Mesa Boogie Bass 400+ Opinions please!
Steve Quinn
these all valve monsters?
Are there any better buys like SUNN, Fender or Ampeg. These are all very
expensive comparatively (in Australia anyway) and the Boogie is rated a
couple of hundred watts more.
I'm in the throes of deciding if I go for all valve or Hybrid.
Also any info on the Mesa Boogie Bass Cabs. In particular a 4x10 (for
portability) and I may add a 1x15 later on for the bigger gigs. With the
right info I could be persuaded into another brand altogether (Eden, Bag
End, Lab System, Ampeg etc.)
I'm in Australia (Tasmania) and music stores with any of these "try before
you buy" options are non existent.
So any info would be greatly appreciated.
I'm currently playing a TUNE 5 string (active) in a Blues band so I want
something that can really rumble and still have plenty of definition.
Cheers Guys
Steve
Kathy Kakaletris
I live in Melbourne and my suggestion is Labsystems.
They are made in Melbourne and they have a website labsystems.com.au
Their amps are hybrid with pure value eq. No corners cut!
There stuff is great and it is hand made.
The VP600 is a killer head.(300 watts RMS a side, and that is real
RMS!!) I have Seymour Duncan 8000, 800 watt head an it blows mine away.
I was going to buy a Trace Elliot V6 but it kills that too. At $2195
retail it is a steal. i hired an Ampeg SVTII Pro but it was so farty I
got rid of it. The Labsystems stuff is so good it is scary. It craps all
over the yank stuff like SWR and EDEN. It is simple and fat. If the
Americans knew about it we would never be able to find one here.
When the Yanks tour here many of them have hired the Labsystem stuff and
just freak out. They never take it back because of the different
voltage.
Anyhow, take a look at the website.
I am going to have them tailor one of their valve overdrive pedals for
me and them I will end up selling my head for a Labsystems VP600.
Good luck but in Australia there is only one choice!
Cheers
Kathy
jmc
x 6550 power tubes) monster. I have one and use it with two Peavey
410TX cabinets. If you want rumble and definition you'll want to check
this out. Two channels, one clean and one crunch. Both are switchable
from the amps panel or from a footswitch. The amp has a switchable ohm
selector switch so your always outputing 400 watts into either 4 or 8
ohms, your choice depending upon your cabinet(s).
Peavey recently announced that they are discontinuing the Classic 400
amp due to its size and weight. They're going to focus all of their bass
amp technology on solid state amps.
If you can find one of these monsters, check it out. It's a great amp.
Cheers
knowah1
mesa boogie/trace elliot (same company) are probably the best sounding
cabs I've heard, IF you play slap bass especially. The 4x10's and 1x15
stack is unbelievable all around. The thump is a little weak, BUT
through a good pa, makes no difference. The only problem I find with
MB is the price tag.
know ah
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Peter Newell/Carla Lindsey
Steve Quinn wrote:
> Can anyone out there shed some light on the good and bad points on one of
> these all valve monsters?
Good: Tone for days if you like tube bass amps (by your question I assume you
do). Switchable eq is nice. Solidly made. Mine took quite a bit of abuse.
Pretty quiet (not a lot of hiss).
Bad: HEAVY!!! HEAVY!!! Somewhat expensive to retube. Some problems with
vibrating parts loose (after seven years of *HARD* abuse). Tubes never die at
a good time. Guitarist will envy you.
> Are there any better buys like SUNN, Fender or Ampeg. These are all very
> expensive comparatively (in Australia anyway) and the Boogie is rated a
> couple of hundred watts more.
How great is the difference in price? If you would have to pay lot more for
the heads mentioned above, I (me personally) would go for the Mesa (and might
still even if they were priced similarly). I have played through the Ampeg SVT
Classic (and the 8x10) and liked it but still preferred the 400+ (with a Mesa
2x15). Played the Sunn and thought it sounded like mush (no definition).
Too bad you can't get out to the stores. Your ears are better than my
descriptions 8^(
Can you find any of these amps being used by bands in or near your town?
Perhaps you could give a listen for yourself (assuming you haven't already had
a chance to play a few).
The part about the Boogie being rated a couple hundred watts more is pure
marketing horse crap. The Boogie is 300 watts RMS. They are giving you *PEAK*
watts.
> Also any info on the Mesa Boogie Bass Cabs. In particular a 4x10 (for
> portability) and I may add a 1x15 later on for the bigger gigs. With the
> right info I could be persuaded into another brand altogether (Eden, Bag
> End, Lab System, Ampeg etc.)
I really like the 400+ with Mesa's 2x15. I've used their 4x10 a few times and
found it to have too pronounced and honky mids for me. Mesa's 2x15 has great
highs (for a 2x15) and fits well in a blues rock setting (which I used it in
for a bit). Also used a friends 400+ and an Eden D410XLT recently and didn't
really dig it for the some reason (I think his power tubes were shot though, so
not a fair test).
> Cheers Guys
>
> Steve
By the way, I am using an Eden Metro combo now with a D115XLT extension cabinet
now (just so you know, for something to base my comments on) and am very
pleased with it (aside from the hiss).
It has been about five years since I had the Mesa. The 400+ is one of the only
pieces I wish I never sold.
Just my opinion, use your own ears. Make sure you can send anything you don't
like back to the store!!!
Peter Newell/Carla Lindsey
knowah1 wrote:
> (giving my 2 cents on mesa boogie/trace elliot)
>
> mesa boogie/trace elliot (same company) are probably the best sounding
> cabs I've heard, IF you play slap bass especially. The 4x10's and 1x15
> stack is unbelievable all around. The thump is a little weak, BUT
> through a good pa, makes no difference. The only problem I find with
> MB is the price tag.
>
> know ah
Trace Elliot are now owned by Gibson. Before that they were owned by Kaman
Music (who also owns Ovation, Hamer, Takamine). That deal went down late
1999/ early 2000.
MESA/Boogie are (I believe) still their own "entity", and privately owned.
Where did you hear this????????????