I could see something like a combo of the D+, WD, and the Subway channel of the TT.
Something like the Subway channel from the TT as is, with the Bright/ Deep switches and addition of the 3 way damping control from the WD.
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
Welcome to TalkBass! Want to remove ads? Register an account and login to see fewer ads, and become a Supporting Member to remove almost all ads.
Something like the Subway channel from the TT as is, with the Bright/ Deep switches and addition of the 3 way damping control from the WD.
I never got to try the WD but a couple of weeks ago my D800+ had to be brought in for repair, after hundreds of gigs and about 8 years it started making blown speaker sounds with any speaker. I have zero complaints, it served me very very well.
After careful consideration I bought a new D800+
and decided to keep the old one as my backup (currently a Markbass LittleMark 250, I bought it because it was cheap and thankfully never had to use it. It's getting sold soon).
Anyhow, the interesting thing about the new amp is that to my ears it sounds a little bit different in a good way. The new amp seems to be ever so slightly warmer, maybe a bit fatter would be more accurate. Has anyone had the experience of comparing a well used older D800 with a new one and find the same or is it maybe just sample variation? I really like it, I'm thinking it may just be the result of whichever internal electronic components are used now, brands, tolerances, etc. but I'm really happy with my D800+ v2!
After careful consideration I bought a new D800+
and decided to keep the old one as my backup (currently a Markbass LittleMark 250, I bought it because it was cheap and thankfully never had to use it. It's getting sold soon). Anyhow, the interesting thing about the new amp is that to my ears it sounds a little bit different in a good way. The new amp seems to be ever so slightly warmer, maybe a bit fatter would be more accurate. Has anyone had the experience of comparing a well used older D800 with a new one and find the same or is it maybe just sample variation? I really like it, I'm thinking it may just be the result of whichever internal electronic components are used now, brands, tolerances, etc. but I'm really happy with my D800+ v2!
- Feb 12, 2006
- 52,447
- 176,650
- 14,248
- Disclosures
- Development Engineer-Mesa Boogie, Development Engineer-Genzler (pedals), Product Support-Genz Benz
Zero difference, there have been no changes since the amp was introduced in 2015-2016I never got to try the WD but a couple of weeks ago my D800+ had to be brought in for repair, after hundreds of gigs and about 8 years it started making blown speaker sounds with any speaker. I have zero complaints, it served me very very well.
After careful consideration I bought a new D800+
Anyhow, the interesting thing about the new amp is that to my ears it sounds a little bit different in a good way. The new amp seems to be ever so slightly warmer, maybe a bit fatter would be more accurate. Has anyone had the experience of comparing a well used older D800 with a new one and find the same or is it maybe just sample variation? I really like it, I'm thinking it may just be the result of whichever internal electronic components are used now, brands, tolerances, etc. but I'm really happy with my D800+ v2!
Ok Mesa Subway fans, it looks like I’ll be coming back!
After a few years of jumping around heads and cabs I ultimately sold all my Mesa gear and moved on to Fender Bassman (tube) rigs. My 100t blew up and the Super Bassman was never quite the tone of the 100t but it all got along GREAT with my bass at the time.
Enter a Rickenbacker 4003 I got new for a killer price. Unfortunately the Ric did t play as amazingly with the fender rig so I sold it and got an Ampeg tube Rick-o-sound rig (V4B and PF50t each into its own 212av cab) played a gig with it (went very well) but is a bear to move and there is a mid character to the 212s I’m not the hugest fan of.
I’ve been looking at what I can do to be even happier with my tone and I can’t get this awesome drive tone out of my head… I had a Prodigy into a sw212 that was the right kind of nasty but it could be cleaned up when I needed. But the grass is always greener and I moved past it. Well a Prodigy is up for sale locally and my new idea is this:
Prodigy into SW112 for my bridge pickup (highs and upper mids
A D800+ into a SW210 for the lows (neck pickup)
This will be portable, loud, the 112 will have the upper mid character that I dig and the 210 has the scoop I. The low mids where I need it. I KNOW I love the D800+ (I prefer the texture from the WD800 but the tone controls in the D800+ gets me where I want to be when not driven) so if I’m on a gig and the Prodigy craps out I can still be happy with my tone through the D800+
What do you all think? I know I lost my way but I can see the light again.
For reference I’ve tried all of the Subway heads and cabs… WD is favorite texture, D800+ is favorite tone and 212 is favorite cab
After a few years of jumping around heads and cabs I ultimately sold all my Mesa gear and moved on to Fender Bassman (tube) rigs. My 100t blew up and the Super Bassman was never quite the tone of the 100t but it all got along GREAT with my bass at the time.
Enter a Rickenbacker 4003 I got new for a killer price. Unfortunately the Ric did t play as amazingly with the fender rig so I sold it and got an Ampeg tube Rick-o-sound rig (V4B and PF50t each into its own 212av cab) played a gig with it (went very well) but is a bear to move and there is a mid character to the 212s I’m not the hugest fan of.
I’ve been looking at what I can do to be even happier with my tone and I can’t get this awesome drive tone out of my head… I had a Prodigy into a sw212 that was the right kind of nasty but it could be cleaned up when I needed. But the grass is always greener and I moved past it. Well a Prodigy is up for sale locally and my new idea is this:
Prodigy into SW112 for my bridge pickup (highs and upper mids
A D800+ into a SW210 for the lows (neck pickup)
This will be portable, loud, the 112 will have the upper mid character that I dig and the 210 has the scoop I. The low mids where I need it. I KNOW I love the D800+ (I prefer the texture from the WD800 but the tone controls in the D800+ gets me where I want to be when not driven) so if I’m on a gig and the Prodigy craps out I can still be happy with my tone through the D800+
What do you all think? I know I lost my way but I can see the light again.
