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

[Gervais Cote]

I don't know how helpful I can be as I think they both sound articulate with plenty of low end and both have very useable mids to cut through. They both can sound warm, punchy, boomy or clanky depending on how you adjust them and both have HPF, Bright & Deep switches to add or take away anything you might want more or less of. They both move a lot of air

The biggest difference to me is:

The D800+ feels more immediate with sharper note esges when playing.

The BD800 feels thicker, richer, fuller with slightly more pillowy note edges but not at all undefined. Because of the added harmonics the BD800 sounds a little louder even they're both the same wattage.

Hope that helps.

According to what you say, the 800+ would cut in the mix better I guess.

Best thing would be to get both obviously !

Thanks for the input, much appreciated.

 

[Jeff Scott]

Best thing would be to get both obviously !

The sign of a guy coming to his senses.

 

[bherman]

According to what you say, the 800+ would cut in the mix better I guess.

Best thing would be to get both obviously !

Thanks for the input, much appreciated.

Not sure that I would agree with your conclusion, I think that both could be set yo cut through just fine, with some tonal character differences (D a bit warmer and fuller, but still articulate).

 

[Pontiac Thrasher]

Bergantino NV, Genzler array, and barefaced cabs are other great picks, but I do prefer my subway 410s over everything else

Keep wanting the Subway 410's in my kit, but (and no thanks to me ; ) have gotten slightly too old. So have settled for the tiny cabs, and feeling very lucky they exist as an option for the (shudder) "elderly."

Sigh...

: )

 

[Lowendtech]

Keep wanting the Subway 410's in my kit, but (and no thanks to me ; ) have gotten slightly too old. So have settled for the tiny cabs, and feeling very lucky they exist as an option for the (shudder) "elderly."

Sigh...

: )

id be extremely happy with one of your 115/210 combos.

 

[Snake101st]

Just got the v Boutique 2U head rack case that I mentioned a few pages back, and mounted the 800D.

I did have to remove the feet since they were just a bit too tall to fit, but it looks pretty great and is the perfect depth.

Debating on whether silver piping would've fit better than white (since the white doesn't match the "Mesa mushroom" font color on the amp) and if the 3u or even 4u they make with "blank" panels might've looked a bit more aesthetically pleasing / symmetrical with the rack ears on there, but that's nitpicking... it definitely looks a bit more at home on top of the 2x 410 stack than just the head on its lonesome imo

 

[gustobassman]

I'm gonna run the 800D tonight with the 112/115 cabs. The small venue "monster rig", lol... Can't wait!!

 

[Pontiac Thrasher]

Just got the v Boutique 2U head rack case that I mentioned a few pages back, and mounted the 800D.

I did have to remove the feet since they were just a bit too tall to fit, but it looks pretty great and is the perfect depth.

Debating on whether silver piping would've fit better than white (since the white doesn't match the "Mesa mushroom" font color on the amp) and if the 3u or even 4u they make with "blank" panels might've looked a bit more aesthetically pleasing / symmetrical with the rack ears on there, but that's nitpicking... it definitely looks a bit more at home on top of the 2x 410 stack than just the head on its lonesome imo

View attachment 7335342View attachment 7335343

The welt appears to match the knob numbers. Maybe switch to stage lighting? 10k mile oil from an old Pontiac dipstick would also work.

It looks excellent!

: )

 

[Collin Bass]

According to what you say, the 800+ would cut in the mix better I guess.

Best thing would be to get both obviously !

Thanks for the input, much appreciated.

Both should be fine for cutting through a mix. All about the mids.

 

[gustobassman]

This setup sounds so good. Bass 800D and 112/115. So much massive in such a small package. Crowd is absolutely digging it.

 

[aproud1]

Never had the chance to play through a Mesa 400. I have a 400+ sound in my head, but have no real reference besides the D180 I owned waaay back. It was the first tube amp that made understand the love for bass tube amps. The other was a Fender Bass 135. Neither had enough power for me at the time. I had, and quickly flipped an Orange AD200 and Ampeg SVT. Cool amps but didn't work for me.

So, anyone know how far or close the D180 would be to the 800D? I know I'm down with the Fender tone stack. I know this would be plenty of power. I've had other Subway 800's (truly great amps) but I always felt like I was on either side of the sound I wanted.

I considered another D180, but retubing one really was enough for me.

800D is the first gear to give me G.A.S in a long time.

 

[agedhorse]

There are similarities to the D-180 but the new amp is more refined, especially when driven hard.

 

[coreyfyfe]

Never had the chance to play through a Mesa 400. I have a 400+ sound in my head, but have no real reference besides the D180 I owned waaay back. It was the first tube amp that made understand the love for bass tube amps. The other was a Fender Bass 135. Neither had enough power for me at the time. I had, and quickly flipped an Orange AD200 and Ampeg SVT. Cool amps but didn't work for me.

So, anyone know how far or close the D180 would be to the 800D? I know I'm down with the Fender tone stack. I know this would be plenty of power. I've had other Subway 800's (truly great amps) but I always felt like I was on either side of the sound I wanted.

I considered another D180, but retubing one really was enough for me.

800D is the first gear to give me G.A.S in a long time.

I have a 400 because I had a D180 come across my bench for repair and I loved the tone. Having played them a handful of times each, though much more extensive on the earlier amps, I would say they ranged from the D180 being much more aggressive/sharp to the 400+ being the most polite/round within a similar tonal family. The 400 kind of sat in the middle for me. I only played the 400+ in stores/as backline and it was not really my favorite, so it wasn't until I had the D180 in my hands for some extensive playing that this family of amps really piqued my interests. I ended up going for the 400.

