Gig's with a combo?

Stanley Pugh · #1 08-20-2010, 06:29 PM

I wold like to know if any of you guys regularly use a combo to play out?
Are you happy with the performance?
With or without pa support?
Ease of transport?
Or you would not touch one with a ten foot pole.

zachoff · #2 08-20-2010, 06:33 PM

I gigged w/ my Yorkville 400B for a long time and it worked just fine.

The only things I'd suggest is make sure that either the combo has a direct out or you have a direct box and make sure the combo is 300W+ into a 1x15 or 2x10 (or more) in case you don't have PA support.

**JxBass** · #3 08-20-2010, 06:39 PM

I have a friend who does 100+ gigs per year with a 250w combo. Larger gigs he has PA support but he does a whole bunch without. Depends on the type of band though.

David1234 · #4 08-20-2010, 06:45 PM

Depending on the drummer, for small electric gigs my SWR Bassic Black combo is still great after 18 years, and almost as portable as most modern equivalents. It's only 120W but that's enough nearly all the time. It has a good sounding DI which certainly gets used.

With a louder drummer, though, I need more power and more speakers, so I take a bigger amp, and I'd agree, 1x15 or 2x10 is a bare minimum for louder stages.

snyderz · #5 08-20-2010, 06:45 PM

Peavey BAM 210 with 115 extension cab. Plenty.

James Simonson · #6 08-20-2010, 06:49 PM

Mesa Walkabout Scout 12

By far the best gigging combo out there.

SubSectorSucker · #7 08-20-2010, 06:49 PM

Peavey BAM 210 Combo here. Loud as Hell (350 watts on its own). For large rooms, I bring my 4x10 extension cab. The BAMs were heavy (95lbs) but fairly compact. If you can find one, steal it.

zachoff · #8 08-20-2010, 06:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SubSectorSucker

Peavey BAM 210 Combo here. Loud as Hell (350 ob its own). For large rooms, I bring my 4x10 extension cab. The BAMs were heavey (95lbs) but fairly compact. If you can find one, steal it.

Plus they have some pretty awesome, and usable models and effects. Those were on my GAS list for quite some time.

capnsandwich · #9 08-20-2010, 07:00 PM

Did a gig at a medium sized bar the other day with my Gallien-Krueger MB212. I had PA support but if I didn't, I still would be just fine. That amp is loud and has tons of headroom for both stage volume and over bass presence in the mix. I got plenty of compliments both on my tone and my playing. Someone even told me that he could tell I listened to Stanley Clark and Marcus Miller a lot and had them as my influences. I used to I guess but not much anymore.

Commreman · #10 08-20-2010, 07:10 PM

I did hundreds of gigs with a GK 1001RB 2X10 combo, with and without PA support. It was fine.

ThrashMaster · #11 08-20-2010, 09:03 PM

i think this depends really really heavily on the type of music youre playing.

Last night I went and saw my friends jazz ensemble play (drums, keys, sax, upright bass)...bassist had that little Phil Jones 4x5 combo and the thing sounded great, and was plenty loud.

For my band (drums, guitar, bass) I use two thousand watts and 14 ten inch speakers...i could certainly use less, but a combo amp is strictly out of the question.

JimmyM · #12 08-20-2010, 09:15 PM

1964 ampeg b-15n with one or two cabs. i gig it all the time, and it delivers every single time. then again, my band isn't what you'd call super loud. however, a lot of these combos are easily giggable in loud situations. just depends which one you get.

Jim Carr · #13 08-20-2010, 09:23 PM

If I slip a GB Shuttle 6.0 (~3.5 lbs) into the gig bag on my back, and carry an Epi 37 lb. UL1 210 cabinet in my left hand, does it count as a (600 watt) "combo?"

mikezimmerman · #14 08-20-2010, 09:25 PM

I agree with many of the other posts here. It depends on the type of music, the type of gigs, and especially on the drummer...and of course, on the combo in question.

