Mesa Boogie Bass 800D

[Sean]

My 400+ is poorly and needs to visit the Amp Hospital, it's tripping out the socket circuit at home 🫣. So, it is highly unlikely it'll be ready to go to the SW Bass Bash by 12th October. 

I wonder if anyone else has a 400+ that they could take to Taunton.  Saying that, who's going to bring an 800D? 

[Bankai]

On 19/09/2025 at 09:41, Chimike said:

Deposit Paid, off to Andersons today , Just in case they manage to get these amps in as listed on time.

I have to mention, this is NOT normal for me . I seldom buy new ('cos I love old valve amps ),

But the confidence inspired by "Agedhorse's " helpful and informative attitude, and the design remit , that so reflects my requirements,

Simply too hard to resist ! I have every confidence it will sound Fabulous.

PLUS What a Looker !  Classic !

 

It’s about time that you implemented a “one in, three out” rule!

 

Edited Monday at 20:02 by Bankai

[Russ]

So I got mine yesterday.  Only just had a chance to plug it in and put it through its paces. 

 

First impressions - it does sound like a Bass 400+. In that regard, job done. It's got that little bit of inherent dirt from the valve preamp, and a very similar character in terms of the overall frequency curve (a bit middy, but in a nice, smooth, detailed and slightly furry way).

 

Here's a pic of it sitting on top of my Ashdown RM800 - you can get a good idea of its (small) size. 

 

 

Downsides? Sadly, it does seem to have a big one - it just doesn't seem very loud. My RM800 is louder when turned up to about 9:00 (see pic) than the Mesa is turned up to about 7 or 8. This is with it going into my Barefaced BTII (which can handle 1600W). Maybe I'm doing something wrong with it, but that could potentially be a dealbreaker - if I can turn it up to 8 in my house and not shake the doors off their hinges, then there's something not quite right here. The Ashdown is too loud for the house once it gets to about 11:00, with loads more volume to go. Which is weird, because they probably use the exact same ICEpower modules for their Class D power sections. 

 

I'll keep playing - will report back with more findings. 

[agedhorse]

1 hour ago, Russ said:

So I got mine yesterday.  Only just had a chance to plug it in and put it through its paces. 

 

First impressions - it does sound like a Bass 400+. In that regard, job done. It's got that little bit of inherent dirt from the valve preamp, and a very similar character in terms of the overall frequency curve (a bit middy, but in a nice, smooth, detailed and slightly furry way).

 

Here's a pic of it sitting on top of my Ashdown RM800 - you can get a good idea of its (small) size. 

 

 

Downsides? Sadly, it does seem to have a big one - it just doesn't seem very loud. My RM800 is louder when turned up to about 9:00 (see pic) than the Mesa is turned up to about 7 or 8. This is with it going into my Barefaced BTII (which can handle 1600W). Maybe I'm doing something wrong with it, but that could potentially be a dealbreaker - if I can turn it up to 8 in my house and not shake the doors off their hinges, then there's something not quite right here. The Ashdown is too loud for the house once it gets to about 11:00, with loads more volume to go. Which is weird, because they probably use the exact same ICEpower modules for their Class D power sections. 

 

I'll keep playing - will report back with more findings. 

1. Turn the gain and volume up more

 

2. Turn the eq up more, it’s based on the Fender tone stack which functions like volume controls (especially the mid band)

 

3. Use the high gain switch position. 
 

Knob position means nothing, the gain structures (and gain stage architecture) are entirely different between the two amps.

 

 

[Russ]

33 minutes ago, agedhorse said:

1. Turn the gain and volume up more

 

2. Turn the eq up more, it’s based on the Fender tone stack which functions like volume controls (especially the mid band)

 

3. Use the high gain switch position. 
 

Knob position means nothing, the gain structures (and gain stage architecture) are entirely different between the two amps.

 

 

If I use the high gain switch position, it gets very furry very quickly - can't turn the input gain above about 3 without it getting hairy. I'm using an active bass with pretty high output though. I'll keep experimenting. 

 

I've got the EQ controls all pretty much centred right now at around 5, but, again, I'll play with it some more and see what I can come up with. 

 

It's still early days, basically. 

 

EDIT: I dialled down the HPF a bit and dialled up the bass and mid controls, and left the shelving switches off. Kept the input on low gain, and it's much better. It is starting to shake the doors a bit now.  

Edited Wednesday at 17:50 by Russ

[bassbora]

Very excited about this amp. I usually don’t change them often and I have been using my Subway D800 for many years and this is the first amp to make me take a note and I will be keeping an eye on this thread. 

[agedhorse]

2 hours ago, Russ said:

If I use the high gain switch position, it gets very furry very quickly - can't turn the input gain above about 3 without it getting hairy. I'm using an active bass with pretty high output though. I'll keep experimenting. 

