The Combo Club

[iagtrplyr]

Plenty of great help here Ess and you will normally find heaps of discussion...its just a bad time at trhe moment so if you don't get the responses from more then 1 member at the moments its because of the holidays this week..fear not lots of help abounds around here normally so hang in there and make sure you come back..you can even request a club number if you want one once you upload pics of your combo rig. As for myself I am in a danger situation at the moment with another small fire in the hill behind me so I have to go for awile..please check back if no responses soon.
Ok guys gotta go for a bit..im hearing sirens..Australia is certainly on fire..we have a temp of 44C degrees tomorrow...back later all.

Giff, please take of you and Charly and let us know as soon as you can when things are better. I'll be saying a prayer for ya tonight but not lighting a candle. Keep cool!

 

[iagtrplyr]

My combo "family". Just sold the Eden rig on the right. Eden Nemesis RS410 combo. Great unit if you can find one. 320 watts and 4X10"s of gorgeous Eden tone in a 63 pound package on wheels. However as I'm aging (63) I found it increasingly difficult to lug around. I managed to find a great deal locally on a GK MB212ii. (the bottom left unit) This is 500 watts into 2X12's and weighs about the same as the little 1X10 Carvin on top. While the GK "sound" is much different from the Eden (not better or worse, just different) I can dial in very capable tones for all my basses. These are a bit expensive new but can be found on the used market rather easily and they're very "back friendly".

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This is the only other family member left. My Eden N12 "kickback" combo currently on loan to my son to use for his keys. (and my "borrowed" precision) At 135 watts the coaxial 12" speaker does a great job of extending the frequency response up to where it makes a very good keyboard amp.

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In the past year I've also bought and sold a Peavey TNT 115 tour series. Got a good deal on it to leave in the practice room while replacing the speaker in my Carvin. You may want to hop over to the Rumble club. If you're into that old school thump, these Fender's bring it...or so I've heard. Never owned one so no first hand knowledge.

I consider Bigs our Eden expert, but I have a funny feeling he may the dude to go to for all GK. EssEll, this may be another combo you'll want to take a hard look at. 500 watts, no waiting. The two 12s will make you forget the 15 real quick too.

 

[iagtrplyr]

I see this type of comment a lot. Is it J pickups in general or do you think a different pickup might make you happy?

jt, how are ya? Good to see you here at the friendly confines. Call me loony, but if you decide to take the bridge pickup the focus of your playing, I believe you then tailor it to your needs through volume and tone control settings on your Jazz as well as your amps dials. While I'm more of a neck pickup player, there are those times when I feel a little funky (I think it's in the water) when that burpy bridge tone is totally cool. Then I readjust my controls to bring that out more. Of course, when the next song begins it's a mad dash to reset everything for the more P sound that I prefer. I believe the bridge pup wasn't a poor idea, but yet another color in the bassist's crayon box.

 

[iagtrplyr]

One of those things we learned when making the CHB-1. First fret marker is traditional on semi-hollow basses. If anybody knows why I'd love to know.

Chowny, happy new year and welcome to the Combo Club! Nice to see one of our many fine commercial users here on TB. You have a big fan and player in our member, Morrighan. She finds good reasons to show off her various rigs and speaks highly of her Chowny bass.

Thanks for stopping by!

 

[iagtrplyr]

While I don't have a Hartke combo, I do have a HA7000 head that I've owned for over 25 years, and a 410 Transporter cabinet I've had for about 20. I think they made good quality amps and cabs, and I can't think that the combos would be very bad at all. Personally, I really like my GK Micro bass 112 combo. The tone is rather dry (although it has chorus), but I tend to like that. It has kept up with moderate drummers, and can more than carry a small venue in acoustic guitar settings. Size is quite tiny for a 12" speaker, cabinet is made of metal (!!) and weighs about 25 pounds.

Great endorsement for your Micro 112. I took a serious look at that a while back but just couldn't see spending that much money fora 150-watt amp when there's so much out there in the way of smaller and more powerful. No dissing the quality of the unit or sound. I've read many a story where these buggers are still sounding great years later. at first, I couldn't fathom the metal cab, but then after owning the Foxy Voxy combo with its ABS plastic cabinet, I can now believe anything.

 

[iagtrplyr]

But, FL, backwards notes are playink "I buried Fearless Leader ..." which we all refuse to accept as true! Long is livink Fearless Leader!

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<ahem> uh, yes ... Yes, of course, is Combo Club. Back to business of Combos! Holidays are beink over now. Here is beink some of my bass Combo amps.

