The Combo Club

[Clipped]

Whew, ~it's expensive! -What do you especially like about it? I've been considering getting a small combo to use both alone and with my Elf 1x10 cab. Does this 801 have an extension cab line out, and if so have you used it with another cab?

I'm also considering the Elf 1x8 combo... It costs about the same as the MB 801 and is more powerful at 200w, but I've read where people have complained about the fan noise with it..?

I don’t have any fan troubles. I like the portability. I really like the ability to get loud or stay softer with a nice warm tone.

I do miss the scrambler on my Ampeg BA110, but the portability makes up for that and more.

 

[RodRy]

OK, but that's discovery and discussion. I'm looking for a simple definition to clarify the majority of cases.

How about this?

A bass combo is a combination of an amp and speaker unit attached in such a way that they are designed to be stored, moved, and played as a single entity. The sole exceptions to date are Ampeg Portaflex units.

Note: IMO, this would allow a head that's bolted permanently to a cab to be considered a combo. It would not allow one attached with hook and loop fastener unless said fastener was strong enough that the whole thing could be picked up by the usual straps or handles without coming apart. There would still be exceptions to argue over, just less of them.

Speak now or forever hold your combo a few inches off the floor with your fretting hand, which gets old fast.

This seems like a pretty good definition to me.

 

[GonePlaid]

I actually meant "attached permanently" - with the caveat that nothing is permanent. "Attached permanently other than removal for working on the amp or cab"?

"Nothing lasts forever except love and Liberty Mutual."-Doug(and Emu)

 

[GonePlaid]

Can't you just easily remove the Portaflex head and use it with another cab? Therefore, not a true combo.
A very nice amp and cab with a novel approach, yes, but no more a combo than a Bassman fastened to a cab with screws. Is that a combo?View attachment 4748815

Maybe we should add "pickuppable with one hand"*.(The exception being 'The Kasino'-of course)

* by people not named Schwartzenegger

 

[Greywoulf]

What I'm wondering about is if I take the small round rubber 'feet' offa the Bam200 so it's flat on the bottom and then use some strong Dual Lock type of stuff to grip the Bam down tightly onto the Elf's top, could it cause unneeded vibrations? I suppose the only way to find out is to try it I guess... And of course those 'lil rubber 'feet' can be screwed back onto the Bam again if it doesn't work too good that way. (~Pressing a Bam down tightly on top of an Elf; it sounds like a fantasy bit from "The Ring!")
Anyway the replacement Bam has been shipped, I've been informed. ~Sh have some fun maybe tomorrow then...

 

[GonePlaid]

Nope .

But if it were a different color, I'd want it...Again.(sigh)

 

[iagtrplyr]

Well I was definitely considering several different interesting new combos and found (most) of the friendly folks here very helpful. ~But if in the end I don't live up to your expectations, -what makes you think I have to, or even want to?
But perhaps I will post a pic of my artificial, cobbled together, jury rigged, semi-permanent 'combination' here when I get it done... -Just for the fun of it.. (-Remember 'fun'?)
~Hopefully it won't ban me forever from enjoying this thread? ??

'Woulf, nothing personal with my comment, purchase what you want. My point was more to the brethren here who, along with me, have gone many bloody rounds trying to decide if sticking two separate pieces together, glued or not, makes a combo and we decided it does not. Not even the venerable Ampeg B15 made the cut and that's the Holy Grail for some of us.

Again, do whatever you like, no one is stopping you. Ya came in looking for combo advice. and a number of us offered it to you. You decided on a re-do and that's just fine. If you'd like a number, pick up a used Blackstar Fly 3 for 90 shekels and we'll give you a number. Otherwise, you're welcome here anytime to join the conversation, but as a guest, not a member. Anyway, I'm not the Fearless Leader any longer so my banning days are over, but we do work really hard here at not inducing controversy so chill out my four-string compadre and please enjoy your new toy. That's fun!

 

[iagtrplyr]

Can't you just easily remove the Portaflex head and use it with another cab? Therefore, not a true combo.
A very nice amp and cab with a novel approach, yes, but no more a combo than a Bassman fastened to a cab with screws. Is that a combo?View attachment 4748815

Agreed. And if you look back at past posts we went through this until some members became queasy. A combo is self-enclosed, separates are not. I know for some strange reason we have to go through this conversation every now and then for new members and guests, but I finally agreed with those who defined combos as I did above. I personally don't think we can waffle back the other way for the sake of a new (yet old) argument.

