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Mesa Walkabout Megathread!

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#761
Visirale said:
I've pretty much come to terms with myself that if/when my current project stops working out (and it is going fine, should get a few more years out of it) then I'll sell off the big rig and get a scout combo and an extension cab. I'd probably get the 4 ohm combo and 4 ohm cab so I could run it at 2 ohms if I needed it. Will I be happy with this? God knows I don't even come close to using the 1200 watts of the titan (I bought it primarily for the flexibility of having two channels, not the uberwatts). I think that the aproximate 500 watts it puts out at 2 ohms would be more than enough for anything I will be playing while I'm busting my a** at law school and beyond... and will be easier to fit into the Caddy I'm hoping to pick up after undergrad, haha.
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I'm currently in the process of selling off my 'big rig' due to health and other considerations. I had finally found that elusive 'sound' out of a Bass 400+ and a couple of Powerhouse 212's... but, the schlep turned out to be too much for this old low-ender.

While it may take me awhile to dial in settings that get me close to the 'magic-tone' I had with the other rig, this mini-stack is awesome in every other way I can possibly think of... tone, size, weight... I think you'll be more than okay if you go this route Visirale.

Why, even as we speak, you've got a fellow TB'er selling what you're talking about getting:

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=485158
 
#762
Chef said:
Bigbajo60: at 12 and 12, you're about out of headroom, really. Truning up from there is only gonna add harmonic content, and then overdrive; IME, IMO.
As far as heat: pusing the Walkabout that hard at 2 ohms is just gonna generate heat. Earlier owners manuals listed 2 ohms as ok. Later ones don't. When I run 2 ohms, I don't push it as hard as you're pusing yours...In fact, I never run mine harder than about 1 o'clock on the master, and 10-11 o'clock on input. If I need more sound than that, I bring a bigger rig.
As far as drinks and amps...I don't like drinks anywhere near my geear, ever. Vents up down or sideways.

Wateroftyne: for your rattle...check and make sure the foam strips on the back panel the secures the head to the combo are still "foamy," and have lots of compression left to make a good seal there. If they're old and dried out and permenantly compressed, the back panel can rattle.
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Hi Chef

Thanks for that.. that's one of the things I've looked at and it has helped. There's still a bit going on though... I'm working on it.

And.. +1 to what you said about the input gain. The difference between, say, 11 o'clock and 1 o'clock with a standard passive bass is quite dramatic.
 
#764
Had the first opportunity this past weekend to work with the Scout + Radiator mini rig on a large stage with large scale FOH support.

Not only did it provide all I needed on stage, but the "seen-it-all-twice" soundguys were quite impressed with the DI signal they got straight out of the back of the Walkabout. They were gonna do the bass-to-direct box-to-amp thing with a Radial JDI, but I asked them to just give the Walkabout's XLR out a try and I ended up getting some very positive comments from several of the crew.

The more time I spend with this rig, the better and better I feel about the switch I had to make.
 
#768
The WA does sound good with the 410UL, but it's just a little shy of being able to "really drive the heck out of that cab."

But, it sounds really good;)
 
#769
Bassman62 said:
I wonder if the downturn in the economies of the UK and the US will make Mesa start charging realistic prices for their products in the UK.
The Patronising attitude of Mesa to my enquiries regarding the high UK prices lost my custom and I suspect many others in the UK.
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It's not only UK, it's whole UE where the Mesa's prices are unacceptable. But I won't say it's Mesa fault, it's rather greedy chain of importers and distributors. Another thing is that prices of most US gear is like that. That is why I was thinking of buying Marshall VBA400 and finally bought Orange AD200 ;)
 
#770
jetofuj said:
It's not only UK, it's whole UE where the Mesa's prices are unacceptable. But I won't say it's Mesa fault, it's rather greedy chain of importers and distributors. Another thing is that prices of most US gear is like that. That is why I was thinking of buying Marshall VBA400 and finally bought Orange AD200 ;)
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Good luck with the AD200; I tried one and found the pre-amp very limited.
Regarding Mesa; surely they must be aware of the damage to their sales potential with the high prices being charged this side of the pond.
 
#771
Wow, way to keep this old thread alive guys!

I finally got rid of mine because I never used it. Great sounding amp though, it stuck around longer than most gear around here.