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Am lovink all my bass Combo amps for the various strength of each one.

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59if

 

[iagtrplyr]

I currently use Rumbles(v3's). My first was a Rumble 200c in Nov. 2015-lighter and more powerful than the rolled and pleated 70's Kustom I was using. I bought a R40 when my 2000 Bassman 25 started 'acting up'. The 40 is fine for some of the smaller restaurant/lounge gigs we get and for the community concert band I'm a part of, playing string bass parts as no upright players are available(or interested?). I also bought a R112 extension cab to use with the 200c for those very rare occasions I 'need' it. I recently gave myself a R100 which is more than enough for 90% of our gigs.(BTW, we NEVER have FOH). Our repertoire is mostly 60s-70s rock. Our audiences are generally 50 y/o and up. They don't want loud. In fact, for some reason, they wanna be able to talk to one another without screaming. Also, all of our gigs are one-nighters, so the easier the load in/out, the better.
Unless somebody wants to give me a 63 piggyback Bassman, like my first amp-in 69, I'll never own a non-combo amp again.

My inspiration right here, this guy. In five years I'm moving to Florida, buying the latest in Hawaiian shirts, hauling my hollow-body bass and Rumble 100 down (selling everything else so I can afford the shirts), finding a town with old people living in venues that need the spirit of music, finding others with same idea, and rocking out (at reduced volume) on New Year's Eve, not once mind you, but twice! This man, GP, is living the dream and I only hope I can snag a few starry crumbs of it for myself. Of course, having his talent and experience wouldn't hurt...

Here's my official pre-retirement launch as of Christmas Day 2019. I know it's not a bass, stop your pickiness:

 

[chowny]

Chowny, happy new year and welcome to the Combo Club! Nice to see one of our many fine commercial users here on TB. You have a big fan and player in our member, Morrighan. She finds good reasons to show off her various rigs and speaks highly of her Chowny bass.

Thanks for stopping by!

I shall post my combos too. Just to stay on topic! We have two we use in our video studio.

A mark bass Ninja 250 combo. And a trace elliot combo.

Opposite ends of the weight scale. One is dinky and one is made of lead!

Both extra useful on recordings (we use them DI and mic’d and blend the two)

 

[iagtrplyr]

I just ordered it so I'll have to let you know. It just seemed like the perfect solution for apartment practice, camping, traveling and possibly future tiny gigs. One thing I like is the passive radiator party trick that Phil Jones borrowed from his experience in the HiFi speaker industry. It should work like having an unpowered 6x9 speaker that is passively powered by the 2 four inch speaker's motion, as long as the cabinet is sealed.

That is brilliant, P, I wonder why more designers haven't used the passive radiator concept as much, or I just haven't noticed. I sold hi fi for five years back in the eighties and passive radiators were widely used, especially with makers who wanted more bass out of their smaller speakers. I'm sure there's a reason. We need to know how the bass is on that Double-4, okay?

 

[iagtrplyr]

I just played a New Year's Eve gig in a large room with my ten-piece classic rock-horn band with a Hartke HD75 combo (gift from my daughter). I had PA support, and raised it slightly with an Onstage wedge. I never needed to go past 4 on the volume, and was even told to turn down by the horn section. There was a little lack of definition on the stage, but when I set it flat it became punchier at the same volume. I was thinking of it as only a practice amp, but--even at so-called 75 watts--this little combo really thumped and did everything I could have asked as an onstage monitor and more. It is not light at 47 lbs., but exudes durability. I kept the tone controls mostly flat throughout, but did edge the higher frequencies up toward the end of the night. Now, there is no XLR out, but my Radial Pro DI gave a great pre-sound with no hiss or hum; one could also feed the DI post via the return/send option, but I didn't try that. A handcart is advised, and one plus of it being a little heavier than some combos is that is remains stable when transporting it via the cart. Anyway, having heard so much about the limitations of such units, I think it is fair to say that--given FOH support--this combo can do the job.

Orphesus55, welcome to the Combo Club! My friend, you are one small combo picture away from becoming a full-fledged member of this club. That was a darned good review of your Hartke HD75. For someone looking at an amp at this size and price, you did them a very kind service. Please consider adding yourself to our ranks as you exhibited exactly what we do in this club. Thanks for a fine read and enjoy your combo amp!

 

[iagtrplyr]

I shall post my combos too. Just to stay on topic! We have two we use in our video studio.

