How about just having a slot on top of a SW112 that will hold one of those cool prototype D-350's?
Voila! a modern Walkabout!
Voila! a modern Walkabout!
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Mesa Next-Gen Walkabout Scout
- Thread starter MultiScaleMale
- Start date
I actually thought about buying one just to run at really low levels since there is the one that does vocals too.
I think the model was
Mesa/Boogie Rosette One:Ten - 300 Watt 2-channel Acoustic Amp
Run my passive basses through it, and my one Gibson guitar that collects dust.
Edit: I know this isn’t reasonable, but man that thing comes in Premier Myrtlewood too.
-ScottM
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$1,599 would certainly work for me. That would be a relative bargain though, since IIRC that was the MSRP on my 12" Scout combo nearly 15 years ago.
IMHO the price range depends on how many Mesa wants to sell 
I believe at 1250 they'd sell quite a few, but that over 1500 + tax there might be a hard knee sales drop. I'm sure their marketing research will answer the question. From where I stand, a SS combo with a 112 speaker won't have much appeal over a 112 cab and head. I wouldn't buy a stunted D800 with 350 watts in a 112 combo unless it was MUCH lighter than the current D800/112 and under 1K, but that just might be the sweetest market niche for Mesa in terms of their prime directive. That'd be a gigable Mesa combo without frills with a high quality/price ratio. I already have SW112 and 115 cabs and a WD800. For me. a tiny combo, like a 110 with full featured (HPF, aux/phones/DI, ample eq) that's 25 lbs or less would be very attractive, even without a tube pre and even at 200-350 watts into 4 Ohms with ext/175 or so to the attached cab. If it weighed anywhere near as much the SW112 cab I'd prefer separates. My (uneducated) market guess is that there are 2 niches to consider: a higher end/smaller, full featured offering for recording, etc, and a 112 dressed down version.
EDIT: I think a highly featured 112 version would be too pricey and overlap a separate SW112 and head too closely to appeal to a broad enough market.
I believe at 1250 they'd sell quite a few, but that over 1500 + tax there might be a hard knee sales drop. I'm sure their marketing research will answer the question. From where I stand, a SS combo with a 112 speaker won't have much appeal over a 112 cab and head. I wouldn't buy a stunted D800 with 350 watts in a 112 combo unless it was MUCH lighter than the current D800/112 and under 1K, but that just might be the sweetest market niche for Mesa in terms of their prime directive. That'd be a gigable Mesa combo without frills with a high quality/price ratio. I already have SW112 and 115 cabs and a WD800. For me. a tiny combo, like a 110 with full featured (HPF, aux/phones/DI, ample eq) that's 25 lbs or less would be very attractive, even without a tube pre and even at 200-350 watts into 4 Ohms with ext/175 or so to the attached cab. If it weighed anywhere near as much the SW112 cab I'd prefer separates. My (uneducated) market guess is that there are 2 niches to consider: a higher end/smaller, full featured offering for recording, etc, and a 112 dressed down version.EDIT: I think a highly featured 112 version would be too pricey and overlap a separate SW112 and head too closely to appeal to a broad enough market.
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Perhaps a lower wattage self powered speaker cabinet with a separate preamp. Scale the power by adding an additional speaker cabinet.
IMHO the price range depends on how many Mesa wants to sell
Sounds a lot like what I put together back in 2013 but with SWR's parts and upgrades...
The Combo SWR Should Have Made...
I still think there's a market for full featured combos made for (semi) pros as there isn't much out there competing in that catagory. There's lots of affordable combos from Ampeg, Fender, GK, and here in Canada Traynor. There's very limited offerings in the high end market. If Mesa can't fill that void, who will?
You make a lot of good points about the comparison between pricing and separates. The benefit of a combo is more for those that would prefer simplicity or portability when they know most of the time they won't need the extension cab. It's good to know that if they do they still can and get a full powered amp though.
I've taken that SWR combo out on gigs and have used the 8 ohm "house" cab with the combo or simply switched the internal speaker off if the cab was 4 ohm to prevent driving below minimum impedance. It's such a handy combo to have for appropriate 110 volume jams when you don't know what to expect.
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Consider the current pricing - The D-800 is $799, so I am guessing that a D-350 would retail for $649-699.
A Subway 1x12 cabinet is $749 and would obviously need some modification to accommodate the D-350 head. So roughly, at the minimum we are in the $1,400-ish range plus whatever an included Mesa cover would cost.
For a USA-manufactured professional-level 350-watt combo in a 1x12 cabinet with some top-secret modern tweaks by agedhorse, IMO this combo would likely eclipse the Walkabout Scout 12. I would gladly pay $1,500 or even somewhat more for a top-of-the-line Mesa 1x12 combo.
Just my opinion, guys....
A Subway 1x12 cabinet is $749 and would obviously need some modification to accommodate the D-350 head. So roughly, at the minimum we are in the $1,400-ish range plus whatever an included Mesa cover would cost.
