Mesa M9 Carbine Power Reduced?

[svtb15]

I dig the wideness of the M9... As well as my old Fathom... The fathom is pretty simple! And about as loud as i would ever need.. on any gig..

 

[Jim Carr]

...it has enough power to blast my pants off...and I love the way it feels...

Double Amen, Brah, for the panty flappin' goodness of it all!

 

[andrew]

I know it can be tough to gauge the opinion of people on TB because everyone has different needs from their gear. I've seen so many posts on here from people talking about how a certain amp is stupid loud and "how could anyone ever need more?" that turns out to be an amp I find wimpy and not that loud.

So I do take a lot of posts about the power of amps with a grain of salt because I know my needs in an amp are excessive by many other player's standards and their "loud" is my "underwhelmed".

But that really isn't the case with the M9/M6. They are honking loud amps, and a very rare case where I actually don't feel like the M9 needed to be 900 watts for real world use. Cool idea, but I'd rather have more on my volume knob than "off" and "too loud".

There are plenty of amps out there where I'd be shaking my pitchfork at the loss of 300 watts too. The M9 isn't one of them.

How Mesa went about it though isn't part of the point I'm making...

Don't support Mesa if you're bothered by their handling of this, or the lack of a price change, but I hope no one really feels like the M9 is suddenly not loud enough for their needs because its now 600 watts.

 

[Toastfuzz]

Well.. there certainly are a fair share of ArmChair owners on TB... It happens a lot as you know. A couple of folks in this thread have already made statements without ever gigging the amp.
Sadly it muddies the water, dilutes the true owners hands on posted experiences and lowers the credibility of the TB forum on a whole.. IMO

Good post...

As Jim Carr says.. Its in the music.. and if it works for you .. .Thats ALL that really matters anyway

I'd say theres more confirmation bias "muddying the waters" than armchair opinions. After all I'm just opining on the facts that were stated in this thread.

All I'm trying to say is, if I was in the market for a dependable amp that performed as advertised, I dont think I'd want to buy an amp that overheats and shuts down from normal use, and requires a downgrade from its initial specs (masqueraded as a simple fix) to function normally.

Don't support Mesa if you're bothered by their handling of this, or the lack of a price change, but I hope no one really feels like the M9 is suddenly not loud enough for their needs because its now 600 watts.

Thats what I'm curious to know. Most of you guys said you never pushed your M9 that hard to begin with, and didnt notice the power decrease. I'd really like to hear the opinion of someone who used to maximize the potential of their amp, and if they noticed a difference or decrease after the switch. If someone did chime in with that note, I apologize as I just didnt see it listed.

I've run all my amps to their max through multiple cabs, so yeah I'm in the market for literally the most bang for your buck. I'm sure the M9 sounds nice and suits your average gig just fine... but you cant really say the power decrease is irrelevant if you were never using your amp's full power.

My basis for comparison is my Hartke LH1000.. its supposed to be 1000 watts, and I typically run "pretty dang loud" into either a fEARful stack or two 2x15's. I can't verify 100% that its putting 1000 watts into my cabs, I only know I've finally found an amp powerful enough to suit my needs (after slowly crawling up from 300 watts - 600 watts - current 1000 watts.) The M9 was a contender when I thought it was 900 watts... at its current price point and spec, do you still think it could compare? Not being a dick, I really want to know. Spec'd at 600 watts I wouldnt even consider it, being that the Carvin 600 watt amp wasnt loud enough.

 

[Fawkesguy]

...... I hope no one really feels like the M9 is suddenly not loud enough for their needs because its now 600 watts.

People that have never played through one might feel that way.

 

[B-string]

I simple note like this:

Dear M*** user,
We have serviced your unit with any repairs, current revisions and fully tested your unit. Do to circumstances beyond our control a power reduction is performed on all M9 units to provide the reliability you can expect from M*** products. We apologize for these measures but we know you rely on M***'s tone and reliability night after night, year after year. Enjoy your serviced unit with confidence and know we at M*** are here to service your needs.

