New mesa subway amps and cabs!

[Slpbass81]

WD800 #116 Arrived. I contacted Mesa Hollywood about the included footswitches, and the quick humble response was "The first couple of heads had the 'surprise bonus', a mistake which the factory quickly figured out, and is no longer".
First impression is this amp is capable of big round bottom end to pristine highs. I have the other 2 well known 800 heads and I am usually boosting to get my good sound. With the WD800 I am find myself cutting more than boosting it seems. Makes my Hather 1203s sound bigger than they ever have. I tend to boost 1K to increase my ability to cut though if needed and here I can get 1K out of all 3 of the parametric filters, so depending what else I need I can utilize the 1K in the other filters. That's flexible and also gives me a foundation to not get too overwhelmed by all the flexibility. They seem to be linear, so I can find 1K just by doing the math I think.
Please correct me if I wrong. Thanks.

This may have been addressed earlier in this thread but will they be shipping foot switches to everyone who purchased the wd800? I am planning on buying one soon.

 

[redstrand]

This may have been addressed earlier in this thread but will they be shipping foot switches to everyone who purchased the wd800? I am planning on buying one soon.

Nope, they were shipped by mistake.

 

[agedhorse]

They seem to be linear, so I can find 1K just by doing the math I think.
Please correct me if I wrong. Thanks.

You are correct.

 

[agedhorse]

Nope, they were shipped by mistake.

They were a little bonus for the "first adopters".

 

[redstrand]

They were a little bonus for the "first adopters".

I read wrong, my apologies

 

[agedhorse]

I am looking into purchasing either the D800+ or WD800. From the very few sound clips i've heard on Youtube, think the warmth of the WD800 is much nicer when played on its own vs. the D800's. My question is, I play in a cover band. We play Mostly 90's Alternative Rock/Metal, our bands characteristics are more on the the Metal side as a whole. Will the WD800 be able to be as punchy & articulate as say a M6 in the high power dampening setting?

I am looking for a nicely detailed punchy bottom end with warm lowmids with clean bright highs. I would say 90% of my playing is with a Nylon Pick, then 10% of play I cut my active pickups treble and use tortex picks for rounder tone or fingers depending on the rhythm section (i'm assuming switching to Deep setting or to Low dampening would be my mistress for that 10% of play).

I currently use a Ampeg SVT410HE cab with a Acoustic B-200H (great head for 200$, but time to move on up & Keep it as my back up) My Guitarist uses a EVHIII and a 2x12 with V30's (Slightly scooped mids, punchy bottom from the 6L6 Tubes and not to sharp highs) Our Vocalist is a Tenor... I am thinking the warmth of the WD800 would be better then the D800 to help fill out the mids in the bands soundscape but will the Tube Preamp be to loose for locking with tight drumming?

Let me try to clarify a few things which may help you.

1. The native voicing is much closer to the Walkabout, but we did increase the high frequency extension which is closer to the earlier Walkabout amps in the production history.

2. The Carbine M6 voicing is more of an upper mid thing rather than an extension of the high frequencies. It's a more in your face attack rather than the silkier, more polite yet a little brighter and articulate WD-800.

3. For metal, I would expect the high damping position to be a better choice, the tube preamp doesn't have as much to do with the looser feel as the damping switch does.

 

[/\/\3phist0]

So I ordered a 4u rack, lightweight (10#)
17" depth dual rack, with PDU inward facing.
Shallow 6"aluminum vented shelf .
Top to bottom will be:
Shelved Shure GLXD 4
Korg pitchblack pro tuner.
Mesa Engineering Subway WD-800.

I have ordered some RGB 5v LED USB strips to put in the WD-800 on the case lid, inside to show light through the front vents powered by the USB port. (Or USB charger haven't decided yet)
Also EL tape to light front of the head, bottom edge of the rack out of sight facing up.

I have 10" of shelf space left. What to do.

2 weeks before I can rack the head, and a gig on the 7th

Oh woe is me.

 

[lomo]

I have 10" of shelf space left. What to do.

....howzabout goin' green with a strip of grow lights and a row of cherry tomatoes...or maybe some bud......

 

[Coughdrops]

So I've had the WD on 6 gigs over the last week. A couple of nice outdoor wood stages and a couple of tricky indoor rooms, including a nightmare brewery room. I'm borrowing a friend's Subway stack, 112 and 115, and all the gigs have been the stack or the 115 solo. In the tricky sound rooms the flexibility of the amp really stands out. The HPF and parametric bands really do help getting a great bass sound in a terrible environment. Outdoors with the full stack my favorite thing is simply how it hits. It's got that fat bloom that the D800 doesn't do. Between it and the OG Walkabout I can tell the top end is a little more open but it otherwise has the same general feel and sound.

I'm not super familiar with the Subway cabs and I've really enjoyed playing through them. Easily some of my favorite neo cabs to date. I think I'm going to use my old DB112 stack for this weekend and new years since I'm super familiar with them. That'll be the best case for me to really examine the finer points of the WD. So far so great tho.

 

[Al Kraft]

I am looking into purchasing either the D800+ or WD800. From the very few sound clips i've heard on Youtube, think the warmth of the WD800 is much nicer when played on its own vs. the D800's. My question is, I play in a cover band. We play Mostly 90's Alternative Rock/Metal, our bands characteristics are more on the the Metal side as a whole. Will the WD800 be able to be as punchy & articulate as say a M6 in the high power dampening setting?

