The Combo Club

[iagtrplyr]

I just got linked to this thread, cross-posting from my other post where I was asking about combo amps that didn't suck.

Success post below:

Hot damn, y'all nailed it. I hated the Rumbles. I wasn't able to try a Rumble 500 but the 15" speaker and 12" speaker models sounded anemic to me. I tried the new Ampeg RocketBass line and was able to coax out a sound I liked but it was solidly meh. My favorite model was the 12" speaker. I liked it WAY more than the 15" model. I spent probably 45 minutes playing every model of Rumble and RocketBass while the Guitar Center employee spent ages trying to find the MarkBass 121p that wasn't on the floor but showed as in stock on their website.

I just came home with a MarkBass 121p and it THUMPS! ~25 lbs, 300 watts. For home, I'm finally getting that super low fundamental I was missing from the smaller amps. I A/B'd my Roland MicroCube with the MarkBass and it was hilarious. I realize it's a full-on Class D head tucked inside a purpose-built cab instead of a "true" combo or whatever but this is what I wanted. If Mesa or someone else made a cab with a small slot for a Class D head I feel like there might be a market for it. Until then, MarkBass is the only manufacturer I've seen that does this.

This is exactly what I wanted. Didn't know it existed. Haven't had a combo amp in 10+ years and it's so frickin nice walking to the car with the amp in one hand and bass in another. Going to try it with my Mesa 1x15 or 2x10 at practice this week. @agedhorse I'm guessing either of the Mesa cabs will overpower the MarkBass 1x12. I don't think I'd ever gig it like this but fun to mess around.




Both, but not going to gig with the MarkBass unless it's a VERY small gig. Probably not ever with my VERY loud current band (7 piece, 3 horn players).



For my ears, a big amp turned down sounds WAY WAY WAY better. On the occasion when I have my gigging rig at home it fills me with joy and the neighbors don't mind because I have it turned down. I don't get that same giddyness when playing small amps cranked up.



You sir, had the best opinion. Got the MarkBass on clearance.

gotly, you are living proof that beauty is truly in the eye of the beholder, and congrats on finding the one for you!

The Fender Rumbles have been the industry leader for the past few years and all you have to is take a gander at the Rumble Club’s membership list or its page numbers of posts to know there are many of our brethren who love ‘em. Here in the CC, we have a solid following too.

As for the Rocket Bass series, like with all combos and cabs, it’s crucial to give them time to bloom before you really hear what they can do. We’ve already heard from some new owners that it wasn’t until the first month that the Ampeg’s really came into their own. My 112 was awesome right off the bat, it that can’t be said about all my combos.

If you wanna run your Markbass combo with your big band, add the New York 121 ext cab and you’ll find it to be right on the mix. I used that rig with a decent-sized community band and did fine.

Thanks for posting your great news. Take a pic of your combo and post it here and I’ll pass out a membership number to ya for your effort.

 

[68Tele-Bass]

Cleaning (mucking) out my little music corner. Piles and piles of Amos and boxes etc etc reduced to this:

Really??? The wife will be pleased!

I like that Union Jack Vox by the window…

There- that looks better!

No sound restrictions- added my Danelectro $18 tremolo pedal (“Tuna Melt” circa 2004) before the spring reverb pedal.

Great tone with string muting and pick. Tic-Tac for ages. P pickup glorious- Fat pole J dials in great with P. Just 1/4 to 1/3 open adds high definition while keeping the great low end.

Well, I played a gig last night with the new RB115. To sum it up, I was very pleased with its performance. Granted I knew this was going to need some PA help to pull this off with being in a pretty good sized open pavilion. We are talking only a 100 watt combo here and normally when we play here I use an AG700 and 2x DB112's. I used the onboard DI and because I have really enjoyed the tone of this little guy I mic'd it as well with 52A. Adam, our drummer, owns and runs the PA and he did a great job at putting a nice mix thru the monitors and mains.