Thank you for choosing M***!

Would have gone a long way in perception.

 

[andrew]

I'd say theres more confirmation bias "muddying the waters" than armchair opinions. After all I'm just opining on the facts that were stated in this thread.

All I'm trying to say is, if I was in the market for a dependable amp that performed as advertised, I dont think I'd want to buy an amp that overheats and shuts down from normal use, and requires a downgrade from its initial specs (masqueraded as a simple fix) to function normally.

Who exactly is disagreeing with these "facts" you keep holding up?

 

[andrew]

I simple note like this:

Dear M*** user,
We have serviced your unit with any repairs, current revisions and fully tested your unit. Do to circumstances beyond our control a power reduction is performed on all M9 units to provide the reliability you can expect from M*** products. We apologize for these measures but we know you rely on M***'s tone and reliability night after night, year after year. Enjoy your serviced unit with confidence and know we at M*** are here to service your needs.

Thank you for choosing M***!

Would have gone a long way in perception.

Yes.

 

[bobicidal]

Love mine, just kills my back/arm I am only using it with a single Berg CN212 and it is more power than I know what to do with.

 

[lomo]

Totally concur. The hard way in the short run is usually the best and therefore easiest in the long run.

I simple note like this:

Dear M*** user,
We have serviced your unit with any repairs, current revisions and fully tested your unit. Do to circumstances beyond our control a power reduction is performed on all M9 units to provide the reliability you can expect from M*** products. We apologize for these measures but we know you rely on M***'s tone and reliability night after night, year after year. Enjoy your serviced unit with confidence and know we at M*** are here to service your needs.

Thank you for choosing M***!

Would have gone a long way in perception.

 

[Fawkesguy]

I simple note like this:

Dear M*** user,
We have serviced your unit with any repairs, current revisions and fully tested your unit. Do to circumstances beyond our control a power reduction is performed on all M9 units to provide the reliability you can expect from M*** products. We apologize for these measures but we know you rely on M***'s tone and reliability night after night, year after year. Enjoy your serviced unit with confidence and know we at M*** are here to service your needs.

Thank you for choosing M***!

Would have gone a long way in perception.

Agreed.

 

[andrew]

I've run all my amps to their max through multiple cabs, so yeah I'm in the market for literally the most bang for your buck. I'm sure the M9 sounds nice and suits your average gig just fine... but you cant really say the power decrease is irrelevant if you were never using your amp's full power.

What amps have you run at max power? Did they give you what you wanted or come up lacking?

What do you mean by "to their max" ie. volume knob maxxed out?

I can say the power decrease is irrelevant to MY needs, which is what I did say, and followed up by saying you should try the amp to see if it's loud enough for YOUR needs at 600 watts because I think for most it will be.

 

[andrew]

My basis for comparison is my Hartke LH1000.. its supposed to be 1000 watts, and I typically run "pretty dang loud" into either a fEARful stack or two 2x15's. I can't verify 100% that its putting 1000 watts into my cabs, I only know I've finally found an amp powerful enough to suit my needs (after slowly crawling up from 300 watts - 600 watts - current 1000 watts.) The M9 was a contender when I thought it was 900 watts... at its current price point and spec, do you still think it could compare? Not being a dick, I really want to know. Spec'd at 600 watts I wouldnt even consider it, being that the Carvin 600 watt amp wasnt loud enough.

I've never used the LH1000 so I can't say how it compares to the M9, but watts aren't all equal between brands. I've compared my DB750 to amps rated for more watts and the DB750 was noticeably louder.

Where is your volume (master and gain) set on the LH1000?

I can say that I found both the Aguilar DB750 and the M9 to be louder than the Carvin B1500 I owned briefly, and it was rated at 1250 watts at 4 ohms.

