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The Combo Club

#21,901
RodRy said:
Well, I do tend to like combos. I find them nice to carry one item in and not need to worry about making the connections when I'm there.

My normal rig is a Phil Jones, and the company does not make anything that hits the sweet spot for me yet.

I've been petitioning for a Quad Four ever since I got my Double Four, so we'll see if anyone is listening.
:laugh:
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Hmm. You’re in a bit of a bind then. How about velcroing the elf head to the cab and installing a speak-on cable. Boom instant custom combo.

I’m not surprised you aren’t in love with the PJB given your other speakers. There’s just no way those little drivers can sound the same as a big woofer. Especially in a live setting.

How about this beauty? Price point is nice and although I haven’t heard much about Blackstar amps what I have heard is very positive.
Blackstar Unity BASSU500 500W 2x10 Bass Combo Amplifier
 
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#21,905
I haven’t bought a combo in many years. I let my Eden Metro go for a GK800RB and even sold off my Peavey TNT130. But I am happily back to combo land:

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I picked up a GK Backline 112 in a deal with a GSR Ibanez that I’ve already sold and am really happy with the amp. None of the newer class D stuff feels/sounds right to me. This compact 12” amp sure does. Sure. It feels like it’s made of solid tungsten. But I love it and am enjoying being back in the Combo Club.
 
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#21,907
Standalone said:
I haven’t bought a combo in many years. I let my Eden Metro go for a GK800RB and even sold off my Peavey TNT130. But I am happily back to combo land:

View attachment 4721063

I picked up a GK Backline 112 in a deal with a GSR Ibanez that I’ve already sold and am really happy with the amp. None of the newer class D stuff feels/sounds right to me. This compact 12” amp sure does. Sure. It feels like it’s made of solid tungsten. But I love it and am enjoying being back in the Combo Club.
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That looks like a sweet little amp! Want a Combo Club number? Or did you have one under another name in the past?
 
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#21,908
I picked up this combo for $50. The guy originally wanted $100 and then suddenly dropped it to $50 before I even saw it he said that it was buzzing and was not outputting a signal. Tracked it down to a cold solder joint on the input jack. Fixing the solder joint and a very good clean up later this practice amp is actually really versatile. It also has the ability to run an external speaker (8 ohm) in conjunction with the internal one for a total of 75 Watts. It has an active EQ as well so it boosts the frequencies.

I've been a Peavey user for years, but I was actually pretty surprised on a single 12 in speaker being able to keep up in a very small rehersal space.

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#21,909
WestyBassBob said:
Hmm. You’re in a bit of a bind then. How about velcroing the elf head to the cab and installing a speak-on cable. Boom instant custom combo.

I’m not surprised you aren’t in love with the PJB given your other speakers. There’s just no way those little drivers can sound the same as a big woofer. Especially in a live setting.

How about this beauty? Price point is nice and although I haven’t heard much about Blackstar amps what I have heard is very positive.
Blackstar Unity BASSU500 500W 2x10 Bass Combo Amplifier
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Well, considering that there's the Elf combos, I am pretty interested in testing these out at Sweetwater next time I go down there. The power level and weight are hard to beat: Trace Elliot ELF 1x10" 200-watt Bass Combo Amp

To be clear, I am in love with my little Double Four. It's the sweetest sounding amp I've ever heard. It reproduces every bass in my collection with a transparent and balanced tone (actives, passives, short scale, long scale, 4 string, 5 string, 8 string) and I would absolutely love a unit that is twice as powerful but works exactly the same. The D4 held up beautifully with an acoustic 12 string and vocals, sounding full and rich while doing it. This little beast is the GOAT in my opinion.

Blackstars are over my weight limit of 30 pounds until you get down to pretty small output levels.

I do like the idea of a powered cabinet running out of my D4. Now to find just the right powered cabinet...
:rolleyes:
 
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#21,910
bassguitarist85 said:
I picked up this combo for $50. The guy originally wanted $100 and then suddenly dropped it to $50 before I even saw it he said that it was buzzing and was not outputting a signal. Tracked it down to a cold solder joint on the input jack. Fixing the solder joint and a very good clean up later this practice amp is actually really versatile. It also has the ability to run an external speaker (8 ohm) in conjunction with the internal one for a total of 75 Watts. It has an active EQ as well so it boosts the frequencies.

I've been a Peavey user for years, but I was actually pretty surprised on a single 12 in speaker being able to keep up in a very small rehersal space.