For those who agree with this thinking, let's hear from ya. Otherwise, an even better idea than a Fly 3 would be a used combo from a local music store. It'd be like adopting a pet from the humane society and would garner one of these bad boys from me...

 

[Greywoulf]

Agreed. And if you look back at past posts we went through this until some members became queasy. A combo is self-enclosed, separates are not. I know for some strange reason we have to go through this conversation every now and then for new members and guests, but I finally agreed with those who defined combos as I did above. I personally don't think we can waffle back the other way for the sake of a new (yet old) argument.

For those who agree with this thinking, let's hear from ya. Otherwise, an even better idea than a Fly 3 would be a used combo from a local music store. It'd be like adopting a pet from the humane society and would garner one of these bad boys from me...

Well, I do have a Vox VX B50 combo now... ~But me requesting a club number wouldn't be copasetic as I'm gonna return it soon. I'm quite happy just to be a guest here, thank you...

 

[GwenOnBass]

Well, I do have a Vox VX B50 combo now... ~But me requesting a club number wouldn't be copasetic as I'm gonna return it soon. I'm quite happy just to be a guest here, thank you...

Use too much Dual Lock and the head will be permanently fixed to the cab, and still not a combo That stuff is made to be close to forever. That's good in some cases.... depends on what is required. A few postage stamp size bits of Dual Lock, and you'll need a screwdriver to pry the two apart again. Dual Lock is for when you are very sure!

Industrial Velcro is what I use for pedals. I can pick up the board by a pedal. Very strong.

 

[Mark Ambler]

My new house combo, 8” mains/battery, Bluetooth, eq, fx. Not cheap, but handles bass pretty good. Volume similar to a Markbass 801. Does that qualify?

 

[Greywoulf]

Use too much Dual Lock and the head will be permanently fixed to the cab, and still not a combo That stuff is made to be close to forever. That's good in some cases.... depends on what is required. A few postage stamp size bits of Dual Lock, and you'll need a screwdriver to pry the two apart again. Dual Lock is for when you are very sure!

Industrial Velcro is what I use for pedals. I can pick up the board by a pedal. Very strong.

Thanks for the warning.. I picked up some Scotch Extremely Strong Fasteners that claim to hold 10lbs. Hopefully that sh be enough to immobilize the Bam while still leaving it removable from it's Elf with force. I also have a heavy duty cable that will be entwined thru the Elf's carry handle that will help keep the Bam in place during one-hand moves of this 'combine-o'. (~Hey maybe I'll start a new club for 'combine-o's, ~it would be for combos, amps, and cabs that folks have either modified or jury-rigged together to get the sound they want in a self-designed convenient system. ~And I'll call my combine-o the "Elf Bammer..")

 

[GwenOnBass]

I come from Elfbama with a banjo on my knee

 

[Greywoulf]

"~Oh Combo Mama, don't you cry for me..."

 

[swink]

OK, but that's discovery and discussion. I'm looking for a simple definition to clarify the majority of cases.

How about this?

A bass combo is a combination of an amp and speaker unit attached in such a way that they are designed to be stored, moved, and played as a single entity. The sole exceptions to date are Ampeg Portaflex units.

Note: IMO, this would allow a head that's bolted permanently to a cab to be considered a combo. It would not allow one attached with hook and loop fastener unless said fastener was strong enough that the whole thing could be picked up by the usual straps or handles without coming apart. There would still be exceptions to argue over, just less of them.

Speak now or forever hold your combo a few inches off the floor with your fretting hand, which gets old fast.

Point taken. Every now and then we catch ourselves in this Catch-22 of combo vs. separates. I've always tried to cling to the fact that a vast majority of combo amps are housed in one cabinet, like your 200c. At the flick of a wrist you can change out your Genz Benz for another head; something difficult to impossible to do with a combo. That being said, I've allowed an Ampeg B-15 because, like peanut butter and jelly, you can't really have one without the other.

Tell ya what. If one of the other members' votes to add your rig to the club I'll award you a number. I'm truly on the fence with this one. If for any other reason, I think Lowandfat should be added because he has a giant baseball head for an avatar, but I need someone to second it. M, you wanted him to play that funky music...interested? Regardless of the outcome, it was a wonderful idea to save a combo from going out to pasture. Help the man, people!

START....

Whew, you people wore me out. I just finished reading all your posts since Thursday, my last visit, and all I can say is if you miss a little...you still miss a little if only one main topic is running! So before I spend more time not going to bed, I want to prep the conversation.

