NCD - Mesa 115 UL (winner!) vs Markbass GOG

[plumberstrummer]

Hey, TalkBass!

I had a fun experience this week buying my new grab and go rig…

Currently, I play in the gospel circuit in Oakland and generally around the Bay Area. The set up is usually B3 organ, a drummer, and me on a MM5H Stingray. This upcoming Sunday I got picked up for 4 different gigs at new churches I have not been to before, and wanted to get something portable, quick to set up and loud enough to compete with a B3.

I originally thought a Mark Bass combo because they seemed high power and light. I got the 15” GOG combo based on the specs (and Andrew Gouche is fire!) - It sounded good in the low end, but it wasn’t as loud as I expected 300 watts to be. All of my live amplifiers are tube, so I really underestimated class D volume going in. What is more, I found the tweeter was not adjustable on the combo, and the brights were killing me. I had a really hard time dialing in a high end that I liked… If I cut the highs 80% and pulled back the sub 68 Hz, it was a pretty killer slap tone, but I couldn’t set the master very high with that setting…

I had seen and played a Mesa rig this past week that I liked, but I didn’t want to drop over 2k. (Tempting! Not today.) The 15” UL cab was great though, and about the same size and weight as the GOG combo… l have a modded Fender Super Twin I LOVE, so I brought it in to try the Mesa side by side with the GOG.

Immediately, the ST with the 15” Mesa sounded killer. The highs were friendly, even with the tweeter dimes and the ST bright switch on (which I usually hate.) I found the low end tight and focused in comparison to the GOG, and the mids were all there if I wanted them but mid scooped sounded fantastic. I was sold.

Mad props to @agedhorse, excellent+! For a single little 15” cab, it was deep, loud, focused and light. Perfect for my grab and go rig, and good for anything. I took it home and A/B with my Ampeg 410 it had just as much low end but a clarity and beautiful highs the Ampeg was lacking. The Ampeg was a touch louder, as you’d expect, but for a little 15” I actually preferred the overall tone. It makes me want another Mesa match!

Side note: I also wanted a light class D head to go in my gog bag, and they had a 600w Peavey minimax which was ok. I snagged that guy and a gig bag; voila!

Anyway, that’s my story. I’m in the Mesa club! Happy to be a part of the fanbase.

 

[SJan3]

By modded Super Twin do you mean a Twin Reverb combo amp?

 

[pfschim]

By modded Super Twin do you mean a Twin Reverb combo amp?

probably not. there is a Super Twin which is basically the same amp, a guitar oriented sibling to the Fender Studio Bass amp. Both amps are 180w (sextet of 6L6 power tubes) all tube monsters. Common mods to the Super Twin, to make it more bass oriented, is to change the EQ points to more bass friendly Q points with some electronics changes.

 

[plumberstrummer]

By modded Super Twin do you mean a Twin Reverb combo amp?

No sir - 1978 Suer Twin. Not sure what Fender was doing thinking this was a guitar amp. A lot of guys used 78 Super Twins for bass - Highly recommended!

180 watts Ultralinear Transformer (six 6L6) with a Twin Preamp into a 5 band EQ that allows you to boost or cut freq such as sub 100hz or over 6000hz.

It has a garbage OD and comes as a 212 guitar combo, and unfortunately it is common that their caps and resistors are in backwards (common issue at the time.) But a good tech can figure it out.

Bill Krinard modded this one with extra Dumble modifications specifically to be a bass amp, and put it in this headshell. It’s real clear and hifi, and has lows like my SVT. I mainly use it as my backup, but it’s light and easy to bring to gigs:

 

[SJan3]

No sir - 1978 Suer Twin. Not sure what Fender was doing thinking this was a guitar amp. A lot of guys used 78 Super Twins for bass - Highly recommended!

180 watts Ultralinear Transformer (six 6L6) with a Twin Preamp into a 5 band EQ that allows you to boost or cut freq such as sub 100hz or over 6000hz.

It has a garbage OD and comes as a 212 guitar combo, and unfortunately it is common that their caps and resistors are in backwards (common issue at the time.) But a good tech can figure it out.