View attachment 4721616 View attachment 4721617
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Sweet find! I was just as happily surprised by the ability of the Rumble 100's 1x12. I can rattle the walls in my house with that. (I'm a fan of Peavey, too.)
Interested in a Combo Club Membership Number? It won't rattle the walls, but you already have something that can do that.
 
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#21,913
Miles_ONeal said:
It's something to put in your TB signature that lets people know you're interested in combos, and lets them know there's a place to go for information, camaraderie, etc. related to combos. There are numbers for other clubs as well. See my signature for examples.
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Sure why not! Yeah I got some serious earth shakers and some of the rarest most powerful SMPS Tube Bass amps ever made.

My first bass amp is a Microbass. Still works and used to this day. It only needed a new power switch. Great for little acoustic gigs.

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#21,915
Realizing that I've never actually owned any sort of stack. Just combos of various sizes. Wondering if I'd be able to have less gear if I started over with one head and several cabs. It probably doesn't matter. I have GK MB112 and 212, when I bought those I got the big one so it could permanently live in the rehearsal space and I could keep the MB112 as a smaller version to practice with that sounds almost the same. My rehearsal situation isn't the same anymore, so my MB212 mostly sits in the garage until someday it's needed. With my current band I find the 112 keeps up fine for rehearsals and I have no idea when we'd start gigging.
.....also realizing I'm also not that great at judging bass tone to begin with. I got the 112 used because I found one used in a store and liked the sound, then kind of stuck close to that ever since. I tried a lot of things before I got the 212, I went with the 212 since I knew it would be similar to what I already liked, and it was a cost-effective option compared to other stuff I was looking at, say, a portaflex stack (I think? It's been a couple years).
Just rambling, I haven't posted in forever. Hi.
Think I'm missing much?
 
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#21,916
Miles_ONeal said:
OK! @bassguitarist85 , you are now Combo Club member #287. There's no secret handshake (or if there is, it's even a secret from me).

Combo Club Membership | TalkBass.com
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Thank you for the add to the club! I'm more of a techy gearhead when it comes to equipment. Pretty much any combo i have or tried I can get a decent useable tone out of it, the limiting factor is always volume, least for me. Ha!
 
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#21,917
OK, I've got a question for combo members. Anyone know of a lightweight mini combo amp that also has enough oomph and an o/p jack for another speaker? I'm thinking of a mini combo I could plug into a good 10" cab I have at home, and then unplug and walk away with just it to use at small, mostly acoustic jams.
But no, I don't want the TE Elf combo. It's too expensive for what it is, and too large IMO...
 
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#21,918
Greywoulf said:
OK, I've got a question for combo members. Anyone know of a lightweight mini combo amp that also has enough oomph and an o/p jack for another speaker? I'm thinking of a mini combo I could plug into a good 10" cab I have at home, and then unplug and walk away with just it to use at small, mostly acoustic jams.
But no, I don't want the TE Elf combo. It's too expensive for what it is, and too large IMO...
Click to expand...

The Traynor SB 106 could fulfill your needs. I am not sure how easy they are to get in the US.
 
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#21,919
bassguitarist85 said:
Thank you for the add to the club! I'm more of a techy gearhead when it comes to equipment. Pretty much any combo i have or tried I can get a decent useable tone out of it, the limiting factor is always volume, least for me. Ha!
Click to expand...
I think many of us can relate to that limiting factor.
 
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#21,920
Greywoulf said:
OK, I've got a question for combo members. Anyone know of a lightweight mini combo amp that also has enough oomph and an o/p jack for another speaker? I'm thinking of a mini combo I could plug into a good 10" cab I have at home, and then unplug and walk away with just it to use at small, mostly acoustic jams.
But no, I don't want the TE Elf combo. It's too expensive for what it is, and too large IMO...
Click to expand...
Hmm, your criteria is: lightweight (what is light to you?), power (say, at least 200 W?), speaker output, lower price than an Elf combo (currently $600 at Sweetwater), and smaller in size (the 10" is 13.3x12x14 = 2234 cu in, and 18 pounds).

Those are tough parameters to hit.

Setting Sweetwater's site for between 170 - 500 W, and sorting for prices at $600 or less, I get the following:
Peavy Max 250; 250 W, $480, 7165 cu in, 44.4 pounds
Hartke KB12 Kickback; 500 W, $500, 4200 cu in, 28.2 pounds (only a single speaker output)
Peavy Max 300; 300 W, $500, 7165 cu in, 44.6 pounds
Ampeg Rocket RB-115, 200 W, $550, 6289 cu in, 34.2 pounds
Fender Rumble 200; 200 W, $580, 6118 cu in, 34.5 pounds​

Happy hunting!
 

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