No love for the Nomad?
- Thread starter lerxst88
- Start date
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I was playing my nomad today and it just rips!!! i was reading reviews of this amp and i hear it being referred to as a low gain mesa boogie. umm how is this amp low gain? especially with the EQ?!
anyway as far as pedals, im using a thomas organ wah->digitech bass synth wah (too poor for a q-tron)->digitech multi chorus->modded mxr phase 90 with a boss dd-6 delay in the loop.
one thing you DONT want to do is use a wah in your effects loop. i was using my wah in the effects loop in my dads nomad and it sounded TERRIBLE!!!!! dont do this!!! well maybe you should if you like crazy sounds haha
anyway as far as pedals, im using a thomas organ wah->digitech bass synth wah (too poor for a q-tron)->digitech multi chorus->modded mxr phase 90 with a boss dd-6 delay in the loop.
one thing you DONT want to do is use a wah in your effects loop. i was using my wah in the effects loop in my dads nomad and it sounded TERRIBLE!!!!! dont do this!!! well maybe you should if you like crazy sounds haha
Wah's are NOT meant for effects loops.
I laugh when people say a Nomad doesnt have enough gain for them. I wonder how much gain people need....
If you cant get enough gain out of a Nomad you are using too much gain. In my heavy rock band I often use the Nomad and the gain is usually about 11:00 and that is plenty. Mind you I also work in a country band so I am accustomed to playing technically demanding stuff without gain but still....
I laugh when people say a Nomad doesnt have enough gain for them. I wonder how much gain people need....
If you cant get enough gain out of a Nomad you are using too much gain. In my heavy rock band I often use the Nomad and the gain is usually about 11:00 and that is plenty. Mind you I also work in a country band so I am accustomed to playing technically demanding stuff without gain but still....
I had a dual rec solo head and my nomad has just as much gain as it had. It's just a different sounding gain. The versatility of this amp is so under estimated. Good for me though because I got a good deal on it!
3 cheers for the Nomad!
3 cheers for the Nomad!
nomad100hd
Well-known member
yep minimal is the key! i normally don't use FX.
nomad100hd
Well-known member
reverbs dumb! I never use it
nomad100hd said:
WHAT?!?! actually i love using reverb but usually only for cleans. it makes the sound a bit more fleshed out. plus the marshall i had before had the crappiest reverb ive ever heard so i like taking advantage of this reverb
nomad100hd
Well-known member
i've just never found a use for it i'd never build into a home brew amp. Wish the nomad lacked it might lighten the amp a bit.
nqd
Well-known member
cscotto said:
Can you post the mod plzzzz
I change my preamp tubes and now i am happy RCA in V1, Sovtek Lps V2 RFT Ecc83 V3 Ei Ecc83 V4 and Siemens Ecc81 in V5...
now i just to change my combo to a head and buy a Mesa 4X12 or a ENGL (maybe) to put the balls to the wall :twisted:
nomad100hd
Well-known member
check the schematic on schematic heaven. it will be very obvious on how to do the mod.
That is a great picture of Petrucci with a Nomad 100. I just retubed mine with SED winged C, and I think the amp is just brutal now. I love the tones I am getting out of it. I will find the link on the boogie board that had the serial loop mod and post it soon. It is dead easy, remove one wire from the far left lug of the send pot for the effect loop and cap it. Desolder the wire on the far right lug, and solder it to the center lug. Done!
nomad100hd
Well-known member
well you get a phase problem with the parallel loop because even all the way up it still lets dry signal threw. Which hmm sounds great till you realize all digital fx have latency and that lies your issue.
So who runs 6L6s and who runs EL-34s?
I have GT 6L6s in my Nomad 100 currently and they sound great! However when i bought my amp it came with EL-34s and I was getting this nice Trey Anastasio sustain/feedback on CH2 and it doesnt really happen as much with the 6L6s.
I have GT 6L6s in my Nomad 100 currently and they sound great! However when i bought my amp it came with EL-34s and I was getting this nice Trey Anastasio sustain/feedback on CH2 and it doesnt really happen as much with the 6L6s.
Dolebludger
Well-known member
Well, I bought a Nomad 55 2X12 combo with everything but graphic for a really good price a little over a month ago, used in mint condition. Before that I had used a 1987 Mark III fully optioned with wood cab. I could seldom get a sound I liked out of the Mark. I quickly found several on the Nomad. Several of my musician friends were with me and they said "the loudest 55 watts we've ever heard". When I really began using the Nomad, to the good I found that I could get settings where distortion could be controlled by hardness of pick attack more so than any amp I've every played through. To the bad, I couldn't dial out all of that "Mesa nasal" sound. To remedy that, I put a good ten-band active graphic EQ in the FX loop. Found the "nasal" at about 500 HZ, and cut it out. I can't go back to the Mark II after the Nomad experience, and am selling it. Lead gain and power? I have my Ch. 3 gain set at one o'clock and get almost infinite sustain -- which is available with a higher gain setting at the expense of clarity. Like other posters here, I use very few effects. Only the EQ and a digital delay are in my FX loop -- and the delay is set only to compensate for small practice environments and isn't used at all in larger venues. This is the only amp on which I have used virtually no effects in a band environment and still like the sound.
If anybody can't "cut through the band" for solo work with a Nomad, they need some sound reinforcement help! For them, few Mesa's are going to "cut it" by themselves. I could "crank" the Nomad in Ch. 3 and blow out windows, if I wanted to.
It is interesting to note that Carvin copied much of the Nomad architecture for their V3, three channel amp, but added more EQ in the overall master controls -- much as I did by adding the ten band graphic.
Needless to say now, I do love this amp!
Now, I hope others will post on the 6L6 vs. EL 84 question.
If anybody can't "cut through the band" for solo work with a Nomad, they need some sound reinforcement help! For them, few Mesa's are going to "cut it" by themselves. I could "crank" the Nomad in Ch. 3 and blow out windows, if I wanted to.
It is interesting to note that Carvin copied much of the Nomad architecture for their V3, three channel amp, but added more EQ in the overall master controls -- much as I did by adding the ten band graphic.
Needless to say now, I do love this amp!
Now, I hope others will post on the 6L6 vs. EL 84 question.
Well, as I said two posts up, I recently retubed my Nomad 100 with SED Winged =C= 6L6s. Prior to these tubes, I had Mesa 6L6 STR-440s. I liked the Mesa tubes, but the Winged =C=s sound so much better. Better definition across the frequency spectrum, better and tighter bass, and more. I have not tried EL 34s, although I have loads of them. Someday when I am bored, I will give them a whirl.
Dolebludger
Well-known member
Well, perhaps this thread ought to take the direction of how to improve the Nomad, by different tubes,speakers, and whatever works. As stated, I really love it as it is, but everything can be made better.
