New mesa subway amps and cabs!

[Al Kraft]

And yet, we all hear differently, and have different tones coming outta our fingers.

I couldn't agree more! IMO one of the things that makes the new Mesa line of bass products so cool is that while there is unmistakable "Mesa DNA" in everything, each product has a voicing and features that will likely work a little better for some folks than others. And those choices have been further enhanced and fine tuned through the designer soliciting ideas and actively interacting with players as he developed those products...not to mention being rather incredible at what he does.

It amazes me that despite differing styles of music and various brands of speaker cabs we've heard about people playing so far, the WD-800 brings the right flexibility/versatility to work well for all of them. On top of that the WD-800 captured a lot of what us original WA fans loved about that head while fixing some limitations in the process. I'm 90% sure many of the first impression and gig reports on the WD-800 so far would not have been as glowing using our beloved original WA.

The original WA is a classic in my mind and time has pretty much proven that. However, this new take on that classic seems like it's off to setting its own new benchmarks, along with some of its stablemates.

 

[JOE EDO]

OK..I just can't leave great alone. I have a few 12at7/ 12au7 vintage tubes (RCA, Telefunken, GE) and thinking about rolling these into the WD800. Anyone else try rolling in a different tube this yet? Results?

 

[DaveKirkpatrick]

Ok- quite a few of these are out and about now. I've been lurking and listening. Never owned a WA or played one outside of a music store.
Curious to know if any users believe the WD-800 capable of getting tones in the neighborhood of a Fender tube amp (Dual Showman) running clean or perhaps an Alembic F2B into a power amp? From the demo, it would seem that the magic would be in using the passive mid to try to dial this type of sound in. Thanks for any thoughts....

 

[mmbass21]

Ok- quite a few of these are out and about now. I've been lurking and listening. Never owned a WA or played one outside of a music store.
Curious to know if any users believe the WD-800 capable of getting tones in the neighborhood of a Fender tube amp (Dual Showman) running clean or perhaps an Alembic F2B into a power amp? From the demo, it would seem that the magic would be in using the passive mid to try to dial this type of sound in. Thanks for any thoughts....

I compared it to my Fender 100T, it can get incredibly close. Damping on low and rolling back some mids and it's right there. The WD can do a lot, tons of tones to be found in it .

 

[Wild Rice Chris]

That's been my experience as well. It can get really close to the old Fenders I've had with that passive mid pulled back a bit. Bump the lowest para eq a touch ~100hz and the highest just a smidge ~4k.

I have not pulled out my old Bassman for a side by side yet, but this feels really close to my tonal memory.

 

[mikeluch]

Hey guys, just a question and this is not intended to throw shade at the the WD800.
I own a D800 and a D800+ and have owned the Prodigy so have great respect for Mesa products
My question is what am I gaining other than the obvious of additional tone and other controls over my Genz Streamliner 900 from a front end tube standpoint?
I still like the SL 900, particularly since it is simplistic, but the WD 800 has my interest.

 

[Doug Parent]

I could gladly ignore this whole thread and be happy with my D800+ for the rest of my life. But "New Gear Release acquisition syndrome" has struck. Of course my 800+ is on the block. I freely admit I am a weak man. Darn you Andy.

 

[agedhorse]

Ok- quite a few of these are out and about now. I've been lurking and listening. Never owned a WA or played one outside of a music store.
Curious to know if any users believe the WD-800 capable of getting tones in the neighborhood of a Fender tube amp (Dual Showman) running clean or perhaps an Alembic F2B into a power amp? From the demo, it would seem that the magic would be in using the passive mid to try to dial this type of sound in. Thanks for any thoughts....

I have a mint all stock restored Dual Showman sitting in my lab that served as one of the models for range of tone purposes, so it's no surprise that it can get quite close. The Dual Showman is now available if anybody is looking for one.

Hey guys, just a question and this is not intended to throw shade at the the WD800.
I own a D800 and a D800+ and have owned the Prodigy so have great respect for Mesa products
My question is what am I gaining other than the obvious of additional tone and other controls over my Genz Streamliner 900 from a front end tube standpoint?
I still like the SL 900, particularly since it is simplistic, but the WD 800 has my interest.

The voicing is quite different than the Streamliner (which I also designed). The Streamliner is almost over the top tubey, some really like it but some players don't care for it.

[edit for clarity]

 

[mikeluch]

Thanks Andy, to be clear are you saying the WD 800 or the SL900 is tubey?
Thanks for the reply

 

[DaveKirkpatrick]

I have a mint all stock restored Dual Showman sitting in my lab that served as one of the models for range of tone purposes, so it's no surprise that it can get quite close. The Dual Showman is now available if anybody is looking for one.

