This was nice surprise this morning to me to see shipping notification from Sweetwater on pre-ordered unit. I thought these were to be available in December or something....
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This was nice surprise this morning to me to see shipping notification from Sweetwater on pre-ordered unit. I thought these were to be available in December or something....
I played around with the pedal for a few hours and found a setting that is pretty close sounding to my D-180 setting. I'm not sure if I'm 100% there but it sounds killer through the D-180 power section and Mesa 1516 cab! I, at the very least, have an awesome baseline setting to work from.
I took it to rehearsal where I run straight into a PA. I sounded much thinner ( as oppossed to going through the D-180) until I up'd the gain on the board. Then it sounded very good! Cut amazingly. Sounded big.
I honestly sounded better than I have in a long time! I really love this pedal so far, and wouldn't be afraid to gig with just it and a Snark. I'm still gona try a cab sim with it though. The gearhead in me has to keep pushing.
D-180 Settings
Subway Preamp settings
I can't wait for more peeps to get theirs and share settings!!
I took it to rehearsal where I run straight into a PA. I sounded much thinner ( as oppossed to going through the D-180) until I up'd the gain on the board. Then it sounded very good! Cut amazingly. Sounded big.
I honestly sounded better than I have in a long time! I really love this pedal so far, and wouldn't be afraid to gig with just it and a Snark. I'm still gona try a cab sim with it though. The gearhead in me has to keep pushing.
D-180 Settings
Subway Preamp settings
I can't wait for more peeps to get theirs and share settings!!
Al Kraft
Supporting Member
- May 2, 2016
- 10,771
- 40,450
- Disclosures
- Mesa Boogie beta product tester and player support
I am truly amazed at how many Mesa amps are hidden in that D-800/Subway DI preamp.
Yes. I haven't dimed the input but had it close. I'll play with it tonight and report back on just how overdriven I can get it.
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Grind and edge is all there! I would say in an appropriate and classy way. Not overdone. I turned some knobs and got some great sounding overdriven tones. I won't sugarcoat it though. No real distortion tones.
With my active bass, I turned the switch to passive, dimed the input and adjusted master. There was distortion but not the kind a player would want, IMO. Grind and overdriven tube amp tones all around but not all-on useable distortion.
For fun, I also tried to get the cleanest tone I could and it was not sparkly clean, but hey its a Mesa. The difference between the cleanest tone I was able to get and the dirtiest tone was not substantial, but there was most definitely a difference. I hope this helps.
This is not IME so far, Mesa's version of a DG pedal but Mesa's version of a very versatile tube amp in a pedal. I'm not much of a reviewer and probably not even qualified to do so but this is what I think so far. I'm very happy with it.
With my active bass, I turned the switch to passive, dimed the input and adjusted master. There was distortion but not the kind a player would want, IMO. Grind and overdriven tube amp tones all around but not all-on useable distortion.
For fun, I also tried to get the cleanest tone I could and it was not sparkly clean, but hey its a Mesa. The difference between the cleanest tone I was able to get and the dirtiest tone was not substantial, but there was most definitely a difference. I hope this helps.
This is not IME so far, Mesa's version of a DG pedal but Mesa's version of a very versatile tube amp in a pedal. I'm not much of a reviewer and probably not even qualified to do so but this is what I think so far. I'm very happy with it.
Al Kraft
Supporting Member
- May 2, 2016
- 10,771
- 40,450
- Disclosures
- Mesa Boogie beta product tester and player support
Nice write-up and based on my D-800 experience I would agree. As someone who likes clean with a little tube warmth and avoids seriously over-driven and distortion type tones, the Subway preamp section hits the nail on the head for me.Grind and edge is all there! I would say in an appropriate and classy way. Not overdone. I turned some knobs and got some great sounding overdriven tones. I won't sugarcoat it though. No real distortion tones.
With my active bass, I turned the switch to passive, dimed the input and adjusted master. There was distortion but not the kind a player would want, IMO. Grind and overdriven tube amp tones all around but not all-on useable distortion.
For fun, I also tried to get the cleanest tone I could and it was not sparkly clean, but hey its a Mesa. The difference between the cleanest tone I was able to get and the dirtiest tone was not substantial, but there was most definitely a difference. I hope this helps.
This is not IME so far, Mesa's version of a DG pedal but Mesa's version of a very versatile tube amp in a pedal. I'm not much of a reviewer and probably not even qualified to do so but this is what I think so far. I'm very happy with it.
It came yesterday! I played with it some last night and a bit today and i like it a lot so far.
The settings are what I've come up with playing at home through my headphone amp. Things will probably change a bit once i get to use it with the band.
Also, with my set up, from about 2 o'clock up i can get a nice bit of grind going.
My only complaint so far is with the battery cover on the bottom and the screws not being countersunk (like the ampeg scr-di) when you take the rubber feet off it was kind of a pain to get secure on my pedalboard. Other then that I'm very happy with it so far.
I had a gig last night and I ran the Subway preamp into the effects return of my Prodigy and experienced the best rock tone I've ever had in 26 years of playing.
Awesome. Just bought one from sweetwater. Looking forward to getting it with a bag of candy.
I was using my vintage Modulus Bass Star (EMG split coil P) into a Keeley Bassist into the Subway pre with the following settings. The Prodigy was set to half power and the cab was a Bergantino CN410.
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It is super easy to get great tone with the Subway pre and when you combine it with a tube power section like the Prodigy, it sounds amazing.
AHHH don't say that! I was already missing my Prodigy enough! This does sound amazing through the fx return on a streamliner with settings similar to yours.
That's my plan as well. Streamliner 900. Not that that head needs help, just that the mesa preamp will be the heart of my direct/ears rig, with the streamliner doing amp duty for the rare(ish) amp gig.