The band is just a throw together as we have been friends for a while and enjoy the musicianship. As far as genres, we never really know what we are going to play but it will range from old country to 90's rock and everything in-between. Sometimes it's just the bass, drummer and two guitar, sometimes three depending who's available to play. No pressure and it is just plain fun to play with these guys. They were pretty polite when I bought this out as they have really enjoyed the sound of my Aggie gear. Non verbals read skepticism but after breaking the combo in at the house I knew they would be surprised. After the show I did get comments that they still liked the Aggie set up but were really impressed with that the combo could do and how it sound. Definitely thumbs up by all moment.

For just purchasing it for a quick grab and go for a rehearsals and just being a nice practice rig I was thoroughly impressed with this. Hopefully my experience will shed some light on "what can I expect" from the RB115.

Posted some pics of the set up and our sound check so please excuse the clutter. The venue is very family oriented and fur kids are welcomed. My wife loves that and brought her favorite to the show.View attachment 4360672View attachment 4360674View attachment 4360676

Great Review!!! DI AND mic the 15” Eminence is what I would be inclined to do! Glad it worked out!!

LJB, besides a dash of extra headroom, which is still good to have, that extra 40 watts out of your Rumbler would be negligible if side-by-side his Ampeg. To gain +3dB of volume, you have to double the wattage, meaning at least 200 watts @ 8 ohms.

And those three decibels are hardly a difference maker. To double the volume of of your combo kicking out 140 watts, you’d need to put out 10x more wattage, or 1,400 watts! So as you can see, all the quibbling we bass players do comparing a 50-watt amp to a 100-watt amp is moot.

Now take your Rumble 200 or RS’s RB-115 and add a second cab...sweet! Not only do you get a nice boost in power, but ribbing through a second cabinet increases your speaker area and that’s what moves air! Now you know how Phil Jones makes his magic...

I’m sure you didn’t expect a science lesson here, but I start school in two weeks and getting my game face on. Thanks for the indulgence, all!

Man, Summer is TOO quick when your teaching .

Game Face, indeed. Hardest job in the world.
Thank you for your Service!

 

[68Tele-Bass]

Double Post! , indeed! Making up for the 14hrs silence.
Thinking of adding fuzz- what could possibly go wrong??

 

[68Tele-Bass]

Fuzz. Puffer fuzz. In “dramatic cool”

 

[68Tele-Bass]

Yes!! Having way too much fun plugging in all the toys, playing with a pick, and adding a bit of hair to the signal. Really suits this Ampeg RB-115 well.

I may have to turn in my “Country Bass Player” card soon. !

I honestly have yet to find my country tone on this rig- any suggestions?? Sort of a later Skip Battin/John York Byrds thing??

 

[iagtrplyr]

Cleaning (mucking) out my little music corner. Piles and piles of Amos and boxes etc etc reduced to this:
View attachment 4361229

Really??? The wife will be pleased!

View attachment 4361244
I like that Union Jack Vox by the window…

View attachment 4361230
There- that looks better!

No sound restrictions- added my Danelectro $18 tremolo pedal (“Tuna Melt” circa 2004) before the spring reverb pedal.

Great tone with string muting and pick. Tic-Tac for ages. P pickup glorious- Fat pole J dials in great with P. Just 1/4 to 1/3 open adds high definition while keeping the great low end.



Great Review!!! DI AND mic the 15” Eminence is what I would be inclined to do! Glad it worked out!!



Man, Summer is TOO quick when your teaching .

Game Face, indeed. Hardest job in the world.
Thank you for your Service!

And on behalf of all our scholars here in the club preparing for battle (another challenging school year, I’m sure), I accept that very kind comment! This is my 35th year and I can still remember Year Uno down in Laredo, Texas a very special group of 4th graders. The year was 1987 and, wow, has the world changed a lot since then. One example, I learned to play the bass guitar!

Great pics as always, and the explanation to go with, Tele!

 

[iagtrplyr]

Fuzz. Puffer fuzz. In “dramatic cool”

View attachment 4361299

I know there’s a combo amp somewhere in this picture. I’ll keep looking and sooner or later it’ll turn up!

 

[iagtrplyr]

Yes!! Having way too much fun plugging in all the toys, playing with a pick, and adding a bit of hair to the signal. Really suits this Ampeg RB-115 well.

