New MESA BOOGIE release - MESA/Boogie Bass 800D - 800W Bass Amp Head

[Nebadon2000]

$400 different

For a serious response - doesn't have the mid frequency, the description seems to focus on aligning it more with the 400+ than a modern take on them as the TT800 was. So maybe not that different, but an attempt at a simplified amp.

Has passive tone stack 2-9-1 is approximate Flat(say it is 'similar' to Fender)

Some Beta Testers on Mesa ,Subway Club here

 

[baxter_x]

I'm curious to know what the 400 players will think about this new amp.

 

[coreyfyfe]

Has passive tone stack 2-9-1 is approximate Flat(say it is 'similar' to Fender)

Some Beta Testers on Mesa ,Subway Club here

Right, so as @Wasnex was asking, what is the difference in voicing between this and the TT800's boogie channel which is also a passive fender style eq with an added mid shift.

As in the manual:

 

[Pontiac Thrasher]

Is this amp shipping/available to buy now, and have it delivered now?

Seems like it, I paid when ordering it about 12 hours ago on the Mesa website, received order confirmation email, charge hit my account, but no shipping notice yet.

Seems a bit rediculous, but looking forward to the front panel power switch.

: )

 

[agedhorse]

Any in the wild yet, or Beta testers on the forum?

Do tell...

Especially if we have an A/B with an old 400!

OK, I guess that you all have figured out what I have been working on the past while...

Frankly, this project started out from a seemingly endless stream of TalkBass suggestions and requests for a more dedicated single channel, Bass 400+ inspired version of the TT-800's Boogie channel. The first player to (very strongly I might add) suggest this was Tom Bowlus (no big surprise given his fondness for the Bass 400+) but he was far from alone.

I actually asked for input from the TB community regarding a few "what if" scenarios, including such topics as importance of a graphic eq was, player preferences in trade-offs of size and weight versus feature set (our European members were understandably the most concerned about this, but not by as much as I expected), and the basic feature set itself.

The results of this TB community input were extremely helpful in shaping this amp as the most player influence designed amp in the Subway line, and some of you may see a piece of yourself in this amp. Even our old friend Chef's "bright switch" made it into the amp, he was such a champion of this feature! Because of all this input, it turned into a really fun project, and not just challenging.

There are some Beta testers out there, Tom has one and hopefully he will be able to provide his input regarding how this amp plays with different cabinets (he has the widest variety of speakers in his collection of anybody that I know). Also, Al Kraft (@Al Kraft) and Gus Kendrick (@gustobassman) are beta test players as well as helped write and edit the owner's manual for the amp. Both Al and Gus are really solid, experienced players and have extensive experience with the new amp, they will also be able to answer questions from a player perspective (remember, I'm just a mediocre keyboard player, not a bass player). Gus even sneaked his out on tour, so hopefully he can find some videos or audio clips that are real world gig based rather that the typical marketing/influencer wank-fest videos that tend to appear with every new product release.

 

[Nebadon2000]

Right, so as @Wasnex was asking, what is the difference in voicing between this and the TT800's boogie channel which is also a passive fender style eq with an added mid shift.

As in the manual:

View attachment 7323308

Besides having numbers on knobs
Voicing differences info may get some insight from those in Subway Club that have used and compared to other Subway Heads for awhile now
One tester said new amp sounds 'Bigger' than WD or TT

 

[coreyfyfe]

OK, I guess that you all have figured out what I have been working on the past while...

Frankly, this project started out from a seemingly endless stream of TalkBass suggestions and requests for a more dedicated single channel, Bass 400+ inspired version of the TT-800's Boogie channel. The first player to (very strongly I might add) suggest this was Tom Bowlus (no big surprise given his fondness for the Bass 400+) but he was far from alone.

I actually asked for input from the TB community regarding a few "what if" scenarios, including such topics as importance of a graphic eq was, player preferences in trade-offs of size and weight versus feature set (our European members were understandably the most concerned about this, but not by as much as I expected), and the basic feature set itself.

