Mesa Walkabout Megathread!

[Akami]

Just thought anyone interested in the Walkabout would like to see the blue sparkle one I took a pic of this last weekend!

It's here in this link along with lots of other pics to drool over!

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=211868&highlight=Japan

 

[JJBluegrasser]

Hi All,
So I used my new Scout in a full rock band practice for the first time last night. It sounded great. I probably could do to add a speaker, but I only had the Scout last night (very insignificant headroom issue, plenty of volume).

Anyway, since I was running hot at times, I noticed that by the end of the night (3 hours) the tubes were breaking up (slightly) any time I hit the string hard, even on very low gain settings. Is this just the nature of the beast when dealing with tubes, or am I having a problem? It's very subtle, and I only noticed because I thought something was rattling. Has anyone else seen this either with the Walkabout or with another tube(like) amp?

Jason

 

[barroso]

Mesa Boogie Walkabout blue sparkle!!! awesome looking!!

 

[bassmonkeee]

Hi All,
So I used my new Scout in a full rock band practice for the first time last night. It sounded great. I probably could do to add a speaker, but I only had the Scout last night (very insignificant headroom issue, plenty of volume).

Anyway, since I was running hot at times, I noticed that by the end of the night (3 hours) the tubes were breaking up (slightly) any time I hit the string hard, even on very low gain settings. Is this just the nature of the beast when dealing with tubes, or am I having a problem? It's very subtle, and I only noticed because I thought something was rattling. Has anyone else seen this either with the Walkabout or with another tube(like) amp?

Jason

I noticed the same thing with my Scout combo, while I didn't have that issue with my stand alone head.

The explanation that I've been given is that the head in the combo tends to run hotter since the venting is covered by the plate that holds the head inside the combo.

Hotter tubes making more fuzz makes sense to me.

 

[Vic]

The "Quiet Walkabout" project moves forward...

Got my Silenx fan and AcoustiFan silicone isolation kits in today. Will try to install tonight and give results. The fan claims 28CFM at an amazing and paltry 14dBA. Far and away better than anything else I've seen... at least in printed specs. We'll see. I have no way to measure, but I can at least provide subjective results.

The main logistical issue with using the whole kit is those long nylon standoffs Mesa uses on the fan. Not sure if they'r really needed... it'd be nicer for the fan gasket I ordered if the fan could mount flat on the back panel. Maybe Mesa felt the fan really needed to be closer and blow right on the components more directly, as opposed to a general inside the case fan for general cooling airflow.

 

[slombovia]

The "Quiet Walkabout" project moves forward...

Got my Silenx fan and AcoustiFan silicone isolation kits...

I REALLY want to know how this turns out. My WalkAbout should be back from Mesa with the upgrades in a couple days. I was selling it but now I think I gotta keep it around for rehearsals and small gigs. But the fan did bother me before. Thanks for keeping us posted.

Tom

 

[Vic]

Ok, so the AcoustiFan AFG80 fan gasket and washer kit was a wash, because I didn't want to change the orientation of the fan by moving it up against the back panel (away from the output components).

Instead, what I did is cut some small grommits in half (to essentially make them thick rubber washers) and sandwiched the back panel between them. In other words, grommit, back panel, grommit, standoff, fan, and the screw passes through it all.

The idea is to try and isolate fan vibration from transmitting to the case, making it louder.

To be honest, with this fan, the vibration is so minimal I'm not sure this step has any real benefit, but it couldn't hurt, so I went ahead with it.

Here's a back view so you can see the screws up against the grommit halves.

Conventiently, the screws threaded nicely right into the fan, so I didn't even need to put the original lock nuts back on (which you can sort of see in the background in the second picture below).

Here's an internal view so you sort of see the standoffs holding the fan closer to the components.

The results were quite good. Of course you can still hear the fan, but it's quiet enough now that it's no longer annoying at all. Further, while it doesn't move as much air as the original fan (28CFM vs 36.5), it does seem to move a good amount, so I'm not very concerned about overheating.