I may have to turn in my “Country Bass Player” card soon. !

I honestly have yet to find my country tone on this rig- any suggestions?? Sort of a later Skip Battin/John York Byrds thing??

Depending on the mids and highs coming out of your bass, I’d flatten your tone controls (or lower the M and T if need be) and kick in your Ultra Lo. It really scoops the middle which for me means leave the tone flat. Play up at the edge of the fretboard and knock down those I-Vs. someone else here may have a better suggestion.

 

[iagtrplyr]

Hi Doc! I was thinking of you in that school reflection. How soon do you guys up north get started? We launch Monday, August 23rd, masking optional and in our own classrooms. We’ll see how long it lasts, but I’m crossing my fingers ‘cuz my room is ready to go.

 

[RSey716]

Depending on the mids and highs coming out of your bass, I’d flatten your tone controls (or lower the M and T if need be) and kick in your Ultra Lo. It really scoops the middle which for me means leave the tone flat. Play up at the edge of the fretboard and knock down those I-Vs. someone else here may have a better suggestion.

That would get you in the classic country realm for sure. Contemporary settings? I go with an almost straight up rock setting. That's really what it is now anyways... Oh man did I say that?

 

[GonePlaid]

LJB, besides a dash of extra headroom, which is still good to have, that extra 40 watts out of your Rumbler would be negligible if side-by-side his Ampeg. To gain +3dB of volume, you have to double the wattage, meaning at least 200 watts @ 8 ohms.

And those three decibels are hardly a difference maker. To double the volume of of your combo kicking out 140 watts, you’d need to put out 10x more wattage, or 1,400 watts! So as you can see, all the quibbling we bass players do comparing a 50-watt amp to a 100-watt amp is moot.

Now take your Rumble 200 or RS’s RB-115 and add a second cab...sweet! Not only do you get a nice boost in power, but ribbing through a second cabinet increases your speaker area and that’s what moves air! Now you know how Phil Jones makes his magic...

I’m sure you didn’t expect a science lesson here, but I start school in two weeks and getting my game face on. Thanks for the indulgence, all!

 

[LoveJackBruce]

LJB, besides a dash of extra headroom, which is still good to have, that extra 40 watts out of your Rumbler would be negligible if side-by-side his Ampeg. To gain +3dB of volume, you have to double the wattage, meaning at least 200 watts @ 8 ohms.

And those three decibels are hardly a difference maker. To double the volume of of your combo kicking out 140 watts, you’d need to put out 10x more wattage, or 1,400 watts! So as you can see, all the quibbling we bass players do comparing a 50-watt amp to a 100-watt amp is moot.

Now take your Rumble 200 or RS’s RB-115 and add a second cab...sweet! Not only do you get a nice boost in power, but ribbing through a second cabinet increases your speaker area and that’s what moves air! Now you know how Phil Jones makes his magic...

I’m sure you didn’t expect a science lesson here, but I start school in two weeks and getting my game face on. Thanks for the indulgence, all!

I understand the science and the numbers as you very well explained. Reality not withstanding, I also believe in perceived volume. Therefore, I'll that that extra 1.2 decibels every day. To my formerly acidic mind and current elder body, my Rumble 200c sounds at least twice as loud as my Rumble 100c. The increase in woofer surface area and additional 1.2 decibels of sound pressure translates into an enormous increase of presence and perceived volume for me. Otherwise, I may never would have procured the R200c and gotten a replacement R500c (had to sell 2 year ago) or stayed with the R100c.

Does this make sense to anyone........ Yes, I drink a lot of non-alcoholic Strange Brew. Smiles & Grins

 

[WestyBassBob]

I understand the science and the numbers as you very well explained. Reality not withstanding, I also believe in perceived volume. Therefore, I'll that that extra 1.2 decibels every day. To my formerly acidic mind and current elder body, my Rumble 200c sounds at least twice as loud as my Rumble 100c. The increase in woofer surface area and additional 1.2 decibels of sound pressure translates into an enormous increase of presence and perceived volume for me. Otherwise, I may never would have procured the R200c and gotten a replacement R500c (had to sell 2 year ago) or stayed with the R100c.