A mark bass Ninja 250 combo. And a trace elliot combo.

View attachment 3652384
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Opposite ends of the weight scale. One is dinky and one is made of lead!

Both extra useful on recordings (we use them DI and mic’d and blend the two)

Fantastic! May I add you to our membership roster? You'd be our first commercial member and what's cool is I'm getting the vibe that you're just a bass-loving, combo-is-good-too kinda person like the rest of us. Please let me know and I'll do the rest. BTW, awesome pics of a couple of terrific amps.

 

[EssEll]

The search continues... and the top candidate right now is the Hartke HD500 combo. I'm a former GK owner too but bang-for-the-buck-wise, I'm thinking the HD is a little better deal.
Markbass, Gensler? Fuggedaboudit....

 

[Orpheus55]

Orphesus55, welcome to the Combo Club! My friend, you are one small combo picture away from becoming a full-fledged member of this club. That was a darned good review of your Hartke HD75. For someone looking at an amp at this size and price, you did them a very kind service. Please consider adding yourself to our ranks as you exhibited exactly what we do in this club. Thanks for a fine read and enjoy your combo amp!

Here it is!

 

[GwenOnBass]

jt, how are ya? Good to see you here at the friendly confines. Call me loony, but if you decide to take the bridge pickup the focus of your playing, I believe you then tailor it to your needs through volume and tone control settings on your Jazz as well as your amps dials. While I'm more of a neck pickup player, there are those times when I feel a little funky (I think it's in the water) when that burpy bridge tone is totally cool. Then I readjust my controls to bring that out more. Of course, when the next song begins it's a mad dash to reset everything for the more P sound that I prefer. I believe the bridge pup wasn't a poor idea, but yet another color in the bassist's crayon box.

LULZ

Still trying to figure out how to use two pickups!

My inspiration right here, this guy. In five years I'm moving to Florida, buying the latest in Hawaiian shirts, hauling my hollow-body bass and Rumble 100 down (selling everything else so I can afford the shirts), finding a town with old people living in venues that need the spirit of music, finding others with same idea, and rocking out (at reduced volume) on New Year's Eve, not once mind you, but twice! This man, GP, is living the dream and I only hope I can snag a few starry crumbs of it for myself. Of course, having his talent and experience wouldn't hurt...

Here's my official pre-retirement launch as of Christmas Day 2019. I know it's not a bass, stop your pickiness:

View attachment 3652382

My understanding is "northerners" who move to Florida are issued a white belt and white shoes?
:: runs, ducks, covers ::

 

[Orpheus55]

I live in Florida; believe me, you'll find work before you even get off the golf cart!

 

[GwenOnBass]

Having lifted all the Rumbles in the shop "just to see how light" the combos are, the 100 feels like the sweet spot in the line.

 

[GonePlaid]

Having lifted all the Rumbles in the shop "just to see how light" the combos are, the 100 feels like the sweet spot in the line.

Totally agree. Not only the(lack of)weight, but also much less awkward to schlep. And a big difference in sound over the 40's 10".

 

[GonePlaid]

I've been a fan for the 12" drivers since 1968, or so. Old habits die herd.

I like the 15" in my R200c, the 10" in the R40 is pretty decent, the 12" in the R100 is just the tone I wanna hear. Color me happy.

 

[Giffro]

Sorry @EssEll that I had to take off last night (my time in South Aust) as Australia is dealing with the most extreme bushfires and I had a fire burning over the hill behind us so I had to run...I'm glad you took my advise to hang around...I see that you have had a lot of responses that I expected you would receive, so thats great and you are amongst a great group of Combo owners with heaps of info in the forum itself, as well as written Wiki notes that one of our members G-Dog (Doggy to everyone) has compiled, so have fun within the club, hopefully cope with our humour as well and enjoy the in-depth discussions regarding all types of Combo amps. Any questions..just ask. You are among a wealth of knowledge.
To all those who wished us well in our fire engulfed State..thanks all..things are quiet again for now but with a top temp of 44C today fire authorities expect things to flare up so they are putting out the call to leave our homes now while we can if living in a fire risk area...which luckily our home is not. Its not that bad so far in my State but anything is possible today...its only 8.30am and temp. is building to that expected 44C. So thanks all for your concern..as usual if I disappear its likely a power cut due to heat or fire prevention. Anyway i'm here for the time being lol.
Enjoy your experiences with the Combo Club EssEll.

 

[GwenOnBass]

No day passes right now that I don't think of Australia. Stay safe and well.