Total cost, about $20.00 including shipping for the fan. These fans are kind of expensive (relatively speaking) at about $14 each. Most 80mm case fans are about $5.

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

I'm going to run with this for a while, but if, under some load conditions, it seems to struggle, or especially if it ever shuts down on me, I'm going to go a different route. Tri-cool. Basically, a switchable fan, so I can run it slow/quiet for home/studio, and fast/loud for gigs (where it wouldn't matter anyway).

In any case, so far so good.

 

[Vic]

Another one...

I haven't seen a scout cabinet yet, been soldiering on with a single 2x10 powerhouse cabinet. I'm looking for one of the 15" scouts at the moment.

I haven't played with preamp tubes yet since I was looking for opinions myself... how have you made out with the telefunkens?

I'm digging my walkabout completely - I just can't get a bad sound out of it and it's tiny!

I play mostly jazz, classic rock and some slap on a Fender Jazz bass but am rebuilding it slightly with flatwounds and a different setup to get a bigger, thuddier sound for a while.

 

[JJBluegrasser]

The explanation that I've been given is that the head in the combo tends to run hotter since the venting is covered by the plate that holds the head inside the combo.

Yea, I definitely think I am seeing this happen regularly now since I changed the fan. I'm using a lower CFM fan than Vic is, so his results may work out great. As long as I turn my amp off between sets, then I don't have too much trouble. But I've definately replicated this breakup issue more than once now and it always happens after things run for a while (ie. temp goes up).

Are there tubes out there that are better/worse for this problem?

Still no shutdown though, so that's good...

Jason

 

[Vic]

Yea, I definitely think I am seeing this happen regularly now since I changed the fan. I'm using a lower CFM fan than Vic is, so his results may work out great. As long as I turn my amp off between sets, then I don't have too much trouble. But I've definately replicated this breakup issue more than once now and it always happens after things run for a while (ie. temp goes up).

Even moreso because I've changed my mind about getting a combo cab to put my head in. I've decided to rack it instead. I also received my 3-speed fan (tri-cool), and modified my head to use a PC case fan connector (a pigtail from the Mesa circuit board with the connector on the end). That way, swapping fans out at this point will be solderless and quick.

Are there tubes out there that are better/worse for this problem?

Still no shutdown though, so that's good...

Jason

Dunno, but I'd like to! Since you have a "test case", maybe pick up a few tube types (within reason - $8-15 each), like some of the "good" EH's and whatnot and let us know?

 

[Vic]

Yea, I definitely think I am seeing this happen regularly now since I changed the fan. I'm using a lower CFM fan than Vic is, so his results may work out great. As long as I turn my amp off between sets, then I don't have too much trouble. But I've definately replicated this breakup issue more than once now and it always happens after things run for a while (ie. temp goes up).

Even moreso because I've changed my mind about getting a combo cab to put my head in. I've decided to rack it instead. I also received my 3-speed fan (tri-cool), and modified my head to use a PC case fan connector (a pigtail from the Mesa circuit board with the connector on the end). That way, swapping fans out at this point will be solderless and quick. Also, while the slowest setting on the tri-cool is (at least rated as) louder than my current fan, it also moves almost OEM air at 34CFM, so that should assure me "factory" cooling with a "quiter option" not requiring opening the case.

Are there tubes out there that are better/worse for this problem?

Still no shutdown though, so that's good...

Jason

Dunno, but I'd like to! Since you have a "test case", maybe pick up a few tube types (within reason - $8-15 each), like some of the "good" EH's and whatnot and let us know?

 

[JJBluegrasser]

I've missed you guys, so I thought I'd bring this thread back to life!

I bought a couple of tubes and decided to try them out on my Walkabout. I picked up:

2 EHX 12AX7
2 JJ ECC 83 S

Also in my experiment:
GT12AX7M

This is my first tube amp, so maybe I'm handicapped a bit on this. I have the utmost respect for Tombowlus here on TB for all of his helpful and respectful comments and especially for him taking the time to post his tube comparison earlier in this thread. In fact, it was on his advice that I bought the JJs.

