Vis-a-vis "old school" sound etc, at least with regards to our new EP, it wasn't so much an attempt to try to make it sound that way, as it was the result of recording on little gear and a shoe string budget. I believe the drums had...3 mics? Guitar and drums recorded in a basement, together. Bass tracked using a cheap M-mobile into pro-tools. Granted, we didn't want it to sound clean and nice, but I think the result was equal parts resultant from the recording conditions, and the sonic goals of the band (load, distorted, etc). A lot of younger musicians are recording on whatever cheap gear they can get ahold of, often nowhere in site of a proper studio set up, and mixing it without any training, the end result of which is more Lo-Fi and in turn I suppose "Old School" in style.
And with regards to amps and PAs, for me at least it is few and far between when I see an opportunity to run my bass into the PA. Thus, I went for the "old school" approach of a larger amp and larger cabinet. And even when I do have a PA at my disposal, I do prefer to do the majority of the heavy lifting with the amp. As far as guitarists having small combos and going through the PA...well, this all comes down to image and what not, but when I go to see a show, I'd rather see a person knowing how to use their full stack than a combo and 6000 pedals for all their overdrive. Sure, chalk it up to theatrics, but a stage, imo, looks rather barren when on one side you have a small boutique combo and something like a TC and 2x10 on the other. It's like how a modern Ford Escort looks compared to a GTO Judge. They serve the same function yes, but there's a seriously difference in cool factor. That's not to say small combos sound bad, I love the AC30 and JTM45, but visually, they do not equal the appearance of stacks, and sonically, they don't equal the same power and oomph an actual stack possess. Hell, even a Marshall 1987 and 1959 don't sound the same, the 100w has more depth to it. A cranked up JTM 45 though a PA is not the same sonically as a JTM100 into 4x12s.
But I suppose the most important factor is really the setting and genre, I wouldn't want to see a band in the vein of Motorhead get up with just a fender rumble and deluxe and a bunch of pedals, but seeing a band more in the vein of like the Kinks or something do that would be totally fine.
The small amp trend I think benefits plenty of people and suits their needs well, my issue stems from when people get all bent that people still use the big old gear. "Your stupid and ignorant to the greatness of class d!" or "You're too loud and your amp is too big". Don't like it? Go somewhere else, do your own thing. I don't like the immediate incredulity of many sound guys and other musicians whenever you bring in something larger than a combo and they assume you're young and stupid and loud. Yeah, sorry, ended up ranty, I know, but I hear and see this a lot with both older and younger musicians. It's really the younger folks that puzzle me the most, people my own age harping on about how angry and loud the music is, I guess they've just grown accustomed to talking over music, having it be more background, with small gear and low wattage.
