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Mesa M9 mega thread

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#584
M9 guise who use Speakons-
we recently put all of our gear into a 20U or so rack for ease of load in/out, space on stage, etc.. Both guitars run pre's into Mesa 2:90 amps and I have my Carbine in there. The singer and I share our cabs on one side (he has a Recto 412) and my lead has a Marshall 1960B stack on his side, with the rack, and so I got an extra-long Speakon cable so I could make sure and have enough room (rather have 10ft too much than 1 ft too short ;)). But while I was at the store (G.C.) picking it up, I didn't check to see what ends it had on it.
When I got to our rehearsal room last night I noticed my Speakon cable ends (that I had made by Pro Cables 'N Sound) had +2 -2 on them, whereas the one I got at G.C. only had +1. Is this gonna make any difference? I read my M9's manual last night and it didn't state that this was a requirement, and I wanted to make sure before plugging it in. Looking at the graphic of the Speakon/phono combo connector on the back of the M9 it does have two "+" graphics around the output, so that makes me think it should. I didn't even notice this til we were loading out and had put up most of our gear so I didn't get to test it out last night but wanted to get feedback here (if possible) so I can go exchange/return my new long cable before Saturday night's gig.
 
#585
I think you'll be okay. Pro Cables N Sound uses Neutrik NL4 (4 conductor) Speakon connectors whereas some cheaper cables only use the NL2 (two conductor). They should be wired 1+/1- and the other two conductors (the 2+/2-) are most likely not used unless you specifically ordered it differently (they made me a cable with a 1+/2+ wiring for bridge-mono use on a QSC power amp). The jacks on the M9 are 1+/1- so plug it in and let 'er rip. :bassist:

rockstarbassist said:
M9 guise who use Speakons-
we recently put all of our gear into a 20U or so rack for ease of load in/out, space on stage, etc.. Both guitars run pre's into Mesa 2:90 amps and I have my Carbine in there. The singer and I share our cabs on one side (he has a Recto 412) and my lead has a Marshall 1960B stack on his side, with the rack, and so I got an extra-long Speakon cable so I could make sure and have enough room (rather have 10ft too much than 1 ft too short ;)). But while I was at the store (G.C.) picking it up, I didn't check to see what ends it had on it.
When I got to our rehearsal room last night I noticed my Speakon cable ends (that I had made by Pro Cables 'N Sound) had +2 -2 on them, whereas the one I got at G.C. only had +1. Is this gonna make any difference? I read my M9's manual last night and it didn't state that this was a requirement, and I wanted to make sure before plugging it in. Looking at the graphic of the Speakon/phono combo connector on the back of the M9 it does have two "+" graphics around the output, so that makes me think it should. I didn't even notice this til we were loading out and had put up most of our gear so I didn't get to test it out last night but wanted to get feedback here (if possible) so I can go exchange/return my new long cable before Saturday night's gig.
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#587
I played my "new to me" M9 at a gig last night and I can't believe the amount of power and headroom the amp has... It's crazy. I had my pre gain @ 1:00, EQ mostly flat (slight mid boost), voice 3, master @ 9:00 and it was ripping my face off! I was playing a P-bass and the amp was mated to an SWR Goliath III 4x10 (4 ohm).

I also have an SWR SM-900 and even when I run it bridge-mono to get the 900 watts it's not nearly that loud and I have to turn the master up to around 2:30 to even be in the same ballpark volume wise. I've heard that SWR amp power specs were somewhat "over-rated" but I'm also thinking that the Mesa M9's specs are very conservatively rated. Anyway, I traded for this amp on a whim and I'm very happy with it thus far. I can see it as my go-to head in the near future! :cool:
 
#588
Definitely! I would consider Mesa's wattage specs as "underrated", for sure. I've had most all comparable in construction and power rating hybrid/SS amps and Mesa blows 'em out, power wise.
The M9 is indeed crazy loud. My rig shown below never gets about 10:00 on the Master and that's against 2 stacks powered by Mesa 2:90s! ;)
 
