Please Aguilar ... Make a Combo.

[JW56789]

I've always had a daydream about a 'bass twin reverb', and the Redhead/Super Redheads approached that, or a bass equivalent of a single 12 Mark Boogie atop a single 12 extension cabinet format. Especially back in the 'furniture moving days' of 215's or folded horns, I'd be so jealous of luggging all that to try and keep up with a guitar player with a 50w Peavey Pacer.

These days with cigar box-sized high power amps and smaller, lighter cabinets, I'm not sure what the combo market is. Seems like the Quilter approach or the way Genzler does is my be as close as we're going to see.

 

[Dr. Keebs]

Are you saying the Ag500 and 112 combo weighs more than 100 lbs??

That would be horrific! Luckily, it's the AG500 212 that's an anchor.

 

[Dr. Keebs]

Just curious, they made a 212 combo?

They did, around 2008 or so. Not in production for long. They did 112 and 212 versions, single and double channels. Here's my AG500SC 212 with 112NT.

 

[ClusterFlux]

These days with cigar box-sized high power amps and smaller, lighter cabinets, I'm not sure what the combo market is.

It's... smaller and lighter combos, otherwise pretty much the same as it always was. Lots of practice amps, a bunch of louder 1x12 and 1x15 options, and a handful of 2x10.

GK, Ampeg, Fender, Hartke, Markbass, Blackstar, Phil Jones all offer lots of combos.

Seems like the Quilter approach or the way Genzler does is my be as close as we're going to see.

...except that there are lots of combos, and new combos are released about as often as we see new amps and cabs.

 

[S-Bigbottom]

Maybe there's a market for someone to make a cab that has space to mount a head. Voila! Instant combo made from your favorite head.

But my intent was commenting more on market viability than a specific vendor.

Genz-Benz, Ampeg and Eden had cabs with an empty two rack space on top.
One or more of them listed above also had a four rack space available.

This was in the era of heavy cabs, might be doable now with lighter cab technology.

 

[SJan3]

The 212 combo is listed at 95 lbs.

Ah, that I believe. I thought he mistyped.

 

[SJan3]

View attachment 4056773
They did, around 2008 or so. Not in production for long. They did 112 and 212 versions, single and double channels. Here's my AG500SC 212 with 112NT.

I still have both GS112 and GS112NT cabinets in excellent condition. They are much more manageable.
GS112 42LBS
GS112NT 39LBS

 

[MultiScaleMale]

Ah, that I believe. I thought he mistyped.

The 112 was still a boat anchor by modern standards. We're really spoiled.

 

[SJan3]

The 112 was still a boat anchor by modern standards. We're really spoiled.

No doubt. I'm using a Markbass 121HR and a Genzler Magellan 350. Whole package is maybe 35 lbs.

 

[pickups]

Has anybody tried or heard the GK Legacy 112 combo?Legacy Combos — Gallien-Krueger

 

[Dr. Keebs]

Ah, that I believe. I thought he mistyped.

Must have. I thought they listed at just north of 100 lbs., but really.. They're heavy.

 

[DrWhipple]

Found this thread via Google, really surprised Aguilar doesn’t make any combo amps.

 

[SJan3]

Found this thread via Google, really surprised Aguilar doesn’t make any combo amps.

I emailed Aguilar re: combo amp.
No reply.

 

[pickups]

I emailed Aguilar re: combo amp.
No reply.

Last time I emailed them was last year before Korg bought them out. I would love to see an SL 112 combined with a Tonehammer in a combo form.

 

[SJan3]

Last time I emailed them was last year before Korg bought them out. I would love to see an SL 112 combined with a Tonehammer in a combo form.

Makes perfect sense to me.

 

[Analogeezer]

Maybe there's a market for someone to make a cab that has space to mount a head. Voila! Instant combo made from your favorite head.

Sure that worked back in the day when rackmount heads were a big thing; it was you know "a standard".

The Class D heads seem to run from 6 inches wide to 13 inches wide, and maybe 1.5 inches tall to much taller like the Mesa stuff.

There is no "standard" for Class D heads in terms of size format so you would have to have some sort of kluge adjustment setup to accommodate the various heads someone might buy.

It's a market space probably better served by outfits like LDS and RevSound who will make you stuff to order for specific needs.

Analogeezer

 

[MultiScaleMale]

Sure that worked back in the day when rackmount heads were a big thing; it was you know "a standard".

