What happened to Mesa Boogie cabinets?

[Wicked G]

Indeed!

Later this year, I’m looking to trade my 2014?Armada for a 2022 or 22 model. At first, this new version appeared a little smaller, but a salesman showed me where they had tightened up the exterior, but increased the interior by 1.5 cubic feet.

Yay, I can fit that extra bass now….

The damn thing still gets only 16mpg. But it makes a great girlfriend/grandkids/and their fiancé and besties hauler…..

Oh, almost forgot….pulls a 6x10 trailer like it’s not back there, too. At least I hope the new one does….

My issue is that while I'm finding the interiors of most vehicles increasing, the door or trunk lid space is decreasing.

While I can fit two 15 inch cabs with ease in the back seat of my 1996 Pontiac Grand Prix, I can barely get two GK NEO112's in the trunk of my 2015 Dodge Challenger because the space between the door jam and front seat is very small.

I'm seeing the same thing with other vehicles I have been checking out lately. So yeah smaller loud cabs is definitely the way to go right now.

 

[markjazzbassist]

Something not mentioned yet is the amount of venues has drastically decreased. A lot of the former mid sized venues where local artist would play have either gone pro and put in a PA and booked national acts, or closed. I feel the local circuit is more bar (small no full stack needed) or brewery/winery/restaurant work which again you don’t need much power. It’s no longer 1998 Friday night everyone is out. There is no need to leave your home with the internet and streaming entertainment so those places to go on the weekend have sadly closed (unless you’re a national act)

 

[SoulReflection]

I suspect that very few bassists these days want to schlep a heavy, bulky cabinet

I know of a few who can't schlep, including myself .

 

[McFarlin]

I have one of them old Mesa Cabinets. The old 115 is heavier than the new 215 and sounds like a weaker 112 next to the new 115. Why to I keep them (115 and 210) They are good for the rehearsal shed. which is just a Ttuff shed type no foundation construction. In case of high winds, the weight of these things will keep the shed on the ground. I bring them to the the occasional blues gig along with the equally heavy Mesa 400.

^This says enough.
The weighing down a shed bit is a nice bonus.

In response to a couple of other posts:
I don't see why "younger guys" can't "load in/out quick and just shove the cab in the back of a pickup truck without worrying about it getting scratched" when using a subway cab (esp. w/ a cover). I guess it's because there's no shoving required, since even the large cabs can be lifted with one hand.

And what the heck is "linearity"? Can this be measured? Or is it synonymous with "slam" and "heft"?

 

[callofcthulhu]

The demand for the older Road Ready and Powerhouse cabinets fell like a rock as soon as the market said no and hell no. There's almost no demand for 100+ pound cabinets these days, and with the higher quality lighter weight drivers that are available recently, there's really no reason for the average pro player. The Subway cabinets outperform the Powerhouse cabinets model for model. For those who want the old cabinets, they are available on the used market for less than it would cost us to build them.

There are 6 Subway models: 210, 410, 112, 212, 115 and 215.



Yeah, you are not remembering this right. The Subway cabinet replaced the Powerhouse cabinets in 2014-2015, a full 7 years before we were acquired by Gibson. In fact, the Gibson ownership of today wasn't even around ~5 years ago.



The number of 810's being sold throughout the industry is pretty small. I did design (the electo-acoustic part) a custom 810 for Rex Brown (Pantera) last year, it was a custom shop tour support model and I also designed a 412 for Justin Chancellor (Tool) in approximately the same sized package (but much closer to the Subway family design), also a custom shop tour support model. It's not that we can't produce them, but the demand is really small and from the arena touring market. Clearly size/weight aren't important but the specific look was.

Rex's current tour rig:

Justin's current tour rig, the 810 is a customized Road Ready, the 412 is close to 2x Subway 212's (not exactly, but the differences were for his specific application in the O/D signal path):

I suspect that if these were released in limited runs ("signature" models with all the associated marketing focusing on the celebrity's face more so than any technical specs) they would all sell.

But then I assume there must be someone (or probably a team of someones) who make way more a year than I do who have spreadsheets that say otherwise.

 

[Thegreatzambini]

I seem to remember a plethora of options available from MB but when I just went to their site it shows a total of 5 cabs called "Subway Series". What happened to the 8x10 & 6x10 cabs? Their best feature IMO was the "Road Ready" versions, I can't believe they stopped making the RR series and the bigger sizes, I wonder what happened?

Wow, you have been out of the game for a while, huh? Nobody wants to carry that heavy crap anymore and you can buy those 610s and 810s for pennies on the dollar now.

 

[Altitude]

I had an early 90s Mesa Boogie 1x15. It got stolen out of my garage, that’s what happened to it.

