• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

What is the ultimate gigging combo?

#41
ster said:
Wow, "hate" is a strong word for something that really isn't anything else but a head and a cab..attached. My combo is attached like a rackmount, it just has a roof.
What if I detached my head and put it on top of the cab would that be ok?

For me the Mesa Walkabout 12" had the best sound. Volume was an issue.
But for weight, features, price, volume and decent sound the Carvin BR515N is my ultimate gigging combo.
Click to expand...

Hate is perhaps too strong a word, how about "strongly dislike and will now always avoid owning?" :D

I've owned 4 or 5 combos, and been a significant user of dozens of them over the years. This includes many brands from 1963 to the present—Epiphone, VOX, Acoustic, Peavy, Ampeg, SWR, GK, GB, Fender, Behringer, Markbass. They bug me for several different reasons, but leaving aside performance issues, here are my complaints:

You can't generally upgrade the existing components in combos. Ergo, the dreaded Combo Lock-In Syndrome (CLIS). :ninja:

Per unit, they generally weigh more than modular rigs, are larger as a unit than the individual modules—and thus harder to move and load into/out of vehicles or the NY subway. Though I admit as an oftentimes upright player, a combo can almost be a necessity when relying on mass transit and there is no house rig. That is why we have AcousticImage. :)

They provide fewer choices, and are at times, though not always, of lower quality to keep the price within reach of younger players. MDF anyone?

They are generally harder to sell, and are thus often a sort of financial roadblock for young or intermediate bassists with low funds in need of more amp.

When they break (as all amps do), most of them go to the shop as a unit, denying reuse of the amp or the speaker during the repair. I don't consider a combo with separable components really to be a combo.

Extension speakers are sometimes a way to "break free" of combo lock-in syndrome, if you can find a good match. I added an 8 ohm SWR goliath Jr. III 210 to an SWR Workingman's 15. It sounded basically wrong because of the different EQ needs of those cabs, so the WM15 was off to SF Craigslist as soon as I could afford a separate SWR head and cab to add to the 210. That took a lot of doing for me financially at the time.

While there are plenty of good sounding combos, I view them as a bad bargain, especially purchased new, unless as a second or third rig, not as a stepping stone to "real amp" land.

A kit of two (or three) cabs and a head or two slay a combo + a ext. cab for choices, and can be acquired bit by bit. You will thereby have a convenient way to have a backup head and or cab. Ever try bringing a combo as a backup head? :rollno:

Summary: Bassists needing their first "real" rig that can stay abreast the full cry of a young band often find themselves stuck with a combo they can't upgrade or unload for a reasonable return. Brought to you by Combo Lock-In Syndrome (CLIS).

All in my "hateful" opinion, of course. :D :D :D
 
#42
Whoa thats alot of combos :D yeah I just wanted to see what yall guys thought. I really loved the smartass remarks too hahahaha they were cool. And how dare you call me a Lowner or whatever you said :bawl: hahahah jk. If yall wanna know my style were a classic sounding rock band, that also brings the funk, ya know keep the rock funky and the funk rockin. And were a three piece band. I have a big amp Im just tired of hauling it around and want some portability.
 
#43
Jim Carr said:
Hate is perhaps too strong a word, how about "strongly dislike and will now always avoid owning?" :D

I've owned 4 or 5 combos, and been a significant user of dozens of them over the years. This includes many brands from 1963 to the present—Epiphone, VOX, Acoustic, Peavy, Ampeg, SWR, GK, GB, Fender, Behringer, Markbass. They bug me for several different reasons, but leaving aside performance issues, here are my complaints:

You can't generally upgrade the existing components in combos. Ergo, the dreaded Combo Lock-In Syndrome (CLIS). :ninja:

Per unit, they generally weigh more than modular rigs, are larger as a unit than the individual modules—and thus harder to move and load into/out of vehicles or the NY subway. Though I admit as an oftentimes upright player, a combo can almost be a necessity when relying on mass transit and there is no house rig. That is why we have AcousticImage. :)

They provide fewer choices, and are at times, though not always, of lower quality to keep the price within reach of younger players. MDF anyone?

They are generally harder to sell, and are thus often a sort of financial roadblock for young or intermediate bassists with low funds in need of more amp.

When they break (as all amps do), most of them go to the shop as a unit, denying reuse of the amp or the speaker during the repair. I don't consider a combo with separable components really to be a combo.

Extension speakers are sometimes a way to "break free" of combo lock-in syndrome, if you can find a good match. I added an 8 ohm SWR goliath Jr. III 210 to an SWR Workingman's 15. It sounded basically wrong because of the different EQ needs of those cabs, so the WM15 was off to SF Craigslist as soon as I could afford a separate SWR head and cab to add to the 210. That took a lot of doing for me financially at the time.

While there are plenty of good sounding combos, I view them as a bad bargain, especially purchased new, unless as a second or third rig, not as a stepping stone to "real amp" land.

