Author Topic: I have found the ultimate amp! (Read 221 times)

musikill · « **on:** January 23, 2004, 04:36:38 PM »

I was looking for a good practice amp and found that most combos and separates all sound the same. I tried the workingman's 12 by SWR and some ampegs and some other high end stuff, but still they all sounded the same. All had a boring sound, all of them had that gak sound that I hate. Until I found the Mesa Walkabout Scout. This is the best amp out there. It is the same as the large Mesa amps but in a great package. It is 300w powering a 12' and a 8' passive radiator. The tone is beautiful and perfect for the Alembic bass. I'm sold on Mesa products even though I had to shell out $1000.00 US for this 35 pound package. I am ready to sell all of my power amps, preamps, cabinets etc to buy more of the Mesa Engineering stuff. If you are looking for a practice amp that is easy to move, super well made and with the best tone - get this amp!

hollis · « **Reply #1 on:** January 23, 2004, 05:38:47 PM »

Alembic....Mesa....Proof of the old adage you get what you pay for? In both these cases it's true.
I've played through Mesa Engineering's stuff for years and years and it's never let me down! Loud, soft, funk, blues, rock, jazz? It's always held up. I'm talking from the stand point of a guitarist.....From my point of view, it's quality stuff. By the way, if you want me to shut up....put a piece of music in front of me!
I know, an old joke....but still at least a little funny...Hmmmmm?

jorge_s · « **Reply #2 on:** January 23, 2004, 05:44:27 PM »

Yes I must agree. This amp handles the tones from my Series II very well. It is also packed with a lot of tone control features for such a little thing. It is also very Loud!!!

alemboid · « **Reply #3 on:** January 23, 2004, 07:06:15 PM »

Oh yeah!
I played the combo at a mid sized gig- Huge B string with authority, great tone top to bottom, and can I say LOUD! I'll admit- it has me thinking about my rig...after all, there is an extension cabinet that mates with it. Together it could be trouble for guitar players!

Alemboid

alembic76407 · « **Reply #4 on:** January 24, 2004, 05:40:55 AM »

I have been playing through Mesa/Boogie for over 10 years now, and the only time my 400+ let me down was when I retubed the amp and Mesa sent a bad tube (1 out of 16 tubes)and it was on a saturday with a gig only 6 hours away. every time I would turn on my amp it would blow a fuse. after getting around the switchboard at Mesa I got the Vice President on the phone and told him what the amp was doing, he ask me if I had another amp I could use that night? and I told him that I owned a Mesa/Boogie and didn't need another amp (he liked that comeback)then he told me that if we couldn't get the amp working to go out and rent any amp or amps that I needed to cover the Boogie for the night and send him the bill. Then the President came in to the office and told me to try changing out some of the tubes and retry the amp and he would call me back in 15 min, this went on for more than an hour untill we got the amp working, THEN Mesa sent me another set of tubes (all 16)at no charge and told me to keep the first set they sent for back up's, Now that's customer service!!! My 400+ is the heart and soul of Tornadic Thunder

David T (The loud one)

PS; everyone in my band Plays through Mesa/Boogie

palembic · « **Reply #5 on:** January 24, 2004, 06:48:12 AM »

David Mesa sounds good too!

Or David TT???

jazzyvee · « **Reply #6 on:** January 24, 2004, 02:33:51 PM »

I have the walkabout 300w head with a 2x10 and a 1X15 Powerhouse cab. It took me ages to find it and it was the only amp i tried that made my alembic sound the way I want it to sound. It is still a compact but powerful setup and it all fits into my very small suyb compact car , my MCC Smart Car........with my bass on the passenger seat.

bigredbass · « **Reply #7 on:** January 24, 2004, 10:00:45 PM »

I recently bought the Mesa Venture 2-10 with the matching 15 cab. I couldn't be happier. I'd love the Bass 400+, but couldn't really justify it. The Venture reminds me of my ALEMBIC: Waaayyy overbuilt and a device that will gradually reveal itself to me over time. Not like a lot of my previous amps that I found all the tricks and sweet spots in five minutes.

The interesting thing is that Mesa and Alembic are both small companies run by determined and brilliant people. Imagine your Bassman 400 going south and getting the president of Fender to walk you through the re-start!

The WalkAbout/Scout is really interesting; I'd have thought that adding a passive radiator to a bass guitar cabinet would have been a recipe for mush. I was VERY impressed when I tried it when I was buying the Venture, not floppy at all.

I've learned it certainly is a waste of time to underestimate the Wickershams or Randall Smith.

J o e y

musikill · « **Reply #8 on:** January 25, 2004, 12:16:10 PM »

Bryant,
You mention the extension cabinet - I talked to someone at Mesa and they said it was only now in production. Have you seen any of the extension cabs anywhere? Also, not sure if the extension cabs are going to come in a 15 and 12 design. I think the 15 would be a nice way to go since The scout I have is equiped with the 12.

alemboid · « **Reply #9 on:** January 27, 2004, 08:37:23 AM »

Hi Greg,
I haven't seen the extension cabinet yet. After playing through the combo (12), which really moved air, I was commenting that the combo with the extension should be incredible. I'm sure they'll produce 12 & 15 extension cabs.

Bryant