 

I've got the EQ controls all pretty much centred right now at around 5, but, again, I'll play with it some more and see what I can come up with. 

 

It's still early days, basically. 

 

EDIT: I dialled down the HPF a bit and dialled up the bass and mid controls, and left the shelving switches off. Kept the input on low gain, and it's much better. It is starting to shake the doors a bit now.  

 

Remember that this is based on the Fender tone stack eq which can benefit with the eq controls higher than you might expect. Also, the master volume control applies gain evenly throughout its entire rotation, many master controls do 90% of their work in the first half of the rotation (which makes people THINK they are more powerful though they are not).

[Russ]

36 minutes ago, agedhorse said:

 

Remember that this is based on the Fender tone stack eq which can benefit with the eq controls higher than you might expect. Also, the master volume control applies gain evenly throughout its entire rotation, many master controls do 90% of their work in the first half of the rotation (which makes people THINK they are more powerful though they are not).

Not going to get any more time to mess with it today (kids, bedtimes, etc  ) but I think I'm starting to get the hang of it. And it is sounding rather good now. 

 

Back when I had the Bass 400+ I mostly EQ'd using the graphic rather than the main tone controls, which were mostly left flat-ish - I'd adjust them for the room, plus, since I was using the 1516 which was up on casters, I'd dial in a bit of additional bottom end to compensate for the lack of coupling of the cab with the stage / floor.

[agedhorse]

Almost all of the voicing on both the 400+ and Bass 800D is done within the tone stack eq section, that’s why it’s so important to understand how it works. 

[Musicman20]

13 hours ago, agedhorse said:

 

 Also, the master volume control applies gain evenly throughout its entire rotation, many master controls do 90% of their work in the first half of the rotation (which makes people THINK they are more powerful though they are not).

That common trick! I always remember when you guys at Genz discussed this and that your volume controls are much more 'honest'.

[eude]

57 minutes ago, Musicman20 said:

That common trick! I always remember when you guys at Genz discussed this and that your volume controls are much more 'honest'.

Yeah, that's definitely a problem on a lot of amps.

GK seem to have pretty honest volume controls too.

[Beedster]

14 hours ago, agedhorse said:

Almost all of the voicing on both the 400+ and Bass 800D is done within the tone stack eq section, that’s why it’s so important to understand how it works. 

 

I struggled at first with my Bass 400+ for that very reason, i.e., I was using controls as if it were a standard hifi amp! There's a reason the amp is so iconic, and that is the eq, so I'm guessing it's well worth persisting with the tone controls on the 880D also. Of course, if anyone tries and fails, I'll be happy to take it off their hands given it's looking like a 3-month wait minimum 👍

[Steve Browning]

56 minutes ago, Beedster said:

 

I struggled at first with my Bass 400+ for that very reason, i.e., I was using controls as if it were a standard hifi amp! There's a reason the amp is so iconic, and that is the eq, so I'm guessing it's well worth persisting with the tone controls on the 880D also. Of course, if anyone tries and fails, I'll be happy to take it off their hands given it's looking like a 3-month wait minimum 👍

The Bass 400 was the same. As I have said in the past, I actually gave up (shortly after getting it) and reverted to a pair of Orange 120s (I was using a pair of Diesel 2x15s at the time) until I pulled myself together and persevered. It was well worth it!!

[agedhorse]

8 hours ago, Musicman20 said:

That common trick! I always remember when you guys at Genz discussed this and that your volume controls are much more 'honest'.

Ultimately, we lost some sales from this but gained a life-long following from those who appreciated it.

 

6 hours ago, Beedster said:

 

I struggled at first with my Bass 400+ for that very reason, i.e., I was using controls as if it were a standard hifi amp! There's a reason the amp is so iconic, and that is the eq, so I'm guessing it's well worth persisting with the tone controls on the 880D also. Of course, if anyone tries and fails, I'll be happy to take it off their hands given it's looking like a 3-month wait minimum 👍

Yes, the Bass 400+ was also a fairly extreme example of this which is why we refined the original circuit to make it more player friendly but it still has some of the iconic quirks. 

[Russ]

1 hour ago, agedhorse said:

Ultimately, we lost some sales from this but gained a life-long following from those who appreciated it.

 

Yes, the Bass 400+ was also a fairly extreme example of this which is why we refined the original circuit to make it more player friendly but it still has some of the iconic quirks. 

I guess I must have been using the Bass 400+ wrong for all those years I had it.  Not going to make the same mistake with this one! 

 

Played with it a bit more today. Volume issue seems to be sorted, so I retract what I was saying about the volume! The challenge right now is to add volume without adding much in the way of additional "fur". I like a bit of fur, but not loads. The EQ controls add fur-free volume, it's just a case of balancing that with the input gain, I think, so I'll be playing with that some more. I'll get there! 

