Not meaning to speak for Mesa. There was discussion about a combo amp in another thread, and the upshot was that the price would be prohibitive.
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Mesa Subway D-350!
- Thread starter mmbongo
- Start date
Mesa sells a 1/12 cab that retails for $750 let’s say they should be able to do a 1/10 for $700 or a little less. A lot of folks replied here that they would pay around $600 for a 350 head. I think $1200 to $1300 should be doable. The new Elf 1/10 combo is only $600. Closer in quality the Phil Jone Bass BG400 with 4/5’s goes for $1200. I would like to here @agedhorse opinion on this.
Gawd! Peavey did that in the 80's and I would inadvertently bump one of the bass controls back in and all of a sudden in the middle of a song I'd sound like Pee Wee Herman on bass! Nah, no push/pull controls for me please.
A 1/10 combo would be a disappointment for me. I would want 12" or better yet, 15" after A/B'ing the cabs in the store. The 2/10 is probably my favorite.
Agreed. At a minimum a 1x12" combo. With everyone's request the list of wants might become overwhelming. This started out as the OP asking if anyone saw the D-350 LOL. Don't get me wrong, I'd also like a D-350 combo, but not at 45 pounds. We've moved away from that and it's more historical than the norm.
Jim Carr
Dr. Jim
- Jan 21, 2006
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Isn't it true that 800 watts @ 4 ohms is not really all that much "louder" than the proposed D-350, in theory at least—about 4 dB?
If a D-350 were really small and light and/or a bargain, it would probably be successful simply because the D series heads sound great, have wonderful features, and are very well made. Yet, my case is probably not typical.
I play upright at least 50% of the time. I love my D-800, and usually use it every weekend, or when I'm not using a Mesa Prodigy at my Wednesday Blues gig (always on electric). I often perform on upright and electric without significant PA help, and drive either 12/12/6/1 or 15/6/1 fEARful power hungry cabinets. Genres vary, but Gospel, Reggae, Rockabilly, and Psychobilly are most of what I do. There is lot's of upright slap/click, and full range Jazz/R&B inflected Gospel.
I need to be able to adapt to large or small venues, but very rarely can play at what one might call a "modest volume level" (sigh).
Maybe that theoretical 4 dB difference matters a lot? And yet, my D-800 is sometimes—in loud stage volume situations—nearly running out of gas (or so it seems). It isn't as clean as I like. I've experienced the same thing with the M9. To stay clean in a very loud band with the fEARfuls, it takes my Prolite 3.0 (sigh, again). Yes, I always wear ear protection, LOL.
Thus, I don't think a 350 watt rms @ 4 ohms head would be useful FOR ME in most cases. The Prodigy sits near that in power, but I would never take it to anything "unknown" or possibly fully "loud."
Details of what I do with the D-800:
N.B., I really don't "dime" my D-800, but want it to be clean, so I generally keep the preamp gain on the low side, and the amplifier's main output pretty high. I also don't run my active instruments wide open, so I can adjust to ensemble levels quickly, and feel some of my active instruments sound better that way.
On upright, I use a small pedal board with the piezo friendly fdeck v3 HPF, a Sadowsky sbp-1 (tiny boost of lows and highs), and a v1 smoothie compressor. A festival of gain stage challenges, no?
Deep switch is off, voicing is at about 75%, lows at 11 o'clock, and low mids, high mids, and treble are all boosted a bit. I'm taking things away and boosting some of the same areas. That just seems counter-intuitive.
So yes, on upright I combine a voicing scoop with a mid settings boost! I don't really know why, but it really works well with my Upton piezo pickup. It gives me a loud, realistic upright tone, with very little feed back. Sorry this got so long.
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- Feb 12, 2006
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- Development Engineer-Mesa Boogie, Development Engineer-Genzler (pedals), Product Support-Genz Benz
Good question, my gut feeling is that many players would balk at a combo much over $1000. Talkbass players tend to be less cost limited than the average player too.
Interesting. I am guessing that the same reliability issue covers stacked pots too?
- Feb 12, 2006
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- 5
- 220,642
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- Development Engineer-Mesa Boogie, Development Engineer-Genzler (pedals), Product Support-Genz Benz
I’d love to have that “concept” amp built in to a 112 combo - a lightweight alternative to the GK MB150S.
Let me know when I can order one!
Let me know when I can order one!
Yep, there's a thread that devolved into just that. An amp manufacturer that opted to drop the XLR DI out
and replaced it with a 1/4" TRS out instead, to save space.
When it doesn't?
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I didn't read all the posts, so if someone mentioned this already, mea culpa. Mesa already had a 350w bass head - the Walkabout. Good luck finding one; they are spectaular and everyone who has one knows it. I bought a D800 for more headroom when I need it, but I'm not selling my Walkabout so don't ask.
ATST, we have the WD-800 because folks found the Walkabout lacking as far as power and getting too wooly when pushed to try to get loud. So the Walkabout has it's place just not in all applications
But I hear ya.
Jim Carr
Dr. Jim
- Jan 21, 2006
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ATST, we have the WD-800 because folks found the Walkabout lacking as far as power and getting too wooly when pushed to try to get loud. So the Walkabout has it's place just not in all applications
You are right. It makes me wonder if there really is a need for the 350. I have noticed I can turn down whenever I want to, assuming my band mates have the willingness to plead "temporary sanity."
But seriously, "For a comparable price, I'll take the 350w mesa over the 800w mesa" said almost no one ever.
Jim Carr
Dr. Jim
- Jan 21, 2006
- 16,223
- 7,613
- 76
- Disclosures
- fEARful Kool-Aid dispensing liberal academic card-carrying union member Musicians Local 72-147
Ok, I get that, and having used one a lot I think the MB150S, is cool.
But seriously, bringing light 12/6/1 and a D-800 is about the same amount of schlep, and is way more of everything else, IMHO.
You say you want a micro, light 350-watt head but you want
to make it into a combo amp but Mesa made a 350-watt combo amp that
was heavy and lacked in power but you want a light 350-watt head but you want to make it into
a combo amp...
to make it into a combo amp but Mesa made a 350-watt combo amp that
was heavy and lacked in power but you want a light 350-watt head but you want to make it into
a combo amp...
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ATST, we have the WD-800 because folks found the Walkabout lacking as far as power and getting too wooly when pushed to try to get loud. So the Walkabout has it's place just not in all applications
You're spot on DJB. I've thought about selling my walkabout and my D800 and going all in on the WD-800. I've also fantasized about owning a gold plated jet pack. I'm standing pat for now but I'm all Mesa all the time at this stage.
Precisely!
+1
Ive made quite an investment to become lightweight, mobile, modular and versatile. Reverse evolution is not in my DNA.
I love my elf setup for what it is and why it ‘is’. In fact, I’ve considered getting an elf twin head in case it ever gets discontinued but, I’d happily grab up a Mesa that’s comparable, instead.
I never had a Walkabout but I have a version of it, sort of.
My WD-800 with either my Aguilar GS 112 or Eden CX 110 for my "combo" amps