Luke, I'll bet you love it but I have to agree with Chef that it's just a little short on power to really make the UL410 bark. Tone for days though. :bassist:
 
#776
on the ebay picture of the head it looks as if there is a switch where the other 1/4" input should be (one for active and the other for passive). Is this just a passive active switch instead of the 2 1/4" inputs like on the new ones?

The switch I'm talking about is in the bottom left corner of the head picture.

thanks
 
#777
::::BASSIST:::: said:
Thread revival!

Just wondering about the volume capabilities of the walkabout head. People say its a loud 300w... but in comparison to what?

Is it as loud as a 500w LMII?

Or Eden wt405?
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In comparison to what? It seems that people basically say that about every amp they buy. In the case of the Walkabout, it sounds unusually loud perhaps in part due to its small size/weight. People aren't as impressed with 300w when it comes from an 80lb tube amp eh? It just sounds like a proper 300w to me.

As you know I have an LMII as well. The difference to the ear between 500w and 300w is zero. You need to double the watts to get 3db more which is the smallest change the ear can typically peceive.

That said, the tone and preceptive loudness due to any distortion may well differ significantly. The LMII can probably stay cleaner at equally high volumes, but you'll have to hear for yourself.

I just sent you an email about the gear tryouts we'd been discussing before Xmas. We'll crank them up at my jam spot through some big cabs and we'll figure it out. I'm especially curious to compare the Scout the the Markbass 121P combo you have.
 
#778
That's the way all current production ones are.
Two input jacks is an older (from current) model.


mkrtu9 said:
on the ebay picture of the head it looks as if there is a switch where the other 1/4" input should be (one for active and the other for passive). Is this just a passive active switch instead of the 2 1/4" inputs like on the new ones?

The switch I'm talking about is in the bottom left corner of the head picture.

thanks
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#779
Kinda, yeah.
It does have MPulse technology, but it's short one para band of eq, and the compressor...compared to the MPulse 600 and 360 at least. And, it sounds very much different from those two.
At least IME.


BillyB_from_LZ said:
Agree...if you look at the photos, the amp and the paperwork all say Walkabout. It's the 300 watt amp of the M-Pulse series.
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#780
I respectfully disagree Smash.

I own a Walkabout Scout and also an LMII and I've gigged with both amps a LOT. In my experience, the Walkabout doesn't come anywhere close to the power and headroom of the LMII. Not by a mile. Once the Walkabout hits its clean volume threshold, it will not go any louder, nor give any more headroom. That is around 11 oclock on Input Gain and 11 o'clock on Master Vol. At those settings, it has let me down on a couple gigs. I even used the Walkabout with a Bergantino EX112 underneath. That was better and helped a lot. But the LMII with a similar cabinet 'stack' at 4 ohms crushes the Walkabout in terms of power and headroom. (IME/IMHO) That opinion is based on several gigs in live band settings.

Use the same input gain/master vol settings noted about on an LMII and it crushes the Walkabout with power, headroom, fullness and presence. By a landslide.

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my Walkabout and that's why I still own it. Great sounding amp when used within its limitations. The Walkabout is great for jazz gigs, acoustic gigs, small restaurants, or 'musical wallpaper' type gigs. But not for my dance band.

If I expect the need to turn up to typical dance/cover band volume, my Walkabout stays home. End of story. The LMII power and headroom is profoundly more impressive.

As a point of reference, I compared using a Bergie HT112/EX112 stack with the LMII, and then used just the Walkabout head to drive that stack to compare in a direct A-B comparison. YMMV :eyebrow:

SMASH said:
In comparison to what? It seems that people basically say that about every amp they buy. In the case of the Walkabout, it sounds unusually loud perhaps in part due to its small size/weight. People aren't as impressed with 300w when it comes from an 80lb tube amp eh? It just sounds like a proper 300w to me.

As you know I have an LMII as well. The difference to the ear between 500w and 300w is zero. You need to double the watts to get 3db more which is the smallest change the ear can typically peceive.

That said, the tone and preceptive loudness due to any distortion may well differ significantly. The LMII can probably stay cleaner at equally high volumes, but you'll have to hear for yourself.

I just sent you an email about the gear tryouts we'd been discussing before Xmas. We'll crank them up at my jam spot through some big cabs and we'll figure it out. I'm especially curious to compare the Scout the the Markbass 121P combo you have.
Click to expand...
 
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