Dave buys a Mesa Boogie Nomad
David Swanger
After yammering about getting a new amp forever, I
bought a Mesa-Boogie Nomad 55 from the local dealer
yesterday. It's a 55-watt, 3-channel 1x12 combo amp
that MB announced last year. Separate reverb controls
for each channel, separate gain, master and tone for
each channel, master output control, master solo
control. Each channel has two modes, clean/pushed on
the clean channel and vintage/modern on the the two
distortion channels. In general, I prefer the clean
and vintage tones (but I've only had it a day). Oh
yeah, it came with an amp cover and a free MB t-shirt
(woohoo!).
The good - The clean sound can sound very Fenderish
(which is good); the Reverb is one of my favorite
boogie verbs (which isn't necessarily saying a lot,
but still); the crunch channel in vintage mode is very
good, chords don't turn to mush, you can hear
individual notes; the amp isn't all that heavy and
although it's a little bigger than the traditional
boogie 1x12 combos, it's only a little bigger, it
seems like it's a lot smaller and lighter than my
Rivera R-100 (2x12 combo amp) that I sold recently.
The solo control is very useable, you preset a solo
volume boost and when you are ready, you can activate
it with a footswitch. This gives you more volume
allegedly without changing your tone. It works in my
living room! Maybe with the solo control I won't have
to use my volume pedal as much.
Also, although it can get loud as heck (I swear, I think
Boogie watts are louder than most other company's watts
;-), I can get a good sound at pretty low volumes.
The bad - Channel 3 is the overdrive channel and so far,
I've decided to call it the "Metallica" channel (or, the
"too much distortion" channel...okay, so I'm not a
metal-head). I have to fight to get a sound I like out
of it. I've managed to do so, but so far, the crunch
channel sounds better to me for solos. Maybe I need to
actually read the manual for this channel (Read the
manual? What am I saying?)
Also, the footswitch has five buttons, one for each
channel, one for the solo boost and one for reverb.
This is good. However, the buttons are a little close
together and my big feet keep hitting 2 buttons at once.
Okay, so I wear size 13s!
The ugly - My bank account. Oh well, I've got 4 gigs in
the next 5 weeks, I won't starve.
Anyway, the Nomads are supposed to be replacements for
the DC series. I like them better than the DC amps
(though I don't want to trash the DC's). The Nomads are
more versatile, to me anyway.
My first gig with the amp is this Friday. That'll be
the first real test.
--
David Swanger
Information Technology
Auburn University, AL
swa...@mail.auburn.edu
AFA
pause/hole in the sound between the channel-switching?
AFA
David Swanger <swa...@mail.auburn.edu> skrev i en
nyhedsmeddelelse:8cdbvl$qlp$1...@ultranews.duc.auburn.edu...
George4908
In other words, unlike most Boogies, I take it this one is not so midrange
heavy and has nice upper end sparkle?
David Swanger
: >The clean sound can sound very Fenderish
: In other words, unlike most Boogies, I take it this one is not so midrange
: heavy and has nice upper end sparkle?
My favorite clean tones are with the mid knob WAY down.
David Swanger
: Does the Nomad-series still have that switching problem like there's a
: pause/hole in the sound between the channel-switching?
I don't know, I haven't noticed, I'll check.
tubegod
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David Swanger
: Should have went with the rectoverbs.......
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Thought about it, I like the rectoverb a lot. The local
dealer only has single recitifier heads in stock. I've
never tried a 1x12 rectoverb combo. I like channel 2
of the Nomad as much as I like the overdrive channel of
the single rectifier heads. The rectoverb 1x12 combo
seems big and heavy for a 1x12 combo, that is a problem
the older I get. Also they cost a little more. The
rectifiers do seem to be solidly built.
bronxman
Sittin here reading the posts, and though I would share my experience.
A few years ago, I went through all kinds of craziness trying to find a
quality amp, with lot's of versatility, and rock solid construction.
After much research, and somewhat afraid to try the "Boutique and Semi
boutique" products .. you know ..all the what ifs.. I settled on a
Dual rectifier.. and in particular the Tremoverb..
