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NAD First Mesa I've Owned BB750

Thumpin6string

Thumpin6string

Supporting Member
Apr 25, 2013
7,030
12,430
Shoals Indiana
#1
I acquired my first Mesa amp on Tuesday. It is a Big Block 750. I got this head ridiculously cheap with the intentions of flipping it. I read where this head was lacking power with 8 ohm and even 4 ohm cabs. I can't figure out how this rumor got started. I plugged it into my 8 ohm Epifani UL210 and this put out some earth shaking bass. Running this thing with the gain at noon, everything else at noon except bass at 1:00 and treble at 9:00, I couldn't put the master past 9:00 without blowing the windows out of my 2 story house. I can't wait to add my 8 ohm UL112 to see how it will sound with the stack. I'm seriously thinking about replacing my Genzler MG800 with this. The aggressive punch of this thing just can't be touched by a class D IMHO. I'm looking for a foot switch so I can check out the overdrive channel to see how it sounds. The size and weight are quite a bit more than the 6 pound Magellan, but it is worth it. Just thought I'd share. Love to hear from other BB750 owners.
 
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#2
Thumpin6string said:
I acquired my first Mesa amp on Tuesday. It is a Big Block 750. I got this head ridiculously cheap with the intentions of flipping it. I read where this head was lacking power with 8 ohm and even 4 ohm cabs. I can't figure out how this rumor got started. I plugged it into my 8 ohm Epifani UL210 and this put out some earth shaking bass. Running this thing with the gain at noon, everything else at noon except bass at 1:00 and treble at 9:00, I couldn't put the master past 9:00 without blowing the windows out of my 2 story house. I can't wait to add my 8 ohm UL112 to see how it will sound with the stack. I'm seriously thinking about replacing my Genzler MG800 with this. The aggressive punch of this thing just can't be touched by a class D IMHO. I'm looking for a foot switch so I can check out the overdrive channel to see how it sounds. The size and weight are quite a bit more than the 6 pound Magellan, but it is worth it. Just thought I'd share. Love to hear from other BB750 owners.
Click to expand...
Talkbass implicit law: NAD => Pic
 
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#3
Thumpin6string said:
I'm looking for a foot switch so I can check out the overdrive channel to see how it sounds.
Click to expand...
? Try pulling the OD Master

1726125542899.png

I have the Titan, which is supposedly the the same preamp design. AFAIK, the OD circuit is based on the Bottle Rocket. It has a bit of a baked in voice and seems to warm up the mids and roll of the highs and lows.
 
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#10
Thumpin6string said:
I read where this head was lacking power with 8 ohm and even 4 ohm cabs. I can't figure out how this rumor got started.
Click to expand...
Rumors get started by folks who have no idea what they are doing, of have an axe to grind over something. It’s no different than the rumors created over class D being inferior to class AB or Neo magnets being inferior to ceramic.
 
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#11
Thumpin6string said:
I am planning on taking some pics, but for now, here is a pic from the seller.
s-l1600.webp
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Thanks!

I love the colored stickys :roflmao:

I reminds me of these amps in the 80's that could sound great or crappy depending on the settings, whereas all the modern amps I have now sound great with any setting (with everything at noon to begin with).

Is it just me, or is it a trend?

Can I say "back in the days, amps used to have stronger voicings in general, they could sound great if you spent the time to dial in the perfect setting, otherwise you could be very dissapointed. Whereas most modern amps sound good with any setting, but the drawback is that they all sound more or less the same" ? Or is it too much of a generalisation?
 
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#14
gtirard said:
Thanks!

I love the colored stickys :roflmao:

I reminds me of these amps in the 80's that could sound great or crappy depending on the settings, whereas all the modern amps I have now sound great with any setting (with everything at noon to begin with).

Is it just me, or is it a trend?

Can I say "back in the days, amps used to have stronger voicings in general, they could sound great if you spent the time to dial in the perfect setting, otherwise you could be very dissapointed. Whereas most modern amps sound good with any setting, but the drawback is that they all sound more or less the same" ? Or is it too much of a generalisation?
Click to expand...
The colored stickys were the first to go.:thumbsup:

This thing sounds great at noon, but even my Genzler gets tweaked a bit. As for "stronger voicing", I find the class A/B amps slam out the wattage and the class Ds are just loud. There have been only 3 class D heads that I found that were somewhat close to the class A/B amps, the Genzler, the GB Shuttle and the GB Streamliner. I will say that I have not tried the Mesa class D heads.
 
