Hey guys thinking about going a different direction with my amp. The three I'm thinking about are the Mesa Boogie Walkabout. TC Classic 450 or a Gk MB500. I hear a lot of good things about the Mesa but at only 165 watts @8 ohms I'm thinking it might not cut it while the other two have plenty of power 4 or 8 ohms. Would like some opinions on these amps maybe someone who has had a couple of them. Thanks guys
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
New amp question/Walkabout/TC Classic450/GK MB500
- Thread starter nitrofix
- Start date
Never tried the TC amps. The GK and Mesa are wonderfull amps. IMO the GK has more of an 'aggressive, assertive' tone compared to the Mesa but I don't think you could not go wrong with either. Probably depends on what your looking for tonewise. When I demoed the Mesa walkabout 115 it seemed to have pleny of volume on tap with a very tubey feel. New amps are always fun!
I'm currently in love with the tc classic myself. The tube tone knob is really great in emulating a tube amp sag when you dig in. To my ear from 0 to noon it emulates a clean tube pre being mixed with the classic tc tone, which is nice for warm clean stuff, and after noon it gets gritty and more responsive to gain. If I dial the knob all the way to the right, and back down the gain since the gain setting for the SS pre causes quite a bit of overdrive, it sounds like an SVT, and behaves similarly when pushed.
The spectracomp being built in is a nice feature. It sounds good, not the best comp if you're a comp snob but good. Does its job as described with the multi band compression.
The only thing I'm wishing I had done different is use a little extra scratch and pick up the rh450 for the preset slots, but as a set and go amp, I live the classic.
I tried the GK, and I have an mb combo that I've played through my cabs. It does GK sound in spades if you dig GK sound, but if you want something fatter and warmer than you though solid state could give you then get the tc.
The spectracomp being built in is a nice feature. It sounds good, not the best comp if you're a comp snob but good. Does its job as described with the multi band compression.
The only thing I'm wishing I had done different is use a little extra scratch and pick up the rh450 for the preset slots, but as a set and go amp, I live the classic.
I tried the GK, and I have an mb combo that I've played through my cabs. It does GK sound in spades if you dig GK sound, but if you want something fatter and warmer than you though solid state could give you then get the tc.
Thanks Guys, it's always hard to make a decision about amps when you can't sit down and play each one. I was wondering if the Walkabout will be a little under powered for me using it at 8 ohm's, I'm using a Markbass LM III now and the Walkabout is about half the power, I don't play really loud but like to have a lot of headroom and not push to amp to hard..Any other opinions...
I own a LMII and a Walkabout and while the LMII is slightly louder, and I mean slightly, the Walkabout is easily loud enough for my needs. Don't get too hung up on watts.
I should say that I use the Walkabout through mostly a Barefaced Compact and/or a Barefaced Midget. Both efficient cabs.
Hope this helps a little in your decision.
I should say that I use the Walkabout through mostly a Barefaced Compact and/or a Barefaced Midget. Both efficient cabs.
Hope this helps a little in your decision.
The GK and Walkabout are very different amps. The GK is very modern and can be quite aggressive sounding. The Walkabout is a more vintage type of tone, and can be very tubey.
The GK is going to be louder and stay cleaner doing it. The Walkabout can also get loud, but it's got a much lower headroom and gets dirty. If you prefer a very clean sound and need it super loud it might not be the right choice. With enough cabinet it's more than capable of holding it's own on a gig.
I have both and love both. GK is my preferred tone, but the Walkabout sounds killer too. I play in a fairly loud rock band and it has no trouble keeping up...but I do like a bit of grit in my tone.
I've never played the TC so I can't comment on it.
The GK is going to be louder and stay cleaner doing it. The Walkabout can also get loud, but it's got a much lower headroom and gets dirty. If you prefer a very clean sound and need it super loud it might not be the right choice. With enough cabinet it's more than capable of holding it's own on a gig.