I was moving in to a new place. When I was unloading some stuff into the garage a contractor was there working on some punch list items. He apparently was a player too; chatted me up a little about the cabinet when he noticed it.

Couple weeks later I went down to get it and bring it inside, it was gone.

 

[Thumpin6string]

Many still are.

I know I do, but I'm only playing in small jam sessions, not gigs. My rig is way overkill for what I'm currently doing, but I like it. I can't imagine me ever being totally ampless.

 

[Rojd]

Yeah. Doesn’t surprise me. Friend’s niece started college a few years back and all her textbooks are e-texts. You’re required to either have a laptop or purchase one. (The school gets you a significant discount if you buy one through them.) You buy the books for the year’s courses you selected when you pay your tuition. You also receive all your handouts, course descriptions, and grades -plus- submit all your paperwork and coursework online. She said the only place you might see paper is in class where some students (like her) still use a notebook rather than their laptop to take notes.

I remember when I was college we had these thick, very expensive textbooks that always seem to get updated for the following semester so we could never return them.

 

[Thir13teen]

Wow, you have been out of the game for a while, huh? Nobody wants to carry that heavy crap anymore and you can buy those 610s and 810s for pennies on the dollar now.

I just liked the sound of the cab along with the built in road case & casters that way I didn't have to treat it like it was made of glass & it was easy to maneuver. Raining or snowing in Seattle? Who cares, throw it in the back of the pickup truck & head back to the studio to unload.

 

[Thir13teen]

I'm secretly waiting for an old school Mesa 215 to just jump out and smack me in the face for let's say $250. Once I find a way to get it up into my ManCave it will never again move, I'll either die or sell it with the house as a condition of the sale...

Their 2x15 was a crusher! I remember some marketing material from MB saying something on the order of "disemboweling the first 5 rows".

 

[Thir13teen]

Luckily all that cool gear is still around on the used market for those of us who like and use it.

Nothing sounds like my Acoustic Corp gear, so I'm likely to keep it.

Todays players don't even need amps and cabs as noted here before. and plenty of class D mouse gear for those who feel they do.

Lol

 

[Jazzdogg]

I'd venture to say that the creation of the Bose 'stick' types of systems a while ago, a lightweight and adequate PA system that reproduced most of what a small venue band needed and it's industry competitors, meant that average and semi-pros could travel light and expect lower cost PA's to give them most of the tonal support one needed while delivering punchy sound overall with better fidelity.

EZ set ups with good tone means less gear, nice basses and their players get their personalities reproduced in a live sound setting and much less work on having to hammer away just to be heard.

I recall attending the Monterey Jazz Festival several years ago and found an area, sponsored by Bose, in which a terrific guitarist and double bassist were performing.

There were several of the Bose units in use simultaneously, which filled the area with sound at a reasonable (not loud) listening level. It sounded pretty good, but not nearly good enough for me to consider buying Bose to replace my A&H analog board, amp rack, and PA speakers.

Has the quality improved enough to change my mind in the intervening years? Based upon what I've heard in the past few years, only for quiet music in small venues.

 

[Jazzdogg]

Yeah. Doesn’t surprise me. Friend’s niece started college a few years back and all her textbooks are e-texts. You’re required to either have a laptop or purchase one. (The school gets you a significant discount if you buy one through them.) You buy the books for the year’s courses you selected when you pay your tuition. You also receive all your handouts, course descriptions, and grades -plus- submit all your paperwork and coursework online. She said the only place you might see paper is in class where some students (like her) still use a notebook rather than their laptop to take notes.

Whole new world.

Glad I went when I did.

Despite being a guy who spent the bulk of his career in IT I still never felt the need to funnel everything you possibly could through a computer network if there wasn’t a clear benefit for doing so.
A lot of what I see schools doing on the tech front is purely technology for technology’s sake; and/or the convenience of the faculty and administration rather than something that’s directly benefiting the students.

When I began teaching, students had text books, and my fellow professors lectured using transparencies and an overhead projector.

My colleagues looked at me as though I'd lost my mind when I started using PowerPoint. Nowadays, an overhead projector and transparencies are as antiquated as mimeograph machines.

The biggest problem I faced with the increase in computers in the classroom was students who thought nothing of copying and pasting from the internet, and considered intellectual property theft no big deal.

They learned a lot less, expected to be spoon fed the course material, and expected a trophy just for showing up.

I'm glad I retired when I did.

 

[Thir13teen]

When I began teaching, students had text books, and my fellow professors lectured using transparencies and an overhead projector.

My colleagues looked at me as though I'd lost my mind when I started using PowerPoint. Nowadays, an overhead projector and transparencies are as antiquated as mimeograph machines.

