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Mesa or Ampeg

#24
anderbass said:
I don't really think my Ampeg sounds all that special when played solo, but the full, fat, growly way it sounds (and especially feels) with my rock bands is both amazing and something my Mesa simply cant duplicate.
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+100000:hyper:
I agree also Amazing ability to just SIT in the mix PERFECTLY!! I've actually never tried a MESA tube bass amp.
I've tried the walkabout-nice & the M-pulse 600 ???? which was OK, But I LIKE the AMPEG tone myself. & it's ability to blend with the band.:bassist:

ps............I'm not overly impressed w/ Mesa's for reliability either( I know heaps of ppl will chime in here & say how reliable they are) But a cuppla guitarists I know who paid TOP DOLLAR for their mesa combo's have had LOT'S of probs!! LOT'S-both of 'em!!!!!!
 
#25
I think mesa is way to hard to access and afford. 1900 is the price (I think, no one really knows anyway...) for a new rr810, and that's something you have to go out and find. I paid 900 for my new ampeg 810e, right here in my local music shop.

Sorry to revive the thread...
 
#27
Mesa.

IMO SS ampeg stuff blows and tube amps in general don't have enough clean headroom for me, so the SVT has never wooed me.

Ampeg cabs have always left me underwhelmed.

Mesa is just my sound... deep and clear. It can also do dirty and aggressive too...

Nothing like having a "Mesa Engineering" badge behind you :).
 
#28
*insertcoolname said:
I think mesa is way to hard to access and afford. 1900 is the price (I think, no one really knows anyway...) for a new rr810, and that's something you have to go out and find. I paid 900 for my new ampeg 810e, right here in my local music shop.

Sorry to revive the thread...
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I don't mind paying for good gear. I got my ampeg 810 for around 650 at a going out of business sale. My tone was always muddy through it...

The RR810 can probably be dropped off a stage and it would be unscathed...
 
#30
Baird6869 said:
Vice versa here. I think Mesa blows and Ampeg sounds the best.

Don't listen to anyone on a forum. Try them yourself. Taste is personal.

Something like 85% of touring pros use Ampeg but again, buy what sounds best to you.
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I agree... go with what sounds best to you.

Tone is so subjective... Probably 85% of pros use Fenders too, but that would never be my first go to bass. I feel that with mesa (speaking from when I owned my 400) I was able to sculpt my own tone more easily. Ampeg has always been good, but it's always been the same tone that is heard in 85% of music... I'm the arrogant bastard that has to go against the flow I guess :).
 
#32
scuz said:
If we were going to put these brands into two different categories, would Ampeg fall under "vintage" tone and Mesa "modern" as a general rule?
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Both can be versatile (my SVT-CL and an old Mesa 400+ I used to use anyways) so I would be careful with that assumption.

As a broad generalization though, I would agree. Ampeg is more of a "vintage" tone and Mesa could be considered more "modern".
 
#35
I've onwed a 400+ and a vintage SVT. I sold the Mesa and I would never let my svt go. I thought the mesa sounded good until I got the ampeg and found the end all beat all. There's just something about the perfectly smooth midrange grind you get with the ampeg that you just can't get with any other amp. Plus I didn't like screwing around with the mesa's tone adjusting deal, pushing this, pulling that etc. The SVT is plug and play, all the knobs str8 up with a little boost in the middle midrange....done. Best sound ever. The mesa did sound good though, especially with my Sterling, where as the svt sounds best to me with fenders. Of course, who am I. You have to hear and play them both to make a decision. Make sure you do that becuase you don't want to waste money on one only to find out you really like the other.
 
#36
I'm obviously in the minority here, but I have owned several Mesa's (guitar and bass amps) over the years and will never own one again. For me, they were not reliable, poorly built, overpriced and never produced the tone i was looking for. Also being an amp tech, and repairing more than 100 of them in the last 30 years, i was never impressed with Mesa's design or sound/response on any of them. I own two SVT's and think they blow away anything Mesa has ever made. but the thing to remember is that no amount of opinions or reading info on the web can substitute for actually playing thru an amp and making a decision based on your own preferences.
 
#37
If I am purchasing New gear I am going with Mesa ... I just think its a better made product that the new Ampeg stuff...


I have an Ampeg 72 SVT which is second to none.....


but - because I'm an old guy -

my main gigging amp these days is a Walkabout Scout :hyper:
 
#40
as an old man, 58 in two weeks, i have had the opportunity and i have owned and toured with six svt's in my lifetime, i loved them, starting when we shared a bill with the tower of power and rocco was using an svt with two sunn 2x15 bottoms, my first svt was the power cap tube version, there simply was nothing that compared at that time, and acoustics and other solid state pieces were just not reliable enuf for the road

other that the svt, fully tube version, i would not own an ampeg that is made today

now i am using mesa heads, mainly the walkabout, i do not have the back to haul an svt today
 

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