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You will need more than a 112 for gigging anything other than small venues such as coffee shops. 300-watts into a 212 (or two 112's stacked together)will handle most situations for you. There are also some good 210 combos that will handle small and medium-sized gigs pretty well too. But a 112 by itself, isn't going to cut it.
Al Kraft...sorry I should have been more clear. The barefaced cabs are probably worth it, but they are quite pricey for sure. And Linnin...that damn sure made me chuckle. So basically, what I've concluded is that 300 watts and two speakers should be apt for me...question is now...what head and what cab? Let's say under £750, what would be the best head and cab pairing? Ideally I'd love an all tube or a hybrid head, but I guess it doesn't matter.
Ashdown products are quite rare around my area, but there are lots of folks on TB who seem to have great luck with them - hopefully some will chime in. The Carvin and Traynor options are also great bargains and tend to be very well liked by many. I have no idea on how costly GK products are for you in the UK, but their combos and light weight pro line of products (MB heads and Neos cabs) are quite nice IME, and usually can had for a good price.
The HD-1 looks like a brand new head, so I doubt you are going to find anyone that knows anything about them yet. However it does look quite a bit like a stripped down Rootmaster head. If that is the case, you would be getting a pretty loud amp with good tone but no Compressor or Drive. If that doesn't matter to you, that could be a pretty nice amp for a decent price. I however really like the Compressor and Drive on the Rootmaster and would pay more for that.
I saw this head is tube, which for 299 is absurd. It can't be though, as it is 300 watts.
The PJB stuff is very nice and includes a DI out capability. So you can use the combo to cover small gigs on its own and then use it as a stage monitor and DI out to the FOH system for medium/big stuff. The PJB gear I've played on was quite impressive and everyone I know that owns PJB equipment has been very happy with its reliability and performance.
If you're moving from a 15 watt amp to something bigger there are so many options including Eich. But you need to go out and try all the combos before deciding on one. As you are probably pretty new at this, consider maybe the Ampeg, Gallien Krueger, or Fender combos before diving into an Eich combo. Where do you live and are you gigging? If you are gigging, the Eich 112 might eventually not be enough for gigging. I ask about where you live because being near music stores and repair facilities matter.
What he said.Regarding portability, combos aren't always the best choice - and nowadays often aren't. You might want to give this some thought....
A 1x15 or 2x10 cab by itself is smaller, lighter, and cheaper than a combo of the same size. Nowadays, you can choose from 100s of heads that will fit inside a napsack. I keep a backup amp in my glove compartment. On top of that, it's a lot easier to upgrade when the time comes, without having to buy a whole new amp. When you add a speaker you also up the wattage because you're splitting the ohmage. In the amp I'm about to recommend, you go from 300 to 500 watts just adding an additional speaker.
That being said, I don't know what the prices are like overseas - but I've been through lots of combos, and combinations of amps and I couldn't be happier than I am now with Carvin. Their heads are the most versatile I ever played through, and their micro cabs are the only cabinets their size I ever used that didn't sound like toys. I currently have a BX700 with 2MB15s, but used a BX 500 for years and it was always loud enough. I only upped it to the 700 because I had one of the first BX500s to ever come out, and it had some issues.
If you buy a 300 watt combo, there might very well be some situations it's not powerful enough for. If you buy a tiny little head and a 1x15 cab, you get the same portability and can always add a cab.
OH YEAH - ALMOST FORGOT---- lots of clubs here in the US also have backlines, which for bass means they have a cabinet. You need to bring your own head. In those cases, you'd have a head to bring and wouldn't even have to deal with a cabinet.
I had an endorsement with one of the leading amp companies, and abandoned it to pay full price for my current setup. I can't recommend this stuff enough. BX Series Bass Amplifiers
The 1x155 cab is ridiculously inexpensive, too. $229, and if you sign up for email you'll get discount coupons on top of that.
Ive got the SB 115, very happy so far with it and pretty much all I need for my bar gigs, can handle larger rooms surprisingly well too.