Bill Krinard modded this one with extra Dumble modifications specifically to be a bass amp, and put it in this headshell. It’s real clear and hifi, and has lows like my SVT. I mainly use it as my backup, but it’s light and easy to bring to gigs:

View attachment 7501122

Wow! I never heard of this amp.
Ya learn something every day. Thanks!

 

[plumberstrummer]

@agedhorse - is 400 W rating strict, or am I safe to turn up a little bit? I’ve got the 600 W class D, and I know that class D is not as rough as tube stuff, but I don’t wanna pop the speaker and this thing claims 1200 peak which freaks me out… thinking I just won’t turn up past half on the master, keep the gain low?

 

[agedhorse]

@agedhorse - is 400 W rating strict, or am I safe to turn up a little bit? I’ve got the 600 W class D, and I know that class D is not as rough as tube stuff, but I don’t wanna pop the speaker and this thing claims 1200 peak which freaks me out… thinking I just won’t turn up past half on the master, keep the gain low?

What amp specifically?

It’s generally safe if you have good common sense and reasonable expectations IME.

 

[plumberstrummer]

What amp specifically?

It’s generally safe if you have good common sense and reasonable expectations IME.

Peavey Minimax -

I usually have an SVT or one of my Bill Krinard amplifiers, all of which are tube 300 W or less and feel way louder than any of the class D amps I have played. Even so, I got this for on the go and will be using it a lot today.…

I hear you though, use my ears and be smart. Appreciate it!

 

[agedhorse]

Peavey Minimax -

I usually have an SVT or one of my Bill Krinard amplifiers, all of which are tube 300 W or less and feel way louder than any of the class D amps I have played. Even so, I got this for on the go and will be using it a lot today.…

I hear you though, use my ears and be smart. Appreciate it!

It’s 300 watts rms into 8 ohms, so it’s fine. The 600 watt rating is into 4 ohms.

 

[plumberstrummer]

It’s 300 watts rms into 8 ohms, so it’s fine. The 600 watt rating is into 4 ohms.

Incredible - thank you, sir , as always!

 

[logdrum]

I also thought tube amps are louder and they probably are on the first part of the dial and this may have to do with the taper of the volume knobs. In my experience a class D rated at 600 watts will be louder than any 200-300 watt tube amp when the master volume is at 3 o'clock and passed it and there will be more low end amplification at that point also . Of course I am talking about class D amps that have honest industry best know method of measuring the power rating and not marketing rating.

And some class D amps when properly designed are no slouches even if they are the same power rating as a tube amp. Some design power amp soft clip in the class D power section. The Genz Benz i Streamliner is one of those amps.

 

[pfschim]

Wow! I never heard of this amp.
Ya learn something every day. Thanks!

here's the Studio Bass ... bass version of the Super Twin. It also originally came in a 1x15 combo, but mine was converted to a stand alone amp in a head case.

Here's the amp sitting on top of a '78 Fender 1x15 loaded with the exceptional EV 15. Its a great sounding amp and cab combination but it was too heavy for me to schlep around to gigs all the time.

 

[SJan3]

here's the Studio Bass ... bass version of the Super Twin. It also originally came in a 1x15 combo, but mine was converted to a stand alone amp in a head case.

Here's the amp sitting on top of a '78 Fender 1x15 loaded with the exceptional EV 15. Its a great sounding amp and cab combination but it was too heavy for me to schlep around to gigs all the time.

Nicely done. I had a 1968 Bassman head and cab back in the day. But that was only a 50 watt unit. Still, I have a soft spot for Fender bass amps. I just can't carry em in my senior years.

 

[agedhorse]

here's the Studio Bass ... bass version of the Super Twin. It also originally came in a 1x15 combo, but mine was converted to a stand alone amp in a head case.

Here's the amp sitting on top of a '78 Fender 1x15 loaded with the exceptional EV 15. Its a great sounding amp and cab combination but it was too heavy for me to schlep around to gigs all the time.

That’s not an EV, it looks like a JBL D/K series 140 driver.

 

[plumberstrummer]

here's the Studio Bass ... bass version of the Super Twin. It also originally came in a 1x15 combo, but mine was converted to a stand alone amp in a head case.

Here's the amp sitting on top of a '78 Fender 1x15 loaded with the exceptional EV 15. Its a great sounding amp and cab combination but it was too heavy for me to schlep around to gigs all the time.