Does this make sense to anyone........ Yes, I drink a lot of non-alcoholic Strange Brew. Smiles & Grins

There is a lot of disagreement about perceived volume vs actual volume. For example my 300 watt amp is noticeable louder than my 225watt amp was. Twice as loud? 25% louder? Hard to say. All I can say with any certainty is that is just louder.
Perceived volume has a lot to do with the individual’s hearing as well as what part of the music they are actually paying attention to. And of course I think having more cabinets does matter. It’s like the equivalent of lighting a room with a single beam of light versus putting a diffuser in front of it. Same amount of light but one is going to be perceived as much brighter.

 

[iagtrplyr]

That would get you in the classic country realm for sure. Contemporary settings? I go with an almost straight up rock setting. That's really what it is now anyways... Oh man did I say that?

Sheesh, ya but a new combo and all of a sudden this new and dangerous rock star shows up! Keep on truckin’, RS!

 

[Doctor Intrepid]

Hi Doc! I was thinking of you in that school reflection. How soon do you guys up north get started? We launch Monday, August 23rd, masking optional and in our own classrooms. We’ll see how long it lasts, but I’m crossing my fingers ‘cuz my room is ready to go.

We go back on the 23 as well, although we don't start teaching until the following week. I have some stuff that will keep me busy until then, but, unfortunately, it is not fun stuff.

On the positive side, my new partner and I had a great summer and I just played my lovely Hofner for 2 1/2 hours!

 

[LoveJackBruce]

Depending on the mids and highs coming out of your bass, I’d flatten your tone controls (or lower the M and T if need be) and kick in your Ultra Lo. It really scoops the middle which for me means leave the tone flat. Play up at the edge of the fretboard and knock down those I-Vs. someone else here may have a better suggestion.

I always loved those ultra low & ultra high switches (V4B back in the day).

 

[GonePlaid]

There is a lot of disagreement about perceived volume vs actual volume. For example my 300 watt amp is noticeable louder than my 225watt amp was. Twice as loud? 25% louder? Hard to say. All I can say with any certainty is that is just louder.
Perceived volume has a lot to do with the individual’s hearing as well as what part of the music they are actually paying attention to. And of course I think having more cabinets does matter. It’s like the equivalent of lighting a room with a single beam of light versus putting a diffuser in front of it. Same amount of light but one is going to be perceived as much brighter.

Good analogy. When I had my 112 cab hooked up to my 200c(at the same volume setting), it was-maybe-a little louder. But much fuller.(I've done the same thing by daisy chaining the 200c>100-hadda cut volume, though)

 

[LoveJackBruce]

There is a lot of disagreement about perceived volume vs actual volume. For example my 300 watt amp is noticeable louder than my 225watt amp was. Twice as loud? 25% louder? Hard to say. All I can say with any certainty is that is just louder.
Perceived volume has a lot to do with the individual’s hearing as well as what part of the music they are actually paying attention to. And of course I think having more cabinets does matter. It’s like the equivalent of lighting a room with a single beam of light versus putting a diffuser in front of it. Same amount of light but one is going to be perceived as much brighter.

Whatever gets you through the night, it's alright, it's alright.

 

[iagtrplyr]

View attachment 4361537

Or...

This is me after various amplifier experiments!

 

[iagtrplyr]

I understand the science and the numbers as you very well explained. Reality not withstanding, I also believe in perceived volume. Therefore, I'll that that extra 1.2 decibels every day. To my formerly acidic mind and current elder body, my Rumble 200c sounds at least twice as loud as my Rumble 100c. The increase in woofer surface area and additional 1.2 decibels of sound pressure translates into an enormous increase of presence and perceived volume for me. Otherwise, I may never would have procured the R200c and gotten a replacement R500c (had to sell 2 year ago) or stayed with the R100c.

Does this make sense to anyone........ Yes, I drink a lot of non-alcoholic Strange Brew. Smiles & Grins

Total sense, LJB, and I respect your point. Between the Ampeg and Fender amps you may not notice a volume difference, but I can assure you that you’ll hear the tonal difference. The sound between my former R100 and current RB112 is night and day.