The results of this TB community input were extremely helpful in shaping this amp as the most player influence designed amp in the Subway line, and some of you may see a piece of yourself in this amp. Even our old friend Chef's "bright switch" made it into the amp, he was such a champion of this feature! Because of all this input, it turned into a really fun project, and not just challenging.

There are some Beta testers out there, Tom has one and hopefully he will be able to provide his input regarding how this amp plays with different cabinets (he has the widest variety of speakers in his collection of anybody that I know). Also, Al Kraft (@Al Kraft) and Gus Kendrick (@gustobassman) are beta test players as well as helped write and edit the owner's manual for the amp. Both Al and Gus are really solid, experienced players and have extensive experience with the new amp, they will also be able to answer questions from a player perspective (remember, I'm just a mediocre keyboard player, not a bass player). Gus even sneaked his out on tour, so hopefully he can find some videos or audio clips that are real world gig based rather that the typical marketing/influencer wank-fest videos that tend to appear with every new product release.

I hope the product does well, it seems very intriguing and something I personally will have my eye on for future purchases, but I hope it does well because of exactly what you described above. The fact that you solicited and responded to community feedback to guide the design of this amp is fantastic to see, and really something I hope we continue to see from larger entities like Mesa/Gibson. It would have been easy to say that this doesn't differentiate enough from other products and not make it a standalone design.

 

[agedhorse]

Congrats @agedhorse. Looks good!

Out of curiosity -- looks like the impedance switch is 3 positions on this one rather than two like on the Subway series. Is there a meaning behind the difference?

It's similar to the 3 position switch on the TT-800, which uses a more advanced output tube emulation circuit than say the WD (which has some, which is what the MOSFET output stage also emulated). Just different flavors with some similarities and some differences.

With the switch in 2ohm mode and into a 4ohm cabinet, what would the watts drop down to?

This follows the same theme as the other Subway 800 watt models, the difference is that operating a 4 ohm load in the 2 ohm position will also increase the damping, so the amp will feel a little tighter (maybe not a good thing for players attracted to this platform).

I'm guessing it's a similar power amp management scheme to the one Andy put in the TT. It helps maintain the tube-like feel of the power section at different impedances.... something like that.

It's similar to the output tube emulation circuitry on the TT, it helps keep the lower damping more uniform between different impedance loads (like the Bass 400+). Yes, it does multiple things simultaneously as you suggested.

 

[gustobassman]

One tester said new amp sounds 'Bigger' than WD or TT

Yes, in it's own way. It sounds like a "big" amp. I think it's gonna surprise a lot of folks who are on the "class D can't do this" vibe.

here's another live clip - bass straight into amp, no comp, efx, etc..

 

[monsterthompson]

No need for a full amp these days, but this got my attention. Maybe i need it as a preamp

 

[Gervais Cote]

!!!!!

Me too I really thought I was done with buying amps but this little monster will keep me awake at night now…….

And I usually don’t care for the look but this one is not only super nice, it’s also charming !

 

[five7]

I want one.

 

[ProbablyTooLoud]

made for simpletons like me thank god I mean thanks andy

 

[DenisLM]

Here we go again...

Time to sell one of my WD800 to fund this...
Will be a nice companion to the TT-800 and D800+ and the other WD800

 

[RandomKaren]

That looks really, really tempting

 

[agedhorse]

I just got a notice that it is being prepared to ship and should ship today since I placed my order before noon. We'll see.

There are a bunch in stock already at dealers (at least in the US, though Thomann shows them only a couple days out).

I remember agedhorse talking about a hybrid amp akin to the 400+ about a year ago and am super stoked to so it come to life! Can't wait to hear clips and how it compares to the old tube monsters!

Were your ears burning???

Any details on the EQ, Andy?

It's a refinement of the TT-800's Subway channel EQ, combining the two mid controls into a single control that more closely mimics what the Bass 400 did. The difference is that we chose a little more player friendly mid curve (based on input from players and TB) and it's less interactive than the Bass 400+. It's still based on the original Fender tonestack circuitry, but with additional refinements. (as was the Bass 400+ and TT-800)

First question that comes to mind for me: How different is it from the Boogie Channel on the TT800.