#589
If you had ordered it bridge-mono it would have a red heat shrink label on the mono end. I absolutely love PCnS and they are my sole source of cables of any kind since their quality is so high.

rockstarbassist said:
Ok awesome that's what I was figuring and knew PCnS usually always goes above and beyond what's needed (and I know I didn't order these as bridge/mono's as I have in the past) but just wanted to make sure!
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#590
etinsley said:
If you had ordered it bridge-mono it would have a red heat shrink label on the mono end. I absolutely love PCnS and they are my sole source of cables of any kind since their quality is so high.
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Agreed here! I own, I think, honestly ONE cable that isn't PCnS. And this includes my little patch cables and stuff as well. :lol: If we keep this setup long-term I definitely will be getting a replacement from Todd. This is our first gig trying this all-in-one-rack setup so gotta make sure we all like it first.
 
#591
rockstarbassist said:
When I got to our rehearsal room last night I noticed my Speakon cable ends (that I had made by Pro Cables 'N Sound) had +2 -2 on them, whereas the one I got at G.C. only had +1. Is this gonna make any difference?
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Nope. Just means they got the 4's instead of the 2's on the connector type (like Eric said). The second contact set is simply unused. No problem.
 
#593
Congrats eTinsley on your M9 maiden voyage being a huge success. Knew that would happen! These Mesa Carbine amps have tons of slam and punch. Even at lower volumes, it's like you get a sledge hammer behind the fundamental note whenever you want it. Lighten up your right hand touch for softer sounds or dig in for laser-guided missile-like fortitude. :D
 
#594
From what Mesa bench testing we've done at BGM, "it's not that Mesa are over-rated, so much as everyone else is."
Mesa ratings have tended to be pretty spot on...maybe over a tiny bit at 4 vs 8 ohms or some such thing.

Many other amps have not met their stated performance specs as well as Mesa.
 
#595
I have my first gig with the M9 today ( in a few hours). Of course with my luck its in a town hall for a birthday party and not in a bar. I've never played there before , but my guitarist has and he said it can get pretty "Boomy". That should be fun trying not to blow everyone away with the M9's massive power.

Anyways , I pretty much have my sound set (for the most part) , but I am still confused with the compressor (threshold and ratio). It seems like almost no matter where I have the dials set all I have to do it lightly touch the strings and the red light lights up.

Any last suggestions on compression and maybe tips on where you have your compressor dials set??

Does anybody use foot pedals through their M9. The one thing that I missed on the Titan when I traded it in for the M9 was it's overdrive , so I bough an Aguilar Agro OD pedal. The manual says to run it through the front end , but you may be sacrificing your sound because the instrument will not be going into the grid of the first tube.
Thanks - I would appreciate it if I could get a little last minute advice on the compressor.
Appreciative as always!
Craig (Pedulla-Player)
 
#597
etinsley said:
I have a quick question for you seasoned M9 owners. The amp I got in trade didn't have the footswitch cable. Is it just a stereo cable like the Fender footswitches?

Thanks!
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It's a standard TRS cable. I got this info directly from Mesa. I also have a used one that came sans cable. Their website does not contain this info :-(
 
#598
I looked back a few pages and saw where chef said that he usually has his compressor knobs both set around 9'Oclock. I just gave that a try and I am happy happy with the results. I think that I'll go with those settings tonight and tweak as needed.
 
#600
Bass Club Mark said:
The M series amps are very universal. I've used them with Aguilar, Bergantino, EBS, Trace, and Boogie cabs with great success. The M amps dial in really well, so there's generally no need for a lot of tweeking. The tube pre really helps to fatten up neo cabs as well.
Click to expand...

Agreed! These Mesa M3/M6/M9 amps sound great through a lot of cabs. Curiously, I did not like the M6 through a Mesa 4x10. go figure. But the M6/M9 kills through Bergantino cabs without question!
 
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