mesa wd800 question

[drewphishesp]

how do you folks who use it with a passive p bass have your initial input setup? just curious, I run mine right around 12 oclock

 

[BGroovy]

how do you folks who use it with a passive p bass have your initial input setup? just curious, I run mine right around 12 oclock

depends on the P and pickups, I have a few and they have various levels of hotness, also depends on the tone I'm going for - how I want to heat that tube. The input knobbing being super important for saturation.

for passive clean I usually have it around 11. I crank it up to 1ish if I want more tube warmth from a bass.

 

[Wicked G]

With my Passive Jazz Basses I have the Input set at around 3:00 and with the Active P Basses I set it at about 1 to 2:00. I like a little drive in my band mix and my Jazz Basses are not hot at all.

 

[DJ Bebop]

depends on the P and pickups, I have a few and they have various levels of hotness, also depends on the tone I'm going for - how I want to heat that tube. The input knobbing being super important for saturation.

for passive clean I usually have it around 11. I crank it up to 1ish if I want more tube warmth from a bass.

Same. I have a P with La Bella 110-50 “1954’s” on it. Those things drive the front end pretty hard so if I want clean I run it at about 9:30-10. Much above that and I am into the Jamerson Motown drive thing. So I have options

 

[DrThumpenstein]

how do you folks who use it with a passive p bass have your initial input setup? just curious, I run mine right around 12 oclock

It's never a bad idea to get suggestions from others who have the same equipment. One thing to note about the WD, and Mesa Subway heads across the lineup, is that those controls are useful throughout their entire ranges of rotation. I'd suggest using the suggestions you get here as a starting point, but it's really fun and insightful to play around with all those knobs. I've learned a ton from the WD about the effects of boosting and cutting different frequencies to tailor the tone. I feel like I can get the broadest range of tones from the WD, compared with the TT and the Subway+ DI (which I run through the TT's effects return, kind of making the TT a 3-preamp head). My band is all R&R all the time, but I like to play a wider variety of music. I can get old school Jamerson thump, modern metal, mids-dominant grind, and anything in between from that amp. And it's the best room-taming amp in the lineup as far as I'm concerned, due to the HPF and Parametric EQ section.

I'm playing mostly active basses these days, and I need a little drive for the band. Going for cleaner tones with a passive bass, you'll start to notice a little grit the closer you get to noon or so. A mistake I made along the way with my active basses was sending such a hot signal in that I was having a hard time finding clean tones at volume; I have not had that issue with passive basses. (I learned my lesson about sending such a hot signal, although the head handled it fine. I think I've gotten better with gain staging through that process.)

If I could only have one, I think the WD might win by a whisker over the TT, because of its versatility and overall awesome range of tones.

 

[Al Kraft]

I find that for my tone goal (strong, harmonic rich but clean) that the 11 o'clock to 1 o'clock range works very well on all the SW heads with my active and passive basses. It's also worth noting that if you use larger EQ boost(s) on the amp there could be a benefit to backing down the input gain a bit.

DrThumpenstein's post above is a great synopsis of the tonal/voicing versatility across the SW line and I agree that the WD gives a player both the greatest degree of user adjustable options and probably the widest range of voicing options.

​

 

[BBQV]

I dime the input, crank it all the way up, and set the input switch to active.
It adds a bit of fur but I wouldn’t call it overdriven.
My main basses are passive P-basses with Fender P or Thunderbird pickups.

 

[dbase]

Here is my Amps setting.. we have a loud band

 

[Al Kraft]

Here is my Amps setting.. we have a loud band



View attachment 7252015

WOW is the only word that comes to mind on that master setting! Looks to me like you could potentially have a deaf band after a few rehearsals.

I did notice the input gain switch set to active and the input gain and HPF controls at around 10 o'clock so maybe it's probably not full on insane kind of loud.

 

[Frankie Fender]

Amp settings are irrelevant unless you know the cabinet configuration you are using, notwithstanding going ampless and sending through the DI or fx send.

Generally the more gain on that amp, the more (slightly) overdriven it will sound.

 

[squish]

How about old-school P-Bass w/pick punk? Not obnoxious grind, but a tone where you're like, yep, that's a P-Bass getting pushed.

 

[Al Kraft]

Amp settings are irrelevant unless you know the cabinet configuration you are using, notwithstanding going ampless and sending through the DI or fx send.

Generally the more gain on that amp, the more (slightly) overdriven it will sound.

Fair points. I simply assumed that "...we have a loud band" meant dbase was likely using his SW115 (one of the cabs I believe he owns). As for DI out I know that it is pre-master in either source setting and the effects out is pre-master as well. If he was using DI or effects out none of the settings (except the non relevant master in that case) seem "high" at all to me.

I agree with your assessment in general, but suspect that in this case we had some serious juice going to a cab that can make seriously loud noise....and really good quality noise IME!