Sick! I didn’t even know about that. I’ll have to keep my eyes out for one. Thanks!

 

[plumberstrummer]

I also thought tube amps are louder and they probably are on the first part of the dial and this may have to do with the taper of the volume knobs. In my experience a class D rated at 600 watts will be louder than any 200-300 watt tube amp when the master volume is at 3 o'clock and passed it and there will be more low end amplification at that point also . Of course I am talking about class D amps that have honest industry best know method of measuring the power rating and not marketing rating.

And some class D amps when properly designed are no slouches even if they are the same power rating as a tube amp. Some design power amp soft clip in the class D power section. The Genz Benz i Streamliner is one of those amps.

Cool – now that I have the greenlight to try this thing pulled up a little bit, I’ll turn past noon on the dial and see what it can do. I suppose it makes sense to have a slow taper on these things, given how even the response appears to be across the dial. In any case, I’m looking forward to these next couple gigs today. The first two went great! I’ll give a full report tomorrow, once I’ve put it through its paces. (the next two are with a pretty loud organ player, and almost certainly will be lots of shout!)

 

[plumberstrummer]

I got out of the last gig at 10:40pm last night - 3 hours of straight shout music! I had no problem filling the entire place with deep resonance, just adjusting it to leave midrange for the organ and the singers. Absolutely wonderful night! We went to a really special place and I got a number of compliments on the sound from not only the other organ and keys players, but also a number of members who came up to me after.

Hard to believe this little rig is capable of so much! I really thought I needed to have a half stack to get this kind of full sound and depth. I still like my vintage 810, etc, but for practical gigs? It’s hard to imagine anything easier… I don’t mind this little head either, but of course I prefer my Krinard head. It’s just for on the go stuff like this, but for that - no problem. Love the way my Krinard sounds through the 115, too.

Great cab! Can’t wait to get another Mesa!

 

[pfschim]

the Subway 1x15 is an outstanding cab for sure. I had been using Bergantino cabs (CN212, CN112, NV212t) for quite a while and I wanted to try out a 1x15 cab. The Subway is widely praised as a solid single cab solution, so I found one here on the TB classifieds and have been super happy with it.

I use it standalone when indoors with a solid PA/FOH. Outside, I have been using it in a stack with the Berg CN112 on top and that combination is a tone wonder. Mostly using it with a Mesa WD800, but also with my all time favorite amp, the mighty Mesa Walkabout.

enjoy!

 

[Al Kraft]

...I had been using Bergantino cabs (CN212, CN112, NV212t) for quite a while and I wanted to try out a 1x15 cab. The Subway is widely praised as a solid single cab solution, so I found one here on the TB classifieds and have been super happy with it...

I have a Berg CN212 and I really like it, but my SW 115 sounds bigger and fuller down low and can do an equally fine job filling a room.

Admittedly, they are different tools for different jobs in terms of their voicing...to me the CN cabs are reminiscent of sealed cab type performance in the low end. On top of that the SW 115 cab is surprisingly capable across the full frequency spectrum, especially if your last data point was a typical 15" cab from days gone by.

 

[pfschim]

I have a Berg CN212 and I really like it, but my SW 115 sounds bigger and fuller down low and can do an equally fine job filling a room.

Admittedly, they are different tools for different jobs in terms of their voicing...to me the CN cabs are reminiscent of sealed cab type performance in the low end. On top of that the SW 115 cab is surprisingly capable across the full frequency spectrum, especially if your last data point was a typical 15" cab from days gone by.

Al, you and I share a love of the CN212 cab for sure. I certainly do like mine, perhaps too much. It has seen a LOT use and hard wear over the 15 years I've used it, and is, sadly, kind of coming apart. The covering that Jim used on those CN cabs (the carbon fiber looking stuff) is peeling at the seams and is pretty much worn off/through the bottom of the cab by the edges and the feet. I've had to replace the cab feet as hard handling by a sound crew tore one of them entirely out of the bottom of the cab, screw and all. It also seems to have developed a resonant frequency rattle right around 55hz (open A on my four string).

So it may be time for my CN212 to be retired. Good thing I have the Subway 1x15