Meas owners tell me about the mesa nomad amp

[woody]

ok I went to my local music store and they had a nomad and I played my LP custom thru it and I must say I was really surprised on this amp is sound great and very versatile. So now I was thing of selling my F-50 and getting a nomad. Tell me what good about this amp and what’s not
Thanks

 

[Nomad100]

I'm a big fan of the Nomads. (and always love a Nomad thread).

The Nomads can pretty much do anything. More versatile then the F-series (I can see F-series users ready to pounce), though the Nomads are much tougher to setup. I was able to get a good sound out of an F-30 in about 3 minutes... takes a little more work with the Nomads, but it's there.

To be honest, I would take a Nomad 100 over all the F-series, that 5 band grapic eq on the 100 REALLY makes it a much different amp then the Nomad 45/55's. (Nomads are very middy. You have to scoop the mids out to get them back where they should be. When setup a certain way, my Nomad 100 gets close to recto type sounds, and isn't that far off from the Mark IV's. Mesa's BIG mistake with the Nomads is that they should of included the 5 band grapic on all the models. If they did this, I don't think the F-series would even exist).

Overall, I would take your existing F-50 over the Nomad 45/55, as it's easier to setup, and to me, sounds a little better. Still, the Nomad 45/55's are great, and become more like the 100 if your willing to stick some type of eq in the effects loop (to scoop those mids).

 

[NuSkoolTone]

I'll admit I've never played the 100's, but to me the nomad was one of the worst amps ever from mesa. Nasal and compressed with a blanket over the tone IMO.

Played one years ago, didn't like it. A few weeks ago, not as bad but still no go.

 

[longhair55]

I've had a Nomad 45 for a few years,..and it does take a long time to "tweak",..there are almost too many ways to effect the tone,..I play my strat only on the 2nd channel,..why?,..I don't know,..it's the one I have dialed in,..compared to my LSS,.the reverb is kinda weak,..only other thing is,.is the face plate is black,and the knobs are black,..I had to get the controls at face level to see what I was doing,..But then too,.up until a week ago I had three amps ,and didn't have to mess with it too much,..
But you know, 3 channels,with vintage/modern switches on each is almost like 6 channels,..plus the normal/extreme switch on the back,with reverb for each channel,..there's a lot to play with.

 

[dumeril7]

I'm not too crazy about the Nomad; the 55 version anyway. I agree with the poster who said that it has a strong mid-range. I spent some quality time with one and it always seemed kind of hard and harsh in the mid-range and I couldn't dial that out without compromising the rest of the tone somehow. (I can definately see how a graphic EQ would be handy.) It just seemed like one fo those amps that you tweak and get a decent sound, but you just know you can do better, so you tweak and tweak and tweak some more and never really find it until evenutally you forget how to get back to that decent sound that you had in the first place (yeah, I know, write down the settings!).

OTOH, I'm not too crazy about the Mark IV either (I have similar problems with it) and folks seem to adore 'em around here, so your mileage may vary...

D7

 

[woody]

thanks for the info on this amp. After reading the post i might just keep my f-50 and look for a LLS or Ace

 

[Gary K]

Woody,

Which Nomad model did you find for sale?

45, 55, or 100?

And, 1x12, 2x12, 4x10?

-Gary K

 

[dennq45]

I have the Nomad 45 and I love the cleans

 

[zakk615]

ok I went to my local music store and they had a nomad and I played my LP custom thru it and I must say I was really surprised on this amp is sound great and very versatile. So now I was thing of selling my F-50 and getting a nomad. Tell me what good about this amp and what’s not
Thanks

What kind of music do you play?
- For modern metal, it may not have the amount of gain you are looking for.
- Classic metal, such as Priest, maiden, early Metallica, it will do just fine.
- Hard rock/blues: does it great.