 

[agedhorse]

How about old-school P-Bass w/pick punk? Not obnoxious grind, but a tone where you're like, yep, that's a P-Bass getting pushed.

I would expect to get some overdriven tones with the amp set for passive, gain above 1:00 (depending on the setup of your bass and how hard you play).

 

[Al Kraft]

I would expect to get some overdriven tones with the amp set for passive, gain above 1:00 (depending on the setup of your bass and how hard you play).

IME with my basses on the passive setting at 2 or 3 o'clock you start to get a hint of breakup when you dig in a bit. I'm a clean player that appreciates a little character to the tone that is still "musical" sounding (i.e. adds some additional harmonics without sounding like the notes have totally ragged or rough edges). I think many people would describe the sound as reminiscent of classic tube warmth you get when playing right on the edge of break-up.

 

[dbsfgyd1]

how do you folks who use it with a passive p bass have your initial input setup? just curious, I run mine right around 12 oclock

My experience with my WD-800 is to start with the sample settings in the owner’s manual. Given time and experience this is an extremely versatile amp, but it’s well worth the effort to twist som knobs. .

This is a setting I use in my Motown review band. I play a passive MIA Fender JB V with fresh round wound strings. The VVT controls are all wide open. If this is a little bright roll off a bit of treble on the bsss. It took me a lot of knob twisting to come up with this. It’s a great live setting for ensemble work.I hope you find this useful.

 

[DrThumpenstein]

Here is my Amps setting.. we have a loud band



View attachment 7252015

I seem to recall setting it somewhat like that when I was trying to get loud and clean. How hot of a signal into the head has a huge effect on that too. Mine is packed for the next gig, although probably a backup to the SW+ DI on my board. Traveling light suits me fine!

My experience with my WD-800 is to start with the sample settings in the owner’s manual. Given time and experience this is an extremely versatile amp, but it’s well worth the effort to twist som knobs. .

This is a setting I use in my Motown review band. I play a passive MIA Fender JB V with fresh round wound strings. The VVT controls are all wide open. If this is a little bright roll off a bit of treble on the bsss. It took me a lot of knob twisting to come up with this. It’s a great live setting for ensemble work.I hope you find this useful.

That looks like it would give you good thump with some definition. I have to push the mids pretty hard in my mostly metal band. It sounds great with them. The versatility of the WD is well beyond anything I've ever owned. The TT has 2 different preamps and I'm still not sure which one is the more versatile of the two.

Thanks for sharing those!

 

[dbase]

WOW is the only word that comes to mind on that master setting! Looks to me like you could potentially have a deaf band after a few rehearsals.

I did notice the input gain switch set to active and the input gain and HPF controls at around 10 o'clock so maybe it's probably not full on insane kind of loud.

I dont use the amp for rehersals.. we use in-ears in a studio.. but when playing out, I want to feel my pant legs flapping when I play. At this time my band is shutting me out of the mains (2 18" and 2 15"subs) because I'm too loud and wants me to turn down my amp volume to the point where I cant hear or feel myself playing. Next gig I will start using in-ears with no amp like the rest of the band. I'm not happy about that.. I love this amp, it has been a workhorse for me with no complaints. I dont want to see baby sitting in the closet.

 

[dbsfgyd1]

I dont use the amp for rehersals.. we use in-ears in a studio.. but when playing out, I want to feel my pant legs flapping when I play. At this time my band is shutting me out of the mains (2 18" and 2 15"subs) because I'm too loud and wants me to turn down my amp volume to the point where I cant hear or feel myself playing. Next gig I will start using in-ears with no amp like the rest of the band. I'm not happy about that.. I love this amp, it has been a workhorse for me with no complaints. I dont want to see baby sitting in the closet.

I hear you. I truly love playing ambiently with musicians that know how play “in concert” (balanced volume) with each other. But when you get into larger ensembles, especially with multiple vocals and or horns, in most venues FOH provides a much better experience for the paying customers. A taking that a step further, creating a lot of stage wash which is easy to do with “pant flapping “ levels of low end, counter productive when trying to get a good mix in the house.

But man do I miss the power trio days of plugging in and letting it rip! A PA for vocals only and maybe a bass drum mic, an SVT for the bass, a 50 watt Marshal with a 412 Marshall cab and a drum set (no stinking monitor either). That and 4 hour gig was an awesome experience!

 

[dbase]

I hear you. I truly love playing ambiently with musicians that know how play “in concert” (balanced volume) with each other. But when you get into larger ensembles, especially with multiple vocals and or horns, in most venues FOH provides a much better experience for the paying customers. A taking that a step further, creating a lot of stage wash which is easy to do with “pant flapping “ levels of low end, counter productive when trying to get a good mix in the house.

But man do I miss the power trio days of plugging in and letting it rip! A PA for vocals only and maybe a bass drum mic, an SVT for the bass, a 50 watt Marshal with a 412 Marshall cab and a drum set (no stinking monitor either). That and 4 hour gig was an awesome experience!

I like how you think