Nomad 55 4x10... very disappointing

[mikopita]

Greetings everyone. I'm a noob to this forum, but have been playing for quite awhile (25 years). Any advice, suggestions or remarks will be greatly appreciated.

I've had (in order of when I owned them):
Studio .22+, Mark III harwood/wicker, Mark I, Mark III, Mark IV, .50 Caliber, Mark iIB... and now the Nomad 55 4x10.

Every time I sold one of my amps, I realized I was going to regret the decision. It was always due to a greater need that I had to accomodate. My favorite of all was both of my Mark III's. I just wasn't happy with the tone I was able to get for all three channels at once (I only was ever really happy with two at a time).

I recently picked up a Nomad 55 4x10 in trade for an old BandMaster head (which I now regret). At the time, it seemed to have a nice tone and was flexible enough for my current gigs. Now though, I'm not particularly thrilled with it. Several rehearsals and a gig later and I feel that no matter what instrument I play and what channel/settings I have it set on, I am lost in the mix. The reverb is terrible, so I've had to use my holy grail. The OD's are ok, but lacking in ways I cannot describe (so I added a Barber Tone Press into the chain and the tone came alive... somewhat). Now, I'm back to where I started... using more pedals than I had hoped to have to.

I've heard mixed reviews on this amp, and I was really hoping to be one of the positive ones, but unfortunately I'm not. In your (anyone's) opinion, will an eq in the effects loop straighten out my issues or should I consider going another route? I see that some folks have modded the reverb, is this something I should consider too? I'd really like to give the amp a chance, and any and all advice would be great. I'm not particularly into heavy tones, but would love more of that old-school OD and rock tones.

Any ideas?

Cheers.

 

[Restless Rocks]

I had one of these in for repair a couple months ago and was real excited to hear the 4x10" jenson reissues. Long ago I had a couple of tremolux cabs with P10r's and loved them. I've played the Nomad 55 with a 1x12 C90 and was able to set up some pretty good usable tones. With the 4x10 I managed to get pretty close to the "Super Reverb" vibe with the clean channel but was real disappointed in how these speakers reacted to the overdrive sounds. Not to mention the cab is near the size of a 4x12 box and needed some wheels. I've found with the Nomad in general that preamp tubes make a real difference with this amp. Although I don't care for them in my Mark amps, the Sovtec LPS 12AX7 works real well in VI and VIII to loosen up the feel of a Nomad.

 

[nomad100hd]

I have a nomad 100HD i love it, I use a 2x12 recto though. I don't care for reverb of any sorts so i've never used it on my amp. Even considered removing the reverb tank to lighten the amp a little. I think the above poster is right try different tubes. The amp can be a little dark but i like dark. The 5 band EQ on the 100 really add some flexibility. IMO i like the tone far better than any other mesa amp i've played. I get a great clean, good bluesy, metal and hard rock sounds.

 

[mikopita]

I might go ahead and try different preamp tubes as suggested. Last night I had an outdoor gig that warranted my taking the Nomad. It worked out just fine. I did feel however, that my guitar was somewhat lost in the mix (the other guitar player was using a '65 super reverb and the bassist was using an svt).

I appreciate the advice.

 

[Riff Blister]

I know what you mean about the Nomad getting lost in the mix.
I used my Nomad 55 for at least 4 years in the band that I'm in.
I always struggled to cut through. My band mates kept telling me to "turn it up!”
I know for sure it was not just a volume issue as the thing has plenty of power for the places we play at. I was stating to think that I was inept at setting up an amp but I don’t think that’s true.
I do like the amp and the way it sounds but I always fought with it.
Now I have a Stiletto which is a whole different deal. No problems any more.
When I get a little motivation going I think I will sell the Nomad and try out a Lone Star.

 

[nomad100hd]

with the gain set lower like around 9 o'clock the amp is brighter. I think the darkness makes the amp great for at home practice where an amp that cuts is to much. The graphics eq helps a lot. There are a tons of places in the amp where the highs are dumped to ground as well. So if your handy with electronics it should be an easy fix. I'm going to try el34 and kt77's in the amp at some point. I also find higher settings on the mids help alot.

