on the M6. Pull the bass knob and you'll have your pillowiness back, which might be a good thing depending on the situation.

I agree with you about the sparkle : I play a p-bass and I'm not a big fan of high frequencies, but that sparkle in the M6 is very usable and musical.
 
#80
I have to say, nothing sounds as god to my ears as my M9. I like to push the gain up around 1:30 as well as the amp gets warmer and produces such nice harmonic overtones without breaking up or getting wooly. I love my Walkabout too but the M6/9 rigs are works of art! And although I love my M9, I love the look of the M6 with its simple large knobs and no graphic. So far, I never use the graphic but I quite like the compressor on the M9 and the fact that it came with a footswitch.
 

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