Mesa Subway Micro Head?

[gtirard]

Just curious, @agedhorse did you ever think of designing a micro, gigbag friendly bass amp like the Trace Elliot Elf or the Warwick Gnome?

@ Talkbass members: would you have any intereset in such a product, with fewer controls and less power than the D350, but with the same tone?

 

[ahbass2500]

No interest from me on this one. Love the D350. Could not see myself buying a smaller one. I get the gig bag friendly format is desirable for some. I would not like the compromises needed to get smaller (losing some controls, adding a fan, lower power).

 

[Aloe]

I'm not interested. to me a 350W is a small enough head (and frankly a low-powered enough). I own a 350-watter with passive cooling (albeit not the Mesa) and I'm not interested in a 200-watter both due to power and ergonomics.

when you go really small like Elf or Gnome, you have to make different compromises to make it small. less knobs for a more compact chassis, possibly no room for speakon, possibly active cooling for the sake of smaller chassis. if you'll just look on the 200-watters, you mentioned, they have those drawbacks compared to a D350. in fact, a 300W Gnome has all those drawbacks despite being the same weight as a D350.

it's great that we have those sub-compact 200-watters, but once we have them the most popular request on them is 'give me a higher powered one'. Mesa got it right from the first try.

TLDR: just get a D350.

 

[SJan3]

I don't subscribe to the compromises associated with micro amps. I also own a Mesa D350 as well as an Aguilar Tonehammer 350. These amps are as small as I dare go with no real compromises. And at appx 3 lbs they are featherweights. No one should complain about "difficult to carry".
IMHO, at a certain point practical becomes impractical when the amp won't stay put on your cabinet and you need a magnifying glass to see the controls and I don't want to compromise power for size. So, no thanks!

 

[Dynacord]

I'd absolutely be interested in a Mesa voiced alternative to the ELF head with similar size/weight. Happy to trade off some of the controls, Speakon connection (really don't care), though would very much like HPF to be included. My main gripes about the ELF are the fan noise (crazy loud) and that the compression can't be defeated. If an alternative could address those issues, add HPF (and, in a perfect world, add a bit more power), I'd be in for sure.

 

[ClassicJazz]

While my main gigging amp is a Genz Benz Shuttle 9.0, I do have the Warwick Gnome 200 Micro as well. It basically stays in my car as a backup since it is so small. That said its a great little amp. Very basic and just standard 1/4 speaker outputs due to the size. But built like a tank!! I do use it every now and then. I also happen to have the Warwick Gnome 600 as well.

 

[baxter_x]

I really like my Gnome. So convenient, easy to use and sounds great.
I guess a micro Mesa amp would be great.

 

[agedhorse]

The tradeoffs and loss of features considered important to most Subway players were just too significant in a smaller amp. We have a pretty good handle on what our typical Subway player really wants/needs and we try hard to achieve that happy medium.

 

[wjcstp]

Given Andy's comments in multiple threads about the value of speakon connectors i doubt that's a tradeoff Mesa would make with any amp, and given the market always asking for a bit more power it's doubtful that they'd produce anything lower powered than the D350. The fanless design is really a killer feature of the D350, i can imagine it needs a certain size and venting to make that work (that may not apply to a smaller form factor).

 

[Element Zero]

As I've mentioned to Andy in the past, and I know I'm part of a small minority, but I'd like to see a Subway head with the following…

Active/Passive switch, BASS and HIGH boost switches, Variable HPF, Voicing Control, Input Gain, and Output volume. 350 watt 4 ohm, DI, USB output, and headphone jack.

That's it.

 

[Stranger Danger]

As I've mentioned to Andy in the past, and I know I'm part of a small minority, but I'd like to see a Subway head with the following…

Active/Passive switch, BASS and HIGH boost switches, Variable HPF, Voicing Control, Input Gain, and Output volume. 350 watt 4 ohm, DI, USB output, and headphone jack.

That's it.

So a D800 plus with the volume turned down?

 

[HolmeBass]

Not me. And I don't own an Elf or a Gnome either. I briefly entertained the idea of getting Quiter's pedal board bass amp, but I just don't really need an amp like that.

 

[Gervais Cote]

The D350 is already small enough for me as well, no need for anything smaller than that.

I don't want to sacrifice the robustness for a smaller size.

 

[-Asdfgh-]

I'm not interested. to me a 350W is a small enough head (and frankly a low-powered enough). I own a 350-watter with passive cooling (albeit not the Mesa) and I'm not interested in a 200-watter both due to power and ergonomics.

when you go really small like Elf or Gnome, you have to make different compromises to make it small. less knobs for a more compact chassis, possibly no room for speakon, possibly active cooling for the sake of smaller chassis. if you'll just look on the 200-watters, you mentioned, they have those drawbacks compared to a D350. in fact, a 300W Gnome has all those drawbacks despite being the same weight as a D350.

it's great that we have those sub-compact 200-watters, but once we have them the most popular request on them is 'give me a higher powered one'. Mesa got it right from the first try.

TLDR: just get a D350.

Which other passively cooled 350W head do you have?

 

[Aloe]

Which other passively cooled 350W head do you have?

the Phil Jones D-400.

I'm actually letting it go due to financial troubles, so if anyone is interested in a second-hand one, PM me.

 

[Bander]

Im looking for a micro, fits in a gig bag pocket, and was thinking the same thing, id rather have a Mesa than a TC, frog GREEN Elf, etc.

 

[ole Jason]

I use a Warwick Gnome for my weekly upright gig and also own a Mesa TT I use for electric bass. I've owned several 350w "mini" heads as well.

I don't have much interest in a Mesa voiced micro head. I think the voicing of the Gnome is pretty much perfect and the format, in general, suits itself to amps leaning more towards the transparent side.

That said, and I've talked about this in a few threads, I'm always surprised how stagnant the micro amp head offerings are. We've had the Elf and Gnome for nearly 10 years now. It's surprising no one has released a head with more power, a more nuanced EQ, and built in HPF. There are obviously pretty severe tech/size limitations when working with really small chassis', it's just surprising we haven't seen anyone bring a new generation of this format to the market.

IIRC none of the current micro heads use ICE modules. Can't recall what they're using but maybe there aren't any higher power modules available that can work in a chassis that small without experiencing temperature issues.

 

[salmon256]

While I do love some Micro amps.

If only carrying a small 1x12 or 1x10 cab, or something like Barefaced Supertwin for example, I feel like having a head that is big or least not "micro" isn't a big deal to me with one bass.

That is me though - I am unsure where most Mesa buyers are from but I'm gonna assume mostly America and the UK where people drive a lot so storing an amp for a bass player isn't a big deal.

But I do love micro amps - small rigs of doom is the way to go!

 

[Jazzdogg]

Just curious, @agedhorse did you ever think of designing a micro, gigbag friendly bass amp like the Trace Elliot Elf or the Warwick Gnome?

@ Talkbass members: would you have any intereset in such a product, with fewer controls and less power than the D350, but with the same tone?

My small cabs are the impetus for a small head, like my AI Focus.
Small cabs, like my Crazy8 and Crazy88, perform at their best with a variable HPF. And, because my two cabs present a 2.67 Ohm load, a 2 Ohm or 1.67 Ohm-capable head is very desirable. In consequence, small heads without these capabilities are of limited interest to me.

 

[iammr2]

I'd like to see one with a Volume, and HPF, a Voicing, and a Damping control. And if there is room, a preamp tube. And that's it! The rest I can control from the bass.