The Class D heads seem to run from 6 inches wide to 13 inches wide, and maybe 1.5 inches tall to much taller like the Mesa stuff.

There is no "standard" for Class D heads in terms of size format so you would have to have some sort of kluge adjustment setup to accommodate the various heads someone might buy.

It's a market space probably better served by outfits like LDS and RevSound who will make you stuff to order for specific needs.

Analogeezer

A lot make rack mount ears for the smaller amps and those still follow the standard 19” dimension.

 

[Analogeezer]

A lot make rack mount ears for the smaller amps and those still follow the standard 19” dimension.

The standard 19" WIDE dimension, which makes them technically rackable.

I'm not going to look up every Class D head available but take the Mesa stuff for example; the larger heads "WD?" are FOUR inches tall; 2 rack spaces is 3.5 inches tall, so you have to lose another space above the head if you use the rackmount kit.

Reality is most of the people buying these rackmount kits are putting these heads into existing racks they already own.

Now that Class D rules the marketplace there is simply not a market really for making a cabinet with a "rack" space for a class D head. They are all different sizes. there is no "standard".

There exist half rack, third rack and also vertical rack formats (mainly for small studio outboard stuff) but none of these formats fit Class D heads.

The assumption of the companies was you would just put these on top of your cabinet, or if you really insisted they will sell you optional rack ears to manage to fit the thing into a rack.

It would have been simple to develop single space, Class D rackmount heads but that never happened because at the same time cabinets got smaller and away from the typical 24" wide format.

But sure there have existed various ways to rackmount non-rackmount stuff for years, rack shelves, velcro, etc. but there's simply not enough of a market for a cab maker to design a space to accommodate this stuff that is not a regular rack format.

IF these guys had all agreed on a head size format (say one size for smaller stuff, double height for larger stuff like the Mesas) then it would be easy and maybe such a product would exist, but they didn't so the product does not exist.

Analogeezer

 

[Analogeezer]

I want to see the pedalboards of all these guys who claim a cabinet and a head and a speaker cable is too much trouble LOL.

If you want a combo, that's fine there are TONS of choices out there, but don't expect every company out there to make combos; you can't not hit one swinging a dead cat.

Just perusing the Sweetwater site they offer 31 bass combos between 250 and 1,000 watts; and they don't even sell MarkBass, Phil Jones, or GR Bass.

Add in these guys and you are probably at 50+ bass combos north of 250 watts on the market.

That's your answer why Aguilar is reluctant to do this, a LOT of competition at all price levels and you have to sell that product to someone who wants your amp AND your cabinet.

That's less of an issue for say someone buying a Hartke or a Bugera but at the price point an Aguilar combo would cost the buyers get a lot more picky.

Analogeezer

 

[MultiScaleMale]

The standard 19" WIDE dimension, which makes them technically rackable.

I'm not going to look up every Class D head available but take the Mesa stuff for example; the larger heads "WD?" are FOUR inches tall; 2 rack spaces is 3.5 inches tall, so you have to lose another space above the head if you use the rackmount kit.

Reality is most of the people buying these rackmount kits are putting these heads into existing racks they already own.

Now that Class D rules the marketplace there is simply not a market really for making a cabinet with a "rack" space for a class D head. They are all different sizes. there is no "standard".

There exist half rack, third rack and also vertical rack formats (mainly for small studio outboard stuff) but none of these formats fit Class D heads.

The assumption of the companies was you would just put these on top of your cabinet, or if you really insisted they will sell you optional rack ears to manage to fit the thing into a rack.

It would have been simple to develop single space, Class D rackmount heads but that never happened because at the same time cabinets got smaller and away from the typical 24" wide format.

But sure there have existed various ways to rackmount non-rackmount stuff for years, rack shelves, velcro, etc. but there's simply not enough of a market for a cab maker to design a space to accommodate this stuff that is not a regular rack format.

IF these guys had all agreed on a head size format (say one size for smaller stuff, double height for larger stuff like the Mesas) then it would be easy and maybe such a product would exist, but they didn't so the product does not exist.

Analogeezer

Like they all agreed on 2U, 3U or 4U back in the day of the lead sled. It wouldn't work for every single amp out there, but a 3U slot would cover everything, 2U would cover most. The Mesa WD / TT rack ear kit fits in a standard 2U space. Others with rack kits - Trickfish, GK, Markbass, Bergantino, Epifani, and I'm sure there are others.