 

 

[pete.young]

On 21/09/2025 at 11:31, Chimike said:

So, in fairness to Andertons, they didn't promise to have it there for me, so I can't complain when it wasn't !

"probably in the warehouse behind a pile of deliveries, awaiting unpacking ", was the comment.

Hoping to hear about shipping to my home, quite soon. Will report back .

 

I'm ooking forward to hearing how this works with your Monza.

[agedhorse]

4 hours ago, Russ said:

I guess I must have been using the Bass 400+ wrong for all those years I had it.  Not going to make the same mistake with this one! 

 

Played with it a bit more today. Volume issue seems to be sorted, so I retract what I was saying about the volume! The challenge right now is to add volume without adding much in the way of additional "fur". I like a bit of fur, but not loads. The EQ controls add fur-free volume, it's just a case of balancing that with the input gain, I think, so I'll be playing with that some more. I'll get there! 

 

 

Where do you have the master volume control set?

[shug]

On 16/09/2025 at 23:46, agedhorse said:

 

Correct, this is my work.

 

Good question and I agree (in general) somewhat, but we now have 3 different hybrid models, and all 3 are very different from each other in tone, texture and feel. The WD-800 is modeled after the Walkabout, with the updates that many players asked for, this amp is modeled after the Bass 400+ with significant player driven updates as well.

 

I spend most of my time over at TalkBass, there were over 300 players over there that provided input on what they would like to see if we were to do an amp like this, and a LOT of the suggestions made it into the final version. 

 

Here's a link to the thread, there are informative comments and a couple of our test players have contributed to the thread, including some gig videos. For a (refreshing to me) change, we deemphesized the obligatory bass slap w**ker videos because that's not representative of real life, and instead are focusing on gig and studio demos. I would expect  there to be more of these in the next week or two, once players receive their amps.

 

I also begged for better EU access to these amps (we all share your frustration), and it looks like making a fool of myself groveling may have produced results! Thomann says they will have them available within the week on their website.

 

Here's a link to the thread:

(sorry, link won't embed)

 

Here's a link to the owner's manual:

https://www.gibson.com/cdn/shop/files/MESA_Boogie_Bass-800D_Product_Manual.pdf?v=14438764719515208578

 

 

 

 

I'm keen to check one of these out, for sure, but I wish you'd asked ME what features to include as then this otherwise perfect looking amp would have at least one 9 volt output on the back to power a tuner ( or other) pedal. That's got to be a good, useful and relatively cheap feature, surely? I don't want you to feel too bad about it, though; I've been playing for 50 years, owned scores of amps and only just thought of it myself...

Next time, maybe...

[shug]

I bagged the last one from Thomann - ordered early hours of Saturday morning - and it arrives tomorrow, just in time for the weekend's shows.

I'm trying to be cool about it but, well, y'know...

[ossyrocks]

1 minute ago, shug said:

I bagged the last one from Thomann - ordered early hours of Saturday morning - and it arrives tomorrow, just in time for the weekend's shows.

I'm trying to be cool about it but, well, y'know...

Let us know what you think Shug. I'm just home from my gig in Manchester tonight where I used a GK Legacy 800 with a BF cab. I've stopped using my old RBs for these gigs as the DI isn't great, and the Legacy 800 is just so convenient and sounds good. I still use the old RBs for backline only gigs though, and they are hard to beat. I would love to do a side by side of my GK Legacy 800 and your Mesa 800D sometime. All this talk of fur and valves....

 

Rob

[agedhorse]

38 minutes ago, shug said:

I'm keen to check one of these out, for sure, but I wish you'd asked ME what features to include as then this otherwise perfect looking amp would have at least one 9 volt output on the back to power a tuner ( or other) pedal. That's got to be a good, useful and relatively cheap feature, surely? I don't want you to feel too bad about it, though; I've been playing for 50 years, owned scores of amps and only just thought of it myself...

Next time, maybe...

There IS a USB power source on the back of the amp, you can use it with whatever converter cable you wish to get the necessary voltage and polarity. This feature is on the D-350, WD, TT and BD-800 models. This feature and application is also described in the owner’s manual

[shug]

On 20/09/2025 at 08:47, ossyrocks said:

@shug I will be beating a path to one of your gigs to hear it if you get one. Keep me posted, you have my number.

Hi Rob, as you've seen, I've only gone and bought one, ain't I?  It was your approval and @agedhorse being involved - I've seen his stuff on Talkbass and he knows his pigeons - what swung it for me in the end. 

 

Looks like I be selling some amps an' ting soon. At this money, it's gonna have to be better sounding than both the Demeter pre + power amp rig AND the Genz Benz Shuttle or back to Thomann it goes.

 

Spec looks perfect for my needs , though, and I dig the cosmetics.

 

I'll keep you informed. Got me a gig in Ulverston tomorrow so it's gon' make its debut there. We'll see...