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Mesa WD-800 vs. TT-800 tone differences

#222
If I am taking all the information into consideration knowing the WD and the TT are voiced differently but still retain a large part of the DNA that each amp was modeled after. By adding an external EQ will give me much more tonal flexibility the winner seems to be the TT because it is two amps a vintage sound and a modern sound and adding an EQ simply enhances both sides allowing more flexibility than a WD with an external EQ can provide.
 
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#223
I guess I don't know what I'm doing and I accept that premise :)

I play both upright and solid body bass through my WD set up. I just unplug one and plug in the other. Both through the front end. I do switch on my para mids that I set up for my upright and fiddle with the high pass filter a little. It takes just a few seconds for me to make the change over.

PS, I was running a preamp for a minute for the upright. Then I would just unplug it from the amp leaving it attached to the upright. Then plug in my solid body. Kinda the same thing.

:)
 
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#226
DJ Bebop said:
I guess I don't know what I'm doing and I accept that premise :)

I play both upright and solid body bass through my WD set up. I just unplug one and plug in the other. Both through the front end. I do switch on my para mids that I set up for my upright and fiddle with the high pass filter a little. It takes just a few seconds for me to make the change over.

PS, I was running a preamp for a minute for the upright. Then I would just unplug it from the amp leaving it attached to the upright. Then plug in my solid body. Kinda the same thing.

:)
Click to expand...

I am sure you know more than me. I hope that I am distilling the voluminous information correctly.
 
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#230
rkwells101 said:
Hi guys, like the original OP I am looking @ both of these amps. The most important difference I can glean from the group is that the TT have less options for tone shaping because of the eq controls. Am I being too basic by suggesting that this problem could be solved by adding a really good eq pedal into the chain? By doing this would you be able to dial in any pattern (scooped or upside down happy face)?
Click to expand...


I doubt you can make a TT sound like a WD, or vice-versa. It's not just about the number of tone controls or how they work. Certain aspects of these amps are specifically designed to sound and feel different.

You may find you prefer the tone of one and the control options of the other. When this occurs, it's usually best to go with the option that sounds best to you.

Adding an outboard EQ can help narrow the gap, but you may also find it to be confusing or too much of a hassle. Even with a powerful EQ, you probably won't make these amps sound exactly the same.
 
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#231
Wasnex said:
I doubt you can make a TT sound like a WD, or vice-versa. It's not just about the number of tone controls or how they work. Certain aspects of these amps are specifically designed to sound and feel different.

You may find you prefer the tone of one and the control options of the other. When this occurs, it's usually best to go with the option that sounds best to you.

Adding an outboard EQ can help narrow the gap, but you may also find it to be confusing or too much of a hassle. Even with a powerful EQ, you probably won't make these amps sound exactly the same.
Click to expand...

I agree. I am not looking to attempt to make one sound like the other just looking at what could be accomplished by adding an external EQ. Both amps are voiced voiced independently trying to make one sound like the other would be too difficult and outside of my knowledge base.
 
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#232
rkwells101 said:
just looking at what could be accomplished by adding an external EQ.
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It depends on how you intend to use the EQ. Is the goal to dial in a certain sound or to use the EQ to correct for problems with the acoustic environment? If the goal is to correct for poor acoustics, the more flexible tone controls will usually be more effective, because they can be tailored to better mitigate the problem. For a utility EQ, ideally you have either fully parametric or a 1/3 octave (30-31 band) graphic. The WD800 has three bands of semi-parametric EQ, so it should be a bit better in this respect.


If the goal is to dial in a certain sound, it depends on how close the native voicing of each amp is to what you want. If the amp is close, you may not benefit from additional EQ; it may only degrade the sound or add noise.

I am not opposed to using EQ, but it's far better to choose an amp that doesn't require additional processing to get the desired tone.
 
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#238
rkwells101 said:
If I am taking all the information into consideration knowing the WD and the TT are voiced differently but still retain a large part of the DNA that each amp was modeled after. By adding an external EQ will give me much more tonal flexibility the winner seems to be the TT because it is two amps a vintage sound and a modern sound and adding an EQ simply enhances both sides allowing more flexibility than a WD with an external EQ can provide.
Click to expand...
I strongly encourage you to try each head first if you can. The voicings are different enough that many (maybe most folks) will have a strong preference for one over the other. Even on the TT many prefer one channel over the other - for me it's the Boogie channel and I never thought it would appeal to me until I played it.

I also think you'll find that these heads don't need any external EQ to slot nicely into a mix in most any venue. Personally I would probably not buy a head that required a lot of external EQ to sound good and work well in live performance for me.

I hope those thoughts are useful.
 
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#239
Al Kraft said:
I strongly encourage you to try each head first if you can. The voicings are different enough that many (maybe most folks) will have a strong preference for one over the other. Even on the TT many prefer one channel over the other - for me it's the Boogie channel and I never thought it would appeal to me until I played it.

I also think you'll find that these heads don't need any external EQ to slot nicely into a mix in most any venue. Personally I would probably not buy a head that required a lot of external EQ to sound good and work well in live performance for me.

I hope those thoughts are useful.
Click to expand...

+1 I own both, and while I really appreciate everything that the TT brings to the table, the WD is just my jam - which is not surprising, considering how much I love the WalkAbout.
 
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