First, C7 is a valued member of this organization with several combos in the past year, and, like me, he definitely loves new and shiny objects. I gotta admit too, that Genzler is a sweetie.

Second, if something happens to me, [articularly this school year, I nominate Jakob T to replace me as FL and Grand Poobah. I like the way he thinks, though I must admit a large number of you have come through big time with some candid and unique observations. I enjoyed RR's let's-keep-this-civil prose because that's what this club is built on and you've all done so magnificently!

Third, Recon, I hope you can keep all the nuts and bolts in place for a while longer. Before ya know it you'll be rockin' the new AC/DC album in the living room!

Fourth, I thought a while back I gave a summary of VOX vs. VOX: Battle of the NuTubes, but if time allows I will offer another installment. My one-sentence comment is that the Super Beetle offers a slightly deeper tone (larger cab space?) and the fuzz (which I like much more than the OD) thus making it my fave, but the two are very close when talking are sonic differences. On a bad day, kinda muddy and nondescript, but on a good day vintage tube tone that plays well with the right bass. the clear winner with the Beatle bass; not so much with the P. I'm using the SB as we speak but heading to the Stage 800 next weekend to record the orchestra's latest piece.

Also, I've missed you guys terribly but have been so busy with school work I haven't even had time to play. The worse thing is we found out Sunday afternoon that one of my teaching partners tested positive and that sent all 56 kids home for two weeks. The teachers, except for her, are staying but we're going mo-bile, as Daltrey would sing. Online for two weeks, including us subbing for those teachers currently at home. I'll record my lesson, post it in our google Classroom, and then go teach the first grade or something. Yep, a 60-year-old cranky man trying to corral all that energy. Can you say, heavenly? Three weeks to T'giving and I'm counting the seconds...

So for a response to the headlining dilemma, is it a combo or not? I'll begin with a question: did ya ever experience that feeling the minute you made a decision, answered a question, or gave advice you immediately wanted to take it right back and say, "forget it"? Yep, me too. Like the day I waved my sword and claimed that the B-15 would be counted as a combo. So I'm an Ampeg fanboy...sue me.

On second thought, don't. My vision at the time was since it's physically (screwing the amp onto the lid) connected, then why not? I'll tell ya why not...because numerous companies (Ampeg included) are selling wonderful 2-in-1 separates/combos that defy description and definition. Is it a combo? Are they separate? In a word, yes, and that's the problem. IMHO, you're all correct in your well-delivered arguments. Yes, the Genzler is a two-piece unit, though not a combo in the traditional sense of a single chassis holding a power amp, preamp, and speaker. Yet, the two pieces work in harmony to create a single unit by way of the metal brace that comes along in the purchase.

So if we're sticking to the original ruling (BTW, 'dog, loved looking up the CC page), then the Genzler would indeed be a combo, but darn it, we all know (including C7) it's not in the sense of the more portable one-piece box that held everything as one. GP's Kasino is a combo. Biggie's GK is definitely a combo. Even the Markbass amps are combos, though you can detach the amp because it's all in one housing thus making it portable.

By the same token, my Super Beetle is not, nor is Cracker's new rig. If you can physically separate the two for purposes of transportation, to allow easy swapping of different heads, or to add drivers for more power (the Rumble 500 is a combo, but when it's paired with a separate cab it's now a combo/cab rig), then it has to be called separates. Yes, I'm now going against my own ruling and requesting an amendment change where we throw out the B-15 and all its cousins because they're not truly combos of which we profess our love and allegiance to. If you're in favor of such an amendment change (lucky I'm deep into social studies right now where we're studying the Constitution), then vote aye. If you wish to keep the Ampeg in the club and add basically all other two-piece rigs built as a single unit, like C7's Genzler, then vote nay. I'll keep track and let you know the outcome next weekend.

Again, had I not been swayed by the Ampeg's historical mystique, I may have said no then and been done with it. I also think we were trying to get a new member at the time too. If it'll bring peace and tranquillity back to the CC, then I vote to disqualify the B-15 and not allow any other amps in here other than legit combos, which we all know what they are.

I'm also going to set up a tribunal for future conflicts in this area to make future decisions on this topic based on facts and scientific reasoning. The three people I nominate are Jakob T (by way of his superior brain), RodRy (by way of his caring heart), and Doc Intrepid (because they have lots of forests in Canada with maybe a cowardly lion or two). Use these powers I give you for the good of the club and settle disputes that may jeopardize our good nature. Now GO!!! (tip 'o the hat to The Wizard of Oz)

I'm going to bed. I hope this helped or at least continued to cause further disagreement. Ya know I love a good battle and looooong response.