Today, I was packing it to take to a very good dealer in used and
vintage stuff, and after preparing the manuals, tags, covers et al...
Yep, I couldn't part with it..
These Rectifier Series amps offer.. speaker response control, all the
toys for simple effects.. verb, trem, OD, hard or glass Rectifiers,
Marshall or Fender type power tubes, and depending on the cabinet.. 1x12
or 2x12 , you can have the option of open or closed back..oh, and for
sissys like me foot switching between channels.. These amps are like two
amps in one. Once you get your setup, you'll feel like I did.. Damn,
Why didn't I just buy the amp I wanted, and stop fiddling around with
the bugger?
Well, taste and needs do change.. I'm 53 and fickle =).. So rather than
change gear every few years, I have an amp that should provide me the
greatest in flexibility, high quality construction, and having found my
"guitar amp voice".. it sits here now ..
The net of all this is I hate moving it for one nighters... even bought
the 1x12 cab.. Celestion 30.. but all that stuff is heavy!
So, I ain't sellin' it.. keeping my 2x12 C 30s, and just because..
I believe I also own a premier SS amp from Evans..
I would recommend you play all the stuff out there again, an then decide
on what will be best in terms of quality.. wire layout, components,
cabinet construction.. and match the value.
There are no free lunches.. But there are some that are better than
others. For me I endorse the Dual Rectifier Series, and apart from
folks who think MESAs fart.. the general opinion is that they make
quality products.. some of those products are highly specialized and
other are highly versatile.
PS Go with your instincts.. then figure out how to pay for your
decisions.
Peace,
Dan
tubegod
anyway. I thought about going with a head/cabinet setup but I
just havent come across anyone who has one to trade for my
combo. Solo 50's or Rectoverb heads are hard to comeby used so I
will just wait it out. The weight of the Rectoverb combo is a
bit on the heavy side, thanks to the widebody cabinet. But the
sound is huge and versatile. I found my sound in this amp, we
should all be so lucky. Good luck to all!!!
Chris Taylor
amp & cabinet combination sounds GREAT at living room volumes. I
happen to LIKE the sound of channel 3. It seems to do well for
Satriani stuff.
Dave, I would like to hear how your Nomad does in a gig. I
probably won't be using mine outside of the living room any time
soon.
Chris
David Swanger
: I just bought a Nomad 55 head & Trad 4 x 12 cabinet. IMHO, this
: amp & cabinet combination sounds GREAT at living room volumes. I
: happen to LIKE the sound of channel 3. It seems to do well for
: Satriani stuff.
Funny you should say this, after I semi-trashed channel 3 in
an earlier post, I spent some time tweaking the controls of
channel 3 of my Nomad and found a few sounds I liked. Then
when I really cranked the amp, I liked the tones even more!
: Dave, I would like to hear how your Nomad does in a gig. I
: probably won't be using mine outside of the living room any time
: soon.
I've got a gig tonight, I'll post a report.
David Swanger
: Does the Nomad-series still have that switching problem like there's a
: pause/hole in the sound between the channel-switching?
I looked for this with my Nomad and could not detect any
sort of pauses/holes when switching channels.
Nigel Albertson
David Swanger
I had my first gig with the new boogie Nomad last
Friday. This is a new trio, not TOO loud, party
music, small club, nothing miked, just me, the Suhr,
volume pedal and the Nomad 55.
I haven't played in this room since last June, and
I discovered that my guitar's single coil pickups
were noisy as hell. A guitarist friend warmed me
about this and he was right, so something has happened
to the wiring since I gigged there last. Hum city.
Luckily (?) positions 2 and 4 are noise-canceling
so I used them most of the night. I like these positions
but I really missed the neck and bridge pickups. I
tried to use them a few times and the hum was too
much to bear.
I spent the week tweaking tones for the gig and when I
got there, many of the tones weren't quite right for me.
