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The Combo Club
- Thread starter ChefKen
- Start date
The Baby Blue II, last made in 2003, is probably considered obsolete today by most standards. At 44lbs it's a bit heavy today for a "small" 160w combo, and a review I read said it had a clean but 'sterile' sound. ~So it has much competition today in lighter weight, better sounding combos I would think? -However if you can get a great price onnit and it sounds good to you, hey, why not?
I had a small SWR Working Mans 10" combo with extension cab that I sold years ago. What with all the new smaller sized PJB, Mark Bass, Elf and Barefaced combos and amps, I can't say I miss it at all. The stuff coming out today is just so much better IMO... ~But of course it's a lot more expensive than getting a good used buy!
Hey GonePlaid, that reminds me, I keep calling to remind you that the warranty has expired on your Kasino, and to offer you an extended warranty, for a price of course, but you always hang up on me?
Yeah, because sooner or later you know that 'check pickups light' is gonna come on!!
Don't listen to that hack! Our warranty includes: free electron changes every 50,000 notes; a 93 point circuit check annually; and replacement costs for all electronic parts except resistors, capacitors, tubes, semiconductors, sockets, pots, transformers, plugs, sockets, lights, and wires.
So, blown speakers are covered, right? That will give him a lot of comfort...
We consider those electro-mechanical parts, per IPSO standard Ξ₯Ñ-1377.20ä , hence not covered by our warranty, but covered under a separate warranty Pontiac Thrasher provides for $1/year as a loss leader.
...
The amp is a combo. You're using it as a combo. Therefore I'd say you are a combo player.
Want a number?
Sir Gold Coin, you are member #305 of the Combo Club with all rights and impertinences thereof. Welcome aboard! We recommend you wear your number in your TB signature. Why? No one knows. But 4 out of 5 Combo Club Bassists recommend it.
We'd love to hear more about your combo and bass journey, and anything else you want to tell us about yourself.
Combo Club Membership Notes | TalkBass.com
Technically NCD. Well, hopefully. I ordered the combo two nights ago. Supposedly it's in stock. No word since accepting my order. Come on, Well Known Amp Company, you can do this!
EDIT: Within twenty minutes of posting that, I got an email that the amp has shipped. Which means the label has been created. But I should have it in 7 business days or less!
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Thanks for asking! As a bass beginner, I started playing through a Fender Rumble 100 combo. It wasn’t terrible, but then again, it also wasn’t great. The local jazz band practice where I started to visit also had a combo, which was a GK 210 of some sort, and that was fine, but I decided to upgrade to the Fender Bassman half-stack that’s in my profile photo: it’s a Bassman 800 HD and a 115 Neo cabinet.
Played a couple years through the Bassman rig (which I still have), and it sounds very good — at practices. But at stage performance levels of sound, I found the single 115 was getting lost in the mix. (We play Big Band jazz with plenty of horns, saxes, etc.). I considered just stacking a second 115, and I’m actually still considering that option. I think it would sound great. In the meantime though, I picked up a pair of Barefaced 112s, the Big Baby 3 model. These BFs are awesome — and also quite a bit smaller and lighter than a 115 Neo (which is 54 lbs., I think).
I’ve been playing the Bassman 800 through the BF cabs, with no complaints. Plenty loud. Flexible EQ and separate overdrive channel. Onboard variable compressor. What’s not to like? But I also wanted a smaller rig, for smaller settings, which has now led me to the BG-400 “suitcase” combo from Phil Jones Bass. Immediately, I also started to experiment using the other gear together with the BG-400 itself on top of the stack.
The BG-400 is very clean, very loud, very flexible with 2 channels of EQ, and it also has a fixed 3:1 limiter onboard (with a variable threshold control), but no overdrive. It does benefit from pairing it with a bigger extension cab, to really get a full low-end sound. I’ll snap some pics of the entire rig on Monday night at our next performance.
Played a couple years through the Bassman rig (which I still have), and it sounds very good — at practices. But at stage performance levels of sound, I found the single 115 was getting lost in the mix. (We play Big Band jazz with plenty of horns, saxes, etc.). I considered just stacking a second 115, and I’m actually still considering that option. I think it would sound great. In the meantime though, I picked up a pair of Barefaced 112s, the Big Baby 3 model. These BFs are awesome — and also quite a bit smaller and lighter than a 115 Neo (which is 54 lbs., I think).
I’ve been playing the Bassman 800 through the BF cabs, with no complaints. Plenty loud. Flexible EQ and separate overdrive channel. Onboard variable compressor. What’s not to like? But I also wanted a smaller rig, for smaller settings, which has now led me to the BG-400 “suitcase” combo from Phil Jones Bass. Immediately, I also started to experiment using the other gear together with the BG-400 itself on top of the stack.
The BG-400 is very clean, very loud, very flexible with 2 channels of EQ, and it also has a fixed 3:1 limiter onboard (with a variable threshold control), but no overdrive. It does benefit from pairing it with a bigger extension cab, to really get a full low-end sound. I’ll snap some pics of the entire rig on Monday night at our next performance.
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- Oct 22, 2015
- 21,164
- 256,784
- Disclosures
- I am an affiliate for Ari Cap.
I like the size and looks of the BG400, but not especially the 40lb weight... ~And why does it have two(?) pre amp/eq controls? -What do most folks use that 2'nd channel for? Is it mostly just to keep another bass plugged in and ready to go? ~S'alright for fancy stage work I guess, but I think I'd rather forgo that second preamp and instead have reduced weight...
With SS, an extra preamp doesn't add much weight. Even accounting for the extra chassis weight, that shouldn't even add a pound. (With tubes, it might have added 1-2 pounds.) 3x the power of a Rumble 100 at less than 1.5x the weight seems like a good deal to me if the sound is right. It's only a few pounds more than the R500. (Yes, I know about the R800).
But hey, we all have different requirements and preferences!
- Oct 22, 2015
- 21,164
- 256,784
- Disclosures
- I am an affiliate for Ari Cap.
Two channels make doublers happy. And pickups for DB are notoriously finicky.
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Yes, it's heavier than some full-sized cabs, but lighter than others. It's also really, really compact. Photographs on the web somehow don't capture how small it really is. That makes it easier to carry, despite the weight.
The 40 lbs. of weight doesn't come from having two EQ channels. Rather, it comes from using ceramic magnets in the 4x5" drivers, instead of lighter neodymium that most manufacturers are using (including PJB on many of their cabs, I believe). But that is also what gives the clear, powerful tone on the BG-400. It just sounds very good.
Having two channels lets you plug-in both a bass guitar and an acoustic upright, with ready-to-go EQ customized for each instrument. Easy switching between songs or sets. Note: there is a separate mute switch on each channel.
(PS: I don't play acoustic upright. Maybe one day.)
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