Very good question actually.

This is a purpose built re-imagining of the Bass 400+, free from the compromises necessary to make the Boogie channel preamp play well with the Subway channel on the TT-800.

Why is thing you might (correctly) ask? Because if the voicings, textures and dynamics are too different between channels of a 2 channel amp, switching between then would be too much of a contrast for most players to find very useful for footswitching between tones during a song. They become at odds with each other, and while maybe more useful individually, not as useful when switching between them during a song. (this is the same, or similar reason that the TT doesn't mix the two channels, even with the raw tones scaled back a bit, they are just too dissimilar and the sum was less than each individual channel).

This is the most hot-rodded bass amp that I've ever designed. I may not be able to beat Randy, our founder and original hot rodder (for real), but this amp is holds pretty true to his earlier visions of big and in your face, while including refinements that go well beyond a typical street race machine.

 

[darwin-bass]

I do not need an amp.
I do not NEED and amp.
I DO NOT NEED an amp.

Sigh, @agedhorse, sigh.

I love the simplicity. I love, love, love having the HPF front and center.

 

[Bassiclees]

Qs:

1. What is the output of the "USB DEVICE PWR" jack? (500mA or 2A? or ?)
2. Why a 12AT7 (as opposed to 12AX7)? Curious as to breakup, gain/headroom, harmonic detail/color, etc. Eden did that on WT preamp, but seems somewhat uncommon. Is that something one might want to switch and is that possible?
3. Does Headphone jack delete Speaker output (ngl Headphone gain switch is nice if not)?

Gonna get one. Saving up and selling things. This is the apex wishlist head.
Will buy unheard if money comes before testing it out.
Basics covered- selectable impedance, tuner out, nice DI options. Sick.
Congrats to @agedhorse and the Mesa Gibson team. Looks like a total winner.

 

[agedhorse]

For those of you who have messaged me, here's a link to the owner's manual:

https://www.gibson.com/cdn/shop/files/MESA_Boogie_Bass-800D_Product_Manual.pdf?v=14438764719515208578

 

[Addison]

OK, I guess that you all have figured out what I have been working on the past while...

Frankly, this project started out from a seemingly endless stream of TalkBass suggestions and requests for a more dedicated single channel, Bass 400+ inspired version of the TT-800's Boogie channel. The first player to (very strongly I might add) suggest this was Tom Bowlus (no big surprise given his fondness for the Bass 400+) but he was far from alone.

I actually asked for input from the TB community regarding a few "what if" scenarios, including such topics as importance of a graphic eq was, player preferences in trade-offs of size and weight versus feature set (our European members were understandably the most concerned about this, but not by as much as I expected), and the basic feature set itself.

The results of this TB community input were extremely helpful in shaping this amp as the most player influence designed amp in the Subway line, and some of you may see a piece of yourself in this amp. Even our old friend Chef's "bright switch" made it into the amp, he was such a champion of this feature! Because of all this input, it turned into a really fun project, and not just challenging.

There are some Beta testers out there, Tom has one and hopefully he will be able to provide his input regarding how this amp plays with different cabinets (he has the widest variety of speakers in his collection of anybody that I know). Also, Al Kraft (@Al Kraft) and Gus Kendrick (@gustobassman) are beta test players as well as helped write and edit the owner's manual for the amp. Both Al and Gus are really solid, experienced players and have extensive experience with the new amp, they will also be able to answer questions from a player perspective (remember, I'm just a mediocre keyboard player, not a bass player). Gus even sneaked his out on tour, so hopefully he can find some videos or audio clips that are real world gig based rather that the typical marketing/influencer wank-fest videos that tend to appear with every new product release.

I remember asking this question way back in 2022 and I cannot believe I am seeing exactly what was in my head available for sale. Hot damn I am pumped!!!

Congrats on your hard work - I will definitely be grabbing one of these.