 

[Fawkesguy]

Mesa really needs to stay on top of its web sites. The Hollywood store still lists the M9 as 900 watts.

 

[lomo]

Clearly and completely misleading and unacceptable

 

[Fawkesguy]

They updated the main site around the middle of November. I'm surprised they haven't yet updated the company store site.

 

[Toastfuzz]

What amps have you run at max power? Did they give you what you wanted or come up lacking?

What do you mean by "to their max" ie. volume knob maxxed out?

I can say the power decrease is irrelevant to MY needs, which is what I did say, and followed up by saying you should try the amp to see if it's loud enough for YOUR needs at 600 watts because I think for most it will be.

For most it probably would be... I dont love the fact that I need to push this much volume to hold my weight but it comes with the territory of the genre in which I play.

I started with an Ampeg SVT3 Pro and 8x10. This is a notoriously wimpy amp, sounds super good but just not very beefy. Carvin B600, same deal. Switched to 2x15's around this point, the amp didnt have enough juice. Picked up an old Acoustic 370 solid state head for $50.... through two 2x15's it met my needs, I just wasnt thrilled with the tone. It remains my dependable backup. Orange Terror Bass 1000 held its weight as well but didnt love the tone. Acquired my fEARful stack around this point... used the fEARful stack + 2x15 with the Acoustic 370 for a year or so. Then used a clean 1200 watt PA head as my bass amp until we needed it for vocals, and recently picked up the Hartke LH1000, the loudest amp I've personally used to date.

I've picked up a decent amount of TB tricks too, such as cutting back the sub-bass lows, bringing in more low mids, and manipulating distortion/fuzz as a compressor to squeeze the most usable volume out of my rigs.

70's solid state watts are wizardry to me, so I dont fully get how or why the Acoustic 370 is as loud as a modern 1000 watt amp... whatever. But I've found through trial and error that to keep up with my bandmates I need some hefty power. Recently I blew a voice coil in my fEARful stack with the Hartke. I went with the 12/6 rather than 15/6 because I drank the Koolaid and thought a 12" speaker could do more than I thought it could do, and found that apparently it can't. That rig was hella loud though with the Hartke before the speaker blew.

So thats why I got miffy at this whole Mesa issue, because maybe for 95% of users the power decrease doesnt matter, but I believe in my situation it would make a huge difference. Or maybe I'm wrong and this is why amp makers continually mislead us that their amps are pushing more watts than they actually are. As it is wattage is the only measure of amp volume from a marketing perspective... I know more speakers = more volume, and to the guy who mentioned running four 4x10's out of an amp as if it was some sort of lunacy, that would be the only reason I'd buy this amp.

 

[andrew]

What guitar/other amps are you competing with? What style of music? Is this issue with needing more volume both at practice and live, or just at practice?

I'm betting that the LH1000 is plenty loud, but if you did find the old Acoustic amp met your needs then I can say for certain the M9 would be louder than it. I think much of the perceived loudness you get from certain 70's amps is the mid heavy tone baked into a lot of them. I have a couple old loud as snot Traynor amps from the 70s, and an Ampeg V6 solid state amp that also seems way louder than it's rated watts.

The M6/M9 can give that same mid heavy cutting tone, but has more wattage behind it. I love the 4 and 5 settings on the preamp eq presets for this reason.

Could you take your Hartke to a store to a/b it with some other amps? If you're running it maxxed out then you will continue to have problems with blown speakers and amp failures. I'd be frustrated by that too.

If you need that much volume it might be time to look at a preamp/poweramp set up anyway. Maybe an Ampeg SVP preamp and a CA9 power amp?

 

[Bassgeer]

Forgive me if I missed this, but what I'd like to know is the current power rating of the M6. The Mesa site still says it is 600W.....

 

[B-string]

Forgive me if I missed this, but what I'd like to know is the current power rating of the M6. The Mesa site still says it is 600W.....

Derated to 500 watts. Happy new year.