One player here has a Straight Ahead power amp that he runs in conjuntion with an SGT DI. He loves the set up.
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Attempting to reduce load-in…small amp edition
- Thread starter burgerdj
- Start date
Helpful perspective! I usually keep my pedalboard on top of my cab (tight stages) so my long cable would be from my bass to the board, not the board to my cab. Still, you raise a good point on stage set up and the heft of cables.
One of the gigs I have is a difficult load in/out. I typically use Mesa Subway gear and most gigs are covered by one SW115 and one of my Subway heads or a Genzler Kinetix. I wanted a light weight combo and after doing some research ordered a Fender Rumble 800. 29 pounds is the weight listed in the specifications. The amp has a lot of power, is easy to move but the baked in Rumble tone does not work well in some venues. In one venue I play the Rumble sounds very nice but in others I am always wanting to clean up the muddy sounding lows and the onboard EQ does not give me what I want in most venues.
I found a really great deal on a GK NEO MB II 212 on GC's used listings. I bought it and again am not crazy about the baked in GK tone which is rather the opposite from the Rumble tone. The GK is voiced with too much edge to the tone (for me) and, again, I am not able to get what I want with the onboard EQ section. The GK does not have an effects loop, so I can't bypass the preamp but I decided to try it with my Mesa Subway preamp and it sounds really good. I tried the Subway preamp into the effects return of the Rumble and much of that low muddiness is still there. Also the acoustic design of the speakers/cabinet seems to be limited in its ability to produce clean lows with authority.
The GK weighs 41 pounds so it is not as light as the Rumble but it is really loud as it puts out 500 watts with the internal speakers. The Rumble puts out 800 watts with an extension 4 ohm speaker but Fender does not specify what the power is as it sits. I think it is in the 300-400 watt range. It is also quite loud but does not have the clear lows of the 12's in the GK.
So, In the end, my quest for the perfect combo would be light weight, compact size, great tone and not too expensive. It may exist but I have not found it.
I found a really great deal on a GK NEO MB II 212 on GC's used listings. I bought it and again am not crazy about the baked in GK tone which is rather the opposite from the Rumble tone. The GK is voiced with too much edge to the tone (for me) and, again, I am not able to get what I want with the onboard EQ section. The GK does not have an effects loop, so I can't bypass the preamp but I decided to try it with my Mesa Subway preamp and it sounds really good. I tried the Subway preamp into the effects return of the Rumble and much of that low muddiness is still there. Also the acoustic design of the speakers/cabinet seems to be limited in its ability to produce clean lows with authority.
The GK weighs 41 pounds so it is not as light as the Rumble but it is really loud as it puts out 500 watts with the internal speakers. The Rumble puts out 800 watts with an extension 4 ohm speaker but Fender does not specify what the power is as it sits. I think it is in the 300-400 watt range. It is also quite loud but does not have the clear lows of the 12's in the GK.
So, In the end, my quest for the perfect combo would be light weight, compact size, great tone and not too expensive. It may exist but I have not found it.
I've thought about this. The major drawback i keep coming back to is the pedal board getting stepped on, dirt from the floor or drinks being spilled.
There are class d heads that have full effects loops, but what I'm in the process of doing is having a padded pocket added to my speaker cab covers for my class d heads so I carry the amp and speaker in one go with all the cables.
I regularly play a few venues that have stairs only access. They are very old buildings in the city centre.
Another one has a large curb/step into the main entrace that I don't feel comfortable dollying things in (I've tried!). It's just tall enough that it makes it really awkward that makes the load unstable and risks toppling over. The stage is so small at this venue that I don't bring and amp and just use the venue's monitor as my amp. I am using in-ears.
The Rumble 800 Combo is 400W into the internal speakers.
It has a healthy amount of dynamic headroom as well.
I guess I can see wanting to streamline if you have so many gigs and rehearsals that being faster on the load is really important or if your gigs and rehearsals tend to be decent walks from the car fraught with many perils, steps up, curbs, etc. But if you like your sound already, why mess with it? I chased the easy load in rig for a long time, and it mostly just resulted in buying amps and cabs I didn't need.
cobblestones are sometimes hard to avoidThat works until you get to ledges, curbs and stairs!
In my younger days, I felt exactly the same. I am, however, a small guy and 81 years old and have played over 150 gigs so far this year. I am very blessed to be performing at my age and guys like me need all the help we can get. I still use heads/cabs for a lot of gigs but the load in/out is usually not too bad. The one gig I play is outside on the San Antonio Riverwalk and parking is a few blocks away so it is a trip with a cart loaded with gear even when using a combo. Of course, I am also a gear head so it is natural for me to try to find something that works best for me. I also have no wife and no need to explain why I "need" another amp.
Hey, young man, leave some gigs for the rest of us!
