NAD: Badlander 50 in the hizzouse!

[la szum]

Lol, I have issues. All it takes is for someone else to get something, and then I think I need one

Even Herpes?

 

[JiveTurkey]

 

[Baba]

Even Herpes?

Lol, nah, not that kind of stuff

 

[Fireproof]

Lol, nah, not that kind of stuff

 

[Desertdweller]

Badlander 100 head owner here. A few quick tips:

1) All the knobs provide usable sounds from 0-10. You have to try hard to make this amp sound bad.
Don’t be afraid to crank the gain up high, even with a boost in front. The amp sounds amazing with the gain at 3 o’clock and boosted by a TS, SD1, or whatever flavor of OD you prefer to use. It’s super tight and you will probably not overgain it.
2) at the same time you can be completely happy with this amp without any boost at all. It does upwards of early Dream Theater tones without needing a boost
3) Crank that bass knob. This is not a Dual Rectifier.
4) experiment with the multi-watt switch. Running 20 watt on the clean channel and cranking the master gets you serious tube saturation like a lunchbox amp. I get the gnarliest blues sounds from the Badlander doing it this way.
5) Switch power tube types often. The amp sounds amazing with either EL34s or 6L6s. 6L6s work better iMO on the clean channel, adding bottom end and some high end chime, while I think the EL34s sound better for high gain, especially at higher volume levels. You may find Badlander owners really mixed on this because the amp really does sound great with either tube type.
6) The onboard IR loader is very very good. It’s Two Notes design, like the Captor IR, but with a slightly warmer impedance curve (this is subjective, I have both and this is my opinion on the difference) and you can load your own IRs into it. There’s no PC or phone app, but you just click and drag into a folder on your PC, it’s not hard. Backup the orignal IRs first though, there’s no backup or factory restore function, that I know of anyway.

 

[JiveTurkey]

Badlander 100 head owner here. A few quick tips:

1) All the knobs provide usable sounds from 0-10. You have to try hard to make this amp sound bad.
Don’t be afraid to crank the gain up high, even with a boost in front. The amp sounds amazing with the gain at 3 o’clock and boosted by a TS, SD1, or whatever flavor of OD you prefer to use. It’s super tight and you will probably not overgain it.
2) at the same time you can be completely happy with this amp without any boost at all. It does upwards of early Dream Theater tones without needing a boost
3) Crank that bass knob. This is not a Dual Rectifier.
4) experiment with the multi-watt switch. Running 20 watt on the clean channel and cranking the master gets you serious tube saturation like a lunchbox amp. I get the gnarliest blues sounds from the Badlander doing it this way.
5) Switch power tube types often. The amp sounds amazing with either EL34s or 6L6s. 6L6s work better iMO on the clean channel, adding bottom end and some high end chime, while I think the EL34s sound better for high gain, especially at higher volume levels. You may find Badlander owners really mixed on this because the amp really does sound great with either tube type.
6) The onboard IR loader is very very good. It’s Two Notes design, like the Captor IR, but with a slightly warmer impedance curve (this is subjective, I have both and this is my opinion on the difference) and you can load your own IRs into it. There’s no PC or phone app, but you just click and drag into a folder on your PC, it’s not hard. Backup the orignal IRs first though, there’s no backup or factory restore function, that I know of anyway.

Seriously. 1 and 3 were super surprising to me! Not your usual Rectifier experience at all.

 

[Fireproof]

Badlander 100 head owner here. A few quick tips:

1) All the knobs provide usable sounds from 0-10. You have to try hard to make this amp sound bad.
Don’t be afraid to crank the gain up high, even with a boost in front. The amp sounds amazing with the gain at 3 o’clock and boosted by a TS, SD1, or whatever flavor of OD you prefer to use. It’s super tight and you will probably not overgain it.
2) at the same time you can be completely happy with this amp without any boost at all. It does upwards of early Dream Theater tones without needing a boost
3) Crank that bass knob. This is not a Dual Rectifier.
4) experiment with the multi-watt switch. Running 20 watt on the clean channel and cranking the master gets you serious tube saturation like a lunchbox amp. I get the gnarliest blues sounds from the Badlander doing it this way.
5) Switch power tube types often. The amp sounds amazing with either EL34s or 6L6s. 6L6s work better iMO on the clean channel, adding bottom end and some high end chime, while I think the EL34s sound better for high gain, especially at higher volume levels. You may find Badlander owners really mixed on this because the amp really does sound great with either tube type.
6) The onboard IR loader is very very good. It’s Two Notes design, like the Captor IR, but with a slightly warmer impedance curve (this is subjective, I have both and this is my opinion on the difference) and you can load your own IRs into it. There’s no PC or phone app, but you just click and drag into a folder on your PC, it’s not hard. Backup the orignal IRs first though, there’s no backup or factory restore function, that I know of anyway.

Great tips for this first-time owner of any Mesa, let alone the Badlander.

I’ll consider these the next time I play with it (later today). Thank you!

 

[paisleywookiee]

Great tips for this first-time owner of any Mesa, let alone the Badlander.

I’ll consider these the next time I play with it (later today). Thank you!

@Desertdweller knows what he’s talking about too. He’s had more Mesas than anyone I know!

 

[Fireproof]

@Desertdweller knows what he’s talking about too. He’s had more Mesas than anyone I know!

Ha! I didn’t realize that. Great validation!

 

[Gearzilla]

How is it going with the Badlander?

 

[Fireproof]

How is it going with the Badlander?

Man, I love it. So many usable tones in this thing, it’s just perfect. And the structure of gain is awesome. I need to hook up my FM9 into the return or something, but I have been having too much fun just plugging in and jamming.

I have no experience with Mesas, and for my style of music, have never been into rectifiers, etc., but this is a different beast I think. (Again - I don’t know Mesas well - so you tell me). Thanks for asking! I should post more.

I’ve also been meaning to hook it up via XLR for some recording with the DI/CabIRs,… but been too busy. Soooon.