Damn it. Basically, everything sounded mid-range-ish
and didn't have enough gain. Part of the midrange
problem was due to using only "out of phase" settings.
Also, this room is famous for sucking tone, weird
acoustics. I constantly readjusted the tone settings
and by the end of the night it was sounding good again.
The formula was: more gain, more treble, less midrange.
This was true for every channel. Well, channel 3, which
I didn't like at home, didn't need much more gain and it
sounded very good live.
One problem is, for the past several years, nearly all of
my gigs have been with another guitarist or a keyboardist
and/or horns. With a lot of players, those single-coils
really sound good in the mix. With a trio, my regular tone
mindset wasn't quite happening. In fact, halfway through
the gig, I kinda wanted a Les Paul (or any good humbucker
guitar).
Oh well, it was a frustrating experience (the audience
had a great time, so the gig was a success). I've got
a gig this weekend, 6-piece Blues Brothers-type band
doing a wedding reception. We're actually going to
rehearse, I imagine I'll stay in the clean channel 90%
of the time, hopefully I can nail the tone(s) at the
rehearsal.
Till next time...
the_...@my-deja.com
> were noisy as hell.
I switched from singles to humbuckers when I got my DC-5. I've played
with TOV's and they too seem to favor humbuckers. Not just for noise
but the tone also. YMMV.
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
Steve Burgess
David Swanger wrote in message <8cssbf$2if$1...@ultranews.duc.auburn.edu>...
>Luckily (?) positions 2 and 4 are noise-canceling
>so I used them most of the night. I like these positions
>but I really missed the neck and bridge pickups. I
>tried to use them a few times and the hum was too
>much to bear.
>One problem is, for the past several years, nearly all of
>my gigs have been with another guitarist or a keyboardist
>and/or horns. With a lot of players, those single-coils
>really sound good in the mix. With a trio, my regular tone
>mindset wasn't quite happening. In fact, halfway through
>the gig, I kinda wanted a Les Paul (or any good humbucker
>guitar).
Hi David,
Maybe a good step would be to replace the pick-ups
There are several stacked singles that deliver a strat style sound while
removing the noise
O grab a second guitar with humbuckers for the small combo and keep the
strat for larger groups of players
C'ya
Steve
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David Swanger
: David Swanger wrote in message <8cssbf$2if$1...@ultranews.duc.auburn.edu>...
: >really sound good in the mix. With a trio, my regular tone
: >mindset wasn't quite happening. In fact, halfway through
: >the gig, I kinda wanted a Les Paul (or any good humbucker
: >guitar).
: Hi David,
: Maybe a good step would be to replace the pick-ups
: There are several stacked singles that deliver a strat style sound while
: removing the noise
: O grab a second guitar with humbuckers for the small combo and keep the
: strat for larger groups of players
I'm with you on the stacked pickup thing, when I bought my
Suhr, I loved the way it sounded. I tried a very similar
Suhr that day with Dimarzio Virtual Vintage pickups and
there was no comparison, the Suhrs sounded drastically
better.
I bought a set of Kinman pickups last year and...well,
okay, I haven't tried them yet. It's a long, weird
story. Maybe after my next few gigs, I'll put them
in the Suhr some weekend when I've got plenty of
time.
I'd like to have a really good humbucker guitar, but
I'm broke right now.
Chris Taylor
SA & S active pickups in my ESP strat clone. They don't sound
exactly like any other pickups, and I suppose you either love
them or hate them, but they DO cancel the hum, and they drive
long cables without any noticeable treble rolloff.
Philip J. Bergeron
pickups. For more of a traditional Strat sound, you can use the EXG control to
boost lows and highs while cutting mids. Or you can add the SPC control to
fatten up the sound, like a humbucker. I have a set of SAs in a strat that I
have used for years with the SPC control, and it sounds great. Easiest way to
get the best of both worlds, Strat and Les Paul. I think a lot of Boogies are
"tuned" for humbuckers, as they were so popular in the late 70s and early 80s.
I had a Mark IV that seemed to favor single coils, though. The Nomad I tried
did have an incredibly nice clean sound, although I didn't care for the other
channels as much.
