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Mesa M9 mega thread
- Thread starter andrew
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Chef
In Memoriam
1 Fairly extreme Mid cut centered at 540Hz. Excellent for dramatic thumbing/slapping styles or smooth chording.
2 Gentle scooping of Midrange also centered at 540Hz. Great for R & B and anytime you want to tastefully widen a sound.
3 Voice feature bypassed (Flat with Tone controls set at 12:00)
4 Midrange boost centered at 370Hz. Good choice for articulate finger style playing. Tracks your playing with articulation and enhanced
definition.
5 Low Mid boost centered at 170Hz. Great for enhancing low mids. Works well for classic Blues or Reggae finger style work.
2 Gentle scooping of Midrange also centered at 540Hz. Great for R & B and anytime you want to tastefully widen a sound.
3 Voice feature bypassed (Flat with Tone controls set at 12:00)
4 Midrange boost centered at 370Hz. Good choice for articulate finger style playing. Tracks your playing with articulation and enhanced
definition.
5 Low Mid boost centered at 170Hz. Great for enhancing low mids. Works well for classic Blues or Reggae finger style work.
- Apr 3, 2003
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- Editor-in-Chief, Bass Gear Magazine
That was Invalid Link Removed. Please forgive the clunky flipbook we used for that issue. I am in the process up upgrading them all to be more like the format we used for #5.
FWIW, though, they achieved the different voicings by use of different inductors, and as such, there really isn't a single center frequency being used. In fact, the "cuts" shown for #1 and #2 actually have a corresponding high frequency boost, and the boost for #4 and #5 are more of a less drastic midrange cut (relative to the "flat" setting).
Edit: Per Chef's post, above, I do believe that these are the target frequencies, but there's more going on with those voicings than just a single boost or cut.
Chef
In Memoriam
"more going on there"
Yep
It's a pretty complex and useful feature set.
My personal summary:
Flat: very nice!
Voice two: instantly more wide and modern, with more top end sheen
Voice one: welcome to slaps-ville
Voice four: when you need more punch thru the mix
Voice 5: when you need lots more punch thru the mix, with some kick thrown in.
Yep
It's a pretty complex and useful feature set.My personal summary:
Flat: very nice!
Voice two: instantly more wide and modern, with more top end sheen
Voice one: welcome to slaps-ville
Voice four: when you need more punch thru the mix
Voice 5: when you need lots more punch thru the mix, with some kick thrown in.
got it...Thanks for the info...If I remember right the M6 had a graphic representation of the bumps and scoops..It made me think that voice 5 was and EXTREME bump but my ears were telling me more low mid as opposed to the voice 4 mid-mid bump..
And yes I should have checked the manual..duh...
And yes I should have checked the manual..duh...
Chef
In Memoriam
On the voicings...
My only real gripe with them is they're too strong... at least for me.
If I use any of them, I find myself immediately going for the EQ to tone down some of what they do. I've always been able to do so, and there have been times when I really felt using a voicing and some EQ was the best way to set it up for the room, but for the most part, I don't use them.
I guess I'm just lucky in that the head is right where I want it to be for 90% of my gigs without touching a thing except maybe to drop bass EQ a bit.
FWIW, I have the same gripe with pretty much every contour button or control that's not adjustable on other heads, too.
My only real gripe with them is they're too strong... at least for me.
If I use any of them, I find myself immediately going for the EQ to tone down some of what they do. I've always been able to do so, and there have been times when I really felt using a voicing and some EQ was the best way to set it up for the room, but for the most part, I don't use them.
I guess I'm just lucky in that the head is right where I want it to be for 90% of my gigs without touching a thing except maybe to drop bass EQ a bit.
FWIW, I have the same gripe with pretty much every contour button or control that's not adjustable on other heads, too.
Nothing wrong with a little Tim Allen humor..
Real men don't need GPS either...my wife strongly disagrees..
Real men don't need GPS either...my wife strongly disagrees..