See ya!

FL

END

When I posted that I had looked the votes around it and, unofficially, it seemed as everyone voted to do away with everything not traditional combo-related. I never said that couldn’t change, but then we know the messenger is always the first one to get it.

Tonight it seems much closer as those who basically wish to leave well enough alone has increased and I’m fine with that.

Actually, RR, I had no qualms about our original decision way back when until it was stirred up last week, which is what this forum is all about.

So after reading the last two pages, I’m ending the vote with returning back to allowing the B15 to exist in our club because of its uniqueness. Other than that, no other combination of head and cabinet will be considered.

The components have to be in a single chassis, though they can be removable like the Markbass combos. So in other words, we move neither forward or backward from our first attempt to define what a combo is. The gavel is smacked down, case closed.

Time to go listen to some Pomplamoose and chill from a long week. If ya can, play some bass this weekend.

 

[G-Dog]

Reminder: Your Combo Club Wiki page has several links "Defining Combo-ness" in the Combo Club Cyclopædia section. Of course most of them deal ostensibly with the Ampeg B-15, but the basic concepts are there.
.

OK, but that's discovery and discussion. I'm looking for a simple definition to clarify the majority of cases. ... ... ...

It's amazing what discovery can find.
​

....

END

Thank you, swinkology, Director of Think!​

... ... ..., I’m ending the vote with returning back to allowing the B15 to exist in our club because of its uniqueness. Other than that, no other combination of head and cabinet will be considered.

The components have to be in a single chassis, though they can be removable like the Markbass combos. So in other words, we move neither forward or backward from our first attempt to define what a combo is. The gavel is smacked down, case closed. ... ... ...

Whoop! There it is!​

Thanks to those who gave my FLness a vote of confidence. ... ... ...

My first decree (unofficial until ratified at exactly 2022/01/01:00:00:00.001CST) is that the Official Combosity of the Ampeg B15 remains in place. As Fearless leader and Supreme Courtier, I will stand fast on precedent[1] wherever reasonable and convenient[2]. This case is both.

[1] Not on my predecessor. That would be rude.
[2] Except when I don't.

But, of course a reigning FL is always free to re-examine precedents, for whatever reason, despite whatever they may have decreed in the past.
.​

 

[iagtrplyr]

View attachment 4749061
My new house combo, 8” mains/battery, Bluetooth, eq, fx. Not cheap, but handles bass pretty good. Volume similar to a Markbass 801. Does that qualify?

I'm so glad I don't have to make decisions like this any longer, though I'll help if asked. Technically, yes. Traditionally, no. Of course, anything JBL and I'm always in. It's my Ampeg of speakers and has been for decades. I wish you the best of luck, MA.

 

[iagtrplyr]

START....

END

swink, as always, you confuse me. Besides reading the greatest hits here, what's your point? That at multiple times I seemed all over the board trying to please everyone and ultimately pleasing no one? After suffering through the re-read it looks as if I was allowing the B15 (which I believe months later was revised) and not allowing anything else. Times were tough, the pressure was on. At this point, it's all Miles wants to do with the subject; maybe a new vote to decide on a new definition, maybe we just leave it alone and wait for the next to ask about it, who knows?

Or better yet, along with digging up old but official copy, request the members here give their opinion on the subject so maybe we can move on from it until the weather cools off. I say, this very minute, that if it's not in an all-in-one cabinet it's not a combo. That would exclude the B15 and anything else trying to sneak in that's similar. There, done. End of subject for me. BTW, thanks for reminding me of my long-winded diatribes...

 

[SoulReflection]

View attachment 4749061
My new house combo, 8” mains/battery, Bluetooth, eq, fx. Not cheap, but handles bass pretty good. Volume similar to a Markbass 801. Does that qualify?

Well, it is a combo according to most definitions. It is self-contained, has its own speaker and amp. Its not called a "Combo" and it lacks a 1/4" input so it will be interesting to see how the "Tribunal" rules...!

Me...? I have been using two, powered monitors as combos for months. I just don't care about what they are called. I am just happy to have them!

 

[Mark Ambler]

"I say, this very minute, that if it's not in an all-in-one cabinet it's not a combo."

Nailed it.