And here is why I say all of that...
I prefer the Groove Tubes. By a landslide. I haven't played the others for extended periods, but to me, they both sound muddy and hazy (maybe that is 'tube', I'm not sure). I am really surprised. I expected to upgrade after this experiment, but the Groove Tubes do it for me.

I'm not real educated on the variety of sounds, so does anyone have any idea why my opinion differs so much from Tom's? In his defense, he never said these GTs were bad, but they certainly weren't on the top of his list.

Groove Tubes seems to get a lot of crap on this forum (maybe they have poor business practices, but I don't know).

Am I wired wrong?

 

[Vic]

I prefer the Groove Tubes. By a landslide. I haven't played the others for extended periods, but to me, they both sound muddy and hazy (maybe that is 'tube', I'm not sure). I am really surprised. I expected to upgrade after this experiment, but the Groove Tubes do it for me.

Sweet, I may have to try a set.

...does anyone have any idea why my opinion differs so much from Tom's?

Not to sound like a smart alec, but yeah, you aren't Tom.

Groove Tubes seems to get a lot of crap on this forum (maybe they have poor business practices, but I don't know).

I'm not sure, but I think it might have to do more with I THINK GT doesn't make tubes, they just match and relabel tubes made elsewhere, and noting that, I 'spose some folks kinda' have a problem with the way they represent their stuff? Not sure, but personally, I don't care as long as the tube sounds good.

Am I wired wrong?

NO.

 

[tombowlus]

I'm not real educated on the variety of sounds, so does anyone have any idea why my opinion differs so much from Tom's? In his defense, he never said these GTs were bad, but they certainly weren't on the top of his list.

Probably just a matter of personal preference, my friend! And to be honest, I have not tried the GT Mullard reissue in my Walkabout. They have seemed pretty middle of the road to me in other applications, but it is interesting how certain tubes just gel better (or worse) in certain gear.

The important thing is that you like them, not what I, or anyone else, thinks!

Take care, Tom.

 

[JJBluegrasser]

And to be honest, I have not tried the GT Mullard reissue in my Walkabout.

Tom,
Sorry to quote you incorrectly. I thought you had used them, but I must be confused


I'll definitely use whatever sounds best to me, but I'm wondering why people like one thing or another. Such a hard thing to articulate on the WWW, I know.

At the end of the day, I'll play the bass more because I like the way it sounds, and that's all that matters to me!

 

[tombowlus]

Tom,
Sorry to quote you incorrectly. I thought you had used them, but I must be confused

I've used them, but just not in the Walkabout (yet).

 

[Paddy]

Hi All - Found this thread so posting as an introduction

Got me a 12" scout combo and the 15" extension cab. Yes that's 2ohms although never had even a hint if an issue. But I don't tend to run it really hard.

I tried a lot of separates but I plugged into this and I was sold. This gives me just the tine I'm looking for - combined with my Warwick I'm a very happy camper at the moment

The question I never seem to be sure of is -
Should I stack the cabs or place them side by side? I'm thinking with the radiators I should place them side by side but is that really necessary?

 

[62bass]

Why not try them side by side then stacked and see what works best?

 

[junglebike]

Hey, have you guys used the Scout 12" combo with a 5-string much? I just got a killer fretless Roscoe from Joker -- I'm wondering whether the Scout could handle the thuderous B?

I'm looking for stage support in a sometimes somewhat loud band, and small gig house sound in a not-terribly loud band...

 

[Vic]

Hey, have you guys used the Scout 12" combo with a 5-string much? I just got a killer fretless Roscoe from Joker -- I'm wondering whether the Scout could handle the thuderous B?

I'm looking for stage support in a sometimes somewhat loud band, and small gig house sound in a not-terribly loud band...

I've seen commentary from folks who say it's got no problem. Maybe in the BP review, as well. Can't recall for sure, but yeah, should be no problem.