Chef
In Memoriam
Guys, by no means do i want to start a wattage vs. speaker discussion just a little advice if this would be worth it. I'm running my M9 through a Mills Acoustic 6x10 rated at 1200W @ 6 ohms. As per Mesa at 6 ohms the M9 pushes from around 325 to 450ish watts. Would it be worth it to wire the speakers into a 2.67 ohm load to get the full power of the M9. When i say worth it i mean, more headroom/ better tone from actually pushing the speakers? The Mills is packed with 6 4 ohm Eminence Legends.
that's 5.3 ohm , and should be somewhere between 450w and 900w
not 325w to 450w, 8 ohm is 450w
it's tricky, because then you will need to switch to 2 ohm on the amp for the 2.6 ohm load
switching to 2 ohm on the amp is supposed to reduce rail voltage, thus current, thus power
probably offset the gain, if any, of the lower load impedance
I doubt you will hear any difference between the two
do you already have the master cranked and not getting what you need?
not 325w to 450w, 8 ohm is 450w
it's tricky, because then you will need to switch to 2 ohm on the amp for the 2.6 ohm load
switching to 2 ohm on the amp is supposed to reduce rail voltage, thus current, thus power
probably offset the gain, if any, of the lower load impedance
I doubt you will hear any difference between the two
do you already have the master cranked and not getting what you need?
I have definately cranked it a good way up, but from all that i've read everyone is saying that gain between noon and 1:30 and master around 9:00 or 10:00 is all they need. I'm just not hearing it being that monster wall of sound at those levels. I'm going to try out some different cabs, but before i just wanted to see if putting somemore of the juice i've got into the cab i've got would do anything. It sounds amazing clear and punchy, just not as loud as i think it should be.
Just remember, the level of the signal the power amp section of the amp sees is the result of the level you're feeding into the input of the preamp plus the gain the preamp provides.
Trying to say that a certain position of the gain or master should be loud is not totally reliable.
String height, plucking style, pickup output, effects, etc all can affect what the amp puts out volume-wise.
[I can't believe that I just said 'plucking style' -- that sounds a bit weird!]
babebambi said:
Thanks babe I'm starting to think that it's more that the cab is just not tuned for the low end that I'm after and that's where I'm not getting the volume that I want. My buddy has an old svt810 I'm gonna try, I hear they can really make some thunder.
lo-freq said:
As many different combinations of a variables there are I realize there isn't one position that should be loud. Those were simply references to where the majority of the guys out there say they are at, but at the same time I shouldn't be running this beast with the gain anywhere between 12 or 2 and over 3/4 volume to keep up with a drummer, without something being a miss. If it was playing style or the bass itself, rewiring a cabinet would not have been my first idea of things to fix, but I really do appreciate the input.
Do the volume knobs affect the level going to the amp as well? ;-)
Chef
In Memoriam
babebambi said:
Thanks babe I'm starting to think that it's more that the cab is just not tuned for the low end that I'm after and that's where I'm not getting the volume that I want. My buddy has an old svt810 I'm gonna try, I hear they can really make some thunder.
lo-freq said:
As many different combinations of a variables there are I realize there isn't one position that should be loud. Those were simply references to where the majority of the guys out there say they are at, but at the same time I shouldn't be running this beast with the gain anywhere between 12 or 2 and over 3/4 volume to keep up with a drummer, without something being a miss. If it was playing style or the bass itself, rewiring a cabinet would not have been my first idea of things to fix, but I really do appreciate the input.
Do the volume knobs affect the level going to the amp as well? ;-)
Sorry for the double post android is still working out some bugs on the talk bass app
I wish lol but thanks man. And thanks chef, just when I thought I was done cab shopping, I've got to start all over again to tame this beast.
KsPiNeSh said:
I wish lol but thanks man. And thanks chef, just when I thought I was done cab shopping, I've got to start all over again to tame this beast.
Chef
In Memoriam
Finally broke the M-9 and HT-322 out last night for the 1st outdoor gig of the season.. I kind of missed this combo and it roared last night.. I've been using the M-3 combo for most gigs and it probably would have been fine for last night, but wanted to break out the big gun..
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