For a USA-manufactured professional-level 350-watt combo in a 1x12 cabinet with some top-secret modern tweaks by agedhorse, IMO this combo would likely eclipse the Walkabout Scout 12. I would gladly pay $1,500 or even somewhat more for a top-of-the-line Mesa 1x12 combo.
Just my opinion, guys....
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I appreciate hearing so many well-considered opinions from folks who own and use Mesa bass gear. Here are few more of my thoughts:
1) Any new WA inspired combo can't be so close either in price or in feature set to existing Subway series products that it competes with them for sales.
2) We expect that fewer (and/or simpler) features should result in lower production costs and selling price. The question (as always) is where to compromise - what to keep and what to leave out.
For myself, I could live without a user-removable chassis if it will save cabinet complexity, weight, and cost. I can also live without an effects loop. I could get by just fine without a three-band parametric EQ. Yes, I'd want some type of HPF, whether fixed or variable. Aux in and headphone out could come in handy. The size and weight should be portable enough to carry while riding public transit vehicles.
Where I'm unwilling to compromise . . . Mesa tone, reliability, and customer service.
1) Any new WA inspired combo can't be so close either in price or in feature set to existing Subway series products that it competes with them for sales.
2) We expect that fewer (and/or simpler) features should result in lower production costs and selling price. The question (as always) is where to compromise - what to keep and what to leave out.
For myself, I could live without a user-removable chassis if it will save cabinet complexity, weight, and cost. I can also live without an effects loop. I could get by just fine without a three-band parametric EQ. Yes, I'd want some type of HPF, whether fixed or variable. Aux in and headphone out could come in handy. The size and weight should be portable enough to carry while riding public transit vehicles.
Where I'm unwilling to compromise . . . Mesa tone, reliability, and customer service.
not sure if you've seen the original Walkabout, but the amp slot was dead simple ... just a rhino-vinyl covered panel (same as the cab) that screwed (6 or 8 screws, I don't recall exactly how many) into the back of the amp to keep it firmly in place in the cabinet cut-out slot meant to hold it. So, the amp itself (and its chassis) did not attach to anything.
very simple and cool design IMO/IME
My WA scout 12 has six screws with cup washers on the back panel - certainly not much cost there. The potential cost savings is in the complexity of the cabinet : how much material plus the number of operations needed to cut, glue, clamp, etc. Also, cost might possibly be reduced by not enclosing the chassis with a finished metal cabinet on all six surfaces.
someone up thread showed their WD800/Scout combo and all they seemed to have done is used 2 U channel sections to keep the WD800 in the original Scout cab amp slot.
Very clean and easy
Can a bracket be made to attach where the side handle is and incorporate a new handle? This would allow the Subway cabs to be converted without permanent modification, make a one hand carry easier, and be able to take advantage of the 112's smaller footprint when turned 90°.
Yes, a perfectly simple and elegent mod which @MuthaFunk did a while back to enhance cooling with his original WA head. The picture of his Scout cab shows four vertical battens, a multiple-radius cut shelf at the bottom, and a similar cut on the top panel of the cabinet - all of which needed to be produced and assembled. This illustrates the type of complexity which might provide opportunity for cost reduction.
+1 I don't see the point of bolting a wd800 on top of a 112 cab. Give us something different and exciting, light weight, portable, which is why you're buying a combo in the first place. As someone who was formerly obsessed with portability a shallow depth makes a huge difference. My just sold hartke hd500 combo and new to me bergantino 210 are 12" deep, sound great and easy to carry.
Al Kraft
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IIRC and my WA Scout combo is old (but still working fine), I think they were in that grand to grand and half range. Although when you looked at the cost of the head alone and then priced cabs, it wasn't a bad deal IMO.
The sound and quality was good enough that I was willing to put up with an awkward carry and a little more weight than I wanted. IMO there wasn't a better sounding combo out there, and the compromise to trim down size and weight (i.e. buy another brand's easier to carry/transport combo) came at a noticeable performance/quality expense.
With the lighter weight, high performance technology that is mainstream in the bass gear world today, a combo might have a harder time convincing me that a SW head in a gig bag and a SW cab (or AudioKinesis, Barefaced, pick your favorite lightweight high performer cab) isn't worth the few minutes of extra set up time.
I'd take a WD-800 on top of a Subway 115 that is attached via a plate very similar to the Genz Benz Shuttle combos that used to be out there.
Whichever amp would be chosen in that scenario, I'd recommend designing it in such a way that the cab could be tilted back, and the amp wouldn't cause a balance problem.
Heck, you could even offer a tilt-back platform/brace as an accompanying accessory, then we'd have the assurance that everything is designed to work together.
I have an LDS built 112 tilt back cab that houses a WD 800 head similar to the Walkabout design.
cab is loaded with a Fiatal Pro 12FH500 8 ohm.
cab is loaded with a Fiatal Pro 12FH500 8 ohm.
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