I am looking for a nicely detailed punchy bottom end with warm lowmids with clean bright highs. I would say 90% of my playing is with a Nylon Pick, then 10% of play I cut my active pickups treble and use tortex picks for rounder tone or fingers depending on the rhythm section (i'm assuming switching to Deep setting or to Low dampening would be my mistress for that 10% of play).

I currently use a Ampeg SVT410HE cab with a Acoustic B-200H (great head for 200$, but time to move on up & Keep it as my back up) My Guitarist uses a EVHIII and a 2x12 with V30's (Slightly scooped mids, punchy bottom from the 6L6 Tubes and not to sharp highs) Our Vocalist is a Tenor... I am thinking the warmth of the WD800 would be better then the D800 to help fill out the mids in the bands soundscape but will the Tube Preamp be to loose for locking with tight drumming?

JimmyM would be a better resource here than me, but IIRC the Ampeg cab you have is sealed and should not get anywhere near being out of control in the bass register with either head IMO. While neither head is quite as quick sounding as the Carbine, both are very articulate (at all frequencies) and with the extra power over your existing head should give you plenty of punch with a well-focused tone at equal and higher volume than you get now. Both also have a lot of tone shaping features built in and should allow you to get the most out of your cab.

Based on my very limited experience with the 410HE, that cab has a lot of the typical sealed cab vibe (tight low end, rich mids), but with a much brighter top end. IMO you the D-800+ or WD-800 would both do a good job for what you seem to be looking for. Given the more tube amp richness kind of tone the WD-800 has (to my ear) I would definitely want to at least try it with the sealed cab. I think you'll find that the damping control will offer additional tone shaping that might be useful - the high setting getting you a tighter control and the low setting you getting you closer to the classic sealed cab/tube amp feel.

 

[Frankie Fender]

One thing I would like to see on the WD800 are center detents on the parametric gain knobs, like the original Walkabout, oh and a jewel light, but that's already been covered.

 

[nostatic]

I'm not super familiar with the Subway cabs and I've really enjoyed playing through them. Easily some of my favorite neo cabs to date. I think I'm going to use my old DB112 stack for this weekend and new years since I'm super familiar with them. That'll be the best case for me to really examine the finer points of the WD. So far so great tho.

I like the DB112 cabs a lot except for the form factor and weight. iirc they will have more mid punch than the Subways, but I think you'll find the Subway stack a bit more even top to bottom sonically.

I run my WD800 and D800 through Audio Kinesis cabs which are a different beast, but the Subway 1-12 compared favorably to them when I had it.

 

[Doug Parent]

Question for Andy when time allows, is there any harm in using a different foot switch (from a GK head I sold long ago... which is a 1/4"- T/S...not TRS) The foot switch works fine if I pull the 1/4" plug out to the first click. I'm assuming no harm is done but just making sure.

 

[Doug Parent]

Well shucks this happened today. First impressions are very favorable. (Gig tonight so I'm sure I'll blab more later.) I really like the voicing on this amp which seems more neutral than the D800 with controls set flat.
The passive mid cut reminds me of the "voicing" control on the D800 although it seems to work differently, and going clockwise on the control really changes the character. Great amp!

 

[4stringmf]

One thing I would like to see on the WD800 are center detents on the parametric gain knobs, like the original Walkabout, oh and a jewel light, but that's already been covered.

Andy said there wasn't room for it. I'm not sure if he meant for the power toggle and jewel light or just for the jewel light only. If there could be room for it, I certainly wouldn't mind using the power switch in the back as a trade-off

 

[agedhorse]

Question for Andy when time allows, is there any harm in using a different foot switch (from a GK head I sold long ago... which is a 1/4"- T/S...not TRS) The foot switch works fine if I pull the 1/4" plug out to the first click. I'm assuming no harm is done but just making sure.

Generally, this is not a good idea and may not work if you need the tip function switched while the ring remains open.

There is current controlled logic involved, a simple contact closure is all that's needed but often LED indicators are not compatible depending on how they are implemented.

 

[Doug Parent]

Generally, this is not a good idea and may not work if you need the tip function switched while the ring remains open.

There is current controlled logic involved, a simple contact closure is all that's needed but often LED indicators are not compatible depending on how they are implemented.

Thanks Andy. I tried PM'ing you but the inbox is full. I tried the foot switch, it works and the LED on the foot switch lights up when I select the "PEQ bypass" so I guess it's fine for now. The 1/4" plug is pulled out one click.
I'll order a foot switch in the new year. I'm assuming the cable needed for the foot switch is a stereo TRS affair?

 

[agedhorse]

Yes, 2 button footswitch and TRS cable otherwise I believe the mute function will be always on.

Weird on the PMs, all of a sudden my inbox says 385% of full. I will work on this, thanks for letting me know.

 

[Doug Parent]

Yes, 2 button footswitch and TRS cable otherwise I believe the mute function will be always on.

ah so! mute button and PEQ. Very useful. Nice amp Andy, it just keeps getting better!

 

[agedhorse]

PM problem solved, thanks for the head's up. Now carry on and get back to practicing