-Bucky
(Hi, Dave!)
David Swanger
: I agree that EMGs are great for no hum, and they really are great sounding
: -Bucky
: (Hi, Dave!)
Philip! (drawing a blank here...)
Tony Hwang
That's for sure. My Zion Strat has EMGs. Very quiet. Comparable to
Kinman in my G&K S-500 Strat. But they sound very different between two.
Regards,
Tony
goux
field right where I stand. At least half of the places I play have this
problem, so getting a Strat sound with humcancelling has become a
priority. I've had good luck with the Dimarsio Virtual 2 pickups. Steve
Blucher is really on the case, and there is quite a selection of
pickups. I can personally recomend the Solo or 409 for the rear, a 410
for the center, and the 409 or 408 for the front. The Virtual 2 series
has much less string pull and it has made a noticable improvement in
sustain and intonation all over the neck. It is still real Straty, but
you can get a little more humbuckerish on distortion sounds by adjusting
your tone knob. I've used the Suhr V-60s, and they are for sale. They
were too bright and new sounding for me. GouxMan
David Swanger wrote:
> I had my first gig with the new boogie Nomad last
> Friday. This is a new trio, not TOO loud, party
> music, small club, nothing miked, just me, the Suhr,
> volume pedal and the Nomad 55.
>
> I haven't played in this room since last June, and
> I discovered that my guitar's single coil pickups
> were noisy as hell. A guitarist friend warmed me
> about this and he was right, so something has happened
> to the wiring since I gigged there last. Hum city.
>
> Luckily (?) positions 2 and 4 are noise-canceling
> so I used them most of the night. I like these positions
> but I really missed the neck and bridge pickups. I
> tried to use them a few times and the hum was too
> much to bear.
>
> I spent the week tweaking tones for the gig and when I
> got there, many of the tones weren't quite right for me.
> Damn it. Basically, everything sounded mid-range-ish
> and didn't have enough gain. Part of the midrange
> problem was due to using only "out of phase" settings.
> Also, this room is famous for sucking tone, weird
> acoustics. I constantly readjusted the tone settings
> and by the end of the night it was sounding good again.
> The formula was: more gain, more treble, less midrange.
> This was true for every channel. Well, channel 3, which
> I didn't like at home, didn't need much more gain and it
> sounded very good live.
>
> One problem is, for the past several years, nearly all of
> my gigs have been with another guitarist or a keyboardist
> and/or horns. With a lot of players, those single-coils
> really sound good in the mix. With a trio, my regular tone
> mindset wasn't quite happening. In fact, halfway through
> the gig, I kinda wanted a Les Paul (or any good humbucker
> guitar).
>
> Oh well, it was a frustrating experience (the audience
> had a great time, so the gig was a success). I've got
> a gig this weekend, 6-piece Blues Brothers-type band
> doing a wedding reception. We're actually going to
> rehearse, I imagine I'll stay in the clean channel 90%
> of the time, hopefully I can nail the tone(s) at the
> rehearsal.
>
> Till next time...
>
David Swanger
: I play in a club all the time that has massive buzz caused by a magnetic
: field right where I stand. At least half of the places I play have this
: problem, so getting a Strat sound with humcancelling has become a
: priority. I've had good luck with the Dimarsio Virtual 2 pickups. Steve
: Blucher is really on the case, and there is quite a selection of
: pickups. I can personally recomend the Solo or 409 for the rear, a 410
: for the center, and the 409 or 408 for the front. The Virtual 2 series
: has much less string pull and it has made a noticable improvement in
: sustain and intonation all over the neck. It is still real Straty, but
: you can get a little more humbuckerish on distortion sounds by adjusting
: your tone knob. I've used the Suhr V-60s, and they are for sale. They
: were too bright and new sounding for me. GouxMan
I've heard one set of VV's in a Suhr and I thought they sounded
sterile. I don't know which versions these were, I'd like to
hear the other models.
I really like the tone of my V-60s, I just don't like the hum.