 

[BobL]

Mike,
I own a pair of these, for now anyway, but they don't see much use since I picked up a pair of Lonestars. Here's the deal with the 4x10s. I'll start by saying you're probably hoping to hear that Super Reverb sound, and guess what, it's in there but you have to be patient.

Start with the clean channel, #1, and use only the low gain settings. Bring the channel gain up to about 10 o'clock, turn the bass, presence and treble to 12 o'clock, and leave the mid almost off. You should be getting a pretty clean sound by now. Bring the presence and treble up until you start to hear the chime of the guitar kick in, then mix to taste. The key here is low channel gain and very little mid.

Set the reverb low, and set the effects loop pots to 12 o'clock and switch to normal. Set the master gain for the channel to whatever you need.

Work the 2nd channel the same way with almost all the same settings except for gain. Bring the gain up until you have the grind you want to hear. Adjust the mid for thump, but use very little of it.

Leave the solo on.

Don't put effects in the loop, and adjust the channel volumes to the level you need using the master only. Put all of your effects before the amp.

Channel 3 is useless.

Tubes to use in this amp are the GT 6L6 GE reissues and low gain 12AX7s. Mullards work very well. The GT 6L6s will bring on the Super Reverb tone in a big way.

The Nomad is a difficult amp to dial in, but once you dial it in you should be pleased. Once you do dial it in cut tiny pieces of masking tape and put them on the face plate to mark the control positions.

By the way, I also own a 65' Bandmaster head and I know you can make it sound better than that. I also own a Vibrolux, and you can make it sound as good as that.

Keep twisting those knobs, and have fun.

 

[nomad100hd]

i use jj 6l6's and there i a big difference between the JJ tubes and the mesa tubes. With the mesa red tubes i had to set the eq on each channel very different. With the JJ 6l6's the amp sound good to me regardless of the eq settings for the most part. I prefer the clean channel with treble and mids maxed, seems to make the bass knob useless. However my clean channel slightly messed up changes tone after a few minutes of being off standby. I don't know which tone is normal. The tone it goes to after a few minutes is a lot brighter. I think the JJ tubes might be brighter than the mesa tubes, i tired them in a peavey valve king and the mesa tubes sounded tons better. The JJ were to bright

 

[nomad100hd]

dudes i just had a thought! Saddly i'm one of the few who can focus to play when thing sound like ****. In my experience bass players have no idea how to EQ their rig. The sound was so muddy and we couldn't hear the bassist at all threw his 300W amp 4x10 cab. Couldn't hear anything very well at all. So when he took a smoke break i picked up his bass and Fixed his sound. After that everything was balanced and my nomad with a recto 2x12 cut threw perfect. Maybe your issue isn't the amp, but the other guys in your band needing a re-eq. I am know in these parts as having a really good ear, so luckly people even at shows let me fix their sound.

 

[playdosboogies]

Out of the 11 mesas i have owned in the last 5 years..The nomad 55 1x12 combo was by far the biggest dissappointment..I am very familiar with mesas and dialing them in, but i could only get 1 almost decent sound out of that thing(channel1 pushed, ok lead sound)..Fortunately i didnt lose any money when i unloaded that turd.

 

[nomad100hd]

it's more of a blues/rock amp than metal as well anyone wanting to do metal with it might as well give up!

 

[fdesalvo]

dudes i just had a thought! Saddly i'm one of the few who can focus to play when thing sound like sh!t. In my experience bass players have no idea how to EQ their rig. The sound was so muddy and we couldn't hear the bassist at all threw his 300W amp 4x10 cab. Couldn't hear anything very well at all. So when he took a smoke break i picked up his bass and Fixed his sound. After that everything was balanced and my nomad with a recto 2x12 cut threw perfect. Maybe your issue isn't the amp, but the other guys in your band needing a re-eq. I am know in these parts as having a really good ear, so luckly people even at shows let me fix their sound.

