• Security notice: Ernie Ball staff will never send you a direct message about a prize or giveaway, and will never ask you to click a link to "claim" anything.
    If you receive a message like that - even from an account whose name looks official - do not click the link. Please report it using the Report link on the message so the moderators can act. A scam campaign impersonating admin accounts was blocked on 29 July 2026; those accounts are banned and their messages have been deleted.

Mesa Bass 400

EasyTiger

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 1, 2006
Messages
168
Location
Capital City, Australia
Sooo the Mesa Boogie Bass 400 is back in production and I was woundering has anyone here owned/played one?

I love my AG500, but I'd love something with Tubes and more power.

they will be avaible for release just after I'll finish paying of the sterling, it's like someone has planned it so I never have any money :)
 
EasyTiger said:
Sooo the Mesa Boogie Bass 400 is back in production and I was woundering has anyone here owned/played one?

I love my AG500, but I'd love something with Tubes and more power.

they will be avaible for release just after I'll finish paying of the sterling, it's like someone has planned it so I never have any money :)

I don't think they were out of production.

Anywho, I love my 400+, it's an animal. Tonally there are a ton of options and tones in it, just don't fall into the trap of comparing it to an Ampeg SVT-CL because it isn't.

The 400+ is more 'high-fi' but very warm and natural, and you can get some grit and grind from the tubes, if you run both pre-amps at the same time you can get a cool syrupy tone that just rocks.
 
To clarify: The Bass 400 was and still is out of production. It was replaced by the Bass 400+, which is still current product. The preamps of both are pretty much the same, the 400+ just has 12 6L6/5881 output tubes, whereas the 400 had six either 6550 or 6L6 output tubes.

- Tim
 
tadawson said:
To clarify: The Bass 400 was and still is out of production. It was replaced by the Bass 400+, which is still current product. The preamps of both are pretty much the same, the 400+ just has 12 6L6/5881 output tubes, whereas the 400 had six either 6550 or 6L6 output tubes.

- Tim


12 6L6's?:eek: Does the 400 stand for pounds?:D
 
Psycho Ward said:
12 6L6's?:eek: Does the 400 stand for pounds?:D

On a tube amp, it's not the power tubes that generate the weight, but the power transformer (I believe).

Actually, the Mesa 400+ is one of the lighter all tube amps (compared to an equivalent SVT or SUNN 300T)
 
Psycho Ward said:
12 6L6's?:eek: Does the 400 stand for pounds?:D

As todd mentioned, vacuum 'taint very heavy . . . . .the 400+ is less than 50 lbs loose, and IIRC, mine was shipped to me with a 4 space SKB roller, and in it's box at a total weight of 53. Not too bad for what it is . . . . and very nicely built, too! The 12 output tubes only seem ominous when it comes to replacement time . . . otherwise, they just sit back there, help heat the house, and sound incredible . . .

And weight wise, it's both the power transformer, and then the output transformer that create most of the weight. Well, that, and tube amps tend to be make of more serious materials than the lastest "plastic fantastic" stuff that we get from overseas . . . .

- Tim
 
Back
Top