Thanks! That is awesome news! Now it's time to write to Santa......

 

[DJ Bebop]

I have a mint all stock restored Dual Showman sitting in my lab that served as one of the models for range of tone purposes, so it's no surprise that it can get quite close. The Dual Showman is now available if anybody is looking for one.

OH?

 

[57pbass]

The Dual Showman is now available if anybody is looking for one.

Would you be open to trades ?

I have a nice Walkabout with warranty time left : )

 

[agedhorse]

Thanks Andy, to be clear are you saying the WD 800 or the SL900 is tubey?
Thanks for the reply

Well my response wasn't terribly clear was it?

What I meant to say is that the Streamliner is even more tubey, to the point that some players find it a little over the top.

 

[mikeluch]

Thanks, I do actually like the smoothness of the SL when tamed, but also love the Mesas so might need to give the WD 800 a shot!!!

 

[agedhorse]

Thanks, I do actually like the smoothness of the SL when tamed, but also love the Mesas so might need to give the WD 800 a shot!!!

All of this really comes down to personal taste, there's nothing that substitutes for playing it to see how it works for your playing style and taste.

 

[hennessybass]

My first real rig was a Hartke 3500 & 410. The speaker cab got damaged in van fire. When I was in the shop trying out and buying a new cab (Goliath III), the dude helping me was like check this out...
he plugged me into a Dual Showman (the big one with reverb) and matching 215 cab. I had no idea what was going on and didn’t even know what a tube amp was,,, but man that rig looked cool, and the way it sounded...

That tone is still so vivid in my mind after almost 20 years. I remember thinking, that’s how it’s supposed to sound. I will never forget that moment.

 

[Al Kraft]

My first real rig was a Hartke 3500 & 410. The speaker cab got damaged in van fire. When I was in the shop trying out and buying a new cab (Goliath III), the dude helping me was like check this out...
he plugged me into a Dual Showman (the big one with reverb) and matching 215 cab. I had no idea what was going on and didn’t even know what a tube amp was,,, but man that rig looked cool, and the way it sounded...

That tone is still so vivid in my mind after almost 20 years. I remember thinking, that’s how it’s supposed to sound. I will never forget that moment.

Funny you mention that because I always liked the sound of the big Fender gear for bass a little better than some of the other iconic brands' big stage models. Now the first time I heard my friend's vintage Ampeg B-15 I immediately recognized why it was a classic, but of course not exactly the right size rig for big venues (unless mic'ed).

 

[detracti]

My first head was an Ampeg B2-R. My second, an SVT3-Pro. Somehow, I think the B2-R was a better head. The SVT3-Pro could not cut it. My cabs were svt 2x10 and 1x15. They would fart out at high volume. The only way I could cut through a loud mix up was to push lots of low-mid.

Then I got my Mesa BB750 and never looked back. Ran it into a pair of Aggie 4-ohm GS212s... still my atf cab. That stack pulverizes everything in a 30 foot radius. brutal. just brutal.

Love the subway stack. but those GS-212s just kill.

 

[nostatic]

Well my response wasn't terribly clear was it?

What I meant to say is that the Streamliner is even more tubey, to the point that some players find it a little over the top.

I was one of those. I wanted to love the Streamliner, but it didn't work in my hands.

Got the Subway+ preamp today, been working with it at home, running into the fx return on the Forte into the Hathor and direct into a K10.2. Interesting beast. I'd forgotten that I actually like the variable HPF (especially useful with the K10.2). And in another surprise, I'm finding the Subway+ preamp a bit more articulate than the Forte preamp - comparing plugging the bass into the Forte input vs into the Subway+ then into the fx return.

Not enough decent light to do a video tonight, but should have one soon. Plan is to run a mic on the K10.2 into the left side of the audio track, preamp out direct to the right side so you can compare the two.

 

[Al Kraft]

My first head was an Ampeg B2-R. My second, an SVT-Pro. Somehow, I think the B2-R was a better head. The SVT3-PRO could not cut it. My cabs were.svt 210 and 1x15. They would fart out at high volume. The only way I could cut through a loud mix up was to push lots of low-mid.

Then I got my Mesa BB750 and never looked back. Ran it into a pair of Aggie 4-ohm GS212s... still my atf cab. That stack pulverizes everything in a 30 foot radius. brutal. just brutal.

Love the subway stack. but those GS-212s just kill.

The last Ampeg product I owned was an early model B-2R which I owned for a long time. Many refer to that head as the Ampeg for folks who typically don't like Ampeg. Oddly enough I replaced it with a Mesa Carbine M3...which was sort of the Mesa for people who wanted a different tone than the classic Mesa sound. IME the Mesa gear even when rated the same or lower in terms of power delivers with a lot more impact and volume.