So far for me playing the 400 and 800D side by side I've found the 800D in the high gain setting, bass and treble switches on, with a little extra mids on the eq, gets the amp sounding pretty close to my 400. I think you'd have to up the treble and gain a bit more to get to D180 sounds, but I think you could get in the range. It will sound familiar, at the very least.

 

[aproud1]

There are similarities to the D-180 but the new amp is more refined, especially when driven hard.

Sounds perfect. The D180 definitiely got a little squishy when pushed.

I have a 400 because I had a D180 come across my bench for repair and I loved the tone. Having played them a handful of times each, though much more extensive on the earlier amps, I would say they ranged from the D180 being much more aggressive/sharp to the 400+ being the most polite/round within a similar tonal family. The 400 kind of sat in the middle for me. I only played the 400+ in stores/as backline and it was not really my favorite, so it wasn't until I had the D180 in my hands for some extensive playing that this family of amps really piqued my interests. I ended up going for the 400.

So far for me playing the 400 and 800D side by side I've found the 800D in the high gain setting, bass and treble switches on, with a little extra mids on the eq, gets the amp sounding pretty close to my 400. I think you'd have to up the treble and gain a bit more to get to D180 sounds, but I think you could get in the range. It will sound familiar, at the very least.

Thank you. This is very helpful. I appreciate the detail. My bank account does not.

 

[agedhorse]

I have a 400 because I had a D180 come across my bench for repair and I loved the tone. Having played them a handful of times each, though much more extensive on the earlier amps, I would say they ranged from the D180 being much more aggressive/sharp to the 400+ being the most polite/round within a similar tonal family. The 400 kind of sat in the middle for me. I only played the 400+ in stores/as backline and it was not really my favorite, so it wasn't until I had the D180 in my hands for some extensive playing that this family of amps really piqued my interests. I ended up going for the 400.

So far for me playing the 400 and 800D side by side I've found the 800D in the high gain setting, bass and treble switches on, with a little extra mids on the eq, gets the amp sounding pretty close to my 400. I think you'd have to up the treble and gain a bit more to get to D180 sounds, but I think you could get in the range. It will sound familiar, at the very least.

Yup, and as a generality, the 400+ was the most popular because it provided the best combination of tone and feel for the most players at the time it was in production.

This is why the Bass 400+ was used as the basis for the new model, though as you discovered, it can go into the earlier territories.

 

[Pontiac Thrasher]

I have a 400 because I had a D180 come across my bench for repair and I loved the tone. Having played them a handful of times each, though much more extensive on the earlier amps, I would say they ranged from the D180 being much more aggressive/sharp to the 400+ being the most polite/round within a similar tonal family. The 400 kind of sat in the middle for me. I only played the 400+ in stores/as backline and it was not really my favorite, so it wasn't until I had the D180 in my hands for some extensive playing that this family of amps really piqued my interests. I ended up going for the 400.

So far for me playing the 400 and 800D side by side I've found the 800D in the high gain setting, bass and treble switches on, with a little extra mids on the eq, gets the amp sounding pretty close to my 400. I think you'd have to up the treble and gain a bit more to get to D180 sounds, but I think you could get in the range. It will sound familiar, at the very least.

Were you using an active eq bass guitar with the 800D?

: )

 

[coreyfyfe]

Were you using an active eq bass guitar with the 800D?

: )

passive, generally single pickup but sometimes I'll take out a jazz bass.

 

[Murph_Orpheus]

Hey folks. Sorry if this has been covered extensively, but how similar is the 800D to the Boogie channel on the TT-800? I'm tempted to get the 800D but wondering if I basically already have a very close thing with my TT-800.

 

[sunbeast]

Never had the chance to play through a Mesa 400. I have a 400+ sound in my head, but have no real reference besides the D180 I owned waaay back. It was the first tube amp that made understand the love for bass tube amps. The other was a Fender Bass 135. Neither had enough power for me at the time. I had, and quickly flipped an Orange AD200 and Ampeg SVT. Cool amps but didn't work for me.

So, anyone know how far or close the D180 would be to the 800D? I know I'm down with the Fender tone stack. I know this would be plenty of power. I've had other Subway 800's (truly great amps) but I always felt like I was on either side of the sound I wanted.

I considered another D180, but retubing one really was enough for me.

800D is the first gear to give me G.A.S in a long time.

I had a D-180 (the version without the graphic EQ) that inspired me to buy a 400+ (like you, the D-180 wasn't powerful enough for me in many contexts). Comparing them directly I found the D-180 MUCH thinner inherently, much more of a midrange amp to me even with the Bass turned all the way up- I loved it but found it tonally limiting and for me it could get lost in distorted guitars in many live mixes. My 400+ could get in that D-180 tonal ballpark (not so much drive, though I loved the drive from both amps in different ways) with significant EQ'inq, but the D-180 couldn't match the thump of the 400+ at any volume IME. That said, I think there is some clear shared midrange character between those amps and I wasn't disappointed that the 400+ wasn't just a more powerful D-180- it had much of what I liked from the D-180 but with significant improvements in other ways that made it a much better gigging amp for me. I am also very excited about the 800D- it sounds like what I had hoped the TT800 would be when I bought that amp. I'm waiting it out to buy one this time around though.

 

[mikef09]

@agedhorse I emailed Mesa last week and they said the XLR out doesn't have cabinet simulation, but on the website its says:

cabinet simulation direct liverecording output: Balanced XLR Out with Pre/Post, Line/Mic, & Ground Lift Switches

what's the real answer here?