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#15
agedhorse said:
Rumors get started by folks who have no idea what they are doing, of have an axe to grind over something. It’s no different than the rumors created over class D being inferior to class AB or Neo magnets being inferior to ceramic.
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I agree. I have my opinions on the different amp classes, but for speakers, I have found the Neos to be far better sounding than ceramics. For instance, my Epifani UL210 Series 3 cab came with ceramics and was very disappointing after having a UL410 series 1 with neos. I swapped some series 1 neos into the UL210 cab and they woke the thing up and it now slams out the low end. I've been very disappointed with most of the cabs I've had with ceramics, but of course this is IMHO.
 
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#16
Thumpin6string said:
I find the class A/B amps slam out the wattage and the class Ds are just loud.
Click to expand...
That's an interesting way to phrase your observation - and pretty well-aligned with differences that I've noted.

But as @agedhorse has explained MANY times, there shouldn't be any inherent audible difference between Class AB and Class D.
Amps designed to sound the same should sound the same; power supply is just one of many factors in the design of an amp.

Yet I keep hearing people (I've been one of them) use that word "slam" to differentiate the experience of playing through Class AB gear and playing through Class D.
So I wonder if our standard/accepted vocabulary is lagging behind the technology.

The analogy I'd use is incandescent vs LED lighting:
Before LED, we generally only talked about wattage of bulbs.
Now, people have become more aware of color temperature and lumens.

When I edit pictures on my iPhone, I see even MORE descriptive terms - black point, shadows, midtones, brilliance, saturation, contrast...

If we can figure out a similarly detailed way to quantify the auditory differences that we like in the amps we love, I'm sure that the amp designers can deliver that sound - regardless of power supply type.

Back to my earlier analogy - even if we match the color temperature and lumens, the light generated by each type of bulb will still be perceived differently.
I'm not saying better or worse, I'm saying different.

So we need to keep discussing, and hopefully find quantifiable ways to explain our qualitative reactions.
 
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#17
groovaholic said:
That's an interesting way to phrase your observation - and pretty well-aligned with differences that I've noted.

But as @agedhorse has explained MANY times, there shouldn't be any inherent audible difference between Class AB and Class D.
Amps designed to sound the same should sound the same; power supply is just one of many factors in the design of an amp.

Yet I keep hearing people (I've been one of them) use that word "slam" to differentiate the experience of playing through Class AB gear and playing through Class D.
So I wonder if our standard/accepted vocabulary is lagging behind the technology.

The analogy I'd use is incandescent vs LED lighting:
Before LED, we generally only talked about wattage of bulbs.
Now, people have become more aware of color temperature and lumens.

When I edit pictures on my iPhone, I see even MORE descriptive terms - black point, shadows, midtones, brilliance, saturation, contrast...

If we can figure out a similarly detailed way to quantify the auditory differences that we like in the amps we love, I'm sure that the amp designers can deliver that sound - regardless of power supply type.

Back to my earlier analogy - even if we match the color temperature and lumens, the light generated by each type of bulb will still be perceived differently.
I'm not saying better or worse, I'm saying different.

So we need to keep discussing, and hopefully find quantifiable ways to explain our qualitative reactions.
Click to expand...
I do often read that on here to that D doesn’t have the slam of AB. Trips me out. The Mesa 800+ with the Bass boost on, HPF all the way “off” through a triad of Subway 410,115, and 112 cabs is unequivocally THE definition of “slam”.
 
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#18
Voicing is a huge part of the perception, but one player’s “slam” is another player’s “over the top”.

This is why many designers of newer amps are careful not to voice an amp so strongly that they become a “one trick pony”where their strengths are also their weakness.
 
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#19
I had a BB750 for a while. I liked it a lot. I already had a D800+, and I stopped by my local music store, and they had the BB750 sitting in there for such a low price, I felt like I'd be doing a disservice if I didn't buy it.

I used it and gigged it for about a year. The one drawback is I was used to the weight and ease of transport of my D800+. So, it inspired me to get a Subway head with a tube pre, so I opted for the TT800. I ended up selling the BB750. I sold it for double what I payed for it.
 
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