I have both and love both. GK is my preferred tone, but the Walkabout sounds killer too. I play in a fairly loud rock band and it has no trouble keeping up...but I do like a bit of grit in my tone.
I've never played the TC so I can't comment on it.
I have owned the LMIII, the MB500 and now have a pair of Walkabout heads. In comparison, the LMIII was lifeless and sterile to my ears. The MB500 was really quite impressive but aiming for a very different sound then the Walkabout. The thing that keeps me returning to the Walkabout is the glorious harmonic content in the tone. Its so rich, fat and "alive" sounding that I just don't enjoy playing through anything else as much.
Its also a very loud amp for its power rating but would likely work better with a 4 ohm load. I use a pair of Mesa 112 cabs and never need more volume or power. I think the MB500 had more volume but its a much more modern sounding head. All deoends on what you like to hear.
Its also a very loud amp for its power rating but would likely work better with a 4 ohm load. I use a pair of Mesa 112 cabs and never need more volume or power. I think the MB500 had more volume but its a much more modern sounding head. All deoends on what you like to hear.
Yeah, don't get hung up on watts. The Walkabout, even at 8 ohms, into enough cab is plenty loud.
Run it into an 810, 412 etc & it should be all one needs
Run it into an 810, 412 etc & it should be all one needs
the walkabout is an amp purchase you will never regret. and it will get loud especially with an efficient 4 ohm box under it. Then again "loud" is a subjective term. If you're looking for big iron volumes, then no. IMHO the strength of this amp is how "big" it sounds at lower volumes. I also dig how the amp takes to low gain boost/drive pedals
I have a TC Classic and a Walkabout but I don't ever recall playing that model of GB amp you referred to. Whille I love the Mesa WA... its more of a "purist clean tube tone amp" IMO and not as loud as the TC Classic. The TC can also do Dirty better and is probably not as fragile as my WA. The WA is also a lot more expensive so I handle it with care... but the TC Classic just drops in my gig bag and its ready to go plug and play...its my new favorite traveling amp. Very reliable too...Peace...DAcat 
I also had a classic 450 a few years ago. I was able to cop some nice tones out of it and it had plenty of headroom. But when it comes down to the richness of the notes the walkabout outshines. one other thing is the TC amps pair very well with TC cabs. I had an RS210 cab that sounded way better with the 450 than any of my other amps I trieds on it.
Hello Russ, glad to see you're still diggin the 450. I've evolved full circle back to tubes. sporting the bassman 100T these days.
If you're after volume the 210 might be your issue more than the amp.
There's some great advice here. The WA is a beautiful head but harder to get "consistent" tone at different volumes. I personally found it to run out of steam, particularly pushing one 8O cab. The TC is actually lower powered (don't ask) but does get louder. If I was going the TC route I would go for an RH750 or 450. The amp is good but the tech available through the footswitch is sensational.
There's some great advice here. The WA is a beautiful head but harder to get "consistent" tone at different volumes. I personally found it to run out of steam, particularly pushing one 8O cab. The TC is actually lower powered (don't ask) but does get louder. If I was going the TC route I would go for an RH750 or 450. The amp is good but the tech available through the footswitch is sensational.
Thanks for all the input guys learning more about these amps. One question about the TC 450, I see that it only has one speaker output so in order to run it at 4 ohms I would need to run one 4 ohm cab, is this right ? Right now I only have 2 8 ohm cabs. If I ran the speaker out to one cab and then from that cab to another cab it would still be 8 ohm ? Thanks again guys..
Not exactly, you can run a 4 ohm load. However that mathematically works out is up to you.
In this case the amp would see a 4 ohm load and it's exactly what you'd need to do to connect both of your cabs to the amp.
Walkabout is a far richer, warmer sounding head than the others IME. However, I would advise at lease a pair or 112s under it to get enough headroom for your average bar gig (as an example), or have a pair of 210s. Amazing head.......but 165 watts into a 210 will only get you so far.