What you are saying here is so profound- most bands do not know how to eq their amps and end up trampling on each other's slice of the frequency band- Guitarrists usually blend into the bass and bass players into the guitars. Your guitar will not cut through if you and the bass player are occupying the same frequency range.

This is something we just learned and it took a sound guy to educate us. Our bassist was crushing my guitar's tone by not paying attention to where his mids were. And my guitar was eq'd too heavily on the bass/high side, were I was fighting losing battle against the bass and my drummer's cymbals.

As fat as these Rectos and DC's are, it is critical that you exersize judicious use of the bass/eq controls and not be afraid to play with mids. Often times, the tones we love jamming to solo don't cut it in a live situation.

 

[nomad100hd]

one of the less understood things about the scooped mids is that it doesn't translate to high volumes. Your ears actually scoop the mids of louds sound they hear.

 

[colemaneuclid]

I used to always scoop out the mids when playing by myself in the basement, but once I started playing in bands I quickly found myself lost in the mix. I used to always hate mids until I realized how valuable they were in the mix of the band

 

[Restless Rocks]

You guys hit the nail on the head. Good EQ is much more effective than volume in a live mix. Bass players often get my goat because their tone washes out the whole stage and makes it very hard on those of us that rely on vocal monitors to sing. And why oh why do drummers always start thrashing the ride cymbal everytime we play a solo?

Where are the tone police when you need em?

 

[nomad100hd]

or why do most drummers think they have to hit the drums as hard as they can.

For what it's worth the solo button useless to me for a lead boost, but my graphics eq always makes me cut threw.

 

[earachemyeye]

Here's my 2 cents. I've owned a Nomad 55 1x12 for about 5 years. I understand the lack of "cut" the amp has and the lack of musicality it seems to have. I've tried a couple of different 6l6's ,5881's, different pedals ect. and have finally found a combination that makes the difference. The main help as stated earlier can be done with a tube swap. I decided to give el34's a try and I'm not going back to 6l6's. Here is where you will find a major improvement in cutting through the mix and making the amp more musical tonewise. Also in the pre-amp section I'm using a mix of tubes as recomended by Doug's Tubes. In the pedal dept. I'm using a modded Boss Ge-7 eq in the loop and a modded Rat pedal out front as more of a clean boost that adds a little punch and grit to the gain. Settings for the channels vary from room to room, song to song but generally I don't run the gain up past noon or it gets to mushy ( with the exception of channel 1 which you can dime for some really impressive breakup tones). Cranking the bass knobs on each channel will also add mush so I use the eq in the loop for bringing up the bass or other freq. that I feel are lacking. Also (as mentioned earlier) I use the solo function as a master vol. and boost with a pedal instead. The amp has more punch and definition this way. I find channel 3 to be usefull but only with the gain set between 9 and ten o'clock and on the modern setting. This past Sat. I played a local jam with many veteran gigging friends and they couldn't wait to plug in and tear it up. It was the favorite in the bunch which included many "booteek" amps two to three times the cost of a Nomad. I'm proud of this little sucker but it really did take some time to get it where it is. Hope this shortens your trip.

Joe

 

[nomad100hd]

I think mine probably sounds different than the combo amp since i go threw a 2x12 recto.
I don't run my bass knobs past 12, I also find a sonic stomp really improves the clarity. Channel 1 pushed has a good mid range bite! I also use all mahogany guitars and don't have a mud problem with my tubes and settings. Maybe the 100W mode has a different sound, but i doubt it. I almost always run in half power mode.

 

[Wizz1358]

I love my Nomad. It is not an easy amp to dial in but once you do....heaven. I play a Schecter Omen Extreme through it and a Les Paul Custom. Perfect amp for large inside venues outside gigs.

 

[bgh]

I have a Nomad 45. Like you said, once you learn how to dial it in, it is a very nice amp indeed. Mine is partial to by SG. 8)