Mesa Nomad 45 Combo Spkr Q...

[track7]

Hey,

I recently got my new mea nomad 45 swapped over as the original i got made very peculiar bussing noises when i n the normal power amp voicing. Anyway got the new one and man it rocks harder than a geology convention! Its the nicest amp i'ver ever played. I would be interested to find out what was wrong with my origianl i had to send back though.

My main question though is about speaker loads and impedance..

the new amp came with the speaker lead plugged into one of the 4 ohms sockets, which in the book says is a safe mismatch, and it sounds great.

However the socket next to it is an 8 ohms (the speaker is 8ohms btw) socket with (combo speaker) written underneath it.

Which one should it be in..i'm guessing the 8 ohms is the best one but why would the factory send it out not in the optimum output?

Help would be great, glen you use the nomad 45 dont ya?

thanks

Track7

[bduersch]

Technically, the speaker should be plugged into the 8 ohm jack since the Custom90 speaker in the Nomad 45 is an 8 ohm speaker, but like the manual says, plugging the 8 ohm speaker into a 4 ohm jack is a safe mismatch. You may find the tone to be slightly different between the two options--probably just a factory goof as to why it was shipped that way.

Right now I'm running my Nomad 45 combo with a 1x12" Theile/EV cab, and I have each 8 ohm speaker plugged into a 4 ohm jack, which is also a safe mismatch. Absolutely killer!!

Enjoy the Nomad!

--B

[THE UNIVERSAL ONE]

So you two guys have nomads? I have been contemplating getting a nomad 100 or dual rectifier. either way I need 3 channels. How would you compare the nomads to the recs?

[bduersch]

I think in terms of features, the Nomad and new Recs are similar... both are 3 channel w/ solo boost, parallel FX loop, several modes per channel, lots of tubes. One real pro of the Nomad is that is has reverb--I believe none of the Recs have reverb built in. Also, the Nomad is available in both head and combo formats, while I believe Recs (at least dual & triple) are only available as heads.

So far, I've had the following Mesas:
-Triaxis/2:90
-Rec recording preamp
-Nomad 45
-Mark IV

I've also played somewhat extensively:
-Dual Rec (old 2-channel)
-DC-3

While the Mark is the most versatile, I think the Nomad is a close second. Personally, I think the tones in the Nomad are much more usable than the tones in the Rec. It can crank out some very smooth tones (I always thought the Rec to be a little harsh). Cleans are very crisp (which is what I need for funk). Channel 2 (vintage) is awesome--it's got this mammoth bass response that will knock you on your a$$. Channel 3 delivers serious crunch --> super sustain for solos. With lots of gain, it's still remarkably quiet. It just seems that the channels/modes are much more usable and versatile than the tones in the Rec. It's hard to describe, but I test drove a lot of Mesas and in the end I was most impressed by the Marks and Nomads. I use the Mark IV for my main rig and Nomad 45 for my backup/practice rig.

You may want to look at the Nomad 55--I've played the 45, 55, and 100, and I think the 55 has the sweetest tone of all of them (just happened to get a really sweet deal on a 45 that I couldn't pass up). Also, if you're in the market for a 3-channel amp, you may want to consider the Mark IV--3 channels, switchable graphic EQ (works great as a solo boost), reverb, simul-class/class A selectable, pentode/triode selectable, and switches with lots of 1/4" jacks. Probably at the opposite end of the tonal spectrum from the Rec (think: Mark <> Nomad <> Rec) but has the best lead sounds I've EVER found.

--B

[jemsite]

Originally Posted by bduersch

Technically, the speaker should be plugged into the 8 ohm jack since the Custom90 speaker in the Nomad 45 is an 8 ohm speaker, but like the manual says, plugging the 8 ohm speaker into a 4 ohm jack is a safe mismatch.

Right, the factory default is using the 8ohm out to the Nomad's 8ohm speaker. I just got around (thanks gregory!) to hooking up my Nomad-45 to the marshall 2x12 combo is sits on... I used the 8ohm out to the 16ohm input of the combo (two 8-ohm speakers wired in series) which is safe.

I will have to try the 4ohm out to 8-ohm internal speaker to see how that effects tone... glen

[rilla]

Just a quick note - if mesa output jacks work like most others, it's not "a" 4ohm jack, it's two jacks wired in parallel, which should have a combined load of 4ohms... So if i understand it correctly, two 8ohm loads should be connected to the two "4ohm" jacks. E&OE, etc

but then ofcourse i use a rivera combo, which is a bit simpler ("here's a jack, plug a speaker into it, the output transformer will look after the rest")

[track7]

The nomad is a killer killer amp for the money.

Sure its expensive (at least in the UK anyhow - almost twice the price of the similar spec marshall) but it really is worth it.

In comparison to rec's i cant really coment i havn't played them. But from listening, the nomads seem to be able to capture that bite crunch of the recs, but also do lot lot more. To ny ears i hear that channel 1 acts as the most beautiful clean sound i ever heard! and/or an amazing blues crunch sound. Channel 2 is like a MArk series sound, and channel 3 is a rec type sound.

None of these are spot on but its a ball park area of what they sound like. I dont think this is a bad thing as each nomad channel has a sound of its own.

For me I primarily chose it cause it was mesa, 3 channels, loud enough and also quiet enough for my needs. Oh and its the cheapest of the bunch.

track7

[jemsite]

Originally Posted by rilla

Just a quick note - if mesa output jacks work like most others, it's not "a" 4ohm jack, it's two jacks wired in parallel, which should have a combined load of 4ohms... So if i understand it correctly, two 8ohm loads should be connected to the two "4ohm" jacks. E&OE, etc
but then ofcourse i use a rivera combo, which is a bit simpler ("here's a jack, plug a speaker into it, the output transformer will look after the rest")

Yup, this is from the PDF verison of the Nomad User's Guide (available at mesa's homepage)

SPEAKERS: Three speaker output jacks (1) 1 x 8 ohm and (2) 2 x 4 ohm are provided to interface your Nomad to a variety of speaker / cabinet configurations. Nomad self-contained combos use the 8 ohm jack for their output and while this is the proper load, you may experiment with mismatching ( in the high direction ) with the inability to produce full power being the only downside. Some players prefer a mismatch, citing a scoop or softening effect they like better than the attack and presence of a proper impedance match.

If you wish to add cabinets to your combo or head - you may use either one ( only ) 4 ohm cabinet on the 4 ohm jack leaving the 8 ohm jack empty or two 8 ohm cabinets each connected to the 4 ohm jacks thus leaving the 8 ohm jack empty and be assured of a proper match as well as full power capabilities. You may also use a 16 ohm cabinet on the 8 ohm jack - and a 8 ohm cabinet on a 4 ohm jack ( leaving one 4 ohm jack empty ). This combination would yield the proper impedance match. See Speaker Impedance Section later in this manual for more information. NOTE: Nomad 100 owners should put the 8 ohm speaker/cabinet in the 4 ohm jack when switching the 50/100 Power Switch down to 50 watts to ensure a proper impedance match. SLAVE