A kit of two (or three) cabs and a head or two slay a combo + a ext. cab for choices, and can be acquired bit by bit. You will thereby have a convenient way to have a backup head and or cab. Ever try bringing a combo as a backup head? :rollno:

Summary: Bassists needing their first "real" rig that can stay abreast the full cry of a young band often find themselves stuck with a combo they can't upgrade or unload for a reasonable return. Brought to you by Combo Lock-In Syndrome (CLIS).

All in my "hateful" opinion, of course. :D :D :D
Click to expand...

I agree on all points. My combo really isn't a combo. I would have never bought it if the head wasn't removable or it didn't have the features it has. I have had (a long time ago)a regular combo as a backup and it stinks for sure.
It just annoys me when I'm out on the gig and some bass player in the audience snubs my combo and then tells me how wonderful his rig is like I give a crap.
 
#47
You got it Bill....tilt-back let's you hear yourself without the singer trying to shoot you with eye daggers.

bassybill said:
There are several reasons I like my Markbass 210 combo - great tone, portable, superb build quality et cetera. But the same could be said for any number of lightweight head + cab setups.

But one advantage of the combo for me over the head + cab scenario is the tilting back option with the combo. I find angling the sound up towards me in this way really helps to be heard on stage when I'm just using two 10s. I used to gig with a head + 210 cab and I had to carry a stand in order to tilt the cab. I also had to find somewhere convenient to put the head (can't put it on top of a tilted cab).

This might be of zero importance to many folks, but it matters to me and it's a genuine advantage of the combo over head + cab, in addition to the "one less box and cable to carry/set up".

(When I use an extension cab for some gigs then the combo is much higher off the floor and tilting is then unnecessary.)
Click to expand...
 
#48
bassybill said:
It's a term first coined by Munjibunga, describing a situation where someone starts a thread, several people respond, and then the OP doesn't add anything after their first post.

A TBer (who doesn't seem to visit much now) called "Lowner" often seemed to just leave threads she started never to return - hence the term. :D
Click to expand...

I knew some girls like that. But we had a different name for them.;)
 
#52
ster said:
...It just annoys me when I'm out on the gig and some bass player in the audience snubs my combo and then tells me how wonderful his rig is like I give a crap.
Click to expand...

+1

Have him/her visit TB and tell us all about it...:atoz:

But seriously, dissing another players gear is uncool, and that is certainly not my intention here, either. I have been a combo user since 1963, and still am—though not an owner. I just know the shortcomings. However, the performance of even humble "modern" combos like the GK MB150S/112 Combo is actually impressive. The new stuff like the GB shuttle series and Markbass combos sound great, too.

Matching the type of musical application, the amp, and the finances can make a combo the right choice, but they usually leave me unhappy in the end because my needs vary so much. :cool:
 
#53
eddievanbassman said:
Whoa thats alot of combos :D yeah I just wanted to see what yall guys thought. I really loved the smartass remarks too hahahaha they were cool. And how dare you call me a Lowner or whatever you said :bawl: hahahah jk. If yall wanna know my style were a classic sounding rock band, that also brings the funk, ya know keep the rock funky and the funk rockin. And were a three piece band. I have a big amp Im just tired of hauling it around and want some portability.
Click to expand...

In that case, I'd go with something like a Genz Benz Shuttle (6.0 or 9.0 - 4 pounds) and a Bergantino AE410 (62 pounds). The AE212 sounds great, too. It has a smaller footprint, and weighs only 55 pounds.

And thanks for ending the lowner.
 
#54
The combo I use ... is an old Peavy Combo 300, it gets the job done, it will drive an extension cabinet, .... however, it's heavy as a sack of bricks, it's tone is an acquired taste, they can be had pretty cheap, had mine for 25+ years

3314252050_dc1a7472b5.jpg

Combo 300 by Invalid Link Removed, on Flickr
 
#55
jastacey said:
The combo I use ... is an old Peavy Combo 300, it gets the job done, it will drive an extension cabinet, .... however, it's heavy as a sack of bricks, it's tone is an acquired taste, they can be had pretty cheap, had mine for 25+ years...
Click to expand...

I used one of those with a '70 fretless P-bass around the Cambridge/Boston bar scene with a country swing band in 1976-1978. Plenty loud. Plenty big. Lots of low mids, and fairly hard to lift out of the trunk of a 1970 Plymouth Duster. Jeez I miss being 26! :D
 
#56
jastacey said:
The combo I use ... is an old Peavy Combo 300, it gets the job done, it will drive an extension cabinet, .... however, it's heavy as a sack of bricks, it's tone is an acquired taste, they can be had pretty cheap, had mine for 25+ years

3314252050_dc1a7472b5.jpg

Combo 300 by Invalid Link Removed, on Flickr
Click to expand...

I think everyone over 30 yrs old has played through a Peavey that looks like this at one time or another!
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back