There are several combos out there that are pretty much the equivalent of medium-szed heads (300-500 watts) combined with 2x10, 2x12, or 1x15 cabs. In one old band, I gigged regularly with an Eden Metro. Of course, gigging with a Metro is pretty much equivalent to gigging with a 400-watt Traveler head and a D-210XLT cab. It was mostly modern and classic rock, but we did generally have PA support and the drummer was reasonably controlled. Still, I wouldn't have tried it with some little 100-150 watt combo.

I'm playing the same kind of music in my current band, but the drummer is a big guy and an extremely hard hitter, and the Metro alone would not do it there. It might possibly have managed with an extension cab, but I'm running a 1250 watt Carvin B1500 just to be sure I have the power I need. And that's with PA support. (I almost never play without PA support these days...)

On the other hand, I regularly do church gigs in a very large church with a little 100-watt Ampeg combo--combined with massive PA support. I really don't have to be concerned about carrying the room, just getting enough volume for me and the other musicians to hear the bass in a relatively quiet, controlled setting. I could probably carry the room if I needed to, but why, when there's probably 20,000 watts of PA and some wonderful EAW speakers to do it?

SteveC · #15 08-20-2010, 09:30 PM

I have gigged GB combos for a few years. They are great. I don't play in super loud bands, but even when I do there's a PA. My non-PA gigs are jazz and my amp handles those gigs just fine.

It's easy to carry, fits in the trunk of my Accord and sounds great.

1dgbass · #16 08-20-2010, 09:42 PM

I have been used in a 100 watt fender rumble for three years. Has never let me down. I don't know what people here are saying about a 200 watt minimum.

greggster59 · #17 08-20-2010, 09:47 PM

I use a Fender 400Pro combo 2x10 with Marshall MBC115 4ohm ext. cab for outdoor or larger venues. That configuration gives me around 500W. In smaller or quieter settings I leave the Marshall home and I get 350W into the two 10's using just the combo. I can get the combo alone into my car. If we bring the cab., we have to take my wife's Rav4 to fit both pieces. It's heavy but not too big. Our PA is limited so I don't connect to it.

We have two guitarists who are not immune to occasional volume wars and with the full rig I can easily compensate when they up the ante.

Kevindavid3 · #18 08-20-2010, 10:05 PM

Markbass CMD 102P 300W/500W combo. Amazing tone and its very loud!

**bassybill** · #19 08-20-2010, 11:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kevindavid3

Markbass CMD 102P 300W/500W combo. Amazing tone and its very loud!

Same here - best combo I've encountered. It's effectively the same as using a Little Mark II with a 210 cab. I've gigged with it for 4 years now, mainly in a funk/disco/soul covers band. Works fine on it's own for smaller gigs, or for gigs with PA support. But I do go with an extension cab when I don't know whether I'll be running through the PA or I think that I'll need more oomph on stage.

Jazzdogg · #20 08-20-2010, 11:37 PM

I used mostly combos for about 40 years playing jazz, R&B, and pop for social functions, business receptions, and weddings in hotels and country clubs. For bigger gigs, I use bigger rigs.

I bought two combos in the sixties - a Vox with its own chromed cart, and an Ampeg fliptop. In the seventies I bought an Acoustic 136, and in the eighties, a Polytone mini-brute and extention cab. The Vox, Acoustic, and Ampeg were too heavy to carry, but had casters. The Polytone combo and extension cab are both compact and easy to carry; a piece of cake with a hand truck.

Without PA support, either combo was OK for a jazz quintet or big band, but insufficient to cover Tower of Power or Earth Wind & Fire tunes back in the day.

Although I prefer big rigs for big gigs, I have taken these combos to festivals as a stage monitor if there was sufficient PA support and I could tilt or elevate the cab to hear it clearly. And since I'm not talking about uber loud music with bombastic drummers and guitarists with delusions of adequacy, YMMV...