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Mesa Walkabout gain is crushing loud

sleevey55

sleevey55

Supporting Member
Nov 21, 2009
2,158
1,498
55
Billings Montana
#1
I just got a used silver face with maroon accents Walkabout head, has only 1/4 on the back. Anyways, with everything flat and the gain at 9 and master at 9 its stupid loud, I mean like 800 watts loud. It is super sensitive to me touching the strings ect. It picks up everything I do like the gain is cranked all the way. I can turn it up to half and its just silly loud and it reproduces every little string touch or slide....its not right, theres no way this head is this loud at 300 watts. What could be the issue? Anyone heard of this? Im running it into a 4ohm cab, a brand new GK412. This Mesa is WAY louder than my other bigger heads. What could be the deal????
 
#2
Ha! It's freaky isn't it?

I run my gain about there and in church the other day I could barely turn the volume on at all! Literally about 10 degrees of turn from completely off and I was all set. I had a couple of guys come over to verify. They were stunned. And I was covering the room with my rig! (Ice storm caused us to cancel service so we just did it Facebook live.)

I was running it with an Epifani UL410.

Just for fun I turned it to about two or three and it was ludicrous loud.

Short version? There's no rule that says you have to run the volume on 9. Turn the sucker down and enjoy. :thumbsup:
 
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#4

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#5
Zooberwerx said:
Good question...I think this is the correct manual:

http://www.mesaboogie.com/media/User Manuals/WalkAbout.pdf

You're using the active input, correct? Can you post a pic of the control panel...I'd like to see the current settings while reading the manual. BTW, the "Mid" is boost only so the flattest response would be fully CCW.

Riis
Click to expand...
Ok cool, i see the mid is passive.......now the kiddos are going to be so I cant check it but as you can see, I had it up where I would normally play around at on other amps..........thanks for pointing that out Zoober! Ill run it again tomorrow. The sensitivity I was experiencing explains the mids cranked lol. However, for the rated 300 Watts this thinmg supposedly puts out, its still pretty unbelieveable. I was expecting a nice tone but gutless on power. Not at all the case. Ive only ran it briefly through my GK412. Tomorrow I'll try her again then put it through my Berg and Aggie cabs. Thanks and Ill be in touch to let you know what I find. Respect.
 
#6
sleevey55 said:
Ok cool, i see the mid is passive.......now the kiddos are going to be so I cant check it but as you can see, I had it up where I would normally play around at on other amps..........thanks for pointing that out Zoober! Ill run it again tomorrow. The sensitivity I was experiencing explains the mids cranked lol. However, for the rated 300 Watts this thinmg supposedly puts out, its still pretty unbelieveable. I was expecting a nice tone but gutless on power. Not at all the case. Ive only ran it briefly through my GK412. Tomorrow I'll try her again then put it through my Berg and Aggie cabs. Thanks and Ill be in touch to let you know what I find. Respect.
Click to expand...

I'd un-do all the boosts with emphasis on the tube section. After reading the manual, I'd aim for goosing the gain to get some tube saturation and then compensate by attenuating among the various EQ options.

Riis
 
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#9
Yeah I run my gain just under breakup. Just let your EARS take you where you want to go with this amp. The para mids section takes a while to figure out. But once you do it is a powerful tool.

And, as I understand it (feel free to correct me somebody), a passive tone control (be it on a bass or an amp) is cut only. In other words, wide open is flat. But that's just semantics.

Enjoy your amp. They truly are special in my view.
 
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#11
Be thing to remember about some "passive mid" circuits is that there may be make-up gain involved which makes it appear to behave differently. That is the case of the WA.

There is a lot of available boost/cut in the parametric eq bands, I strongly recommend starting with these eq levels flat 12:00)
 
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#13
agedhorse said:
Be thing to remember about some "passive mid" contract lbs is that there may be make-up gain involved which makes it appear to behave differently. That is the case of the WA.

There is a lot of available boost/cut in the parametric eq bands, I strongly recommend starting with these eq levels flat 12:00)
Click to expand...

Yeah this. It takes some getting used to, but if you learn those para mids the Walkabout is your new best friend. Start neutral and boost/cut as needed. Use it like black pepper. Start with a little and work your way up.
 
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#15
I have two (Red and Black face) and alternate them with gigs. Run them through 2 12 Radiator Scouts. This rig has never failed to serve me well. Still haven't pulled the trigger on the Subway because of how satisfied I am.
 
#17
I've owned a blackface Walkabout for about a year now, and I'm so happy I gave up the big iron. I prefer it most times over my Mesa 400 with KT-88's. I play it through 1 or 2(as needed) 1x15's with Eminence 3015's. I finally got a chance to do a recording session with it, and through the Walkabout DI, I got the best bass tone I have ever recorded. I've tried all kinds of other DI's, mic'ed cabs, etc., but that Walkabout DI just nailed it on my old P-bass with steel rounds. Do yourselves a favor and give the DI a try into FOH or recording. Amazing!
 
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