The biggest problem I faced with the increase in computers in the classroom was students who thought nothing of copying and pasting from the internet, and considered intellectual property theft no big deal.

They learned a lot less, expected to be spoon fed the course material, and expected a trophy just for showing up.

I'm glad I retired when I did.

When I was a kid I used to think you had to be smart to get into college "Will they accept me (with fingers crossed)? Now I see kids who can't read, write, do math or speak english attending schools.

 

[Jazzdogg]

When I was a kid I used to think you had to be smart to get into college "Will they accept me (with fingers crossed)? Now I see kids who can't read, write, do math or speak english attending schools.

I hear you. I've been an auto-didact for as long as I can remember, and enjoy immersive self-directed learning. Students who aren't motivated or self-directed baffle me.

I taught elective classes to adults and the majority were middle-aged-to-retired, with many retired military. "College-aged" students were in the minority. I had a waiting list every semester.

The 18-22 year old students were conspicuous, and typically not in a good way; the older students were hungry to learn as much as they could and would seek me out daily in an effort to learn all they could, while the youngsters typically wanted me to tell them exactly what to do to achieve a passing grade with the least possible effort.

SMH...

 

[baxter_x]

Here is my current list of Mesa/Boogie cabs that I own:

Mesa/Boogie Diesel 4x10 (Deep version)
Mesa/Boogie Diesel Powerhouse Jr. (1x12, 4x8)
Mesa/Boogie Diesel 2x15 EV
Mesa/Boogie Powerhouse PH210
Mesa/Boogie Powerhouse PH212
Mesa/Boogie Powerhouse PH610
Mesa/Boogie Scout 1x12 (three)
Mesa/Boogie Subway 112 (three)
Mesa/Boogie Subway 115
Mesa/Boogie Subway 210
Mesa/Boogie Subway 215
Mesa/Boogie Traditional Powerhouse PH410
Mesa/Boogie Traditional Powerhouse PH810

If you told me I could only keep one of them, it would be the Subway 215. I have lots of love for all of them, though. The Diesel 410 was THE cab that made me realize A.) just how much difference there was between brand A's 4x10, brand B's 4x10, and brand C's 4x10; B.) just how much more I preferred Mesa/Boogie to most other brands on the market at the time, and C.) that I could be enticed to move a ludicrously heavy cab if it sounded this good. The Diesel 215 (which I discovered/tried at the same time as the Diesel 410) had largely the same impact on me, but I couldn't fit it in my car, so I bought the 410, instead. I will also say that I just flat-out love all three of my Powerhouse cabs - that PH610 is right up there with the best-sounding, single-cab rigs I have tried - but across the board, the Subway cabs are as good-sounding as anything Mesa/Boogie has made, and they are so much easier to schlep.

Again, that SW215 is just an amazing cab! This is really a wonderful time to be a bass player!

Very interesting as I am actually considering the 215.
I am after tone but also tactile experience. I really love my Genz Benz 212 Neox.
I guess the SW215 should be a big improvement.

 

[Mediocrity Man]

Once upon a time there was ROCK! ROCK! reigned supreme. Then came pop?
pop? became king.
Also, in ear monitors and ampless bands.

Long story short, there's very little market for 160 lb cabs these days.
I hear great things about the Mesa Boogie Subway series. Rumor has it you can get a 215 which weighs 62 lbs and it can play ROCK!

I think the percentage of people needing cabinets that big is small. These days a 4x10 or 2x12 gets you there without having to own a van and require back surgery. I see the application for in ear set ups but I like a cabinet on stage.

 

[foolforthecity]

My issue is that while I'm finding the interiors of most vehicles increasing, the door or trunk lid space is decreasing.

While I can fit two 15 inch cabs with ease in the back seat of my 1996 Pontiac Grand Prix, I can barely get two GK NEO112's in the trunk of my 2015 Dodge Challenger because the space between the door jam and front seat is very small.

I'm seeing the same thing with other vehicles I have been checking out lately. So yeah smaller loud cabs is definitely the way to go right now.

Nothing like the open box space of a crew cab. My F150 Supercrew is my shop. My gear lays in that large rear area nicely behind my front seats along with clothes, spares, etc. The perfect vehicle for most non-urban locales. I carry two basses, a Mesa SW115, a SW112, a Mesa Subway D800+, an Ampeg PF500 as backup(but would love another D800 type) in a Husky roller bag, and a pedal bag. I grab whichever cab config I need for the gig, sometimes a single 112, sometimes a single 115, sometimes both. I’ve reached nirvana as an old man

 

[dbase]

I remember the powerhouse cab with 4x10s and a 15 in the middle. Those things were awesomely backbreaking.