Nomad 55 head - Is it overkill ??

[six20aus]

Hi,
Never had a MB before, am looking at a secondhand nomad55 head and wondering if its overkill. Atm I'm a bedroom muso (havent played bands for years) but in 2007 I want to get back into bands.

Is this head going to be overkill for anything less than gig/rehearsal volumes ?

Dont want to buy it and find out it sounds crap on master volume of '1' at home when I'm practising.

 

[dylan7620]

i don't think it's overkill, i had the 45 watt head (4 el84s vs the 55w 2 6L6s) and while i think the smaller bottles help out at lower volumes i've always been very impressed my mesas (ie the f series and nomads) at low volumes. like anything else they sound 10x better cranked, but you get get a VERY usable tone at practice volumes.

 

[GMello]

I have a Nomad 55 head and I use an attenuator when I'm playing at home. It's possible to get some passable tones at low volumes without the attenuator, but frankly, the tones are not that good and actually not quiet enough for my house. I definitely recommend you spend the extra cash and get a nice attenuator, it will make your experience with the amp much more enjoyable.
Having said that, the Nomad is an awesome amp, it is very versatile and it sounds incredible.

 

[ylo]

Disagree. I'm all for pushing the power tubes, but I think the Nomad 55 head (with Trad. Slant 4 x 12) sounds great at low volumes, esp. Ch 1 and Ch 3. Just my 2 cents.

Without twiddling knobs, you have three basic sounds (Ch 1, 2, 3). That isn't overkill, and neither is 45 watts, IMHO.

 

[six20aus]

Hmm
Well opinions are like @rseholes right ???

Guess I'll get it and if I dont like the tones quiet I can always buy an attentuator down the track...

Thanks all

 

[fdesalvo]

What styles of music are best suited to the nomad 55? WOuld you say it's more modern sounding or more vintage?

 

[CudBucket]

It's only overkill if you don't use it. That said, I think it's OK to want to own something you don't really need. So if you only end up playing it in your house, that's cool. If Mesa only sold amps to people who gig, they'd go out of business.

 

[dylan7620]

What styles of music are best suited to the nomad 55? WOuld you say it's more modern sounding or more vintage?

it's very in between, at least my experience with it. the 4x10 combo as you'd expect lends itself to a much more vintage feel. both gain channels have a vintage and modern mode while the clean has a pushed mode as well (which can actually get pretty gainy in itself) it covers both basses very well, but IMO has a hard time getting crazy modern recto style distortion without something to push it.

 

[Gary K]

I've been playing my Nomad 55 4x10 combo with EL-34 tubes, and a 4 ohm THD Hot Plate attenuator.
The attenuator is so I can get the tone of over-driven EL-34s without getting "bleeding ears" from too much volume.

-Gary K

 

[Supertaster]

My Nomad sounds particularly good at low volume-much better than my Mark III or other Fenders/Marshalls I've owned.

I use an attenuator for my Mark III but I'm not sure you ned it with the Nomad. Run the Master high (1 o'clock) and use each channel's master volume to set the overall sound. That way you're still pushing the power tubes. When I tried the attenuator on the Nomad the difference was negligable (unlike the Mark III and most other amps I've tried it on).

Matt

 

[Gary K]

Thanks Supertaster, I'll give it a try.

-Gary K