For reference I’ve tried all of the Subway heads and cabs… WD is favorite texture, D800+ is favorite tone and 212 is favorite cab
@Bassi5t sent you a PM with link to a video of my Ric 4003 through D800+ you might find helpful to determine if it fits or doesn’t fit your needs
- Feb 12, 2006
- 52,447
- 176,650
- 14,248
- Disclosures
- Development Engineer-Mesa Boogie, Development Engineer-Genzler (pedals), Product Support-Genz Benz
If you are splitting your signal via dual pickups, it's best if you have polarity reverse feature available on one of the two signal paths because there's no way to know how the polarity will work out in the low frequencies. It may not matter, but that's just speculation because it may make a big difference too.
You can do this with a custom reverse polarity speaker cable, but be sure you clearly label it as such.
You can do this with a custom reverse polarity speaker cable, but be sure you clearly label it as such.
I do t k ow that is call it “splitting my signal”. It is more like playing two bassss at the same time. When I EQ the amps I pull ALL the bass and low low mids out of one and all the highs and upper mids out of the other. There is little (if any) frequency crossover. Chris Squire and Geddy Lee (among others) did this for many years (as I am sure you are aware. Geddy even claimed to have moved to the Jazz bass because he couldn’t get the low end from the rock without doing this… I don’t do a lot of low end but it is a lot nicer when I use ROS. Also the tone is different… the pickups always sound more open when soloed and you get that effect when ROS is employed.
Always appreciate you looking out for us Andy!
Side note: after doing a lot of demoing and composing live and through single mic recordings I find that I prefer the sound of the bridge pickup alone over any balance of the two pickups through one cab. But I like better the ROS… I can better control the EQ of each pickup and the overall tone is more open.
But I digress… yay Mesa!
But also along those lines, I was worried about the damping factor difference between the two head. But with the two not playing the same frequencies it shouldnt make much difference since the bass will be more of an underlining rumble rather than a well defined sound.
In my experimentation I possible experienced what you are talking about, or a damping difference. There was almost an echo effect when I would eq and have same frequencies out of both cabs. This and the logic of ROS is what led me to eqing them so their own separate groups of frequencies.
- Feb 12, 2006
- 52,447
- 176,650
- 14,248
- Disclosures
- Development Engineer-Mesa Boogie, Development Engineer-Genzler (pedals), Product Support-Genz Benz
It’s the potential similarities between the signals that earn the cautionary statement. It may not be an issue in your application however.
And here is my new (to me) rig. Should never have let my Prodigy go! The Ricky through the 2 210 Subway cabs is glorious and gets the grind I remember from before and have been longing for, for the last year.
Glad to be back! Now to move some gear so I can pickup a D800 and complete my ROS setup.
Glad to be back! Now to move some gear so I can pickup a D800 and complete my ROS setup.
A Subway version of the M-6 Carbine!
Sign-up this old, fat, bassplayer for the first one!
Always nice to hear when someone achieves a goal, congratulations! Along with the tone, that rig looks extremely legit, and will be even more amazing with the added SW112 and D800+.
You've got me really curious about the Prodigy ; )
To my surprise, there was a 112/115/210/215/410 at the local Hollywood GC to demo. I hadn't played the 112 or 210 since the Hollywood Mesa Boogie shop days. I really liked the 112 in combo with the 115 (I never tried that combo originally). Eventually GAS will get the better of me with that cabinet!
There’s already a short list!!! Get in line!!A Subway version of the M-6 Carbine!
Sign-up this old, fat, bassplayer for the first one!
The SW 112 and 115 together are quite unique IME. The combination has a very authoritative (but not overwhelming) low end with strong reinforcing definition in the upper lows/low mids that just sounds really good to me. The rest of the mids are very rich and present with an upper register that's a nice complement to the overall voicing and supports excellent note definition.
The 112 was at ear level so the 115 was felt more in the chest than heard (this was also at super low store volume). I briefly unplugged the 112 to remember what it sounded like on its own and that coupling is definitely super nice!
One thing I wish I realized back in the day is that my sound is definitely a two tweeter system. The 215 confirmed that.
My eventual plan (which I'm sure my fiancé and neighbors would love to hear about) is run a splitter with a GK Legacy into the 112 (quick and tight) and Demeter 201s into the 115 (looser and bloom-y).
I also tried the 210 and definitely heard how that was even tighter yet, but the 112 has a bit of growl in it that I really liked!
Both times that I've demo'd a D-800+, I've really loved the hi-mid frequency knob. That was a fantastic addition.
Last edited:
Yeah that's what I got, I picked them up right when they came out (and were *significantly* cheaper in Europe than they are now... just checked out the current prices and my head exploded) and it's a great combination. People on here go on about how you shouldn't mix different cabs or whatever but I only ever had great results with those two.
Question for people who've owned/own both: How similar is the D-800 to the TT-800's 'Subway' channel? I mean other than the differences to the controls, are there any noticable sonic differences? Tempted to sell my D800 and get the TT but I want to have as good an idea of what it's like before I take the plunge (no way of testing one here...)
To my ear, the D-800 has a darker, warmer tone to it than the TT-800 Subway Channel. That's not to say that the Subway Channel doesn't have warmth, it absolutely does, but I think it's got more shimmer and treble sparkle than the D-800, which has more of a woody baritone center. From what I've read here, I get the impression that the Subway Channel is closer to the voicing of the D-800+, which sounds like it's a bit brighter.
I fully expected to replace my D-800 with the TT-800, but when I got the TT, I realized it did something different (which I also enjoyed), and that I still love what the D-800 gives me. As of right now, I use them both, and for different things. My bank account would appreciate it if I sold one of them, but my ears won't let me.