NAD - Nomad 55 2x12

domct203 · Mar 15, 2024

This popped up at a fair price, couldn’t pass it up. It’s a 9/10 cosmetically, an earlier serial number so late 1999 or early 2000. I’ll find out when I pull the chassis.

It has what I believe are mostly it’s original tubes, a pair of RED STR-430 6L6GC’s, a Mesa SPAX7 that I think is an EH in V1, a Sovtek WA in V2, and Mesa branded 12AX7-A’s in V3-V5 that I haven’t ID’d yet.

Clean and pushed tones are great. CH 2 & 3 not so much but I’ll wait until after I play it a bit at band volume to pass too much judgement. My plan for the amp is a pedal platform, so I’m not too hung up on higher gain tones.

It’s a busy night tonight, hopefully tomorrow I’ll have some time to pull the chassis, I’d really like to do the series loop mod before practice this Sunday.

I’ll be sure to grab some more pics when I pull the chassis.

I have a brand new pair of GRN STR-440’s that I’ll throw in for now, and probably order a pair of JJ’s to try also.

Dom

sloanthebone · Mar 15, 2024

Gratz! Never had the chance to try one of these.

bgh · Mar 16, 2024

Never played the 55. Mine is a 45 1x12. I don't use channel 3 a whole lot. But, channel 2 gives a thick, juicy tone that I like a lot. Channel 1 has some really nice clean tones. I wish there was a way to take channel 1's "pushed" tones and replace channel 3 with them. Lol.

My Nomad is a lot lighter than the TA-30 and/or Mark IV. As such I tended to use it for grab-and-go quite a bit.

electric mayhem · Mar 16, 2024

bgh said:
Never played the 55. Mine is a 45 1x12. I don't use channel 3 a whole lot. But, channel 2 gives a thick, juicy tone that I like a lot. Channel 1 has some really nice clean tones. I wish there was a way to take channel 1's "pushed" tones and replace channel 3 with them. Lol.

My Nomad is a lot lighter than the TA-30 and/or Mark IV. As such I tended to use it for grab-and-go quite a bit.

Do you ever use the negative feedback selector? I've been curious if you can open the amp up more switching back the NF.

domct203 · Mar 16, 2024

Series FX Loop done. I literally just found a B25K push pull pot, I’ll swap that in so I can “pull for parallel” and eliminate having to use a jumper when there is nothing in the loop. Not that there will ever be nothing in the loop

.

I’ll be doing the Extreme switch for the NFB next, most likely followed by the reverb cap swap, but I’m going to wait until I have a feel for the amp. Now that the FX Loop is in series I can throw my MXR 10-band GEQ in the loop and see what I can get from the amp.

Pics of course.

Before:

During:

Done:

Any speaker suggestions? I’m not a fan of the C-90, & I plan to add a 2x12 sealed cabinet at some point.

Dom

[edit] Almost forgot the gut shot:

electric mayhem · Mar 16, 2024

I like it.

A gold fits the watts pretty good, would roar when cranked and would give some variety based on how much master you feed it. The NFB change might even be more pronounced thru an alnico. You could go 15 ohm to play it safe but speaker ratings have give in them so I would go 8 ohm and not worry about 5W overage.

One of a million options.

bgh · Mar 17, 2024

electric mayhem said:
Do you ever use the negative feedback selector? I've been curious if you can open the amp up more switching back the NF.

I have used it from time to time, but not on a regular basis. For what I play, I like it without it. With it, it does give it more pop and juice, but it also brings in a lot of noise.

domct203 · Mar 23, 2024

I’m really digging this amp. Great clean tones in ch 1, and pushed mode with a TS-808 is a syrupy goodness with a PAF Pro in the neck of a Les Paul that’s really addicting. Reverb sounds great in ch 1.

I bonded with ch 3 right away, very recto-ish big bottom end but not as tight when in normal (modern) setting. I didn’t care for vintage in that channel. When pushing the front with the TS-808 it really brings in the heavy/hard rock, but if you want that ‘more’ gain you have to raise the treble and earn it with your picking hand and use a good boost, another recto trait. Once the gain on that channel gets above 1:30-2:00 the amp starts getting too ‘mushy’ feeling and the bottom end starts to fall apart. I stayed at about 1:00 on the gain and with a good push with the TS-808 played that channel for most of practice today. The reverb is somewhat useless in the high gain channels and thins out the tone.

Ch 2 is a bit different. Modern mode in this channel is not as thick as ch 3 and WAY hotter (louder), normal (vintage) is where I hope to eventually find a smooth lead voice but the amp lacks something in this channel that I can’t put my finger on. You need to push the gain on ch 2 to get it closer to channel 3, and can get it up to about 3:00 before it starts coming apart. Reverb is the same as ch 3.

This is a loud amp, remarkably loud for a 55W amp. I could easily keep up with a loud drummer and it sounds it’s best at live band volume.

The amp also sounds better in the band mix than it does by itself. I don’t understand all the negative hype, it’s a great grab and go amp for a heavy blues/rock gig. It wouldn’t be my first choice for a Mesa, but if it was supplied in the backline I’d be fine with it. It also benefited greatly with my MXR EQ in the loop, I’d say a good EQ in the loop is a requirement and the Mesa 5-band should have been included on the 45 & 55 from the factory.

The amp is more of a rock amp than a metal amp, it gets too saggy with higher gain settings. I prefer my Roadster and Triple Crown for sure, the gain structure with them is better for my style.

As a pedal platform the amp performed well. I tried my Big Rock Pro II, Dracarys & Iridium with good results. The Dracarys delivered the high gain goods but required a fair amount of amp tweaking to get it to sound its best.

The Big Rock Pro II followed by a Boss CE2 Chorus and DD6 Delay into ch 1 was pure ‘80’s arena rock tone, Boston, Yes, Def Leppard, etc.

I was also surprised by the C90’s, they didn’t sound all that bad in the open back combo. I’m going to dig out my Avatar Vintage 2x12 closed back cab and see how that sounds mixed with the C90’s, it’s loaded with Mesa V30’s.

I’ve been reading through the Nomad mods thread and I think I might have my tech swap out the preamp power supply caps as recommended in that thread. I agree that the amp needs to be tightened up, and a stouter power supply should help.

Dom

domct203 · Apr 6, 2024

Tried the Avatar cab, not a fan of the V30 with this amp, that mid spike was very predominant.

Like everything else guitar related, I have a few sets of speakers to play with.

Up first, a favorite of mine, the Eminence Swamp Thang.

It’s a noticeable change from the C90s, I only had a few minutes with the amp after the swap, we have afternoon plans today. I’ll bring it to practice again and see how it sits in the mix now.